Author's Note: After a setup and introduction, the real journey finally begins in this chapter! Enjoy:
Chapter 3: Teach me how to battle!
Route 1/ Lakeside Path
The next morning, after waking up, the group of four and their Pokemon had breakfast at the Pokemon Center before leaving for Kevlar Town. They couldn't wait to see what the rest of Tandor was like.
And what they were seeing so far didn't disappoint them. Lakeside Path was a beautiful expanse of green grass surrounded by dense forests, and a river of crystaline blue water running alongisde it. The beautiful nature trail wasn't the only thing that enthralled the gang, as they were quick to check the new Pokemon that roamed the area, just like the squirrel-like brown Pokemon with a blue belly, blue ears, blue tail tip and blue cheek mars that scampered across the tree branches
"Chyinmunk, the Chipmunk Pokemon. Normal. The length of a Chynmunk's stripes determines its authority in a group. If it spots a predator, it shrieks loudly to warn the others." The Pokedex explained.
There were also some Pokemon with a pink, worm-like body but the head of a bear, and a leaf-like coat over their back.
"Cubbug, the Love Bug Pokemon. Bug. It shares characteristics with bug and mammal Pokémon. Being in its presence has a calming effect."
Not just land, but they could see many more Pokemon swimming on the clear waters of the river. There were many Magikarp –it seems that with the exception of Unova, there were Magikarps pretty much everywhere–, as well as a Pokemon that looked like blue frogs with round, purple bodies and purple cheek marks.
"Fortog, the Round Toad Pokemon. Water/Poison. This Pokémon is rarely seen walking because of its weight. Rather, it rolls to get anywhere. They are often found at the bottoms of lakes."
There were also many bird Pokemon soaring the skies, but they were too far away for the Pokedex to scan. Oh well, sooner or later they'd run into one or several at ground level.
"Heh, I can't still get over the fact that Nurse Joys here have blue hair," Ash began. "Wonder if Officer Jennys are blonde instead? Or redheads?"
"There aren't Officer Jennys in Tandor, Ash," Clemont told him. "According to what I learned about this region, the Ranger Corps are the ones who keep law and order in Tandor."
"Rangers, uh? I see," Ash said, recalling the few times he had crossed paths with a Ranger.
"Ranger? What's that?" Serena asked.
"They're a kind of Pokemon trainers that don't use pokeballs," Ash began to explain. "They instead use this gadget thingies called Stylers, which allow them to bond with wild Pokemon quickly, and thus get them to help, but only temporarily."
"Sounds really weird," Bonnie commented.
"Maybe, but it works for them," Ash said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Though, it's not that they only use wild Pokemon, most Rangers also have a permanent Pokemon of their own as a partner, even if they don't keep them inside Pokeballs."
Suddenly, Clemont stopped. Naturally, they all turned towards him.
"Big brother? Something's wrong?" Bonnie asked.
"Don't you guys hear that?" Clemont asked.
"Hear what?" Serena asked.
"A Pokemon?" Ash asked. Pikachu's ears perked up, alerted to possible dangers.
"No, it sounds like... an engine?" Clemont said.
"Yes, I think I'm hearing it now..." Serena said. "Weird, since there doesn't appear to be any roads nearby..."
"Guys, move!" Ash said, as he grabbed his three companions by the arms and dragged them away from the main grassland and into a nearby cluster of trees.
A few seconds passed, and now everybody could hear the sound of engines much louder, and coming even closer. Then, a mob of bikers rushed in front of them, men and women of varying ages, the oldest appeared to be in their late forties, and the youngest being older teenagers. While their clothes varied from individual to individual, all of them were wearing a sleeveless blue jacket with a Dunsparce on the back.
Once they could no longer hear the sound of the engines, the group decided it was safe to come out from the hiding spot behind the trees.
"Geez, what's with those guys? Does this look like a road to them?" Serena asked, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Could have run over us if we didn't move in time..."
"Guess Tandor has its own share of jerks too," Bonnie said, mimicking Serena's stance.
"Nenene!" Denenne added, mimicking Bonnie.
"Let's continue," Ash suggested. "It's not that we're going to enocunter anymore of those bikers running through a grass field, right?"
"Way to tempt fate, Ash," Bonnie deadpanned.
Though fate proved Ash right, and they managed to continue without any further incidents. Once they saw it was close to noon, they found a good spot near the river and decided to stop in order to rest a little and then have some lunch.
"This is a good place to stay. We can rest, or train for a bit if you prefer, and once we finish lunch, we can continue our journey towards Kevlar Town," Clemont stated, with the three othersw nodding in return.
"Everyone, come out!" Serena said, tossing all her pokeball into the air, releasing the Pokemon inside, an action that was mimicked by Ash and Clemont as well.
A few moments later, everything was settled. Pikachu, Dedenne, Pancham, Sylveon, Bunnelby and Chespin were playing with a ball, while Luxray, Braixen and Greninja relaxed.
Feeling that their Pokemon were set for the time being, Serena opened her backpack and, after digging a little, pulled out a small booklet and started reading it. She read in silence for a couple minutes, until she reached for a certain part.
"Oh, that's no good..." she unwittingly said out loud.
"What are you reading, Serena?" Ash asked, upon noticing what his traveling companion was doing. "What is no good?"
"I got this at Moki Town's Pokemon Center," Serena said, showing Ash the booklet. He could see it was information about contests. "So far, most of the information here matches with what you've told me, but there are some rules which are more complex. For example, contests that use the double format doesn't allow to use in the Contest Battle the same Pokemon you used in the Appeal Round, meaning that you must have at least four Pokemon," Serena explained, worryingly looking at where her three Pokemon were.
"It's not that big of a problem, Serena. All you have to do is catch one or two more Pokemon," Ash reassured.
"Well... I'm not that proactive in catching Pokemon. Despite how long we spent traveling through Kalos, I only got two Pokemon besides my starter," Serena said.
"That's easy to solve, though," Ash said, looking around. "Say, would you like to look around and catch a Pokemon?"
"Eh..."
"Something wrong, Serena?"
"Well, this is going to sound a bit silly but... well, when I caught Panchan and Sylveon back when she was an Eevee... I caught them because I felt a special connection between the them and me," Serena explained, as she rubbed her arm. "Going out there and chuck a pokeball to the first Pokemon that crosses my path feels... wrong."
Ash didn't say anything, he merely looked at her, his expression unreadable as he digested her words. Serena averted his gaze and grasped her blue ribbon.
"You probably think I'm being silly..." Serena said.
But much to her surprise, Ash emrely smiled. "Not in the slightest. I know what you mean."
"You do?" Serena asked.
Ash then looked upwards, his eyes looking at the branch where Greninja was resting on. "Do you remember how I caught Greninja back when he was a Froakie? It's not that I went to catch him, he was the one who came to me. And he wasn't the only one. I have plenty of Pokemon that I didn't catch before I bonded with them to some extent."
"Is that why you aren't going out to catch any new Pokemon either?" Serena pointed out.
"Guess you're right," Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, before his expression grew serious. "Though, if you're so worried about not having enough Pokemon soon enough, then maybe you should go and try to capture one yourself without waiting for them to come to you."
"I guess you have a point," Serena conceded.
"...but don't get too stressed about it. We just barely began our trip through the region. Sooner or later, we shall cross paths with a Pokemon or two that are the right fit for you," he reassured her.
"Right," she said with a nod. "Besides, the first round of contests use Single Format, so I can still do with the Pokemon I have."
"Yeah. Like a coordinator friend of mine used to say, no need to worry," Ash said, chuckling a little.
"Birb!" a new voice said. Though "chirped" should be a better word.
Ash and Serena looked in the direction of the voice, and saw that it belonged to a small bird Pokemon with a round blue body. It was the same Pokemon they had seen soaring through the blue skies, but now that it was on the ground, they could appreciate it better: it had yellow tail feathers and two antenna-like feathers of the same color extending from the top of its head. Just below its beak there was a segmented cyan crest that looked like a large smiling mouth.
"Well, speaking of Pokemon that came to us," Serena joked, as she and Ash scanned the newcomer with their Pokedex.
"Birbie, the Eden Bird Pokemon. Normal/Flying. It defends itself by dazzling opponents by flashing its brightly colored plumage. They are known for their elaborate mating dances."
"So, you're a Birbie, huh? Nice to meet you!" Ash greeted.
Birbie didn't say anything. He looked intently at Ash, then at Serena, then started to look around, poking some things with his beak, inspecting their little camp with curious blue eyes.
"Ash? Do you think that maybe we invaded his territory or something?" Serena asked, a little worried that they may have upset the bird Pokemon.
"Nah. I guess he's just curious. Looks pretty young. Maybe he hasn't seen many humans yet," Ash said.
Birbie then saw something that saw his mood change from merely curious to excited: the Pokemon that weren't resting chasing after the toy ball. It really looked that they were having lots of fun, and Birbie really wanted to be part of that.
"Birb! Birb! Birbie!" the little bird Pokemon said, bouncing in place.
"You want to play with them, Birbie?" Ash asked. The round bird energiccally nodded. Ash then walked towards the group playing with the ball, and drew their attention by clapping his hands twice. "Hey guys! This Birbie saw how much fun you were having playing with that ball, and he'd like to know if he can play with you. What do you say?"
"Pi-Pika!" Pikachu happily agreed.
"Chan, Pancham!" Pancham agreed as well.
"Bun," Bunnelby nodded.
Thankfully, all the Pokemon were okay to include the wild newcomer in their game, which proceeded as usual.
"Look at him go," Serena said, watching Birbie chase the ball.
"Like I said, he must be pretty young. He's discovering a whole new world," Ash added. He then looked up towards the sun. "It seems to be a bit too early to eat. Say, how about if we train? That way, we can work up our appetite."
"Your appetite doesn't need any work up, but I'm for it," Serena said. "Braixen versus Pikachu?"
"You mentioned double battles before, and now that I think about it, how are you on those? I remember that we battled together a couple times, but I don't think I ever saw you use more than one Pokemon at once outside Showcases," Ash pointed out.
"Well... not much," she sheepishly admitted. "But even if you hold back, I don't feel very confident fighting against Greninja and Pikachu at once, given what you were able to do with that Gible..."
"Two versus one then?" Ash asked. "After all, this is to get you accustomed to double battles. I think I'll use Greninja. He needs some action too!"
As soon as Ash said this, Greninja landed behind him.
"Alright... in that case, I'll go with Pancham and Sylveon," Serena said. "Pancham, Sylveon, come here! Time to do some training!"
Pancham and Sylveon stopped what they were doing upon hearing their trainer's call. They turned to the rest of their friends, shrugged, told them something –probably to keep playing without them– and walked towards Serena.
"Listen, since some contests use double battles, we need to start working on fighting together. It shouldn't be much of a problem, since you've been working together when doing performances," Serena told her two Pokemon.
"Syl!/Cham!" the two of them agreed in unison.
"Say Greninja, do you feel like taking on two opponents at once?" Ash asked.
"Gren!" Greninja said, adopting a fighting stance.
"Good! Let us begin then!" Ash called. "Serena, you make the first move!"
~Serena (Pancham & Sylveon) VS Ash (Greninja)~
"Alright then! Sylveon, Fairy Wind! Pancham, Stone Edge!" Serena commanded.
Sylveon started to wave her feelers, raising a pink colored gust of wind, while Pancham slammed both paws into the ground, summoning a row of large pillars in Greninja's direction.
"Greninja, jump and use those pillars as platforms!" Ash called.
"Gre-NINJA!" Greninja cried, and with his impressive agility, he leaped just when one of the stone columns was about to rise just below him, landing in the column behind that one, and hopped from one to the one before.
"Think before calling for a move, Serena. Letting your opponent use your Pokemon's moves against you will also make you lose points," Ash told her. "Well done, Greninja! Now use Water Shuriken!"
"Dodge it, quickly!" Serena told her two Pokemon.
Greninja spread his arms, summoning a star made of water on each hand, before tossing one at Pancham at another at Sylveon, who were already running away to avoid the powerful watery attack, which, ultimately, and fortunately, they did, by running in opposite directions.
"Good job, guys!" Serena praised. "Now-"
"Yes, you dodged Greninja's attack. But now Pancham and Sylveon are apart from each other and thus unable to work together or lend each other help," Ash said, much to Serena's horror. "Greninja, Aerial Ace on Pancham!"
"Ninja!" Greninja said, as his forearm started to glow with a white light, before dashing towards Pancham.
Serena knew that, even with the type advantage, the Playful Pokemon was no match for Ash's strongest Kalos Pokemon, and Aerial Ace was impossible to evade. However, despite her growing panic, an idea dawned upon her.
"Pancham, use Stone Edge on yourself!" Serena commanded.
"Pan-CHAM!" while confused at first, the little panda quickly realized what his trainer was planning, and slammed his paws into the ground once again. A rock coulmn burst from the ground beneath his feet, pushing him upwards, just in time to avoid Greninja's attack, which ended up hitting said column, hurting his hand a little.
"That was very clever, Serena! You're starting to get better!" Ash praised her.
"I have a great teacher!" Serena replied with a wide smile, winking at him. "Time to regroup and counterattack! Sylveon, Fairy Wind again!"
"Greninja, dodge!"
"Syl!" Once again, Sylveon started to wave her feelers, summoning a gust of pink wind towards the Ninja Pokemon, who ran away in the opposite direction.
"And Pancham, Dark Pulse!" Serena added.
"Paaaaaaan...!" from his vantage point, Pancham cupped his paws together, summoning an orb of black and purple swirling energy, before releasing it in the form of a beam of the same color. "...CHAAAAAAAAM!"
"Greninja, Double Team!" Ash called.
Greninja nodded, and in an instant, the field was filled with dozens of illusory copypcats of the Ninja Pokemon. Some of them were instantly dispelled when they were hit by Pancham and Sylveon's attacks, but many of them still remained, hiding the real one among their numbers.
"Now, Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded.
Every Greninja began to form a single watery star between his hands. There's no way for Serena to know which one was the real one! Though, perhaps she didn't need to, as another idea popped inside her mind.
"Pancham, get behind Sylveon, and Sylveon, use Protect!" Serena commanded.
Pancham nodded, leaped from his stony platform, landing just behind the Interwining Pokemon, who formed a green energy field in front of her, just as the Greninjas launched their Shuriken towards Serena's Pokemon, though, predictably, most of them just vanished the moment they touched the barrier, with only one crashing against it, resulting in an explosion of water that, as expected, left Pancham and Sylveon unscathed.
"Very good Serena! Heh, if you keep fighting like that, I'll be forced to use the Battle Bond!" Ash said.
Of course, Serena knew that Ash was just being nice, given that her Pokemon were on the defensive most of the time. She grimaced a little. "Please don't. Greninja is already challenging as he is now."
"I guess I'm craving an opponent that I can go all out against," Ash admitted. "Boy, that first Gym battle can't come soon enough."
"Guess you'll have to do with sparring against us in the meantime. Sylveon, find the real one with Swift!" Serena ordered.
Sylveon waved her feelers once again, relesing a flurry of sparkling golden stars that quickly destroyed all the illusionary duplicates until only the real Greninja remained.
"Greninja, deflect all those stars with Cut!" Ash ordered.
Greninja nodded, and summoned a kunai-shaped blade of pure white energy in order to parry the incoming projectiles. However, the white kunai then grew longer, its color going from white to black with purple edges.
"Wait, that's not Cut, that's..." Ash said, as a huge grin spread across his face. "Greninja, you learned Night Slash!"
As Serena saw Greninja counter Sylveon's attack with his recently learned move, she let out a sigh. "Geez... first Gible evolved into Gabite, and now Greninja learns a new move... you're surely getting more mileage out of this sparring sessions than us," Serena commented, before sighing a little.
"Well... I don't know what to say to that...!" Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
…
While Ash and Serena had their sparring battle, Clemont and Bonnie were watching over the rest of the Pokemon, some of them still playing with the rubber ball alongside the wild Birbie. Said Pokemon, however, was drawn by the noise the three Pokemon of the two humans were doing. With the curiosity and short attention span that came with youth, Birbie quickly forgot about the game, and went to check the source of the noise.
"Birb!?"
"Birbie?" Bonnie asked, trailing after him.
And what he saw left him completely speechless.
"Pancham, surround Greninja with Stone Edge! Sylveon, climb the rocks and attack Greninja from above with Fairy Wind!" Serena commanded.
"Not bad, but that won't be enough to put Greninja down! Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
Birbie's eyes grew so wide, they threatened to pop out of his head. Never in his admitedly short life had the small bird Pokemon seen such an spectacle like the one that was happening before. The sheer strength of those Pokemon's attacks, the way those Pokemon moved... it was like a completely new world had been laid before him.
"Say, do you like that?" Bonnie asked the wild Pokemon. "That's Ash's Greninja, and those are Serena's Pancham and Sylveon. They're really strong, aren't they?"
"B-Birb!" Birbie replied, nodding.
"Of course. Ash and Serena did a good job training them," Bonnie said, crossing her arms. "And when I'm old enough, I'll be even better than them!"
So, with the help of a human, a Pokemon can become that strong? Every new revelation felt like a giant hammer into the young bird's worldview. Then, an idea popped inside his mind. If he impressed these humans, then maybe they'd train him just like they did with the other Pokemon. His decision settled, Birbie then started to fly towards Ash, while crying loudly.
"Birb! Birb, birbie!" Birbie cried, trying to draw Ash's attention, while flying around him.
"Birbie?" Ash asked. "Do you want something?"
Birbie then turned around, and began to fly back in the direction where the other Pokemon were playing.
"I think he wants us to follow him," Serena deduced. "Maybe he wants to show us something?"
"I see. Alright, let's take a break for the time being, Greninja," Ash told his Kalosian Pokemon.
"You too, Pancham, Sylveon," Serena said, as she and Ash followed Birbie.
Once they returned to the playground, Birbie asked something to the other Pokemon, who merely nodded and moved away, but left the rubber ball alone. Humans and Pokemon alike watched what Birbie was planning to do.
Birbie then looked at the ball intently, started to flap his tiny wings to gain altitude, and dashed towards the ball leaving a trail of fading white light behind. Birbie slammed against the rubber ball, sending it flying, before it hit a tree and bouncing back.
"That was Quick Attack!" Clemont pointed out.
"Of course! Birbie saw your Pokemon fighting, so guess he wants to show you what he can do," Bonnie said in realization.
"Really? That's great!" Ash excitedly said. "Such a good Quick Attack!"
"What else can you do, Birbie?" Serena asked.
Birbie then spread his tiny wings and puffed his chest, as if to emphasize his segmented crescent mark. Said mark started to glow with a bright white light, causing humans and Pokemon alike to shield their eyes, before the entire zone was bathed in light. It took the others a few moments to adjust back to the natural sunlight.
"That was Flash!" Serena said.
"Come on Birbie, do something more!" Bonnie squealed.
"Nenene!" Dedenne encouraged.
Birbie's little body was overflowing with excitement. They liked him! They thought he was great! He couldn't fail now. If he truly wanted to impress them, nothing but the attack he had been trying to master for the past few weeks would do. He hadn't grasped it just yet, but with this confidence boost, he was sure he'll be able to do it.
Once again using the toy ball as a target, Birbie started to flap his little wings as fast as he could, raising a wind current that appeared to elevate the ball at first. However, the wind started to die down, and Birbie franctically flapped his wings even faster, but to no avail, and the ball touched the ground once again.
"Huh?" Serena asked.
Oh no, he was losing them! He needed to try a deep breath, Birbie once again attempted to create a small tornado by flapping his wings, and once again, the wind died down before the tornado could fully form.
"I think that was supposed to be a Gust...?" Clemont asked, scratching the side of his head.
"Birb..." Birbie cawed, lowering his head in shame.
"Hey, don't get discouraged, Birbie! Sometimes, it takes some time to master certain moves," Ash told the blue bird.
"Yes, we all think you were great!" Serena added, before looking at the group of Pokemon around them. "Right guys?"
All the other Pokemon cried affirmatively, trying to cheer Birbie. At least, all of them minus one.
"Pi-pika," Pikachu said, crossing his arms.
"Pikachu?" Ash asked, confused.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu walked towards Birbie, and started to move his arms emphatically as if he was explaining the bird something. "Pika! Pikapi! Pi-pika!"
Birbie seemed to drink every word Pikachu was saying, nodding several times. Once Pikachu was done, he left Birbie the space he needed and returned to Ash .
Birbie once again stared at the ball. He flapped his wings, but rather than summon a gust of wind, he instead elevated a meter or so into the air, before once again attemtping to summon a little tornado. And io and behold, unlike the other two tries, this time a tornado was sucessfully formed, launching the ball into the air, before it returned to the ground.
"You did it, Birbie!" Bonnie cheered.
"Of course! He was unable to form a Gust at ground level. He needed to stay mid air in order to do so," Clemont observed.
"So that's what Pikachu was telling Birbie!" Serena said in realization, beaming at the yellow rodent.
"Pi-pika!" Pikachu proudly nodded.
"Should have realized of that. I mean, Pikachu has seen plenty of my Pokemon fight, so he must have a good idea of how most moves work. Isn't that right, buddy?" Ask asked.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu agreed again.
"Congratulations Birbie! You just learned a new move!" Bonnie cheered, pating the bird on the head.
"Bir-Birbie!" Birbie cheered.
Birbie's celebration was interrupted when he was startled by a roar. No, it was more like a growl of hunger. What was that? Birbie had never hear anything in his life before, and it sounded like a dangerous predator! Panicked, he started to franctically look around, lest this henious beast put his new friends in danger-
"Don't worry Birbie, that was only Ash's stomach," Serena said, giggling a little.
"Guess that sparring match from before did work up my apetite, hehe," Ash sheepishly chuckled.
"Well, I think this is a good time to have lunch," Clemont decided.
"Say, do you want to eat with us, Birbie?" Ash asked. "Clemont's Pokemon food is amazing! And you're going to love Serena's pokepuffs!"
Birbie's eyes opened wide in shock. Not only did these humans taught him a new move, but they were willing to give him food as well? Without asking anything in return? Boy, humans were amazing!
The lunch happened without incidents, and indeed, true to Ash's word, the food Birbie was fed was the most delicious food he had ever tasted. Way better than the berries that grew on the forest he called his home. After that, Ash and Serena resumed their sparring session, with the other Pokemon offered to spar with Birbie as well, so he could hone his attacks more.
And then, what was essentially the best day of Birbie's life was cut short when he saw the humans packing up their stuff, as if they were going to leave. Why did they want to leave?
"According to this, if we keep a good pace, we'll reach Kevlar Town by tomorrow before noon," Serena said while checking a map on her tablet.
"Great! In that case, let's not waste anymore time!" Ash said, as he and the others began to walk. He then turned at Birbie, and waved at him. "Goodbye, Birbie! It was great to meet you!"
"I'm sure you'll become a really strong Pokemon!" Serena added.
"Birb...?" he chirped in confusion, before dashing after them. "Birb! Birbie, birb!"
"What's wrong, Birbie?" Bonnie asked, before she quickly realized what was going on. "Do you... want to come with us?"
"Birb!" Birbie said, nodding energically. He didn't care if he had to leave his home, there's no way he was going to get separated from these amazing humans and their Pokemon.
"Of course you can come with us, Birbie!" Ash said, much to the bird's joy, before turning towards Serena. "Well, guess what you said about some Pokemon coming to us ended up being true sooner than I thought! Come on Serena, catch him!"
Serena, however, shook her head. "I can see that this Birbie is more of a fighter than a perfomer. He'll be much better under your care, Ash."
"Are you sure?" Ash asked.
Serena nodded. "I can tell Birbie will make a great member of your team. Pikachu already seems to take the role of mentor to him."
"Pikapi..." Pikachu said.
"I see. In that case..." Ash said, pulling out an empty pokeball. "Pokeball go!"
Birbie dived into the ball, which opened up and sucked Birbie inside. The ball dropped to the grass below, and dinged without shaking even once, signaling that Birbie has been captured. Ash walked towards the pokeball, and picked it up.
"I caught a Birbie!" Ash cheered. "My first Pokemon from Tandor!"
"And I'm sure Birbie will be the first of many. For all of us," Serena said with a smile.
And with a new friend and companion in tow, the group of four continued their journey, heading towards Kevlar Town, and Serena's first contest.
Author's Note: I know, not a very long chapter, but Route 1 isn't exactly long nor has anything eventful on it. Though, not that this chapter was uneventful, as Ash has caught his first Tandorian Pokemon, Birbie! It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since until SM, Ash always caught a regional bird as either his first or second capture of the season. Not that I made that choice out of obligation, since I like Birbie a lot and love the idea of Ash having one.
Also, yeah, I replaced Greninja's Cut with Night Slash. I will never, ever, be able to take Cut seriously as an attack.
Next chapter, Serena's first contest! She's been preparing for it with Ash, but will all the training she has done be enough to claim her first ribbon? You'll have to wait to find out. And in the meantime, don't forget to drop a review, no matter if it's a long one detailing everything you liked (or hated) about the chapter, or just a quick line saying you liked the chapter (or that you didn't like it). But please leave a review. Reviews mean a lot to me.