Chapter Four: Forests, Fear, and Food
It was around noon when Serena and Ash reached Viridian City. For most of the morning, they'd been walking in relative silence, during which Serena had mostly been focused on coming up with an appeal. She'd realized fairly quickly that even getting past the Location Round was going to be difficult, because she knew next to nothing about Pewter City. She could look up information on the city on her phone, of course, but it would probably still be a smart idea to buy something like a Kanto tour guide to give herself some quick pointers on Pewter City and all other cities she'd have to compete in, including Viridian City itself.
As soon as they'd entered the city proper, she therefore said, "Hey Ash, let's go and find a store. I want to start preparing for the Exposition as soon as possible, and I have to learn more about the cities if I even want to make it past the first round."
Ash nodded. "Right, that sounds smart. I should probably read up a bit as well for when I'm going to try my hand at an Exposition," he said.
"You're not going to try the one in Pewter City?" Serena asked.
Ash shook his head. "No, nor the one in Cerulean. I want to fully focus on my Gym battles in those two cities; they're two of the places I feel I didn't really earn my badges. Viridian as well, come to think of it, but the Gym Leaders in Pewter and Cerulean are my friends. I definitely want to battle them because it's been so long I've seen them last," he said.
"Oh, right, Clemont wasn't the first Gym Leader you traveled with, of course," Serena said.
"Nope. Brock, Misty, and Cilan are Gym Leaders as well. Although technically Brock's little brother Forrest is the Pewter City Gym Leader now, I'm still going to ask Brock if he'll fight me," Ash said with a grin.
Serena smiled. It was just like Ash to want to earn a badge legitimately by fighting a former Gym Leader, but knowing him and his stubbornness, he'd probably end up getting his way anyway.
She idly wondered what it would be like to fight in a Gym battle herself, but she knew that even though Pancham would probably be up for it, neither Braixen nor Sylveon really enjoyed battling if they didn't have to, and she wasn't about to challenge a Gym with only a single Pokémon willing to fight.
"So why did you get the badge in Pewter City anyway, if you didn't feel like you won it?" Serena asked.
("I hit the sprinkler system with my Thunder Shock and that enabled me to hit Onix with an Electric-type move, which normally wouldn't work on him,") Pikachu said.
"And then Brock's siblings tried to stop me from ending the fight…and I agreed with them," Ash said. "But Brock ended up giving me the badge anyway."
"Isn't it technically legal to do something like that, though?" Serena asked.
"If it was to stop Team Rocket or some other bad guy, then yes, but in a Gym match…it just feels cheap. I want to win for real," Ash said.
("Imagine you'd won the Master Class because Aria tripped, or something,") Pikachu said. ("Would you really feel like you'd beaten her? Would you be satisfied?")
"I guess not," Serena conceded.
"Right, and that's why I'd rather lose fairly than win in such a sneaky way. But this time, I'm going to beat Brock for real and finally win the Boulder Badge the proper way," Ash said confidently.
"I'll be cheering for you," Serena promised.
"Thanks, Serena," Ash said sincerely. "And I'll be cheering for you during the Exposition, count on it."
After buying a Kanto tour guide and a tent, and taking a quick trip to the Pokémon Center to get everyone healed up, Serena and Ash set out again, this time in the direction of the Viridian Forest that lay between Viridian City and Pewter City.
According to the guidebook she bought, the forest was known for the many Bug Pokémon that called it home, and it was considered a challenging area for newer Trainers to cross. The book advised Trainers to bring plenty of Cheri and Pecha Berries, or alternatively to carry man-made Paralyze Heals and Antidotes. While Serena wasn't too bothered by the warnings, she did make sure to check she had enough Berries with her just in case.
"I caught my first two Pokémon in this forest," Ash said after they'd been walking down the forest trail for a bit. "Caterpie and Pidgeotto."
("Misty was absolutely terrified of Caterpie,") Pikachu added.
"Yeah, she was a bit mean to him," Ash said. "I got into a bit of an argument with her over it, I think."
("You got into arguments with her over everything,") Pikachu said.
Ash grinned. "Guess you're right," he said.
"I thought she was one of your best friends," Serena said. The stories she'd heard of Ash's earlier travels certainly made things seem that way, anyway.
Ash nodded. "She is. But she and I still get on each other's nerves a lot. The difference is that now, we do it in good fun. You'll probably see that once we get to Cerulean City."
He thought for a moment. "I think it's kind of like with Pancham and Chespin. Arguing all the time, but when things got tough we had each other's backs, no question. Misty's a strong Trainer, too, so I don't think I'll have a hard time convincing her to battle me for the Cascade Badge — I got that one by helping to defend the Gym from Team Rocket, so it's another one I really want to win for real."
"Well…you've got Sceptile and Pikachu with you, so you should have a good chance," Serena said with a glance at Pikachu.
("I'm not fighting,") Pikachu said.
"Why not?" Serena asked in surprise. In all the time she'd known Pikachu, he'd never refused to fight.
"It's a bit of a tradition we have, I guess," Ash said with a nostalgic smile.
("I didn't want to fight Misty the first time we came there, because she was a friend, and I never have,") Pikachu said.
"Don't you fight friends all the time, though?" Serena asked.
Pikachu nodded. ("I do, yes.") He grinned sheepishly. ("I can't really explain it. It's just…a thing between us, I guess.")
Serena nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what to think about the story. On the one hand, it seemed like the kind of quirky thing friends might end up doing. On the other hand, though, it made her wonder if there was, or ever had been, something more than just friendship between Ash and Misty. But surely, if there had been, Ash would've told her, right? And yet, the way he talked about her…
Serena shook her head in annoyance. It made no sense to think about this now. It was just a story from years ago, and nothing more.
"Serena, are you okay?" Ash asked.
"Yes!" Serena said quickly. Then, slower and more calmly, she added, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Ash seemed to accept it, but Pikachu's eyes lingered on her for just a bit longer.
To Serena's annoyance, she remained bothered by the conversation for much of the rest of the day, and when they made camp for the night she still wasn't feeling any better.
("You're burning the food,") Braixen said, drawing Serena's attention back to the pan she was stirring.
"Huh? Oh, no! Come on!" she said in exasperation, both at the fact that the food had had the nerve to get burned, and at herself for being so distracted in the first place.
"Serena? Everything alright?" Ash asked from the table.
Serena turned around and smiled nervously. "Yeah, everything's fine, no problems here, none at all," she said manically.
"If you say so," Ash said dubiously.
"Yes, I say so," Serena said, sharper than she'd intended, and she instantly felt guilty about it. "Sorry, Ash, I'm just a bit…distracted," she added, wincing. "It's, um…the Exposition! Yeah!"
"I get it," Ash said with a smile. "Don't worry about it. You'll do great, I know it!"
Serena smiled shakily at his encouragement and pointedly ignored Braixen's unimpressed look.
("And I thought Pancham was unconvincing about not missing Chespin,") Braixen said with a shake of her head.
"Just help me fix this, please," Serena pleaded.
Braixen sighed, but she did help out, and somehow, Serena was able to salvage most of the cooking.
"Tastes great, Serena, thanks," Ash said appreciatively.
Serena shook her head. "If I hadn't been distracted it would've been better," she said.
("Serena, your worst is still a million times better than Ash's best,") Pikachu deadpanned.
Ash grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, cooking's not…really my thing. I'm better at the 'eating' part of it."
"What would you do if you traveled alone?" Serena asked curiously, her worries momentarily forgotten.
("We would suffer, and Ash would be fine,") Pikachu said. ("He's used to his own concoctions. And to think his mom runs a restaurant…")
Ash nodded. "That about sums it up, I think. I mean, I can cook stuff that will keep me alive and going, but it's not the tastiest. Honestly, I'm glad I usually travel with at least someone who's good at it. I'll happily do the dishes if it means I don't have to do the cooking."
Serena giggled. "Well, I'm happy to cook for all of us, so don't worry," she said with a wink at Pikachu.
"You're a lifesaver, Serena," Ash said gratefully.
("In a far more literal sense than you think,") Pikachu added, nodding.
Even though the conversation had been short, it somehow cleared up the dark thoughts in Serena's mind, and for the rest of the evening, she happily talked with Ash and the Pokémon, mostly about their upcoming challenges.
When the fire began to die out, Ash said, "We should probably get some sleep so we can have an early start tomorrow. That way you'll have more than enough time in Pewter City to get prepared."
Serena nodded. "Right. Give me a moment, I'll go and get changed in the tent," she said.
She entered the tent — a small, green thing — and quickly changed into her sleeping clothes. She was glad she wouldn't have to sleep in her normal clothes again and that this time, she wouldn't wake up on the cold, dewy grass.
And, though she didn't really want to admit it even to herself, she liked that she'd be sharing the tent with Ash. Of course, they shared rooms in Pokémon Centers all the time, but in the small tent they'd be much closer together, even though they'd both be in their own sleeping bags.
After momentarily stepping back outside to give Ash room to get changed as well, Serena settled into her sleeping bag with a contented sigh. She looked at Ash, who lay so close to her she could almost touch him.
"Well…good night, Ash, Pikachu," she said softly, feeling her face glow for no reason at all.
"Good night, Serena," Ash said with a smile.
("'Night…") Pikachu muttered sleepily.
Ash reached up to the small lantern that hung from the top of the tent and turned it off and they were shrouded in darkness.
Serena closed her eyes. Her sleeping bag felt like it was twice as hot as it had been the night before. Man, that tent really did a good job at keeping the cold out…
I'm not going to have each chapter be a day, but it just worked out nicely for this one and the last one. Oh, and the chapter title is a bit of a callback to my last Pokémon fic, which had titles made up of three words for every chapter.