Italics indicate the inner thoughts of Ash/Serena
Ash's POV
There was nothing running through Ash Ketchum's mind as he stood there, dumbfounded. Serena's form disappeared into the forest and the boy continued to stare as if she were still standing right in front of him, still getting angry at him, still admitting that she was... in love with him. It was as if the pokémon trainer had become stuck in the moment that Serena had dropped her bombshell on him, and now he was frozen in the blast that had wiped out all time around him. The callous wind picked up a bit, and the ribbon Serena had let fall to the ground before making her exit was lifted off of the ground, twirling aimlessly around while steadily rising at the same time. It took the breeze blowing the blue gift right in front of Ash's face to convince him to finally react, and he snatched the ribbon out of the air, staring at it curiously. "Serena dropped her ribbon..." he muttered to himself.
Why would she do that? She likes this ribbon. Ash scrutinized the article of clothing carefully. There was nothing apparently wrong with it other than being immaculately clean, which wasn't unusual for any of Serena's belongings. So why did she let it go like that? Does it have something to do with me? I must have said something wrong to her, just like with Clemont. That makes sense. I should apologize and return her ribbon to her. Man, I hate making her upset. Where did she even go? Oh right, the forest. Duh. Ash shoved the ribbon into his pocket and took off into the woods after his companion, calling out her name in the process. "Serena! Serena!" The shouts echoed unanswered into the night as Ash forged ahead towards where he assumed Serena had disappeared to.
She's not responding. Wait, does that mean she's in trouble?! I need to hurry up! "Serena! Answer me, please! SERENA!" Ash put all the power he could muster into his final shout, to no avail.
The forest remained as frustratingly silent as ever. No... this can't be happening. I can't lose Serena like I lost Goodra. No way. Ash pulled out a poké ball and opened it, releasing his frogadier onto a nearby tree branch. The loyal frog appeared ready for action, despite being summoned in the dead of night. "Alright, Frogadier. I need you to track down Serena for me. It's too dark for Fletchinder to search for her from the air. If you find her, bring her back to camp and then come find me. Got it?"
The water type nodded. "Frog." With that, it sprung into action, covering at least twice the distance Ash could run in the same time by hopping from tree to tree.
Lack of speed never inhibited Ash in the past, however, and he did his best to follow his pokémon through the thick undergrowth. At least Frogadier can help out now if Serena's in danger. She has to be okay. I can't forgive myself if she gets hurt. She's... too important to me. Wait, hold on a second. Ash stopped short, his body obeying the command he gave his mind. Didn't she say something like that before she ran off? No, that's not right. I think... it was something about how she was...in... love... All the breath in Ash's body suddenly deserted him as the moment of Serena's confession returned from being frozen in time, rushing into him with a force that physically siphoned the energy in his body, causing the boy to lean hard against a tree, gasping as reality struck him. He was chasing after someone who was in love with him. He had hurt Serena, and she was running away from him because of it. Of all things, Ash recognized the usually nonexistent grip of fear creep up and take hold of him in that moment. I didn't just say something wrong... I broke her heart. Serena poured her feelings out to me and I completely shut her down. Now I'm going to lose her, just like Goodra. "What is wrong with you!" The trainer's self-deprecating shout flew wildly into the air, ultimately petering out into the gargantuan body of stars above him.
Ash felt a bit of strength return to him, and he immediately put all of it into punching the very tree he was leaning against. The bark barely reacted, unfazed by the rage fueled attack. Ash began to rant to himself. "You can't even understand yourself, and now you've let Serena down because of it. If you put half as much effort into making your companions feel like you cared as you did into battling, maybe you wouldn't have lost her!" Ash relinquished his dependence on the tree he had assaulted, and allowed the frustration of his speech to spill into his thoughts as he paced around in aimless aggravation.
If only I had some idea of how to fix this mess. Go over the facts. I'm upset because I lost Goodra, but at this point I should have gotten over it. Serena tried to help. She confessed and I missed the meaning, making her upset. Serena is in love with me. What am I? I'm... Serena... losing Goodra... losing...love. Ash couldn't have shot up straighter if he had been struck with Pikachu's most powerful thunderbolt. "That's it..." he muttered almost inaudibly. "Yes, that's it!" he called out again, loud enough to be received by the open sky above him this time.
Nothing aside from starting his journey with pokémon had ever felt so clear, so unequivocally right to the pokémon trainer, and he threw his hands up in an expression of his unabashed joy that could only come with an epiphany of such massive magnitude. Why didn't I make this connection before? My mind was trying to show me something. I guess I just don't use it enough to listen. But... this doesn't matter at all if I don't make up for my stupid density earlier. Enough thinking. I've had enough of that for a lifetime. There's only one path left for me to take. Ash did a quick check of himself to make sure he was really able to continue, and again began his sprint through the night-laden woods. He tried calling out Serena's name a few more times, more for Frogadier's benefit so that it knew he was still following behind the frog than to try and get Serena to respond. If her emotions took any sort of similar form to the way Ash had been feeling the past few days, then there was very little chance of him being able to do anything but speak directly to her to elicit a response. As Ash continued his voyage through the sea of foliage, the tall grass in front of him started to rustle violently. That could only mean one thing, and Ash skidded to a halt, drawing his two remaining poké balls to deal with whatever wild pokémon he had likely disturbed with his yelling. The violent rustling ceased as a pancham wearing red sunglasses burst forth from the commotion, waving its paws around wildly. "Pancham pancham pancham cham!" it exclaimed in a hurried panic.
Ash immediately returned his poké balls to his pocket upon recognizing the playful pokémon, the sunglasses identifying it as Serena's pancham. "Pancham? What's wrong? Is Serena in trouble?"
Pancham nodded overenthusiastically. "Pan, pancham!" The tiny panda pointed in a direction to Ash's left that led into a more densely packed neck of the woods.
While Ash was a bit suspicious of Pancham's sudden appearance, there was no way he could ignore such an obvious cry for help, especially if it meant helping out Serena. "Okay, Pancham. Lead the way to Serena!"
The fighting type jumped for joy into the air, and it took off as soon as it landed in the direction it had pointed out previously, navigating the path with relative ease. Ash sighed. So much for lack of speed not being a problem. He started off after Serena's pokémon, doing his absolute best to keep up amid the dangerously twisted tree roots and snagging bushes threatening to trip him up. Pancham was clearly remembering its previous forest home as it travelled, the little pokémon dodging all the dangers Ash had to focus on to even barely avoid with no trouble at all. I guess it also helps that Pancham is way smaller than I am. The two made their way deeper into the woods, eventually coming out into another clearing that contained a field of purple, blue and white flowers, this one much smaller than the one that held the tree where Serena had confessed to Ash. Pancham paused and looked around. "Pancham... pancham pan..." it muttered to itself.
Ash caught up and paused to catch his breath, grateful for the stamina his extensive travels had provided him with. "What now, Pancham? Is this where you left Serena?"
Pancham shot up straight, as if Ash had caught it doing something naughty. The pokémon turned and shook its head rapidly in denial, pointing to the tree line across from the clearing. "Pancham!"
The pokémon trainer was getting extremely suspicious now, but it wasn't like he had any better idea himself of where Serena had gone. "Alright then. We don't have any time to waste, Pancham. Let's get moving!" Ash broke into a run in the direction Pancham had pointed, forcing the playful pokémon to sprint to overtake the human it was supposed to be leading.
As Pancham passed Ash again, the trainer slowed down a bit to prevent himself from taking an unnecessary tumble on anything. What he didn't expect to witness was Pancham slowing down as well. Does Pancham even know where we're going anymore? Pancham wasn't doing a good job of convincing Ash otherwise, making far more turns and deviations from the course that the two had started on than before. When the small panda stopped completely and looked around in seeming complete confusion, Ash decided to act on his skepticism, walking up to the pokémon and kneeling down to its level. "Hey, Pancham, are you sure you know where we're going? If you don't that's okay, but I need to know so I have a better idea of where to look for Serena." Ash kept his tone soothing so as not to upset his guide, but it appeared to be working poorly.
Pancham was a bundle of nerves, fidgeting from side to side as it considered Ash's statement. The look of guilt was clearly evident in the small pokémon's eyes, and Ash was prepared to simply asses himself as the new leader of their search party when Pancham came to a decision of its own. "Pancham PAN!" it yelled as it launched an arm thrust directly at its trainer's closest friend's head.
The shock of the sudden assault robbed Ash of any chance to react or defend himself, and the trainer was thrown backwards onto the ground by the force of the attack, his mind still not fully processing the betrayal. Pancham reacted quickly, searching the boy's pockets for something. The pokémon looked frustrated at being unable to find whatever it was looking for, but it noticed Ash was getting over the shock of being attacked and quickly stole whatever it had its paw currently on, which happened to be Serena's ribbon. "Pancham?" It tilted its head at the seeming impossibility of the object being with Ash, but an angry moan from the boy convinced Pancham to make its exit.
Ash's thoughts finally recovered from the sudden treachery, and he sat up to see the pancham disappear back into the forest, Serena's ribbon dangling in its grasp. "Wha- Pancham! What was that for!? Get back here! Give that back!" Ash sprang up and sprinted after his assailant.
It was as if the pokémon had become wild once again, stealing things from random people and hoarding them for itself to use as performance props, but this was no ordinary object, and Pancham's target wasn't some random traveler. Ash grimaced to himself and forced his body to work overtime to keep Pancham in sight, fueled by anger and the desire to recover Serena's ribbon. Why would Pancham just attack me like that? At least arm thrust didn't hurt that much... Was it holding back? Then why attack in the first place!? And why take the ribbon over my pokémon? Man, what is it with Serena and her pokémon getting mad at me today?! Ash slowly began to gain ground on his target, much to its chagrin. Both parties suddenly burst out of the trees and back into the small flower clearing, giving Ash the chance he needed. "Hawlucha, Fletchinder, stop Pancham!" Ash called out as he released his two flying type pokémon, both of them immediately using the advantage of flight (or gliding) to get around and surround the thief.
Both of Ash's pokémon were a bit startled that their opponent was one of Serena's pokémon, but they gave no indication of letting the little panda escape. Pancham looked around in an ever so slight panic before turning back to the trainer it had just attacked, putting on a brave face of defiance. Ash decided to give friendliness one more shot. "Listen, Pancham. I don't know why you attacked me, but it's really not a big deal. Just give me that ribbon back, and we'll figure out what to do next, okay?"
Pancham responded by tying the ribbon crudely to its sunglasses and pointing a paw with all the menace it could muster at the trainer. "Pancham."
Ash sighed. He should have known that the proud pokémon was going to make him battle for the ribbon. "Fine, then. Fletchinder, stay there and don't let Pancham run away again. Hawlucha, you're gonna battle Pancham for me."
Hawlucha performed a spectacular leap over its opponent and landed beside its trainer, posing proudly as Fletchinder took off and circled low overhead, ready to swoop in if Pancham tried to ditch the fight. The trainer leaned down to whisper to his pokémon. "Listen, Hawlucha. We're just trying to get that ribbon back. Don't hurt Pancham badly if you can afford it. Remember, Pancham is a performer, not a battler." Ash knew that Hawlucha wasn't the type to hold back in a battle, but he couldn't risk putting Fletchinder up against Pancham's stone edge and its double super effectiveness, not when he might still need both pokémon to help out Serena.
Hawlucha didn't look happy, but it nodded and struck another pose, eager for the thrill of battle, however much it was supposed to hold back. "Hawlucha!"
Pancham took this as a signal to start the battle and fired a dark pulse directly at the flying and fighting type. Ash scrambled away from his pokémon and gave a command. "Dodge that, Hawlucha!"
Hawlucha leaped impressively into the air, easily dodging its foe's attack. Pancham quickly responded by firing another dark pulse into the air at Hawlucha. Ash realized he needed to get in close if he wanted to end this battle quickly, and he wouldn't be able to simply jump over dark pulse. "Hawlucha, take the dark pulse with flying press and get in closer!"
Hawlucha did its signature pose in the air and used flying press, landing directly on the dark pulse. The move and pokémon seemed to hang in the air for a moment before the force of the more powerful Hawlucha's move began to force the dark pulse away, the wrestling pokémon slowly approaching its foe using its favored tactic of taking attacks head on. Pancham realized it was being beaten and ended the dark pulse, scampering away before Hawlucha could land on it. Hawlucha followed its trainer's second order and began to run at Pancham, the little pokémon quickly spinning around to throw an arm thrust at its pursuer. Ash was ready for the attack. "Okay, Hawlucha, counter that arm thrust with karate chop!"
Ash's pokémon obeyed, bringing a glowing arm down to meet Pancham's attack head on once again. The two fighters quickly began to exchange blows with each other, occasionally getting in a solid hit but taking one just as quickly. Despite not having much battle experience, Pancham was doing a decent job of keeping up with Hawlucha, although it was becoming apparent which pokémon's stamina was going to win out by the way Pancham was beginning to slow down and Hawlucha was landing more strikes than its foe was. Ash decided it was time to wrap things up before either side got too much damage. "Alright, Hawlucha, finish it with high jump kick!"
Hawlucha, having completely forgotten about Ash's earlier instructions before the battle started, took an arm thrust in order to launch a high jump kick as soon as Pancham was prone from the attack, sending the playful pokémon flying into a nearby tree, not unconscious but certainly unable to continue battling. Hawlucha struck a victory pose. "Haw, Hawlucha!"
Ash sighed. It was his mistake for telling Hawlucha to hold back on any attack. The boy congratulated his pokémon and carefully walked over to Pancham, still struggling to get up after taking such a powerful high jump kick to the gut. He leaned down and carefully untangled Serena's ribbon from her pokémon's shades before returning the glasses to the pokémon's head. "Pancham... are you alright? I didn't want Hawlucha to hit you that hard."
Hawlucha overheard this and bowed its head in shame. Pancham took this as a challenge and quickly tried to stand up to prove it was okay, only to swoon and collapse again, grunting in repressed agony. Ash looked between the two and sighed. This isn't good. Pancham needs healing and I can't leave Serena to fend for herself out here. "Hawlucha, you did fine, don't worry. And you need to knock it off Pancham. You're too weak to move around right now. I'm going to have Fletchinder take you back to camp. No arguments."
Pancham was mortified at being defeated so easily and ashamed for failing in its mission from Serena. It decided to try one last-ditch move. "Pancham. Pancham pancham pan!" it exclaimed, pointing in a direction that it knew Serena definitely wasn't in.
Ash had become wise to Pancham's plan at this point. "Pancham, did Serena tell you to keep me away from her?"
The pokémon gasped. How had Ash figured that out? It turned its gaze away from the inquiry. "Pan..."
That confirmed Ash's suspicions. "Alright. It's not your fault Pancham. You were just doing what you were told, but I need to talk to Serena right now, whether she wants to see me or not. I hope you can understand that."
The panda tilted its head in confusion. Ash smiled sadly. I guess the answer to that is no. Sorry, Pancham. I'll make it up to you later. Ash waved to his fletchinder, and the bird swooped down, landing next to its trainer. "Fletchinder, I need you to take Pancham back to camp for me. Get Clemont to take care of it. Can you make it back to camp from here?"
Fletchinder responded by taking off and soaring high into the sky, surveying the landscape before returning and nodding affirmatively. "Fletchinder."
The boy smiled. "Good. Stay at camp when you get there and help out the siblings if they need anything." With that, Ash carefully placed Pancham on Fletchinder's back, coaxing the little panda to hold onto the bird for safety before allowing his fire and flying type to take off into the night.
As he saw the pair off, Ash again turned his attention to his task. Oh man, Pancham really threw me off. There's no way I can catch up to Frogadier and Serena if I don't even know where I am! Surveying the landscape, it struck the boy just how serene the area looked, despite being the site of a battle not a few minutes ago. Serene... that's a new word for me. It suits this place though. Serena would like it. Oh, I know! Ash bent down and plucked several of the bell-shaped flowers in the field from their roots. He realized that he couldn't just put the beauty products of nature in his pocket, so he opted to tie them together with Serena's ribbon, showing off only slightly more skill at knotting than Pancham had exhibited. Hawlucha was staring at its trainer in disbelief during the entire process, and Ash just gave his pokémon a sheepish smile. "Trust me, this is new to me as well, Hawlucha. Right now, though, we need to focus on finding Serena again. Ready to go?"
Hawlucha shook itself out of its stupor and pumped a fist in the air. "Lucha!"
It refreshed Ash to see his pokémon as energetic as ever, and he was about to pick a random direction to start off in, new gift in hand, when a blue sphere shot up above the tree line and caught his and his pokémon's eye. The pokémon attack soared into the twilight before exploding in a shower of heavy water droplets, only to be immediately followed by a bright stream of fire that could only be a flamethrower attack. Ash put the pieces together. "That must be Frogadier and Braixen. I bet Frogadier found Serena! Come on, Hawlucha! They must need our help!" Ash ran in the direction of the water pulse attack, Hawlucha trailing closely behind its trainer.
No more detours. This time, I'm going to find Serena, and I'm going to explain everything the way I should have the first time. Ash's thoughts gave him the confidence to push forward, stampeding a path though the forest as opposed to his more careful approach following Pancham. The water and fire attacks hadn't been launched from too far away, so as long as he hurried, he had to be in time to catch up to Serena. Roughly five minutes of straight running finally allowed Ash to see his blue frog once again. Frogadier was leaning against a tree, breathing a bit heavily with a few scratches but otherwise seeming to be alright. Braixen was also present, fretting over Frogadier in some sort of a state of agitation. When the two pokémon noticed the trainer and Hawlucha emerge from the foliage, Braixen immediately ran up to Ash and pointed to Frogadier frantically. "Braixen brai!"
Ash was baffled. "Braixen? Frogadier looks fine. Are you alright, Frogadier?"
The water type simply nodded, remaining completely silent. Ash was convinced until the pokémon flinched and dropped to one knee, in a moment of weakness allowing the telltale purple blush to appear on its face. Frogadier has been poisoned. Ash shoved the flowers that he had taken such great care to avoid damaging during his run haphazardly into Hawlucha's hands before rushing over to Frogadier. "Frogadier, why didn't you tell me? Of all the times I decide to go out without any healing items! You're going to have to wait while I get some antidote for you." Even as he said the words, Ash knew he didn't have that kind of time.
Frogadier had clearly been fighting the poison for a while now, and by the time he figured out how to get to camp and back, frogadier would probably need to see nurse Joy to recover. The blue frog seemed to understand this as well, and it tried to stand up, surprisingly succeeding. "Frogadier frog frog!" it spoke defiantly.
Braixen leapt into action, running back to frogadier and forcing it to lean back against the tree again until it was sitting against the oak. "Braixen brai!"
Frogadier looked annoyed but didn't attempt to get up again. As bad as things were, even someone as dense as Ash couldn't ignore the sudden chemistry between the two. In context, it was almost like him and... Serena! "Wait, Braixen, where's Serena!?"
Serena's POV
"...and now I'm here." Serena finished pouring her heart out for the second time in one night, this time to her starter pokémon instead of her crush.
It wounded her all the more deeply to have to recreate the events that had just transpired in her own words, but at the same time she felt as if she had to relay the information to someone, the task of bearing the story herself too daunting to even consider. Braixen had listened intently throughout Serena's story, only tearing its gaze away from its trainer when it heard Ash calling Serena's name in the distance, a noise Serena herself did her best to ignore. She had chosen a decent hiding place, with trees peppering the immediate area around her and impeding any chance of someone successfully approaching without the sound of leaves crunching giving them away. The only way anyone would be able to see them would be if they came extremely close to where the two were located, as the wide trunks of the trees hid both pokémon and trainer from any passerby. Serena sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore, Braixen. If I just abandon him here and try to continue performing myself, I'm bound to run into him at some point knowing my luck... but I can't let you and Pancham down... oh Ash..." Her rapidly lowering voice broke off at the boy's name, not for the first time since beginning her story, and her face, only just dried from the last session of despairing sobs, were again moistened by the performer's tears.
Braixen did its best to calm the performer down again, but Serena, her story out and in the open, no longer felt inhibited by all the confines that came with holding the failed confession secret. It all happened and it's all out in the open and it's all over now. I can't stay on my journey anymore. I should have just stayed home. Battering herself with negativity only encouraged Serena to delve deeper into her own sorrows, and Braixen started to panic at the sheer level of distress it was feeling out of the girl curled up against a tree with her head tucked into her knees. "Braixen, brai brai braixen brai!" it cried, exclaiming anything it could to get its trainer's attention away from her sorrows.
Serena looked up at her starter, and was touched by the concern she saw. It didn't fix anything, but it helped knowing she had her pokémon on her side. "Braixen... thank you for listening to me. Ash is, well, was... no, IS everything to me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have someone like that shut down your feelings without even noticing them, over and over again?!" Serena could feel despair creeping up on her again, and suppressed it for the sake of preventing her pokémon from worrying.
The question caught Braixen off guard, and it quickly shook its head in denial. "Brai braixen!" it practically shouted, like it had forgotten to lower its voice from the previous statement.
Serena was momentarily distracted from her own troubles because of her pokémon's unorthodox response. "Wait a second... don't tell me you have a crush too, Braixen, do you?"
Braixen wasn't about to admit anything of that magnitude on a whim, despite the red coloring appearing on its cheeks. "Braixen. Braixen braixen." it spoke, crossing its arms in a huff.
Clearly Braixen wasn't willing to talk, and Serena didn't want to play Bonnie after learning first hand how embarrassing it was to be on the receiving end of such interrogation. "Alright, Braixen. I won't pry, but know that you can talk to me. I trust you, and I hope you can trust me too." She allowed the topic to drop, and Braixen breathed a sigh of relief and muttered something that loosely could be interpreted as a thank you as her thoughts again turned towards her next step, every option laid out in front of her worse than the last.
What am I supposed to do in a situation like this? What would Ash do? Probably forget the whole thing even happened. But I can't do that. I don't have his annoying, frustrating, infuriating density... Serena became lost in her own thoughts, and a sudden silence descended over the two like an eye in a storm. Even Ash's requests for Serena's presence had ceased, and some dim part of the girl's consciousness wondered if he was alright, while the pessimistic side of her just assumed he had given up on her thanks to Pancham. The dead silence was becoming eerie, and Braixen moved closer to its trainer, half for comfort, half to keep her safe as the setting made its dangerous nature as a home for wild pokémon more apparent. Braixen's ears suddenly twitched, and it turned away from Serena, gazing at some point in the trees. "Braixen..." it muttered, causing Serena to return her attention back to her pokémon.
"Braixen, what's wrong? Is something there?" Serena squinted at the point her pokémon had become fixated on and saw nothing but the methodical sway of the forest leaves in the wind. "Um... I don't think-" The statement was cut off by Braixen launching a hidden power directly at the spot it had stared at before, the blue light ball of energy colliding with what appeared to be nothing but tree branches in a decently sized explosion.
Nothing happened for a second, and Serena was about to scold the fire type for potentially giving away their location when a form shot out of the black smoke caused by the move, performing several flips in the air before landing in front of the duo. Serena immediately recognized the intruder as Ash's frogadier, and scrambled to stand up and put her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner. "F-frogadier!? What are you doing here!? Did Ash tell you to spy on me?"
The water type completely ignored Serena, further aggravating her, instead facing the girl's Braixen with some irritation in its countenance. "Frogadier. Frog frogadier?" it asked.
Braixen walked over to its fellow Kalos starter and slapped it across the face, not gently. "Braixen braixen braixen brai! Brai braixen braixen BRAI!" Its voice rose with each repetition of its name, and Frogadier looked more caught off guard that it was being yelled at than from the pain of Braixen's attack.
"Frogadier frog frog. Frog." Frogadier sounded like it was trying to justify itself, although Serena was having a difficult time following the conversation.
"Braixen brai! Braixen braixen!" Braixen pointed at Serena and then at Frogadier, leaving its trainer even more baffled than she was before.
What in the world are they talking about? I guess Braixen is telling Frogadier off for following us... but why a slap to the face? These two aren't like Pancham and Chespin, they don't fight all the time or anything... unless... wait, why does it even matter? I need to get out of here before Frogadier summons Ash! Serena stepped between the two arguing pokémon and forced them to step away from each other. "Alright, you two. I don't know what's going on, and I don't have time to find out. Braixen, we're going. Frogadier, go tell Ash to stop looking for us." Serena turned away from the frog and nodded to Braixen, indicating that they take their leave.
Braixen shot Frogadier one more nasty look and moved to follow its trainer. Frogadier again ignored Serena's words and jumped over the two, landing in front of their intended path and spreading its arms out defensively. "Frogadier. Frog frogadier." It pointed in the general direction back the way the three had come from, towards the campsite.
Serena got a bit nervous. If Frogadier didn't let them go, there might not be much she could do about it. As fierce a fighter as she knew Braixen could be, it would at the least struggle greatly to overpower the consistently battle-trained and water type Frogadier. I can't face him again. Not now. It would just make things worse. Serena resorted to diplomacy. "Frogadier, please. I don't know how much you've overheard, but I can't face your trainer right now. I'm... not sure if I ever can. I messed up, Frogadier, and now everything is ruined beyond the point of fixing. It would be best for everyone, even you, if you just let me go. I'll pick up my things later." Serena did her best to sound convincing, but her voice refused to stop trembling at the implications of her statement.
The world Serena had built for herself was crumbling around her, and now Frogadier was standing steadfast in her path, forcing her to bear witness to the destruction of the hopes and dreams she had intitiated. Braixen realized that Frogadier wasn't moved by Serena's plea and stepped forward aggressively, ready to back up its trainer's words with action, when Frogadier suddenly rushed forward, directly at Serena, the blade from its cut attack drawn. The girl hardly had time to process that she was being attacked before the frog rushed past her, striking its target. Serena waited for what she expected to be sharp, tearing pain from such a fast and powerful move, but felt nothing. She turned around slowly to see a beedrill unconscious on the ground behind her, Frogadier standing over it nonchalantly. How did I not notice a beedrill approaching from behind!? Am I really that distracted right now? "Oh... I thought..." Serena's started and stammered apology was interrupted by the appearance of three more beedrill from the bushes near where Frogadier had appeared, clearly awoken from the hidden power attack that Braixen had fired and searching for their unwanted alarm clock.
Ash's pokémon wasted no movement and leapt at the three assailants, another cut brandished in its webbed hand. Two of the beedrill met Frogadier head on with their fury attacks, the three pokémon becoming a dangerously dazzling display of daggers dancing in the darkness, while the third and largest beedrill made a beeline for Serena. Braixen stepped in front of its trainer protectively, and Serena realized that she was now in a battle. "Alright then, Braixen, use flamethrower on that beedrill!"
Braixen obeyed, launching a red hot stream of fire at the bee, causing it to quickly cease its charge and get out of the way. "Don't let up, Braixen! Keep firing until you hit it!" As bad as starting a forest fire may be, the vicious nature of beedrill that Serena had heard tales of from both Ash and her own mother convinced the girl to avoid holding back.
"Braixen!" the pokémon cried out as it began to launch several more blazing red streams at the beedrill, each shot being dodged almost effortlessly.
Serena was panicked. Braixen just didn't have the speed necessary to connect with the super effective attack. I have to hit it now! "Braixen, get it with a scratch!"
Braixen ended its flamethrower assault and ran at its foe with a scratch attack at the ready, causing the beedrill to respond by rushing towards the fire type with a poison jab move on its needle hands. As the two rapidly prepared to clash, Serena too late realized her mistake of allowing the beedrill to close the distance in the fight and hurriedly attempted to stop her pokémon before it was hurt. "Wait, Brai-" Serena stopped midsentence as she witnessed the beedrill suddenly jerk to the side as it was slammed by one of its own kind, Frogadier having taken a poison jab of its own during the fight to hurl one of its opponents between Braixen and the third beedrill.
It shocked Serena that Ash's pokémon was able to track the moves of not only the two beedrill actively attacking it, but also the exact moment when she gave an inappropriate battle command to intervene in the second battle that had begun around it. Even Ash's pokémon are amazing... No, focus! You have to win this battle! Serena opened her mouth to give a command to her fire type when Frogadier suddenly sprinted over to Braixen and quickly muttered something to the pokémon that was incomprehensible to Serena. While the frog had taken a decent amount of damage from the fight, it was still standing proud, and the two beedrill it was fighting looked no better off than Frogadier was. Braixen nodded to Frogadier before taking its own initiative and launching a hidden power directly at the beedrill it was fighting, still struggling to get the beedrill that frogadier had thrown at it off of it. Frogadier waited patiently, and as soon as the beedrill successfully untangled themselves and started to take off again, Frogadier used double team to surround the beedrill, confusing them into stopping long enough for the hidden power to connect, slamming both beedrill into a tree. The other beedrill Frogadier was fighting was enraged, and began to rush at the Frogadier clones, swinging its sharp arms wildly, eliminating random clone after random clone. One Frogadier clone waved at both Braixen and beedrill, and both got the message. The beedrill charged at the clone, causing the copy to disappear and beedrill's arm to become stuck in the frubbles the ninja frog had left behind. The beedrill didn't even have time to try and struggle free before it received a face full of Braixen's flamethrower.
The performer was awestruck. Here was two pokémon battling together like they had been practicing for years, when in fact one of them hardly battled at all, and certainly not with the kind of synchronization the two were displaying. It must be Frogadier giving Braixen the confidence. Just like what Ash did to me... Braixen doesn't even need me to command it now. Serena was thinking the truth, as a menacing approach from the tag team of Braixen and Frogadier convinced all three beedrill to make their escape, one of them carrying the beedrill Frogadier had felled with a single cut earlier on its back. Braixen cheered and jumped up and down in satisfaction, while Frogadier merely smirked, only to grimace as the poison that had infected the frog when it took an attack to rescue Braixen racked its body, forcing the water type to take a knee. Braixen realized its partner was in danger and immediately stopped its jovial behavior, helping Frogadier up and leading it over to tree so that it had a solid base to lean on. A sigh escaped Serena's lips. I can't leave now. Not with Frogadier like this. Serena moved quickly to the pair, looking over the two pokémon. Braixen appeared to be mostly fine, but Frogadier was another story. The minor physical injuries weren't that bad, but the poison would become extremely problematic if it wasn't handled quickly and efficiently. "Okay. We can't leave you like this Frogadier. I'm going to run back to camp and find an antidote. I can pick up my stuff while I'm there. Braixen, stay here with Frogadier and keep it safe. Do NOT let Ash know where you are. I'll be back as soon as I can. Got it?" Serena paused to breathe while her pokémon kept most of its attention centered on its new patient.
"Braixen." It threw its name out carelessly, not really listening, while Frogadier remained as reticent as ever, attempting to bear the pain of the poison by itself, although the battle had weakened its defenses heavily.
Serena didn't wait to make sure her pokémon really understood. I have to be there for Ash's pokémon, even if he won't be there for me anymore. Her hesitation forgotten, Serena sprinted with all the force her legs would allow her towards the direction of camp, mentally recording her path so she could make her way back. She was shocked when she realized she hadn't actually ran that far away from the clearing where she had confessed to Ash, and she skirted the site cautiously as the route she needed to take became more certain with the landmark reached. A few minutes of Serena's fastest pace allowed her to reach the campground once again, but she stopped short when she realized it was active, taking cover in the edge of the tree line. Clemont, in his nightgown, was fixated by something, probably an invention, while Bonnie was pacing back and forth with Ash's fletchinder, of all pokémon, circling low over the girl's head. Pikachu was laying by a small campfire the group must have lit with Fletchinder's help. Serena tried to get closer to view whatever Clemont was working on, only to be spotted in the light of the campfire by Bonnie, who immediately charged the older girl. The performer tried to wave awkwardly at her friend before Bonnie tackled her in a bear hug, the two tumbling to the ground. "SERENA! You're alright! We were so worried! Where's Ash?" Bonnie rushed her words out, clearly as a result of pent up worry.
Serena awkwardly returned the hug from the ground and waited until she could untangle herself from the Lumiose girl before responding. "I'm fine, Bonnie... why wouldn't I be?" She ignored the question that had been asked. Probably still wandering around with...
Bonnie spoke up through Serena's thoughts. "But... Pancham..."
"What!?" Serena quickly stood and dashed over to Clemont, her blue eyes filling with horror at seeing her little fighting type pokémon sprawled out on the ground in front of the young scientist.
Clemont's eyes were hidden behind his glasses shining in the firelight, and he gave no indication that he even knew Serena was there until he spoke up while monitoring his patient. "Hello Serena. Pancham will be fine, it's just exhausted from battling and needs to rest. I'm more curious as to what happened. Would you care to explain?" There was a hint of agitation in the boy's voice, but Serena was still getting over the fact that she had allowed one of her pokémon to become injured and hadn't been there to help it.
"Oh, Pancham... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sent you away like that... this is all my fault." Serena wanted to summon tears for her playful pokémon, but she had sent them all out for Ash already as well.
At the sound of its trainer's voice, Pancham opened its eyes and sat up a bit to gaze at Serena, throwing a weak smile and thumbs up the girl's way before collapsing again. Clemont sighed. "You need to lie still, Pancham. We've been over this. You won't feel the effects of the medicine I gave you without rest. Serena, my question, if you don't mind."
"Oh, um, right. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk, and I let Pancham out to get some fresh air, and I lost track of it, and I figured it would eventually make its way back to camp, so I headed back, and I found, well, this." Serena lied rapidly and sloppily, completely unwilling to run the gauntlet of emotions that was the true happenings of the night.
Bonnie approached the two from behind. "Even Clemont wouldn't believe that story, Serena. We know you must have been out there with Ash at some point. Tell us what happened, please."
They're worried. What would they say if I told them what I was about to do? Would they try to stop me? Probably. I guess I only have one choice then. "I... can't talk about it. I'm sorry, I just don't want to revisit tonight already. Not now. I need an antidote."
Clemont, who nodded to himself as Serena spoke, dug into his bag and tossed up an antidote without even looking up, meaning Serena had to practically dive to retrieve it before the bottle landed on the ground. "Thanks. Now, I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'll just grab my things and be off, alright?"
Bonnie couldn't believe that Serena was leaving again, and worse, Clemont didn't seem to know or care. She turned to her brother to force him to make Serena stay, only for Clemont to suddenly stare hard at his sister. "Let her go, Bonnie."
That was the last straw for the young girl. "WHAT!? But something bad is obviously happening! We need to-"
"-stay here." Clemont finished for his sister. "I know as much as you do, Bonnie, but I can't leave Pancham here by itself, and you've already admitted that this is something that Serena and Ash need to work out by themselves, so I'm not going to mess things up any further. As much as science would try to tell me otherwise, this matter clearly has no algorithm that will solve it with us involved." The matter-of-fact tone suited Clemont, but the subject matter he was covering certainly didn't.
Serena stopped in gathering her things to give Clemont a rueful stare. We tried to work it out. We failed. And now people and pokémon are hurt as a result. Clemont wasn't done with his serendipitous advice, as he swung his powerful firelight gaze to Serena, shattering the disdainful look he was receiving from the older girl. "And you. I can only hypothesize that something you tried isn't working for you. I know Ash didn't teach you to give up at the first failure, or the second, or the eight hundred second, because that's something he showed me. I implore you to consider that before you finish packing."
Where Clemont had received this level of transcending sage knowledge completely evaded Serena's imagination. I don't know if I can give him another chance after what happened though... he's made his feelings so clear. I have to come back for Pancham anyways... I guess I can try one more time, even if it's going to tear me apart inside, as long as it's for him. He deserves that courtesy at least, and he owes me an explanation for Pancham anyways. She finally set her pack down and shoved the antidote in her pocket. "Okay then. Thank you for taking care of Pancham, Clemont. Bonnie, I'll be fine, Ash and I will be back shortly. Please don't worry. I just need to give Frogadier this antidote and everything will be fine." If only the world worked that way.
While Bonnie was by no means satisfied with the outcome, she realized that following Serena by herself wouldn't benefit anyone. "You... you better come back with Ash, you hear me, Serena!?" the trembling girl demanded.
Serena merely nodded. Clemont returned to his tending to Pancham. Pikachu, a silent observer to the situation, suddenly hopped onto Serena's shoulder, clearly done with being the one left at camp. The girl wanted to leave Ash's closest companion behind for what was sure to be an extremely difficult meeting, but the rodent was nestled so securely onto her shoulder that Serena didn't have the heart to shut down another one of her friends tonight. With a small wave, Serena again began to sprint off into the trees to give aid to Ash's frogadier. Here I am running to save one of Ash's pokémon when he might have knocked out one of mine. What is wrong with me? The thought didn't connect with Serena's legs as they sped up their stride, not letting her musings interfere with her true emotions. Clemont called out something about sending him Frogadier when she got the chance, and Bonnie stared at the back of Serena's head as she again disappeared into the woods, again chasing down her crush, for one more confrontation.
If he doesn't reciprocate this time... then I can't keep hurting myself here any longer, and I'm sorry I don't have the willpower to stay, Bonnie, Clemont, everyone. I failed, and this is all my fault, Pancham and Frogadier getting hurt, Ash still being depressed, everything. This is me trying one more time to fix things, not giving up one more time before it's all... over.