A Journey's Link

Chapter 33 - Paired

Serena lightened up a bit and giggled, glad that Ash was able to ease the nervousness she felt. She had sat close to Ash before, but it was the fact that she would be sitting next to him for such a long time that separated those times from this. "I'm just glad we finally found our seat!" she said, setting her bag down on the floor.

Ash nodded and chuckled at the error that had led them to the situation. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that," he apologized while sheepishly smiling. "As Goh said, it's no big deal," Serena said, suddenly remembering back to Goh's subtle expression when mentioning Ash and Serena sitting next to each other. I hope he doesn't tell him, she thought while she watched Ash order the airplane food that he had just recently discovered. Who knows how he'll react?

"Attention passengers, Pidgeot Airline Flight 6 is about to embark, so please stay in your seats until we say otherwise. Thank you!" Announced the speaker before crackling to complete silence.

"So, uh, Serena," Ash started, not exactly sure what to talk about. For some reason talking to her about what Azelf had said to him felt wrong, so he defaulted the conversation to whatever his eyes landed on first, which happened to be the faint glow of the crystal necklace hanging around Serena's neck. "How did you get a crystal?" He asked.

Serena looked down and stared at the necklace for a while before answering. "Well, I'm not sure," she admitted, much to Ash's disappointment. "May and I were on our way to Rustboro City when it appeared in my bag." She smiled as she recalled the shocked reactions both she and May had. "I wasn't sure how or why it had gotten there, but I felt like I needed to keep it, so I did."

Ash leaned back as he listened, his mind wandering about the possibilities of how the crystal had gotten in her bag. "Maybe it was one of the Lake Trio Pokemon?" He offered, attempting to come up with a solution to the mystery. Serena shrugged and said, "Maybe. But I'm just glad I kept it. What about you?" She asked, looking at Ash. "How did you get it before it, y'know?"

"Me and Goh were at the Moomoo Farms in Johto to research the milk," he began explaining as he remembered the encounter with Frank and his Espurr. "There was an Espurr named Espie which had awesome powers, so it gave me a Z-crystal!" Serena looked at Ash in confusion at the mention of the letter Z. "Z crystal?" She repeated, trying to understand what Ash was saying.

Ash looked at Serena in realization and began explaining everything about a Z-crystal and what it does. He gave the same explanation that he gave Goh, covering the Alolan Island Guardians and the Z-crystals, which Serena seemed to follow along with very attentively. "So that's about it," Ash said as he finished explaining. "But I don't get how Espie can make them. It's kind of weird."

Serena silently nodded and looked back down at her necklace. So this whole time I owned a crystal that can create extraordinary moves? Her mind wandered at the possibilities of the combined Z-crystals, and how powerful they could be. Ash must've noticed her imagination running wild and said, "The owner of Espie said to never use it unless it was necessary."

"Got it," Serena said quietly, feeling the atmosphere get slightly more serious. Ash suddenly smiled and asked, "So? How have you been since you left for Hoenn?" Serena quickly realized that she hadn't caught up with Ash since they ran into each other. She began explaining everything, including May and the many Contests she had participated in; Ash was listening attentively the entire time.

After a while, they heard a beeping sound which indicated that the speakers were about to be used. "We are landing in Anistar City within 10 minutes. Please stay in your seat until otherwise told to. Thank you for flying Pidgeot Airlines Flight 6!"

Serena was shocked and checked the time on her phone, unable to believe that literally hours had gone by since they had gotten on. I guess I enjoy being around Ash, she thought as she looked at the raven-haired boy staring back at her. That's a shocker. She smiled back at Ash and began reluctantly packing up her belongings, knowing that getting off the plane would mean leaving the spot next to Ash she had come to enjoy.

Near the front of the plane were Goh and Chloe, getting along just as well as Ash and Serena. "Wait, so he did what now?" Chloe asked, wanting to make sure she heard Goh correctly. "He threw the crystal in the lake," Goh explained. "But the Lake Trio Pokemon gave it back to him because there's some disaster coming." Goh thought Chloe should at least know about the Zygarde Core and Lucario just in case things took a turn for the worse.

"A disaster?" Chloe asked, a slight twinge of fear hidden in her voice. Goh nodded and said, "It's kind of a long story, but the main thing is that we may have to fight off a Pokemon from hitting our planet." Chloe looked at Goh with shock and disbelief. Who knew he's been doing all this stuff while he's traveling, she thought, quickly realizing how secluded she was in that school.

There was a ding that rang throughout the plane, indicating that they had landed in Anistar City. The speakers came on and a lady began giving directions for proper exiting of the plane and farewells as people left the plane. "I'll finish telling you the rest," Goh said, grabbing his items. "For right now, let's go see what Anistar City has to offer!" Chloe smiled and nodded, also grabbing her belongings and heading out of the plane to the main lobby of the airport.

Goh looked around for Ash and Serena but couldn't find them until he realized that they were at the very back of the plane. Oh man, he thought. That means we'll have to wait here for a while. To pass the time, Goh went to a nearby food stand and grabbed some rice balls, which he knew were one of Chloe's favorite foods.

Upon seeing Goh walking back with the snack, Chloe grinned and thanked Goh extensively for the snack. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, repeating herself as she thanked him. Goh sheepishly rubbed his head and said, "Don't sweat it," amused by Chloe's outburst of gratitude for a simple snack, which Goh thought was something only Ash would do.

Finally, after a while of random strangers leaving the airplane, Goh and Chloe recognized two trainers leaving the airplane next to each other. "Ash!" Goh exclaimed. "Serena! Over here!" He began waving to get their attention, which worked, as the two of them smiled at Goh and began making their way over to their friends.

Before they could reach Goh and Chloe, though, a loud bang echoed throughout the airport, startling everyone within it and causing a few gasps and startling noises. "What was that?" Goh asked, turning to Chloe to make sure she was okay after the explosion. "I don't know," Chloe admitted as she looked around for the source of the sound. Her eyes finally lay on a duo of two young men, drenched completely in water. Chloe pointed at them and Goh looked over to see the action.

"Blastoise, I told you to use Ice Beam, not Hydro Cannon!" exclaimed the dark-haired boy who had a Vanillite design on his black shirt. "We gotta keep on movin' and groovin' if we want to beat the competition in Contests," he said as he walked over to the large Blastoise that stood a few feet from him.

"Please do so, for everyone's sake," remarked the other boy next to the dark-haired one. He had an orange-haired bowl cut with a white collared shirt underneath a green sweater. "Besides, if we don't get back to the Pokemon Center soon, then Shauna will get angry with us for staying out so late!"

Goh and Chloe were puzzled by the situation and looked at each other in a mutual acknowledgment of their lack of understanding. They turned back towards Ash and Serena only to see them begin running towards the two young boys. Ash knows them as well? Goh thought. Why am I not surprised?

As Ash and Serena ran toward the two, they yelled their names. "Tierno! Trevor!" they exclaimed, trying to get the attention of the two trainers. The dark-haired kid, Tierno, looked up and formed a giant grin on his face. "Ash! And Serena, too!" he exclaimed, walking towards the two. Trevor must've heard his name being called and looked over, seeing two familiar faces making their way towards him. "Hey you two!" he chirped, walking to meet up with them. "Long time no see!"