Chapter Fifty-One: Heart and Soul

Serena felt apprehensive when she opened the door to the room. Ash's reassuring smile did little to make her feel more comfortable, but she knew she had to do this.

All the Pokémon were waiting for her and Ash, and even though the room was quite spacious for two people, it felt a bit cramped with everyone out of their Poké Balls, not to mention a bit strange to see a legendary Pokémon among them.

Pangoro was furthest back, but because he was so large he was easy to spot. Where he'd looked terrifying before, now he just stood slightly hunched over, and his expression was worried and remorseful. Mismagius floated next to him, and Serena wondered what they'd been talking about before she and Ash had entered the room. Seeing him so dejected made her feel a bit bad for him despite her fear.

("Are you alright?") Delphox asked, inspecting Serena for any signs of injury.

Serena nodded slowly. "I guess," she said. "Absol talked some sense into me. And then Ash as well."

She gave him a faint smile, and he gave an encouraging nod in return. She looked around at all of the Pokémon and said, "Um…I don't want to be rude, or anything…but I'd like to talk to Pangoro…sort of alone. I mean, I asked Ash to help me, and Pikachu and Mismagius are probably staying out too, but the rest of you…"

("We get it,") Delphox assured her. ("We just wanted to make sure you were okay, first.")

"And I really appreciate it," Serena said, inclining her head.

Ash handed her back her Poké Balls, and a few moments later most of the Pokémon had been recalled. Pangoro looked at her nervously, while Mismagius had one of her 'arms' on his shoulder in support. Pikachu sat on Ash's shoulder, but aside from a quick smile at Serena he remained quiet.

("Serena, I…I'm sorry for the Exposition,") Pangoro said. He seemed to really need to force himself to keep looking at Serena, as if he'd rather be staring at the floor. ("I'm sorry for…")

He clenched his jaw, and now he did look away. Serena saw that he had tears in his eyes.

("I wish I had my sunglasses,") he muttered. ("I look so uncool right now…")

Even though she was still nervous, Serena smiled at how familiar that sounded. "You'll always look cool to me," she said quietly, and Pangoro gave her a furtive look.

"You scared me today, Pangoro, I won't deny that," she went on, and for some reason merely saying it seemed to make the fear she was feeling recede a bit. "But it looks like you scared yourself, too, maybe even more than me. So…what happened?"

("I…got angry,") Pangoro said. ("That Sylveon… He was taunting me, and I couldn't move as quickly as I could before, and I just…wanted to beat him up. I wanted to hurt him.")

He took a deep breath, and Mismagius said, ("Take your time.")

Pangoro nodded slowly and then looked at Serena again. ("And when you tried to stop me…for just a second…I wanted to hurt you, too.")

He shuddered. ("I don't know what's wrong with me,") he whispered, and hearing him say the same words she'd asked herself in the park earlier made Serena step forward and throw her arms around him.

"Nothing is wrong with you," she said so quietly it was almost a whisper. Her eyes burned for what must've been the twentieth time that day, but she didn't care.

("I could have–")

"I know," Serena interrupted, not wanting to hear him say it.

"I know," she repeated, softer now, and letting go of Pangoro so she could look him in his eyes. "And…yeah, that makes things a bit different. I don't think either of us can pretend it never happened, but… It doesn't mean you're any less important to me. It doesn't mean I love you any less than I did before."

Even as she said the words, Serena knew they were completely true, and again, with each word her fear seemed to lessen.

("You don't?") Pangoro asked, sounding so hopeful it was almost painful.

Serena shook her head. "No." She smiled shakily. "You'll have to try harder than that to get rid of me."

She looked at Mismagius, who still floated next to Pangoro. She had no doubt that Mismagius had been comforting Pangoro ever since the Exposition, and while she was extremely grateful for that, she also felt ashamed.

She was Pangoro's Trainer. She should've been there for him despite her own fear, but instead she ran away, just like she'd done when Mismagius had made her uncomfortable. What if next time something happened with Sylveon? Or even Delphox? Would she run away then, too? Would she really put her own peace of mind above that of her Pokémon? Ash certainly never did that.

Again, she thought about the arrangement she'd reached with Mismagius. It had never really seemed like a good solution, even when she'd first proposed it back in Celadon City, but now it seemed to be an even worse one, an admission of defeat, of not being able to handle reality. What if Mismagius decided to leave again? What if Pangoro went with her, this time? She wouldn't even be able to blame him if he did, because evidently, Mismagius cared more about him than she did.

At that thought, something seemed to spark in Serena's mind. "Pangoro, Mismagius…" she said, and both of them looked at her curiously.

She glanced at Ash, who had remained silent and was now smiling at her encouragingly.

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and went on, "I'm sorry I put myself before you. I'm sorry I let my fear get in the way, that I let my fear hurt you. I…I can't promise you it will never happen again. I'm not fearless. But…I do want both of you to be able to be who you really are, to be able to develop your strength and skill in your own way.

"And I want to be there to help you achieve that, in whatever way I can, because I want us to always be a team. I want to have so many more adventures with both of you, and with Delphox and Sylveon and Absol if he wants to, and I don't want either of you to feel like you need to hide some part of yourself.

"Mismagius, from now on, if we're in a battle…I'll let you use your Confuse Ray again, in whatever way you want.

"And Pangoro…I will help you train your acrobatic moves again. And if you ever get frustrated…"

She glanced at Ash again. "…then I'm sure there's an entire team of Pokémon willing to help you work that out, who can take anything you throw at them."

For a moment, everyone was silent. Then, Mismagius said, ("But what about you? I…appreciate that you want us to be ourselves, but I know that what we can do makes you uncomfortable. You don't need to punish yourself, you know. I'm not mad at you. I don't think Pangoro is, either.")

Pangoro shook his head. ("I'm not. Just…happy that you don't hate me,") he said.

Serena hesitated, unsure how to respond despite feeling much less afraid than before she'd entered the room.

"I'll help you," Ash said, and Serena looked up. He smiled and went on, "If something's bothering you, just tell me. Talking to me earlier seemed to do you a lot of good, so maybe it will help you next time as well. We might not be able to solve things immediately, but we've got plenty of time, right?"

Serena felt like she'd been hit with a brick wall of pure emotion, and not for the first time that day, she broke down crying. She was going to end up dehydrated at this rate, and her eyes would surely stay red and puffy forever. But she just couldn't help it. There were just so many thoughts, so many feelings, going through her that it was impossible to tell them all apart, and nothing made any kind of sense.

"Uh, now I need some help," Ash said uncomfortably. "Did I say the wrong thing?"

In response, Serena threw her arms around him and kissed him fiercely. "You didn't say the wrong thing," she said softly when she pulled back.

Even through her blurry eyes she could see that Ash was bright red. Pikachu, on his shoulder, looked much the same.

"You said the rightest thing you could possibly have said."

Serena took a couple of deep breaths and rubbed her eyes, gave a quick smile to Ash, and then turned back to Mismagius and Pangoro. Mismagius in particular seemed bewildered.

("I thought I'd felt just about every emotion there was to feel before, but…this was new to me,") she said. ("So many emotions all at once…I didn't even know that was possible.")

Then she grinned. ("I guess I'm lucky I have such an emotionally rich Trainer…")

Serena returned the smile, although hers was, of course, still a bit shaky.

Pangoro, though, still seemed to be troubled by something.

"What's wrong?" Serena asked.

("I…I still feel bad,") Pangoro replied. ("I mean…what I did…nearly did…")

"But you didn't," Serena said, gently but firmly. "And together, we can make sure you never will, either. We'll both work hard, okay?"

She held out her fist to Pangoro, who hesitated for a moment and then, exceedingly gently, returned the fist bump.

Serena looked into his dark eyes and was surprised at how familiar it already felt again. "Let's get you a new pair of sunglasses tomorrow."

Pangoro blinked. Then he smiled. ("Yeah.")

Despite the good outcome of the conversation, Serena didn't have the best night's sleep. She was tired from both the Exposition and everything that had happened, but her dreams were disjointed and almost feverish.

Still, at breakfast she tried not to show it, because today was the day Ash would finally challenge the Fuchsia City Gym to obtain his sixth badge, and she wanted to cheer for him with everything she had, like she always did.

He'd changed up his team a bit again, exchanging Swellow for Krookodile, and he also said he'd use Suicune in the battle, to which Suicune had readily agreed. Ash really did seem to attract Pokémon with a drive for battle to match his own.

They made their way over to the Gym, which looked like an old, traditional building.

"Koga is a ninja, like Sanpei," Ash said when they entered. "I bet Greninja would love this place too, come to think of it. I wonder how he and Squishy are doing…"

("Knowing them, they're doing great,") Pikachu said from atop his shoulder. ("Maybe when Serena goes back to Kalos for her next attempt to become Kalos Queen you should go with her so you can visit him.")

He grinned at Serena, who smiled back.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn't all that sure when she'd be going back to Kalos. Even though she'd learned a lot from competing in the Expositions, everything that had happened now had made it clear she still had a lot to learn. Maybe trying the Contest circuit Dawn and May competed on would be good practice as well. Well, there was no need to make any decisions now.

Today, she was just going to cheer Ash on with her Pokémon. Even Absol had consented to watch the battle after hearing Suicune would be in it.

They entered the main arena, which seemed to be a small courtyard. The court itself was surrounded by water and accessible with ornate wooden bridges, and instead of seating, there were balconies from which the battles could be spectated. There was only a single person in the courtyard, waiting for them in the middle of the battlefield. Serena immediately recognized him as Koga.

("Where do you think Koga actually is?") Pikachu asked idly, looking around the courtyard.

"Isn't he…right there?" Serena asked, pointing at the lone figure on the battlefield.

Ash shook his head, then scanned the area just like Pikachu was doing. "I doubt it. I told you, he's a ninja. They've always got some kind of trick. The first time I challenged Koga we had to deal with all kinds of traps. That was in a different building, though."

Serena looked around as well, but she saw nothing.

"Koga?" Ash said, still looking around and beginning to walk forward again. "I'm here to challenge you to a Gym Battle."

There was no answer, and soon they stood right in front of the small bridge to the battlefield. The person who looked like Koga still stood completely still in the center.

"Koga?" Ash tried again.

When nothing happened, he shrugged at Serena and then crossed the bridge. Serena followed him a bit uneasily. If she'd been a Gym challenger she would probably have fallen for whatever trap Koga had set for them.

Ash walked over to the motionless figure in the middle of the court. "Man, those ninja clones look so real," he said. "It's almost as if–"

"Aha!"

Ash jumped back, and Serena did the same with a small yelp of surprise.

"The true ninja can always fool his opponent! Knowing you expected a trap, I hid in plain sight!" Koga said, folding his arms and sternly looking at Ash. Then, he smirked. "Nevertheless, your instincts were good. Commendable, even, for one not trained in the arts. You have grown since we last met, clearly."

Ash recovered from his shock and said, "Uh, thanks, I think. Anyway, I'd like to battle you again."

Koga nodded solemnly. "Indeed. I welcome this challenge, Ash from Pallet Town, and I will gladly allow you to test your strength against mine once again!"

A man dressed in ninja garb leapt from the water, swinging the hollow reed he'd been breathing through down dramatically and pointing it at Ash.

"This battle will be three on three, following the standard rules! The challenger my swap at any time, and the battle ends when all Pokémon on one side are defeated! Any questions about these rules of engagement?" he asked.

Ash shook his head. "Nope! All clear!" he said.

"Very well!" Koga said. He looked at Serena. "Miss Serena, if I might ask you to retreat to the balcony. Never fear, there are no traps on the staircases…but you should nevertheless always be on guard, whether you are a ninja or an Artisan."

His eyes pierced Serena's, and she knew he was referring to her Showoff Round performance. Not wanting to relive it again, she just nodded and quickly made her way up to the balcony, where she called out her Pokémon.

"Good luck, Ash!" she yelled down.

He grinned at her and then faced Koga.

"Well then, Ash Ketchum, let's battle once more! Venomoth!"

"Talonflame, I choose you!"

The two Pokémon briefly stared each other down, and then Ash said, "Flame Charge, let's go!"

"Avoid it, Venomoth, then counter with Bug Buzz."

Talonflame flared his wings and cloaked himself in flames before charging forward, but Venomoth was surprisingly nimble and dodged the charge, before rapidly beating his wings and sending red waves of sound at Talonflame, who winced but seemed otherwise unhurt.

"Now, Venomoth, render your foe helpless! Sleep Powder!"

Venomoth kept beating his wings, which now began to scatter blue powder in Talonflame's direction.

"Don't let the powder hit you! Cut it with Razor Wind!"

Talonflame's wings glowed white and he created some altitude, whipping up a whirling vortex of air in the process, before firing sickles of air that blew away Venomoth's attack.

"Now use Flame Charge again!"

"Show your movements once more! Dodge it!"

Talonflame tucked in his wings, once again cloaking himself in fire, and he dived down toward Venomoth, who dodged the attack once more, though narrower than the first try.

"Keep going, Talonflame!"

"Avoid and Stun Spore!"

Venomoth once again began to scatter powder from his wings, and Talonflame was charging right into it.

Serena winced. Had Ash made a mistake?

This time, however, Venomoth wasn't quick enough to avoid Talonflame's attack and he was blasted out of his own cloud of Stun Spore.

Talonflame, meanwhile, streaked into the sky and looped back, seemingly unaffected by the Stun Spore.

"A good tactic," Koga said. "The flames burned the spore before it could latch on. Then I must resort to other methods, for the true ninja is versatile. Poison Fang, Venomoth!"

"Talonflame, finish it with Brave Bird!"

Venomoth shook off the impact from the Flame Charge and flew up, but Talonflame had already cloaked himself in a blue aura, and he shot forward like a missile to intercept Venomoth. With a massive impact, he sent him crashing into the battlefield.

"Venomoth is unable to battle! Talonflame wins!" the referee announced.

"Yes! Good job, Talonflame!" Ash yelled.

("Ash is a fierce fighter,") Absol said. ("And his Pokémon seem to answer his passion wholeheartedly. So this is a Chosen human…")

Serena smiled. "That's just how Ash is. I don't think it has anything to do with him being Chosen," she said.

Koga had recalled Venomoth and looked at Ash with a respectful expression. "In our first battle, Venomoth was able to defeat you, yet now you avenge that defeat without a second thought. In that case, let me call out someone who also seeks to avenge his loss. Crobat!"

Ash's eyes lit up, and even from the balcony Serena could see that he was making some adjustments to his plans.

"Well, if you put it that way, I'd feel bad if I didn't give him the chance to do it against the same Pokémon," Ash said. "Charizard, I choose you!"

Charizard seemed pleased at getting an unexpected chance to fight, and Pangoro said, ("I bet Krookodile is going to be angry about that. Man, I really wanted to see him fight again, too…")

"I guess Charizard and Crobat fought before," Serena said, "though I'm sure Ash will make it up to Krookodile somehow."

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

"Confuse Ray, Crobat! Show him your improvement as a ninja!"

Charizard inhaled and sent out a massive blast of fire that seemed to fill the air in front of him.

("It's truly amazing how much power he can put into that,") Delphox said a bit enviously.

Serena smiled. Delphox didn't get jealous of raw power easily, so she was clearly very impressed.

Crobat, however, wasn't, and he managed to dodge the wall of fire and then fire off his Confuse Ray from point-blank range.

Charizard blinked and shook his head to clear it, while Koga said, "Perfect! Now strike with Cross Poison!"

"Don't let it get to you, Charizard! Wing Attack!"

Crobat's wings glowed purple while Charizard's glowed white, but Charizard was still influenced by the Confuse Ray and his attack missed, while Crobat's attack connected cleanly once again.

("I hope he can do it,") Sylveon said with a worried look.

("He can,") Pangoro said firmly. ("He's way too strong to lose to a single attack.")

Charizard seemed to agree with that sentiment, because he angrily swung his wing at Crobat once more, undeterred by the Cross Poison, but Crobat was agile and avoided the attack.

"Let's slow him down a bit, then. Dragon Breath!"

"Cross Poison!"

Crobat darted in close, but Charizard was no longer affected by the Confuse Ray and easily dodged the attack, before grinning, opening his mouth, and breathing a stream of what looked like green fire at Crobat, who flinched back. His wings seemed to partially seize up as well, and he struggled to remain airborne.

"Great, Charizard! Now Flamethrower, one more time!"

"Crobat! Break through it!"

Koga's plea went unanswered, however, because Charizard took another deep breath and once again fired a massive blast of flame, and this time it connected cleanly.

"Crobat is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!" the referee said.

Koga bowed his head. "Bested once more," he lamented as he recalled Crobat. "But you did well nevertheless, my friend."

He looked up at Ash. "Well then. I find myself in a bit of a predicament. But the true ninja never despairs. I have one last trump card. Toxicroak!"

"Well done, Charizard! Return!" Ash said, before unhooking another Poké Ball. "Alright then, Krookodile, I choose you!"

("Yes!") Pangoro cheered. ("C'mon, dude! Show them the power of style!") he yelled at the battlefield, putting on his own new pair of sunglasses to emphasize his words, which Serena had actually managed to find en route to the Gym.

Krookodile heard the cheer and gave Pangoro a wicked grin, adjusted his sunglasses, and then looked at his opponent again.

"Toxic, Toxicroak!"

"Dig, Krookodile!"

Toxicroak fired purple stream of poison from his mouth, but Krookodile had already burrowed underground, easily avoiding the attack.

"Do not think to use the ninja's attacks against him that easily! Follow your foe underground, Toxicroak!"

Toxicroak immediately dug his way into the ground as well, leaving the battlefield empty save for Ash and Koga, who both looked entirely at ease. Serena wasn't really sure what they were waiting for, but only a moment later she got her answer.

Both Pokémon burst up from the ground at the same time, landing opposite each other on the battlefield once more and looking like they'd had an underground scuffle.

"Poison Jab!"

"Stone Edge!"

Krookodile stomped the ground, and jagged spikes of rock shot out in Toxicroak's direction.

Toxicroak, however, dodged all the erupting spikes and leapt at Krookodile, his fist glowing purple.

"Dragon Claw, quick!"

Krookodile's claw glowed green and he swung it at the same time Toxicroak threw his own punch. The attacks collided with a bang, and both Pokémon were pushed back by the impact.

"Toxic!"

"Stone Edge again!"

Again, Toxicroak fired a stream of purple poison, but Krookodile's Stone Edge blocked it, and the same pillar then slammed into Toxicroak with tremendous force, pushing him back even further.

"Dragon Claw, Krookodile!"

"Dig!"

Krookodile jumped forward and swung, but Toxicroak had already gone underground. Ash looked up at the balcony for a moment, met Serena's eyes, and smiled.

"Alright, Krookodile, one last Stone Edge, and do it for the audience," he said.

Krookodile grinned wickedly and stomped the ground — and a moment later Toxicroak was launched out of the ground on a massive, glowing blue pillar of stone that covered a significant part of the battlefield.

("Yes!") Pangoro yelled, jumping up and down with excitement at seeing his own signature move being used. The balcony creaked worryingly under his weight.

"It's not over yet! Poison Jab!"

Indeed, Toxicroak was not yet defeated, and despite being launched into the air, he flipped himself easily, and as he began to fall his fist glowed purple once again.

"It will be in a moment! Dragon Claw!"

Krookodile adjusted his sunglasses one more time, and then his claws glowed green. Just before Toxicroak would come into range, Krookodile leapt up into the air and swung with all his might.

Toxicroak hadn't expected Krookodile to jump and didn't react in time, getting blasted into the ground.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle! That means the winner of the battle is the challenger, Ash from Pallet Town!" the referee announced.

("That was so awesome! Great fight, dude, great fight!") Pangoro shouted.

Serena giggled, happy that Pangoro seemed to be his usual self again. With him like that, it was much easier to put the Exposition out of her mind.

Mismagius, too, seemed to be enjoying Pangoro's happiness. ("You might be a lot bigger, but you're still adorable,") she said.

("Oh, come on,") Pangoro said in despair.

Then, so quietly Serena suspected she wasn't meant to hear it, he added, ("But I guess you can call me adorable…")

She smiled and returned her attention to the battlefield below, where Koga was just handing over the badge to Ash, who then held it up for his audience on the balcony.

"Yes! I won the Soul Badge!" he said, grinning widely up at them.

"Congratulations, Ash! Well done!" she yelled back.

She looked at Absol, who had originally only wanted to watch to see Suicune battle, and said, "Sorry you didn't get to see the battle you wanted. Next time Ash will probably make it up to you…and to Suicune, I guess."

Absol shook his head. ("I am not upset,") he said. ("This battle was very interesting. While I myself still prefer to avoid conflict and battle as much as I can, I admire the passion and dedication of these warriors, and I feel I have learned a great deal by merely watching. I am content.")

Serena smiled. "I'm glad to hear it," she said. "Come on, let's go and congratulate Ash…"

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've been incredibly busy, and it probably won't clear up much, either. In penance, I've finished this chapter at 03:20 in the morning, and the next one probably shouldn't take quite as long. See you then!