It was unclear whether it was because of last night or what, but nevertheless, Ash Ketchum had a nightmare. And a very nasty one at that. He was back at the lake where he'd almost lost Serena, watching again as she crashed horribly against the tree. Then he was beside her again, watching in horror as the life faded from her eyes. But this time he was alone, and Lucario wasn't there to tell him there was still hope.

"No, Serena...," he cried beside Serena's lifeless body, clenching his fists. Everything was gone, nothing mattered, Serena was gone and it was his fault, he had been an idiot...

Suddenly Serena and all the surroundings disappeared and Ash stood alone in total darkness. He couldn't see anything and he felt trapped. Then suddenly there was a whisper from all around him, saying, "Ash...," and he spun around trying to see the source of the sound.

"What... what's happening?" he asked, trying to make sense of the situation, and he felt his heart pounding. "Who are you? Where am I?" he cried, and looked around in distress.

"I know what you did...," came the whispering voice again and Ash spun around. Still, however, he saw no one speaking. "You betrayed me. You promised to protect me, but you failed. You failed, you failed...," The voice echoed in the darkness, filling the dark space like a suffocating force.

"No...," Ash cried out desperately as the sound echoed around him, and sank to his knees on the ground. "No, it's not true!" he cried and covered his head with his hands, desperately trying to shield himself from the sound. "It's not..."

"You failed, you failed, you failed...," the voice echoed around him in a mocking tone and Ash felt as if every word it uttered was a bullet piercing his heart. He cried on his knees on the ground, trying to protect himself with his hands, but the voice forced its way into his head, stabbing him right in the heart, making him feel unrelenting pain until he felt nothing anymore...

His eyes snapped open and he jumped up to sit down. His heart was beating terribly hard and he realized he was wet with sweat. Slowly, however, his pulse calmed down, and then he realized he was safely in their little room in the Pokemon Center in the middle of Circhester, and Serena's safe, calm and definitely alive breathing could be heard next to him, telling him she was sound asleep.

It was a dream, just a nightmare, Ash thought with relief as he lay back down on the bed. He noticed the light from the lamp in the ceiling was on again, so the electricity had apparently come back on at some point during the night. It wasn't true, Serena wasn't dead and that horrible noise was just imagination or something...

He still couldn't get the sound out of his mind. It had said that he had failed. Failed at what? In the dream, he had known, but awake he was no longer sure. The voice had said something about protecting, so was his subconscious trying to tell him that it was his fault that Serena had almost died that day? Because he had failed to take care of Serena? Although, as Ash well knew, Serena was very good at taking care of herself...

Ash grimaced to himself. He wasn't good at this sort of thing, he wasn't a psychologist. Why did the mind have to be so complicated? Life would be so much easier if so many things didn't affect everything in so many different ways. Like those dreams he was having. Why was he still having those nightmares, even though it had been many weeks since that event?

Thinking about it made Ash's head hurt, so he shook his head to clear his mind. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner. Finally, he sighed, stood up and quietly walked over to the light switch to turn off the still burning bulb. At least Nurse Joy's electric bill wouldn't increase any more because of them.

Standing there by the light switch, Ash happened to glance at the window. It was still very dark outside, with only very small rays of sunlight on the distant horizon. Instead, a beautiful moon shone in the sky, its rays reaching up to their window, filtering through it and making the sleeping Serena's hair shimmer beautifully. Ash forgot to look at the sight for a moment, until he shook his head slightly again and strode back to the bed.

He settled back down next to Serena and watched his sleeping girlfriend for a moment. Serena was breathing steadily and her bare breasts moved in time with her breathing. There was a small smile on her mouth and Ash wondered what she was dreaming. Probably about something completely different than him. He smiled a little before pressing a gentle kiss to Serena's forehead, shifting the blanket so that it covered her body better.

He then looked at Serena until he felt his eyes close again and sleep took over his body again. And this time he didn't see nightmares, but his dreams were full of sunshine, blue ribbons, and a beautiful, warm and jingling laugh that warmed like a bright and beautiful summer day.

Serena woke up suddenly, as if someone had shouted in her ear. For a moment she stared at the white ceiling of their room, wondering what had woken her so suddenly. From behind the door, she heard some morning birds heading towards the lobby and the breakfast being served in the caféteria. She listened to it for a while until finally, unable to think of a reason for her wakefulness, she finally sat up and looked around their room.

The clock on the wall of the room showed exactly 7 o'clock, so it was already morning. Clothes were lying on the floor in exactly the same places where they had thrown them yesterday. Serena saw her dress from yesterday gleaming on the armchair in the room in the faint light from the window, and seeing it made her smile slightly. Yesterday had indeed been quite an interesting and emotional day, she really had to admit.

Serena turned her head slightly and saw Ash sleeping soundly beside her. The boy's mouth was slightly open and his hair looked just as messy as before. I wonder what he is dreaming about? Serena wondered for a moment, watching Ash's calm breathing, before finally turning her gaze in the other direction, towards the window of the room and the view.

Serena could see that the darkness of night was slowly receding and the bright winter sun was slowly rising over Circhester. Its first rays were also streaming through their window into the small room, warming Serena's face. She closed her eyes as the rays hit her face and enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight for a moment. Ash had told her that the sun always shone warmly in Alola. Maybe they should go there next, just for a holiday...

After a moment, however, she opened her eyes and slid smoothly out from under the covers onto the cool floor. She guessed that either Ash had covered her in at some point during the night, or she had wrapped the blanket around herself, as she had no recollection of doing so in the evening. She stretched her arms and body for a moment, which she suddenly realized was almost naked, and suddenly she felt scared. What if someone was watching through the window while she stretched there, bare-breasted? She hurriedly drew the curtains in front of the window and picked up the nearest piece of clothing she could find on the floor. No matter how beautiful her body was, she didn't feel like showing it off to everyone she met. What if some slimy guy like Roy was sneaking around at the time and watching through windows? Ugh, no!

Serena suppressed the shudder that followed the thought, then quickly picked up any clothing she could from the floor to banish any more similar thoughts. Once she had done that, she squashed the clothes into a pile on the chair and then picked up one of the bags of clothes she had got from their shopping trip. She peered inside and smiled with satisfaction. Oh yes, this was just what she wanted.

Time to restyle the outfit, Serena thought happily. But then she wrinkled her nose and quickly sniffed herself. And time for a shower, the hot moment really was hot, she also thought and then slipped into the small bathroom that their room gave access to. Besides, a warm shower was always a nice thing.

When Serena finally stepped out of the shower, she felt like a completely new person. She had put on her new outfit and tied her hair up in a short ponytail with the red ribbon Ash had given her. The old blue one she had attached to her wrist as a bracelet and tied it into a beautiful bow. Now all she needed was her rose quartz necklace and the outfit would be complete.

Serena's new outfit consisted of a brown dress, grey tights, brown high-heeled boots with white fur on the top and a black belt around her waist. The dress had long sleeves, which had the peculiarity of having slits that left the shoulders bare. The dress was slightly lighter than the previous one, but still warm enough even for a cold place like Circhester. Serena was very pleased with it and wondered what Ash would think of it.

Serena quietly walked over to her bedside table and gently pulled open the drawer in it. Ash was still asleep and she didn't want to wake him. She pulled out the silver chain she had put there yesterday and then closed the drawer. Then she took the bracelet she had left on the bedside table, carefully removed the heart and put it back on the silver chain. Then she put the chain back around her neck and headed to the mirror to see the result.

Serena liked what she saw. The jewelry matched the dress perfectly. She looked at it from many different angles and the jewel glistened beautifully as the light hit it. But what didn't shimmer beautifully was the mess behind her. She realized only now that their room looked like a bomb had blasted there, and it made Serena irritated.

"Time to clean up," she muttered quietly with her hands on her hips, then got to work. She gathered up every piece of clothing still on the floor and placed them in a pile on the chair. Then she sorted all the clothes in that pile according to whether they were hers or Ash's. Finally, she folded them carefully, and stuffed them into their bags. She ironed Ash's rented suit with an iron she found in the bathroom locker and carefully placed it in one of the bags of clothes. They should remember to return it before they left.

Now the room looked a little better. All that was left were her useless and broken heels, Ash's clothes that he would probably wear today, and some rubbish. Serena quickly picked up the rubbish, put it in the bin and then folded Ash's clothes ready on the bed. After a moment's thought, she stuffed the heels into her bag. They could probably be repaired somewhere. Besides, she hated throwing clothes away if they were still usable. It was unethical and Serena didn't like that sort of thing.

But now the room looked much better. Serena looked at it happily with her hands on her hips. Nurse Joy couldn't complain that they had left a mess behind. As she stood there, she happened to glance at the clock and noticed that it showed 8.30 a.m. She hadn't realized how time had flown!

"Ash! Serena! Clemont said he wants to talk to you, so come on!" Bonnie's bright voice suddenly came from behind the door and Serena nearly had a heart attack. As she calmed her pulse, she heard footsteps running rapidly away, and guessed that Bonnie had gone away, probably back to Clemony. Thinking of them also made Serena remember that the siblings would leave back in Kalos today and it made her a little wistful.

"What... who shouted? What time is it?" Ash's voice suddenly came from the bed and Serena shifted her thoughts away from Bonnie and Clemont. Bonnie's shout had apparently woken Ash up and Serena saw him slowly sit up on the bed. Ash seemed to yawn broadly until he seemed to notice Serena and then stopped to stare at her with slightly sleepy eyes.

"Serena... you look different," Ash said slowly and Serena snapped back to reality. "Yep! This is my new outfit! What do you think?" She said happily and spun so that the dress fluttered beautifully. Ash grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "It's pretty," he said and Serena smiled broadly.

"Thanks, Ash!" she said and Ash got up from the bed. She was about to say something more when suddenly there was a familiar growl from Ash's stomach and he laughed a little.

"Heh. I guess it's breakfast time," Ash said scratching his cheek a little embarrassed and Serena giggled. "I guess so. I'm hungry too," she said and as she said it, a growl sounded from her stomach too. She blushed slightly and Ash grinned. "I notice it. And I guess there's only one cure for that," he said, winking.

"I guess so," Serena said, and wondered what was for breakfast.

Once Ash was dressed, they were finally able to head for the lobby and breakfast. As they stepped out of their room, Serena wondered for a moment what had caused yesterday's blackout, but then shook the thought from her mind and started walking with Ash down the hall towards the lobby.

When they reached the lobby, they found that it was already full of people and Pokemon. A long queue had formed at Nurse Joy's counter, which seemed to consist mainly of guests from Rose's party last night. However, they left the guests to Nurse Joy's troubles and concentrated on finding their friend and Pokemon among them.

Eventually, Serena spotted them near the video phones. Bonnie had apparently just given all the Pokémon their breakfast, as they happily ate their own portions. Serena's Yamper had already devoured his and was looking longingly at Gou's Sobble's and Chloe's Yamper's portions. However, they tried to ignore these glances and concentrated only on their own food.

There were also some who did not seem to be hungry. Lucario was sitting in the corner of one sofa with his hands clenched into fists, sending murderous glances toward Greninja and Braixen, who seemed to be having a delicate moment on the opposite sofa. They, however, did not even seem to notice anything around them, and Lucario's glances went unnoticed. Perhaps it was just good, for if sight could kill, Greninja and Braixen would already be dead.

"You know, you could just turn your head and the problem would be solved, Luca. It's that easy," came a voice from beside him, and he turned his head slightly to see who had spoken. He wasn't surprised to see Serena's Kirlia sitting next to him, holding a book in her hands that she apparently seemed to be reading. She didn't seem at all distracted by Braixen and Greninja, and Lucario stared at her.

"Do you think it's that easy?" he asked, a little frustrated, but Kirlia just shrugged. "And what's that book supposed to be? Do you know how to read? "

"Nah, I was just testing something," Kirlia said casually, closing her book so that it clicked audibly. "I'm part Psychic-type, and people say Psychic-type Pokemon are smart. Or at least some Pokedex entries claim so. Turns out that's probably not true. At least not for me."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. Your sassiness is certainly taken its place," Lucario said, and Kirlia glared at him. "And your skull is so thick you still don't seem to realize that that -" she pointed to Greninja and Braixen, "- is a battle lost a long time ago. On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me. They say Pokemon and trainer resemble each other, and Ash's head is known to be the densest substance on earth..."

"How do you know that? You only came here after they were already together, how can you know anything that happened before that?" Lucario sternly stated and Kirlia shrugged again. "I'm a Psychic-type Pokemon. I have my ways. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to immerse myself again in this book, which I know absolutely nothing about, but which I read anyway, because it makes me look smart among all you idiots," she said calmly, opening her book again and leaving Lucario to stop himself from strangling not only Greninja, but now Kirlia as well.

"Silly Pokemon, there's enough food for everyone," said Bonnie completely unknowing about Lucario's struggles in the sofas. She was on her kneels on the floor with the Pokemon and giggled at Yamper's tries to steal food from other Pokemon. Then she, however looked up and spotted Ash and Serena. "Ash! Serena! There you are!" she exclaimed and stood up. "I just fed the Pokemon and I fed your Pokemon too. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, that was very kind of you," said Serena with a smile and Bonnie grinned back. Ash, on the other hand, was looking for a particular Pokemon, and was about to ask Bonnie about it, when he felt someone jump on his shoulder and say happily, "Pikapi! Pika pikachu!"

"Hey, buddy. Looks like you had a fun night, didn't you?" said Ash, smiling at his friend and scratching him behind the ear. Pikachu nodded. "Pikachu!" he said and then looked towards Sylveon, who had also appeared to greet Serena by wrapping her feelers around her arm. Ash smiled at him and said, "Just go to her. I can see she's important to you." Pikachu seemed to blush a little at these words, but jumped off Ash's shoulder anyway and went back to Sylveon.

Ash watched Pikachu go back to Sylveon for a moment, until his growling stomach reminded him of its existence. He turned to get some breakfast from the caféteria, but this time he was interrupted by a familiar voice from the video phones.

"Ash, I was wondering if you were awake," the voice said and Ash turned his head in its direction. He saw Clemont standing by the videophones and appeared to be holding something in his hand. Ash noticed that Clemont looked tired. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his hair was a little messy. However, he smiled at Ash and continued, "Because I wanted to give you something before Bonnie and I head back to Kalos."

"Really? What is it?" Ash asked, now curious. In response, Clemont grinned and opened his palm so that Ash could see a small object resting on it.

It looked a bit like the kind of chip found in computers and other devices. It was flat and very thin and perhaps the size of Ash's fingernail. Ash stared at it in some confusion until he finally asked, "Clemont, what is it?"

"This -" said Clemont with a proud grin and his glasses flashed in the same way they always did when he told me about his inventions. He took the chip between his thumb and index finger and watched it gleam in the light of the lamps in the lobby. "- Is the thing that will allow Pikachu to continue to Dynamax without having to go to the Pokeball. This chip tricks the Dynamax bracelet into believing that Pikachu is in his ball, when he is not."

"Wow, so I can Dynamax Pikachu without him going into his ball!?" Ash exclaimed, eyes gleaming, and Clemont nodded. "Yes. The chip attaches to the band and sends the energy from the Wishing Star not to the ball but directly into Pokemon. You just have to touch the band and point it at Pikachu for it to work," he explained, and Ash's eyes lit up as he realized what was going on.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed, taking the chip from Clemont's hand. He unsnapped his Dynamax band and then turned it around. He placed the chip in the middle of the band, to which it attached discreetly. Then Ash put the band back on his wrist, but suddenly frowned as he realized something.

"But... what about the other Pokemon? Won't it look a bit suspicious if I don't have to call them back?" he said, but Clemont grinned and shook his head. "No, they're not affected by the chip. Pikachu can Gigantamax, right? I did some research, and I found out that Pokémon that can do that have a certain factor, a gene of some sort, that makes them Gigantamax instead of just Dynamaxing. Pikachu apparently has it, but your other Pokémon don't. I'm not sure about Corviknight, though. So, I just had to program the chip to only work on Pokémon with that particular gene. The others you can Dynamax as normal."

"I didn't understand much about that, but if everything is okay, that's good enough for me," Ash said cheerfully, and Clemont chuckled a little. "You're welcome. I spent most of the night doing that, so I'm glad you appreciate it," he said, yawning slightly. Ash looked at his friend with a smile and said, "I appreciate it. I really do. Thank you Clemont, I can't imagine how much effort you put into something so small."

"Come on, I was just wondering how you and Pikachu will be able to Dynamax in the future if Pikachu doesn't want to go to his ball," said Clemont blushing and rubbing the back of his neck a little embarrassed. But then he became a little more serious and said, "It would be nice, though, if you didn't shout it out to everyone. I don't know if that's allowed in the League. So, let's keep it a secret between us, shall we?"

"Clemont, when did you become a baddie?" Ash laughed, but then got serious. "I promise. I won't tell anyone about this. Except maybe Serena, because I don't want to lie to her. And to Gou and Chloe, too. Is that okay?" he asked and Clemont nodded.

"Serena's okay. And Gou and Chloe too. They can be trusted," he said and Ash grinned at him. "Thanks, Clemont. You're a true friend," he said and Clemont blushed again, this time because he was a modest person and Ash's praise seemed excessive to him.

While Clemont gave Ash this little gift, Serena had other things to do. She was trying to keep her Yamper away from the other Pokemon's food, because he kept trying to steal their food.

"Silly dog, wait a minute and I'll make you another portion," she laughed and let Yamper go. He immediately ran to Chloe's Yamper and the sight of him made Serena wonder where his trainer was.

"I wonder where Gou and Chloe are?" she wondered aloud, wondering if perhaps they were still asleep. Bonnie overheard it, and nodded towards the sofas next to her.

"They're over there," she said, pointing to the couches. Confused, Serena turned her head in the direction Bonnie was pointing and sure enough, there sat Gou and Chloe. Serena hadn't noticed them, they were sitting so quietly and looked as if they were sleeping with their eyes open. They both had messy hair and dark shadows under their eyes. Chloe had also, for some strange reason, wrapped a thick scarf around her neck and Serena was watching them without understanding a thing.

"Why do they look like that? Are they sick?" she asked worriedly, but to her surprise, Bonnie started giggling. She turned to the younger girl, who was trying to hold back her laughter by covering her mouth with her hand, and looked at her in great confusion. "What's so funny?" she asked and Bonnie giggled even louder in response.

"They're not sick," she managed to say between giggles. "They just had a wild night. I even woke up because of them," she continued chuckling and Serena looked at her in amazement.

"What do you mean you woke up? How could they be so... oh. OH," she said, until suddenly realization hit her and she suddenly realized everything. And then a devilish grin spread across Serena's face and she got up and went over to the sofa where Gou and Chloe were sitting like statues.

Now she would have her revenge for all the teasing Gou had done during their journey. Oh yes, she had been waiting for this moment. She sat down next to Gou and then said innocently, "Hey Gou, I heard you had a pretty wild night."

Gou seemed to wake up from his slumber. "Hm?" he said, turning his head towards Serena and Serena went forward, playing innocently with the hem of her dress as she did so. "Yes, I heard you learned some new moves. Were they Harden, Seed Bomb and Pound? Could you refresh my memory a little?" she continued, enjoying immensely how, as the thought sunk into Gou's brain, he also blushed redder and redder.

"Ummmm..." was the thing Gou managed to get out of his mouth and Serena's devilish grin grew a little bigger. "Ooh, I thought so," she said smugly, taking great satisfaction in seeing Gou blush just as she had blushed. Then she leaned a little closer and said, supposedly thoughtfully, rubbing her chin, "So, are you two a thing now? Or was it just a one-night stand? Tell me, aunt Serena wants to know..."

"Well, uh, kinda... I guess we are?" Gou said, very red, and looked at Chloe. She was also blushing very red and fiddling with the edge of her scarf. She nodded too. "It just happened"

"Happened? Wow, you guys were fast. It took me and Ash forever to even think about it and then when we got up to speed, there was a power cut and... Or nevermind," Serena said, realizing she'd said a little more than she'd intended. Gou, however, noticed it immediately and jumped on it. "Wait a minute. What do you mean you "got up to speed?" So what did you guys do?" he said, raising an eyebrow, and Serena could see his mouth twist into a grin as devilish as her own as she realized it.

"Uh...," Serena muttered, trying to stop herself from blushing. In vain. Gou saw it, and his grin grew. "Hah. So you had a wild night too, eh?" he asked mischievously and Serena felt her cheeks heat up again in a familiar way.

She avoided answering, however, as her Yamper had suddenly started to cause a stir. He had started circling around in the middle of the Pokemon Centre lobby, barking loudly at something. The people around him pointed at him in some confusion and some stared in open curiosity.

"Yamper! What's wrong?" Serena exclaimed and rushed over to her Pokemon. She lifted her barking corgi into her lap, where it did not calm down, however, but continued to squirm. "Yamper, hold still for a moment, and... ouch!"

Yamper had given Serena an electric shock and leaped back to the ground. Serena shook her hand where Yamper had electrocuted her and looked in confusion at Pokemon, who began to spin in circles again and bark... at his own butt? Why was he doing that? Wait a minute, it was as if there was something stuck in Yamper's fur...

"Serena, what's wrong with Yamper?" Ash, who had come over to Serena, asked and was also looking at the Pokemon rolling around on the floor, trying to bite his own butt. "I don't know, but it's like I saw something attached to its fur. Maybe it's something that's got Yamper confused," Serena replied, crouching down next to Yamper.

Yamper was now lying on his stomach on the ground, trying to scratch his own butt. This was unusual for him, even after he had eaten his (and a few others) food, and Serena, who was sure she had seen something in Yamper's fur, turned her Pokemon around, wanting to find out what it was. At first, she didn't see anything, but then she spotted something yellow stuck to Yamper's fur and it caught her attention.

It was a Pokemon, of that she was sure. It was yellow and very small. It was clinging to Yamper's fur, and seemed to be sucking... electricity? from his fur. Serena had never seen such a Pokemon before, so she took out her Rotom and scanned the Pokemon with it:

"Joltik, Attaching Pokemon and Bug- and Electric-type. Joltik latch on to other Pokemon and suck out static electricity. They're often found sticking to Yamper's hindquarters."

"Oh, or that's why that one is attached to Yamper," Serena said, looking at the small spidery Pokemon attached to Yamper. "You like electricity, don't you?"

"Yes, it really does," came a voice from behind Serena and she turned in wonder to see who had spoken. She saw Nurse Joy watching them and Serena was curious to see the slightly sour expression on her face. "Those little critters caused a power outage last night that lasted several hours. It took me a long time to figure it out, because I had no suspicion about that they would have caused it. Joltiks don't usually live here, it's so cold in Circhester. Maybe they came with a guest, I heard that Chairman Rose had invited some people from as far away as Unova."

"Yeah, they're really common there," said Ash and Serena guessed he was reminiscing about some of his adventures there. "And not always in a nice way. Joltiks like to go to places where there's electricity, and then cause big blackouts."

"Well, they do that here sometimes, too", came a voice from behind them and they turned to look. They saw Sonia coming towards them, followed by Melissa, who was tapping her phone, her camera bag hanging on her shoulder. "For example, one time they caused such a big blackout at a power plant that half of Wyndon was without power for most of the day. Although -" she crouched down next to Serena, "- they are pretty cute."

"Yeah," said Serena, looking at little Joltik, who had now apparently sucked enough electricity. It rested on top of Yamper for a moment, until suddenly it leaped into the air and jumped right on top of Chloe's Yamper's head.

Unlike Serena's Yamper, Chloe's Yamper didn't seem to care about Joltik. He didn't even wake up from the nap he had taken after eating his breakfast, but let Joltik settle comfortably on his head. The group watched for a moment as Joltik made himself comfortable on Yamper's head, until Ash finally said, "Look at that, they like each other."

"Or maybe Yamper just doesn't feel Joltik, he's so light and small," said Clemont, but no one was listening. Instead, Ash turned to look at Gou and Chloe, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, and said, "Hey Chloe, you should catch Joltik! Then he and Yamper could continue to spend time together!"

"Me? I don't know, I already have one little bug," said Chloe, a little uncertainly, and stroked Snom, who had just been let out of her Pokéball, and was now happily munching on one of the Pokefood pieces.

"I know! Gou can catch Joltik!" Serena suddenly exclaimed, standing up and clapping her hands together. The others stared at her. "Then he and Chloe will both have a bug! And you'll fit together even better!" She watched the others, cheeks glowing with excitement at this great idea of hers.

Serena's suggestion got mixed reactions. Ash exclaimed happily, "Yeah! That's a great idea!" Bonnie, "What do you mean they're "even" better together?!" and Gou himself looked at Chloe and then slowly said, "That's actually... quite a good idea! Yeah, that's what I'm going to do. I'll catch Joltik! Thanks, Serena!" And then he pulled out one of the empty Pokéballs from his bag, magnified it and quickly ran over to the Yamper where Joltik was staying.

"Joltik, I want you to be my Pokemon. So, I'm going to catch you," he said to Joltik, Pokeball in hand. Joltik opened one of his eyes slightly, but didn't react in any other way. Gou assumed he didn't mind being caught, so he pressed the Pokeball against Joltik's tiny body, and Joltik disappeared inside the ball.

The ball spun three times in Gou's hand until it clicked, signaling a successful catch. Gou grinned in satisfaction, saying, "Joltik, come out!" and let Joltik out of the ball into his palm, where he happily went to sleep.

"He's so cute!" Bonnie exclaimed when she saw Joltik in the palm of Gou's hand, and looked at the little electric bug with eyes sparkling with excitement. "And tiny. Actually, it's much smaller than Joltiks usually are," commented Sonia, who was looking at Joltik over Gou's shoulder. "At least half as small"

"Well, isn't it said that size doesn't matter," said Serena innocently and Gou blushed as he realized what Serena had said. No one else seemed to pay attention to Serena's words, however, as everyone admired the little Joltik in the palm of Gou's hand. Melissa did smile a little knowingly, but no one seemed to notice that either.

"Well it does matter sometimes if it happens to be my stomach," Ash said and his stomach growled louder than ever before. "Because I happen to be a bit hungry. Shall we go and have breakfast?"

And so they did.

After breakfast, it was time for a not-so-nice event. It was time for them to say goodbye to Clemont and Bonnie, who now had to go back to Kalos. Clemont had ordered a Flying Taxi to take them to the airport, and it was now waiting for them at the Pokemon Center battlefield while Clemont and Bonnie said their final goodbyes.

"Ugh, I would have liked to spend more time with you!" Bonnie sighed in disappointment as she and Serena hugged goodbye. Dedenne nodded her head in agreement, and Serena smiled a little wistfully.

"I know, but there's always another chance," she tried to console, but Bonnie pouted anyway. "I guess, but it takes forever!" she huffed, and Serena couldn't help but smile, for Bonnie was Bonnie as much as she could at that moment.

"Maybe, but you could always call us," she said, waving her Rotom Phone. "Now that we have these, we can answer anywhere other than Pokemon Centers, too. Even Ash, who is known for being bad at contacting his friends. Right, Ash?" she looked sharply at her boyfriend, who had forgotten to stare at the Flying Taxi.

"What? Oh, yeah," Ash said, staring at the taxi a little distractedly. He'd heard of these taxis many times, these Galar's specials, but this was the first time he saw one in person. He was interested to know what it was like to travel in a cab that resembled an old car driven by Corviknight, and he wondered if they should order a taxi sometime just to test it out.

Serena, however, shook her head slightly at Ash's answer. "Typical Ash," she muttered, but Ash didn't seem to hear her. Serena's thoughts soon changed too, as Clemont had apparently gotten things sorted with the driver, and was now walking towards them with a slightly wistful look on his face.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then," he said, looking at each in turn. "Ash, Serena, it was nice to see you again. Gou, Chloe, it was nice to meet you. And Pikachu, keep Ash out of trouble," he said to each in turn, and Pikachu saluted at his words. Lucario, who was watching from a distance, leaning against the doorframe, scowled, and muttered, "Really? What's my job then?" Kirlia, standing next to him, slapped him painfully on the arm as she heard it, and Dragonite, standing a little further back, smiled smugly at this.

Finally, Clemont and Bonnie had said their final goodbyes, and they boarded the taxi. The driver climbed onto Corviknight's back and then the taxi took off. The group on the ground watched the taxi fly away, Bonnie waving in the window, and finally, as it disappeared into the horizon, out of sight altogether.

The group stood there for a moment until Serena, who had begun to feel cold, said, "Well, there it was then. Shall we go inside?" The others nodded and so the group marched back into the warmth of the Pokemon Center.

Inside, they were greeted both by the wonderful warmth and an empty lobby. Only a few people and Pokemon were present at the time. Serena overheard a few boys planning strategies for the next Gym battle at one of the tables, and on one of the couches a girl was talking loudly on her phone. They were joined by a woman talking to Nurse Joy at her counter, but otherwise the lobby was empty.

As they had something to say to Nurse Joy, they waited a little way away for the woman to finish her business. While waiting, Serena watched Gou's Joltik and Chloe's Snom play happily on one of the tables. They had become good friends the moment they saw each other, and it was sweet for Serena to see two such little Pokémon together.

She let her gaze shift from Snom and Joltik to the woman chatting with Nurse Joy. Something about that woman bothered Serena. She seemed strangely familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on why. She looked at her long blonde hair, which fell uncombed over a light brown trench coat, and the high-heeled black boots she wore. It was those boots that stirred something in Serena's mind, and she suddenly realized why the woman seemed so familiar.

"Oleana!" she breathed loudly and Ash and the others looked at her in confusion. The woman at Nurse Joy's counter instead turned around when she heard it, searching for the person who had said the name with her eyes. For a moment she circled the lobby, until finally she stopped in front of Serena and the others and stayed there. It made them stiffen, for the look was not a gentle one. No, it wasn't.

For Oleana was angry. If the sight could indeed kill, they would not only be dead, but turned to ash, and it made Serena wish more than ever that she would have kept her mouth shut.