A/N: What's going on guys? Welcome back to Serene Dreams. And before you go all "Huh? Who's this guy?" on me, it is still me, Mr Oakzzz. I changed my pen name because honestly that childish name I took when I first joined here was starting to annoy me. On top of that, it always got edited out by FF when written due to the dot in the middle, so I figured I would just change it.

So, if any of you used to like Serene Phoenix and haven't noticed, the rewrite is up and going. If you disliked my old OC from that story, Dusk, I can tell you that he's gone and burried with capital "B". I do use a different OC in that one, but he is a lot different and have received a much warmer welcoming by the readers who have read the story and reviewed. So if you haven't read that, go check out "Serene Phoenix: Reborn" in the amourshipping section on this site. That's all for now I think, so I wish you a nice time reading this chapter, and I'll see you at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon Franchise or anything related to it.

Chapter Three: The Perfect Storm

Ash Ketchum wasn't having the best of days. Sure he had finally gotten out on the road and taken the first step towards his dream, but that didn't mean that everything went as smoothly as he would've liked it to. First, he wasn't allowed to head out despite being ready, because Professor Oak wanted him to wait for the other 3 rookies to choose their starter, so that they could head out at the same time. Then, Pikachu decided to grab an early meal and chew down a few cables in Oak's laboratory, which in turn resulted in Ash getting shocked by the mouse when he tried to tell said Electric-type off. To top off his brilliant morning, his mother embarrassed him in front of the whole town with her constant nagging about remembering to change his underwear and last but not least, a Rattata had somehow managed to steal his lunch when he and Pikachu stopped for their first break. Just brilliant!

Well, no use brooding over a lost lunch, but the point was that things hadn't gone exactly as he had hoped they would. He had sat his bag down by a tree and told Pikachu to keep an eye on it while he went to go look for some berries to mix into Pikachu's Pokemon Food. He had learnt over the days that the mouse preferred to have something fruitish or berryish in his bowl to give his meal a "touch of nature", but carrying berries and fruit around in his bag would only serve to make his extra clothes icky, not to mention that carrying around fruits and berries in containers for several days wouldn't really make them as "fresh" as Pikachu liked. So, he had left to find some fresh berries for Pikachu, but when he had returned with some Oran Berries and a Pecha Berry, he had found Pikachu asleep on a tree branch and a Rattata happily munching down his last sandwhich.

As it was now, Ash had given Pikachu his berries and Pokemon Food, and the rodent was happily swallowing it down, but Ash himself had nothing to eat. Well, Viridian City wasn't too far away so he should be able to reach there before night fell so maybe he could do, but in the future he should keep in mind that Pikachu was not trustworthy with guarding his lunch.

While Ash waited for Pikachu to finish, he had sat down beside his partner and was currently reading through a book on Pokemon Habitats, trying to figure out what Pokemon he had a chance of meeting on this Route. He already knew that there were Rattatas here, and he could probably expect most Flying-types that were native to Kanto, since they tended to move around pretty freely. Other than that though, he wasn't completely sure. If he wanted any bigger variation in Pokemon species, he would probably need to leave the road and go into the forest a little bit.

"Pika!"

On Pikachu's declaration, Ash looked up from his book to find the Electric mouse rolled over and patting his full stomach. Trying not to think about how nice it would be to have a full stomach, Ash began to pack up his things and got ready to leave. He would give Pikachu 5 minutes to digest the food, then they would be going into the forest to search for any kind of interesting species of Pokemon they could find. While he was excited to catch his first Pokemon, Ash knew that he wanted his first catch to be worthwhile. That meant, no Rattata. No offense to the rat-pokemon, but a Raticate wouldn't really be enough to help him win the Indigo Conference. He honestly wouldn't mind one of those Flying-types, but if he was to catch a Pidgey or a Spearow, he would need to test the bird carefully. While both Pidgeot and Fearow could become very strong Pokemon with the right training, they could also be pretty average or even worse than average if not trained right.

"You ready to go, buddy?" Ash asked as he stood up again and tossed his bag over his shoulder.

Pikachu, seeing that Ash was ready to go, gave one last yawn to try and get rid of his lunch-drowsiness and stood up. Together, the two of them headed towards the forest to the right of the road. The deeper they made it into the woods, the more excited Pikachu seemed to become. This was where he belonged. This was how he was supposed to live! Not locked up in a glass container.

Ash studied Pikachu reactions with interest for a moment, before he shrugged them off and began to look around for anything that he would have use for in his quest to become a Pokemon Master. While the forest was bubbling over with life and activity, Ash didn't quite see anything that would become strong enough.

"Well, not much around here it seems. Maybe we should head back to the road and instead focus on catching something in Viridian Forest. What do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked around, but only saw some weaker Pokemon like Rattata, a few Pidgey and a Mankey. Nothing against those Pokemon, but at this moment none of them were on his list of "going to catch" Pokemon. However, when he didn't recieve any answer, Ash frowned and turned around "Pikachu?"

Turning around and seeing nothing, Ash felt himself sweatdrop. He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He turned his back on the rodent for 5 seconds maximum and when he turns back he is gone. By now, he didn't think Pikachu would try to escape from his ownership if he didn't do anything really stupid, but Pikachu still didn't always listen to what he had to say.

"Pikachu! Come out! We're going back to the road!" he called, using his hands to form a cone around his mouth to try and amplify his voice.

As soon as the words left his lips, something rustled in a bush nearby and Pikachu's head appeared amongst the leaves. Ash walked over to him and bent down to talk to him, but Pikachu seemed to want him to come along for something.

"Pikachu! Pika-pi, Pika!" he said and pointed out into the forest.

Ash frowned. "Uhm, alright, I guess I'll follow then." he said as Pikachu disappeared back into the vegetation.

Struggling to keep up with his partner, Ash followed Pikachu until they reach a clearing. It didn't take Ash long to realize why Pikachu had him here. The yellow rodent was pointing excitedly towards a large bird-like silhouette that was resting in the shadow of a tree that stood in the middle of the clearing. Ash eyes widened as he recognized the shape of the bird and silently pulled out his Pokedex.

"Fearow, the Beak Pokemon, and the evolved form of Spearow. With its huge and magnificent wings, Fearow is said to have the stamina to fly all day long without having to neither land, nor rest. If threatened, it will use its long and sharp beak for self defense."

Swallowing, Ash put away his Pokedex and looked back towards the Fearow. It was still resting, probably asleep and hadn't noticed them yet. While Flying-types could be challening to train the right way if you weren't an expert at it, this particular Fearow appeared to already be pretty well trained. From what he could see from here, it was pretty large for its kind and the beak was almost shining in a blood red color, which was a clear sign that it was well fed. He had read that if a Fearow, or Spearow for that matter, is poorly fed or trained, its beak and cockscomb tended to be more orange or even yellowish than red. Judging by this ones beak and cockscomb, it was clearly both well fed and trained.

"Pika?"

Ash looked down towards Pikachu, whose cheeks were already sparkling with electricity. So that's why he had led Ash here. He was itching for a fight and he knew Ash was out to fight and catch the strongest. 'Nice one, Pikachu.' Ash thought with a grin as he motioned for Pikachu to step forward. Rising to his feet, Ash followed Pikachu out in the clearing and stood a few feet away from the Fearow. As they came to a stop, one of the Fearow's eyes opened and, spotting the two approaching strangers, the Beak Pokemon quickly shook off any sleepiness it might have had and rose from its sitting position.

Seeing the guarded look in the Fearow's eyes, Ash clenched his fists and fell into a slightly crouching position, keeping himself on his toes. This would be a touch fight. He had an advantage with Pikachu's Thundershock being Super Effective against Fearow's Flying-type, but from what he knew, Pikachu was still pretty young and this Fearow looked experienced. And he knew from the battles on TV that type advantage wasn't everything.

To the Fearow's credit, it would seem that it too knew of its own type weakness against the Electric rodent and waited for them to make the first move. It eyed them carefully while it spread its wings, but it didn't immediately take off, knowing that if it did, there would be a second where it was open to an attack. Pikachu growled slightly under his breath and took a threatening step forward, before dashing towards his opponent without waiting for Ash's command.

"Wait! Don't just rush in!" Ash called after him but it was too late. Fearow took to the air and easily avoided what Ash assumed was an attempt at Quick Attack as it flew over Pikachu's poor attempt to land a hit.

Pikachu however, didn't let up his assault and turned aroun quickly, allowing electricity to engulf his entire body as he fired a Thundershock towards the escaping Fearow. The bird however, showed proof of great manouverability and simply glided out of range from the strike of thunder that came rushing towards it.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in frustration and ran after Fearow, who in turn simply rose higher up in the air.

Ash stood helplessly by the side, as Pikachu kept firing Thundershocks towards his opponent, who didn't even seem to tire from avoiding the attacks. Well, guess that rumor about Fearows being bale to fly for days on end had some merit to them then. After what had to be Pikachu's 10th Thundershock, the little rodent was beginning to look tired from having let out such a great amount of energy in such a short amount of time. That's when Fearow decided to strike.

Positioning its long neck in a straight line and pulling its wings close to its body so that it wasn't any more than a brown stripe, Fearow dove towards Pikachu in a fast fall while spinning like a drill. Ash gasped in shock and terror as he recongized the move. He hadn't seen a Fearow use it before, but he recognized it from a battle he had seen on TV.

"Damn! That's Drill Run!" he swore under his breath. Drill Run was a Ground-type move, and Ground was Super Effective against Electric-types like Pikachu. He didn't even know that Fearow could learn that move! He knew that it could learn Drill Peck, but this definetely wasn't some spinning pecking. If that move hit...

"Pikachu! Get out of the way!" he called as dashed towards his partner, who had been left immobile from fatigue.

Just as Fearow's attack was about to connect, Ash threw himself forward and managed to get ahold of Pikachu, barely avoiding Fearow's beak himself. Instead, the Ground-type move hit the ground where Pikachu had stood just a few moments earlier and, to Ash's and Pikachu's horror, caused the ground to crack from the power of the impact.

Wide eyed, Ash quickly got to his feet and stumbled as far away from Fearow as he could as the majestic bird once again took to the sky. Feeling adrenaline rush through his veins as he followed their opponent with his eyes, Ash carefully set Pikachu back down on the ground. If that Drill Run connected with Pikachu, they could both kiss their asses goodbye. Pikachu also seemed to realize this fact, as he looked up helplessly at Ash, as if asking what he should do. He had tried to hit Fearow, but the bird was just too fast for him at this range. Normally, ranged combat was Pikacuh's favoured method of battling but Fearow's speed and stamina made it impossible for Pikachu to make use of his ranged attacks.

Feeling Pikachu's eyes on him, Ash kept following Fearow's movements out of the corner of his eye while he was searching for something he could use to their advantage. They were in an almost open clearing, so there was no way of limiting Fearow's movements or intercepting him (he was pretty sure that this Fearow was male). He could of course try throwing a Pokeball at Fearow and hope for the best, but that would still require Fearow to be close enough for him to hit it and even if he hit, Fearow hadn't been weakened at all since the start of the battle, so it would be a futile attempt. While it wasn't unheard of to catch weaker pokemon without hurting them, this Fearow had proven to be anything but weak so far.

In the end, there was only one way he could go about this. The only time Fearow was close enough for either him or Pikachu to hit it with anything was when it came in for an attack. The only option they had was to counterattack in that moment, when Fearow came in for a hit. Having made up his mind on a course of action, Ash bent down to whisper something in Pikachu's ears. The mouse's ears twitched when Ash explained his plan, but he nodded reluctantly.

While Ash and Pikachu was scheming his demise, Fearow had flown in an arch around the clearing while keepin an eye on his opponents, hoping to find another opening for an attack. The opprtunity appeared when Ash finally left Pikachu again and began to make his way across the clearing. Giving off a triumphant "Feeear!", Fearow made a turn to gain speed and dove towards Pikachu once again, repeating his move from earlier as he aimed his Drill Run carefully without letting Pikachu out of his sight. Pikachu tried to run away, using Quick Attack to dash across the clearing, but Fearow simply adjusted his weight so that he followed the escaping rodent. He was just about to hit Pikachu when...

"Gotcha!" Ash shouted as he threw himself forward and grabbed Fearow around the neck.

While Fearow had been focused on Pikachu, he had failed to notice that Ash had stopped running as soon as he dove for Pikachu and that Pikachu hadn't just dashed off in a random direction, but straight towards his trainer. Now, with Ash clinging to his neck and holding his wings down, Fearow felt hismelf falling to the ground without being able to finish his move and the two of them hit the ground hard.

"Now Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

Hesitating for a moment, Pikachu soon gathered up all the electrical energy he had left and let loose one last Thundershock. The thunder move travelled the short distance between himself and Fearow, hitting both his opponent and trainer at the same time. Fearow screamed out in pain as the Super Effective attack did its work, while Ash grit his teeth at the by now familiar sensation. He was starting to question his own sanity, but he had been hit with Pikachu's Thundershock before and he knew that Fearow was probably hurting a lot more than he was. Technically, it was a reckless move to downright ask Pikachu to shock him, but judging by the tired look on Pikachu's face, he didn't have much more energy left so at this point he had to make the last attack count. While this probably wasn't the best way to do it, it was the easiest and the one that had come to mind quickest.

However, it didn't take Pikachu long to run out of gas and as soon as he did, he fell to the ground, completely exhausted. As the last of the electrical current left their bodies, Ash and Fearow fell to the ground as well, friend by Pikachu's Thundershock, though as expected Ash was in slightly better condition than Fearow. Not that any of them were in top condition, but given that the attack was Super Effective against Fearow and Ash's constant exposure to the very same move in the last few days, the bird seemed to have taken the hit harder.

For a moment, both Ash and Fearow lay on the ground, both trying to catch their breath and recover from the shock. Pikachu had also fallen to the ground, feeling his fatigue catch up to him. In that particular moment, Ash looked up towards the sky and frowned. Storm clouds? Where had those come from? He was pretty sure they hadn't been there when he and Pikachu had first arrived in the clearing. Had the battle really taken that long? It felt like it had only lasted a few minutes...

"Feaaaaar!"

With a furious scream, Fearow took to the air again, flying in an arch around the clearing before diving for his target, this time using Aerial Ace, wanting the extra mobility and aim to ensure that this move landed. He still felt the shocks from Pikachu's Thundershock, indicating that the attack had left him with a slight paralysis, but he ignored it for the time being and instead steeped his dive for his target.

Only this time, Pikachu was not the one targeted.

Seeing Fearow dive towards him with its beak ready to pierce his heart, Ash's eyes widened in shock and he was forced to roll to the side to avoid ending up on the recieving end of the sharp, spear-like beak. Fearow's attack struck the ground, and the impact caused the paralysis to kick in temproarily, sending shocks through his body and causing it to flinch.

Ash felt his hand tremble, partly from exhaustion and partly from fear, as he reached inside his pocket to retrieve a Pokeball. Pikachu's attack hadn't done as much damage as he had hoped it would, but hopefully the paralysis would be enough to keep Fearow subdued. He swallowed nervously as he returned the empty Pokeball to its original size and tossed it at the paralyzed Fearow, who still had its beak embedded into the ground. The ball hit the bird, which turned into a red, plasma-like substance that was then sucked into the Pokeball before it closed.

The Pokeball landed on the ground and immediately began rolling around, the central dot on the ball blinking with red light, a clear sign that the Fearow was offering violent resistance. Ash was almost sure that his heart would burst out of his chest from all the beating. He clenched his fist and stared at the Pokeball transfixed. It rocked one... two... three... four... DING!

The sound of the Pokeball turning off echoed through Ash's ears, going straight through his head and then out on the other side. It took him several seconds before he realized that the battle was over. They had done it. Fearow was caught!

Rising from the ground on shaky legs, Ash made his way over to the Pokeball and picked it up. He stared at it, lying flat in his hand. He should be happy. Why didn't he feel excited? It was his first actual catch! It had been his first battle with Pikachu and they had won it!

'But', whispered a voice in the back of his head, 'at what price? Pikachu was exhausted and it had been so close. If Fearow had hit me, or Pikachu one more time, with either that second Drill Run or the Aerial Ace, then we would have been toast.'

Had he gotten in over his head? He had wanted to make his first catch count so badly that he had practically searched out one of the strongest Pokemon in the entire area, and challenged it with an inexperienced Pikachu as his only companion. Maybe, next time he should think twice before jumping into action. Sighing, Ash put the Pokeball away and walked over to Pikachu. The little mouse had fallen asleep from the exhaustion after the battle. Ash silently picked him up, looking him up and down for any major injuries but he seemed to be fine, just tired. With a good night sleep and maybe a little potion, he should be as good as new.

Just as he thought about it, he heard a crack of thunder echo from somewhere above his head, as rain began to fall from the sky in a steady stream. Just great, how had he not noticed this storm coming up?

"C'mon buddy, we better get back to the road." he said as he rose in his full height and turned around to walk back to the road.

However, as he turned around he noticed something else he had missed. Sitting in the tree, under which Fearow had been resting when they found it, a flock of Spearows were eyeing him and Pikachu with a collective now-you're-in-for-it-look. Ash felt himself grow cold as realisation hit him. Had that Fearow been their flock leader? Then he couldn't be the most popular guy in their eyes, and if memory served right, Spearow were known for their bad temper and aggressive nature...

"SPEAAAAAAR!"

At the given signal, the flock of Spearows lifted from the tree and surged down towards Ash and Pikachu. 'Crap!' Ash thought in panic as he immediately dashed off in the direction they came from. At least, the direction where he thought he had come from.

-X-Y-Z-

The storm was tearing at Serena's clothes and almost swiped her off her feet as she made her way through Route 1. Her hair was flowing in all directions and she felt herself rock back and forth on the road as she tried to find any sign of Ash. Gary had said that he was out here, somewhere. She had to find him! There was absolutely no way Gary could've made it to Viridian City and Ash not without a good reason.

However, the storm had turned out to be even worse than Serena had ever imagined. She was almost tempted to turn around, but the mere thought of Ash being out here on his own was enough to keep her going. The picture of the face of the young boy she used to know was plastered on the insides of her eyelocks, smiling at her as he offered her a helping hand when she had needed it, back in the forest when they had first met. He had helped her without a second thought, even though they hadn't even known each other back then. He had come through for her whenever she needed help, be it just someone to talk to or help with something more practical. How could she call herself his friend if she was not willing to do the same for him?

Gritting her teeth in annoyance of the strong winds, Serena pushed forward, determined not to let this storm get the better of her. But despite that, she could feel how her legs were starting to get tired from the constant struggle. Just as she thought she was about to collapse, she spotted something, or rather someone. On the road, a few feet in front of her, stood a man dressed in a black suit. She couldn't make out his face, due to the shadow cast by the black fedora that was somehow sticking to his head, but somehow he was radiating with confidence and power, even in this extreme weather.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Serena called, trying to get the man's attention.

The man turned to look at her. She could just barely make out the lower part of his otherwise shadowed face, but it seemed vaguely familiar. She could almost swear that she had seen that chin somewhere before... wait, why was she thinking about this now?!

"He's that way." the man said with an even voice and pointed towards some trees aside the road.

Serena's eyes widened in shock. Did this man know Ash? But how could he have known that she was looking for him? Casting a look at the spot amongst the trees where the man had pointed, Serena swallowed. Was Ash somewhere in the forest? She had thought that things were bad enough as they were, but if he really was in the forest, then things had just turned about 100 times worse. Having grown up in two towns surrounded by forest, Serena knew all too well the danger of being out in the forest if the weather was too stormy, as the trees could give in to the pressure and fall without warning. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time then, you could potentially draw your last breaths in that very storm right then and there.

"Are you sure that he's...?" she was about to ask the man to confirm what he had said, but when she turned back around in his direction, he was gone.

For a moment, Serena just stood there, frozen in place. Time seemed to slow down, as the realization that the man had just disappeared without a trace hit her. As it did, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Had she been imagining the man? Was the storm messing up her head or something? Or had he been a ghost?

Taking a deep breath and shaking her head, Serena turned towards the part of the forest where the man had pointed. Ghost or not, it made sense that Ash was off in the forest. That would explain why he hadn't gotten to the Pokemon center in time. 'Well, here goes nothing.' Serena thought to herself as she took another deep breath to steady her nerves and made her way into the forest, knowing full well that if her mother could see her doing something this reckless, she would be immediately called back home.

-X-Y-Z-

The storm tore at Ash's jacket and he was just about ready to collapse. He had already been tired when the Spearow had begun chasing him and running for his life didn't make things better. As if that wasn't enough, the storm had now picked up pretty roughly and he would dare say that this was the worst storm he had ever seen in his entire life. Wonderful...

"Pi...Pi-ka..." Pikachu mumbled in his arms, gasping for breath.

"Don't try to speak, Pikachu. I'll fix this, I promise. Everything will be just fine, just don't excert yourself." Ash said, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Pikachu.

But despite that claim, he was starting to doubt himself. What kind of trainer was he? Since he set out, nothing had gone as he had planned. He had studied more than anyone, learned everything he could learn from books and Professor Oak's reserach lab in order to be able to become the best once he set out and yet he was failing so badly already. He had failed to keep a Rattata from eating his lunch, failed to see the threat Fearow posed to both him and Pikachu, failed to come up with a good plan to subdue Fearow and now he was failing to even keep himself and his Pokemon alive.

Just as he thought about it, he felt his right foot getting stuck in a root that was sticking out of the ground and with a yelp he fell forward, landing hard on the stony ground. He tried to just catch his breath and get back up to keep running, but he fell back to the ground just a second later. That had been it. He couldn't go on. He was too tired. That fall had taken the last little bit of energy he had left.

Pikachu noticed that his trainer was injured and exhausted and tried to get up, but found that he was still too tired from his battle with Fearow to be able to get up and fight. He didn't know why, but the passion, the care and the will to keep him safe that his trainer had shown for him made Pikachu want to get back up and fight for his trainer, to try to keep him safe from the flock of angry Spearows that was threatening them. He had been wrong, not all humans were bad. Ash had shown him nothing but love and even now, when his own life was in danger, he still refused to leave Pikachu behind. Pikachu grit his teeth in anger at his own weakness. Why?! Why was he so weak?! He had failed to defeat Fearow, a Pokemon he was supposed to have an advantage over, and now he couldn't even protect his own trainer, not even protect himself! If Ash hadn't been there, he would've been dead long ago.

"Pikachu..." Ash whispered as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a very familiar red and white object. "Please, get inside your Pokeball. If you're inside that, the Spearows won't be able to reach you. Just go inside it for now, and maybe I can save you! Maybe, at least one of us can make it out of this alive."

Ash's voice trembled as he said this. He put the Pokeball on the ground in front of Pikachu and then forced himself to his feet. He knew that he was too tired to run, he wouldn't be able to get away from the Spearows. But if he was going to die, he wouldn't do it like this, crawling on the ground in a dirty forest. If there really was no way out of this, he was going to go down with his pride intact. He was going to do it standing tall with a straight back, facing his banebirds, not lying down with his face in the dirt.

Clenching his fist, Ash threw out his arms as if he was about to call out to the heavens. He watched as the flock of Spearows came closer and closer, but he didn't flinch. He hadn't failed completely. Fearow was still safe inside his Pokeball, and soon Pikachu would be too. He hadn't failed them, they would survive this.

"Spearows! Can you hear me?!" he roared at the flock of approaching Pokemon. "I may have failed to defeat you, but you won't get past this point! I don't care what it takes, but I'll stop you! I won't let you touch my Pokemon, my friends!"

This only seemed to anger the Spearows as they swooped down to finish off the irritating boy. Ash kept glaring defiantly towards them, refusing to show any sign of fear. He wasn't going to give them that satisfication!

Behind him, Pikachu had enough. Ash could stick that Pokeball somewhere where the sun didn't shine, he wasn't going back in there! Not when his trainer was about to give himself up for his sake. Gritting his teeth, Pikachu slowly but steadily got back onto his feet. Every nerve in his body ached and burned in protest, but he didn't give in. He didn't care what it took, but he had to save Ash! Gathering what little power he had left, Pikachu began to charge up all the electricity he had left. His cheeks sparked with power and soon, he felt something else fill him. Static. The thunderstorm was filled with dormant, static electricity!

Feeling his powers return to him, Pikachu took one big leap and landed on Ash's shoulder before he took to the air. Charging up everything he had, Pikachu Discharged the last of his power. Just as he did it, he felt an incredible surge of power, as a bolt of thunder struck him from above. Using his ability, Lightning Rod, Pikachu super-charged his attack and let it explode towards the Spearows. The explosion caught the bigger part of the flock and expanded, causing the trees closest to them to be swallowed and annihilated by the power.

The entire forest was lit up by the light from the explosion. For a few seconds, the explosion shone like a second sun in the middle of the trees before it died down, leaving a huge crater behind, in the middle of which, a lone boy and his Pokemon was lying, almost completely knocked out. For a moment, the two of them locked eyes. There was still so much they wanted to say to each other, but neither had the strenght to utter a word. But they didn't need to. They could see it in each other's eyes. Everything past and everything up to this point. It was all forgiven and forgotten. Pikachu's disobedience, Ash locking him up, their slow bonding as Ash allwoed Pikachu to sleep and stay in the little makeshift kennel he had made for him... in the end, they had become friends after all. As the memories from the last few days flashed before his eyes, Ash thought he heard someone and out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone running towards them, but he didn't take his eyes off his partner. And a second later, he felt darkness claim him, as he and Pikachu finally fainted.

-X-Y-Z-

Beep...beep...beep...beep...

Serena drew a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down from the traumatizing experience. However, that was kind of hard when the constant sound of the beeping from Ash's heart monitor kept reminding her that her best friend was currently floating in between life and death. Feeling restless, she stood up from her spot by the emergency waiting room and began to pace back and forth, not knowing what to do.

She felt hopeless.

After all this time, she and Ash were finally together again and she couldn't do a thing to help him. This was definetely not how she had expected their reunion to be. If she had ever tried to imagine it, it would be under a cloudless sky, in a field or forest with many different colors, not like it had been out there in the storm. When she had first spotted the silhouette of the boy standing a few feet ahead of her, she had felt her heart swell with relief and happiness, despite the storm. But not a second later, Ash's Pikachu had unleashed a humongous Discharge attack, causing an explosion that left the forest scarred with a crater due to the sheer power of the attack.

When the light had died down and the explosion settled again, Serena had been horrified to find that Ash and Pikachu had collapsed at the bottom of the crater. Looking down at them, they could've just as well have been dead. From that point up until she reached the Pokemon Center, everything was kind of fuzzy. She could only clearly recall the feeling of horror and sheer determination to get them back to the Pokemon Center that had driven her during their struggle back to Viridian City. Looking back, she was surprised that she had been able to drag Ash all the way back here by herself since he was actually taller and more muscular than she was.

"Calm down, or you're gonna drill a hole in the floor with your pacing." a voice said from further down the corridor.

Serena stopped in her tracks and looked up. Gary Oak had entered the waiting room. He had been present by the door when she brought Ash in and had spent some time trying to calm her down for the first half an hour after Ash and Pikachu were taken into the emergency room. However, as he had no luck with his attempts, he had decided to leave and go get her something warm to drink so she could regain her normal body warmth, despite Serena's insistance that she was fine. And now, it would seem, he had come back.

"How can you not be frantic with worry?!" she replied as she swallowed and began pacing again. "I know you two didn't always get along, but you were still friends!"

Gary sighed and stepped in front of her, blocking her path and forced her to stop. As soon as she had stopped, he gripped one of her hands and forced the cup with the hot, steaming liquid, hot chocolate if Serena was not mistaken, into her hands.

"Of course I'm worried, but he'll pull through. He's too stubborn to just die like that." Gary said as he led Serena back to her seat in the waiting sofa and pushed her down onto the soft pillows, before sitting down himself.

"How can you just say that like it's nothing?!" Serena exclaimed accusingly and stared at Gary, not wanting to believe what her ears told her he had just said.

For a moment, Gary didn't say anything. Ash's and his friendship/rivalry had always been a complicated thing. They disagreed on a lot of things and they both had the same dream. When they were kids, they would constantly fight over the smallest of things and anything minor could turn into a competition between them. Back then, they had both declared that they hated each other and never would get along, but over time their rivalry had changed somewhat.

They still didn't get along very often and they still held quite different ideals, but somewhere deep down they had developed some kind of connection. Gary wouldn't go as far as to call it a friendly one, but he knew that they both knew deep down that if worst came to worst, they would have each other's backs. It was a hard feeling to describe, and Gary admitedly wasn't the best at vocalising what he felt, as had become quite evident from earlier when he laughed at Ash being stuck out in the storm because he didn't know how to tell Serena that he was a bit worried about his rival's well being.

"Because there's nothing I can do to change the outcome of this." he said. "All I can do is believe that Ash will pull through this. I know deep down that he's strong enough to make it, but if no one believes he can, then how could he himself believe? You're supposed to be his best friend, try and have a little faith."

The words hit Serena like a slap in the face. Was she doubting Ash? Did she think that he wouldn't make it? The mere thought of it sounded absurd, but as she thought about it, she realized that Gary was right. That was why she felt so restless, because she didn't know if he would make it. She was worried right now because she didn't believe whole heartedly that he could survive.

Looking down in shame at her own weakness, Serena swallowed and tried to take a deep breath. Gary was right. Ash would be okay. It wouldn't be long now before those doors opened up and he would be standing there, smiling at her like he always used to do when they were younger. She had to keep telling herself that. She had to keep believing that he would pull through.

"Funny..." she whispered as she looked up again. "I never imagined you of all people would lecture me about believing in Ash."

Gary felt his cheeks heating up and he reached behind his head and scratched it. That... was actually kind of funny. He would've never even imagined that himself. If he hadn't just done it, he would've thought that it would never happen.

However, neither of the two childhood friends got any more time to think about their respective issues, because in that moment the red lamp above the door to the emergency room went out, signaling that whatever had been going on in there was finally over and done with. Serena, despite her mental mantra to "keep believe, keep believe", flew out of her seat faster than a Rapidash, her cup of hot chocolate falling to the floor, spilling its content and rolling out of sight under the sofa.

Gary didn't fly out of his seat, but his expression seemingly tensed as Nurse Joy exited through the door to the emergency room and, noticing the two young trainers, walked up to them. Time seemed to slow down as Nurse Joy opened her mouth to tell Serena and Gary the outcome of the emergency procedure. Serena felt her heart beat wildly in her chest and her throat constrict until she was practically choking as she stared at Nurse Joy's face, trying to get any hint of the outcome. Was Ash alive? Or had she just lost the best friend she had travelled half way across the globe to reunite with?

A/N: Did Ash make it or did he not? Who is the mysterious stranger in the black suite? And why in the name of ARCEUS am I asking you these questions when I, the author, obviously have the answer to them? Find out on the next chapter of Serene Dreams!

Now now, jokes aside, I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. It was abit complicated to write, especially the fight between Pikachu and Fearow. I hope it turned out okay. Please tell me what you think of that fight. Speaking of which, the Fearow he caught is in honor of the one he caught in the Pokemon Manga, The Electric Tale of Pikachu.

And before you guys go and burn me on a stick for Gary's "OOC" behavior in the last scene, come on. He might not have been a very good friend of Ash, but when someone you know are in between life and death, rivalries and shit like that got no place in any person's heart.

With that being said, I will say my goodbyes for today and I hope you leave a review to tell me what you think about the chapter! Take care guys!