Chapter 24: The Moon's Watchful Eye

Shortly after Ash, May and Max left the gym, Sonic and Amy arrived there, only to be told, much to their annoyance, that their friends were already gone.

"Go figure," Sonic muttered. "For once, he's faster than I am."

"And that's fast," Amy mused. "You haven't been smooching any humans again, have you?"

"WHAT?!" Sonic exclaimed in a panicked voice.

"Yeah, the last time you did that, you seemed to be extremely sluggish. Hey, are you all right? Why's your eye twitching?"

"AMYYYYYYY," Sonic growled, suddenly looking very menacing as he cartoonishly leered over her. "I TOLD YOU, WE NEVER TALK ABOUT THAT. IT NEVER HAPPENED." Amy leaned back, surprised by yet apparently unafraid of Sonic's sudden change in demeanor.

"Sonic? Amy?"

"AH!" the two of them jumped and turned their backs to each other, complete with rapid-fire denials of, "Nope, not me, I didn't say anything."

"What exactly were you two doing?" May asked. Ash had his eyebrow raised, while Pikachu had his head cocked to the side.

"Nothing!" they said in unison.

"So, uh…" Ash started, "are we going to go back to Slateport, or what?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic said, rubbing his head awkwardly. "Sure, let's go!"

"Ash! Sonic!"

"Huh?" everyone said, turning as a familiar honey-blonde ran up to them.

"Hey, isn't that Serena?" Max wondered.

"Didn't you say she was back in Slateport, Sonic?" Amy asked.

When Serena caught up with them, she stopped. "Did you finish out here? Tails is getting anxious to get the emerald from Mt. Pyre. We need to get going."

"Hey, relax Serena," Ash grinned, putting a reassuring hand out. "We're all good here. We were just getting ready to come back." His grin faded, replaced by a confused expression. "But what are you doing here?"

"Uh," Serena stammered, "I was getting worried about you. I thought maybe something happened. But you're okay!" she grinned cheekily. Ash and May exchanged a glance, and May just shrugged.

"Right," Ash nodded, not buying her explanation. "Well, let's get going."

"That may be a bad idea," Serena said, pointing to the sky. Everyone looked and saw, to their dismay, that the sun was setting. "We'd be going by night."

"Hm," Ash mused, putting his chin in his hand. "What's the problem with that?"

"I don't see any problem," Amy shrugged.

"Well, it can be dangerous," Sonic said. "Our enemies seem to thrive in darkness. I, on the other hand, do not."

"What do you mean by that?" Max asked.

"I'll show you later," Sonic replied. "Right now, I agree with Amy. If we get back to Slateport by morning, we'll arrive at Mt. Pyre before tomorrow is done."

"Then it's settled," Ash nodded. "Let's go." With Pikachu's agreement, everyone began walking except Serena, who still looked worried.

"But," she said, "it's scary in the dark. Wouldn't it be better to wait for the light?"

May stopped on hearing this and walked back to her, puzzled. "Why are you so paranoid?" she asked, out of earshot from everyone else. "It's not like none of us have travelled by night before. We'll be fine. Come on." She grabbed her hand and pulled her along, only for Serena to slap her hand rather harshly before glaring at her in anger.

"I have nothing to say to you, you ugly piece of FILTH!" she snarled.

May stepped back in shock. "Serena!" she said, rubbing her wrist.

Ahead of them, Pikachu looked back from Ash's shoulder and noticed the girls were behind. He tapped him on the head. "Huh?" he said, turning around to see his friends behind him. "Hm. Hey, Sonic, wait here, okay? I think something's up."

"Oh?" Sonic replied.

"Oh boy," Amy said, knowing what was going on. "Here we go."

Ash walked up to his female companions. "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing," Serena shook her head innocently. "You're right. We'll go by night." Then she walked away abruptly.

"What was that?" Ash asked.

"I don't know," May shook her head, still in shock. "I knew she didn't like me because you chose me over her, but...I've never seen her act so vicious before!"

"What?" Ash exclaimed, eyes lined with concern. "What happened?"

"I think I'll tell you later," May sighed. "We need to get moving."

"Okay," Ash nodded, and they started walking. However, no one in the group noticed a dark figure standing on a roof, arms folded across his chest as usual. He'd seen everything that happened.

"You're right, May," he said. "Serena's never acted like that before." His arms fell to his sides. "Ash's falling in love with May must've hurt Serena more than I thought. If Serena only gets worse from here on out, I'll have to directly intervene. I won't let anyone – and I mean anyone – hurt May." He looked to the sky, his crimson eyes glinting as the sun fell below the horizon.

"She's all I have left of Maria."

"Whoa!" Max exclaimed.

"Waugh!" Amy cried.

"I know, I know," Sonic, now a werehog, mumbled. "I don't know why this happens, but when the moon comes out, I turn into this. We're keeping our eyes peeled for a cure, but nothing's come up yet."

"Yikes!" Amy shivered. "You're scaring me!"

"Sorry, Amy," he sighed. "I don't like it, either."

They continued to walk along, with Ash and May in the rear. "I wonder if there's even a cure at all," Ash mused.

"Huh?" May said.

"Pi?"

"When the sun comes up, Sonic returns to his natural form. When the moon is out, he becomes this monster. How do you cure that kind of condition?"

"Hm," May pondered, putting her finger on her chin. "Well, if light makes him normal while darkness makes him abnormal, could you possibly fill him up with light? That would cure him."

"How would you do that, though?" Ash muttered. "Seems to me the answer is to expel the darkness."

"And how do you get rid of darkness?" May asked.

"With light."

"Bingo," May winked. "But you're right. How would we do that?"

Ash sighed. "I guess it's beyond our power," he said. "Let's just hope for the best."

"Pika," Pikachu sighed.

After that, there was silence for a while. Then Ash spoke again. "I don't think Serena's listening. What happened back there?"

"Hm?"

"You know, with you and Serena," he said. "You said she acted more vicious than ever."

"Oh, yeah," May said, becoming somber. "She was nervous about travelling in the dark, so I took her hand to reassure her and bring her along. Then she slapped my hand and called me an ugly piece of filth!"

"What?!" Ash cried loud enough for the others to hear. They turned back, puzzled. "Huh?" he said. "Oh, it's nothing! May just said something about some hard rocks, that's all!" he waved his hands in front of his face dismissively.

The others blinked, then shrugged as they continued walking. "Hard rocks?" May looked at him with a deadpan expression. "That's the best you could come up with? I hope you realize the implications of what you said."

"What? What did I – DOH!" he said, facepalming as he realized what she meant. "Sorry."

"Pika," Pikachu also facepalmed.

"It's okay," she smiled. "I know you didn't mean it."

"Thanks," he nodded. "Anyways, where were we?"

"Serena."

"Right," he said, his face falling. "Did she really say that to you?"

"Yeah," May nodded. "I don't understand it. I've never seen a face so full of hatred before." She looked at her boyfriend fearfully. "What's wrong with her, Ash?"

He shook his head sadly. "Her heart is broken."

"Broken?" May whispered.

Ash nodded, expression unchanged. "When you and I became a couple, it broke her heart," he explained. "She was seriously attracted to me, and hearing that the boy she loved could never be her's hurt her deeply. Ever since then, she hasn't been herself." He sighed. "I was hoping that we could at least patch things up between you two, but there's no way that can happen if she acts so vicious to you."

"Pika," Pikachu shook his head sadly.

May nodded, her expression a mirror of his. "I feel awful for her," she said. "She seemed like such a nice girl, and I think we could be great friends. But she's so wrapped up in this fantasy world of her's, she can't see me as anything but a thief who wants nothing more than to kill her and destroy her life."

"Well, we can't give up on her," Ash said. "She's too good a person to be left behind. And in times like this, I have to remind myself that even though she's hurt and broken, she can be healed. But healing takes time, and it begins with trust."

"Trust," May whispered, the word gracefully falling off her tongue. "Yes, trust. That's where it begins. We will help her find her way back home."

"Together," Ash nodded, smiling. May returned the smile and pecked him on the cheek. They continued walking along. Then suddenly, a shadow fell over them.

"Whoa!" they cried.

"Huh?" the others, in front of them, stopped in place. Ash and May quickly caught up to them.

"What was that?" May asked.

"Was that Eggman again?" Sonic wondered.

"Sonic?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Your voice…"

Sonic blinked. "What about it?"

"It sounds...more normal than usual."

"Hey," Max realized, "you're right! It does!"

"But for how long?" Sonic wondered. His voice was gravelly again.

"Just a split second, I guess," Amy shrugged.

"How strange," Max mused.

"Hm!" Serena muttered, arms folded across her chest. "Strange, indeed. Well, we better keep moving. Slateport can't be too far from here!"

They did just that. Then something twinkled in the sky, catching Max's attention. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Ash asked. Then he saw it too. "Hm...you think that has something to do with that shadow that fell over us."

"I don't know," Max said. "It kinda reminded me of...Jirachi."

"Jirachi," Ash mused. "Yeah, it did, didn't it? I wonder what it was."

"Yeah," Max nodded. "Well, let's keep going."

"Agreed."

With that, they continued on their way once again, a watchful protective eye watching them with care.