A day has passed since our heroes cave adventure and they are on their way again to Stow-on-Side. The sky was still cloudy and gray, as it had been for a long time, and the trio was already beginning to long for sun and light, which Galar's weather apparently did not want to give them.
They have left the forest behind and now walk along a wide path bordered by less dense trees. And now they have delighted to notice the Pokemon Center along the path.
"Look! Pokemon Center!" Serena exclaimed and pointed to the building in front of them. "What if we stopped there for a while and spent the night there? We could heal our Pokemon at the same time."
"Pika!" said Pikachu cheerfully from Ash's shoulder and Gou nodded. "Yeah, and Nurse Joy could look at Dragonair's condition. It would do her good."
"So, what are we still waiting for?" Ash asked and pointed his hand to the others to follow him. "Come on, let's go!"
"Right!" Serena and Gou said in unison and then they all headed towards Pokemon Center.
****
They reached the Pokemon Center and Serena glanced at the building. It was located right next to the path, (or actually it was already a road), and looked very ordinary Pokemon Center. Serena saw the battlefield in its backyard and the field was bordered by a forest where spruce and pine trees grew.
Ash opened the door and they stepped inside. From the inside, the center was very ordinary-looking, though quite quiet. There were sofas and small tables in the lobby, and one of the tables had a laptop, a professional-looking camera, and pens and a notepad. Perhaps their owner had gone to pick up something forgotten, Serena thought as she closed the door and thought that soon might start to rain. At least the clouds looked like that.
"Hello! How can I help?" Nurse Joy asked happily as the trio stepped inside better and the purple Pokemon standing next to her, which seemed to have some kind of horns on its head, said just as happily, "Dee!"
"Hi! Could you heal our Pokemon?" Ash asked without looking away from Nurse Joy's Pokemon. He had never seen a Pokemon like that and was curious to know what it was.
"Of course," Nurse Joy said, nodding to the unknown Pokemon next to her. It smiled happily and then headed for the back room. It soon returned, and now it had push carts with it.
Nurse Joy took out three Pokeball holders and said, "You can put your Pokeballs in these. And Pikachu can jump on the carts. Indeedee will then take them to the treatment room."
They nodded and put all their Pokeballs in their holders. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder to the carts and then a purple Pokemon, called Indeedee, set out to push the carts toward the back room.
The trio looked curiously after it and Serena asked, "I'm sorry, but what did you say that Pokemon that helps you? I've never seen one like that."
"Oh, she's Indeedee," Nurse Joy said with a smile as the purple Pokemon returned next to her. "She will help me here at the Center and anyway"
"Indeedee, huh," Ash said, took out his Rotom and scanned Indeedee with it:
"Indeedee, Emotion Pokemon and Psychic and Normal-type. They diligently serve people and Pokémon so they can gather feelings of Gratitude. The females are particularly good at babysitting"
"Oh, that kind of Pokemon then," Ash muttered to himself and put his Rotom away. Nurse Joy smiled at them and then said, "Was there anything else?"
"Actually, yes," Serena said. "We need a room for the night. Are there any rooms available here?"
"Yes, there's plenty of rooms here," Nurse Joy replied, nodding and then handing Serena the key. "Here. The key to your room, you're welcome."
"Thanks," Serena said, then turned to the others. "Shall we go?" she asked and Ash and Gou nodded.
****
They found their room and settled there. The room was very similar to the room the Pokemon Centers usually had and consisted of four single beds, a small bedside table next to each, and a small sofa under the window of the room. The walls of the room were white and the floor had a gray carpet.
Once they had everything in order, they decided to go see if their Pokemon were ready.
"Well, well, well, familiar faces. I wouldn't have expected to meet you here," a voice came when the trio arrived in the lobby and they turned their heads up in the direction of the voice to see who had spoken.
Two familiar stinging blue eyes stared at them. The owner of the eyes grinned wide at them and sat casually at one of the lobby tables. In front of her on the table were her gray fedora, a laptop, a camera, a tablet and pens, and a cardboard coffee mug. She leaned casually against the back of her chair and when they saw her, Ash smiled.
"Hi, Melissa!" he exclaimed and went for a walk towards their journalist friend's table, Serena and Gou on his heels. "What are you here for? I thought you were in Wedgehurst doing an article about Professor Magnolia."
"I did it already, now I have a thing going on about something completely different," Melissa said and straightened up in her chair so that her brown hair on her long ponytail swung. She tapped something on her laptop and the trio came curious to look what she did.
Melissa had an open page with long snippets of text, as well as a big picture of a man in a stylish, gray suit. He held his left hand casually in the pocket of his gray suit jacket. He had a black, small beard and mustache and his hair of the same color looked sleeked.
"Who is he?" Ash asked, pointing to a picture of the man. "He looks important"
"He is," Melissa said, leaning against the back of her chair again. "He is Chairman Rose and he is the chairman of Galar's Pokemon League. At the same time, he's president of Macro Cosmos, a large business conglomerate responsible for Galar's energy production, among other things."
Melissa scrolled down the page and another picture of Chairman Rose appeared and now next to him was a woman with long, blonde hair, a red-black sheath dress and a white long coat.
"She's Oleana, Rose's secretary and assistant in charge of almost all of his things," Melissa answered Serena's question, which she was just saying out loud. "I don't know if anyone really likes her, but she's efficient and gets things done."
Melissa then wrote something in her notebook in front of her and Ash read curiously what she had written in it.
"Darkest Day?" he read aloud. "I've never heard of such a thing before"
"Neither do I," Serena said and Gou shook his head as well. "And me neither.
"Let's ask Rotom," Ash came up with an idea and brought up his Rotom. "Rotom, could you tell us what Darkest Day is"
"Yes. Thousands of years ago a Meteorite carrying the Pokémon Eternatus crash landed on the Galar region. Eternatus soon began a rampage that nearly destroyed the region as it attempted to absorb all the energy in its path, during that rampage the particles that Eternatus released caused Wild Pokémon infused with it to become Massive in size and cause Massive Destruction. The calamity was stopped by the Legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta, who battled Eternatus using a powerful Sword and Shield "
"Then what happened to them?" Ash asked and Rotom continued:
"Eternatus released its energy around Galar in parts called 'Wishing Stars.' These pieces give strength to Galar's Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomena. Zacian and Zamazenta suffered injuries during that battle, thus they headed to Circhester to heal themselves in a hot spring bath after the battle. The weapons that Zacian and Zamazenta wielded were then taken to an altar dedicated to them in the Slumbering Weald where the two Pokémon resided ever since"
"We were there," Gou said suddenly and everyone turned to look at him very confused. "Remember? The gloomy and dense forest where Riolu evolved into Lucario. I just looked and it's called Slumbering Weald."
"Oh yeah, that forest!" Ash said and Serena shuddered at the thought of that adventure. She had no nice memories from there. "I wouldn't have known that" "
At the same time, another memory came to Ash's mind. Lucario had said then that he felt a special Aura there in the woods. What if..? But it wasn't possible...
His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Melissa said. "Yeah, kind of story it relates. And now, from what I hear, Rose wants to re-awaken Eternatus"
"Why?" Serena asked and Melissa shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're just wild rumors after all, but the reporter has to grab even the smallest piece of a clue she can get her hands on."
Thereupon Melissa slammed the lid of her laptop shut and announced: "But that's about it. Yes, I have trained my Pokémon, Ash. And yes, I can also battle with you. Immediately, if you want to."
"Oh, okay," Ash said in surprise. He had forgotten that Melissa could read thoughts. "I just need my Pokemon, they're at Nurse Joy right now.
Just then there was bling and Nurse Joy announced, "Your Pokemon are completely healed now." The trio went to get their Pokeballs from Nurse Joy and Pikachu happily jumped to the usual spot on Ash's shoulder.
"And now, let's battle," Ash said, raising his fist resolutely into the air and Melissa nodded. Pikachu announced his liking by shouting happily, "Pika!" and then they all left to Pokemon Centers backyard, where the battlefield was.
****
They found their way to the backyard of the Pokemon Center, where the battlefield was located. Ash and Melissa stood facing each other at both ends of the field and smirked at each other.
"This is a one vs one match between Ash and Melissa. The winner is the one whose Pokemon is last standing. Begin!" announced Gou, who was the referee and stood in the middle of the battlefield. "Oh yeah, and Melissa is not allowed to read Ash's thoughts. Now begin!"
Melissa took one of her Pokeballs from her belt, magnified it, and threw it in the air, exclaiming, "Boltund, I choose you!"
Yamper's evolved form appeared in front of her and barked. It was clearly ready for the battle. Serena's Yamper, whom she had kept in his Pokeball, suddenly appeared on the bench next to Serena, watching with interest its evolved form.
It barked at it and Serena took it in her arms so it wouldn't run on the field. "Silly Pokemon," she said with a smile and scratched Yamper from behind his ear. Yamper sat in Serena's lap and looked forward to the match starting.
"Boltund, right?" said Ash and also took one Pokeball from his belt. "All right. Then I choose you. Lucario, come out!"
He threw a Pokeball into the air and Aura Pokemon appeared in front of him. It formed again its blue, shimmering Aura cone and said: "I'm ready, Master"
"Good," Ash replied and then he said aloud, "Lucario, then use Aura Sphere!"
Lucario formed the blue Aura Balls with his free hand and threw them towards Boltund with his Aura cane, and on the other side of the field Melissa instructed, "Boltund, dodge them using Agility!"
Boltund rushed into the road and dodged Lucario's Aura Balls with the help of Agility. It was already a very fast Pokemon, but with Agility it became even faster. So, before Lucario had time to notice anything, Boltund had gotten behind it and waited for Melissa's next order.
Lucario had time to sense Boltund's Aura and turned around at lightning speed. However, Ash didn't have time to give it another command, for then Melissa exclaimed, "Boltund, Electro Ball!" and Boltund did as instructed.
It opened its mouth and threw a yellow electric ball at Lucario. It hit Lucario in the face, still a little confused by Boltund's speed, and made it falter backwards.
"Keep it up!" Melissa instructed and Boltund continued to plunge the Electro Balls towards Lucario. "Lucario, dodge them with your cane!" Ash, for his part, instructed and Lucario obeyed and repulsed Boltund's Electro Balls with his Aura cane and headed them towards the ground.
Boltund had left to step forward and forced Lucario to walk backwards. Ash looked at this and suddenly got a good idea.
"Lucario, use Stone Edge!" he exclaimed and Lucario snatched his cane away and it crumbled into air-glowing Aura pieces. Then it slapped its paws on the ground.
"Quick, Boltund, dodge them!" Melissa exclaimed as large, blue-shining boulders began to protrude from the ground. But just as she had gotten it said, one of them protruded just below Boltund and made it fly sideways to the ground.
"Boltund!" Melissa exclaimed and Ash and Lucario looked pleased. "Boltund, are you okay? Can you continue?"
Boltund barked faintly and rose a little awkwardly back up. Ash and Lucario's happy expressions disappeared and Melissa stared at them sharply with her blue eyes.
"Good. And now, Boltund, give them a lesson. Use Electric Terrain!"
Boltund slapped his front paws on the ground and a yellow electric current rumbled towards Lucario. "Don't let it hit you!" Ash exclaimed and Lucario jumped to dodge the current.
However, it didn't take long, as soon the entire battlefield was pounding with electricity and Lucario crashed to the ground after being electrocuted. Melissa immediately took the opportunity and exclaimed, "Boltund, use Spark, now!"
Boltund began to gather electricity around his body and soon it was completely covered in yellow electricity. It then rushed towards Lucario, covered in a yellow electric current, and tackled Lucario, who had just stood up.
Lucario collapsed again and this time it was paralyzed in the wake of Boltund's electricity. It tried to get up, but every time it moved, an electric shock went through its body and it fell to the ground.
Melissa looked at this with a smug smile and said, "Do you still continue? Or will the game end here?" She put her hands on her hips and a sly grin appeared on her face.
Serena watched this with concern and her hand instinctively searched for the place where her blue ribbon had been. However, she did not find it, and then she remembered what had happened to it.
It had dropped on her somewhere when the roof collapsed, and she didn't know where. It bothered Serena immensely and she felt somehow naked without her ribbon. She still had the red ribbon Ash had given here, but it wasn't the same thing. Blue had held so many memories inside and Serena was anxious by losing the blue ribbon in this way.
She tried to turn her thoughts from her ribbon back into the ongoing match and somehow succeeded. She looked at Ash and noticed the boy looked somehow angry. Hopefully he's okay, she thought and her hands look after her blue ribbon, without success.
On the field, Ash felt his hands clench into fists and he looked hopelessly at Lucario's attempts to get up and at the same time something else began to mingle with the hopelessness. Anger. He opened his mouth angrily and found himself shouting: (okay, you probably hate me after this, but I have a good explanation for this. I can't just reveal it yet) "Get up and battle to the end, you weak dog!"
Everyone looked at him in great amazement, especially Lucario. It turned its gaze to Ash and looked offended. However, Ash didn't seem to regret his message but repeated, "I said, get up!"
Lucario tried to get up, but was still paralyzed by Boltund's electric shock. Ash apparently didn't like it and clearly growled at it. Serena didn't like it at all and got up.
She lowered Yamper from her lap to the ground and set off walking briskly toward Ash. She quickly arrived at this, but Ash didn't seem to notice anything.
Serena looked at him worriedly and put her hand gently on the boy's shoulder. "Ash, are you okay?" she asked anxiously and Ash slowly turned his gaze to her.
Ash turned his gaze to Serena and saw the girl's worried face in front of him. He felt the anger, or whatever it had been, dissolve away and he said slowly, "Yeah. Now I am."
At the other end of the field, Melissa decided the match was in it and returned Boltund back to its ball. Gou, who was the referee, blinked and said, "Well, this then looks like a draw. Yay. Ash, return Lucario to the ball and let's go inside. It seems to be start rain here."
Ash nodded and did as Gou had said. He returned Lucario to its ball and then they all went back inside the Pokemon Center. And when Serena, who came last, closed the door, the first drops of water dripped to the ground.
****
They then spent the rest of the day inside. Water was pouring outside and the Pokemon Center's front yard, backyard and the rest of the area started flooding with water. Nurse Joy sent Ash and Gou to make sure no water could get into the warehouse building in the backyard, and that suited Ash very well. He wanted a little time away from the others and especially Lucario.
Lucario had avoided Ash since the match. Ash had, of course, apologized to him for what he had said to him on the field, but Lucario was an unforgiving sort, and had not yet forgiven Ash for calling it weak. So, the situation in the center was pretty icy.
Nor did it help that the relationship between Lucario and Greninja had clearly cooled after the cave adventure. Greninja didn't think Lucario had done anything "suspicious" while it hadn't been on guard. That's why it kept staring at Lucario, and this made even the slightest patch of Lucario's patience crumble.
Add to this the fact that Serena seemed to be in her own worlds and avoided talking to others, the atmosphere at the Pokemon Center started to be pretty depressing. Melissa had no help either, as she had to do her work and had locked herself in her own room after Lucario and Greninja had almost started fighting for a long time and Melissa's camera had been in danger to broke.
That's why Ash and Gou were very grateful when Nurse Joy sent them out to the warehouse building and out of the depressing atmosphere that prevailed inside.
The duo had circled the building and made sure no water could flow inside. Once that was done, they were left staring at the edge of the field to stare at the two rain-defying Rookidees who jumped on the field and seemed to be looking for something to eat.
"You know, I didn't mean what I said on the field," Ash said, breaking the silence and Gou turned his gaze to him. They were wearing the raincoats lent by Nurse Joy and the water was running down their hoods. "I don't know what happened to me, at that moment I just felt immense anger and it annoyed me that Lucario couldn't get up. The words just came out of my mouth. What's bothering me?"
Gou said nothing to it, but turned his gaze back to the two Rookidees who curiously jumped at them in the hope of food. When no food came, they turned away in disappointment and disappeared into the bush.
Gou watched them go and said slowly, "Maybe you're just stressed. Especially after that cave adventure. You don't have to experience that every day."
"Yeah, maybe," Ash said, staring at the puddle spreading under his feet. Or maybe I'm going crazy, he thought, and looked at how water droplets hit the surface of the water and got it ripples.
His thoughts were interrupted when Nurse Joy appeared in the back door and told them back inside. They quietly set off to walk back and those two Rookidees stayed behind the bush to watch them.
By evening, the rain subsided and eventually stopped completely as darkness began to descend. Nurse Joy lit the lantern poles on the edge of the battlefield and they lit up the area with their dim yellow light.
****
Serena sat on the steps at the Center's back door, watching the moths fly lazily around the lampposts. She had come out to figure out her thoughts and be all alone for a while.
The air was cool and the clouds in the sky had finally receded and now revealed the moon and stars, the light of which was reflected from the puddles on the battlefield. The sounds of nocturnal Pokemon were heard from the nearby forest, and Serena stared at the puddles in the field without blinking. She thought.
How long had it been since she had last performed? Nearly a month, she counted and wondered what May and Dawn could do at that moment. Maybe they're already asleep, she thought, and slowly got up.
She stretched out her arms and then slowly walked to the field. The ground was still wet after the rain, but it didn't bother Serena. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a step forward.
She stepped in as well and then closed her ears to the noises at night. She imagined in her head the music, her Pokemon next to her, perhaps Braixen and Sylveon, and then began to dance silently on the edge of the battlefield.
Ash just walked past the window as he happened to glance out. He stopped in wonder when he saw Serena outside... dancing? and could no longer move from that place.
He watched through the window as Serena spun and jumped lightly on the puddle-filled battlefield and the lights of the field's lantern poles illuminated her dance. She dances beautifully, Ash thought and was then getting a heart attack when someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.
Ash turned around and saw Greninja standing behind him and grinning. "What now?" he asked and Greninja held out something to him with a grin.
Ash looked at it and a wide grin spread across his face. "Thank you, Greninja, I'm sure that she will like this," he said, and then he came to the back door, and Greninja left to look after him, smirking.
****
Serena stopped with her eyes still closed and then bowed to her invisible audience. She smiled to herself and opened her eyes and the image of the cheering crowd changed into a wet and empty battlefield. She sighed and then startled when she heard someone clapping behind her.
She turned and saw Ash in the light of the lampposts standing in front of the back door and clapping. He walked slowly to Serena, still clapping, and Serena saw him smiling.
"It was beautiful," Ash said as he reached Serena and Serena blushed. "Thank you, Ash," she said quietly, then looked at her crush in front of her.
The moonlight made Ash's hair shine and the dim yellow light of the lampposts illuminated his face. His auburn eyes twinkled and he smiled at his familiar, toothy smile. He was wearing his usual clothes and he was holding his hands behind his back.
"Greninja gave me something you might like," he said, and then took his hands behind his back. Serena looked at him in amazement and then Ash handed her something.
Serena first glanced into Ash's eyes and then shifted her gaze to Ash's outstretched palms. Seeing what Ash held out to her, she gasped and a wide smile spread across her face.
"My ribbon!" she exclaimed and took her dear, blue, and already-suffering-looking ribbon from Ash's outstretched palms. She looked at it with her eyes shining and then she shifted her gaze back to Ash's face.
"How..." she got said and Ash shrugged. "I don't know, Greninja just handed it to me. Maybe he found it on the cave floor and picked it up."
Serena looked at her ribbon again and then at the smiling Ash and then she suddenly hugged Ash tightly.
Ash staggered back from the force of Serena's sudden gesture, and then fell to the wet ground. Serena stumbled upon him and they suddenly found themselves very close to each other.
Serena stared at Ash's auburn eyes and Ash stared at Serena's blue ones. He saw red on Serena's cheeks and a lone honey-blond-colored curl of hair that had escaped to Serena's eyes. He gently moved it out of the way and Serena felt how Ash's touch send shivers along her spine.
They noticed that their faces were now very, very close to each other and in Ash's mind a picture flashed of a certain moment on certain escalators. He found himself leaning ever closer to Serena and Serena closed her eyes and now there was only a slight gap between their lips...
"Amor omnia vincit*" was suddenly heard near them and Serena's eyes burst open and their moment shattered like Lucario's Aura cane. She found herself staring into Ash's eyes, noticed how close they were, and then felt herself blush bright red.
She looked up and saw Melissa standing on the stairs of the back door with something in her hand looking like a coffee mug. She looked directly into Serena's eyes and said, "Nice position. I like it."
She grinned teasingly and Serena blinked until she realized she and Ash were still where they had fallen. Serena felt her blush very red and quickly got up, shaking her dress and Ash did the same, his face also red, though not as much as Serena's.
"You.." Serena began, but Melissa interrupted her, saying, "No need to say anything, your thoughts tell it all."
Then she lifted her coffee mug and said, "But if that's all here, I and my coffee mug will thank you for the evening entertainment and get to sleep. Good night."
Having said that, she slid back inside and left Ash and Serena to stand in confused silence in the yard.
"She is.." Ash began and Serena ended, "..weird" Then they looked at each other and went back inside, Serena squeezing her blue ribbon tightly in her fist.
****
The next morning, the atmosphere at the Pokemon Center had changed from icy to awkward. Melissa kept teasing Ash and Serena at every turn and this made Gou and the Pokemon very confused. They tried to ask Ash or Serena for answers to Melissa's teasing, but received only a vague murmur and flushing. This made Gou scratch his head in confusion and wonder what he had missed.
Greninja and Lucario still bickered, but not as much as horrible as the day before. Lucario had also gradually accepted Ash's apology and there was everything between them as before. At least almost.
Serena's mood had picked up considerably as she got her blue ribbon back. She had cleaned it and repaired it a bit and then sewed it back onto her dress. She had decided she never intended to lose it again and decided to protect it as her treasure.
They decided to continue their journey towards Stow-on-Side right in the morning and Melissa, who was going in the same direction as them, decided to join them. They packed their belongings, handed the keys to their room back to Nurse Joy, and set out to step toward Stow-on-Side.
****
As they walked along the path, Serena glanced at the sky and saw for a long time the sun was shining in the sky. It made her smile and she muttered to herself, "I feel like this is going to be a good day."
"Me too," heard next to her and she turned her head and saw Ash standing next to her and smiling at her. Pikachu sat on his shoulder again and said happily, "Pika pika!"
"Come on, let's continue the journey," Ash said and held out his hand to Serena. Serena grabbed it with a smile and then they hurried over to Gou and Melissa who walked ahead. Serena smiled. Maybe this would really be a good day.
* = Look at the title