Note! This chapter is pretty contains some pretty sad moments, so keep that in mind. Thank you.
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"NO, YOU DON'T DO THAT!" Ash shouted when he saw Gyarados spit his Hyper Beam towards Gou and two Pokemon. He wasn't going to allow it under any circumstances, and without thinking anything, he set off to run towards his friend and the danger where he was.
Gou watched in horror as his friend rushed straight into the danger of death and he tried to yell at Ash to stop. But he didn't have time to do anything, because next he saw Ash throwing himself in front of him directly in front of Gyarados' Hyper Beam.
And then he had to close his eyes, because everything turned blindingly white.
"Where is he going?" Serena muttered as she watched in confusion as Ash ran quietly towards the nearby forest. Next to her was Pikachu, who was just as confused when he saw his trainer running away without him, and said quietly, "Pikaa.."
"You're right, why wasn't he waiting for us?" Serena thought aloud and looked at Pikachu. It was weird that Ash disappeared somewhere without first telling Serena, and Serena didn't really like it. Even weirder was that he didn't take Pikachu with him. Why? Serena thought and watched, how Ash disappeared into the forest.
"Pika Pikachu?" asked Pikachu, turning to Serena and interrupting Serena's thoughts. She watched as Pikachu nodded in the direction of the forest and a determined smile spread to her mouth.
"Right," she said, glancing at the woods where Ash had just disappeared. Then she grabbed her bag from the tent floor, glanced at Pikachu, and said smirking, "Come on, Pikachu. Let's follow Ash and find out where he disappeared."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said resolutely and raised his little fist in the air, just as Ash used to do. Serena smiled at it and then the duo set off to run towards the woods where Ash, and before him Gou, had also gone.
After Serena had traveled a short distance in the woods, she realized she had lost Ash's sight. "Where has he gone?" she muttered and glanced at Pikachu, who was walking beside her. This also tried to find Ash with his gaze, but did not seem to find his trainer.
"Pikachu, we seem to lost him," Serena told Pikachu and stopped at the same time. Pikachu also stopped and said a little sadly, "Pikaa.."
Serena sighed and sat down on a mossy rock. She realized that it was completely pointless for them to continue on their way forward, because then they would just get lost, and at least that wouldn't help them.
"What do we do now?" she muttered and pressed her head to her hands. Pikachu scratched his head, also trying to think of something and at the same time blinked around, looking for something that could help them. Suddenly its eyes hit Serena's pink bag in her arms and then suddenly he came up with a solution.
"Pika pikachu!" he exclaimed and pointed to Serena's pink bag. Serena looked up when she heard Pikachu's exclamation and asked, "What now, Pikachu? I'm trying to figure out how we could find Ash"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said again and pushed Serena's bag. Serena looked at him a little stupidly until she suddenly realized what Pikachu meant.
"Of course!" she exclaimed and took her bag better. She opened it and pushed her hand inside the bag. "Yamper can help me track down Ash and... hey, these aren't my Pokeballs"
Serena looked at her bag and realized that it contained someone else's Pokeballs in addition to her Pokeballs. And for some reason, she knew who.
"Why are Ash's Pokeballs here?" she thought aloud and picked up one ball. She held it in front of her face and then looked at Pikachu. "Did you put them there?"
However, Pikachu shook his head and Serena thought, "Well then who?" However, Pikachu just shrugged and Serena sighed.
"Well, it doesn't matter," she finally said, looking at the Pokeball in her hand again. A new plan had just formed in her head and she smiled.
She pointed to the ground in front of her with the Pokeball, and suddenly Lucario appeared in front of her. It looked around for a moment, a little confused, until he noticed Pikachu sitting on the ground and then Serena sitting on a rock.
"Lu?" it said a little questioningly and looked at Serena. Serena smiled at it and said, "Hey Lucario. We need your help. Ash left here alone in the woods without telling anyone about it and we don't know where he went. So.."
"Wait a minute. So the Master left here alone in the woods, without any Pokemon or even telling you about it," Lucario interrupted Serena's explanation and Serena nodded. Lucario muttered something vague and then he said, "Not good. I was feeling the hostile Aura just now, so if the Master is alone here, it doesn't know good."
"Can you then trace him?" Serena asked a little worried. The hostile Aura didn't sound like a very good thing to her. "And the faster the better"
Lucario nodded and then closed his eyes for a moment. He seemed to focus for a moment until he opened his eyes and formed a blue stick from Aura with his right forepaw. He then pointed it out in front of him and set off to run forward, grunting, "This way," and pointed to Serena and Pikachu to follow.
"Come to Pikachu, let's find Ash," Serena said and a yellow electric mouse jumped over the girl's shoulder. Then Serena waved her bag back on her back and started running after Lucario, her right hand squeezing tightly her blue ribbon.
After running a short time in Lucario's heels, Serena noticed that the trees were starting to thin. She also noticed that Lucario was slowing down and eventually stopped completely.
"What now?" Serena asked, and Pikachu on her shoulder also said questioningly, "Pika" Lucario, however, did not answer, but seemed to stare concentrically in front of him and observe his surroundings.
Just as Serena was asking what he was doing, Lucario seemed to hear something and tightened his grip on his Aura stick. He stepped forward and Serena was just asking what he had heard when it suddenly happened.
Some kind of blinding white light swept over them and knocked Serena and Lucario to the ground. Serena felt her knee hit something and Pikachu exclaimed, "Pikachu!" as the light swept over them. Lucario's grip on his Aura stick came loose and it flew into the air, disintegrating into hundreds of blue Aura crumbs.
It was over as fast as it had started. The light faded and Serena, who saw nothing but white, groped back up and said, "What was it? I have never seen such a bright light."
"I don't know, but it came from the front," Lucario said, wiping his paw over his eyes so that his vision was restored again, and stood back to stand. It formed a new Aura stick with his paw and then pointed it in front of him. "From there, if I am right"
"Well, I don't know what that light was, but for some reason, I have a feeling it's somehow related to Ash," stated Serena, whose vision gradually began to recover. There was a determined look on her face as she looked ahead and continued, "And I'm going to figure out how. Come on!"
Having said that, she set out to run forward, in the direction from which the light had come, with Lucario and Pikachu following, Lucario squeezing his Aura stick again.
As he closed his eyes as a blinding light appeared, Gou had left waiting for some kind of blow, or stutter, that Ash had been hit. But when he had not heard or felt anything, he had begun to wonder why that had not happened.
He opened his eyes and found himself looking into Scorbunny's and Sobble's frightened face and Scorbunny pointed behind him, saying, "Scor bun bun." Gou slowly turned his head in the direction Scorbunny was pointing, and was really surprised by what he saw.
Ash stood in front of him and something seemed to come out of his hands that formed a light blue, protective shield in front of them all. Ash looked very focused while maintaining it and Gou realized that the shield had been formed from Aura. So Ash had finally managed to do what Lucario had been trying to teach him to do.
After Ash instinctively threw himself in front of Gyarados' Hyper Beam, making a shield had not been his first thought. Instead, he had just held his both hands in front of him and exclaimed in a loud voice, "NO!" Instead of exploding into the air as a result of Hyper Beam, he had felt something formed in front of his hands and stopped Hyper Beam.
The Aura shield by Ash had saved the lives of both of them from the blow of Gyarados. Instead of hitting them, the Hyper Beam had hit the Aura shield and exploded into a blinding white light. This was the light that Serena, Lucario, and Pikachu had also seen, and which had made Gou close his eyes. And that same light was also to blame for their soon-to-begin next problems. One of which was the raging Gyarados.
Gou slowly got back to his feet and looked at Ash. This stared firmly in front of him and stood still in place.
"Ash? Are you okay?" Gou asked, but Ash didn't answer him. He had to concentrate all his strength to keep the shield upright and talking would have bothered him in it. So he just contented to nod to Gou.
While Ash focused on keeping his Aura Shield in action, the panting Serena arrived at the border of the square. Her gaze quickly shifted from Gyarados raging in the pond to the two people standing next to the pond and realized that one of them was Ash.
His eyes widened and he exclaimed in terror, "Ash!" Ash seemed to hear it, as his gaze turned in the direction of Serena's voice and when he saw the girl standing on the edge of the square, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Serena, what are you... Ah!"
Seeing Serena had caused Ash's concentration to wane for a moment, but that moment greatly influenced the course of subsequent events. Namely, his lack of concentration had caused his Aura shield to flash for a moment, and it was then that Gyarados waved its big tail towards him. And as the shield was not about to receive that blow, it hit Ash's back, causing him to shout and fly a little distance to the ground and leave him lying there.
"Ash, NO!" exclaimed Serena and set off to run towards her boyfriend. At the same time, she dug two Pokeballs from her bag and threw them into the air, exclaiming at the same time, "Braixen, Sylveon, time to fight!"
Those two Pokemon appeared next to her, accompanied by a bright light, while Serena herself ran to Ash who was lying on the ground.
"Ash, are you okay?" Serena asked worriedly as she reached Ash. She squatted next to Ash and tried to see if anything was broken. To her relief, however, Ash seemed to be conscious, and holding his head, he said, "Ouch, my head. Serena, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am, but I'm more worried about you," said Serena, helping Ash's back up and hugging him tightly. "You flew so bad to the ground. Is anything broken?"
"No, at least I think so," Ash said, relieved that Serena was okay. He also hugged his girlfriend tightly and a determined look appeared on his face as he finally disengaged from the hug. "And now we're giving that... SERENA, LOOK OUT!"
Ash noticed how Gyarados' long and thick tail approached them through the air, ready to crush them like flies...
Gyarados had had enough. It roared loudly with eyes closed and it was now really angry. The white light had exploded directly into its eyes and made it rage once and for all. And when Gyarados is outraged, it's not just some small thing.
It had risen half-blind from the pond to the ground and was now trying, with its impaired vision, to look for its distractions. Eventually, it found two suitable objects on the ground nearly and decided to do the job properly. And now it would take care of it with its good old tail.
Serena quickly turned to hear Ash's exclamation and screamed when she saw that Gyarados was about to crush them with its tail. Ash was just about to make a shield when suddenly Lucario rushed in front of them and formed a similar shield in front of them with his paws.
And not a moment too early. Gyarados' tail slammed against the Aura Shield and remained on it, Lucario holding it in action. At the same time, Pikachu, who had come the same way with Lucario, stood in a guard position in front of Ash and Serena, saying resolutely, "Pika!" and his cheeks sparkled.
"Thank you, Lucario, you saved our lives," Ash said and Lucario grunted in response. "You're welcome, Master, but you should step aside, I can't maintain this shield for long."
"I can help with that," Ash offered and stepped on, but Lucario rejected the suggestion, exclaiming, "NO! I told you to step aside, so obey!"
"But..," Ash began, but Lucario did not give up. "Didn't you hear what I said?! Step aside, NOW!"
As Lucario shouted his last word, Serena barely had time to grab Ash's hand and pull him aside when the power of Gyarados' tail finally broke Lucario's shield and it shattered into many, blue and shimmering Aura crumbs. Lucario himself slid a little distance by the force of the blow, but quickly got to his knees and looked unharmed and the Braixen standing next to Serena sighed in relief when she noticed this.
Ash was about to exclaim something to Lucario, when suddenly Serena exclaimed, "Ash! Watch out!" and Ash barely had time to notice Gyarados' tail before it struck exactly between him and Serena.
However, he managed to roll away from under it and heard Serena exclaim, "Ash! Take this!" and he saw Serena throwing one Pokeball at him. He grabbed it in his hand and, squeezing the ball, muttered, "Greninja, time to fight."
He threw his Pokeballs into the air and a blue ninja Pokemon appeared in front of him. It formed two shurikens with his hands and Pikachu settled next to him with his cheeks sparkling.
"Okay, guys!" Ash exclaimed as Gyarados lifted its tail off the ground ready to strike it again somewhere in their direction. "Let's get to work then. Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
"Ninja!" exclaimed Greninja, jumping into the air and throwing his shuriken at Gyarados. Pikachu followed immediately afterward, sending his electronic attack also towards the raging beast.
As they did it, Ash turned in the direction of Lucario and exclaimed, "Lucario, are you okay?" He watched as Lucario formed a new, blue Aura stick with his paw again and rose back up.
"Yes, Master," he said and walked over to Ash. However, it kept an eye on Gyarados all the time and was ready to act in the slightest danger. "I'm okay."
"Good," Ash said, watching as the attacks of Pikachu and Greninja hit Gyarados and made it roar again. It focused its half-blind gaze on them and set out to come quickly towards them.
But then suddenly a fiery stone hit its neck and it roared. They looked at this a little dumbfounded until they heard Gou shouting, "Hahaa, taste that, ugly worm. Scorbunny, do it again!"
"Bunny!" said Scorbunny and kicked the stone again towards Gyarados. This time it hit it in the forehead and it roared louder than ever before and then set out to come fast towards Gou.
Yes, Gou. By the time Ash and Serena had handled things with Lucario, Gou, Scorbunny, and Sobble had done something completely different. Namely, they had collected pebbles right next to Gyarados from the shore of the pond, and they were for a great plan of Gou. And for that plan, he had decided to take advantage of Scorbunny's new stone trick.
"Are you ready?" he had asked Scorbunny quietly as Gyarados had roared deafeningly again, and Scorbunny had nodded. It had had ready. Gou had looked pleased. "Good. Then let's go"
He has taken one stone from the pile, and handed it to Scorbunny. Scorbunny has taken the stone in his hand, felt it for a moment, and then grinned. It had has indeed ready for action.
It had thrown a stone in the air in front of it and then kicked it with its foot. The stone had flown again like a rocket into the air and got a fiery tail behind it again. And eventually, thumbed right on Gyarados' neck.
It had turned around angrily and now stared straight at Gou. Its vision had finally improved enough that it now saw the object it was going to crush, and it growled. Its sleep had been disturbed, rocks had fallen on its head, it had been blinded and now it was bombarded with burning crumbs. It had indeed had enough and decided that this play would end here. And then it had got another crumb right on its forehead.
Gou realized that his big plan wasn't quite as big as he had thought. He saw Gyarados coming straight at him and he swallowed. "Scorbunny, time to fade," he said to his Pokemon and this one nodded. And then they both set out to run away from the beast that was chasing them.
"Heeelp!" Gou shouted as he ran and saw from the corner of his eye how Gyarados was preparing to plunge another Hyper Beam towards him. Serena saw it too and she exclaimed, "No, it won't work, worm! Braixen, use Flamethrower!"
"Braixen!" exclaimed Braixen and, with her branch, formed a great whirlwind of fire towards Gyarados.
It hit its head and made it roar again. Flamethrower left a red burn on Gyarados' head and at the same time, the blow caused it to falter and fall.
Gyarados slammed to the ground and Serena and Braixen hit high five. "Great, Braixen!" Serena exclaimed and Braixen raised her branch as a sign of victory. "We did it! We won that beast!"
"Braixen!" said Braixen with a smile and Ash, a short distance away, exclaimed, "Serena!" and raised his thumbs up. Then he went for a walk towards his girlfriend, with no idea he would ever come to her.
Serena lifts her head when she heard Ash exclaim and turned. She saw him coming towards him with his thumbs up and she smiled. But then Gyarados, who hadn't fainted completely, struck one last time.
It waved its tail very hard and straight at them. Ash heard it approaching and was saved as Lucario pulled him aside. They fell to the ground and Ash watched in horror as the tail approached Serena.
"Serena!" he shouted and tried to rattle himself off Lucario's grip. He watched in horror and in slow motion as Serena turned, saw the tail coming towards her, her eyes spread in horror, and then, Gyarados' tail hit her hard and she flew straight towards a tree, hit it with her back and Ash heard something crack disgustingly.
"NO!" he cried when he saw Serena slip unconsciously along the trunk of the tree to the ground and was left lying there lifeless like a rag doll. He watched Serena lying on the ground and he freed himself from Lucario's grip and ran to Serena.
He squatted next to Serena and shook the girl gently from her shoulders. "Serena, wake up," he said desperately, but Serena didn't react in any way. Despair grew inside Ash and he shook his girlfriend a little harder.
"Serena, wake up!" he said again, feeling the tears begin to flow down his cheeks. However, Serena still didn't react in any way and he felt hot tears flow down his cheeks as he watched Serena's lifeless body.
"Serena.. please.." he sobbed and buried his head in his hands. He sensed how the Pokemon and Gou came closer to him, but he didn't care about them. Instead, he slumped to the ground and sobbed louder, "Don't leave me."
Suddenly he felt someone put his hand on his shoulder and he heard Gou say quietly, "Ash... I don't think she can hear you anymore because she's.."
But Ash heard no more, for he had risen and now stood with his hands in his fists on his back to Gou. Gou had taken his hand off Ash's shoulder and now looked scared. Ash exuded some kind of energy that scared him.
"Ash.. are you.. is everything okay?" he quietly asked his friend and this one slowly turned around. Ash's hands were still in his fists and his cap covered half of his face. But if it had been out of the way, they would have seen a red flash in his pupils.
"No... everything is not okay," he said quietly and in a dangerous voice. He stepped closer to Gou and Lucario, who sensed the impending danger, formed the Aura stick ready. He didn't like Ash's tone of voice and something in the boy's Aura wasn't okay. "Everything really isn't okay. Serena is lying there.. dead.. and it's... and it's your fault!"
"What?!" Gou said in amazement when he heard Ash's last words and Ash hissed, "Yes. Because of you, I came here. Because of you, that Gyarados got angry. Because of you, Serena followed me. And because of you, she is now DEAD!"
At the last word, something inside Ash snapped completely and rage exploded inside him. He rushed towards Gou, who stepped in horror a step back and stumbled to the root on the ground and fell. Ash tried to reach him, but Lucario, who had been on standby all the time, grabbed him by the middle body and prevented him from attacking Gou.
"Let me GO!" Ash shouted and tried to rummage away from Lucario's grip. However, Lucario did not release his grip, but held Ash firmly as he kicked and hit this one.
"You killed her!" he cried, crying to Gou, who looked terrified. "You killed her! YOU KILLED HER! You killed Serena! She's dead because of you! And that's why I hate you! Did you hear?! I hate you! I hate! I hate, I hate, I hate.."
However, his words gradually faded into a sob, and Lucario dared to loosen his grip on Ash a little. Ash slammed into the ground a miserable, sobbing thud, and Pikachu came cautiously beside him, saying quietly, "Pikaa.."
"Ash.." Gou started slowly and Lucario also said, "Ash, Serena isn't.." However, Ash didn't listen to either of them, but suddenly got up and stepped completely silently next to the half-faint Gyarados.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Gou asked, but Ash didn't answer him. Instead, he said, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt," and pointed surprisingly steadily toward Gyarados, lying on the ground.
"Pika?" Pikachu said in surprise, but Ash just said, "Do it." Eventually, Pikachu obeyed, albeit a little reluctantly, and sent his electronic blow toward Gyarados.
It hit it, made it squeak, and eventually fainted completely. Ash grinned with satisfaction at seeing it, but the grin quickly disappeared and his hands clenched into fists again.
Suddenly, however, behind him was a faint: "Ash..." and he turned around at lightning speed. To his surprise, he saw Serena slowly open her eyes, and Braixen and Sylveon, who had been by her side, retreated in surprise further away.
"Serena..", Ash gasped and hurried to Serena, who was leaning against the tree. She seemed externally unharmed, but the look on Serena's face revealed that she was hurt and a lot.
"Serena.. are you okay?" Ash asked as he got to the girl and grabbed this by the hand. Serena's hand was cold and sweaty and she also had cold sweat on her face. "Serena, where does it hurt?"
"Ash... I... I don't feel my feet," Serena said quietly and Ash paled. He knew what it meant. By the time he was little, one little boy had fallen from a tree after climbing in it and seriously injured his back. He had survived it but had never walked again. When Ash asked his mother why, his mother had explained that the boy's spine had broken and also damaged his nerve system. And it couldn't be fixed by any doctor. And now, the same thing seemed to have happened to Serena.
But Serena also seemed injured in other ways. She seemed to have a hard time breathing and every movement seemed to hurt her. However, she breathed, "Ash.." and Ash was pulled back into reality from his thoughts.
"What now, Serena?" Ash asked, grabbing Serena's hand as she fought her unconscious. "Tell me, please"
"Ash... I just want to say... that if I don't survive... I love you...", Serena whispered and seemed to slip farther all the time. "If you didn't... didn't know it..."
"Serena... I love you too," Ash said, squeezing Serena's hand and Serena smiled sadly.
"I know," she whispered, raised her hand a little shaking and straightened Ash's cap. "I know, silly boy"
Suddenly she breathed sharply and her outstretched hand swung down. She slid lower along the trunk of the tree and again seemed to go unconscious.
"Serena?" Ash said seeing this and panic grew inside him. He shook Serena a little from her shoulders, but the girl didn't react. "Serena? Serena answer me! Serena?!"
However, Serena did not react in any way to Ash's attempts to wake her, and Ash turned desperately to Lucario. "Do something," he asked desperately and his voice was a mere whisper.
"I'm afraid I can't do anything at all, Ash," Lucario said, however, quietly to Ash's horror and Ash opened his mouth to say something about it. However, Lucario continued without letting Ash even begin, "But you can."
"What?!" Ash exclaimed and Lucario nodded. "Yes, Ash. You can still save Serena. Do you remember how I healed Dragonite there in the cave? You have to do the same now."
"But I can't," Ash said miserably and looked somehow lost. "I've never done anything like that, I don't know how to do it and.."
However, Lucario interrupted Ash's speech by quickly leaping up to him and grabbing this by the shoulders. He stared straight into Ash's eyes and said resolutely, "Listen to me, Ash. You're the only person who can save Serena. You still have time, the game isn't lost yet. So, stop wallow in self-pity and do what you have to do."
Ash stared into Lucario's eyes for a moment and was silent. Then he nodded slowly and said, "All right. I'll do it."
"All right! That sounds more like the Ash I know!" Lucario said contentedly and took his grip on Ash's shoulders. "But hurry. Even though there is time, it's not much anymore."
Ash nodded and then he squatted next to the unconscious Serena. He noticed how Serena's chest rose more and more slowly, but Ash decided to close it in his mind. Now was not the time to think about it.
Instead, he breathed and tried to dig from his memory what Lucario had done with Dragonite. He remembered how Lucario had placed his hand over the wound, but since Serena had no visible wound, Ash decided to use Serena's stomach instead.
He placed his hand over Serena's stomach and closed his eyes. Lucario had never told how he had done the healing, but Ash had some idea of it. He just hoped it was right.
He focused and directed his energy towards his hand hovering over Serena's body. At the same time, he focused on the idea that Serena would heal and recover.
His outstretched hand began to glow blue and he felt warm energy flowing along with it. The glow moved from his hand to Serena's unconscious body and made her glow blue for a moment.
Then it suddenly disappeared and the seven pairs of eyes that followed the display held their breath. All of them were completely silent and Ash slowly opened his eyes. Had it worked? Had he healed Serena?
For a moment everyone was completely silent and stared at Serena, who was still lying quietly and motionless on the ground. However, when nothing happened, Ash gradually began to fear that nothing had happened and Serena was forever gone. Thinking about it, his hands clenched into fists and he lowered his gaze. Wasn't he successful after all?
But then he heard a very quiet voice saying, "Ash..." and he looked up. He didn't see anything at first, but then he noticed how Serena slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at him.
"Serena?" he whispered and Serena smiled. "Hi Ash," she said quietly and squeezed Ash's hand. "I think you did a good job, because I feel my feet again. What do you..."
However, her sentence was interrupted as Ash had pressed his lips to her lips and Serena closed her eyes and answered the kiss. She wrapped her arms around Ash and felt Ash move away one of the curls of hair that had escaped her face.
They could have continued it forever, but the cough next to them eventually interrupted them. Serena opened her eyes when she heard it and noticed that she was staring straight into Ash's auburn eyes and she smiled.
"Thank you for saving me," she said quietly and Ash smiled slightly in response. "You're welcome," he said just as quietly, pressing a gentle kiss on Serena's forehead. Then he turned to the others and blushed at the sight of them all grinning at them.
"When you're ready, I'd like to go back to camp, I'm a little hungry," Lucario said and smirked. Ash turned his gaze away, blushing, he had completely forgotten the others as he focused on Serena, and Serena giggled.
"Come on, Ash. Help me up," she said and held out her hand to Ash. Ash pulled her up, but Serena tripped on her feet and fell against Ash's chest.
Ash faltered as a result of the collision and fell to the ground on his back. Serena plump down at him and so close that their faces almost touched each other. Ash was able to count the freckles from Serena's face again. They stared into each other's eyes and leaned closer again.
"You can do that later. C'moon, get up, we had to go back to camp," Lucario interrupted, however, pulling the blushed Ash and Serena up from the ground again.
"Serena, can you walk?" Ash asked a little worried as Serena stood, but this one just laughed.
"Of course I can," she said, stepping in steady steps to Braixen and Sylveon as evidence. "There you see, no problem," she smiled as Braixen hugged her tightly and Sylveon wrapped her feeler around her arm.
"I notice it," Ash said, rolling his eyes a little and also taking a step forward. But when he had done that, he began to feel very dizzy and had to take support from the tree so as not to fall.
"Ash? Is everything all right?" Serena asked worriedly and walked quickly to Ash. This one held the tree with one hand and his forehead with the other. "You don't seem to be doing very well"
"I suddenly started to feel dizzy," Ash said, rubbing his forehead. Serena looked at him worriedly and tried her hand on the boy's forehead.
"You look pale. Are you getting sick?" she wondered, but Lucario shook his head as he approached them.
"He's not sick," he said and Serena turned her gaze to him in surprise. Lucario didn't usually talk to her. "That's just a side effect of that he healed you with Aura. It will pass, don't worry."
"Yeah, Lucario is right, I feel better already," Ash said and removed his grip from the tree. "And I'm with him on another matter too. Namely, I have a huge hunger"
And having said that, he set out to march toward the camp, with Pikachu jumping to his familiar place on his shoulder and Serena muttering to herself, "Of course"
"Gou, can we talk a little?" Ash asked as he sat opposite his friend at their portable camping table and Gou shrugged. He said nothing and just stared at the lake, which the setting sun colored orange, in his arms Sobble, whom he had caught earlier that day.
Gou had been silent ever since they finally returned to camp, and hadn't really spoken to anyone anything. After eating fast, he had been away from others and had only been with his Pokemon. Serena had been worried about him, but thought Gou needed a moment of his own peace. Ash, on the other hand, knew exactly what was bothering Gou and was very guilty about it.
That is why he had now decided to fix the matter. He had noticed Gou sitting alone at their table, and realized his opportunity had come.
"Beautiful evening, isn't it?" Ash said as he sat at the table, but Gou didn't answer him. He didn't even turn to look at Ash. However, Ash didn't give up, but continued, "That stone trick what you and Scorbunny did was pretty great."
However, Gou didn't answer anything and Ash sighed. This was more difficult than he had imagined.
"Listen. I'm sorry," he finally said quietly and noticed Gou freeze. He continued: "I'm sorry about what I said to you there in the opening... I.. I didn't mean it."
He watched as his sentence sank into Gou's consciousness and how this one slowly turned around and now looked at Ash expressionlessly.
"I... I overreacted," Ash continued, while Gou still said nothing. Ash played with the buttons on his jacket and said, staring at the worn surface of the table, "I don't really know what happened to me. Suddenly I just saw you guilty of it all and inside me, something clicked. And, well, you know how it went then."
He stared at the ground and waited for Gou to say something. He almost expected Gou to just get up and get away without saying a word to him. Actually, that would be just right for me, Ash thought bitterly. I wasn't very nice to him.
But instead of just walking away, Gou came next to Ash and Ash looked up confused. Gou looked at him expressionlessly, Sobble in his arms, and said, "Ash, I'll challenge you to the battle. If you win, I'll forgive you."
"And if I don't?" asked Ash and to his surprise, Gou grinned.
"You'll see it then," he just said and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Ash looked at him for a moment until he grinned too and then got up, saying, "Okay, let's battle then!"
They decided to hold a match on the beach. They faced each other on its sandy ground and both stared tightly at each other. They had both decided to win.
Ash chose Pikachu, who had played something with Serena's Sylveon, as his Pokemon. Gou, on the other hand, chose Sobble, who he had been in his arms all along, and the two Pokemon settled on the field facing each other.
The match itself was quickly over. Pikachu quickly defeated Sobble and soon a small blue chameleon lied in the sand with spirals in his eyes. Gou went to lift it in his arms and on his head and little Sobble left tired lying on it.
"Well, it looks like I won, so you have to forgive me now," Ash said with a grin as he walked over to Gou and Gou sighed.
"I guess so," he said, but there was still a mischievous tone in his voice. "But not quite yet. Sobble, use the Water Gun"
Sobble still had enough strength to do it and opened his mouth and spat water directly into Ash's face. It completely surprised this and made him fall to the sand.
"Hey! Why did you do that!?" Ash exclaimed as he got back to stand, and wiped his face that was wet from the water. Gou grinned mischievously and said: "It was the revenge of what you said there square. Now I have accepted your apology."
"Oh really?" said Ash, glancing at the water beside him. He had suddenly gotten the brilliant idea. "Then what if I do that?"
He then quickly shoveled water from the lake and splashed it on Gou. Gou tried to protect himself from splashes with his hands, but it still watered him and Ash grinned with satisfaction.
"Really, Ash Ketchum?" asked Gou and looked at his shirt, which was now wet from the water. Then he looked up at the grinning Ash and said theatrically, "This knows the war, Ketchum. The total war. And this is its first shot."
Then he also scooped water from the lake and splashed it on Ash. Ash laughed and said equally theatrically, "The threat has been accepted, General Gou. Let the war begin."
And then they started a water fight that had never been seen before.
As Ash and Gou splashed water on each other, Serena sat at the door of her and Ash's tent and looked at them with a smile.
"It's nice that they got their disagreements to agree, whatever they were," she thought, and Braixen next to her also said, "Braixen!" Then Serena saw Ash turn, noticed her gaze, and exclaimed, "Serena, come on! We need to show who is the strongest here!"
"Hey! If you can take Serena for strengthening, then I can take Sobble!" exclaimed Gou, and Sobble over his head opened his mouth and spat water on Ash's face.
As Ash wiped the water from his face, Serena got up laughing and then ran towards the boys playing in the water.
"Coming!" she exclaimed and soon the three of them splashed water on the each other, and the Braixen, sitting at the door of the tent, looked at this with a smile and turned her gaze to the last rays of the setting sun.