Not easy to handle the Belle-de-Nuit
Her son was always involved in crazy stories. He'd meet legendary pokemons while she was tending to her garden, save the world while she was working at the restaurant, take on famous trainers while she was drinking tea, and win tournaments whose trophies she used for her aerobics. It was like that, two separate worlds that only crossed paths when an Entei created by alphabet letters from an interdimensional space decided to kidnap her, or when a certain Serena called to check on the Pikachu trainer... Enough to make you miss the relative tranquility of the Crystal Tower (if you didn't count the unowns on the first floor rewriting the laws of time and space).
But then, whining wasn't the way to get things done. And when the odds were against her, all Delia had to do was use her ingenuity and instincts to turn the situation around. And it just so happened that the fearsome instinct that had elevated her in the hierarchy of Pallet Town women would seal the outcome of this encounter. Too bad, Serena, you shouldn't have blushed. Not in front of this woman who could draw a thousand assumptions from a single slurred syllable before coming to a conclusion in less than a hundredth of a second.
"Please listen to me," Serena moans. "I'm not calling to find out his zodiac sign, or his favorite color, or to see his photo album from when he was little - not now. What I wanted to ask you is..."
"An idea for an outing? Um~ unfortunately I don't have anything very romantic to suggest, you know Ash," the woman laughed.
"R-Romantic?" stammered the Kalosian (she had heard wrong, hadn't she!? She must have misheard or misunderstood what Delia was trying to tell her!) Ah! No, it wasn't... well, yes, maybe... No! No, that's not the question!
"Isn't it? I thought... Oh, silly me, you actually want to know what his favorite food is," she clapped her hands together. "You're right, it's better to take things one step at a time," the woman agreed.
"What steps?"
"Well, Serena, I hate to break it to you, but..." she moved a little closer to the videophone, as if to whisper in the girl's ear. "You're blushing too much for it not to be obvious."
Serena thought she would implode on the spot. Who? Where? When? How? This call wasn't supposed to happen like this! She just wanted to find out about Ash, that was all. Delia wasn't supposed to... Was what she felt for the boy really that obvious?!
"Yes."
The Kalosian almost choked as the smile on the face of the mother of the boy she loved - the mother who knew before the first interested party! - smiled even wider. The girl shrank in on herself, moved by the sudden urge to turn off the videophone here and now. But that would also mean giving up any chance of finally hearing from the trainer, and that was out of the question. She dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to regain her composure - a nearly impossible task when your interlocutor was in the throes of logorrhea, spouting "Ash couldn't stop talking about you" and "I wonder what kind of spell you cast on him," topped off with a little wink that made Serena want to sink into the floor... or jump for joy? She didn't really know what to make of all these revelations that warmed her heart as much as they made her uncomfortable.
Delia poutted guiltily. Without going so far as to say that she had lied to the young girl, she could be accused of, shall we say... exaggerating the details. While it was true that Ash had talked a little more about Serena than about his other Kalos companions, and even about most of the other friends he'd made in the various regions, the fact remained that the topic of Serena was quickly replaced by "I'm going to see my Pokémons in the lab" or "We're going to train with Pikachu." Pokemon primum omnium, would be the gable of her son's heart, just as it had been that of her husband, father, and father-in-law. Serena would realize that later, and she wished she had the time to get used to it.
"I just wanted to know where Ash was."
Delia jumped, realizing the opening she'd left, which Serena had immediately taken. And now what? It wasn't as if she could say she didn't know, because looking over the girl's shoulder, she had a very good idea where her son was. Except, of course, that she couldn't reveal that to the coordinator, not with the fake pokemon clasping his hands in apology and begging her to keep up the charade.
"Well, well, looks like someone's worried about..." the woman cooed before stopping.
Serena's face was pale and her features tense. Of course she was worried, because right now Ash, the Ash everyone knew, was no longer participating in gym fights or any kind of competition. And, she had no doubt, Serena was ready to lose herself in the meanderings of the Trainers Association's website, which always took a good five to ten minutes to load a bad page with one photo and six lines of text, to check on the disappearance. She glanced at her son, who continued to hide the truth despite all the worries he was causing, just as his father had refused to face them after his obvious failure.
"We rarely hear from him," Mrs. Ketchum confessed.
Her gaze weighed heavily on the reptile, reminding him that what she was saying was by no means a lie, and since we were talking about it, she wanted him to keep her informed of events before the newspapers or television did.
"It's... it's not necessarily news, it's just... I'd at least like to know where he's gone and if he's okay," she finished in a low voice.
Delia swallowed. Trapped. She didn't have to know exactly where her son was, but she should at least have some idea, especially when she was "only" asked where he was.
"He's fine. He's doing very well," she emphasized with every word, hoping that Serena would forget the other part of the question, or at least give her enough time to list which region had no gym or competition to appear on her son's trainer card.
"Char! Chari!"
Ash had managed to slide his large body into the gap between Serena's knees and the videophone, spreading his wings wide to hide the screen.
"Charizard," she said once the surprise had worn off, "would you mind waiting outside?"
The fake pokemon shuddered, knowing full well that the diplomatic tone was actually an order not to disobey. However, he had decided to take on this duel, and he couldn't just walk away after the first second.
"Char..." he groaned, gesturing to test Joy's new diet.
"I'll get you some ice cream later."
Ash heard an unhappy murmur behind his back. But before he could do anything about it, he had to explain with big movements how hungry he was and how he couldn't wait any longer.
"You're impossible," the girl sighed, clearly understanding her dragon's new trick. "And don't you dare break the videophone," she added when she saw the big swings of his tail.
What's more, the dragon's intrusion seemed to have irritated Mrs. Ketchum, judging by the way she seemed to be fidgeting and the few grumbles she uttered, which Serena couldn't quite make out, unlike the poor shapeshifter who had a front row seat:
"Ice cream? So that's how you nibble between meals."
Doctor's orders, Mommy, I swear! he wanted to yell, feeling his teammate ganging up on him.
"Charizard," Serena insisted, "I really need to talk to Mrs. Ketchum right now."
She crossed her arms and frowned, a clear sign that he'd better get out of the way very, very quickly. Which he did, for there were some things in this world whose wrath was best avoided: Arceus and Serena at the top of the list.
"Sorry about that. Charizard hasn't had an easy day, so he's showing off a bit..."
"Ice cream indigestion, perhaps?" the woman said, glaring at the monster.
Did he say Arceus? Sorry for the mistake, but it was his mother and Serena at the top of the list. Now go and explain to the coordinator why Mrs. Ketchum seemed so upset about a charizard she was meeting for the first time.
"Not... not exactly," Serena explained after a moment's pause.
Delia remained silent, carefully examining the dragon's scales without finding the slightest trace of injury. She looked up at the coordinator, a hint of concern in her voice as she asked:
"Nothing serious?"
Serena was increasingly surprised by Mrs. Ketchum's reactions. While it was true that she was Ash's mother, and it was therefore not surprising that she would worry about a pokemon as much as her son, this was really... She seemed more concerned about the reptile's health than her son's mysterious disappearance.
"According to Nurse Joy, he should heal fairly quickly. That is, if he does as he's told," Serena insisted, turning to the monster.
"Oh, I don't doubt it, he'd better," Delia grumbled.
Too much lightning for poor Ash, who took refuge behind his wings.
"Now, where were we?" Delia sighed, biting her lip as she remembered exactly where she'd left off the conversation. And she sensed that Serena was already ready to ask her the famous question again, unless a certain professor decided to come back into the living room at that moment, a teapot in one hand, a packet of muffins in the other, and ask in his perky voice:
"Who's calling?"
Too busy pouring himself a cup of tea, he didn't notice Delia's aghast expression as she turned to him, nor the face of the young girl on the screen whose contests he had been following since she was competing with a certain Ashmander.
"Serena."
"Serena..." he repeated, his greedy fingers reaching for the pastries. It's been a long time since... Serena!?"
The young girl had not expected her first name to cause such a surprise, nor for the old man to jump on the videophone and stare at her as if it could not possibly be the coordinator on the other end of the line.
"Serena," he repeated once more to make sure. "So that's it, he..."
Respect for the elders didn't spare him a violent elbow to the stomach. Oak spat out his pain, his body bent in two as Delia continued:
"So she wanted news of Ash and... The tea is getting cold."
Oak tugged at the collar of his shirt. Between the coordinator staring at him and Delia possibly pouring what was left of the hot water over his head, that was a lot of lightning for one professor to endure, and he didn't have the luxury of hiding behind his blouse.
"Y-yes, yes! Dear Ash. Always on the road, there's no stopping him!"
"'Precisely,'" she articulated weakly. "It's... it's like he's stopped."
She bit her lip, staring at the old man, who seemed more embarrassed than anything else, while the woman sipped her tea quietly, as if there were no problem and Serena was worrying about nothing, when...
"He hasn't participated in any recent competitions or gym fights, and I was hoping... I was hoping that by contacting you..."
"Here Professor," Delia said.
The man burned his fingers on the cup, but didn't really notice it, just felt a diffuse warmth tingling his skin. Why did he need to find a solution? Because he was the scientist in the room, and so it was up to him to come up with a logical explanation for Ash's sudden sulking about badges? Yes, of course, that's what his four-year thesis was for.
"It's because..." he articulated, his mouth dry.
The Pokescientist felt like a politician faced with a question he didn't want to ask. Except that if he got rid of Delia, it would be the firing squad, and as for Ash... Why did he have to like this kid despite all the trouble he caused him?
"You see, this is an interesting question. I would even say very interesting, and I'm glad you asked. Because, yes, Ash not fighting in gyms raises a lot of questions that can actually be explained in a very simple and obvious way. So the reason why there's hardly any..."
"None."
"No news of Ash, it's absol... Absol-utely because he's in Alola. And there's no gym in Alola, of course."
Serena raised an eyebrow as Oak rubbed the back of his head - actually pulling his hair out, but she couldn't see that from where she was.
"He explained that he wanted to get away from fighting for a while to explore other aspects of the Pokemon World, so I suggested he visit these islands. Not only are they incredible vacation destinations, but they're also full of mystery and pokemons, not to mention the Island Challenge. Have you heard of the Island Challenge?"
"No, not really, but..."
"A wonderful tradition that our dear Ash is participating in right now. Isn't it, Delia?"
He bit his cheek hard for reflexively seeking Delia's help. Especially since...
"Y-Yes... And he must be so busy with all those... island things."
"Trials," the professor coughed.
Serena rubbed her arm, embarrassed to admit to the two adults that she had the uncomfortable feeling that they weren't being completely honest with her. Oh, sure, it was far from inconceivable that the trainer would try new things - after all, he was the first to say that no experience was useless - but what bothered her more was that it was coming after... his defeat in the league? No, she couldn't imagine Ash blaming himself for that... He would have told her anyway, wouldn't he?
"Are you sure he was okay?" she asked in a low voice. "I mean, it's a little strange that he stopped fighting," the young girl explained.
At these last words, a feeling of discomfort pressed against Delia's chest and a bitter taste entered her throat. Yes, Ash had stopped because he had become a pokemon, and he had continued to be one because he must have found it fun to be one, to be able to interact freely with these creatures he loved so much. And if, as a bonus, he could help a friend, it was no wonder that he had temporarily stopped chasing his dream. He stopped for her.
"Oh, but he's still fighting, it's just that Alola tournaments have no official status," Oak explained when Delia resumed the conversation. "That explains why the trainer file hasn't been updated lately."
Delia clutched her jacket as if that simple gesture would be enough to remove her embarrassment. But it was still there, lurking under the clothes, under the skin, under the muscles, in the blood. It lived in the blood, in his blood. Ash likes to help his friends, you know that.
She noticed a grimace on the trainer's face, something Serena tried to hide, but whose thoughts the woman could easily guess. Why didn't he take the time to give you a simple, ridiculous phone call? Good question, Serena, very good question.
Her thoughts came to a halt as she saw the reptile approach the trainer, his gaze tinged with concern for... just one sentence, the fleeting whisper of sadness, the discreet alteration of a few features. How could he? How could her son know?
"I've already told you, it's not your place to put up with this," the trainer murmured.
Still, she guided the monster's face with her caresses until their cheeks touched. And Delia, half-dazed in her head, repeated: He thinks of you. He's with you. He stays for you and... This tea is very bitter.
She put down the cup, and at the same time the dragon stepped back and looked at his mother nervously, as if he'd just done something stupid and expected to be reprimanded. Little Ash, the child she'd tease when he greeted Gabriella or Martine at the school gate, little Ash who'd never realize the little crushes he'd arouse. Oh... Oh ! She woke up suddenly. She smiled, her good mood restored thanks to that little word that sounded so good: easy, childish, cute and insignificant. A little word that would never change, that Ash would never change. The reptile curled up more.
"For now, we must be patient," the woman continued. "But I promise you, if he calls again, I'll tell him you're impatient to hear from him," she finished with a wink.
"Not impatiently!" she corrected. "He... He can take his time... And maybe he won't want to right away... And it's not just me, Clemont and Bonnie are anxious..." she confused.
"I'm sure you'll be the first one he calls back, especially the way he talked about you. Serena, that was the only word on his lips when he came back and..."
"Char!" the shapeshifter screamed.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum, but Charizard is getting very, very impatient, and when he gets impatient, he gets unbearable, so..."
"I see," the woman chuckled. "So goodbye, have a nice day," she said with a friendly wave of her hand and a smile that implied a lot of things, far too much for Serena's heart in the face of the mother of the boy she loved.
"Sorry again!" the girl exclaimed as she turned off the video phone.
She let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, her dragon had provided a good distraction. But why exactly had he screamed? And why did that "Char!" seem to be directed at the woman on the screen? It was as if he... Serena was tired, exhausted even, not to mention the fact that she still hadn't been able to have a direct conversation with the boy.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about."
Her sullen expression didn't escape the shapeshifter, but what better way to cheer you up than with your giant hot-water bottle! He patted her on the back with his snout before thinking he could have found something better... and more human. But fortunately, it didn't take much more than that to bring a smile back to the girl's face... and an elbow in return, but that was fair enough.
"Let's see what we can find you to eat."
At least this call wouldn't be a complete failure: she was already feeling better about Charizard, as if knowing that Ash was in Alola reassured her that... well, he couldn't be here, obviously.
The downpour froze his scales, the gusts tore his wings, the thunder tortured his ears, and the lightning split his retina. How to live, how to survive in this storm, how to escape the waves that were swelling and threatening to engulf him.
"This is ridiculous!"
Ash chattered his teeth, breathing hard, cramps twisting his muscles as he desperately searched for a place to land. But nothing, absolutely nothing, except the rain and the ocean, which crushed his hopes.
"Touch down!"
Serena's cries seemed so far away, some kind of sweet dream when... If only, if only it were that simple.
"Chaaaar," he begged in a hoarse voice.
Perhaps if it heard this agonized rattle, the heavens would agree to spare him. All the shapeshifter wanted was a little pity, as he held his breath and waited for Fate's answer. And then, miraculously, it came, muffled by the crash of the elements but still audible:
"I'll drown him if he gets away."
Alone on deck, a simple raincoat protecting her, Serena raged against the reptile, who'd rather face the storm than a few hours of seasickness.
"Oh, I'm really going to... Charizard! Don't make me come get you!" she warned him for the last time.
How can I put it, seeing her Pokémon move even further away from the ship, even if it meant getting closer to the clouds puffing with lightning, destroyed the last shreds of tolerance and understanding the young girl had for her dragon.
"All right, you asked for it."
Serena staggered to the edge of the boat, almost slipping several times on the planks as the boat's nose rose and fell under the force of the waves. She let out a long breath, her hands clutching the railing, her heart beating like a sail against the wind. Oh, what was her dragon making her do? Cautiously, she grabbed the tongue of her collar and pulled it down the slide, the fabric of her oilskin swelling with each new notch she passed. What if the storm swept it away at the last moment? What if it was lost in the waves? No, she couldn't lose her raincoat, not now!
Fortunately, the jacket remained obediently next to the trainer (and a certain pokemon should take a lesson from that) as she wrapped one of its sleeves around her arm with trembling hands, checking its strength.
Perfect, the trap was ready and Serena was sure it would work. After all, if suicunes could be caught with ten-pound nets, ninety kilos of muscle could be fooled by a bit of waxed cotton.
The girl climbed over the railing and threw half her body overboard. Her arms screamed with the heat of the effort and the bite of the rain as she watched the waves crash against the hull below. Her palms sank against the steel, her head tilted dangerously downward, and her clothes grew heavier by the second.
"Sylv!" she heard behind her.
She could already see her two friends rushing towards her, all claws and ribbons out. No, no, no, they mustn't come any closer, or he wouldn't... A wing snap. A sound so unmistakable that Serena reacted instinctively, throwing her improvised net forward without a moment's thought for her footing. The girl toppled over, and Ash yelped in terror as she sank... backwards?
"Cha!?"
What frightened the dragon the most? The yellow strap that suddenly weighed on his neck, forcing him to follow the trainer as she fell, or the thought that he would soon hear a horrible cracking sound as Serena's neck absorbed the impact against the floorboards! Fueled by terror, his wings flared in a final, lifesaving burst before he swooped down on the young girl.
Ash crashed, his side vibrating against the softened wood, and had just enough time to let out a groan of pain before the rolling of the ship made him sick. The shapeshifter struggled to raise his snout, checking to make sure she was safe - at least as safe as one could be when half crushed under a large fire reptile threatening to give up her breakfast.
"Win," she murmured with a ravenous smile.
His body was drained of all energy, the gagging in his stomach and the few movements of his muscles powerless to release it. Serena didn't have to make much of an effort to hold him back, to rest his exhausted head against her shoulder so that she could finally breathe a sigh of relief at the plaintive gurgling.
She freed herself easily from the wing and tail that weighed her down, having more difficulty with the arms that continued to hold her tightly despite the general abandonment.
"A little help," she turned to her two friends.
Braixen's ear twitched in irritation, the rain doing absolutely nothing to cool her anger.
"Five. MINUTES!" she shouted, so loud that even the storm died down. "We leave you alone with this idiot for five ridiculous little minutes, and the first thing you think is: what if I'm fishing for charizard while balancing on my feet in the middle of a storm and... Ash! When did your arms become clawitzer claws?"
"It's daaanrous," he whined.
"Whose fault is that?" she growled. "Besides, there's no danger now, so you can..."
"Daaaangrrrrous," he repeated, squeezing the girl even tighter, his frightened eye mirroring the vixen.
Braixen brought her paws back to her muzzle and breathed deeply, trying to control herself in the downpour. And she did, her mind enlightened, free of all anger, she turned to Sylveon and suggested with her new-found wisdom:
"Let's throw him overboard."
Sylveon squealed in fear to see his friend so serious and hastily called back:
"But he's still clinging to Serena and..."
"You're right," the fox agreed. "Let's throw them overboard."
"Braixen!" cried Sylveon.
A wave more powerful than the others struck the hull, sending the two friends reeling as the dragon slid across the damp planks, his nausea doubling, his cheeks puffed out in a last effort to contain the acrid smells in his mouth.
"No, Charizard, please! Braixen, Sylveon, help!"
The two pokemons saved their trainer just in time, but she was not calmed. Quite the opposite, in fact, as she noticed the shrinking tail flame and the doorway, which turned out to be farther away than expected when you had to push a large, exhausted monster through it. Serena pushed her soaked hair out of her eyes and placed the raincoat on the dragon's shoulders.
"We'll try to push it towards the cabins."
"Braix."
"In one piece," the girl said.
Come on, Serena didn't know that the idea of physical integrity was overrated. All the more so when, starving and shivering with cold, your goal was to drag a creature twice your weight across the damp wood.
These obvious considerations didn't deter the young trainer from her plan, despite the swaying that brought her and the dragon back to the railing. And to think, it would be enough to put a tarp over his head and join Pancham at the buffet. But of course, Serena was stubborn, puffing out her cheeks and flexing the few abs she had before tumbling over the dragon.
"Braixen, Braix," the vixen grumbled.
Braixen set to work without much hope, certain that all their efforts would be in vain. But Sylveon proved the strength of her ribbons in front of everyone - especially the unfortunate dragon, who was thrown into a poorly controlled glide.
Finally in the shelter, Serena was panting, her heart beating wildly, her fingers numb with cold and her feet soaked.
"You should go inside and warm up," the vixen remarked.
"I can..."
"We'll keep an eye on him, but please go and change, or you'll catch a cold," Braixen sighed.
For a moment, Serena noticed the darkening carpet at her feet. He's not a Charmander anymore, and the others are looking after him. So I really, really have nothing to worry about...
"I'd rather stay here until... Achoo!"
She crossed her arms and sniffed painfully under the vixen's disillusioned gaze. Yes, she knew what her friend was going to say, but she couldn't help it! Firstly, because no matter if he was Charmander, Charmeleon or even Charizard, he always had this tendency to get into trouble, and secondly... Well, it worried her.
"Xeeeen," the fox growled.
"You saw the state he was in, I can't..."
"Braix," she said, rolling her eyes. "Braix, braix, braixen?" she added with a mischievous smile.
"It's not about taking care of him," the trainer swallowed. "But right now he needs to be warmed up, so..."
"Braix? Xeeen, xenbraix," she giggled.
Sylveon blinked, unable to understand what her eldest was getting at, while her trainer seemed to have gotten the message more than well.
"I'll be right back," she said.
Her drenched hair was dripping down her cheeks, her clothes were hanging like pieces of bloated skin, and strange spells were oozing from her mouth. A sinister figure moving through the warm corridors of the Marina, causing surprise, fear and fascination in the coordinators who crossed her path.
Braixen had only teased her, driven her to despair with his baseless wordplay. But... the vixen had played on that as well, just like Brendan. And if two of them had already noticed, did that mean others would, starting with the first interested party?
Serena slammed the door and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillows to stifle a scream, not caring that the dampness spread to the sheets. Wasn't she supposed to be healed? Ash on one side, Charizard on the other. Actually, they shouldn't even be opposite, since they were completely different, just like the feeling she thought she recognized...
Serena turned around, a hand on her forehead to make sure Braixen wasn't right and that she wasn't getting some kind of fever or something. What if she was right about something else? The girl turned her head, her chest heaving with a sigh as she thought back to the vixen's provocations, which were just that: provocations.
"And you have much more important things to think about."
The rain had stopped, and outside, through the porthole, only mist remained. Serena rose cautiously, the better to observe the nebulous shape in the distance. Elsevier Island, still tiny at this distance, but the trainer thought she could make out the shape of a tower and the wall that surrounded it. Perhaps this was the place where Charizard would find his family... or, failing that, find one. Her lip trembled, and she hastily changed her clothes to calm the wave of cold that had taken hold of her.
What if they really were there? What if she had to meet Charizard's parents and explain to them why their little one had already become a big reptile? A little lightning in a power plant, a nice bite from a giant Sharpedo (a Mega-Sharpedo, please), and voila, you've got yourself a Charizard. Oh, and let's not forget the time he almost got buried alive in the Desert Ruins. Other than that, you have nothing to worry about, I've taken very good, perfect care of him.
"Ta-dam," she said in a low voice.
She was about to be burned alive, and considering the taste Ash's mother had given her for a pokemon she had just met, and just hearing that it had passed through Nurse Joy's hands, she dared not imagine what fate the dragon's parents had in store for her.
"Braix..."
Serena hadn't realized that she had already returned to the reptile and had forgotten to dry her hair. She excused herself with a small smile, but didn't give up on sitting next to the dragon.
"Braixenxen?" the vixen scoffed.
A small pout twisted the young girl's lips before she pulled herself together and cradled the false Pokémon's head in her lap.
"Braiiiiix," the pokemon yowled.
But she had already realized that her trainer wouldn't budge, and she herself would have to admit that she didn't really have the strength to take care of the dragon anymore. Especially when she knew that a certain panda and his two acolytes had no scruples about filling their bellies at the buffet while she was struggling on deck with a stupid reptile and had to keep an eye on him to prevent him from redecorating the ferry.
"Braibraix xen."
"Sylv... Sylveon."
"Brrraix," the fox begged, "braixen, braix."
"Veon," the fairy type insisted.
Braixen massaged her temples before opening his arms wide, showing the girl glued to the pokémon as if she were displaying a collector's picture.
"Brrrraix!"
Sylveon blushed brutally before finally following the vixen. Serena preferred not to think too much about what her pokemon might have said ((another joke stolen from Brendan no doubt, and by all the fabulous pokémons so long as she quickly stopped drawing inspiration from them), and in any case, she had far too much to do with the dragon to really care.
"You have to hang in there," she muttered.
She took out a handkerchief and began to wipe away the scales, the monster still breathing heavily, its cheeks reddened with blood, as if touched by fever, like a certain boy who had spent his evening training in icy water... Serena shook her head. She couldn't say that things had gotten worse, quite the opposite, especially when it came to all the strange things she felt: her heart racing for no reason, her cheeks burning without warning, the impression of seeing a certain coach again... Yes, there were still a few jolts, but nothing too disturbing, because in the end, these oddities were nothing more than unwelcome phenomena that would diminish over the days and eventually disappear completely. It is only a matter of days.
"No, Charizard, no! I have enough laundry as it is!"
It could end up being a matter of minutes.
Mist followed the rain, shrouding Elsevier Island in its whitish mantle. Serena took her first steps onto the dock, lagging behind the other trainers as her Charizard struggled to regain his senses.
- Char? the pokemon asked.
The tall tower overlooking the island intrigued him as well, unless he recognized the place... Serena touched the ribbon in her hair, feeling a little hesitant at the thought of the dragon finding his own. She blamed herself for that, especially since she felt incapable of understanding her pokemon's suffering. After all, she had grown up with a loving mother and a father... that she knew. Those were the days when the only contact you had was greeting cards on holidays and birthdays. If she wanted, she could probably see him more often. He'd greet her with a smile, ask how rhyhorn training was going (she'd explain that she'd quit in favor of performance, and he'd nod as he cleared the table), and then they'd say goodbye before the clock struck dinnertime. It wasn't exactly selling dreams when she thought about it, but at least she could remember both of her parents' faces, something few young people in her village could boast of - dreams of a career as a pokemon trainer didn't just affect the men of Kanto.
"Do you want to go see it right now?"
"Zard?" the shapeshifter didn't understand. "Charichar, Rizard."
"The competition doesn't start until late afternoon, so we have plenty of time."
Ash thought the timing was a little off and didn't hesitate to say so. The girl didn't contradict him, but he could tell that she wasn't thinking about the contest. Except that he couldn't see what else she could be thinking about... Brendan's joke. Brendan's joke that she had taken seriously! It was true that she'd told him about a charizard reserve, and that was probably what she wanted to visit so that he could...
He grabbed Serena's arm and signaled that he wanted to practice right away. Let's not forget that he couldn't use his flames right now, so he was counting on her to give him some pre-contest ideas on how to get by (hoping, by the way, that she would forget about the whole partner, molting and heat thing).
"Char! Chari!"
"Okay, okay," she tried to calm him down. "But we can't practice in the middle of the walkway."
It didn't take Ash long to find a training ground (his trainer's sixth sense was as effective as ever), and Serena had no choice but to call a pokemon, or else the fire pokemon would implode with impatience.
"Plusle, I'm counting on you! Plusle?
The pokemon's colors dangerously mimicked those of the reptile when it suffered from motion sickness. And it wasn't just the red rabbit; his brother was there, too, not to mention Sylveon, Pancham, and even Braixen.
"Charizard! The Pokemon Center, quickly!"
He hadn't waited for her command and was already hard at work. It didn't take him long to spot it, and in truth, so did Serena, just by following trainers as they ran toward the center in complete panic. A curse! Serena thought as she ran. It must be a curse or something. And to break it, Charizard has to climb to the top of the island, then to the top of the tower and find his soul mate there and...
"A FBDO, on the day I have to be a judge at the contest, a FBDO," the nurse grumbled as she put Serena's pokemon on a stretcher.
"What-"
"I guess you were on the last ferry," she guessed correctly. "You're the tenth person on this damn boat to come and see me... I don't know where the Trainers' Association hired their cook, but they're going to hear me!"
The nurse was annoyed but not worried, which reassured Serena about the fate of her friends. However, it was obvious that her pokemons would not be in condition for the competition, a fate that other coordinators sitting around the hall had already come to terms with.
"Xeeeen," the fox stood up before she could be carried off.
"I can't compete without you, and I prefer..."
"Braix," she cut her off before pointing at the reptile. "Braixen, Braix!"
"I'm not sure..."
"Char!" Ash confirmed. "Charicha, chari."
He puffed out his chest, not afraid to fight again and again. But strangely, he still felt a certain worry towards him.
"I never thought it would come to this," Braixen said between two nauseous hiccups. "Ash, this is all on you. I know it's hard, but... You've seen our training sessions, you've absorbed them, and today it's your turn to take the stage."
Uh... He had already participated in contests. Was Braixen so sick that she forgot?
"Dig deep into yourself. You can do it, no, you'll do it!" the vixen commanded, her eyes full of hope.
"You know, Braixen, three fights are hard, but it's not impossible."
Braixen buried her head in the pillow from a severe headache, though it was hard to tell if it was just food poisoning.
"Ash," she said. "There's more to a contest than fighting."
The false pokemon's scales whitened at once.
"Yes, Ash, the performance. The performance you have to give."
With no fire attack and no more than three hours of dance training...
"Braixen?"
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't happen to have any leftovers from the buffet, would you?"