"Ash, are you sure we should go there?" said Serena, staring at the rising forest in front of her. "It doesn't look very friendly"
It had been four days since they had left Hulbury for Motostoke and now a dense, dark forest was spreading before them, which, in Serena's words, did not look very friendly.
"Do we have other options?" said Ash scratching his head and Pikachu on his shoulder said, "Pikaa.."
"Could the forest go around?" Serena asked hopefully and vibrated as she looked into the dark depths of the forest. "Gou, could you look at Rotom?"
Gou tapped something at his Rotom Phone and said, "Well, the forest is spreading in all directions, so the go around won't work and none of us have a strong enough Flying-type Pokemon to carry us. So, I think we just have to go through."
Serena didn't like what she heard, but really couldn't do anything else. She picked up one of her Pokeballs and let Braixen out.
"Brai!" said Braixen and Serena said to it, "Braixen, could you show us the way with your branch? I wouldn't want to walk in the dark."
"Braixen brai," said Braixen and took her branch from her tail. She lit that tip to burn and the branch became a great torch. "Okay, now we don't have to walk in complete darkness," Serena said, a little more pleased, but still looking a little skeptical as the flame of Braixen's branch created strange shadows on the trunks of the forest trees.
"Once that thing is taken care of, could we go already? I don't want to stand all day just here," Ash said a little impatiently, but looked at the forest a little suspiciously. He wasn't as reluctant to step into the woods as Serena, but he still didn't like the idea of them walking through a dark and gloomy forest in the shadows of anything that could be hiding there, lurking and waiting possibly preys...
Serena took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'm ready" Then she, Braixen in her side, came into the forest before Serena would change her mind and Gou immediately followed her.
"I have a bad feeling about this, the Aura of the forest doesn't feel comfortable," Riolu said through Aura to Ash and looked hesitant.
"There's nothing you can do about it now, we have to go through it, whether you like it or not," Ash said resolutely and then he stepped into the woods too.
Riolu quickly followed him and soon the dark forest had swallowed them into it deep veins, and the wind blowing from the nearby grass hills remained howling after them.
****
A dark forest spread around them like a shading blanket as they walked along a faintly distinct path. The gust of wind was not felt either and it felt as if the forest had absorbed all the possible sounds.
In addition to the sounds, the forest had apparently absorbed all the light. It was almost completely dark in the woods and without the Braixen's torch, they would probably have just groped somehow forward.
Although Serena had entered the forest first, she had somehow managed to drift last. She blinked nervously around her and her hand searched for the blue ribbon she had sewn on the front of her dress after Ash gave the red to attach to her hair. Every small movement or sudden voice made her startle, and the shadows created by Braixen's torch on the environment made her little more paranoid little by little.
Ash noticed Serena's nervousness and slowed his pace so that he soon walked next to the girl. "Are you okay?" he whispered to Serena and in the unnaturally felt silence of the forest, the whisper felt like a loud shout.
Serena was startled by Ash's whisper and she shook her head. "No, this forest scared me," she whispered back, though she felt she might as well have shouted outright.
Ash understood what she meant. He himself didn't like this place either, but Serena seemed to be affected even more strongly. He looked at the tensed shoulders of the girl's fear and nervousness and she noticed that Serena's other hand was pressed tightly around her blue ribbon.
Not thinking about it either, Ash grabbed Serena by the hand and squeezed it soothingly. He didn't think of it as a bigger thing, but for some reason, he felt comfortable holding Serena's hand.
Pikachu, sitting on his shoulder, and Riolu, walking beside him, exchanged a knowing look, as they both knew what Ash felt about Serena, though, dense when he was, did not realize or understand his feelings himself.
Serena felt a calming pressure in her hand and she looked down. She saw Ash taking her hand and squeezing her hand soothingly.
The sight made her blush and she glanced at Ash. The boy flashed her familiar smile and Serena quickly turned her gaze away. However, she did not detach her hand from Ash's grip, understandably, and even though the forest was dark, she could have sworn she had seen a tinge of pink on Ash's cheeks.
****
They moved forward and as they walked the terrain changed slightly. On their right side, the trees gradually disappeared and were replaced by a dried-up riverbed bordered by almost vertical embankments. On the other side of the river, however, the forest continued to be as gloomy and dark as before.
On the ground, their feet hovered over the mist and it made the terrain look even more ghostly. It swirled like a white veil around their ankles and the moisture coming from it gradually made their shoes and socks wet.
Serena could also have sworn that she saw small, blue fires, will-o'-the-wisps, among the mist, waiting for the right moment to lead them off their weak path somewhere in the depths of the forest and mislead there.
They walked near the edge of the riverbank and looked suspiciously at the bottom of it. The mist swirled there too and it made the bottom feel deeper than it was. Their weight caused a few pebbles to come off the edge and they heard them rolling to the bottom of the river, making a rattling sound.
"What happened to the river?" whispered Serena aloud their all thoughts. "I mean, why did it dry up?"
"I don't know," Ash whispered back. For some reason, whispering seemed a more natural way to speak in the woods than in a normal voice. "Maybe something blocked it upstream. Or maybe something happened to its spring."
"Either way, we'll never know," Gou said, staring at the hazy bottom of the dried-up bed.
Serena leaned further along the edge to see the bottom of the channel better. She stepped right on the edge of the embankment and reached for her upper body. And it started a complex chain of events.
At first Serena felt the ground betray under her and she noticed the edge collapsed. She screamed and noticed that she was leaving to slip at a rapid pace towards the bottom of the channel along an almost vertical embankment.
"Serena!" Ash exclaimed and held out his hand to the girl at lightning speed to pull this up. Serena had time to grab it, but it didn't work, but instead of pulling Serena up, she pulled Ash towards the bottom.
Ash staggered and fell according to Serena. In that rush, he accidentally push Riolu, who also fell, and went to drop down, and Braixen, who did the same. Instead, Pikachu, who had stood a short distance away, as well as Gou, stayed on top and stared as Ash, Serena, and two of the Pokemon rolled down toward the hazy bottom.
****
Serena hit the bottom of the river at a rapid pace and at the same time hit her hand painfully on something. She heard a thud close by and guessed Ash had also hit the bottom. It was followed by two minor thuds and then became silent.
Serena slowly raised her head and found herself lying on her stomach on a dried riverbed full of rocks, sand, and mist. She could hardly see in front of her, for a hefty cloud of dust hovered in the air, caused by their squirming-slipping-falling to the bottom.
Serena slowly got up to sit down and rubbed her hand on her forehead, feeling hurt on her wrist. She thought she had hit it on some nearby stone when she encountered the base and thought about it, it felt like a disgusting sore on her wrist.
"Serena, are you okay?" the voice of Ash was heard and Serena noticed this coming to hee through an ever-floating cloud of dust. He reached the girl and beside him walked Riolu and Braixen.
"I'm fine, I guess," Serena said, but at the same time pain in her wrist grew, and she gasped involuntarily. "I guess I injured my wrist when I hit the bottom"
Ash knelt beside Serena and noticed that her wrist was indeed swollen and bruised. "Yeah, I agree," he said and got back up. "It should show to the doctor. But we should get up here first"
Serena also stood up and Braixen came to her looking worried. "Braix braixen," it said, looking at Serena's sore wrist with concern.
"No worries, Braixen, I'm okay," Serena assured her Pokemon, but Braixen didn't look convinced. And not Serena herself, because that's when the wrist sore particularly badly again and she had to bite her lip not to complain out loud.
Suddenly it was, "Ash, Serena, are you okay?!" and they heard the voice of Gou from above, followed by Pikachu's chime, "Pika pikapi Pika!"
"Yeah, we're alive, but Serena injured her wrist, and we don't know how to get up," Ash shouted back and, in support of his words, tried to climb up the sandy embankment, just to slide back down. "We can't climb up, the slope is too steep"
It was clear from above how Gou cursed and then became silent for a moment. Then he shouted again, "Stay there, Pikachu and I will try to get some help!"
"All right, we stay!" Ash shouted back and then heard Gou and Pikachu set out to walk away.
****
"Ash, how long is it going for them to come back?" Serena asked nervously and sat down on a large rock.
"I don't know, hopefully not for long," Ash said and sat down on the rock as well, watching Riolu try to climb up the sandy embankment, but without success.
The minutes crawled, but Gou and Pikachu were not visible. Serena stared at her feet, watching the mist swirl and squeezing her other hand into her fist as she felt more severe pain in her wrist again.
Ash noticed that Serena was clearly hurt. He also noticed that the girl was blinking around all the time and had clenched her healthy hand into her fist.
"Serena, are you sure you're okay?" he asked anxiously and then Serena could no longer endure but burst into tears.
"No I'm not!" she sobbed and got up. "My wrist hurt, I'm scared and I hate this place! I wish we had just walked around this forest, even if it had gone into eternity!"
Ash was a little confused as Serena began to cry, but recovered quickly and then did what he saw as the only right thing. He got up and hugged Serena tightly and whispered in her ear, "Shh.. don't worry, everything will be fine, I promise it."
Serena was shocked by Ash's surprising gesture and she blushed despite everything. She hesitated for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around Ash and leaned against his shoulder.
Gradually, her sobs subsided and she felt her tears dry. However, she did not lift her head off Ash's shoulder and now that she had accumulated her emotions, she made up her mind to scream with happiness.
Ash hugged her. For someone it would have been a small thing, but not for Serena. After all, it was Ash, a dense Ash who realized nothing about love, romance, or admiration. He had hugged Serena on his own initiative and now Serena was hovering in the clouds, and then she moved her head slightly so that she noticed that she was staring directly into Ash's auburn eyes.
Ash liked it. He was pleased when Serena leaned against him and hugged him tightly. He couldn't say why, but he could have continued this indefinitely. He raised his head and found himself staring straight into Serena's sparkling blue eyes.
They looked at each other very closely and Ash was able to count the freckles on Serena's face. Then Serena leaned a little closer and Ash's eyes widened and then...
And then there was the loud "Ri, Riolu!" and their moment were broken.
****
Serena turned her eyes a little embarrassed, blushing aside, and suddenly became extremely interested in her shoelaces. Ash turned angrily to Riolu.
"Why do you always have to ruin everything?" he snapped through Aura and Riolu looked at him hurt.
"I'm sorry, Master, if I ruined your sweet moment," he said coldly. "But I noticed a special Aura coming from there and thought we could go see where it came from," Riolu explained, pointing forward at something the fog hid from view.
Ash stared at him. "No, we can't leave, Gou told us to wait here and if we leave, he doesn't know where to look for us," he said and Riolu snorted.
"Sure, if they're even coming back. Have you noticed them coming back? No, and I'm not, too. They've probably been eaten by some Pokemon living in this forest and we'll wither here if we wait for them and soon the Mandibuzzs will bite our bare bones..."
"Enough! I don't want to hear a word like that anymore!" Ash said angrily and Riolu closed his mouth (figuratively, after all, they spoke through Aura), but glared at Ash, putting his hand in the gust. "Besides, I'm not going to leave Serena and Braixen here alone."
Riolu stared at him coldly and then snapped through Aura, "Fine, then I'll go alone, I'm not going to miss this opportunity. Stay here with your girl and that fox, it's your fault if you start to regret it!" And then it plunged away and disappeared into the mist, leaving only swirling mist peaks behind.
"Riolu!" Ash exclaimed out loud, but Riolu had already disappeared out of earshot.
Serena looked up and asked, "Ash, what happened? Why did Riolu just run away?"
Ash gritted his teeth. "I guess I'm pissing him off by saying something that shouldn't have been said," he said and Serena looked at him a little confused.
"You said? But I didn't hear you say..." she began, but then realized. "Right, you spoke through Aura, of course. But what did you do or say when Riolu got so angry?"
"I refused to come with him," Ash explained and sighed. "He said he knew a special Aura near this and wanted me to come with him to investigate. I didn't agree because I didn't want to leave you and Braixen, and Riolu was angry about it and well, the rest you guess yourself."
Serena nodded and her mind filled only that Ash had refused the adventure because of her. Then she remembered again what she had been about to do a moment ago and blushed bright red.
She turned and squatted and was exploring something from the ground to hide her blush from Ash. However, Braixen noticed it, as she had seen their moment a moment ago, and grinned to herself. Oh yes, she knew what was moving at Serena's head at the moment.
Ash stared at the mist and then sighed. "I guess it won't help but get Riolu out of there," he said. "Who knows what difficulties it will be in there alone"
"All right, let's go then," Serena said firmly as she came beside him and Ash looked at her a little in amazement.
"Are you coming too? But I thought you were afraid of this place," Ash said, and Serena looked at him a little amused.
"Sure I'll come, didn't you imagine I'd be here alone?" she asked and Ash blushed a little when he realized he was thinking just that.
Serena shook her head. "You're hopeless. At first you don't want to leave me at any cost and now you're running into the unknown all alone," she sighed and Ash moved a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, Serena, sometimes I don't think quite clearly," Ash said apologetically, but Serena looked at him with amused eyes.
Serena pondered for a moment Ash's explanation and then said, almost laughing, "Come on, silly boy, shouldn't we have gone already?"
Ash nodded when he realized it. "Yeah," he said and Serena called Braixen back to its ball. Then they glanced at each other once more again and stepped into the dense fog.
****
Gou and Pikachu walked along the gloomy forest and Gou blinked nervously around him. This did not look like a place to find help. And it didn't look like a place where they should have spent their time anyway.
Pikachu also flashed around and said a little nervously, "Pika.." It didn't like that its trainer and best friend were somewhere else and it felt uneasy here. Pikachu shivered. It was very much hoped that the forest would run out soon and they would get somewhere where it would be less scary.
Suddenly Gou stopped. Pikachu did the same and glanced at Gou. This stared closely at a nearby rotten strain and then the look of this stretched out.
He knew that stump. He had seen it at least three times before. He made up his mind to scream. They had circled! And that again meant they were lost.
Pikachu looked closely at Gou's look and when he saw that look darken, he said in wonder, "Pika?" Gou turned his face toward him and said grimly, "Guess what, Pikachu. We must be lost."
Pikachu didn't like it. "Pika chu pika!" it said angrily and although Gou did not fully understand Pikachu, he understood most and looked at Pikachu sharply.
"What, it's my fault now?" he asked and Pikachu nodded. "Really? Whose idea it was then to go look at something other than the path? Do you remember?"
Pikachu was unheard of and Gou took one pebble from the ground and tossed it angrily in the summit somewhere in the woods.
What he expected to hear was a faint knock as the stone hit something. What he didn't expect was that the knock was followed by an angry growl.
In the darkness, gleaming pairs of eyes began to appear around them, and Gou and Pikachu suddenly looked at them very much more frightened. Then out of the darkness emerged Houndoom, who looked very fierce and Gou noticed a bump at its head at the point where the stone had hit.
Houndoom growled and then out of the darkness numerous Houndours began to emerge and Gou and Pikachu tried to retreat quickly from the scene.
But then there was also a growl behind them and Gou glanced behind him. He stared angrily at at least five Houndours and had at least five more in front of him.
Houndours had besieged them and growled and looked at them angrily, waiting for their leader's order to attack.
Gou realized the situation, so did Pikachu and both realized they were deadlocked. "Shit," said Gou and Pikachu cursed too.
And then, Houndoom growled.
****
Riolu walked forward in the fog and muttered to himself something vague. It had started a bit of a regret that it had just run away, but since it was a stubborn Pokemon, it wasn't going to go back until it had found the Aura felt.
Riolu growled and kicked the pebble on the road with his paw. Why did the Master sometimes have to be so boring? Riolu growled again and kicked the pebble on the ground again. And he would find the owner of that Aura, even if he went into eternity!
Riolu moved forward, just following the special Aura he felt and kicking the pebbles on the ground at the same time. It didn't know how long it had already walked or how many different pebbles had already been kicked when it suddenly collided with something big and hard and fell on its back to the ground.
Riolu quickly got up and looked up. It found itself staring directly into Tyranitar's angry eyes, who looked at it sharply.
Riolu swallowed and since he still had a fresh memory of his encounter with Onix, he just decided to dissolve quickly from the spot. Besides, Tyranitar was not the one Aura it had followed.
Riolu retreated slowly as Tyranitar stared at it all the time, and when he had retreated far enough in his opinion, he decided to run away quickly. But just then, Tyranitar decided otherwise.
It quickly grabbed Riolu with its big hand on Riolu's mid-body and lifted the crumbling Riolu into the air in front of its face. Then it stared grimly at Riolu and growled.
Riolu now wished he hadn't run away from the Master. After all, the Master was allowed to be alive and not eaten. And even without defending himself, for Tyranitar had locked Riolu's both hands against its middle body so that it could not make any attack.
Unfortunately for Riolu, he didn't know that Tyranitar didn't have the slightest desire to eat it. It was just annoying that something had kicked rocks towards it and now it had caught the obvious culprit. Tyranitar smiled with satisfaction. Now this little Riolu would face punishment, he would learn not to kick rocks towards it.
Tyranitar watched as Riolu tried to rummage away from its grip and was just saying something to it when it sounded up close: "Corvisquire, Pluck!" and then it felt when something hit it hard.
Tyranitar roared and at the same time removed its grip on Riolu. Riolu found himself falling from the air and would have crashed to the ground if someone hadn't exclaimed, "Serena, Riolu!" and someone had grabbed him.
Riolu slammed into someone's lap and opened his eyes. It found that the Master's other travel companion, that girl, had grabbed it in her arms and saved him from falling.
Riolu jumped out of the girl's lap and noticed that the fox was also visible again. It stood next to the girl and her branch was on standby in case of an attack. It noticed Riolu's gaze and grinned at him. Riolu quickly turned his gaze away. For some reason that fox made it blush.
Riolu flashed around. If the girl was here, the Master had to be too. But where? In this fog it did not easily saw.
And then he noticed him. The Master stood a short distance away and Corvisquire blinked in front of him ready to make another attack. The master noticed Riolu's gaze, grinned at him and was just coming to this when Tyranitar noticed him too.
It roared after noticing Corvisquire and now it was angry. It angrily flutter with its tail the human boy to whom the hurt Pokemon belonged, and its tail pounded on the boy and flew him against the embankment, causing the boy to pound disgustingly against it and then swing reluctantly to the ground.
"NO! Ash!" cried the girl and rushed to Ash. Tyranitar was ready to hit it with her tail, too, and was just doing so when it suddenly slammed against with something hard.
Seeing his Master pounding against the embankment, Riolu was filled with pure rage. It found Tyranitar doing the same thing again and rushed in front of her and formed a shield made of Aura in front of him with his hands.
Tyranitar stumbled against it and Riolu felt a stumble in his body. It knew it wouldn't be able to maintain the shield indefinitely, and when its shield dropped, Tyranitar would attack.
Never go to work, it thought and strained its strength to the extreme. Because of me, the Master had to come here and because of me, he was injured. But because of me, he will not die, NEVER!
Then its body began to shine a bright light and it increased in length. Serena, who had put the injured Ash sit, turned her gaze and noticed that in the place where Riolu had recently stood, now stood the newly evolved Lucario.
Lucario looked at his new kind of body and then it looked at Tyranitar, who now had fear in her gaze. Lucario formed a bone-shaped stick glowing blue from Aura and stepped towards Tyranitar. And then it attacked.
Lucario hit Tyranitar many times with his cane and formed numerous small Aura blows on his forelegs. Its attack worked and eventually the Tyranitar decided it didn't want to continue this anymore and quickly walked away.
Lucario stumbled to the ground and watched with satisfaction as Tyranitar left the scene. Then it suddenly remembered its injured Master and ran quickly to this one.
Serena looked at the unconscious Ash and tears flowed down her cheeks. Braixen had wrapped her arms around her and, hearing the steps from behind, she turned her gaze in that direction.
Braixen noticed Lucario coming to them and pushed Serena a little. "What now, Braixen?" Serena asked and Braixen pointed back.
Serena turned her gaze and noticed Lucario standing near them and looking closely at Ash. Serena got up and walked over to Lucario.
"Lucario.. can you.. can you feel his Aura?" she asked Aura Pokemon and looked at this closely. "Is... is he alive?"
Lucario looked at her for a moment and then felt Ash's Aura. For a moment Serena thought her world was over when Lucario's look was so serious, but then it suddenly smiled and nodded, confirming that Ash was still alive.
Serena breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly she heard someone behind her say, "What happened? Serena, are you here?"
Serena rushed to Ash and noticed that he had sat up better and held his head. "Ouch, I guess I hurt myself," he said, rubbing his back of his head. "Serena, what.."
He didn't have time to say the end, for Serena had rushed to hug him tightly and cried against his shoulder.
"I thought you died!" she sobbed, looking up and Ash looked at her confused. "You hit such a strong embankment and you were unconscious no matter how many minutes!" Then she hugged Ash again and Ash patted her a little awkwardly on the back.
Then Ash's gaze wandered to the rest of the environment and suddenly he noticed Lucario standing a little distance away and grinning. "Riolu, is that you?" he asked and Lucario nodded.
"I am Master," it said through Aura, and Ash's eyes widened, "What exactly happened?" he asked confused Lucario and this explained to Ash.
After a little explanation, Ash began to be a little more aware of what was happening and Serena wasn't crying that much anymore either.
"So, Tyranitar hit me with her tail, I went unconscious, Tyranitar tried to do the same for Serena, you protected us and at the same time you evolved, didn't you?" Ash repeated the events and Lucario nodded.
"And then when you had evolved, you drove the Tyranitar away," Ash continued, then smiled broadly. "Wow, quite a thing, there's nothing else to say," he said, then picked up one Pokeball.
"Corvisquire, come back," he said and Corvisquire returned to his ball. Then Ash got up, swayed a little and Serena was next to him in a second.
"Ash, are you sure you can stand?" she asked anxiously and Ash nodded resolutely, though his head ached and dizzy a little.
"I can, and now we should figure out how to get up from here," he said and then there was a familiar voice up close that said, "Maybe we can help!"
Everyone looked up and saw Gou and Pikachu looking at them from above. "And we brought help too!" shouted Gou again and then they noticed some strange boy appearing next to him.
The boy had dark, upward-sloping hair, a blue jacket, and black jeans. Wooloo stood next to him and he waved at them happily. "Hello, I am Hop on and this is Wooloo and we came to help you!" he exclaimed and grinned.
With Gou, Pikachu, and Hop, Ash, Serena, and the Pokemon got back up. As soon as Ash had gotten up, Pikachu ran against him and jumped on Ash's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy!" Ash said with a laugh and Pikachu rubbed his head against Ash's cheek. "I missed you too. But where exactly were you staying? We thought you were lost or some Pokemon had caught you."
"Well, that's how it happened to us," said Gou and Ash and Serena stared at him in amazement. "Maybe it's better that I tell. Well, it happened to us that way..."
So, how did Gou and Pikachu by the way survive the siege of the Houndoes?
Let's go back a bit in time...
****
Gou and Pikachu heard Leader Houndoom growl and Gou looked at Pikachu.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt could be a pretty good thing now," he said and Pikachu nodded. It sent an electric shock to pass into the circle of the Houndours and hit them, causing them an electric shock that caused them to fall to the ground.
Gou and Pikachu saw their opportunity come and nodded to each other. It was now or never. Thunderbolt wouldn't detain the Houndours for very long, and they didn't want to be there when they woke up.
They set off to run and after running some distance, they heard howls and growls behind them as the Houndour herd set out to chase them.
"Quick, here!" suddenly a voice was heard and they saw the boy and Wooloo and boy's waving a hand behind the trees. They glanced at each other and rushed to the boy.
And just in time. As they hid behind the trees, they heard the Houndours running past and continuing their journey forward.
They remained in place for a moment, and when they were sure that the Houndours were gone, they turned to the boy who had saved them.
"Thank you for saving us," Gou said and Pikachu nodded. The boy smiled and said: "You are welcome. Otherwise, I'm Hop, and this is Wooloo. Who are you?"
"I'm Gou, and this is a Pikachu. We're a little lost." Gou said, pointing at Pikachu, who said happily: "Pika!" He then explained the situation to Hop and this one listened thoughtfully.
"Hmm... I can guide you back on the path and we can help your friends together," he finally said and Gou and Pikachu nodded. Hop then waved his hand and instructed them to follow. "Come on, let's go before those Houndours return," he said and so they followed Hop towards the path.
****
"And so we followed Hop to the path and from there to where you had fallen," Gou explained. "But then we found out you weren't there anymore, but Hop suggested we go follow the river. And finally we found you here."
Ash and Serena listened with interest and now that the adrenaline spike was starting to fall, Serena felt pain in her wrist again.
Ash noticed it and asked, "Look Hop, could you guide us to the nearest Pokemon Center? Serena has hurt her wrist and me and my Pokemon are pretty tired too."
"Sure," Hop said and then referred them to follow. "Come on, let's go now"
They left to follow Hop and Lucario, the last to walk, looked back once more. What could that weird Aura be? it pondered until it heard Ash calling and it hurried forward, finally finding itself passing beside Braixen.
As they disappeared behind a bend in the path, a big, mostly blue wolf-like Pokemon stared after them and then disappeared into the darkness of the forest.