Sycamore High ~ Road To The World League!

One Journey Ends, Another One Starts... ~ CH-137

"Ash?"

Ash looked up behind him and saw Riley approaching. He was holding Lucario with one arm under its shoulder, trying to help it stay up while they walked.

Ash quickly dried the tears from his eyes and stood up to face Riley.

"Congratulations Riley, you deserve it!" He faked a smile while reaching kut his hand. It hurt him even more to say it as he did, yet he had to show his supportive side. If it was up to him, he wanted to be alone right now.

Riley accepted the hand and shook it. "Thanks Ash. The trainer from Sinnoh said. But he couldn't help but wonder. There was something that was still bothering him, something Ash said during the battle. He couldn't help but wanting to ask about it.

"Ash?" Riley asked again. Ash looked at him with a frown. Riley could see that something was wrong with him, something big. "What did you mean when you said that during that final move."

"With what?" Ash asked, confuse visible in his brows.

"With 'let's do this for Serena, we need to...'" Riley asked.

Again, Ash faced the ground and looked sad. He didn't know what to say. Should he tell the truth? Or should he keep it to himself... He figured that it couldn't do much harm in telling him.

Ash took a deep breath to keep his emotions in check before facing Riley again. "I made a deal with Palermo." He said.

Riley felt already bad as he had a feeling for what was coming. Yet, he decided to stay cautios while asking his next question. "What deal did you make?"

Ash sighed. "She wanted to take Serena on a performing tour now that she has become the new Kalos Queen. Serena initially didn't want that so that's why Palermo came up with this. She said that if I managed to win the Kalos League, Serena could follow her own path. But if I lost, she would have to go with Palermo..."

"What!?" Riley said in surprise and shock. "Why did you agree to this?" He felt angry with Palermo. It was almost identical to what she did with him and Aria years ago.

"I had to. She cornered me to a point where I couldn't refuse." Ash confessed. "I have trained myself sick these past few months in order to be ready, yet it wasn't enough..." He sighed.

Riley felt bad for Ash and even angrier with Palermo. "So that's why she contacted me. She needed someone to beat Ash!" He thought.

He placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that Ash..." He said sincerely. "For what its worth, I thought Lucario and I were gonna lose."

Ash nodded in appreciation before turning back to Charizard. He recalled it before leaving the arena in silence.

– Serena –

"Charizard is unable to battle, Lucario wins and therefore the winner of the fiftieth Kalos League is R!" The referee announced. The crowd erupted in cheers while the commentator praised them for the amazing battle they had.

Did she hear that right? Didn't her eyes and ears betray her? Was Charizard really out? She couldn't believe it. After all that...

She saw the sad looks in the eyes of her friends around her. Even Gary... Max was even crying while May hugged him to settle him down.

Her eyes met with the emerald greens of Shauna. Shauna felt terrible for Serena. And as soon as the two met with their eyes, Serena wanted to cry and her tears were ready to flow. But she had to stay strong for the others, for Ash.

"I'm so sorry Serena..." Shauna said, engulfing her best friend in a tight hug. Serena wrapped her arms around Shauna, accepting the hug. She felt a large lump in her throat but swallowed it with a lot of difficulty. "Thanks..." She whispered.