Cleaving bonds part 2

Leaf and Bonnie looked around town until they found who they wanted to find. Through a clear window in front of a restaurant they saw Brock and Clemont, with Pikachu sleeping in the middle of the table. The two girls went in.

"Hey guys," Leaf announced walking towards their conversation. "What'cha talking about?"

"Nothing really important," Brock replied.

"Yeah we just mostly talked about gym leader stuff." Clemont added as he and Brock made room for the two girls in their booth. "What about Ash. Is he still depressed."

Leaf responded with a sigh and a nod, with her and Bonnie taking a seat in their table. "I gave up so I just gave all the responsibility of cheering him up to Serena. I mean when were kids Serena would be the one to always cheer him up. I didn't really help much. Whether it be one of his toys breaking, falling of a tree or him and Gary having a fight. Serena would always be there."

"Really?" Bonnie asked.

"Yup," Leaf replied.

"Cute." Bonnie commented. Bonnie turned her attention to her brother who was sitting right next to him. "I heard from Nurse Joy that smoothies are good here. Buy me one brother.

"Fine, but finish it really fast," Clemont answered her.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"We just have someone to pick up from the train station."

In the forest Noivern handed Ash an apple.

"You're giving this to me?" Ash asked as he accepted it.

"You didn't eat much at breakfast." Noivern replied.

"Thanks." Ash replied, understanding the pokemon. Living with pokemon all throughout your life, Ash understood the language of the Pokemon. He took a bite, but then spat it out. "It's sour."

"Yeah just like the one you tried to give me the first time we met."

Ash smiled. "You remember."

"Yeah, There are still gaps in my memory."

"What do you remember?"

"Well there was the fall, the time I was born, Learning how to fly and other random moments in our journey. Other memories were told to me by the other pokemon."

Ash was reminded of the fall. "I'm sorry about the fall" Ash fell back into depression." I couldn't help you."

"It's cool. Well I'm a little tired."

"OK." Ash got out Noivern's pokeball and returned him. He the started to back to the pokemon center.

Meanwhile in another part of the forest a search party was created and split from the group. Serena, Greninga, Eevee, Charizard, Pancham, Delphox, Talonflame, and Hawlucha split up.

Serena hurried as fast as she could to search for the sound wave pokemon. She was panicking thinking how Ash would react to her failure. Serena was thinking that he would most likely be furious at her. She looked in every bush and tree. As luck would have it they she did ran into Ash. Literally ran into him. She ran across a big and burly bush and at the other side was the other trainer.

"Ash!" Serena shouted as she ran into him in the forest heads colliding and each falling down at the away from their collision.

She was shocked. She needed to tell him she lost the Pokemon, but she didn't know how he would react. Plus, her forehead started to hurt from the impact.

Ash got up with one hand, and the other holding his head. He walked up to her and extended a hand to her. "You okay Serena."

She was dazed. He was the last person that she wanted to see right now. From the guilt she avoided eye contact from Ash. Right now she was silent.

"Serena?" Ash still extended his hand towards her for the duration of the silence. Ash was at ease and looked serene during the silence.

She took Ash's hand to help her up. "Um... yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about umm... you know... running into you." She still tried to avoided to look at him directly at his eyes.

"No worries. What's the matter?"

"Wha-what makes you say something like that!?" Serena said panicky and shouting. How did he know there was something wrong. How would he exactly know what was going on.

"Um... you were running in the middle forest." Ash rebutted. "So anything wrong?"

"I need to tell you something." Serena was almost in tears with that. She believed she had done something bad.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked concerned. "Sounds serious. What is it?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, but-but I..." She held out on what she wanted to say. She couldn't find it in her power to tell him that she lost his Pokémon, but sooner or later it had to be done.

Ash approached her with a warming smile saying, "Just spit it out. I promised I can handle what ever you say. No need to worry."

"I-I l-lost... uh," Serena muttered unable to finish her sentence.

"Lost?" Ash asked. "Lost like losing to someone or lost as in you lost something.

"Yes."

"What do you mean?" Ash was becoming really confused. "Which one?"

"Exactly." She wasn't thinking straight.

"What?" Ash had enough of this nonsense. "Come on Serena just start over. What were you saying?"

"Um..."

"Come on just spit it out."

Guilt engulf Serena. The only way to get it off her shoulders was to say it. She said, "IlostNoivernokay." Serena sped up her speaking to not make sense. Trying to stall the inevitable.

"Could you say it a little slower."

"I... lost Noivern." Serena started bawling and rambling. "I know you said to take care of your pokemon, but I wasn't looking at him for a minute and the other pokemon were sleeping. Noivern left and I-I can't find him."

"Serena No-" Ash was trying to say the pokemon was okay, but he was cut off.

"I know Ash, I've done something horrible. Noivern is still injured, it won't survive alone in the forest. God knows what happened to him." As she talked Ash tried to find out an opening. "What if he fell down a side of a cliff? What would happen he can't fly out?"

"Serena!"Ash got ignored again which made him a little bit annoyed.

"I can only imagine how he's suffering. Crying for help, using its soundwaves to attract someone nearby. Days passed and still, crying for help."

"It's been only about half hour. If Noivern was crying for help we could have heard him. I mean the Pokémon uses sound waves." Ash tried correcting her, but he still went unnoticed.

"What have I done. All alone here in this vast forest. What have I done?!"

Twenty minutes later of Serena's rambling Ash finally snapped. He really didn't want to be rude, but Serena could really talk.

"Serena!" Ash shouted.

"W-what if Noivern got attacked by a wild Ursaring. I don't know what's gonna happen t-."

Ash grabbed a hold of her shoulders shoulders, which got her to stop taking and make her see him. "Serena stop taking. Just stop."

"B-but." Serena actually looked at his eyes and saw he wasn't really angry.

"Serena I have been trying to tell you for the last twenty minutes. Noivern is in its pokeball. No need to worry." Ash held up Noivern's pokeball. "He is in his pokeball."

Serena looked flabbergasted. "But-huh what?"

"No need to worry." Ash let go of her, but not before wiping down the tears she released from her eyes.

"Really?"

"Yup. No need to worry."

Serena calmed down a little. "Ash are you mad at me? I still lost Noivern."

"No, I'm not." Ash gave a comforting smile. "Everything worked out for the best."

Serena's cheeks were flushed and eyes a little red. "Sorry I overeacted."

"It's ok, I could never stay mad at you anyway." Ash seeing as there as nothing to do he held up his hand towards her. "You wanna go back to the pokemon center. I'm kind of hungry."

Serena took his hand and side by side they started heading back. Not once did they let go of each other on the way. back.

"By the way Serena, where's my other pokemon?"

"No need to worry, we agreed to meet up just outside the pokemon center after about forty minutes so if we walk slowly when we get there they should be just arriving."

"Where is she?" Bonnie said amidst their group. There they were at the train station standing idly by in the crowd of people who were awaiting for the next train or waiting for someone to arrived.

"She texted me her train got delayed." Clemont said. "She was suppose to be an hour ago.

"So why are we here then." Bonnie complained.

"Because she's gonna arrived in about thirty minutes, so might as well stay here." Her brother replied.

"Come on let's go somewhere for a while," the eight year old wined. "It's so boring here."

"We're staying." Clemont ordered.

"Yeah and besides I wanna see her after all this time." Brock added on.