Ash sat on one of the long stone steps that were a lot in Stow-on-Side. He had come there to gather his thoughts and feelings for a little bit of everyone and everything. And there was a lot to gather.
He spun Greninja's Pokeball in his hand and felt its smooth and cool metal surface against his palm. Spinning the ball eased his frustration and made his thoughts focus on only one thing at a time. Well, at least somehow.
For the metal surface of the ball also brought to his mind another metallic thing. Namely, the silver rose quartz necklace that still reminded of its existence in Ash's pocket with its weight. He was frustratingly aware of the jewelry and almost wished he hadn't even gotten the whole thing out of that old woman from that stall. For jewelry made him think of things that were completely new to him.
The new things also had a name and they were: emotions and Serena. Or there was nothing new in them themselves, but in their combination there was. Thinking of Serena caused him feelings that he had not known before existed, and they frightened and confused him. They made his thoughts wander, as he had just recently noticed in a match against Allister, and he didn't really like it.
Ash stopped the Pokeball suddenly and stared at the ground in front of him. Somehow he didn't get the idea out of his mind that he had lost because he himself had acted foolishly. He had not been fully involved in the match and had shouted at Lucario again. He had let Allister strike in stupid places and given him easy places. But most of all, he had not given the instruction to Greninja.
Ash squeezed the ball in his fist and wondered why this loss made him wallow in this way in self-pity. He had lost matches before, it wasn't up to it. Heck, his defeat in the Kalos League was even more frustrating than this match. And what about all those other losses in the Leagues around the regions? He had also lost Gym battles before, so why did this get him in such a mood now?
No, there was something else here now. Something more than just a loss from a Gym battle. And Ash knew what it was. It was a sense of failure. The feeling that he had failed, and in front of everyone. And especially Serena.
Ash grimaced. He squeezed Greninja's Pokeball in his fist and stared at the rocky ground in front of him. He got up, and made his mind scream in frustration, but instead just content to kick the stone in front of him. However, it didn't help in any way, as among other things, he now had a throbbing pain in his toe.
Ash slumped back to sit down and straped Greninja's Pokeball back to his belt. "Weak loser," he muttered and buried his face in his hands.
"Everything else," suddenly there was a familiar voice in front of him and he raised his face to see who had spoken.
He saw Serena in front of him, standing in her hands in a gust and her face completely expressionless. She looked at Ash without saying anything and Ash felt like she was trying to see what was moving in his brain.
Ash turned his gaze away and muttered, "Go away, I want to be alone." However, Serena didn't go anywhere, but said, "You know Ash, sometimes you're incredibly stupid."
Ash raised his head in surprise. He had not expected such a thing. He looked at Serena's expressionless face with his mouth slightly open and Serena continued, "And do you know why? Because you think that if you don't succeed, you're a weak or failed loser."
"But I am a loser! The weak, failed and pathetic loser who.." Ash protested, but Serena cut it slapping him on his cheek.
"Wake up already!" she shouted as Ash rubbed his cheek in great amazement. Serena's expressionless face now looked very irritable and red had risen on her face, but it wasn't due to embarrassment or confusion, but anger. "Wake up already! Don't you still realize!? Wasn't Snowbelle City enough?!"
"Serena, what...", Ash tried, but Serena continued, "Where that Ash disappeared, who didn't give up after the first adversity? Where that Ash disappeared, who didn't stay to mourn the result of the Kalos League, even though the victory was so close? Where disappeared the 'Never give up 'til the end' attitude? For the Ash I knew was full of it, and he wouldn't have given up so little! So, where that Ash disappeared? "
"I don't know!" Ash exclaimed and stood up. The cheek Serena had slapped, tingled, and he felt like his mind was a whirlwind full of emotions and feelings. "I don't know! I've been thinking about it myself, too, but no matter how I try, I can not get any sensible answer done!"
"Well then try harder!" Serena shouted. She looked at Ash with the blue eyes blazing and yet in them one could distinguish sorrow. "The Ash I know wouldn't have given up! He wouldn't have said that, but would have come up with a solution! For that Ash, my Ash, the Ash I like, is the real Pokemon Master!"
She looked at Ash with her cheeks red and her eyes shining and Ash could do nothing but stare. His brain was trying to deal with everything Serena had just said, and his mind was suddenly one big mess. Her Ash? Pokemon Master? What the heck was Serena talking about?
"Yes, he is caring, kind, loveable, encouraging and supportive, and he never leaves his friends in short supply," Serena said in response to Ash's totally confused look. Then Serena took a step closer and continued:
"He defends them without caring about the dangers and even risks his own life if there is a need for it. He is always ready to help others, and he doesn't care who it is. And that, if what, is the action of the Pokemon Master!"
She finished her speech and looked at Ash with flaming eyes. Ash stared at her without words and the only one for which he got said, was: "Serena, I'm sorry.."
"What?" Serena said with surprise and Ash continued quietly: "I'm sorry... I.. I did not know... I.. I.. Serena, I need to tell you something.."
"What?" Serena asked again, but now her voice was no longer angry, but curious. She took a step closer again and Ash was able to see that in her eyes were curious and also, Ash noticed in surprise, a waiting look.
"I..." Ash started and at the same time moved his one hand over the pocket where he had that rose quartz necklace. He suddenly realized how close he and Serena were and he was able to count the freckles again from Serena's curious face. She was clearly waiting for what Ash had to say and Ash breathed. Well, now is your chance, now you tell her what you feel, go on!
"Serena... I.. I don't really know how this should be said," he began and Serena looked at him curiously. "Yes?" she said and looked at Ash encouragingly. Ash took a breath and looked into Serena's always equally pretty eyes and suddenly felt the heat rise to his cheeks. Damn, why is this suddenly so difficult? he thought in frustration.
The necklace weighed in his pocket and he gently insinuated his hand over it and pressed his fist around the cool silver. Let's do it now, you've jumped down from tall towers, ridden on the back of a steel lion in other dimensions, rescued entire regions and jumped into an active volcano, this wouldn't seem to be any more challenging! So, do it already!
He took another breath and, looking straight into Serena's sparkling blue eyes, said, "Serena... I love you!"
But the end of the sentence was covered in a huge crash nearby, so Serena didn't hear it completely. And Ash's chance was now, of course, over.
"What was that?" Serena asked, looking at the source of the sound in her gaze, but found nothing. "Sounded like something big and heavy had crashed to the ground"
"I don't know, but it seems to be heard from above," Ash replied, pointing to the top of the stairs. At the same time, he detached his grip on the silver necklace he had been about to give to Serena and cursed in his mind the crash, and the cause of it, to the lowest underworld. If he had been a second faster...
However, he said nothing out loud, but turned back to Serena and held out his hand to the girl and said, "Come on, let's see where that voice came from."
"Okayyy!" Serena exclaimed as she grabbed Ash's hand as the boy pulled her along and they went hand in hand to run up those rocky stairs.
As they ran along those long stairs, Serena's thoughts wandered into their recent conversation. She felt a red rising on her cheeks as she thought of what she had just said. Her Ash? What had made her say it out loud?
But even more than those thoughts, she was left to think about what Ash had just said. She hadn't heard the rest of the sentence, but the first part had been something like, "I lo.." What had Ash been saying? Had he really been saying that particular, three-letter sentence? But that was not possible. Ash was so dense...
Serena stared at the dark hair of the boy running ahead of her, and she was suddenly reminded of Gou's words, which he had said about Ash in the auditorium very recently:
"Have you seen how he looks at you? And how has he happened to blush near you? Serena, I feel like Ash clearly feels something towards you..."
So, had Ash Ketchum really said "I love you" to her? Was it even possible? Serena shook her head, a little confused. Her brain was not working properly right now. Maybe she would pull Ash away somewhere further in the evening and ask about it then... yeah, it was definitely the best...
They arrived at the top of the stairs and slowed down. They looked at the area they had just entered and looked at the cause of the crash.
They had come to a small, paved square where there were already a few other people. Ash quickly recognized Sonia's orange hair and Melissa with her big camera. They seemed to watch as Officer Jenny seem to lead someone, who had been wearing a long, pink coat and shout something, "You can't do this! Chairman Rose will hear about this, and then you're in trouble! I swear it!" off and in her face was a dull look.
"Absolutely," Officer Jenny said firmly, pushing the pink-coated person away. "But Chairman Rose hardly likes the fact that you just destroyed part of a very valuable ancient mural because of your stupid trick. So go ahead, there's quite a trip to the station."
The pink-coated person's objections subsided as Officer Jenny led them away and Ash and Serena walked in confusion to Melissa and Sonia and Ash asked, "Hi Sonia! What are you here for? And what happened here?"
Sonia startled and turned to look at Ash and Serena, who had just gotten to them, and still held hands. She smiled broadly at them and said, "Hi Ash! Hi Serena! Nice to see you again! Work stuff, nothing interesting. But what about you, what are you here for?"
"We happened to hear the crash and decided to come to see what it was for," Ash explained and Serena nodded. "So, what was it about?"
"Oh, I see," Sonia said, nodding. Her gaze lingered for a second in the joined hands of Ash and Serena, but said nothing about it. Instead, she smiled sourly and said, "That crash was caused by the idiot you just saw destroying the ancient mural in front of you. As you can see, the destruction is serious."
She pointed to the wall in front of her and Ash and Serena looked at it with interest.
In front of them rose a rocky wall with a large and colorful painting-like image. It presented colorful flowers and spirals and looked as if a four-year-old had drawn it.
"Is that that ancient mural?" Ash asked in amazement. He had been expecting something a little different, something... more subdued perhaps.
He took his grip off on Serena's hand and stepped closer with interest to the mural. As he got closer, he noticed that a long and rather wide crack had entered the mural, breaking the stem of one such large flower. But what was most interesting was that the wall behind it seemed to be hollow.
"Did that idiot do that?" Ash asked and carried his hand on the jagged edge of the crack. He felt the cool air coming from the other side and he wondered what might be on the other side of the mural.
"Yep, that's it," Sonia said, coming beside Ash and watching the crack with her hands on her hips. "Serious damage to a valuable ancient monument. Scientists will not be excited to hear about this and.."
"Yeah. Sonia, did you notice that the wall is hollow? There's something on the other side of it," Ash said, interrupting Sonia and this one turned her gaze to Ash.
"No, I didn't know. Let me see," she said and hurriedly came next to Ash and also began to investigate the crack. Her eyes widened in amazement as she realized the matter, too, and she muttered, "Interesting, very interesting..."
As Sonia and Ash examined the crack, Serena and Melissa stayed a little further away and watched the duo leaning against the railing near the stairs.
"So, where did you leave Gou? Or Pikachu? I thought you were walking at three," Melissa said, breaking the silence and looking curiously at Serena, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Yes we do, but Ash and I had a little... things to clear and we happened to be nearby," Serena explained, blushing slightly. "Gou and Pikachu stayed at the Gym"
"Oh, I see," Melissa said, smirking as she noticed Serena's blushed cheeks. "So, why did you happen to be nearby?"
"It's... complicated," Serena said evasively. And before Melissa had time to answer anything, she quickly continued, "And don't even try to read my thoughts. They're such a mess now that you won't get anything out of them."
"Don't worry, I didn't try," Melissa grinned and waved her black camera. "I'm at work now. And at work I do not read anyone's thoughts"
Good, Serena thought and watched as Sonia tried to explain some scientific terms to Ash without succeeding. She would have only gotten a headache from them.
"By the way, you looked very cute when you held each other's hand. When the wedding bells start ring, tell me," Melissa suddenly whispered in Serena's ear, and before Serena had time to answer anything, Melissa had stepped farther and pointed to follow her. "Come on, let's get closer. I want to get a good picture of that crack"
She stepped briskly to Ash and Sonia and held her camera elevated, ready to take a picture of the crack. Serena followed her, albeit much more slowly, for Melissa's recent remark did not go away in her mind. She felt herself blush again and wondered why everyone always had to tease her about Ash.
She stepped up to the others and at the same time tried to hide her blushed face behind her hair. She avoided looking Melissa or Ash in the eyes, Melissa because she knew this smirking knowingly for her and Ash because she couldn't just look at the boy right now. Instead, she walked over to Sonia, who was studying the crack with interest, and squatted next to the crack.
"It's pretty wide," Serena said, measuring the crack with her gaze. "So wide that we could fit through it. Sonia, would that be possible?"
"Well, yes, but I don't want to risk the mural any more," Sonia replied, looking at the crack thoughtfully. She had put her left hand on her hips and rubbed her chin in her right. At that moment, she really looked like a professor. "Besides, I don't know how much the blow of that idiot damaged the structure of the mural. It could fall on us very easily."
"Nah. Sonia, you're exaggerating," Melissa said, patting the mural with her hand. "This is a solid stone, it stands anything."
"Carefully!" Sonia exclaimed to Melissa as she patted the mural with her hand. "We don't know how fragile it is! It can collapse from even the slightest movement!"
"Relax. I'm sure that it doesn't fall on us because of one little pat," Melissa reassured and smiled reassuringly.
You sure, Melissa?
They didn't see everything. Far up, where the rocky wall ended, a large boulder swayed on the edge. It had been in it for a very long time and slowly, but surely, it had moved to an increasingly uneven position. Now it swayed right on the edge of the cliff and was ready to fall by the force of any blow.
Such an impact had been the one that had caused the mural to crack. However, the blow had not been quite strong enough for the stone to swing off the edge and fall. It had been left swinging right on the edge of the cliff and needed only a very, very little force to tip over down.
Such a force had been provided by that pat of Melissa. Although it was a very small movement, it just got the right amount of strength to allow the boulder to swing from the edge. And fall.
Ash heard it before he saw it. He heard a pretty loud crack from above and glanced up to see what had caused it. And seeing the swaying boulder, he felt blood clotting in his veins.
He saw, as in a slow-motion, how the boulder swam off the edge and set out to fall down. Next, he realized that Serena had squatted just below it and if she didn't move away, all that would be left was a wet patch.
Ash felt him move like a dream towards Serena. He shouted the girl's name and this one looked up curiously. Ash pointed up and Serena looked. Ash saw the girl's eyes spread in horror and she froze in place like a deer in the headlights. She didn't move, though she knew she would soon be left under a falling boulder and Ash did one last and desperate act. He rushed towards Serena and pushed this out from under the boulder.
He pushed Serena straight in from the crack of the mural and at the same time twisted himself there. And not a moment too early. For just as Ash's feet sank into the darkness behind the wall, the boulder slammed into the ground and completely blocked the crack. And Ash and Serena were locked again.
This time, though, together.
"Ouch, my head!" said Serena rubbing her head in a pitch-dark.. room? and wondered where she had struck it. She felt the cold, rocky ground beneath her and also wondered where they had gotten into.
"Serena, are you okay?" she heard Ash ask beside her and heard him rise up. She did the same, realizing at the same time that Ash had saved her life, and she was horrified to think what would have happened if he hadn't done so.
"Yeah, but I guess I just hit my head on something hard," she said, wondering again, where she had hit it right. "By the way, do you know where we are?"
"No, but I'm going to find out," Ash replied resolutely and Serena heard him step in some direction. Where, she didn't see it. She then heard a thump followed by a half-suppressed curse, and Serena guessed that Ash had hit his toe in something.
She suppressed the giggle and said instead, "It would definitely help if you could see where you're going."
"Yeah, that would help," she heard Ash answer and then mutter something to himself. Probably about his toe. "But there's really no light available here"
"Then this will definitely help," Serena said, picking up one of her Pokeballs. "Braixen, we need your help"
At the same time, the fox-like Pokemon appeared in front of her and Serena heard it say in confusion, "Braix brai" after suddenly getting into a completely dark place. However, it solved the problem by taking its stick again and using it again as a torch, just as when it was locked with Ash and Lucario.
The light from Braixen's torch created a warm light in the dark place and Serena smiled at her Pokemon. "Thank you, Braixen," she said and the fox-like Pokemon nodded. It then moved its torch so that its light illuminated the entire place in which they were.
In the light of the torch, Serena saw that they were in some sort of, almost round, a cavernous place with two large, peculiarly shaped rock boulders in the middle. The walls of the cave were very smooth and the light of the Braixen's torch created long shadows on them. However, one of the walls showed darkening and Serena guessed it was the crack from which they had ended up in this cave.
"Wow, this is a pretty big place!" said Ash, who looked at his head tilted to the ceiling of the place, which was illuminated by the light of the Braixen torch. Then he also seemed to notice the crack that Serena had noticed too, and went to examine it.
He squatted next to it and carried his finger along the edges of the crack. He tried with his hands to push away the big rock that had blocked the crack, but it was way too heavy. He put his hand away in annoyance and said out loud, "Well, we're trapped. At least we can't get out of that anymore. So, what do we do now?"
"Did you say something?" Serena asked a little distractedly. She stood with her back to Ash and was left staring at the two boulders that stood in the middle of the space. There was something in them that bothered her and she squinted and tried to think about what was wrong with them.
"Ash, do those boulders look somehow peculiar to you?" she asked without turning her gaze off them and Ash turned to look at what Serena was talking about. He got up and stepped next to Serena and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Those boulders. Aren't they somehow of a peculiar shape for you," Serena explained, outlining it by outlining the boulders with her finger. "Look now, as if they're represent something"
Ash looked as Serena drew the outline in the air and said slowly, "Now that you said, they seem to represent something." He tilted his head and said, "Braixen, can you move that light a little further here?"
"Braixen brai," said Braixen, moving her torch so that its light shone directly on the boulders. In the light of the torch, Ash and Serena began to distinguish other forms from them and suddenly Serena realized what they were.
"They're not boulders," she said after realizing the matter. Ash looked at her in surprise and Serena continued, outlining the air again. "But statues. Look now, there's a muzzle and there's a tail and that looks like a sword. Ash, those are statues depicting some Pokemon!"
Ash suddenly looked at it and realized it himself. He distinguished in the light of the Braixen torch that there were two statues and each represented a large, wolf-like Pokemon. One had a sharp-looking sword in its mouth and the other's mane had settled into a shield-like position. They stood on rocky pedestals and Ash realized he had probably hit his toe on it as well.
"What Pokemon are they?" Ash thought aloud and stared at the statues. He had never seen either of those Pokemon before, but for some reason he felt like he had heard of them before. He just didn't know where. "Serena, do you know what Pokemon they are? Serena?"
He suddenly noticed that Serena was no longer next to him. He blinked around looking for the girl, but saw her nowhere. "Where did she have time to disappear?" he muttered while scratching his head until he heard Braixen say, "Braixen," and he turned his head in the direction of the fox-like Pokemon.
He saw Braixen pointing somewhere behind the statues and looking at Ash, answering his question with her gaze. "Brai," Braixen said and nodded toward the back of the statues.
Ash looked in the direction Braixen pointed and saw Serena standing near some dark opening. She looked at it with interest and suddenly turned around. Seeing Ash looking at her in amazement, she smiled and said, "Ash, look! I guess I find something more exciting!"
Upon hearing, Ash quickly walked over to Serena and Braixen followed. He reached next to Serena and asked, looking at the dark, oval-shaped opening, the edges of which were surrounded by silvery, engraved borders, "What is it? It looks interesting."
"I don't know, but it looks like some kind of doorway," Serena replied, stepping closer to it. Braixen did the same and in the light of her torch they saw that the edges of the opening were indeed silver and engraved with signs resembling some kind of runes. Right at the top of the opening was a silver plate with some kind of text engraved on runes, which they could not read, however.
"I wonder what it says," Serena said, brushing the surface of one of the runes on the edge with her finger and looking at it thoughtfully. "I've never seen runes like this before"
"Neither do I," Ash said as well, stepping beside Serena. He also slid his finger over one rune and felt the cool surface of the silver under his finger. "But Sonia might to know"
"Yeah, probably," Serena admitted, glancing at Ash at the same time. The light from Braixen's torch lit up the boy's face with its warm yellow light and made them look even sweeter. Serena felt the heat rise to her cheeks again and she suddenly realized how close she and Ash were.
It made her heart pound and her thoughts wander again to that moment at the lower end of the stairs before the crash. She slid, dreaming her finger over the runes, until she suddenly found herself stopping just above Ash's hand.
Her hand remained to hover just above Ash's hand until she made her decision and laid it on the boy's hand. Her fingers intertwined on Ash's fingers and she glanced at the boy, only to find that this stared at her with a distinct red on his cheeks and a look in his eyes that Serena couldn't really describe.
They looked each other straight in the eyes and Serena saw Ash's auburn eyes twinkle beautifully in the light of Braixen's torch. Her thoughts got lost again for that particular moment before the crash and at the same time she felt them move closer and closer to each other.
Braixen watched this with a grin from behind them and decided to be quiet and just enjoy her little shipping moment. She wanted to see how this would go and whether those two idiots would finally confess their feelings for each other.
But sadly, the universe decided otherwise. It was then that Braixen happened to drew some particle of dust into her breath and it made her sneeze. That voice was loud enough to wake Ash and Serena back to reality and turn their gaze away a little embarrassed. And the moment was over. Again. (At that moment, Braixen cursed in her mind the universe, the dust particle, and the author to the lowest underworld)
Embarrassed, Serena moved her gaze away and Ash did the same. They separated their hands from each other and looked everywhere except each other. Finally, Serena decided to break the awkward silence and said, "Should we... um.. go explore what's on the other side of that...um... doorway?"
"Yeah, sure. It's... an exciting idea," Ash replied, moving so that he was standing directly in front of the doorway. He hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Serena, who nodded blushing, then took a deep breath and finally stepped to the other side of the silver borders.
As his feet crossed the boundary formed by the cavernous place and the silver edges, something very strange happened. As his feet touched the ground on the other side of the doorway, he heard a big whoosh, and a long line of torches lit in front of him, illuminating the long, white, stone-carved stairs.
Serena came next to him and they looked in great amazement at the staircase illuminated by the torch line. The stairs seemed to lead down, but the rest of them were not visible and Ash and Serena looked at each other.
"Where do they lead?" Serena thought and stepped a little skeptically to the other side of the doorway. Now, however, nothing special happened and Serena sighed in relief.
"I don't know, but there is one way to find it," Ash replied, grinning a little mischievously and then taking a step forward. "Come on, let's find out!"
He set out to step down the stairs as the torches lit his way and Serena followed a little uncertainly. Braixen came behind them, pushing her stick back to her bushy tail. Her torch was no longer needed, for there were now a thousand others here who did the same thing much more efficiently.
They stepped slowly and carefully down the stairs, wondering what might be at their end. They had to be careful as there were no railings of any kind in the stairs and they were a bit slippery due to the moss and moisture growing in them. The stairs were not completely straight and made gentle bends.
Stepping down the stairs, Serena wondered what Sonia and Melissa might be thinking right now. Would they be worried about them? Probably, at least she would. In addition to Melissa and Sonia, Serena wondered what Gou and Pikachu could do at the moment. They had certainly already gone to find out where she and Ash had been left. Are they wondering right now how to get us out of here? Serena thought and stepped down one step again.
To find out, we need to return to Melissa and Sonia for a moment outside the crack.
"Idiot! Now look what you did!" Sonia exclaimed angrily to Melissa, pointing to that big boulder that had blocked the crack and the exit out of the cave. "Serena was close to die! Die! And now they're trapped inside that!"
"Oops," Melissa said, looking very embarrassed. "I guess I screwed up and pretty badly"
"Yeah, that's what you did," Sonia said dryly. She looked at the boulder in front of her appreciatively. "But we can blame each other later. Now we have to figure out how to get that boulder moved."
"Lifting doesn't seem to be an option," Melissa said tamely and Sonia shook her head. "No, it's way too heavy for that. But.."
But her sentence was broken, for then she heard someone coming up the stairs that Ash and Serena had also come to the opening. She turned and saw Gou stepping up the stairs next to Pikachu.
"Hey Gou. What are you doing here?" Sonia asked as Gou got closer to them and looked at the boulder in front of him with interest. "Pika," Pikachu also said with interest and ran curiously to examine the boulder.
"I came looking for Ash and Serena. They never went back to the Gym and I started to wonder where they had left. Have you happened to see them? Yeah, and what exactly is that chunk?" Gou replied, looking at the boulder with interest.
"I see. Well, I'm pleased to announce that yes, we happened to see them," Sonia said and Gou said, "That's good. Where are they now?"
"Over there," Sonia said, pointing to the wall behind the boulder. Gou looked at her confused until he began slowly, "Don't say that.."
"Oh yeah, they're behind this wall," Sonia said, patting the mural-covered stone wall. "And in response to your question about what that chunk is, it's the thing that blocked its only route out of that cave. And for that we get to thank one certain idiot," She glanced at Melissa, looking sour, and Melissa chuckled in embarrassment.
Gou stared at them until he sighed and said, "Great. Really great. I'm going to get Officer Jenny."
And having said that, he turned and went backwards, wondering why Ash had always had to organize himself for all sorts of troubles.
When Gou went in search of Officer Jenny, Ash, Serena, and Braixen had reached the lowest step of the stairs. They now stood on a small rectangular area of white stone like the stairs, looking in amazement at the sight before them.
In front of them flowed a narrow stream lazily, the water of which was very clear and very shallow. The stream came from the right of some of the deep veins of the cave, flowed lazily past the rectangle on which they stood, and descended into the great and shallow pond-like one to their left.
"What is this place?" Serena thought aloud and stepped closer to that pond. It comprised almost half of the cave they were in now, and its clear water glistened in the light of the torches. "Its looks interesting"
"I don't know, but this has probably been some kind of pier," Ash replied, stepping in the opposite direction to Serena. He tried to see where that river-like came from, but it was at that point that there was a bend that prevented it. He sighed in disappointment and squatted to explore the water.
He touched it with his hand and felt it was very cool. He lifted his hand out of the stream and wiped it on his pants. At the same time, he looked at the stream and realized that it was flowing in a channel of white stone. The water was so shallow, probably only up to his ankles, that he could see all the way to the bottom of the channel.
"This is not a place shaped by nature," he said and watched the stream with his gaze. "This has been done by some man and this has probably been some kind of pier that has gotten into that cave where those statues were"
"Yeah, you're probably right," said Serena, who was on her knees at the other end of the pier and looked closer at the pond. She noticed something more interesting in the middle of the pond and leaned closer to see what it was, but had no idea how it would go.
She held on with her hands right to the edge of the pier to get support as she leaned forward. However, she had not taken into account that the stone eroded by moss, water and time could be brittle, so suddenly she felt the stone crumble under her hands and they were now just on empty air.
She staggered and swayed for a moment, trying to balance by waving her hands wildly. However, she could not find it, so soon her balance failed and she fell into the pond, accompanied by a big splash.
Ash heard it and immediately raised his head in the direction of the sound to see what had fallen into the water. He noticed Serena was missing and soon realized what had happened. He hurried quickly to the other end of the pier and squatted to see what had happened.
When he saw the vision in front of him, he began to laugh. He watched as Serena, now soaked, sat in the shallow water, probably only reaching her legs, as the water dripped from her hair. She looked a little indignant at how Ash snickered in front of her and said, "I thought you were going to help me up from here."
"I was going to, but you're just such an amusing sight," Ash said, but still held out his hand to help Serena get out of the water. Serena grabbed it, but then a mischievous glow ignited in her eyes and she grinned cunningly.
Instead of Ash pulling Serena up out of the water, Serena pulled firmly out of her hand so that the boy faltered and also fell into that shallow water. She watched as Ash got up very confused and soaked to sit in the water and watched the water run down along the boy's hair.
"Why did you do that?" Ash asked, very confused, and squeezing water from his hair. Serena chuckled mischievously and leaned closer to Ash.
"If I'm wet, you're wet, too," she whispered in Ash's ear in a tone that Ash had never heard of before, and which for some reason got a blush rise to his face. Serena noticed it, grinned and tapped Ash's nose playfully. "Tag, you're it," she said, quickly getting up and wading deeper into the pond, still grinning mischievously at Ash.
Ash quickly realized what it was all about and also got up. "Do you think I'll let you in so easily?" he said teasingly and Serena raised her left eyebrow and said, "Try."
Ash grinned and quickly waded towards Serena in the shallow water. At the same time, he splashed water on the girl and Serena screamed and giggled and waded away, while trying to protect herself from water splashes with her hands. Sometimes it worked better, sometimes it didn't, but they had fun and it was enough for them.
On the pier, Braixen had sat down to watch this and thought this was entertainment at its best.
Serena had just avoided another splash of water when she suddenly felt someone touch her shoulders. She screamed, turned around quickly, and found herself staring straight at Ash's grinning face and twinkling auburn eyes.
"Gotcha! I guess I'll catch you!" he said with a laugh and Serena giggled and turned completely so they were now facing each other. They were now very close to each other and Serena could feel the warmth rising from Ash's body.
They looked into each other's eyes and gradually their laughter faded. There was now a very charged tension between them and Serena could sense that something special was about to happen.
They looked into each other's eyes and slowly moved closer to each other. Ash noticed that one wet curl of hair had escaped to Serena's face and he gently moved it aside. Serena felt the touch of Ash send shivers along her spine and she felt her cheeks flush.
For Ash, it just made Serena even cuter. He looked directly at Serena's sparkling blue eyes and felt it was time.
"Serena... I have to tell you something," he said quietly and Serena looked at him quietly and her eyes told Ash to continue. He took a breath and said, "Serena... I.. I.. I love you!"
Now that had been said and Ash was left waiting for what Serena would answer. He saw the girl breathing as his sentence immersed in the girl's consciousness. A deep red spread to her cheeks, but her mouth spread to a wide smile. Her eyes twinkled and she whispered, "Ash... I love you too!" And then she rose to her toes and pressed her lips gently against Ash's lips.
Ash felt how Serena's soft lips touched his lips and at that moment all the uncertainty and anxiety felt all over him. His mind was filled only with how Serena's lips felt, how her hair smelled of strawberries, and how the girl pressed against his body. And without wanting anything else, he responded to Serena's kiss and at that moment there were only the two of them.
He felt Serena put her hands on his shoulders and he himself put his own on Serena's hips. They stayed there for a while until Serena disengaged from the kiss to catch her breath and Ash did the same.
They looked into each other's eyes again and leaned their foreheads against each other. Serena smiled at Ash with a smile that always caused that fuzzy feeling in Ash's chest, and then she lowered her hand from Ash's shoulder. Ash also took his grip on Serena's hips and then their hands intertwined and Ash felt Serena's warm and softer hand in his own hand.
"Did you... like it?" Serena asked, meaning to kiss and Ash nodded and said with a smile, "Yeah. A lot." Serena's cheeks flushed a little more, but it didn't seem to bother her now.
Suddenly Ash remembered something he had yet to do, and he leaned a little further away from Serena. He slowly took his hand in his pocket and squeezed his hand around the silver rose quartz necklace that had somehow managed to stay on the way. He lifted slowly out of the necklace from his pocket and said the same: "Serena.. here is something that I have wanted to give you a long time"
"What is it, Ash?" Serena asked curiously and her blue eyes shone brightly in the light created by the torches. The water rippling around them only accentuated their blueness and Ash had to restrain himself from sinking completely into them.
"This," he said, handing the necklace to Serena. This one looked at it and breathed when she realized what it was. "Ash, this necklace.. is it.."
"Yes, that same necklace," Ash replied to Serena's half-asked question. He watched as the girl looked at the jewelry in amazement and formed the word, "How.."
"It doesn't matter, the most important thing is that you like it," Ash said and took the jewelry from the girl's hand. He opened that lock, leaned closer to Serena, and attached the jewelry to the girl's neck. (He didn't know he could do it) "Here. Now it's in the right place"
Serena felt the necklace around her neck and then a wide smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Ash," she said in a whisper and a happy smile shone on her face. She then wrapped her arms around Ash and hugged this tightly. At that moment, she had everything she needed and she couldn't have been happier.
Ash pressed his head over Serena's head and asked, "Serena.. do you... do you want to be my girlfriend?" He felt Serena raise her head and saw a wide smile spread across the girl's face.
"Of course! That would be lovely!" she said and pressed a light kiss to Ash's lips. Ash chuckled and then suddenly said a little embarrassed, "But I don't know much about these love things. They're completely new to me. So.."
"Don't worry, I can teach you," Serena said, giggling and playfully poking Ash into the chest. Ash grinned mischievously and whispered to the girl's ear: "I'm sure you're a good teacher. In fact, I know that you are good, I have already learned one thing.."
"And what is it?" Serena asked teasingly with her head tilted, raising her one eyebrow, and Ash smiled mischievously, said, "This," and pressed his lips to the girl's lips again.
They were so immersed in each other that they couldn't hear Gou arriving at the pier, shouting, "Ash? Serena? Are you here?" and wondering where he had just arrived. Alongside him was an equally astonished Pikachu, who said in astonishment, "Pikaa.."
After Gou retrieved Officer Jenny, this had, with the help of a certain Copperajah, been able to break a boulder, which blocked the crack. Although at the same time the mural wall had collapsed, the annoyance of its collapse was quickly forgotten when they saw what had been revealed behind the wall.
Sonia had been very interested in the statues that had emerged, and stayed with Melissa to study them with great interest. Gou had instead had left with Pikachu to explore the cave in more detail and found its special doorway. He had gone down the stairs and finally got to that rocky pier.
Now he was standing in that, calling Ash and Serena. However, he interrupted it when he saw Braixen standing in front of him, who had put her finger in front of her mouth, pointing out that Gou had to be quiet and pointing a mischievous smile on her lips in front of her.
"What now, Braixen?" Gou asked and Braixen nodded in the direction she pointed. "Braixen," it said, and Gou turned his gaze in the direction indicated by Braixen and immediately realized why the fox-like Pokemon grinned so mischievously.
He saw Ash and Serena kissing in the middle of a clear water pond and his mouth also twisted into a mischievous grin. He put his hand in the gust and said, "Well, it took time, but finally those two confessed their feelings with each other."
Then he nodded to Pikachu, who looked at his trainer with a grin, and said to him, "Come on, Pikachu. Let's leave those two love birds alone. They can then come up when they are ready with their.. stuff."
And having said that, he set out to climb the stairs back up and Pikachu, and also the Braixen, followed him.
After a while, Gou saw Ash and Serena step hand by hand out of that doorway. He watched, sitting on the pedestal of the statues, how they stepped, looking a little confused, into the cave, which was now completely bright, and grinned.
"Well, well, well, love birds are coming. Did you stay to swim, or why did it take you so long?" he asked teasingly as Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder again and Braixen came to Serena with a smile.
Ash and Serena blushed at Gou's words, but Sonia saved them from trouble just then arriving on the scene and saying, "Gou, don't bully them. They've suffered enough by falling into the trap of this cave."
"They don't look very suffering," Gou muttered, but Sonia didn't listen anymore. Instead, she spread her hands and said, her eyes shining with excitement: "Isn't that wonderful? There's been a cave like this all along that we didn't know anything about! And those statues... I can swear that when Grandma, I mean, Professor Magnolia, hears about this, she's going to be more than excited!"
She smiled happily and looked at the statues that Melissa had just taken pictures of. Outside the cave, Officer Jenny demarcated the area with attention tape to keep outsiders from disturbing them, and Ash asked, "Sonia, what do those statues represent? They look like two big Pokemon, but I've never seen either of them before."
Sonia turned her head in his direction and smiled. "You're right, they're Pokemon," she said, referring to two wolf-like statues. "And even legendary ones. Those two are named Zacia and Zamazenta, the ancient heroes who saved the Galar region from destruction thousands of years ago."
Serena suddenly remembered something. "The two Pokemon who fought against Eternatus and then disappeared somewhere?" she asked as she remembered the story Melissa had told them there at one of the Pokemon Center.
Sonia looked at her with a smile and said, "That's right. You've probably heard that story already. And based on the stories, it was quite a fight."
"Yeah, but I know what an even bigger battle is," said Ash and the others turned to look at him in wonder. "What?" asked Sonia, but Serena had already guessed it.
"My rematch against Allister, of course," Ash replied and grinned broadly. "And this time, I'm going to win. Because, you know, I am a real Pokemon Master!"