On the banks of the river across from them, a set of frozen, life-sized Deerling figures stood in various places amongst the wild grasses—some hunting for food, others looking out across the river at guests who too looked back, others lying in the grass and napping in whatever weather was out at the moment. Their animation cycles hadn't been played in years, the pink coat of fur on the upper-half of its body seemingly newer than all of the fur that covered it—applied to cover for a color-changing effect that hadn't worked in years. Further along the banks, a set of war canoes were parked by rope on the outskirts of an encampment, supposedly made by a native population that was no longer there. Further down, the large wheel of the Mark Twain Riverboat churned water behind it as it steamed and pushed further down the length of Tom Sawyer Island, preparing to make the turn at the very end of the river to come back around towards Frontierland on the other side.
The deck of the Hungry Bear restaurant was elevated, raised high above the banks of the river on the Critter Country side of Rivers of America. For a restaurant in the very crowded dead-end of the park it was relatively sparse, with plenty of tables open and little to no immediate conversation around it. Even the counter service crew had time to chat between cleaning their various wares inside for another round of orders.
Near the edge but still beneath the shade of the overhanging roof, Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie sat around all four edges of a table, baskets of food in front of them. Their conversation had been cut short by their own hunger as they ate, hungrily recovering calories from what had already been a long day of walking—and a day that was far from over.
Serena sat at her side of the table over a salad, her posture straight and reserved. The fork that hung out of her hand leafed through the spinach in her salad, shifting around the contents of her bowl idly as she thought. Though there was plenty going on in the space—fiddle music playing from the eaves of the wooden roof, people chatting outside of the park, the brilliant red side of the Sailing Ship Columbia passing down the river in front of them, Serena was completely distracted.
"And then we did Winnie the Pooh again! Again! And it was still just as good as the first time around!" Bonnie beamed, wielding a chicken nugget in her hand as the end of it dripped with honey mustard, then triumphantly slipping into her mouth and chewing happily. At the end of the table, the corner by Bonnie and by the wooden trestle between them and the Rivers of America, Dedenne sat over an empty bowl of mac and cheese, contently cuddled beside the large Pooh plush that sat beside him.
"It's still the same—even the third time," Clemont laughed nervously. "I guess there's only so many rides in Critter Country you can do that don't have height requirements… and aren't meet-and-greet characters with lines—lines..." His last thought trailed off with his gaze as he looked like the veteran of some colorful, Tigger-themed war he had spent far too much time in. A chill visibly passed through him.
Down beside Serena's chair, Serena looked down at where all three of her Pokemon feasted out of bowls that had been laid out on the wooden deck. Sylveon, Braixen and Pancham each had a bowl filled with colorful Pokemon kibble—and their own Country Bear character emblazoned on the rim of the bowl. Serena watched idly, still somewhat distracted, looking to the salad bowl in front of her before taking a chunk of grilled chicken out of her bowl by a fork, offering it down to Pancham—who had already finished his meal.
"Don't worry Clemont, your hard work is done—I just get to bother Serena now," Bonnie giggled. "I've been saving the best for her."
Hearing her own name at the table, Serena looked up and saw Bonnie looking at her—and seeing that everyone else, Clemont and Ash included, was looking at her too, ready for some response. Serena looked very, very confused for several long seconds, before she finally had the thought to ask.
"The best for me…? What are you talking about?" asked Serena.
"Serena, I've been waiting to do Fantasyland with you! Clemont and I have been doing the boring side of Disneyland waiting for you two to get over here and take me on some real rides. It's time for us to pair up so that way Clemont and Ash can get all of the thrill rides done."
"Don't worry, even if the lines are pretty crazy for all of the major thrill rides, the experience is far better—doing all of the big rides in the morning isn't any fun at all! Ash and I will be just fine," said Clemont, reassuringly, as if that was the real worry filling Serena's face at that very moment.
"You and Ash…"
Across from Serena, at the table, Ash sat in front of an empty food basket—the remains of a cheeseburger he had desecrated. Half of the paper was torn out, the sweet potato fries sitting on the makeshift basket of the strip of paper beside Pikachu's complimentary kibble bowl. He was smiling gently, but he looked a bit hesitant—something Serena recognized in herself. They both knew exactly what the problem was for the two of them.
"Annnnd..." Bonnie said, unable to contain a wide, Cheshire-style grin at the thought, sitting up in her chair as she looked beside her at Serena. "Then we get to meet… Snow White!"
"Snow White…" Serena trailed off, her gaze fading.
A low building near the corner of Critter Country and New Orleans Square, themed after Br'er Rabbit and filled with Winnie the Pooh merchandise, was just at the front of the tall and many-layered facade of Splash Mountain—named Briar Patch. In front of it stood a pin trader, one that Clemont was hurriedly talking with, Bonnie impatiently waiting by his side as they negotiated for only the rarest pins.
At the edge of the Rivers of America, Ash leaned against the railing and looked out at the scenery, squinting. Down by his side, Pikachu leaned against the railing, watching as a raft full of guests slowly drifted in towards the dock beside them to reattach and put them all back on solid land.
Just behind them, the sound of running boots was coming close across the paved paths, making Ash turn and look back. When he did, he saw Serena coming close.
"Ash…" Serena started, her steps hesitating for a moment as soon as Ash's gaze was on her, bringing her to a slow walk. At her sides, her hands were held uncomfortably out in the air, her fingers cringing like it might get her out of that moment somehow. Still, her eyes moving up slowly as her lips fidgeted against one another, she pressed on, refusing to let that moment go when it was right in front of her. "Ash, we need to talk…"
Ash chuckled. "Heh, yeah… I figured we probably should…"
Serena brought herself to the edge beside Ash, holding the rails with both hands as she looked over. Feeling the soft wind coming from the river cooling her face, her eyes squinting through it, she calmed herself and took a breath, looking up. When she looked over to Ash, seeing he was by her side, she continued to look out at the island across from them, keeping herself still.
"I… We can talk about what happened down in Pirates some other time…" said Serena, counting her thoughts in her mind as she stared out.
Ash looked skeptical, leaning himself in on the railing to look back at Serena. "Really? What else is there to talk about?"
"Well… I guess I had been scared to make a move or… or do anything really…" Serena said, continuing to look down at the river. "I didn't know what it'd do to our friendship… And, well, here we are…"
Though Ash had been looking up at Serena intently as he leaned against the rail, he then looked away for a moment to think about it. It took him several long seconds to contemplate what he thought about—even looking down to see Pikachu behind his leg, eating out some cupcake he had been gifted by a cast member. Taking a deep snort of breath, he looked up to see Serena, and that she was in thought herself.
"I… I know we're going to do different things all day," said Serena, "but I can't… I just…" She struggled with the words, unable to place them the way she was supposed to.
"Did you not like it…? Do you regret it…?"
Serena blinked—Ash's voice bringing her out of her thoughts and back down to Earth. Looking at him brought her comfort, setting her thoughts at peace, making them right in her head. She couldn't help a gentle smile.
"No, of course not… It's… It's one of the most natural things I've felt in my life… Even if it was rather scary…" said Serena.
"I agree—for me, anyway," grinned Ash.
Laughing softly under her breath, Serena stepped back from the railing, lightly turning herself away from the River's of America. Though Ash leaned against the railing on his side, Serena turned herself and looked back towards the Disneyland scenery before them—the haphazard heights of Splash Mountain just before her, and the rooftops of the aging Haunted Mansion poking above treetops. She looked down at the toes of her boots, holding herself to the rail behind her, an impressed grin on her face.
"I can't go another day without knowing what today—without knowing what us means… you know? I… I've lived too long not knowing what us meant or could mean…"
Down by her side, Serena could feel Ash's hand coming over hers and grasping at it softly. He took it into his hand, then clasped his hand over the top of it. When Serena looked back, Ash's eyes were waiting for her, looking as determined as ever.
"Well, maybe it'll come naturally, just like today," Ash brightened. "We can only hope, right?"
Ash seemed to be leading her, and though Serena leaned in with him without even realizing what was happening, she soon realized—another kiss. Ash's head was reaching, and he had put his free hand on her hip to turn her around a bit. Her free hand found Ash shoulder, touching down gently and holding for support as she shut her eyes, leaned in, and—
Then, the silvery surface of a sword slashed between them and stayed out between them, inches between their respective lips.
Though it had made them jump at first, breaking them out of their intimate postures, they remained completely frozen. Serena and Ash snapped back to reality, looking at their own reflection in the blade out of terror, looking back up at each other, then looking down the length of the blade to see where it had come from.
"Mind if I cut in there, lads and lasses? Eheh heh..."
Wielding the prop sword, at the end of an outstretched arm, Captain Jack Sparrow was standing before them—or at least, a character playing him. With a tall, triple-pointed black hat stacked on top of the character's head, the long dark captain's coat that adorned the body, this character seemed a bit shorter than one might imagine the lanky male figure to be. In fact, the familiar dreadlocks did not slip out beneath the red bandanna that covered the head beneath the black cap—instead, lengths of greasy, unkempt and straight black hair hung down.
Serena had been fixated on something she had heard—something that she couldn't quite pin down—but she then became engrossed in the character Jack Sparrow's eyes. A pair of red, gleaming eyes stared back at her, bright with color and unusually vivid.
"Perhaps," the character Jack Sparrow interjected, gently lowering the sword, "I don't suppose that I caught you two on the verge of snogging, might I?"
Though the audience that had gathered around the Jack Sparrow snickered, Serena wasn't paying attention to that. In fact, she had pinpointed exactly what she had noticed earlier in that character's voice that was so strange.
"A girl Jack Sparrow…?" Serena asked, looking deeply confused.
A high pitched, girlish squeal escaped the young lady who played Jack Sparrow, her grin almost completely giving it away. She then straightened her face out before leaning in to taunt Serena, narrowing her makeup-darkened eyes, seemingly snarling with indignance.
"That's missus Captain Jack Sparrow to you, my dear—!"
As the Jack Sparrow took a step back, leaning away from Serena, she twirled her sword in a hand and walked with the same swagger the 'real' Jack Sparrow had. Her boots stepped one-foot in front of the other with a drunken unsteadiness, her arms out and up in the air in wide, theatric gestures as she twirled around and cackled to the audience.
Though Ash had mostly stayed out of it, watching the antics of the character with a lot of confusion, Pikachu leaped out from beside Ash's legs and landed down on the paved path ahead. It was just Jack Sparrow and Ash's Pikachu out in the clearing, the open space around where the audience had gathered. His cheeks crackled as he growled low—not necessarily ready for the playful kind of battles Ash and Pikachu usually had, but instead sensing a real danger. There was something off about this woman playing Jack Sparrow, and it very much unsettled Pikachu.
"Ahh~…" female Jack Sparrow grinned, seeing Pikachu out in the open, ready to strike. She then hopped down in front of him, squatting and grinning ear to ear. "Why hello there, little mongrel! It seems you and I have a bit of—Aaahhh!" she shrieked, jumping back comically when Pikachu let a small bolt of electricity loose at her. She leaped up into the air, her limps sprawled out in-air before she came down and landed on two feet, hopping with exaggerated movements to get the biggest laugh out of the audience.
"Pikachu!" Ash called out, hurrying out towards Pikachu's side to stop him from doing anything more. He hunched down, looking him over as Pikachu continued to bristle with energy and get ready for a second, more powerful attack. "What's gotten into you, buddy…?"
"It seems to me your Pikachu wants a battle—a good old fashioned duel."
Ash looked up at the sound of Jack Sparrow's voice, seeing her standing there over him and waiting for him to respond. As she did, she took the sword that was in her hand and then chucked it down into the ground—the blade of the sword stabbing into the porous material of parts of the walkway and standing upright, proving the sword to be sharper than the average prop. She let the long captain's jacket slip down over her arms and then be hoisted up to be propped on the handle of the sword. As she removed the triple-pointed hat from her head, a Pokeball was resting at the very top of her head on top of the red bandanna, receiving much audience applause for the reveal. Taking the Pokeball into her hand, straightening the puffy white sleeves of her undershirt out and taking the hat and resting it on top of the upright-standing sword, she paced around towards Ash and waited for him to get to his feet.
Serena looked on with horror—not that the fight was beginning, but that they had been interrupted so horrifically and publicly, and now Ash was in 100% battle mode. She looked constantly between the two them with total confusion painted all across her face, unsure whether to jump in or to hang back.
Once Ash was on his feet, he paced carefully, watching the Jack Sparrow with only the most careful of gazes. His hands had balled up into fists by his side. Pikachu was just in front of him, on all fours, back raised high, ears down and back.
"If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get!" Ash cried, pumping a fist and taking his stance behind Pikachu—to audience applause, again.
"I'm glad! After all, it's not every day that a captain of my stature gets to meet a trainer of yours… Your caliber, anyhow… Ehehehee!" Jack Sparrow trailed off, her grin becoming wicked and stretching the fake mustache attached to her upper lip.
Both Ash and Serena gasped, looking at each other in an instant.
"What, do you think I wouldn't know who you are, Ash Ketchum? Or you, Serena?" Jack Sparrow cackled. "It's obvious! Only the most honorable trainers in the whole Kalos region! I've read all about your exploits, and I cannot resist a battle."
"Ash..." Serena said, her voice quiet and quick—just enough to reach him from where he stood in the cleared path and where she stood by the railing over the Rivers of America. "I think this isn't a joke. I think something odd is happening here."
Though Ash had looked down from Serena to think about it for a moment, he then looked up and over to where Jack Sparrow was for only a moment as he watched her lob her Pokeball up into the air. As the cheers from the surrounding crowd grew and the Pokeball flew high, the tumbling surface paused long enough for the aperture to point to the ground and fire its laser—a bright surge of blue energy cutting through the air and landing all around where Jack Sparrow stood, the large amorphic form of a Pokemon taking shape before solidifying and the energy evaporating. In moments, the gigantic visage of a Salamence had landed down on the ground—its weight cracking the surface of the path and sending shockwaves all around through the guests themselves. The cheers of a crowd that had quickly gathered were nothing as Salamence roared a bellowing roar from deep within his cavernous, treasure-guarding chest.
"Salamence," Jack Sparrow commanded, throwing an arm flamboyantly into the air like she had told a cannon to fire, "Hyper Beam!"
The large jaws of Jack Sparrow's Salamence opened wide, his meaty jaws bristling with teeth. A shrill, reptilian cry exited the long craning neck as a large summoning of energy took place. Poised between the open jaws and array of teeth, a large ball of pure white energy was pooling, suspended in-air, millions of particles swarming to it as it continued to charge.
"Alright Pikachu, we don't have much time—use Thunder Shock!" Ash shouted, feeling a rush of wind from behind him as Salamence collected more energy. The river behind them had begun to rock, even some distant trees on Tom Sawyer Island swaying in the air as more and more energy was being summoned. Period lampposts outside the Haunted Mansion flickered gently as their light faded—the energy drained, just as it was on the electric lights of the Mark Twain Riverboat on the river behind it.
Pikachu launched himself backwards, his foot skidding beneath him as he fought the force of his own momentum, one of his arms in front of him reaching to grasp at the path and coil like a spring to launch himself forward. The fur on his body suddenly stood on edge all at once, wavering only once before standing totally rigid—the red cheeks on his face overflowing with loose electrical currents. He then volleyed his whole body forward in several leaps, reaching the middle of the clearing in mere seconds before leaping up high in the air towards Salamence. Pikachu only flipped a few times in-air before righting himself with his tail and facing Salamence—who had raised his tremendously large body up on his hindlegs and craned his neck up and away, his whole body arcing away from Pikachu, barely able to keep himself up with his large red wings flapping.
With his whole body becoming a bright yellow spot of electrical energy in the air, Pikachu unleashed his Thunder Shock on Salamence. The flux of electricity focused several hundred bolts of lightning down into a beam, pointed at the apex of where Salamence's long neck met his stout body, then almost immediately spreading across the rest of his torso and up his neck. The force of the blast knocked Pikachu back through the air, sending him tumbling back and flying towards the edge of the path he had gotten his running start at, barely able to reach out with his front arms and grab the edge of the iron railing to stop himself from falling into the river.
Salamence shrieked with pain, stumbling back over his hindlegs when his large flapping wings seized up. His hindquarters smashed into the stone surface of the wall that braced the upper lawn of the Haunted Mansion, forcing it to collapse in on itself. As he slumped forward, trying to regain control over his fall, his craning neck swung his head clumsily—the ball of energy charging from Hyper Beam still clutched in his mouth and ready to burst. As his head moved around with abandon, dozens of shrieking guests on the path scrambled to run from where the Hyper Beam was pointed, moments before the column of pure energy blasted out and struck the ground. Chunks of the path exploded out at once, with more and more of the path being blasted away as Salamence swung his head over—a wincing, tiny eye of his trying focus through his daze to find where Pikachu was.
Pikachu had barely gotten himself back onto the railing, standing on two feet and balancing his pudgy body. It wasn't a moment later when he felt the railing suddenly buckle, knocking him off of his feet and forcibly landing him on his stomach—painfully. Holding himself with an arm and a hindleg, Pikachu looked down into the water—the Rivers of America—and watched as debris from the path crumbled into it, just as he could have. In front of him, looking down the length of rail, he could see that it had bent out and was now twisted and mangled, wobbling under the duress of the gentle wind.
"Pikachu! Get out of there, quickly!" Ash shouted. He had kneeled down behind one of the large gashes that had formed in the path, his arm the only thing that shielded him from the possibility of several hundred pounds of concrete falling on him. As he got up, he looked up and watched as Salamence continued to unleash more of his Hyper Beam, powerfully moving his head towards the length of railing that Pikachu was standing on.
Pikachu only had so much time to react, and as he did he chose to run down the length of the iron railing, trying to hang on as he suddenly felt it swaying out and bending out from where it was originally fastened. He barely held on as he felt the whole thing suddenly buckle, looking down to see he was already over the edge of the water—possibly several dozen feet above it—and the whole thing was beginning to drop.
Panicking, Ash ran towards Pikachu as he saw him nearly drop once again. He ran towards the edge, only to forcibly drop himself to the ground, stumbling hard and tucking in, rolling across the paved path on the ground. He skidded on his side to a halt, covering himself as rubble was tossed all around him on the ground. The Hyper Beam attack had fired down, suddenly growing in intensity as it blasted the fence ahead of them and made the section sever completely, sending it tossing through the air with Pikachu on it.
Exhausted, the Hyper Beam suddenly ceased. Salamence took a breath, landing himself back on all fours with an huge, thundering impact. Down beside him, the character Jack Sparrow laughed heartily, cackling at Pikachu's misfortune.
As Ash quickly pulled himself up, he stumbled to the edge on tired legs, clutching the crumbled stone stump on one of the sections of railing. As he hoisted himself up and looked down, looking at the wreckage that drifted in the Rivers of America, he searched for where Pikachu had landed. He saw him almost immediately, gasping with shock, an excited smile coming to his face when he realized he was okay.
Down below, one of the rafts that took guests to Tom Sawyer Island was floating among the wreckage, and Pikachu had landed squarely in it. Dazed, fur covered in chunks of stone and concrete, Pikachu was already shaking off the debris and getting up to fight once again. Nearby, splashing in the waters, the ride operator has fallen into the water—jumping from his stationed post on the outside of the raft when the sidewall that banked the upper areas of the park exploded out and Pikachu had landed down on it.
A deep, rumbling sound of annoyance exited the cavernous belly of Salamence as he readied himself. His wings unfurled, flexing once as he reared his body up, taking a stronger stance and looking on Ash with deep, angry eyes. He then launched himself up, wings thundering with powerful flaps as he lifted himself into the air and dragged his large body with him. His long tail dragged, barely pulling itself up, but readying itself to swing hard.
"Ahaha—Ash Ketchum! We are far from started~… I hope you are in for the ride of your life!" Jack Sparrow laughed again, dancing a small jig of excitement as Salamence brought himself up.
Looking on at Salamence as he gained height, Ash's eyes widened with terror when he saw that Salamence was looking at him rather than Pikachu—thinking Ash to be alone. As Salamence's body then turned, wings leveling and sending him down towards Ash in a preying formation, ready to swoop in and strike, Ash then bolted, running towards the edge of the destroyed path. The ground was quickly running out beneath him, and as he ran around the edge of the gash—feeling the intense rushing of air behind him as Salamence came closer and closer, the loudness of the Pokemon's cries blaring in his ear—Ash then leaped up over the edge, tucking his legs in to clear any loose posts of metal bars, tumbling through the air in a narrow trajectory down towards the raft below. He shouted, howling with terror as he fell, tucking his side in as he braced for impact—and then collided with the wooden deck of the raft, a stinging impact that rattled his whole body.
Salamence swooped and sailed high above the path, swooping up to hover at the edge of Rivers of America. As he did, looking down on Ash and Pikachu in the raft, he opened his immense jaw again and gathered fire—his belly glowing as he charged himself with a fiery impact to strike down with. As he fired down—Ash barely pulling himself up and Pikachu running to the edge of the raft—his streaming fireball would have hit if Pikachu didn't let loose a small Thunder Shock attack into the water, causing an eruption to shove the boat back over the surface of the water a short distance, giving the fireball a chance to explode on the water's surface. As Salamence roared, swaying to the side as he hovered on his wings, Pikachu dashed back across the deck of the raft, leaping up onto the railing to fire a thunderbolt at him.
The crowd cheered and applauded at the show before them, but not everyone there was ecstatic.
Serena stood at the edge of the path where there still was railing, looking down timidly at where Ash had jumped off to land on the raft. The thick gusts of wind knocked her hair into her eyes, but she didn't flinch as she stared, feeling a chilling loneliness welling up inside herself. She took a terrified breath, reaching up to clutch the blue ribbon around her collar—her eyes glowing with red flame when she looked up to see another burst of fireballs bellowing out of Salamence from above, much to rave applause.
Then, to Serena's shock, someone grabbed her by the arm, forcibly turning her. When she was forced to look back, she locked eyes with Jack Sparrow, looking up into the unusually bright red eyes the lady looked back with. For a moment Serena looked genuinely terrified, but it faded into annoyance—it was all a show, and Serena didn't like it at all.
"Sorry to steal your boyfriend away from you, I know it throws a bit of a wrench in today's plans, eheh~…"
Serena wrinkled her nose. She yanked her arm out of the grip of Jack Sparrow, turning herself indignantly. Her head lowered, but she still looked out of the corner of her eye towards her, looking as annoyed as she really was conflicted.
"He's… He's not my boyfriend…"
"Oh, really? Well, you look awfully cute together… Anyhoo, I did manage to scrounge up several Fastpasses for you and Bonnie. Ride all the rides you want, as many as you want… Hope you like Fantasyland…"
At that, Serena looked up, very, very terrified. When she looked into Jack Sparrow's eyes, she saw something rather knowing about her gaze, and that rattled Serena to the core. As she looked up at her, mouth hanging more ajar than she thought it was, she suddenly felt a wad of Fastpasses get stuffed into her hand, and then her fingers closed over it by Jack Sparrow's forceful encouragement.
"Tally ho!"
With that, Jack Sparrow bounded off across—half skipping, much to Serena's terror, watching as Jack Sparrow then broke into a sprint, meeting the ground after a leap and skidding until she leaped again up onto the smashed-in retaining wall of the Haunted Mansion lawn. She grabbed the edge of an asunder, iron fence and hoisted herself, standing on the lawn moments before Salamence landed down hard with a tremendous impact, giving her the chance to leap up.
Serena watched in absolute silence. She wasn't even watching Jack Sparrow's wild actions, staring past her and seemingly looking introspectively amongst the show taking place. Instead, Serena took to looking down at the dozen or so tickets that had the printed label 'Fastpass' on them, contemplating. As Jack Sparrow had promised, they were all for various attractions in Fantasyland, and several times over.
Someone new grabbed for Serena's arm, but this time Serena didn't flinch. She instead looked up, watching as Bonnie tugged at her arm. The sudden force from such a small body made her stumble forward a few steps, Bonnie dragging her across the open path towards the rest of New Orleans Square.
"Come on already… You're starting to drool over him…" Bonnie groaned, steadily walking in the direction she and Arceus had seemingly picked out for them.