Ash woke up when something wet running down his face. At first, he thought it was raining and the roof of the Pokemon Center was leaking, but as he turned his face slightly, he saw Serena's Yamper snoring with Serena's pillow in front of his face and drooling directly on his face.
Ash quickly got up to sit on the bed and wiped his drooled face with his hand in disgust. Serena's Yamper, on the other hand, rolled from pillow to bed and continued his dreams without waking up. Ash looked at it a little irritated and then he looked at his hands, which were now wet and sticky from Yamper's drool. "Gross," he mumbled and stood up.
He almost stumbled his backpack next to the bed. He staggered along with the room and hit the clock on his bedside table on the floor, slamming his toe sorely into the corner of the bed. Finally, he stumbled upon a blanket that had fallen to the floor and found himself staring at the screen of a clock that had fallen to the floor.
It looked like 10.00 a.m. Ash stared at the numbers on the screen and felt a disgusting pain in his toe. Yamper's drool still flowed down his face and it made him rise from the floor.
He tore the blankets off his head and got up. He quickly stepped into the small bathroom in the room and washed his face in the sink. And when he was in it now, he decided to take a shower at the same time.
After a while, Ash came back to the room wrapped in his towel. He looked at the bed and only now realized that Serena was no longer in it. Instead, her Yamper had taken over most of the space for himself and slept in the middle of the bed with his paws upright. Ash assumed that Serena had woken up before him and had already gone to eat breakfast herself. He also didn't see Pikachu anywhere, so he also assumed he had gone with Serena.
Ash stepped across the room while taking his clothes from the armchair in the corner of the room. He had tossed them into it yesterday night when he came out of the shower. He sat on the edge of the bed and began to pull his pants to his feet. At the same time, his gaze hit directly on the window in front of him and the landscape glistening through the slit of its curtains.
He got up suddenly and stepped to the window. He tore the curtains in front of it and peeked out. Ballonlea didn't seem to brighten at all since yesterday and the same shimmering mushrooms were still shining in the yard. They made Ash remember yesterday and the memory made him smile.
He forgot to look out the window when there was a grunt behind him that made him wake up back to reality. He took his eyes off the mushrooms and turned to see where the grunt had come from. But all he saw was Serena's Yamper lying on his stomach on the bed and snoring.
Ash sighed and shook his head slightly. He stepped back to the bed and put the rest of his clothes on. He then grabbed his backpack from the floor, his belt from the armrest of that same armchair, and finally, left for breakfast.
The first thing Ash noticed was that the lobby of the Pokemon Center was much louder than yesterday. The cause quickly became clear; there were many more people in the lobby and one a loudly couple demanded compensation for something related to their Glameow.
Ash left the couple to Nurse Joy and set out to find his friends. To his delight, it was not very difficult to find them; they were again on those same couches as before. Ash saw Serena browsing Astra's sketchbook, Astra explaining something about her Gym match, and her Lucario listening to a little bored next to her, leaning in her paw. The Pokemon, on the other hand, ate their breakfast on the floor, all but Pancham and Gou's Scorbunny, who had started fighting about something. Skwovet was taking advance of it and eat Scorbunny's food with satisfaction. Gou nor Chloe, Ash noticed now, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen and it confused Ash a little.
"Oh, you finally decided to join us," said Serena to Ash when he finally got to them. She lifted her gaze from the sketchbook and gave Ash a quick kiss as he sat next to her. "Breakfast is over, but I took something for you. Here, take a sandwich."
She slid to Ash a plate with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice. "Thanks," Ash said and began to eat his bread. Meanwhile, Pikachu had also noticed his trainer joining others and happily jumped on Ash's shoulder.
"Pikapi!" he exclaimed and Ash scratched him with a smile from behind his ear. "Hey buddy," he said, his mouth full of bread until he turned to Serena again. "What are the plans? And where is Gou or Chloe?"
Serena opened her mouth and answered, "They went for a walk, they said they wanted fresh air" Then she continued browsing Astra's sketchbook and stopped from time to time to look some pictures closer.
"Oh, I see," Ash said, watching Serena, and then suddenly remembered one thing. He put his half-eaten bread back on the plate and took out his Pokeballs.
"Food time!" he exclaimed and threw the balls in the air. His Pokemon appeared in front of him, exclaiming their own names. Ash smiled at them and then started digging breakfast into his backpack for them. And no one noticed how Astra's Lucario no longer looked so bored after Ash's Lucario showed up.
However, Lucario did not seem to notice her. He looked around a little bored, and when he didn't notice anything special, sat down opposite Ash. He watched for a moment as his Master dug the Pokemon food out of his backpack until he said through Aura, "I need coffee." He didn't notice how Astra's Lucario was blinking at him over her trainer's shoulder.
"That's nice. Go ask Nurse Joy," Ash said distractedly, digging bowls of his Pokemon from his backpack. However, Lucario did not warm to the thought, but snorted at Ash and raised his paw towards Nurse Joy's counter.
The coffee mug next to Nurse Joy rose into the air, shimmering blue. Then it slowly hovered towards Lucario and Nurse Joy didn't notice anything. (She was trying at that moment to explain to one boy why his Wailord could not appear in the lobby of the Pokemon Center)
Lucario got his coffee and raised his mug, grinning smugly at the Greninja sitting opposite him. However, Greninja didn't grin back, but showed Lucario a middle finger. Lucario's smile froze and he threw Greninja with the spoon in the mug. It hit Greninja in the forehead and made him growl angrily. Lucario laughed smugly and lifted his coffee mug to his lips, only to notice seconds later it was laying on the floor and Greninja's shuriken sticking out of the couch exactly where Lucario's hand had been.
Lucario looked at his spilled coffee and began to growl. Greninja, on the other hand, laughed out loud and that was enough for Lucario. He rushed over the table and soon the two were again trying to strangle each other, Astra's Lucario and Braixen trying to pull them apart.
"Not again! Stop it IMMEDIATELY!" shouted Ash after realizing that Lucario and Greninja had started fighting again. He hurried to separate them from each other's throats and his other Pokemon stared at them with a sweatdrop.
However, Serena didn't seem to pay much attention to this. Instead, she just turned a new page from Astra's sketchbook and found herself looking at a picture of a skillfully drawn person.
She stopped for it. The picture depicted a boy about their age playing the guitar while sitting in a chair. The boy's expression was focused and his eyes were closed. He had upright combed brown hair and was wearing the basic hoodie and jeans. Something had been written next to the picture, but something had spilled into it, so Serena couldn't tell what was written on it. However, Serena was interested to know who the boy in the picture was, so she decided to ask Astra about it.
"Astra, who is he?" she asked and Astra looked up at her Rotom, which she had been browsing for the last couple of minutes. "Who?" she asked looking at Serena, but when Serena tapped the drawing, she blushed to scarlet red.
"Oh... um..," she stammered and didn't suddenly seem to come up with any sensible sentence. And it didn't go unnoticed by Serena. She grinned knowingly and leaned closer to the Astra, which now seemed to be a mere flushed mess. "Is he someone, you know, special?" she said in a whisper and Astra nodded slightly.
Serena leaned back back and smiled a little smugly. "I knew it. So... tell me everything. What's his name, how did you meet and most of all, are you together?"
"Umm..." said Astra and Serena smiled encouragingly (at least in her own opinion, someone could have said it was commanding) "Well, um... we're not together and we met via our friend. And his name is Mi..."
However, Astra's sentence was interrupted, because just then someone slammed the Pokemon Center's door open and stepped inside. Those in the lobby turned their heads to see who had come inside, and the party in the couches found themselves watching the enthusiastically smiling Gou.
"Guys, you don't believe what we found!" he shouted as he came to the others on the couches, something in his hand and a wide grin on his face. Chloe followed, with Yamper walking beside her and a piece of paper in her hand. "You have to see this!"
"See what?" asked Ash, who interrupted Lucario and Greninja's scolding, and Pikachu on the table also said, "Pika chu?" No one noticed that Astra took advantage of the general rumble and pulled her sketchbook away from Serena and put it back in her bag for safety.
Gou grinned broadly and then threw some magazine on the table in front of them. It wasn't in any way miraculous in itself, but, as Serena breathlessly realized, it was a little special that the cover of the magazine showed her own face in addition to the face of Hulbury Gym Leader Nessa.
She snatched the magazine into her hands and stared at her own face on the cover of the magazine. She then opened the magazine and quickly scrolled through it until she suddenly stopped for one opening. It had a big article about Nessa, but there were also pictures of her.
"I thought it was those pictures," Gou said after reading the article over Serena's shoulder. "Remember the ones that guy took when we were in Hulbury?" he added, noticing Ash's confused look and watching how he seemed to remember what it was all about.
"Oh, them!" he said after remembering the matter and turned to look at Serena, who was still staring at the magazine with her face almost stuck to its page. "I even helped you pick some of them for that guy. Did he put them in it?"
"Yeah, look," Serena replied, placing the magazine on the table so that everyone could see its opening. They all reached out to look at it and Astra said, "I didn't know you acted as a model. Pretty cool, actually."
"Yeah, that's right," Chloe said, and Gou suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked up at Chloe and said to her, "Hey Chloe, tell me about that other cool thing we found!"
"Oh yeah!" Chloe exclaimed, apparently remembering it as well, and picked up a piece of paper in her hand. She was clearly going to read something about it, but didn't have time to say a word when suddenly there was a big crash behind them.
They all turned their gaze in that direction and Ash knew immediately that Lucario and Greninja had crossed the line. Namely, they had pushed Nurse Joy's computer from counter to floor and she stared at it, or what was left of it, in disbelief. Then she turned her gaze pretty angry at them and Ash knew it was their sign to leave.
"Oh no," said Serena quietly and Ash said quickly, "Return." He indicated his Pokemon with their Pokeballs, and they returned to their balls, except Pikachu. Serena and Gou did the same and Chloe take Yamper from the floor. Serena then ran quickly to get her bag from her room and returned after about 30 seconds, also carrying her sleepy Yamper. And then, they all rushed out the door as Nurse Joy's angry cries echoed after them and Lucario and Greninja still had enough sense to follow them.
After Gou slammed the door behind him, Ash turned angrily to look at Greninja and Lucario.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" he shouted and Pikachu on his shoulder looked just as angry. "Now surely we got a ban on that Center and it's entirely your fault. You would be ashamed!"
He looked at those two reproachfully and Astra's Lucario mimicked him with her arms folded. Greninja understood to look regretful, but Lucario looked as if he wasn't interested in the slightest. He did not seem to notice Astra's Lucario's disapproving look or hear Ash's scolds. It wasn't until he happened to look at Braixen and saw this disappointed look that he realizes to change his attitude.
"Sorry, Master. That won't happen again," he told Ash through Aura and for a moment the two stared at each other. Then Ash huffed and exclaimed, "Fine, but don't do that again!"
Greninja looked relieved and Lucario glared at Braixen hopefully. However, he saw this shaking her head and turning away and it was just as big a punishment for him as having someone say he would never be allowed to use the Aura again.
However, Ash had said what he had to say and now turned to the others. "So what do we do now?" he asked and Gou grinned.
"Chloe, you had some plan," he said, turning to the girl and this one nodded. "Yeah, I have," she said, straightening out the paper she had in her hand.
"I saw this in the same kiosk where Gou bought that magazine and thought this might interest you," she said and turned the paper over. Others leaned closer and now they saw that it was an ad of some sort.
The ad was purple and featured two Pokemon they didn't recognize. One of them resembled a teacup and the other a teapot. In addition, it had text, as well as a large title that read...
"Cafe Teageist?" read Astra with interest and Chloe nodded. "Yep. It says it's just opened and it's close here. So what if we went to see what kind of place it is?"
"Sounds good," said Serena Yamper in her arms and the others nodded. Then Ash grinned and said, "What are we still waiting for? Let's go then!"
They set out to navigate toward that cafe, Chloe walking first. They wondered if they would have to search for a cafe for a long time and what it might look like. But because Ballonlea was a pretty small place, they didn't have to search long.
They found the cafe pretty quickly. It was reminiscent of Ballonlea's pretty wooden houses, but above its door was the calligraphy name of the café and again a picture of a Pokemon resembling that teapot. They stood there for a moment until Serena opened the door and they stepped inside the cafe.
The cafe was small but cozy. It consisted of many small round tables and its windows had purple curtains. There was a sweet smell floating in the cafe, which, Serena realized, came from a wisteria on the roof.
It circled the roof and Serena wondered if the cafe owner might have been inspired by that big wisteria tree. However, she could not say anything to others, for she had to be careful where she stepped. The cafe was full of people, and Serena didn't want to trample anyone on their toes.
They slid into the ocean of human and Pokemon and managed to find an empty table in one corner. Serena and Astra offered to stay to watch the table, therefore, while others would go to the counter to buy something to eat. That suited to others and so they left two in the table.
While the others went to the counter, Serena and Astra chatted with each other. Yamper had fallen asleep again on the floor next to Serena and Braixen was chatting with Astra's Lucario. She always seemed to blink at times somewhere in the direction of Ash's Lucario and Braixen noticed this. However, she said nothing, just smiled a little mysteriously.
It was interesting to Serena hear about Astra's journey. She learned that Astra was from Galar and her first Pokemon had been Lucario (though then it was Riolu) She had also been in Alola and was now traveling through Galar. When Serena asked why she hadn't been touring the Galar Gyms first, Astra shrugged and replied, "I didn't want to start like everyone else. I wanted something different and that's why I went to Alola." She also said she had a picture of Solgaleo in her Rotom and asked, did Serena want to see it. Serena of course wanted to see it and so Astra started looking for a picture from her Rotom.
Meanwhile, while Astra was looking for a picture from her Rotom, Serena looked out the window. Ballonlea hadn't brightened much since yesterday and the same mushrooms were still shining in the yard. She saw from the window how two Rookidees flew next to one mushroom and began to peck at something from the ground.
"Is this seat taken?" suddenly there was a voice next to Serena and Serena was startled. She shifted her gaze away from the Rookidees and saw a boy unknown to her standing next to their table. But before Serena could even open her mouth, the boy had sat next to her and leaned closer. He didn't even seem to notice Astra.
The boy had straw-blond hair, a black leather jacket, and blue jeans. He had gray eyes that examined Serena strangely greedily and caused Serena an uncomfortable feeling. She tried to look everywhere but in the boy's eyes and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Roy, babe," said the boy, and swept his hair out of his eyes with his hand. He smiled a wide, slightly arrogant smile and behind Serena, Braixen snorted. "And I feel like I know you. I can't forget that kind of beauty."
"How can you know me? We've never met," Serena said, completely ignoring the last part of Roy's sentence and wondering what stalker he was. However, Roy just smiled his arrogant smile and said, "We're not, but I know you about this."
He throw on the table the same magazine Gou had shown to Serena and others at the Pokemon Center. It had been opened in the middle of the opening where there was a story about Nessa and pictures of her and Serena and Serena was staring at it.
"Hey, that's the same magazine Gou showed us!" said Astra when she noticed the magazine, but Roy didn't seem to hear her. His eyes were nailed to Serena and he watched closely for every change in her look.
"You see now, I never forget faces and when I saw you here, I knew right away that there's that beauty from that magazine," he said in a slick voice and smiled his arrogant smile. Serena slowly shifted her gaze to him and hated that look. Behind her, Braixen had stopped smiling a long time ago and Astra's Lucario looked tensed. "Because those eyes can't be forgotten. They're like two sparkling blue oceans! And that arch of lips, it's perfect. And that ass..."
"I'll kick your ass if you don't get it off near Serena," a toxic voice came from behind them and they turned to see who had spoken. Serena saw Ash standing right behind Roy with an angry look on his face, and a tray in his hand, which he squeezed pretty firmly. Behind him stood Gou, Chloe and Lucario and Greninja and they all watched as the situation would develop.
Roy's gaze fell on them all until he stopped at Ash again. "And why would I do that? I have every right to sit here," he said, raising his eyebrows looking arrogant. Lucario didn't like his gaze and asked Ash, "Would I tear him to pieces? I didn't like the way he talked about Serena."
"Not... yet," Ash said, looking at Roy coldly. "Well, yes, but there's a little problem that Serena happens to be my girlfriend. And I didn't like the way you just looked at her."
Roy's arrogant grin faded pretty quickly from his face as he heard Ash's words. "Is she supposed to be your girlfriend? A loser like you?" he snorted, looking contemptuously at Pikachu next to Ash and Lucario and Greninja behind him.
Ash felt his anger grow and a red glow flashed in his eyes. "Who do you call a loser?" he asked in an icy cold voice and pushed the tray from his hand to Gou. He stepped a step closer to Roy and for a moment Serena was afraid he was going to punch him. But then he took one of his Pokeballs from his belt and aimed it at Roy.
"Never call me a loser," he hissed and Roy saw a red glow in his eyes. Roy noticed it and tried to leave, but Ash hadn't finished yet. "And that's why I'm challenging you to a Pokemon battle. To see who the loser is"
Roy stared at him and then laughed a little arrogantly. "Oh, Really? Are you supposed to challenge me to a match, intending to win? Hah, impossible! What would your Pokemon even be? Jigglypuff?" He laughed mockingly.
"No, but Lucario. What about yours?" Ash asked calmly, ignoring Roy's laughter, and spun the Pokeball in his hand. Roy's laughter faded and he took the Pokeball from his own belt.
"You'll see it when the match starts," Roy growled and squeezed his Pokeball. Then he blinked around and roared, "Can someone here show the way to the match field?!"
"I can, I saw it behind the cafe," Astra said, getting up from her chair. Roy turned his head in her direction and looked as if he had just noticed the whole girl.
"Then show the way," he growled and Astra raised an eyebrow. "Please," Roy forced to say and Astra smiled dryly and said, "This way" Then she went for a walk towards the cafe door, Lucario after her, and Ash and Roy followed, people staring at them curiously.
"This is a one vs one match between Ash and Roy. The one with Pokemon last upright wins!" announced Gou, who served as referee. He stood in the middle of the battlefield and the important-looking Scorbunny stood next to him.
The crowd had quickly found the battlefield behind the cafe, and Ash and Roy had quickly settled on both ends of the field. They now stood facing each other and glared at each other badly.
Serena, Chloe, Astra and all the Pokemon had settled on the sidelines to watch the match begin. Pikachu sat in Serena's lap and was already cheering Ash, even though the match hadn't even started yet. Next to Serena on the ground, Yamper continued to sleep and Braixen stood with Astra's Lucario side by side, wondering which of the battlers might win.
Next to them were Corviknight and Dragonite. Dragonite glared angrily behind her all the time, as Corviknight created a nasty shadow that made her not see in front of her. However, Corviknight either didn't see her glances or he simply didn't care. Dragonite guessed the latter option.
Ash and Roy glared at each other and Roy squeezed one of his Pokeballs in his hand. Behind Ash, instead, Lucario had folded his arms and waited for the match to begin. He did not even pay much attention to Greninja, who was standing near Braixen. So focused he was to think of possible ways to humiliate the idiot facing Ash.
Gou glanced at both battlers and then said in a loud voice, "Battlers, please choose your Pokemon!" Roy glared at Ash when he heard this and said coldly, "Well, what could be your Pokemon?"
"You already heard it inside," Ash stated and nodded to Lucario standing behind him. This one grunted, slowly stepping on the field in front of Ash, and created a descending look at Roy. Roy's eyebrows rose slightly, but he didn't say anything. "Lucario is my choice"
"I see," Roy said rudely, squeezing his Pokeball firmly in his hand. Then he glanced at it and grinned smugly. "Well, let's see how your stupid dog can handle MY Pokemon! Sirfetch'd, I choose you!"
He threw a Pokeball into the air and a Pokemon resembling Farfetch'd appeared in front of him. It held a leek resembling a sword in its right hand and a shield made of green leaves in its left hand. It glared at Lucario standing in front of him and then snorted.
Ash looked at it with interest and said, "Sirfetch'd? I haven't seen such a Pokemon before" He took out his Rotom and scanned Roy's Pokemon with it:
"Sirfetch'd, Wild Duck Pokemon and an evolved form of Galarian Farfetch'd. Fighting-type. Only Farfetch'd that have survived many Battles can attain this Evolution. When this Pokemon's leek withers, it will retire from combat"
After Rotom said this, Roy looked at Ash smugly and said, "You heard it. My Sirfetch'd have survived many battles, and it wasn't even close to retiring. The same can't be said for your dog. I noticed a few gray hairs on its muzzle."
He smiled arrogantly and Lucario, who didn't like being said old, growled at him. Ash's hands instead clenched into fists and he looked at Roy quite angrily.
Gou noticed this and decided it was best to start the match. "Begin!" he shouted and Ash struck right away.
"Lucario, Bone Rush!" he shouted and Lucario formed a bone-shaped stick in his paws. Then he rushed towards Sirfetch'd and growled at the same time.
However, Roy didn't just stay to watch this, but shouted at Sirfetch'd, "Use Meteor Assault!"
Sirfetch'd cried loudly and set off for Lucario, whining wildly in his leek. It reached Lucario in the middle of the field and their weapons clanked to each other. Unfortunately for Lucario, he happened to put his feet somehow in a bad position and swayed. Fortunately for him, however, Sirfetch'd was unable to move properly after using the recent move, so no damage could occur.
Lucario circled on the ground and quickly stood up. "Quickly, Master, say some move now because that duck can't move properly," he said to Ash and nodded slightly.
"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!" he exclaimed and Lucario formed a blue ball of Aura with his paw and threw it quickly towards Sirfetch. However, Roy was awake and he shouted quickly, "Use Detect!"
Sirfetch'd cried loudly and his eyes shone brightly for a moment. Then, just when Lucario's Aura ball had hit him, he agilely jumped to the side and the Aura ball hit the mushroom behind the field. It caused a small explosion and Roy grinned smugly at Ash.
However, Ash was not giving up yet. "Again, Lucario!" he shouted and Lucario again formed a blue Aura ball with his paw. Roy's smug grin froze and he said to Sirfetch'd, "Dodge them!"
Lucario began bombarding Sirfetch'd with Aura's balls and Sirfetch'd dodged them, either jumping aside or hitting the balls off with his leek. As they did this, the environment of the battlefield gradually filled with people and Pokemon who had come interested to watch the match. Some had even chosen their side and the audience seemed to cheer loudly their favourite.
On the edge of the field, Pikachu also wildly cheered Ash and his cries echoed even over the cries of the audience. Chloe and Astra also cheered wildly Ash, but the loudest of all after Pikachu was Serena.
"Go on, Ash! Beat him!" she shouted and raised her fist in the air as a sign of victory. She had stood up and almost jumped into place. Some in the audience looked at her a little amused, but there was also one among them who wasn't amused by Serena's cheering. Namely Dragonite.
She didn't like that human girl shouting so loudly at Ash, her Ash. So she decided to fix the situation, and shout louder. She rose a little into the air with her wings and began to cheerfully encourage Ash, shouting loudly, "Nite, nite, nite!" Braixen and Astra's Lucario looked at her a little strangely, but said nothing. They thought Dragonite was just loudly cheering to Ash, like others. Corviknight also said nothing, but when no one looked at him, one could see that there was a small smile on his beak.
On the field, events continued, with Lucario bombing Sirfetch'd with Aura balls and Sirfetch'd dodging them. After a while, however, Lucario decided that that tactic would end.
He formed a blue stick from Aura in his right paw and a larger Aura ball in his left hand. Then he threw the ball straight up into the air and then swung it with his Aura stick.
The ball set off flying firmly towards Sirfetch'd and he looked at it with wide eyes. Roy saw it too and shouted, "Dodge it!" However, Sirfetch'd didn't have time to move, and the ball hit the chest.
The blow made him slide backwards on the ground and stay lying on the ground. Lucario smiled contentedly and the from audience heard Serena, Pikachu and Dragonite shouting loud cheers to Ash.
However, Roy had not surrendered, let alone Sirfetch'd. His nature didn't have to give up after little things, so he rose resolutely up from the ground and had a frighteningly calm look on his face. "Brick Break," Roy said to him and Sirfetch'd nodded.
His leek began to shine brightly and he plunged it out towards Lucario. Lucario's smile froze and Ash shouted, "Lucario, shield!" Lucario did not need to be ordered twice when he had already acted.
He spread his hands in front of him and formed a shiny blue shield in front of him. And not too early. For just as he had gotten it done, Sirfetch'd leek hit the shield and caused a violent collision.
After that, the game became dirty. Lucario's Aura shield broke from Sirfetch'd's attack and its power slid Lucario along the field. Quickly, however, he regained his balance, again forming a stick in his hand from Aura and rushed toward Sirfetch'd. He raised the stick above his head and swung down toward Sirfetch'd. However, Sirfetch'd placed his leek transversely in front of him, thus repelling Lucario's attack. However, Lucario did not give up but raised his stick again in a new blow and Sirfetch'd prepared to fight it.
This sword fight continued for a while until Lucario hit Sirfetch'd in the hand, at which point his leek flew away. It slid a short distance to the ground and Lucario now saw a great opportunity. He again lifted his Aura stick to the blow and rushed towards Sirfetch'd.
However, Sirfetch'd was not ready to surrender. Although he didn't happen to have his leek at that very moment, he still had his shield. So, when Lucario then rushed towards him with a stick ready for his blow, he knew how to act.
When Lucario was close enough, Sirfetch'd suddenly placed his shield in front of him. Lucario didn't have time to brake, but stumbled towards the shield and that's when Sirfetch'd pushed his strength to the extreme. He lifted his shield and used it to threw Lucario back at him. Lucario stumbled to the ground, naughty thumbing, and his Aura stick shattered into hundreds of shimmering crumbs. Sirfetch'd, on the other hand, saw at that point his opportunity to come and plunged towards his leek.
He snatched it in his hand and rushed towards Lucario again. Lucario had hit his head on the ground as he fell into it and was now rubbing his temples. But when Ash shouted, "Lucario, watch out!" he still had time to act.
He saw Sirfetch coming and just in time to form an Aura shield in front of him. Sirfetch'd's leek bumped into it and made Sirfetch'd cringe backwards. Lucario, however, stood up, and in his face was a very determined look.
"Aura Sphere," he heard Ash say and formed a blue Aura ball with his paw again. He threw it towards Sirfetch'd, who, however, repelled it with his shield. He repeated the same, and this time Sirfetch'd wasn't as quick to fight the ball as before. Lucario saw his opportunity in it and a crooked smile rose on his face.
He continued to throw Aura balls at Sirfetch'd and each time Sirfetch'd found it harder to fight them. And finally, it could no longer fight the balls, but they hit it in the chest and face and made it bend.
Ash saw an opportunity to win the match and he shouted, "Lucario, use Stone Edge, now!" Lucario nodded and slammed his paws on the ground. As a result, large boulders protruded from the ground, advancing rapidly toward Sirfetch'd.
"Dodge them!" Roy shouted, but too late. Sirfetch'd didn't have time to dodge the boulders and one of them flew it back. And when the dust caused by the boulders finally dissipated, they saw Sirfetch'd lying on the ground and its eyes were replaced by familiar spirals.
Moment of silence, and then... "Sirfetch'd is unable to battle, so the winner is Ash and his Lucario!" declared Gou and the audience cheered. Ash instead grinned wide and raised his fist in the air as a sign of victory, exclaiming, "Yeah!" He saw Lucario flash him a rare smile and heard him say, "It was a good match, Master."
"Yeah, it was," he replied with a grin and looked at the other end of the field. He saw Roy return the fainted Sirfetch'd back to its ball and then look up.
For a moment their gazes met, and for a moment Ash thought Roy was about to say something to him. He saw him opening his mouth a little and stepping a step forward, as if about to get closer. But then he closed his mouth, shook his head, and then he turned and had soon disappeared into the crowd.
Ash didn't have time to wonder this long when congratulations suddenly arrived around him. The first, of course, was Pikachu, who ran up to him and jumped straight on his shoulder, exclaiming happily, "Pikapi, pika chu!" Next, he felt Greninja pat him on the other shoulder, and then someone take him in such a hug that he felt his ribs almost break.
Ash recognized the hugger as Dragonite. She had flown to Ash immediately and hugged him very tightly now. She had no intention of letting go and especially not letting that annoying human girl get close to her Ash. No way.
So when she then saw from the corner of her eye her approaching Ash, her tail somehow happened to slip into her path. To her great satisfaction, she saw the girl stumble into it and fall, and her equally silly fox rushed to her aid immediately. But she didn't like that Ash happened to see it too and demanded to get to Serena right away.
"Dragonite, let me go!" he exclaimed and slipped away from Dragonite's hug. He ran to Serena and helped the girl up and Dragonite watched sourly as Serena wrapped her arms around Ash and pulled him into a kiss.
"You're going through a lost battle, my friend," suddenly heard next to her and Dragonite turned her head in surprise. She saw Lucario standing next to her and also looking at Ash and Serena, arms folded at his chest. Dragonite snorted.
"Speak only for yourself," she said, pointing to Greninja and Braixen, who was just giggling at some thing Greninja had told. "That is the lost battle if what" And with that, she flew away and left Lucario to stare at Greninja and think gloomy thoughts.
"Oi! You two! Are we finally going to see that cafe?" exclaimed Gou and Ash and Serena disengaged from their embrace. They turned their cheeks red to look behind them and saw Gou look at them with his arms folded and grinning. Standing next to him stood a snickering Astra, a neutral-looking Chloe, and sulking Dragonite with a very sour look on her face, and Lucario, whose look didn't really make it clear what he was thinking.
"Oh, yeah, right," Ash said after finally going through it all and turning to Serena again. This one smiled and took Ash's hand (Dragonite's expression became a little sourer) and said, "Come on, Ash. I'm also interested in what's served in the cafe there."
"Yeah," Ash said, and then they all headed back inside the cafe, leading by Serena.
In a moment later...
After a while, they had all gathered at a small corner table. Ash still got a few smiles and congratulations from passers-by and Pikachu also got a few scratches.
The waitress had just brought them a tray full of steaming teacups on the table and at the same time said they didn't have to pay anything. "It's a ma'am's thank you for a great battle," she had said and by the "ma'am" she meant the cafe owner. She had apparently watched the match from her window and had been impressed with Ash's battle skills. After hearing this, Ash had been stunned and asked the waitress to thank the ma'am on his behalf. The waitress had promised to do it.
Soon after the waitress left, they had handed out teacups and small pastries, which had also been included, and almost started eating.
Yeah, almost. For just as Ash was drinking from his own cup of tea, Serena noticed something strange in it and exclaimed, "Ash, wait!"
Ash stopped the cup confused and asked, "What's the matter?" The others also looked at Serena and she quickly explained, "I just noticed that Ash's teacup looks kind of weird, doesn't it?"
The others turned their gaze to it and Ash examined his cup curiously. Otherwise, it didn't look any special, but it looked like it had a face on the edge. That winked eye on him.
Ash startled violently and dropped the cup. But instead of falling to the ground and shattered like normal cups, it remained floating in the air.
They stared at it in great amazement and then they heard someone exclaim, "Teanie! There you are!" In amazement, they turned their faces in the direction of the sound and saw a curvy and short woman running towards them.
The woman had purple hair put on two buns, a purple floral dress, and black high-heeled shoes. As she got closer, they also saw that she had a freckled, heart-shaped and friendly face, green eyes, and teacup-shaped earrings and a black-and-white checkered hairband.
"Teanie?" said Serena, but then realized the woman meant that Ash's teacup. Namely, this seemed to recognize the woman, fly to her, and eventually settle on top of her hairband, forming a strange ornament on it.
The woman looked at it a little glaring until turned again to look in the direction of a gang and said with a sigh: "I'm sorry if Teanie caused any trouble. It likes to wander around and do pranks with the customers and cause all kinds of trouble to them" He looked at the teacup again glaring.
Ash stared at the woman and then said slowly, "Is that a cup of tea, I mean, Teanie... a Pokemon?" The woman turned her gaze to him when she heard this and said with a smile, "Yes they are. They are Sinistea and I guess it's a new Pokemon for you."
"Yeah, it is," said Ash, and Serena took out her Rotom and scanned Teanie with it:
"Sinistea, Black Tea Pokemon and Ghost-type. The teacup in which this Pokémon makes its home is a famous piece of antique tableware. Many forgeries are in circulation"
After Rotom said it, Serena put it in her pocket again. The woman who came to them smiled and said, "Well, Teanie is one of the reasons I came up with the idea of starting up this cafe. Yes, I'm the owner of this cafe," the woman laughed after seeing their amazed look. "My name is Juliet and I own this cafe with my husband."
"Wait, if you're the owner, then you're the one who saw our match from the window!" exclaimed Ash and Juliet nodded. "So I saw and I can say you're skilled," she said with a smile and Teanie on her head showed a thumbs up. Ash thanked her, grinning broadly.
They chatted for a moment longer until Juliet said she had to leave to continue her work. "Paperwork," she said with a sigh and promised that Ash would get a new tea for free. They thanked Juliet once again for the free food and then watched her go for a walk back to her office, Teanie giggling over her head.
When they had finally eaten, they decided to go back to the Pokemon Center. They were a little horrified to go there after what Lucario and Greninja had done, but they had to pick up the rest of their stuff and hand over the room keys to Nurse Joy. So, there were hardly any options.
As they entered the Pokemon Center, they were not surprised that Nurse Joy did not look very happy. In front of her, a carcass of her computer lay on the counter, and by the time they passed, as soon as possible, she muttered something about how some don't know how to behave.
They handed over the keys quickly and quickly faded out. Outside, they breathed a little until Astra turned and said it was time for them to say goodbye.
"What, aren't you coming with us?!" Ash exclaimed, but Astra shook her head. "No, I want to walk alone for a while, in my own peace," she explained, glancing at her Lucario standing next to her, who had been staring at Ash's Lucario all along. "And I have Lucario. I'm not alone."
"But..," Ash began, but Astra silenced him by raising her hand. "No buts, I have already made my decision, and I keep my decisions," she said firmly, and Ash was content to it.
"Fine, maybe we'll meet someday," he finally said with a sigh and Astra grinned. "I'm sure of that," she said, and then turned to leave. "Come on, Lucario! Let's go!"
But Lucario didn't move. She still stared at Ash's Lucario, a look on her face that said she was going through some kind of internal struggle. In the end, something seemed to win and she stepped forward.
"What is she doing?" Ash said out loud when he saw Astra's Lucario stepping resolutely towards his own Lucario. Lucario also seemed to notice that Astra's Lucario was approaching it and opened his mouth to ask what she was going to do. However, he hadn't time to say anything, for then Astra's Lucario was right in front of him and then, to his complete surprise, gave him a small kiss.
Lucario blushed redder than Ash's cap and his expression was indeed priceless.
He heard Greninja howl with laughter and Pikachu snickering on Ash's shoulder. He didn't dare look at Braixen's look and to Ash he said, "Not a single snicker, or I won't tell you anything for a week."
"I didn't mean to," Ash said, but Lucario heard him try to hold back his laughter. It made Lucario's red deepen and he hoped he would have a cap similar to Ash's so he could cover his face with it.
However, Astra's Lucario was pleased with the reaction of her action, as she stepped next to Astra and looked at her, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, we'll go then," Astra said after realizing Lucario's hint and waving her hand at the others. "Bye! Take care!" she exclaimed and then set out to step away.
"Bye!" exclaimed the others and watched as Astra walked away, Lucario beside her. Then Ash looked at the sky and said, "Shall we go? I think like it's about to rain again."
"Yeah, let's go," said Serena, and with those words, they set out to go toward Circhester and Ash's sixth Gym battle.
Thank you everyone who had read this story here too. I try to publish these new parts at same time as to Wattpad, so patience please.
And Raise257
Well, I don't know is this rushed. Sometimes people even say that things happen pretty slowly in this story.