Sorry for the delay everyone! The holidays are often busy, but I'm glad to deliver our first chapter of 2022! While it might seem like filler again, this is actually one of the most important chapters in regards to Amourshipping, as well as something you'll see at the end. Enjoy!
Route 111
A day had passed since the Mauville Food Court tournament, and the group was on the road once more as they traveled to Mt. Chimney. The desert leading up to the cable car station was hot, the sun beating down on the five Trainers as they trekked across the dunes. Ash wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he looked ahead, Serena was fanning her face with her hat, Goh had several bottles of water on hand as he handed one to Chloe, and Brendan looked unfazed by the Hoennian heat.
"How can you stand this heat Brendan?!" Chloe exclaimed before she took a swig of her water. Brendan shrugged.
"…..Because I live here, Chloe? Seriously, I used to walk up and down this desert all the time when I first started my journey. Trainer Hill is here after all, and I used to be one of the best Trainers in it."
"Then why don't we go there?" Ash asked. "It'll feel great inside, and I don't think any of us would want to set up tents in the middle of the desert."
"And I already caught some desert Pokémon," Goh responded, remembering when he had caught the Trapinch line a while back.
"Yeah, I think I need to escape the heat for a bit," Serena noted. "Let's see this Trainer Hill for ourselves!"
"Alright then, Trainer Hill it is!" Brendan exclaimed. "It's been ages since I've been there."
"If you don't mind me asking Brendan, why'd you stop going there?" Chloe questioned. Brendan winced slightly in response, sighing to himself.
"I lost my title," he responded. Brendan looked away from everyone else. "Those who score the best times in the speed battle rounds enter a single-elimination tournament to become the Hill Master. I was the Hill Master for a while, before a Trainer from Sinnoh took it from me."
"A Sinnoh trainer?" Ash asked. He thought to himself who it might be. Paul? Nah. Tobias? Maybe…
"Besides, I found that I'm more of a research guy," Brendan responded. "I enjoyed my time at Trainer Hill but it was best for me to call it quits."
"I can definitely relate to finding your true calling ," Serena noted. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give up on your dream! Ash taught me that and it's a lesson I've held to heart ever since."
Ash smiled as he heard those words, and even swore he saw Serena smile back at him. Ever since his little promise, his observance of Serena had made him notice how highly she truly thought of him. Nevertheless, Ash knew that regardless of what would happen, Serena was still someone he cared about.
Trainer Hill
After several hours of trudging through the desert, the group finally arrived at Trainer Hill. It was a large towerlike structure built into the side of one of the desert cliffs, shielding those near it from the scorching heat of the sun. A few dozen Trainers were outside the complex, chatting or battling with their Pokémon. However, Brendan's arrival had caught the attention of several Trainers as they crowded around like Beldum swarming a Metagross.
"Hey, it's Brendan, the former Hill Master!"
"Brendan! What are you doing with Alola Champion Ash?"
"Have you come to reclaim your title?"
"Who are those people?"
"Everyone, settle down," another trainer interrupted the crowd. Brendan's attention turned to the entrance, where a red-hatted Trainer was standing. He looked eerily calm for someone who saw a local celebrity in the battling world. He looked out of place, wearing thick layers like a Sinnohian would.
"...Lucas?" Brendan gasped. "I haven't seen you since…"
One Year Ago
The Hill Master Invitational was nearing its end, with the finals between Brendan and Lucas taking place. Lucas was down to his Magmortar, as Brendan's Rhyperior had just downed his Porygon-Z. Both Trainers were firmly invested in the battle, simply staring each other down as their Pokémon stood.
Eventually, Lucas simply pointed forward as his Magmortar shot a Fire Blast towards Rhyperior, with Brendan motioning for Rhyperior to block the shot. A ferocious explosion rocked the battlefield, before dispersing to show Rhyperior fully intact. Rhyperior then dashed forward at Magmortar with a glowing fist, signaling a Hammer Arm.
Lucas clenched his fist for Magmortar to do the same, with the Blast Pokémon following suit with a Fire Punch. The two attacks collided with a massive blast of dust and fire, the audience shielding their eyes in the process.
"Rhyperior is unable to battle, which means that Lucas from Sandgem Town has dethroned Brendan as the Hill Master!"
Lucas smiled to himself; this was worth it, he thought.
As the audience cheered, Brendan returned Rhyperior to his Poké Ball, nodding at Lucas. His time as the Hill Master had come to an end.
"Brendan, who's this Lucas guy?" Goh questioned. Lucas turned towards the Kantonian trainer with a smile as he grasped a Poké Ball.
"The current Hill Master," Lucas introduced himself. "I didn't do great in the Lily of the Valley Conference so I decided to come over here and lo and behold, I defeated Brendan here."
"Lily of the Valley?" Ash asked before adding on. "Hey, I took that on too!"
"Oh, I absolutely paid attention to your match with Tobias, Ketchum," Lucas replied. "He knocked me out without any effort, so I just had to see if he'd go defeated."
"Tobias? Wasn't he disqualified a month later due to his Darkrai being purchased from poachers?" a nearby Trainer questioned.
"Tobias had a WHAT?!" Goh and Serena exclaimed. Ash gave them a goofy grin as he tapped one of his Poké Balls.
"Sceptile here put up a great battle and even knocked it out, but unfortunately his Latios made quick work of the rest of us."
"Hold on, he had a Latios too?!" Goh exclaimed as Chloe shook her head in disapproval.
"Says you, Mr. I-Caught-A-Suicune."
"He caught WHAT?!" Brendan, Lucas, and Serena exclaimed simultaneously. Goh flashed a cheeky grin as Ash and Chloe rolled their eyes. Lucas then turned to Brendan with an impish smile.
"You know Brendan, Trainer Hill is currently in its offseason," Lucas stated. "I'm sure myself and the Trainers here would love to have an exhibition match between the two of us."
"Nononono, there's a good reason I retired!" Brendan replied. "I'm more of a Pokémon researcher now, not a battler!"
"C'mon Brendan, it'll be fun!" Ash exclaimed. "We'll cheer like crazy!"
Goh, Chloe, and Serena were also nodding in approval, and the crowd of Trainers also started cheering on Brendan, chanting his name. With the pressure of the crowd pounding at Brendan's ears, he rolled his eyes as he turned towards Lucas.
"Two on two, take it or leave it," Brendan stated, holding up two fingers. Lucas merely nodded in response as the cheering crowd of Trainers grabbed the two and practically carried them into the building. Lucas and Brendan stayed calm, despite the forced crowd surfing.
Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Serena simply looked on in sheer confusion at what they had just witnessed.
"This is VERY different from the Pokémon League conferences," Ash noted.
Trainer Hill Stadium
Trainer Hill's interior was very different compared to other Pokémon battling facilities. While there was still a typical battlefield in the center, it was completely surrounded by an electric fence, leaving the audience on the other side of it. A large, flying Rotom Jumbotron also hovered above the battlefield, displaying close-up shots of the battle to the audience members. From where the group was sitting in the stands, Chloe raised an eyebrow in surprise. Huh.
"Food or drinks, anyone?" an usher asked the group. Ash grinned and waved to the usher.
"One large strawberry ramune please!" Ash stated. "And a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu here."
"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked and waved.
The usher stifled a chuckle; a whole bottle of ketchup? Not even fries?!
"Anything else?"
Serena and Goh didn't order anything, but Chloe leaned in to whisper something to the usher. He then exchanged a thumbs-up with her before walking off.
"Hey Chloe, why'd you feel the need to whisper your order to the guy?" Goh asked.
"It was really loud and I didn't want to shout," Chloe responded. As Goh turned his attention back to the battlefield, Chloe smiled to herself.
Down on the battlefield, Brendan and Lucas stared each other down, Poké Balls in hand. A cool breeze blew through the air.
"ARE WE READY TO RUMBLE?!" a voice shouted across the speaker system. "THIS IS AARUNE, YOUR COMMENTATOR FOR THIS TRAINER HILL EXHIBITION MATCH! CAN WE GET A CHEER FROM OUR AUDIENCE?!"
The audience went absolutely wild, like a crowd of Mankey. Ash and his friends attempted to shield their ears from the noise. Grookey just tapped his stick on the metal seats, unfazed by the commotion.
"In the blue corner, we have the analytical master, all the way from Sandgem Town in the Sinnoh region, and the current Hill Master, Lucas!"
Lucas tipped his hat in approval as the crowd around him cheered. By now he was used to the chanting and cheering of the crowd.
"And in the red corner, we have the previous Hill Master, the son of Hoenn's very own Professor Birch, and one of the top Poké Doll collectors, Brendan!"
"I KNEW IT!" Ash exclaimed as the rest of the group looked at him with questioning stares. Back down on the battlefield, Brendan looked to Lucas with a stare of determination.
"I see you've done up the place since I was last here."
"Let's just say that Galar's gym atmosphere was a major inspiration. Ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be. Swampert, let's go!"
Brendan tossed a Poké Ball onto the battlefield as his Swampert slammed into the ground, pounding his fists before letting out a massive roar.
"Porygon-Z, boot it up!"
Lucas responded in kind with a Heavy Ball, releasing a Porygon-Z onto the battlefield. It sporadically darted from left to right repeatedly, never sticking to one spot, as it floated opposite Swampert.
"Porygon-Z, start things off with Lock-On!"
Porygon-Z nodded at Lucas before spinning its arms. A reticle appeared on Swampert's face, causing him to growl.
"Swampert, stop it with Liquidation!"
Swampert roared as he charged at Porygon-Z with fists cloaked in water, leaping into the air in preparation to bring it down.
"Retaliate with Hyper Beam!"
Porygon-Z reared back its head before unleashing a ferocious beam of energy at Swampert. While Swampert narrowly ducked under the beam, it quickly rebounded back and struck him from behind, knocking him into the electric fence.
"Lock-On ensures a move always hits," Lucas noted. "Now let's use Psychic!"
Porygon-Z let loose a pulse of energy at Swampert, which darted about the battlefield.
"Swampert, jump off the fence and use Seismic Toss!"
Swampert leaned on the fence, not taking any damage from it, before lunging forward, under the Psychic, and tackling Porygon-Z. From there, he spun around with the Virtual Pokémon in its arms, before tossing it into the electric fence. Countless volts surged through Porygon-Z's body upon impact.
"Amazing move! Swampert just used the electric fence Porygon-Z sent him into against it! Can Lucas get out of this situation?"
Ash, Serena, Goh, and Chloe were watching the battle from the edge of their seats, watching to see how Brendan's tactics would play out.
"Brendan would've done great in the Ever Grande Conference," Ash noted. "But I can see what I mean by Trainer Hill being very different. That electric fence tactic wouldn't have been possible in a Pokémon League stadium!"
As Ash cheerfully gushed about the differences between the League and Trainer Hill, Serena smiled to herself as she watched her crush. Ash's enthusiasm for battling was something she had always admired and loved to hear about. She then noticed the usher from earlier returning to the group.
"Here we have one large ramune, complete with two straws," the usher stated as he handed it to Ash. "Perfect for sharing with a friend or date."
"Th-thanks," Ash responded. Putting the drink in his cup holder, he then couldn't help but notice Serena blushing faintly while looking at him and the drink. Ash blushed in response, before realizing what he had just done. It seemed that he got that weird feeling whenever he saw Serena blushing, and it also caused him to blush! What exactly was going on?
As Ash was pondering his thoughts, Pikachu squeaked as the usher handed him his ketchup bottle. He immediately opened it up and started chugging the thing, causing the rest of the group to snicker. Don't ever change, Pikachu. After Pikachu had downed the bottle, he placed it in a cup holder before going back to watching the battle.
"Oh, Ash, are you going to drink that all on your own?" Chloe questioned. Ash was about to nod affirmatively, but stopped himself. Maybe this was an opportunity for another test of sorts.
"Hey Serena, do you want to share this with me?" Ash showed her the ramune. "It came with two straws after all, and it's too big for me to drink on my own."
Serena, hearing those words, smiled giddily to herself ever so briefly. Sharing some sort of food or drink with Ash was a moment she had always wanted to happen. She smiled at Ash with a big blush on her face.
"Y-Yeah Ash! I'd love to!"
Hearing those words, and seeing Serena blush again, brought up the weird feeling in Ash's body once more, confirming one thing: the weird feeling he was getting around her, and by extension the blushing the two of them often did, was tied to moments like this. Even just the little things.
"Ash? You okay Ash?"
Ash had been lost in thought for long enough that Serena waved her hand in front of him. Shaking his head back into reality, he smiled at her before starting to sip from one of the straws. Serena responded in kind as she sipped from her straw, and two seats away from the two of them, Chloe couldn't help but smirk slyly to herself.
"What's got you so excited, Chloe?" Goh asked. Chloe simply winked at Goh in response.
"Just glad to see two friends getting closer."
Back down on the battlefield, the fight between Swampert and Porygon-Z grew more intense by the minute. Brendan's more reckless battling style contrasted against Lucas's cold and calculating movements to make for a great match. Currently, Swampert had Porygon-Z pinned against the electric fence.
"Now use Ice Beam!"
Swampert reared back his mouth before unleashing a beam of pure cold into Porygon-Z's face, still pinning him down.
"Tri-Attack!"
Lucas pointed forward with a finger as Porygon-Z unleashed a trio of orbs forward at Swampert, knocking him away. The two Pokémon stared each other down once more, ready to finish the fight.
"Seismic Toss!"
"Tri-Attack!"
As Swampert leapt at Porygon-Z, three orbs tore their way across the battlefield, which Swampert dived under. Grabbing ahold of Porygon-Z, he prepared to throw it into the fence once more.
Until the orbs bounced off of the electric fence, right into the duo.
The strikes of ice, electricity, and fire severely injured the two Pokémon as they both fell to the ground, KOed. Lucas frowned as he returned Porygon-Z to its ball, with Brendan doing the same with Swampert.
"And in a shocking twist, both Swampert and Porygon-Z are out for the count! We'll take a short break before the last round starts, but in the meantime, guess what time it is?"
The Rotom jumbotron suddenly changed to show a shot of the audience, framed with a colorful red and pink heart. Each corner had a cheesy Luvdisc GIF going back and forth.
"It's Kiss Cam time!"
The jumbotron began to show various couples in the crowd. Some kissed to the cheer of the crowd, while others refused and were booed. Someone even threw popcorn at one couple who refused. As this was happening, Serena was nervously smiling, just HOPING that she and Ash weren't next.
"Hey Serena, look!"
As if on cue, the Rotom Jumbotron hovered mere feet away from Ash and Serena as their faces were now visible to the entire stadium. Some of the crowd cheered in surprise and chanted "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!". Serena nervously looked to Ash with arguably the largest blush on her face that she'd ever had, noticing that he was also faintly blushing. Both of them knew exactly what moment they were thinking of during this time.
Question is, would they repeat it?
"H-hey Ash, if you don't want to, th-that's okay."
As Ash heard those words, he pondered his choices. The crowd was currently egging on the two of them to kiss, while Goh and Chloe were looking on in sheer curiosity. Even Pikachu was egging on! Ash knew that what happened in the airport was something neither of them had brought up since they reunited, but it seemed to be inevitable now.
On the upside, this was a perfect opportunity for Ash to continue his little experiment. How would Serena react if he kissed her, and more importantly, would it produce the weird feeling again? Breathing in to himself, Ash made a choice he thought he'd never make in his entire life. He leaned in, wrapped his hands around Serena's wrists, closed his eyes, and…
He kissed her.
Right on the lips.
Granted, he hadn't made a conscious choice of WHERE he wanted to kiss her, but his mind seemingly made him drift to the lips. After about a second or so, he released the kiss to see Serena blushing an intense shade of scarlet, and he couldn't help but blush in response.
It was confirmed: kissing was tied to the weird feeling.
The crowd went absolutely wild upon seeing the kiss, and Chloe gave Serena a thumbs up as she sat back in her seat, her brain spinning wheels to figure out what had just happened. Then, she swooned and fainted to Ash and Chloe's surprise.
Back down on the battlefield, Brendan and Lucas grasped their last Poké Balls. They looked towards each other, exchanging grins.
"Let me guess, Magmortar?" Brendan questioned. Lucas nodded in the affirmative.
"Rhyperior?"
"You know it. Let's finish this!"
Brendan tossed his Poké Ball into the air as his Rhyperior came jumping out, crashing onto the ground with a thud. Lucas did the same with his Magmortar as the two Pokémon stared each other down. Rhyperior pounded his fists together. Magmortar launched a blast of fire from his arm cannons like a firework.
"And it looks like we have a return to the matchup that started Lucas's reign as the Hill Master! Will things end differently this time?"
The two Trainers stood opposite each other, ready to issue their commands.
"I'm glad I accepted this rematch, Lucas. After all, I never got to properly thank you for assisting with evolving Rhyperior."
"Me too Brendan. Thanks again for the Magmarizer."
"No worries. Now then! Rhyperior, use Drill Run!"
Rhyperior began to rapidly twist his body around as he dashed at Magmortar. The impact forced Magmortar to endure a hit from the tip of Rhyperior's horn, before being hurled into the electric fence.
"Fire Blast!"
Magmortar dislodged himself from the electric fence as he readied a ball of fire from his right arm cannon, before firing it forward at Rhyperior.
"Throw it back with Hammer Arm!"
Rhyperior attempted to hit back the Fire Blast with a glowing fist, but it was too late. A fiery explosion consumed him, and left him with a burn upon fading. As Rhyperior kneeled down, he looked to Magmortar with a face of fury.
"Magmortar, follow it up with Heat Wave!"
"Counter with Rollout!"
Rhyperior began rolling in place as he became surrounded by a gigantic boulder. He then rolled forward, soaking the Heat Wave, and slammed right into Magmortar with a thud as the Fire-type was sent flying.
"Follow up with Drill Run!"
Capitalizing on his opponent's distance, Rhyperior spun around once more as he dived for Magmortar.
"Fire Punch him back!"
Magmortar reared back his fist, before slamming it straight into Rhyperior. The Drill Pokémon continually drilled against Magmortar's burning fist, unaware of what was going on. Magmortar then ignited his other fist before slamming it into Rhyperior, sending him flying and widening the gap once more.
"Fire Punch again!"
In what seemed like a repeat of the previous match, Magmortar charged for Rhyperior with a flaming fist. Brendan smirked slyly before looking at Rhyperior.
"Ready a Hammer Arm and charge forward."
Rhyperior charged forward with a Hammer Arm, but right as he was about to collide with Magmortar, Brendan gave a new command.
"Use Counter instead!"
Lucas's smug expression was quickly replaced with a face of shock as he realized he'd been duped. Rhyperior grabbed Magmortar's burning fist, extinguishing it, before unleashing a ferocious punch. The Fire-type was sent flying across the battlefield, smacking the electric fence with enough force that it caused the jumbotron and lights to temporarily lose power. He then fell to the ground face-first, KOed.
"And in a shocking turn of events, Rhyperior reverses the hand of fate to come out on top in another dual-punch showdown! This means Brendan wins the match!"
The crowd went wild as Brendan smirked, nodding at his Rhyperior. It felt good to be back here again. As he returned Rhyperior to his Poké Ball, he walked towards Lucas and extended a hand.
"Well Lucas, that was a great match. It felt good to battle here again."
"I'm glad I got to face you again. You know, you're always welcome to challenge me in Trainer Hill again."
"I think I've moved on, sorry. Besides, me and my friends have some things we need to get done at Mt. Chimney."
"Fair enough, but remember: my offer is always open."
Lucas and Brendan shook hands, before walking out of the stadium.
"Brendan did great," Ash noted. He then looked to his left to see Serena waking up from earlier.
"Yes Ash, I do…" she murmured to herself, seemingly still half-asleep. Ash looked at her oddly, before smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Glad to have you back, Serena!" he exclaimed. "You missed it; Brendan won against Lucas!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I did," Serena noted. "Sorry I passed out like that…what happened again?"
"I…kissed you," Ash responded, seemingly feeling awkward about saying it. "On the kiss cam, remember? You fainted right after. Is everything okay?"
Serena immediately yelped to herself slightly as she recounted what had happened, before blushing faintly. It felt like her day was a fairytale; Ash DID kiss her! However, she knew that things might be awkward.
"Oh yeah, I'm good," Serena noted. "Must've been something I ate."
"You only had that ramune," Chloe pointed out. Serena laughed nervously in response.
"If you don't wanna talk about it, that's okay," Ash noted. "I'm just concerned."
"I'm fine Ash!" Serena reassured him. "Let's go see Brendan."
As the group got out of their seats and walked back down to the lobby, Chloe pulled Serena by the arm. The two of them started to slow down their walking, before being a decent distance behind Ash and Goh.
"You're welcome for the straws by the way," Chloe said as she winked. Upon realizing they were out of earshot from Ash, Serena began to giddily pump her fists.
"He kissed me Chloe!" Serena exclaimed.
"I'll admit, I didn't expect Ash to do that," Chloe responded. "But I guess it means his shell is cracking somehow?"
"Chloe, I don't want him to do anything he's uncomfortable with," Serena noted. She wasn't ready to bring up that time at the Kalos airport. "This is new territory for him I imagine."
Further up, Ash and Goh were chatting about what had happened.
"So, Serena, eh?" Goh nudged Ash with his shoulder a few times. Ash simply smiled to himself.
"I'll be honest Goh, I did that because I wanted to see how she would react," Ash responded. "After that talk we had in the Pokémon Center, I decided to set a small goal for myself to take note of how Serena reacts to my actions. So far it's…been surprising. A lot of little things pop up that I've never noticed before."
"You always look at things so broadly Ash," Goh replied. "Whenever you take the time to see the little things, it's really nice."
"Yeah, I guess I can be a bit overreaching with how I see things," Ash declared, scratching his neck sheepishly. "But Serena seems happy with what I do."
"You really care about her, don't you Ash?" Goh asked. Ash faintly blushed as he looked at Goh.
"Well, I've known her for a long time. Longer than Pikachu even."
"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head. Ash smiled back at Pikachu.
"Don't worry Pikachu, you're still my best friend of all," Ash assured, rubbing Pikachu's head. "But Serena and I met at a Pokémon Summer Camp when I was seven or so."
"The one we nearly met at?" Goh asked.
"No, it was the year after," Ash explained. "She had hurt her knee while I was searching for a Poliwag, and I helped her back on her feet and return to the campsite. She even kept the handkerchief I had used on her knee and gave it back to me when we met up in Kalos."
"So you two have known each other for around the same time I've known Chloe," Goh responded. As the group kept walking, Goh's words began to ring through Ash's head. Serena being someone he really cared about. The weird feeling hit Ash again, and despite what he had learned about it, there were still a lot of things he didn't understand.
Deep Space
The meteorite drifted through space, continuing its course towards the planet. As it did so, the remains of a rocket ship were directly in front of it. As the two collided, a small chunk of the meteorite broke off, and began drifting separately. It slowly gained speed, and quickly entered the atmosphere. Continuing to burn and spin through the air, it went flying towards a forested area.
"Brendan, you did awesome!" Ash exclaimed as the group reunited with Brendan in the lobby of Trainer Hill. After a quick group hug with the five, Brendan smiled as he clenched his fist.
"It wasn't an easy win, but it was a win nonetheless," Brendan noted. "Let's head to a Pokémon Center for our journey to-"
Brendan's words were interrupted by a massive vibration across the ground, and the sound of an explosion in the distance. Everyone struggled to keep their footing, and Serena even latched onto Ash in fear. Several objects in the lobby fell to the ground as the sounds of glass being smashed and liquids spilling filled the air. Once the shaking stopped, the group looked to each other in worry, and Ash blushed lightly once he noticed Serena grabbing onto his arm.
"What was that?!" Goh exclaimed.
"An earthquake?" Chloe questioned.
"Not quite," Lucas responded, emerging from the entrance. "You guys may want to see this."
The group walked outside to see a massive column of smoke coming from the east. Several Trainers were all standing around the area observing the smoke as Brendan pulled up his PokéNav, or more specifically the BuzzNav app.
"We've just received breaking news: an explosion has occurred outside Fortree City," Gabby explained. "Police and paramedics are already en route to the site of the incident, and casualties are unknown. We'll report on any new information as it comes-INCOMING CALL FROM PROFESSOR BIRCH. INCOMING CALL FROM PROFESSOR BIRCH."
The group's news viewing was interrupted by a phone call. Brendan pressed the button to accept as Professor Birch's face emerged on the screen.
"Brendan, I assume you saw what happened?" Birch questioned, his eyebrows raised in concern. Brendan worriedly nodded in response.
"We felt it all the way from Route 111," he responded. "You don't think it was-"
"It was," Birch replied, then explained in detail. "A fragment of the Grand Meteor Delta broke off and collided with Route 120. Cozmo and I detected it, but we weren't able to warn Fortree in time. We're unsure if this is the only fragment that broke off or if it's the first of many."
"Right," Brendan said. "We were planning to make the last leg of the journey to Mt. Chimney tomorrow, but I think we'll have to pick up the pace and get there for tonight."
"Precisely," Birch responded. "Good luck you four."
"Five, actually," Serena corrected him. Birch looked at her in surprise, until Ash came in front of the screen.
"I invited her along when we bumped into each other in Slateport," Ash noted. "She helped with the Flare incident with Kalos, and Steven Stone can vouch for her seeing as he was also there."
"Fair enough Ketchum," Birch noted. "Good luck you five."
The screen went off as the group looked towards each other. After a few seconds of silence, Ash clenched his fist as he smiled.
"Well, let's get going," Ash declared. "That meteor isn't going to stop itself."
"Pika pi!"
As Ash and Pikachu cheered triumphantly, Serena couldn't help but smile at their determination. She knew that the group would emerge triumphant at the end of all this, and maybe, just maybe, she'd have her moment with Ash.
What a chapter! I hope you all enjoyed!
Some notes: Brendan and Lucas's flashback battle was directly based on the intro of Giratina and the Sky Warrior, down to the Fire Punch/Hammer Arm collision. I loved that movie as a kid and wanted to pay tribute to it in a way that made sense to the story. In addition, some keen-eyed viewers might notice a neat cameo from an ORAS character. Trainer Hill's design and battling style was actually inspired by North American sporting events (down to the Kiss Cam and cheesy announcer), as well as Detective Pikachu's illegal Pokémon battling rings, and even Mario Strikers! I wanted it to feel a lot rougher and unorthodox than traditional Pokémon League battling.
Next chapter, we have the confrontation at Mt. Chimney that we've all been waiting for.