Note! The end of this chapter includes rough violence and a lot of swearing. The reader has been warned.
-
It had been about a week since the wedding and life in Alola was back on track.
Burnet had moved permanently to Professor Kukui's house and continued her work both from there and at the Aether Foundation. Lusamine was once again in charge of it and things were again the same as before the Ultra Beast accident. Almost.
Namely, on the night of the wedding, Lusamine had made a big suggestion to the Alola gang. To know what it was, we have to go back a week in time:
One week earlier:
It was almost midnight and the last guests were starting to leave their homes. The Pokemon had returned back to their trainers from their trip and Braixen and Greninja had held each other's hands and looked very in love.
Ash had guessed that their disappearing had somehow been related to those two, but when he asked about it, he had only gotten a silly, loving grin in response. Ash had to ask Pikachu about it, too, but this one too had just grinned and Ash had had to give up. And Serena, who of course had guessed everything a long time ago, had giggled and promised to explain the matter to Ash later.
Braixen and Greninja were not the only ones who had looked in love. Lillie and Eliel, too, had appeared to them hand in hand, smiling the same, silly, loving smile as the Pokemon. From them, however, Ash had received an explanation that they were now together, and looked at each other very sappily.
Nonetheless, the quartet then left find Lana (she had been found on the water's edge watching with interest two grumpy Krabbys) Sophocles (eating leftover cake ) and Kiawe and Mallow (a short distance away doing "It's not your business!") And finally gathered under a big palm tree from which Lusamine found them.
She arrived at them, a little irritated by Olivia's behavior, and decided to take care of her affairs as quickly as possible. She had also happened to see Lillie's and Eliel's kiss on the beach and wanted to go home quickly to find out everything about it as soon as possible. Not because she was angry, but because she was damn curious.
"I would have something for you," she had said and everyone had turned their heads curiously at her. Sophocles had stuck a slice of cake in his mouth and Lusamine had quietly hoped in her mind that he would not choke on it.
"What now, Lusamine?" Ash had asked curiously and Lusamine had started her thing.
"I'd like to ask you something. From all of you," Lusamine said and the gang looked surprised. Lusamine went on to say, "I'm not sure you know this, but here in Alola, the tissue that connects this and other dimensions is more fragile than elsewhere. The reasons for this have not been found out, but that's the way things are. And because of this, creatures like Ultra beasts are very likely to appearing here"
"So how does this is related to us?" asked Kiawe and Lusamine continued again.
"I was just coming to it. You are the few people who have been on the other side and you know something about it. That's why I, Wicke and Faba decided that this task might be right for you."
Then she blinked around, seemed to find what she was looking for, and said with a smile, "Wicke continues about this. She has all the information regarding the following things."
"That's right," said the smiling Wicke, who came to them just then, carrying a black tablet in her hand. "I'll tell you now a little bit about Ultra Guardians."
"Ultra Guardians?!" said everyone in one voice in wonder, and Wicke nodded. She set the tablet so that the gang could see it and everyone leaned in with interest to take a closer look at what she was showing them.
The tablet had sketches of costumes that were somewhat reminiscent of some kind of superhero costumes, as well as text and images of the Ultra Beast that had also captured Lusamine, as well as a lab-looking place. The gang stared at them in amazement and Ash asked, "What are the Ultra Guardians?"
"They are you if you accept our offer," Lusamine replied. "You would be a group looking for and sending back here possibly lost Ultra Beasts, like that Nihilego"
"Nihilego?" said Lillie in amazement and Wicke nodded and explained, "The name we gave the Ultra Beast. It seemed most appropriate."
The gang nodded, their gaze still at Wicke's tablet and then Lusamine said, "So, what do you say? Will you accept our offer and start your mission as Ultra Guardians?"
The gang looked at each other and then Ash exclaimed: "I'm in! And Pikachu is too! And also all my other Pokémon too!"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu also said agreeing and raised his little fist resolutely into the air. Serena smiled at them, and also said: "I am also in and all my Pokémons too"
"Me too," said Mallow and Kiawe nodded as well. "Yeah, I'm in as well," he said, and Sophocles and Lana also raised their thumbs up as a sign of agreeing.
"If it okay, then I'll pull out of this," Eliel said apologetically, and Lusamine nodded understandingly. Then she turned to her daughter and asked, "What about you Lillie? Are you in?"
Everyone turned to look at Lillie and this looked a little hesitant. "I..." she stammered and Eliel squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"I'm in!" she then exclaimed happily and everyone rejoiced in this. Lusamine in particular looked pleased and said, "Excellent. Now I can go put things forward and continue this mission ."
She then winked an eye to them and left with Wicke away, leaving the gang excited to consider their new mission.
And that's how we found out what Lusamine was asking the gang. But now, we go back to the present moment, i.e. next week's Monday and Pokemon School. The lesson is just beginning, but none of them know that this lesson would become completely unique.
****
"Alola, class!" Professor Kukui said cheerfully as he entered the class and the rumble in the class fell silent. The students looked at Kukui with interest and waited for what the topic of this lesson would be.
"Today we have a very interesting and exciting subject," Professor Kukui began happily and the class began with an enthusiastic buzz. When Kukui was so upbeat, something interesting was guaranteed. Ash in particular looked very excited and Serena smiled at him.
"Namely, today we are exploring Alola's interesting and diverse flora!" declared Professor Kukui and the enthusiasm of the class flowed away in an instant. They were clearly expecting something a little more interesting and the enthusiastic rumble turned into a disappointing mutter. Ash slumped on his desk, and Serena didn't seem very excited either.
Professor Kukui looked disappointed class and said, "Don't look so disappointed now. I haven't finished yet."
A curious mutter was born again in the class, and Professor Kukui continued with a smile, "We don't do this in the traditional way, we go where the plants actually grow. So get up, we go on a little trip."
The class got up curiously and an enthusiastic mutter was heard from them as they headed for the front door. What had Professor Kukui now come up and where would they go?
****
The professor led them to the edge of a nearby forest and the class remained curious to stand in front of it and wait for the professor to tell them what they were going to do in the forest.
Serena looked at the rising forest in front of her and wondered what they might do there. The professor had talked about Alola's plants, so probably this would be somehow related to them.
"What has the professor come up with for us?" Serena whispered to Ash standing next to her and this one replied, "I don't know, but hopefully it's something interesting."
Serena nodded and then she heard Kukui, standing in front of them, saying, "Okay, class, I'm sure you're wondering what we're doing here. Well, let me tell you. You're going to the woods today."
The class whispered with interest. This was starting to seem interesting. Kukui smiled at them and Lillie asked, "But how does this relate to Alola's plants?"
"Good question, Lillie," Professor Kukui said. "And I was just getting into it. This has a lot to do with plants, because you have to look for them."
The class looked confused. However, Kukui did not explain the matter in more detail, but distributed a paper card to everyone.
Serena looked at the card curiously and noticed that it depicted five different plants. She glanced at Ash's card, and noticed that this one also had pictures of five different plants on his card, but they were a little different than her.
The class still seemed confused and Professor Kukui smiled at their confused expressions. "Each of you got yourself a card with five different plants. They're all a little different. It's your job to find the plants on your card in this forest."
It caused a louder rumble and Ash opened his mouth to ask something. But Professor Kukui hadn't finished yet and muffled the rumble by saying in a louder voice, "BUT that's not all there is yet. Here's a little twist and that's that this is a competition."
The class became more interested and Kukui continued, "That, who finds all five plants first and brings them here to me is the winner. You have an hour to look for them. In an hour you have to come back here. You know the time is over when the school bell rings. Everyone can take one or two Pokemon to help. And the time starts now! "
The students rushed excitedly into the forest and Professor Kukui was left at the edge of the forest to wonder who would be able to win this little competition.
****
"Okay, Pikachu, you get to be my one helper," Ash said after jogging a short distance among the forest flora and pausing for a moment. Pikachu on his shoulder nodded resolutely and said, "Pi-Pikachu!"
"And you, Greninja, get to be second," Ash said, picking up one of his Pokeballs. Soon a blue ninja Pokemon appeared in front of him, saying "Ninja!" and Ash nodded.
"Okay, guys, we need to find these five plants.." he showed the card with their pictures. "..as soon as possible. We have an hour. So, eyes open and if you see any of the plants shown here, tell me."
Pikachu and Greninja nodded and then they started jogging forward again, with the Pokemon staring at the ground and Ash thinking about how was Serena doing right now.
****
Serena was doing very well. She had already found one of her plants and wondered where to best find the next one. "Okay, Braixen, one collected, four left. Keep your eyes open, they can grow anywhere," she said to her helper and this one nodded and raised her thumbs up.
Serena walked along with some sort of path and stared intently at her white card depicting all five plants. She had already found a small, orchid-like flower and was now carrying it in her hand. Has Ash found any plants yet? she wondered and wondered which plant would most likely be found next.
She was so focused on examining her card that she didn't notice where she put her foot. Because of this, she suddenly felt herself stumbling something and falling to the ground on her stomach.
"Wha..!" she exclaimed as she flew on her face to the ground and heard Braixen say worriedly, "Braixen brai!" She opened her eyes, which had instinctively closed when she fell, and turned to sit on the ground. She waved the worst dust from her clothes, checked that her blue ribbon was not torn, took her plant patch, and then rose curiously to her feet to see where she had stumbled.
"Where did I stumbled?" she thought aloud and then noticed Braixen pointing something half-buried in the ground and saying "Brai braixen!" It was clearly what Serena had stumbled upon and Serena stepped curiously to it.
"What is it, Braixen?" she asked her, but Braixen seemed unaware, so Serena squatted to look more closely at the reason for her stumbling. She moved a little loose soil off the thing and noticed that the thing was very smooth material and chocolate brown in color.
Serena dug up the thing better out and soon it was fully revealed. She gasped in amazement when she realized what it was. Braixen did the same and they both stared in amazement at their revelation.
The thing Serena had stumbled upon was a small, chocolate brown egg. In the middle of it ran a lighter zigzag pattern and Serena took it in her arms.
"Egg? What is it doing here half-buried in the ground?" she thought aloud and wondered what Pokemon egg it might have been. "Where's its mother? Or father? Is it abandoned?"
"Brai-xeen," said Braixen and Serena stood up with an egg in her arms. She tried to blink to see if there were any hints of the egg's possible parents nearby, but saw nothing but leaves, bushes, various plants, and trees. She concluded that the egg's parents were no longer nearby and that made her sad.
"Braixen, we need to take this egg to Nurse Joy for examination," Serena said and Braixen nodded resolutely. Serena then took her bag from her back and gently placed the egg inside it. Then she put the bag back on her back and said, "Come on, Braixen, let's go."
"Braixen!" said Braixen nodding and they set out to walk forward along the path.
But things didn't go quite as Serena had planned. For the next thing Serena did was that she screamed and soon found herself hanging out with Braixen in some sort of net attached to a tree.
"What is this? Where did we end up?" Serena said in a panic and tried to get free of her trap. However, it didn't work out and instead of being released, Serena found herself getting even more entangled in the net.
"How do we get out?" she thought and then came up with. "Braixen, use Scratch!" she exclaimed and Braixen nodded and waved her paw over the net.
It made no change to it and Serena stared at it in silence. Why hadn't the move been effective in the net? She was just instructing Braixen to make the move again when she heard a voice from below that made her blood clot.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Pretty good catch, wouldn't I say. And like you, I wouldn't scratch that net, it's made to withstand anything."
Serena turned and saw a very harsh looking man standing on the ground. A long scar passed through this face and he was wearing clothes that could best be imagined for some type of motorcycle gang. The man held his hands in the pockets of his pants and Serena saw a silver pistol hanging from his belt. Her eyes widened and she began to be frightened.
"We're trapped!" she screamed and the man nodded, smiling indignantly and saying, "Sharp attention, chick. And now, it's time for you to take a nap, chick. You've seen too much."
And so he raised his silver pistol towards Serena and Serena screamed louder than ever before.
****
"Okay, guys, it was fourth, one more left," Ash said when Greninja handed him the fourth plant.
Ash smiled contentedly. He had already found four of his plants and was missing only one more. Now fast it somewhere and I'm a winner, he thought, and seemed pleased.
He was just turning from one path to another when he heard it. Scream. And it came from a person he knew very well.
"Serena!" he exclaimed in horror and set off to run in the direction of the scream. Pikachu and Greninja followed him, and Ash's thoughts filled only one thing: Serena would scream that way only if she was in real danger.
****
Joey was annoyed. Had been annoyed all week and even the previous one. Actually, he had been annoyed since he had seen that purple gas ball at those stupid teens on the beach.
Joey was annoyed because he hadn't come up with any plan to grab that ball. It annoyed him immensely, for usually he was a master at inventing all sorts of plans. Even Mark had once had to admit that his plan had been better than its idiot.
But since Joey hadn't come up anything, he had continued what he did best; he had put various traps around the forests of Alola and hoped for prey. By now, the catch had been weak, with only a few Rattatas and Yungoos, and it had made Joey angry.
But today had changed. Joey's trap had been triggered and his alarm had told it to be much bigger than some fucking Rattata. So, Joey had been excited to check out his trap, only to be disappointed to find that some stupid teenager had trapped herself in it.
This teenager still happened to be that most annoying i.e. screaming sort and Joey had been annoyed even more. He didn't usually kill people, it just left ugly marks and a bunch of Officer Jennys behind him, but now he was so irritated that he didn't care even if that girl died. Besides, the girl had a pretty Braixen with her and the Boss would pay well for it. And hadn't Boss' Slaking longed for the company?
So, he had raised his credit pistol toward the girl's pretty face, at which point that stupid bitch had, of course, started screaming more and begging Joey to save her and her silly Braixen. Joey had replied that he had no intention of killing Braixen, Boss' Slaking would get a great partner for it. The girl was, of course, horrified and Braixen had looked even more horrified.
But Joey had closed his ears to the girl's begging and pressed the trigger lower. He had wished the girl, who was now crying furiously, sweet dreams and aimed the barrel of the pistol better at the girl's forehead.
He never got a bullet shot in the girl's stupid forehead. For just as he was doing it, he had heard an angry voice shouting, "Greninja, Water Shuriken!" and the bullet had just touched the net's hanging rope. Joey had felt a hell of a pain in his hand and his grip on the pistol had flared.
"What the fuck!?" he shouted and held his hand and turned his gaze angrily towards the attacker and saw the damn angry teenage boy standing with his Greninja and Pikachu near him. That silly girl had shouted in relief, "Ash!" and Joey had found the girl to have some kind of relationship with that idiot standing in front of him.
"Release Serena and Braixen immediately or.." Ash growled cautiously, but Joey just grinned smugly.
"Or what? You hit me? Ninja were commanded to throw another Shuriken on my face? Listen kid, you do not scare me, I have faced a lot worse than the irritable teenager," he said mockingly, and saw the boy's hands clenched into fists.
But then he happened to look at the boy better and realized that he was the same boy who had had that hovering gas ball. Joey's eyes widened. How could he have such good luck!
"All right, I'll release your girlfriend if you give me that giggle gas ball," he said, but the boy didn't seem to realize what he meant.
"Which ball are you talking about? I said release Serena NOW!" the boy growled and Joey's smile froze. So a dumber case. Fine. It is time to take stronger action.
Joey took a long knife from his belt and before Ash had time to do anything, he threw it towards the net and Serena and Braixen hanging in it.
However, the knife did not hit either of them, but the hanging rope of the net. It broke and Serena and Braixen dropped, slamming down. The knife again stopped, slamming into the trunk of the tree and stuck to it.
Joey tore net roughly over Serena, who had been went unconscious by crash, and dragged the girl with him so that he stood directly opposite Ash again. Braixen was bent on the force of the blow and lay unconscious on the ground. Greninja was rushing to her when Joey shouted, "Not a step, or the girl will die!" and he took another knife from his belt, and set it straight on the carotid artery of Serena.
He held Serena's head roughly up so that her neck remained open and held the knife all the time over her open neck. Serena herself was still semi-unconscious and Ash looked at this helplessly doing nothing and angry about this.
"If you move, your girlfriend will be dead!" Joey shouted and moved the knife even closer to Serena's neck for more proof. Ash growled and asked the pure poison in his voice, "What do you want?"
"I want that purple, giggling gas ball that you had one day at the beach," Joey hissed and moved the knife closer to Serena's neck again. "Give it, or we'll see how beautiful red girl's blood is. I won't wait long."
Ash finally realized what a gas ball Joey meant and shouted, "But I don't have it anymore! It turned into Solgaleo and left! I don't know where it is nowadays!"
"You're lying!" Joey shouted the knife already touching Serena's throat. "You're fucking lying! It didn't turn into a damn Solgaleo, not in the fuck! You're just hiding it somewhere! Give it to me or the girl will die! I won't ask a second time!"
Joey didn't know that his cry had woken Serena. She immediately noticed a knife over her neck, but managed to curb her scream and instead waited for the right opportunity to strike.
Ash looked helpless. "I'm not lying! It really turned into Solgaleo and left! You have to believe me, please, release Serena."
Ash's begging didn't affect Joey. "I count to ten. If by that time the ball isn't in front of me here, I'll push a knife through the girl's throat and you can only blame yourself. One... two.."
Ash could do nothing because Nebby was no longer with him and if he moved, that crazy man would kill Serena. Joey had already reached eight on his count and a vicious grin spread across his face.
"Nine.. and.. ten... All right, so you chose your girlfriend's death. Say bye bye to her and ask her to say hello to Arceus!"
But just as he was pushing the knife through Serena's throat, Serena struck and punched him straight in the face.
Joey yelled in pain and Serena saw her opportunity come and tore herself off the man's grip. However, she felt the knife still in the man's hand cut into her arm and felt a sharp pain in it.
At the same second as Serena freed herself, Greninja rushed over to the bent Braixen and lifted her to sit against the trunk of the tree. Braixen was still unconscious and Greninja hoped this hadn't hurt herself very badly.
Serena stepped closer to Ash and felt something warm run down her arm. She looked at it and saw that Joey's knife had made a deep cut in it and a lot of blood was leaking from the cut. Serena grimaced in pain and pressed her hand over the wound. A little stupid act, because it just hurt even more.
"Serena, your hand," Ash said worriedly and had come to the girl. Meanwhile, Joey, holding his chin with his left hand, which Serena had hit very hard, squeezed the knife in his right hand tighter and shouted angrily, "Now you fucking bitch die!"
He set his knife to throw it at Serena, but Ash decided otherwise. "Not gonna happen! Pikachu, Iron Tail!"
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed angrily and jumped in the air and its tail began to shine bright. Then it hit his tail directly into Joey's knife hand and the blow made Joey yell in pain and drop the knife to the ground where Ash quickly grabbed it and threw it away.
"You regret this," Joey hissed at them, holding his hand, which was apparently broken. He stared at them for a moment until he turned abruptly and started running away, still holding his hand.
"He's running away!" Serena shouted, but Ash had no intention of letting that psychopath escape. That's why he exclaimed, "Greninja, now!" and Greninja immediately realized what he had to do.
He held out his leg and Joey, who didn't have time to notice it, stumbled into it and fell directly on his broken arm. He roared in pain and then Greninja, who had gotten a perfect idea, quickly tied Joey's arms and legs with this net and all the time Joey swear at him.
"Officer Jenny gets to take care of you when we get out of here," Ash said toxicly and Joey growled at him, "Be careful. One day you and your bitch regret that you interfered my business."
Greninja, who could not stand that his trainer being insulted, responded to Joey's words by squeezing him out of his broken hand. Joey shouted in pain and Ash said, "Greninja, that's enough. He's not worth it."
"Ninja," Greninja said angrily and then walked over to Braixen, with whom Serena was already. She had torn the bandage from her shirt around her arm, but it already showed a dark red spot. She had squatted next to Braixen and watched this with concern.
"She still hasn't woken up," Serena said with great concern and Greninja, who was just as worried, touched Braixen's face tenderly. "Ninja," he said quietly and then lifted Braixen into his arms.
"We need to get her to Nurse Joy quickly," Serena said worriedly and Greninja nodded. "Yeah, and we have to take that bastard to Officer Jenny, too," Ash, walking to them, said, pointing the bounded Joey. "And I'm sure that he was the one who shot Altaria"
"Terrible, but you're probably right," Serena said in horror, glancing at Joey, who stared at them angrily. "But how do we get him dragged up there?"
"That's the problem," Ash said, and they remained silent to think about it. And because of that, they didn't notice what Joey was doing.
He had no intention of letting those stupid teens take him to Officer Jenny. The Boss wouldn't like it, he would definitely get the punishment after he got caught and worse, Mark would get to laugh at him. And that was not what he was going to allow.
A vicious grin appeared on his face as he noticed a short distance away his pistol on the ground. The plan was completed in his head as soon as he saw it and his grin widened. Now he should just get his hands free.
Fortunately, he knew the solution, too. Those teens didn't know he still had a third knife attached to his belt. So he moved his bounded hands so that the knot in the net hit the blade of the knife.
Many did not know that Joey's knives were the few materials that could harm his nets. Therefore, all he needed to do was rub the net a little against the blade of the knife and the knot had soon opened.
Joey shook his hands free and then cut his legs free as well. Then he took his pistol from the ground and stood up.
Now those brats would regret what they had done to him. Joey felt the nice weight of his pistol in his hand and then he grinned maliciously, aiming the pistol at that stupid girl who had started this mess.
It's just a pity that that silly bitch happened to see him and when she noticed what he was doing, her eyes widened and then that stupid boy turned around and also noticed his intention and rushed in front of that girl shouting, "No!"
But Joey had already had time to press the trigger.
****
The shot echoed in the woods and caused Flying type Pokemon to fly out of the trees. Ash suddenly felt a strong pain in his shoulder and he fell to the ground holding his shoulder.
"Ash, NO!" Serena exclaimed and rushed to him. Ash felt pain in his shoulder the magnitude he had never felt before and he felt his T-shirt get wet from something and realized it was his own blood.
"No, no, no, no," Serena cried and squatted next to Ash. She saw a red spot on Ash's shoulder spread all the way bigger and Ash looked like he was suffering from very strong pain. "Don't die, please, don't die.."
"Serena..", Ash whispered and Pikachu looked at this in shock. His trainer had been exposed to many dangers during his life, but he had never been shot before and Pikachu was shocked to witness something like that.
Joey cursed. Of course, it was his right hand that had to be broken and he had to aim with his left hand, which was nowhere near as good as his right. Even now, his shots had only hit the shoulder of that stupid boy, not the head, for example, which would have been a much better place. Besides, the shot was for the girl, not the boy.
Fuck this shit, Joey stated and decided to disappear from the scene. The boy would hopefully die of blood loss and by then he would be a long way off. He turned and was about to step away when something suddenly slapped him straight in the face, caused him to fall on his back, hit his head at the root of the tree, and then everything turned black.
****
"Great, Steenee, now that asshole is easier to take to Officer Jenny," Mallow said with her hands on her hips and Steenee looked pleased with herself. It had slapped Joey directly in the face with leaf-like protrusions and that's why Joey was now lying unconscious on the ground.
"Was that absolutely necessary?" Lillie asked, feeling frightened and Mallow snorted. "It was, otherwise that crazy would have escaped," she said resolutely and Lillie tried to look convinced.
Mallow looked at Joey lying on the ground in disgust and then shifted her gaze to the faction in front of her. Her expression turned from disgusting to worrying as she looked at it and wondered how those two always managed to get into trouble.
Ash was on his knees on the ground, holding his left shoulder with his right hand. He was very pale, and Serena's face was not much more colorful. She was on her knees next to Ash and looked very worried.
"What has happened here?" Mallow asked as she walked over to Ash and Serena and the Pokemon. "We heard a shot and immediately came to see if any Pokemon were injured."
"Ash was shot," replied Serena her voice trembling. "That crazy man shot him in the shoulder. Braixen is also unconscious and I hurt my hand"
Mallow looked very worried and squatted on the ground as well. "Yeah, doesn't look good," she said and then got back up.
"We need to get you to the doctor quickly and Braixen to Nurse Joy. Lillie, go to Professor Kukui and tell him what's happened. Tell him to call Officer Jenny too, that crazy man needs to get behind bars. I'll be here at that time!"
Lillie nodded and started to run away. Mallow watched her go and hoped that she would bring help soon.
****
"I arrest you on suspicion of attempted murder, aggravated assault, smuggling, damaging Pokemon, and aggravated intimidation. You have the right to remain silent, as all your sayings may be used against you..."
Officer Jenny led the sour-looking Joey holding handcuffs away from the square, and Professor Kukui watched them leave.
After Lillie appeared scared from the forest, and told what had happened to Ash and Serena, Kukui had acted immediately. He had immediately call Officer Jenny and the first aid team to the scene and then waited for them to arrive.
Officer Jenny had immediately arrested Joey after she first got this awake. She was relieved, as the Pokemon damager, who had plagued Alola for a long time, had finally been caught. Joey's arrest also made Officer Jenny happy for another reason. She was sure this man could lead them into the footsteps of a criminal league specializing in the smuggling and trafficking of Pokemon.
The first aid team had immediately taken Ash and Serena to treatment. Nurse Joy, who had also arrived, had taken care of Braixen, whom Greninja had not let go of for a moment.
Serena had also shown the egg she had found, which had miraculously remained completely intact, to Nurse Joy. Joy had examined it, found it to be perfectly fine, and said Serena should take care of it if she just wanted to. Of course, Serena had wanted to and she had immediately pressed the egg against her chest and promised to take care of it like her own child.
Ash had made paramedics very worried. He was pale and lost a lot of blood. The paramedics had cleaned and bandaged his wound, but Ash would still have to go to the doctor where the gunshot wound would be treated properly. Serena had also get stitches to her cut and she would also have to see a doctor.
Serena was horrified to see Ash so quiet and.. absent. Paramedics had said it was due to shock, but Serena still didn't like it. She hadn't agreed to move away from Ash, not even when Officer Jenny had asked her to describe everything that had happened on the spot. She had held Ash from his healthy hand and reiterated that this would be fine. Ash had smiled weakly and Serena had promised not to leave next to Ash.
****
Later that day, Serena sat Pikachu in her arms on the edge of Ash's hospital bed. Doctors had had to remove a bullet from Ash's shoulder and it had required a little more effort. Serena's hand was also stitched properly and she had been given a bandage over the wound and instructions not to wet it. Ash had also received a bandage around his shoulder and the same instructions as Serena, though he was not allowed to move his shoulder either.
Serena sat quietly on the edge of the bed and squeezed her blue ribbon in her fist. Pikachu slept in her arms, just as Ash slept in his bed, and Serena stroked Pikachu tenderly behind its ears. Pikachu had had to experience shocking things today, as did Serena, and it had all taken away Pikachu's energy completely.
Serena sat quietly, wondering what kind of "vacation" she had had in Alola. If she had been told in May's house, what she would come to experience at Alola, she would surely have laughed and very loud. But now Serena didn't laugh and she sighed.
Suddenly she noticed movement from the corner of her eye and she noticed Ash moving. He opened his sleepy eyes and said, "Serena.."
"What now?" Serena asked and took Ash's hand and Ash looked at her tired. He moved and then felt pain in his shoulder and grimaced.
"I guess I hurt myself pretty badly," he stated and Serena smiled nonetheless. "Yeah, that's what you did," she said, rolling her eyes and Ash chuckled.
Then he frowned and he said slowly, "But one thing left to bother me."
"What?" Serena asked and wondered what it could be. She was surprised to see Ash grin and say, "Who really won that Professor Kukui's competition?"
Serena blinked in disbelief as she heard it and then burst out laughing and said, "Oh Ash." Ash looked at his girlfriend confused, and then Serena leaned closer to him, gave a light kiss to his lips, ruffled his hair, and then got up and said, "Let it remain an eternal secret." And then she left from the room and left Ash to smirking at her back.