Chapter 6: A Dynamic Duo
The sun was just starting to rise, coating Laverre City in a bright orange light. Everyone was tired from the run-in with Hunter J the day before, so the morning was a slow one. Clemont, Bonnie, and May had slept all morning, still severely injured from the power of J's Mega Salamence. Unlike their friends, Ash and Serena's morning was very eventful. It started with Ash waking up extra early to train. Serena had gotten up just minutes later to watch him.
"All right, Hawlucha! I think that was your best Flying Press yet!" Ash seemed to be in high spirits, considering one of his Pokemon had just been turned to stone. I've got to find Hunter J, he thought. She's the only one with the power to transform Frogadier back. But how will I get ahold of her machine? Ugh, this is gonna be harder than I thought!
Serena sat under a tree, watching Ash's training intently. Well, she was focusing more on Ash himself rather than his Pokemon. She liked the way his messy, black hair stuck out from beneath his hat and blew in the wind. She thought it was cute when he sometimes extended his arm out forward when he gave a command. But somehow, she could tell something was off about him today. On the outside, he seemed just like normal. Happy, energetic, and loud, as usual. But in his eyes, she could see concern. Even sadness, and maybe a little anger. She stood up and walked over to him.
Ash was breathing hard, sweating from all the training. He remembered learning from Sanpei that it was important to not only train your Pokemon, but to train with your Pokemon. He almost didn't notice Serena as she walked up to him.
"Um, hey Ash. Hows...hows your training going?" Serena asked, almost nervously.
Ash closed his eyes for a second. Then he stared at the ground as he said, "Fine. I guess...it's just not the same without Frogadier. As soon as Clemont and Bonnie are better, we're all going to find J. I hate just sitting around while Frogadier sits there encased in stone. It's not right. And I'm just so frustrated!" He was clearly very agitated now.
Serena put her hand on his shoulder. "Ash...I think you need to relax. Frogadier's going to be fine...you're an amazing trainer. I know you'll be able to turn him back to normal. Helping others is what you do best," she said, blushing a little.
Ash looked up at her with a sort of blank stare for a few moments. Then he smiled. "You're right, Serena. I can do it!" He yelled excitedly, punching the air. From the ground, Pikachu did the same. "Pika!" he cried.
Serena smiled, once again admiring Ash's ability to stay on his feet, no matter what situation he was facing. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a battle with you...it'' be a good way to pass the time while we wait! And I know I don't battle very often and I don't want to feel useless the next time we run into trouble like that...so...will you accept?" She asked hopefully.
Ash's looked up, his eyes gleaming with passion. "Sure! How could I say no? It'll be tons of fun!" He said with a smile. Then he said, "But don't ever feel like you're useless, Serena. I know I wouldn't be where I am without you!" he said, rubbing underneath his nose. He walked over a few meters and stood facing Serena.
Whenever his eyes lit up like that, Serena felt butterflies inside her stomach. His mere presence was exhilarating to her. It's something she had been feeling ever since she saw him at the Santalune Gym when he had been battling Viola. She held Braixen's Pokeball in her right hand. "Alright, Braixen, come on out!" She tossed the Pokeball into the air. In a flash of white light, her starter Pokemon appeared before her, ready for battle. Braixen looked around a little and saw Frogadier, and immediately rushed over to the stone statue, her face full of concern.
Ash and Serena both watched, realizing that they had forgotten to tell the other Pokemon about Frogadier. Braixen looked like she was about to cry. Evidently, she seemed to care a lot more about Frogadier than the rest of the other Pokemon did.
Braixen felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face her trainer, a sad look in her eyes. Serena assured Braixen that everything would be okay. "Don't worry, Braixen. Ash is going to find a way to change Frogadier back. We just have to be a little patient, okay?" Serena was doing her best to comfort her.
After a sad nod and a couple tears, Braixen appeared ready for battle. A new look of determination was on her face, probably because she wanted to become stronger. For Frogadier.
Ash looked at Pikachu. "You want this one, buddy?" he asked, with his usual cheery smile. Pikachu nodded with his paw in a fist, "Pika!". Ash leaned in close and whispered, "Try to go a little easy, okay? Braixen's pretty shaken up. She's really worried about Frogadier." Pikachu nodded understandingly.
"You can have the first move, Serena!" Ash shouted.
Serena smiled. "Thank you, Ash. Okay, Braixen, use Flamethrower!"
Braixen quickly shot a powerful flame straight towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge it and use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded, completely relaxed.
Pikachu leaped to the side out of the way of the Flamethrower and instantly darted forward with incredible speed, dashing in zig zags until he slammed head-on into Braixen, knocking her back.
"Braixen! Are you okay?" Serena shouted, worried.
Braixen stood up, weakened from the direct hit. She seemed to be fine. "Okay, Braixen, now get close with Scratch!" Braixen ran at Pikachu, her claws ready to strike. Pikachu instinctively avoided the first few swipes, but eventually Braixen managed to land a hit on him. "Pika!" Pikachu cried out, doing a back flip to recover from being knocked back by the attack.
"Don't stop, Braixen! Use Scratch one more time!" Serena ordered, starting to feel like she was gaining the upper hand.
Braixen moved to attack again, but suddenly stopped in her tracks. Little yellow sparks were covering her body. Ash grinned and adjusted his hat.
"You've forgotten that my Pikachu's ability is Static, Serena. When you make contact with him, there's a chance that it will paralyze you. Turns out that Braixen is paralyzed, so Scratch might not be the best choice of attacks right now." Ash was enjoying the battle for what it was, but he was also enjoying teaching Serena about Pokemon. He loved to help people, particularly her.
Serena frowned a little, planning her next move. Then, she had an idea. "Alright, Braixen use Hidden Power!" she shouted. "Give it your best shot!"
Braixen launched a glowing sphere straight towards Pikachu. Ash calmly started to command a counter, "Pikachu, deflect it with-" but stopped mid-sentence. He just stopped and stared blankly at the sphere heading towards Pikachu. Pikachu looked back in confusion, not used to receiving half a command. He looked back at Braixen and was directly hit with the Hidden Power. Slightly annoyed at Ash, Pikachu looked back at him again. "Pika pi!" he cried, wondering what Ash was doing.
Ash looked down, and images flashed through his brain. He started thinking hard as he recalled numerous memories from the past. Hunter J attacking Melodi's Gardevoir...Drapion attacking his Aipom on the ship...then...
Ash gasped and looked up, "That's it!" he cried out, a big smile forming on his face. "Hidden Power! How could I forget something so obvious! Braixen, you can change Frogadier back by using Hidden Power! I remember now!"
Serena and Braixen both stood there in shock. Braixen smiled and quickly turned to look at Frogadier. She started to run over to him when a huge, long, mechanical arm swooped down and grabbed Frogadier, beginning to pull him up towards an all-too-familiar Meowth balloon.
Ash and Serena both angrily yelled, "Team Rocket!"
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devestation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Hidden Power!"
"Huh?" Jessie and James were both confused.
Braixen wasn't about to wait around for Team Rocket to finish their motto. Not when Frogadier was in danger. She quickly launched a powerful Hidden Power attack skyward.
Angrily, Jessie shouted, "How dare you cut off our beautifully composed motto! Wobbuffet! Send that Hidden Power back to the twerpette!"
"Wahhhhhbuffet!" Wobbuffet obeyed and leaped in front of the balloon and glowed brightly. But Team Rocket was shocked to see that the Hidden Power attack wasn't aimed at them.
The glowing sphere made direct contact with Frogadier, who was still within the mechanical arm's grasp. Instantly, the stone disappeared, and its place was the Bubble Frog Pokemon, flesh, frubbles, and all. Frogadier looked around, clearly confused at to how it got up there. The last it remembered, it was using Cut to block Hunter J's machine. It quickly snapped out of its confusion though, and used Cut to slice right through the arm that was holding it. Frogadier began to fall. Ash, Serena, Braixen, and Pikachu all looked up in horror. "Frogadier!" Ash yelled. He ran forward to try to catch him, but Frogadier was falling too fast. Ash wasn't going to make it.
Right before Frogadier was about to hit the ground, it became cloaked in a purple light, floating in mid-air just above the ground. Then, it slowly descended and landed softly on the ground. The purple light disappeared. Everyone turned to see Braixen lower her stick. "Brai!" she cried out and smiled, running over to Frogadier. She embraced him, making the Water-type Pokemon blush. Ash and Serena sighed with relief.
"That was a close one. It looks like you learned Psychic, Braixen! That's awesome!" Ash shouted.
Serena looked at Braixen and smiled. "Way to go, Braixen! You're getting so much stronger already!"
Braixen smiled back, nodding its head. Then it angrily looked back up at Team Rocket.
"Um, I don't think J will be very happy when we tell her that Frogadier is no longer a statue," James said, with a scared look on his face.
Jessie said, "You idiot, Meowth! Why couldn't you have designed a cage or something, something that would've blocked that Hidden Power!"
Meowth angrily replied, "How was I supposed to know this would happen? Maybe you guys could've helped with the planning!"
James sighed. "Oh well, then it looks like it's come to this. Inkay, use Psybeam on Frogadier!" he shouted, throwing a Pokeball into the air in front of him.
Jessie threw out Pumpkaboo, yelling "Shadow Ball, Pumpkaboo! Teach those twerps a lesson!"
Ash looked at Serena. "You ready?" he asked her, with a determined grin on his face. Serena smiled and replied, "You bet! Let's work together!" she also looked determined.
Ash turned to Frogadier. "Okay, Frogadier, use Aerial Ace to dodge that Psybeam, and aim for Pumpkaboo!"
Frogadier leaped up and seemed to slice through the air as he darted in zig zags, perfectly using Aerial Ace to dodge the incoming Psybeam. Then, quick as lightning, he dashed straight towards Pumpkaboo, landing a direct hit.
"Inkay! Use Psybeam again!" Inkay obeyed and fired a Psybeam attack at Frogadier, only he didn't miss this time. Frogadier started plummeting towards the ground.
"Braixen! Use Psychic on Frogadier again!" Serena shouted.
Braixen held up her stick and caught Frogadier with a force of psychic power. Frogadier landed smoothly.
Ash turned to Serena. "Hey, thanks!" he said, smiling.
Serena blushed. "No problem, you're the one out there doing the damage, Ash" she said, then turned to face Braixen. "Okay, Braixen, let's take out Pumpkaboo with Flamethrower!"
"Not so fast! Wobbuffet, I need you!" Jessie said, and Wobbuffet instantly dashed in front of Pumpkaboo and used Mirror Coat.
The Flamethrower attack bounced harmlessly off of Wobbuffet and headed back towards Braixen. "Oh no!" cried Serena.
Ash adjusted his hat. "Frogadier, put out that fire with Water Pulse!" he commanded.
Frogadier launched a bright blue sphere towards the searing flames. The two attacks exploded upon contact. "Thanks, Ash!" Serena said, smiling
"Okay, Pikachu, now it's your turn. Finish them all off with Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.
"Piiika...Chuuuu!" Pikachu fired a devastating Thunderbolt at a helpless Team Rocket. Jessie, James, and all of their Pokemon were zapped by the powerful electricity and were sent flying into the air. Another traditional ending to their schemes.
"We're blasting off againnnn!" They shouted. In the distance, you could faintly hear Wobbuffet chiming in. Then they disappeared into the clouds.
Frogadier and Braixen looked at each other and smiled, both blushing slightly. Pikachu leaped onto Ash's shoulder. Serena and Ash turned to face each other, each could've sworn that the other was blushing.
"You were great, Serena!" Ash said. "With us working together like that, no one can stop us!" He smiled with enthusiasm.
Serena was now clearly blushing when she said, "Yeah, and you were amazing, too, of course!" She had that dazzling smile of hers on her face. "I guess we'd never realized how good of a team we make!"
Ash rubbed underneath his nose. "Yeah, that was something else, wasn't it? That-" Ash was interrupted by his stomach growling. He looked down at it in embarassment. "Uh, I guess we were so busy battling that I forgot I hadn't eaten breakfast." He chuckled.
Serena laughed, which made Ash smile. She said, "Why don't we go get breakfast somewhere in town? I think we've eaten enough Pokemon Center food for a while, now." Her blush deepened.
"Sounds great!" Ash said, excited at the thought of food. "Let's go!"
Ash and Serena walked into town together. Neither one of them could stop smiling.
And that's the end of the chapter. A little FrogadierxBraixen shipping for you (does it have an official name?). What'd you guys think? Please review! I can't stress enough how much I appreciate it. Chapter 7 is on its way!