The venom of the adonis
A middle-aged woman with brown hair was busy preparing her meal. Today was a special occasion, as both of her children were home and her daughter had brought a guest. She could hear May's eternal bickering with Max, her younger brother, which fortunately was quickly calmed by her husband. She smelled the delicate aroma of her soup, finally ready. The hungry people were waiting around the table, and the well-lit and warm living room made it easy to see their happy faces. The mistress of the house finally brought back the still burning bowl and served her guests. As everyone grabbed their spoons, Max turned to the stranger and raised his glasses:
"Pokémon showcases... I've heard of them, they're contests for people who can't fight."
Ash tensed. Max always lacked delicacy in his remarks, which could be really irritating if you didn't know him... even if you did.
May was quick to rebuke him, reminding him that his ranking in the last league was no reason for him to get a big head. Realizing his mistake, he rushed to apologize.
"But you're not wrong," Serena whispered.
"Stop putting yourself down all the time or you won't get anywhere!" May snapped, sending a few drops of soup flying out of her spoon.
"I know, but..." Serena tried, the look drowning in the liquid mixture.
"Charman!" interrupted her pokemon.
He had had enough, too. She was much more confident when she was in Kalos, so why should it be different here?
"See, Charmander agrees with me!" the Hoenn coordinator remarked.
Serena watched as the little orange beast at her feet continued to stare at her. She decided to pick it up and place it on her lap.
"You're a confident pokemon, aren't you?" she remarked as she looked into Charmander's eyes.
Ash felt disturbed by the sudden attention he was getting. He was not used to seeing her from this angle: her short hair moved slightly with her movements, and her delicate lips danced to the rhythm of her melodious voice. Without forgetting the softness of her hands, which brushed his rough reptile skin in an alluring contrast. He hurried to get out of the way to stop the fire that was burning in his stomach.
"Come on Serena, I'll show you my room," May invited.
She grabbed his arm and hurriedly led them upstairs. Ash in the back tried to follow, but the stairs slowed him down too much. He felt like he was back in Grant's gym, trying not to slip every time he managed to climb a little higher.
"I'm sick of this size!" I yelled, even though all that came out of my mouth was a grunt of displeasure.
Serena turned around, she must have heard me. She managed to free herself from May's grip and hurried down to me. I found myself pressed against her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around me so I wouldn't fall. We reached our destination far too quickly for me. She set me down on the hard and cold floor, making me miss her warmth even more... I shook my head, I should not think like that, it was not my style! To change my mind, I decided to explore the large room. It was obvious that May's mother had taken good care of it, not a speck of dust, no cobwebs, and WOW! I let out a big breath, it was just a Clefairy plushie but boy did it scare the hell out of me! I didn't know May had such a big doll...
"So your little brother was in the league," Serena remarked.
My friend from Hoenn rolled her eyes and replied:
"If he wants to inherit the gym, he'll have to do better than a good ranking. He still has a lot to learn."
May was hard on her little brother, especially since as far as I could tell, he had made a lot of progress since we said goodbye. It made me want to take him on!
While the girls continued to discuss various more or less exciting topics, something caught my attention. Hanging on the wall were these little rectangles that looked like pictures, but I was too small to see them in detail. I found my salvation in a chair. I pushed it with all my strength to make it move, I had the impression that it was not made of wood but of stone, it was so heavy.
I reached my destination in sweat, now I had to climb. I managed to grab the edge of the chair and tried to pull myself up with my small legs, but they were much too weak to support my weight and I crashed miserably to the ground. I looked around until I met the eyes of the disgusting doll. That was the solution! Without waiting, I grabbed the pink fake pokemon and placed it right next to the chair. Thanks to this ingenious system, I was able to pull myself up to the top of this impregnable mountain. I looked at the world at my feet and towered over it. Sweat was dripping down my face and my lungs were empty of air, but I couldn't keep a triumphant smile from my lips.
"This is what happens when you underestimate me!" I taunted the doll that remained on the floor.
I suddenly turned pale. What was I talking about? I had just stood on a chair! I felt miserable, there was nothing to be happy about when I had succeeded in doing something so simple. Considering my current resistance, I better understood why Norman had stopped my fight against Blaziken. I preferred to stop thinking about it and concentrated on the wall to finally discover a picture of me with May, Max and Brock during my trip to Hoenn.
"Ash!"
I couldn't suppress a start when I heard my name. Did she recognize me already? But I quickly realized that I was wrong. Serena had just noticed the photo too, she wasn't supposed to scare me like that.
"Yes, it's a picture we took before he left," May commented.
I watched my friend out of the corner of my eye as she carefully examined the photo.
"You two seem very close," she said suddenly.
Was it my imagination or was there a hint of disappointment in her voice?
"Of course!" May confirmed.
Serena's eyebrows furrowed and her jaw clenched.
"We were best friends," the coordinator added.
"And there was nothing else?
"What else do you want to see?" May asked, taking the words out of my mouth.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" the performer replied, his cheeks flushed and his arms flailing in all directions, before stopping with a sigh of relief.
She was really strange. I had noticed some similar behavior during our trip to Kalos, but I hadn't really paid attention to it.
"So, tell me. Since you were with him recently, how is he? Is he still collecting badges?" May asked, sitting limply on her bed.
"Of course, otherwise he wouldn't be Ash. He even made it to the finals of the league and lost by a narrow margin," Serena beamed as she joined May.
"Wow! He's improved a lot since the last time I saw him."
I couldn't stop my chest from swelling with pride. It was true that I had become strong, as I'd promised myself after my trip to Unova.
"But I hope he didn't behave too badly," May added. "You know, he is often stubborn, impulsive, not to mention that he understands nothing about girls and lacks sensitivity. He's even a bit of a jerk sometimes."
What? My ego had just been shattered in a few seconds. And then, I didn't see what there was to understand about girls! I saw Serena shake her head in denial.
"I don't agree. Ash has helped me throughout my journey, and he was the one who motivated me to discover the world. If I hadn't seen him on TV that day, I'd still be lazing around my house complaining about training with Rhyhorn. He may look stubborn, but he just never gives up and is fearless when it comes to achieving his dreams."
I stared at her in surprise, I didn't think she had such a high opinion of me, yet it was she who had helped me during our journey.
"You wouldn't happen to be in love with him," May suddenly whispered, probably to prevent me from hearing the rest.
What was she thinking when she suddenly asked that? I felt the flame at the end of my tail suddenly heat up as if it had exploded. What had happened to me again? Because of the panic of my new member, I was going to burn down May's room! I grabbed my tail between my paws to stop it from moving. In this position, I could see that the reds that made it up had completely disappeared to become an orange and yellow mass. The girls hadn't noticed my little problem and Serena still hadn't said anything. At the same time, I already knew the answer...
"Looks like I was right!" the coordinator added with a mischievous smile.
"How did you know?" Serena asked in a whisper.
"Your little speech, maybe," May teased. "Or your look, or maybe it was your smile. Honestly, you'd have to be deaf and blind not to know how you felt."
Was it as obvious as May said? My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of my scales, which seemed to be getting darker. I examined them carefully, and I could see small vessels running through their bases. The color change was subtle, but real.
"Did you tell him how you felt?" the mischievous girl asked suddenly.
I touched my lips. My hand was rough, unlike Serena's lips... I had to stop thinking about it! As I struggled with the strange behavior of my own body, Serena sighed:
"I told him at the airport right before I left."
"And what did he say?" May asked with stars in her eyes.
"Nothing."
The tone of his voice was so dull that I shivered. My answer? How did I feel about her? The puppet seemed to stare at me and laugh at me. I snarled at the inanimate object.
"Nothing?" said the disappointed coordinator.
" He just said goodbye. He didn't push me away, but he didn't let me say anything. I have no idea how he feels," she murmured, pulling her knees to her chest. "At the same time, I should have guessed, he remains true to himself."
"He's never been very good at love, he prefers pokemon battles," May decreed, arms crossed and eyes closed, seeming to dive into his memories.
"No doubt, I could start wishing that I was a pokemon so that he would pay a little more attention to me," Serena said jokingly.
I decided not to answer her remark. The doll continued to stare at me with her two black balls, as if commanding me to tell the truth. My flame had lost its intensity and I let it fall back to the ground. Serena had been direct enough for me to understand. The eyes of the false clefairy remained fixed on me, he would not let me deny the truth... I... I had already understood Serena's feelings, but I deliberately ignored them, did not see them. For me, Serena was just a friend.
"Because Serena is always a friend," I assured the pink witness.
I approached the doll and pushed her, she fell to the side without making a sound. Her eyes continued to stare at me, the stuffed rag wouldn't understand. It didn't matter. I had my dream to fulfill, and Serena had hers. So we could leave each other without suffering. We could let go... without getting hurt... but if we went further... I felt like I was listening to the crackle of an old television. I was cold. I cowered into myself.
"Serena is and will remain a friend, I feel nothing else for her, nothing else, nothing else..."
"Charmander?"
Serena had kneeled down next to me and was staring at me with a worried look on her face. I answered her, but my voice was heavy, tired, as if I were dying. Without a word, she took me in her arms and held me close. It was warm and soft. My claws crushed her pink dress.
When I'm back to normal, I'll have to... it wasn't that important. In a few weeks, when she's confident again, I can leave, join Pikachu, become a trainer again and pursue my dream. To keep moving forward without worrying about the past, to meet new people. In time, this will be my life again.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked me, staring at my flame.
A knock at the door. Norman did not wait for his daughter to answer, but entered and asked in his usual serious tone:
"May, would you accompany me to Fortree City? Winona and Wallace want to see us."
"What's going on?" the interested party asked.
"They didn't give me any details, they just asked me to come, and since you're here, they asked you to come as well," the gym leader said seriously.
At the same time, everything seemed serious with him.
"All right, I haven't seen them for a while."
"That means that we won't be able to continue our journey together... " Serena understood disappointedly.
"Don't worry, we'll see each other at the competitions and of course at the Grand Festival!" May finished with a wink.
"May..." Serena smiled, grateful for the encouragement.
"Ah, come to think of it, the next competition is in Slateport City."
Serena reached for her tablet to find out where her next destination was. She stifled a cry of surprise when she finally found the famous city. As I recall, Slateport City was far from here, so it might take a while to get there.
"I have a friend who can help you," Norman said, noticing Serena's embarrassment. "His name is Briney and he is an old sea dog, I trust him to take you to your destination if you come from me."
My friend's eyes lit up and she held out her tablet. The leader took it and slid his finger across the screen before applying light pressure to mark a spot on the map.
"Thank you so much!" exclaimed Serena as she took back her property.
"Let's go, May," the champion said.
I followed them to their car. They waved goodbye before driving off at full speed in a cloud of dust. When my Hoenn friends were gone, I turned to Serena. I saw her gasp, then she turned back to me and asked with a slight smile:
"Are you ready for our adventure to begin?"
I felt better now. I had been asking myself too many questions and it wasn't working for me. After all, I didn't have to worry about it, I would just help Serena start her journey and then I would leave as usual. It was as simple as that, because after all...
"Cha!" I shouted excitedly.
Nobody ever asked me to stay.
The young trainer and her new "pokémon" continued their journey on Route 104. Although they had left Petalburg City just after lunch, Briney's house was still not in sight, and the fading light indicated the beginning of evening.
"We'll stop here for dinner," Serena suggested.
Her orange friend quickly agreed. She called her other pokemons and took out a box of food that May's mother had kindly prepared for her. Meanwhile, Braixen, Pancham and Sylveon asked for some explanations about Ash's new form.
Serena was reassured to see that they were already getting along well, and she let them empty their bowls. The Kalosian had a little more trouble with her own food, especially the chopsticks, which she found difficult to handle. After all, people in her region were used to forks and knives. The young girl was not discouraged; discovering new uses was part of the charm of the trip. As she made her umpteenth attempt to get the succulent food into her mouth, her gaze fell on Charmander, who had approached and was looking enviously at the black case.
"You're done already? "the young girl asked in surprise before realizing her mistake. The fire pokemon's bowl was still full, and she wondered if he had even taken a bite. "Human food is not suitable for pokemons," Serena explained, remembering Clemont's teachings.
Ash grunted. Nurse Joy had told him the same thing, but she had given him some berries because of his stubbornness. Being a weak pokémon was bad enough, but if he had to eat these tasteless kibbles at every meal, his life would become an ordeal. The orange pokémon continued to stare at the colorful shapes and white rice in the box, so much so that he couldn't stop the saliva from dripping down his chin.
"No, Charmander, you have to eat the same food as the others."
"Chaaa," the little creature groaned.
"I know you're young and not used to kibble, but I assure you it's for your own good."
"Mand! Charmander, Charmander!"
The pokemon's stomach rumbled more and more, and Serena didn't want him to starve. So, she reluctantly agreed to let him share his meal, and Ash ate greedily. The trainer watched him until she realized that there was not much left after the little monster had stuffed himself. She sighed as she felt her own stomach complain, she would have to teach Charmander what it meant to share food.
"I'm thinking about it. I should show you what a performance is!" Serena suddenly explained.
This was the first test, after all, and from what May had explained to her, it was very similar to performances. Her three partners stood next to her and started the show. Ash looked at them, this dance was the one they had performed in the finals of the pokémon showcases. To him, she was the one who deserved to win, and no one else. The performance ended, and the young girl greeted her audience, who applauded vigorously. She smiled at him before explaining:
"I will also create a performance for you, but first I need to see how you dance."
Ash swallowed, moving to rhythm had never been something he'd excelled at. His experience in Korrina's gym had made him realize that he was not cut out for this kind of activity. He tried to refuse, but Serena's look stopped him. Then he tried to dance, he really tried with all his good will, but the result was a real fiasco. He moved his paws awkwardly and stumbled every time his treacherous tail got in the way. It looked as if he had been hit by Confuse Ray. The other pokémons tried to contain themselves, but their smiles quickly turned to uncontrollable laughter.
"It's not nice to make fun of him when he's doing his best," Serena scolded them.
She asked Pancham to help his friend a little. The panda readjusted his glasses and began his demonstration. Ash tried to imitate him, but he got tangled up even more and soon found himself face down on the floor. They tried again with Braixen and Sylveon, but the result was the same. Serena finally gave in and crouched down to Charmander's level.
"Do you want to do the first part?"
Her pokemon quickly answered in the negative.
"Then you'll just have to take part in the fights. But don't forget, the beauty of the attack is also very important."
The salamander nodded, indicating that he understood. Suddenly, the girl stood up and watched the sun go down.
"It's going to be dark soon!"
"Der?" asked Ash, not understanding this sudden concern.
"I forgot my tent again!" she said finally.
She quickly took out her navi-map to see where Briney's house was and was immediately reassured:
"It's not very far, he might agree to put us up."
She called her friends back and walked quickly towards the edge of the forest, with Charmander at her heels, or rather trying to keep up with her heels. She noticed the difficulties of the little pokemon and tried to pick him up. He quickly pulled away and started running to get ahead. He did not want to be a burden to her.
Eventually, the trees disappeared to make way for a small clearing. As Ash caught his breath, he noticed that there was a salty smell in the air, and the sound of waves in the distance only reinforced his idea that he was near the sea.
"Are you okay?" asked Serena, who had joined him.
Her face immediately lit up when she saw a group of houses in the distance, and without hesitation she walked towards them. Her enthusiasm quickly faded as she entered the village. The streets were deserted, some of the houses had collapsed under their own weight, and those that remained were in disrepair. The girl could smell the mold on the damp wood. There was no doubt that this village was abandoned, yet it was the place Norman had pointed her to...
Ash observed the surroundings. This harbor had not changed, so if his memories were correct, Briney's house should be there... He tugged at his friend's boot and motioned for her to follow. Serena had no better option than to rely on her little pokemon. She followed him to an old building, but unlike the others, the wood had no mold or cracks. Serena was a little surprised that Charmander had found this place so quickly, but she put it down to his nose, because this had to be the only house that didn't smell like rotting wood.
When she reached the door, she hesitated a bit, not wanting to disturb someone in the middle of the night. But the idea of sleeping alone in an abandoned village in an unknown region was even less appealing to her. She knocked on the door and it opened to reveal an old man with a white beard. Though old, he was still tall and muscular, wearing a fisherman's outfit. On his shoulder sat a wingull with folded wings. He asked in a gruff tone:
"What do you want?"
The pokemon on his shoulder gave a sharp cry, its pupils focused on the newcomer.
"Are you Mr. Briney?" the girl asked, her eyes downcast.
"Yes," he said, his face as hard as ever.
His pokémon trembled on his shoulder, ready to attack the impertinent one as soon as its master gave the order.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, my name is Serena, and it is Norman who advised me to ask for your help."
The old sea dog's face softened and he invited her to come in.
"So, child, where shall I take you?"
"Slateport City," Serena replied reassuringly.
"Very well, since you are a friend of Norman's, I agree to let you board my precious ship. We will raise the moorings tomorrow. In the meantime, you can stay here and sleep."
The trainer thanked him cordially. She observed the uncluttered interior of the house, it was satisfied with the basic furniture and the staircase indicated that there was at least one floor. She approached the middle of the room, not very sure, the wood cracked incessantly under her footsteps, at a point where she wondered if she would not pass through the floor. One detail bothered her, she could see no trace of a couch or a bed on this floor. Wingull reemitted one of its shrill cries, forcing her to turn towards the master of the place. Briney showed her a straw mattress on the floor in a corner, making it clear that this was where she would sleep. Serena hoped for a real bed, but it was better not to irritate her host.
"Charmander, it's time to go to bed."
"I don't think he was waiting for you..." the fisherman replied with a smile.
Serena lowered her eyes to discover that her pokémon had fallen asleep on the floor. She watched him for a few moments, finding him cute. She gently picked him up and carried him to her makeshift bed, covering him with warm blankets. Briney, if he was touched by this spectacle, showed no sign of it and retreated to the floor. Serena hastily put on her pajamas and sat down beside her Charmander before closing her eyes.
The first rays of sunlight filtered through the poorly closed shutters and woke the young trainer, who had just managed to fall asleep on the bare straw mattress. Her back clearly showed that she had not appreciated the rough wood of the house. Painfully, she opened her eyes to find her still-sleeping pokemon curled up next to her. She could feel his gentle warmth and hear his soft breathing. Serena thought he was adorable and refused to move for fear of waking him, but Briney's scream, which echoed throughout the house, foiled her plan. Charmander woke up with a start. The trainer stood up to see the panicked sailor running into the room.
"What's going on?" she asked, worried to see the old man in such a state.
"My little Peeko... she went for a fly this morning, but she still hasn't come back and she's not answering my calls!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine, I'll help you find her."
The old sea dog accepted the offer with tears in his eyes. Serena went outside and called her other pokemons to help her with her search. Eventually, it was Sylveon who called her trainer when she noticed a man acting suspiciously heading toward the forest north of the village. The small group followed at a distance, entering Petalburg Woods.