A/N~ Look who's back, ladies and gentlemen!
First, let me express my sincere apologies for not updating this story since New Year's. This first few months has been a real hassle for me.
It's not easy sticking with FIVE fanfiction stories all at once. And I have NO intention of giving up on them all, whatsoever.
I had a really busy schedule in college this year. And I'm afraid it will get more hectic when my semester break ends. So I will have to limit my works. But I will do my best to update as soon as I can.
I really wanted to make this chapter longer, but I also want to make sure that people know that this story is still up. But I hope this chapter is good enough. As you might notice, there has been a lot of changes on how I wrote this story. I will do my best to ensure that I will remain consistent with my format as of now.
So, without further ado, let us get back to this story! Enjoy! Do leave a review and tell me if I made a mistake.
Thanks! You guys rock!
Chapter 16: A Hero's Trial
-Odaiba Construction Site-
The sun shone over Japan, giving meaning to its name, "land of the Rising Sun." In an abandoned construction site located in a crater just a few kilometres away from the city, Starscream tapped and tapped his fingers on the red metal beam of a building that was left unfinished. He was getting impatient from waiting on his upcoming opponent in a duel that will decide the fate of not only a little girl and a fox-like creature, but the fate of the entire planet Earth.
Up on the taller floors of the opposite building frame, there were the hostages; Bonnie and Fennekin. The blonde-haired girl was tied up to a scaffolding, sobbing and trying to sleep in an uncomfortable position while Fennekin was trapped inside a small box, also tied up by a piece of long, tough rope. While in this state the fox Pokemon tried to break loose by exhuming flames from her mouth. However, as much as she tried the metallic box just won't burn away. Fennekin had been doing this for some time during her capture. She was growing more and more exhausted after the numerous attempts to burn her way out. Thankfully, though, there were small punched out holes in the box that allowed Fennekin to see some light and get some air to breathe in. Meanwhile, outside, Bonnie was still shedding tears outside, unable to control her bewildered emotions. She has been captured with Fennekin for almost twelve whole hours, without any food or water. Her stomach was grumbling slightly from hunger and her mouth was feeling dry. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks as she was thinking about her big brother, who would always be there to protect her. But now, it seemed that that protection was nowhere in sight. All she could do was sob and sob, hoping for a miracle. Just then, a few barking noises were made, prompting the blonde girl to look up and see the box containing her furry friend. The fox Pokemon could barely see the little girl in great fear from the small holes. She barked on, hoping to reassure Bonnie that everything will be alright. Though still traumatized, Bonnie still took the strength to give Fennekin a small half-smile. But the drama was too much for her to deal with. Soon, she started to shed more tears. Fennekin curled up, resting from her attempts to escape.
Outside on top of the previous building, the menacing captor was eyeing the sky, still waiting for his challenger to appear and save the day. Tapping away with his fingers on his arm, he groaned in frustration.
"Is that loathsome Autobot trying to test my patience?" he sneered. "Does he know how desperate the little ones are? What do these Autobots take me for?"
But Starscream didn't have to wait long. Suddenly, he spotted something in the sky. A small dot that got bigger as if it was coming right at him. The object got nearer and began to look different. It looked like it had wings on its two sides and two back flaps on its back. As it neared a little more, the colour of the object was visible as it was seen in crimson with a hint of blue on the sides. Seconds later, nearer the object went and Starscream let out a small smirk. Now, the object became clearer and his hopes were up again. Zooming right at him was now clearly seen as a large military jet with lightly bent wings and cannons on the wing tips. Then, the jet suddenly began to change shape. The back portion of the jet folded out to form two legs as the back flaps folded into the legs. Two slabs folded out to form the feet. The whole plane tilted ninety degrees vertically while the wings detached and reattached to the back. The two front cannons on the sides of the cockpit were drawn back and two arm-like segments separated from the main body and extended out, with a fist opened out from each one. With the two arms linked back to the body, the cockpit blasted out of the body, and extended wings on its sides, forming a smaller plane. This left an empty space on the main body. The plane's thruster section folded up to a chest and the cockpit folded back behind the new body. He then entered back into the main body and out came a head from the back of the body. The head had two straight horns sticking out on both sides of the head while face had a mouth plate covering the mouth and two blue eyes glowed, signalling the end of the transformation. The robot then drew out a sword from his waist and swung it forward before swooping right towards the ground. He landed on the ground with maximum force, crouching down before rising up to his feet. With a serious glare at Starscream, the challenger swung his sword, pointing it at Starscream. From the looks of things, Starscream's little duel was about to begin.
"Well well…" Starscream pointed out with a grin. "You finally arrived, Star Saber. You have no idea how bored I was just standing around here." Star Saber's eyes narrowed, visibly annoyed with Starscream's arrogance. "I couldn't even stretch my wings out for a warm up, not that I need one."
"Now that I'm here, Starscream…" began Star Saber with a solemn tone. "…why don't we get this started?"
"Ah." Starscream interrupted, waggling his finger. "But you're not giving me the chance to tell you the rules of this duel."
As Starscream and Star Saber prepare themselves for their showdown, behind Star Saber, up on the elevated ground overlooking the site, there came the spectators of the epic showdown. There were Davis, Ken, Cody, T.K., Kari, Veemon, Wormmon, Armadillomon, Patamon and Gatomon of the Digi-Destined. Then, there were also Ash, Iris, Cilan, Dawn, Serena, Pikachu, Piplup and Axew of the Pokemon team. And lastly, there was Jazz of the Autobots. They all stood firmly to watch their leader fight his arch-enemy. Some of them, the girls notably, expressed their concerns while the rest were hoping for the best from their friend.
"Looks like the battle's about to begin." said Cilan. "A clash between two opposing forces, battling in a duel of the fates. Like Meowth and Pikachu, two sides that don't mix at all, combining into an unpleasant mixture of chaos." Pikachu could only sweat-drop from Cilan's poetic remark.
"Pika pika…" Davis looked over at Star Saber, fists clenched. He was among the most confident in supporting Star Saber.
"Yeah!" he yelled. "Go get that pile of scrap heap and send him back to where he came from!" Hearing this, Starscream sent a threatening glare at the human.
"What did you just say, boy?" Davis jumped and then rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
Cilan then looked towards Ash beside him. He noticed that the raven-haired Trainer was looking elsewhere aside from the combatants. He didn't look like he was concerned or supporting Star Saber. He was rather concentrating on something; an unusual trait for such a reckless Trainer like Ash. To make things more confusing, Ash's Pikachu was also behaving the same way Ash was as the little electric mouse Pokemon perched right on his shoulder. To Cilan, it looked like Ash had something more important than Star Saber's fateful duel.
"What could be going on in Ash's mind?" the Connoisseur wondered to himself. "Is he not going to help us cheer for Star Saber? What curious thoughts could be swimming in his head that makes it more important than what is happening now?" But Cilan casted aside his worries and returned to supporting Star Saber.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, there was another set of spectators viewing the battle. Soaring above the sky was the bird Digimon, Aquilamon, who had two more humans with him; Yolei and Clemont. The three have been up in the skies for a while since Starscream's abduction of Bonnie and Fennekin. Clemont was clasping his hands together. The blond-haired boy with spectacles was filled with anxiety and fear, hoping for his little sister's safety. At the same time, he was being baffled by the presence of four giant robots right below him.
"First, we've been attacked by freakish mutant creatures and now, there are giant robots battling out on each other? This is just too much for me to digest." said the young inventor.
"Trust me. It wasn't that easy for us either." cleared Yolei. Clemont then pointed at one of the robots.
"So… who's that down there? The one with the wings? I assume he was the one who kidnapped Bonnie?"
"From what we've faced, his name is Starscream. He's a real nasty, I'll give you that. All of us combined couldn't really beat him before, due to the publicity."
"And who is that?" asked Clemont again, directing towards the opposite warrior.
"That's Star Saber. He's one of the good guys; the leader to be exact." Yolei explained further before Clemont pointed out to the last two robots above the crater hole.
"And them?"
"Those are Jazz and Bumblebee. Don't worry about them. They're real fun to have around." Clemont nodded, understanding the situation at bay. He scanned the area from the sky, hoping for any sign of his sister and Fennekin. But so far, there was nothing in sight but a messy construction site.
"I don't see Bonnie and Fennekin anywhere."
"Knowing what Starscream did to Serena, he must have hidden them away somewhere down there." Yolei looked back to find Clemont practically shaken by the thought of his sister hurt badly. "Try not to worry about your sister. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Fine?" stressed Clemont. "She just ran off without my knowing."
"She did it to find Fennekin for Serena. It's what anyone would've done."
"But… but she's just a little girl."
"With a big heart. Though I do share your concern." Clemont nodded in understanding. Yolei turned back at the two enemies down below, pulling a concerned face and hoping for the battle to end to their favour. "I just hope Star Saber wins this one, or it's going to be utter destruction all over again."
Back to the duel, Starscream had his arms crossed while smirking at his determined opponent. Star Saber held his sword more firmly than he ever did. The tense situation between them has intensified. All he could do is wait and watch, while listening in for Starscream's pleasantries. His friends up above want to help him out, but Starscream already made it clear that this was to be a duel of honour. That means a "fair and square" clash with no physical help from both sides whatsoever. It's just the type of battles his predecessor, Optimus Prime, and Starscream's, Megatron, would often have during the war on Cybertron. Their battles were legendary and have reached high acclaim from the two factions. But what will come out of this current one?
"So now, shall I go ahead with the rules?" asked Starscream.
"Rules? Pfft. Since when have you followed rules?" teased Star Saber.
"This will be a one-on-one duel." began Starscream, eyeing the spectators behind his opponent, signalling intolerance for any involvement from them. "A fight to decide who will remain, and who will go. It will be a duel under the strict laws of the Cybertronian Conduct of Honour."
"Conduct of Honour?" wondered Star Saber. "What does Starscream know about the Conduct? He practically never follows anything from it." Star Saber understood how notorious and devious Starscream can be. Other than that, Starscream was never the bravest soldier among the ranks of the Decepticons. Hearing Starscream declaring this duel under such a conduct is pretty much unbelievable to Star Saber. But he knew it would be disgraceful to doubt anything from the conduct, being the honourable warrior himself.
"As I have mentioned earlier, if you win, then I shall leave this world unharmed and the hostages will be set free. But if I win, it will be you Autobots who are to leave and let this world be under the direct control of my new Decepticon Empire!" It looked the stakes were high for both sides. Star Saber was willing to fight with all his might or he will allow Starscream to plunge the world into great darkness.
Back up on the surface, everyone was ready to watch the epic battle, all ready to cheer on for Star Saber. Jazz was quite amused with the terms Starscream had brought upon, showing a sign of cockiness on his face.
"That was something Megatron would've said, but this coming from Starscream? I'm not really impressed."
Meanwhile, Cilan looked to face Ash and Pikachu again, and still, the two were behaving differently from the rest of the group.
"Come on, Ash." Cilan wondered. "Snap out of whatever you have in your head. We got to support Star Saber here." Why was Ash acting like he doesn't care, he thought. What could be driving his attention away from the battle at hand? Cilan then turned his attention towards his Autobot friend down below.
Star Saber was waiting a little more to gain his composure. Starscream, on the other hand, was still staring at his opponent, ready to start the duel. The two sides were getting into their attack stances as Star Saber spun his sword to show Starscream that he was not going to go easy on him this time.
"You know that I won't hesitate to beat you this time, Starscream." Star Saber attempted to intimidate his opponent. "There are no humans around here aside from my comrades for you to harm." Starscream snuck a small snicker under his breath.
"Humans? As comrades? HAHAHAHAHA!" The Decepticon leader cackled. "You call those weak fleshlings your comrades?" The taunt was not taken lightly by the spectators, who glared at Starscream with angered faces.
"Who's he calling 'weak'?" exclaimed Dawn.
"Piplup!" added Piplup, who assumed that he and his fellow Pokemon were included in Starscream's remark.
"I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you, Starscream. You saw how they were able to place a few hits on you last time. Comes to show that they are more than meets the eye. Lucky for you, they can't intervene in this." Starscream still snickered.
"Indeed Star Saber. Very unfortunate that they cannot get themselves hurt in this situation." Iris was getting mighty angry at Starscream for continuing his insults. The purple-haired girl attempted to charge right at the robot, but she was being pulled at the back of her shirt by Kari.
"Why you little hunk of junk!" Iris yelled with all her temper; steam fuming out of her ears. "Come at me, why don't 'ya! I'll take you on with my Pokemon if I have to!"
"Axew!" her little Dragon Pokemon jumped up in the same manner of anger.
"Calm down, Iris!" exclaimed Kari, struggling to pull Iris back. "This is not getting you anywhere."
"I don't care! Let me at 'em!" Iris started flailing her arms around, hoping to shake off the grip. While she was going on her rampage, Star Saber returned to focusing on Starscream.
"See what I mean?" he cleared in sarcasm.
"Anyways… now that we've already been clear on how this battle will work, let us get it started then!" Starscream readied his claws while Star Saber swung his sword again, both to display their eagerness to fight.
"For once, I couldn't agree more." For a few minutes, the stare-down continued, both sides battle-ready. Starscream sharpened his claws with his own while Star Saber just stood still, waiting for Starscream to make the first move. Silence filled the air as the supporters laid their eyes on their ally.
Then, suddenly…
"AAARRRRGGGHHH!" Starscream lifted himself off the ground and flew himself right towards Star Saber with full throttle as his feet shot out two huge streams of jet-power. The Autobot readied himself to counter Starscream's attack. Once the winged Decepticon tried to swipe at his opponent with his claws, the Autobot made a long leap over him, flipping forward and landed on the ground. He then flung his sword at Starscream as it spun like a boomerang towards him. Starscream spotted the incoming blade and rolled away to avoid a nasty end. The blade spun back to Star Saber's hand before the warrior lunged forward to slash at Starscream. Starscream was able to scratch off the attack with his claws and tried to strike at Star Saber. He dodged Starscream's attack with his sword in a parry and the two locked their weapons together. Breaking apart after a few seconds, Saber attempted to slash at his enemy again, only for the Decepticon to move out of the way and fired a missile from his shoulder cannon at Star Saber's back. The missile exploded upon impact, sending Star Saber tumbling forward.
"ARGH!" The Autobot fell face first on the ground. He struggled to get up properly. On his back was a small dent and a huge black mark made by the explosion and a bit of smoke trailed off from the dent. He finally managed to rise up on his feet and readied himself to fight again. A few seconds later, he jumped up and almost landed a powerful blow to the Decepticon, who jumped behind before the attack could do him in. What followed next was a few exchanges of clashes between Saber's sword and Starscream's durable and sharp claws. Each wing Star Saber made and each swipe Starscream did were simply cut off by each other's blows.
"HIIYYAAA!" Star Saber then made another strike, aiming for Starscream's right wing. But the Decepticon was able to knock off the attack and kicked Star Saber on the chest, sending him tumbling down on the ground again. "Ergh!"
Lying on the floor, Star Saber quickly realized that Starscream was about to strike him down on the floor with his claws. When Starscream made the move, the Autobot fired up his leg boosters, zooming away and saving himself from a painful blow. He flew of a few meters away before deactivating his boosters and landing on the ground.
Starscream gritted his teeth, wondering why he can't pin his enemy down. He then snapped out of his thought train when he saw Star Saber charging right at him. Quickly, he covered his face with his hands as Star Saber swung his sword down on his head, only for the defence to work with his blade blocked by Starscream's sturdy fingers. He then knocked it off with a push of his arms. Saber landed with his back against the building framework. Starscream lunged at him, making a huge leap.
"I got you this time! Now hold still!" However, this did not deter the heroic warrior. When Starscream was halfway towards him, Star Saber quickly dashed away. Having very little time to respond to the shift in events, Starscream continued to dart right towards the building; his claws having punctured the red rusty metal beam. He tried to pull himself off the beam, but those claws were sunk right into them after such force. Star Saber saw this as an opportunity and fired a couple of smaller missiles from his shoulders. Starscream went at it again and, after much hassle, finally released himself and quickly threw himself away from the incoming projectiles. The missiles hit the beam and an explosion crippled the beams, leaving a badly burnt and bent mark on the beam.
From that moment on, the two warriors resumed into more clashes of claws and sword, followed by a few kicks and punches. To everyone's amazement, despite the longevity of the fighting, it did not seem to wear out the two combatants one bit. There was no sign of slowing down or stopping. And this duel has been going on for half an hour.
All the while, Star Saber's supporters above were all having mixed feelings about this fight. For one, Davis, Veemon, and Iris and Axew were both willing to encourage their ally enthusiastically, cheering him on will all their might.
"Yeah! Come on, Star Saber!" yelled Davis. "Beat that pile of junk to the ground!"
"Oh yeah!" added Veemon, as thrilled as his partner was.
"Go! Saber!" Iris cheered. Her little Dragon Pokemon, Axew, was also cheering with his fists clenched.
"Axew!"
On the other hand, Kari and Cody were almost the opposite. They were almost quiet and concerned; worried for their friend and hoping that he could make it through this ordeal.
"This fight had been going on for quite long." observed Cody. "Will he be able to pull this off? And can he finish this before the officials come to see what has happened?" Kari bent down and placed a knowing hand on his shoulder. She had every reason to worry out of this duel, but she also had every reason to try and remain as positive as she could. The thought of having the entire National Guard to resolve this crisis was absolutely nerve-wrecking, but she had to put in more composure and support towards Star Saber. It would be a whole lot worse if Starscream were to win the battle and take over the Earth without the interference of the Autobots.
"Let's try not to worry about it too much, Cody." she asserted to the younger boy. "Star Saber is a strong guy with a lot of skills and a heart of gold. There's nothing he can't do." She looked towards the fighting Autobot, returning to the previous face of worry she had the entire time. ~I hope.~ she thought.
Cilan was actually evaluating the battle like he was watching a battle between Pokemon instead of a battle between two giant robots. Such was the typical trait of the green-haired Pokemon Connoisseur.
"Would you look at that technique?" He spoke in an intrigued manner. "Such grace in Star Saber's posture. Along with the violent and corrupted nature of Starscream, fighting vigorously like a bad egg. The battle they're having down there is like a mixture of oil and water. Unequal combatants duking it out in the classic clash of the titans. This battle is almost too tasteful to not evaluate." Behind him, Dawn could only sweat-drop and chuckled awkwardly while her ever-proud Penguin Pokemon, Piplup raised an eyebrow.
~How does even think of a time to assess the situation?~ Dawn thought. T.K., Serena, Jazz and Bumblebee were just spectating the battle like a general audience. But then T.K's attention turned towards the young raven-haired boy next to him. Everyone knew that Ash was the type to be so hyped up about a battle and would join in with the group of overjoyed supporters cheering on for Star Saber. But this time, he was observing the battle like some sort of security guard watching over an army camp. What was even stranger was read in his eyes. They were not entirely focused on the fighting, but they were rather moving around, as if he was surveying the surroundings of the battlefield instead of the combatants. Just what did Ash have in his mind that got him so serious?
Up in the skies, Yolei was cheering on for Star Saber, although she was miles away from the battle for anyone to notice her, Aquilamon and Clemont.
"That's right!" she cheered. "You never mess with an Autobot like Star Saber!" Aquilamon gave a nod in agreement. Clemont, however, was not in the mood for cheering. One thing is for sure, the battle had to be won by Star Saber if he wishes to see his sister again. But this whole thing about robots fighting each other and weird Digimon creatures was still all too puzzling for him to process. There was still a hint of doubt in his face about the Transformers and Digimon around him. He grew to trust the Digimon partners of his friends and was told that the Autobots can be trusted. But as much as the technical geek he was, he was still feeling uncomfortable of being involved in this whole matter. Worse still, his sister was also being involved, under the worse circumstances. Nevertheless, he held on strong and kept on hoping; praying for the battle to end with his sister's and Fennekin's freedom.
Back on the battlefield, Star Saber was knocked onto the ground again. His attacker quickly made another strike down on the Autobot, but Star Saber acted upon instinct and pushed his leg up, kicking Starscream on the stomach. It was the notorious Seeker who took the fall next as he tumbled on his back. Sooner or later, Star Saber recovered and pulled himself up and ran towards the downed enemy. Starscream attempted to do the same thing Saber did him by doing a sweeping kick on his legs. However, Saber anticipated this and hopped up to avoid the kick. Upon landing down, he tried to slash at Starscream, but the Decepticon gave a sudden jump kick from his knockdown. Saber quickly rolled back after being kicked and struck Starscream while he was recovering. He raised his sword up in the air and at the next second…
SLASH!
"ARGH!" Finally, a critical hit as the blade cut right into Starscream's left wing. The Decepticon wailed in pain as the blade sliced off the tip of the wing off. It dropped on floor, leaving behind a severed wound with jolts of electricity buzzing out of it.
"Alright! He got one at him!" shouted Davis.
"Give 'em another!" cheered Yolei from the skies. The other spectators began to feel hopeful with that one successful strike. Perhaps Star Saber does have an edge.
Starscream looked at the wound and gritted his teeth in a mixture of pain and frustration. Eager to return the favour, he glared at his opponent, who was preparing his sword for another go.
Starscream then rushed towards Star Saber with full force and swung his claws at him, desperate to land a blow on him. The heroic warrior swung his sword down again, but this time, Starscream was able to swipe off the sword with his left hand and struck back at Star Saber with his right one.
SHANK!
"URGH!" Saber took the force of three of Starscream's claws scratching hard on his chest, unable to react fast enough to prevent it. He crouched down to try to adjust to the sudden blow, holding the wound with his free hand.
Starscream let out a smirk of arrogance, ignoring the pain sustained on his severed wing. It would appear that this battle was simply becoming more of an entertaining game for him. He proceeded to charge again, igniting another set of blows between them.
After Star Saber's successful strike on Starscream earlier, the hopes of his allies skyrocketed. But when the odds were evened again, they returned to what they last felt. Two equally matched warriors delivering hits and blocks upon one another without any sign of any turning of the tide. The battle was getting tenser and tenser as they witnessed Star Saber and Starscream sustaining further hits and wounds to their exo-structures. Despite all those injuries, the two combatants kept on fighting as if the battle had just begun. The longer the battle went on, the more nervous the crowd became.
"This is getting a little too worrisome even for my taste." said Cilan. He then turned towards Ash. "And he is still looking around instead of the battle? Honestly, Ash. What is swimming in your head right now?"
Ash and Pikachu were still looking around the site. All who laid their eyes on them just had no answer to why they were so curious. Cilan even brought himself to ask Ash himself.
"Ash?" he began. "Is there something the matter?" The messy-haired Trainer looked like he finally snapped out of that train of thought and turned to Cilan.
"Huh? You called, Cilan?" he asked.
"You and Pikachu have been watching the whole construction site instead of Star Saber's battle. You guys okay?" Ash took a few seconds to answer the question. He really looked like he was paying attention to something and the sudden question caught him a little unprepared to give a proper reaction.
"Oh. Um, yeah yeah. We're fine. Fine as we'll ever be!" He returned to his old confident self, giving Cilan a firm thumbs up.
"Pika pika!" added his trusty partner. But Cilan wasn't done asking questions.
"You didn't answer my question completely. Your eyes seem to be moving about instead of being glued to the duel, which I would assume you would be most fond of watching." Ash stuttered a little. Was this a sign that Ash was hiding something?
"Oh. Uh… really? Are you sure? I am excited!" But the tone of Ash's voice seemed somewhat forced, like he was faking it. Cilan noticed and went ahead to ask him some more.
BAMM!
There was a sudden explosion happening in the background. Cilan and Ash quickly turned their heads to find that Star Saber had dodged another missile strike from Starscream before zooming right for him and attacked him. Cilan looked back at Ash for a few seconds before focusing back on the duel. He seemed to have dismissed the questioning and focused more on supporting the duel… much to Ash's relief.
The Pokemon Trainer and his Pokemon once again stopped paying attention to the duel and looked around the site. Firstly, Ash's eyes were scanning the building foundation. Then at the next second, Pikachu started looking at the shelters down below. Seconds later, they looked at the giant crane parked in front of them. And then the battle. The process went on as the duo kept on eyeing the entire construction site. Just what was making those two keep looking around the site when the more important matter laid within Star Saber's ordeal?
Truth to be told, however, Ash was indeed as well aware of how serious the fight was as the next person. The thing was…
~Hours earlier~
-Autobot Warehouse-
It was during the time back at the warehouse when Star Saber and the others had agreed to have the Autobot leader challenge Starscream for Bonnie and Fennekin's freedom. When the meeting was adjourned, everyone was about ready to call it a day. The humans were ready to head back to their respective homes with their partners, while the car-bound Autobots were ready to send them back. Star Saber prepared the stasis chambers for his and his comrades' daily regeneration (call it sleep if you will). Ash and Pikachu were about to follow Davis to Bumblebee when suddenly…
"Excuse me, Ash?" A feminine voice called out to him. Ash turned around to look at the owner of that voice. There he saw a girl with long honey-coloured hair, a dark pink-coloured fedora, a black blouse with no sleeves, a red plaid skirt and black leggings with black sneakers. She made a small smile on her face when facing Ash. Fiddling with her fingers, she walked towards him, feeling a tad bit shy as seen in her red-shot cheeks.
"Huh? Serena?" Serena turned away a little with a frown as if something was making her feel hesitant to speak to him. She then faced Ash again with another bigger smile.
"Could you come with me for a moment?" Ash was peculiar of Serena's request. But he accepted anyway with a nod.
"Uh guys?" called Ash. Everyone stopped walking towards the exit and paid attention to Ash. "Serena's got something to tell me. I gotta see to it for a while."
"Why don't you guys come out and share your thoughts with the rest of the group?" Iris suggested.
"NO!" Everyone jumped to the sudden shock in Serena's voice. An awkward period of silence soon followed. Realizing what she had said, the traumatized girl quickly chuckled nervously in embarrassment. Ash looked at Serena curiously. Even the look on Serena's face seemed a little flustered upon hearing Iris' suggestion. "I mean, n-no thanks. I thought it might be best if I spoke to him… privately…"
After another few seconds of silence, Iris gave an understanding nod. The rest of the human and Pokemon and Digimon gang walked back outside to await for their friends. Meanwhile, Ash, Pikachu and Serena walked deeper into the warehouse.
The three went behind a few piles of crates, Ash and Pikachu, who was on the former's shoulder, stood in front of Serena, who was facing down; still feeling a little hesitant about her upcoming topic. After a few seconds, she finally looked up and was ready to speak to Ash.
"First, let me begin by formally introducing myself. We have not since the horrible incident earlier ago." She cupped her chest with her hand. "My name is Serena Paisley. I am from Vanivelle Town in the Kalos region." Ash and Pikachu smiled at the greeting. Kalos region? Ash had travelled in many different regions during his Pokemon Trainer days; Kanto, the Orange Islands, Jotho, hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova. But never before had heard of a region called Kalos.
"Kalos, huh? Hmmm." Ash was intrigued by this fact. Perhaps his Trainer's instinct was acting up with a hint of adventure in his mind. He always felt thrilled to hear of regions which he had not heard of due to the fact that there could be new and even rarer species of Pokemon there waiting for him to capture, train and win. Such was life for a Pokemon Trainer training to become a Pokemon Master.
But these thoughts of interest were soon cast aside. For now, it was back to the introductions.
"Well then, my name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. And this is my partner Pikachu."
"Pika pika!" greeted the cheeky little Pokemon.
"Nice to meet you." Then, again, Serena's face became that of a worrywart before turning back with another small smile. Something must be really bothering her and she couldn't muster up enough courage to tell Ash. She clenched her fist, hiding it behind her back from Ash. Finally, with enough strength inside of her, she finally spoke up.
"Before I tell you something, I… would like to thank you again for saving me back there on that building. You have no idea how traumatizing it was being tied up like that by a giant sinister robot for days without food, water and the company of friends."
Ash scratched his cheek in shyness. Pikachu realized that this was a rare trait Ash had demonstrated. But the boy could not help but feel appreciated for his help.
"Ahhh. It was nothing. I always do that to my Pokemon and my friends whenever they needed my help. Right buddy?" he happily remarked.
"Pika chu!"
For another time, she had her head down. Her right hand clutching her left arm while she was sweeping the floor with her right leg.
"Then…" Again, she took the courage she needed to pull off one more sentence. Ash and Pikachu quietly waited for her to spit out whatever she was about to say. This one was the hardest she had to confess about.
"…could you do the same for Bonnie and my Fennekin…?"