Ash ran around the center of the village, looking for honey-blonde hair in the crowd of countless masked faces in ninja clothing. I need to find her, Ash thought to himself frantically. I need to apologize to her. His incessant phrases rang in his mind the longer he looked.
Over the past few days, Ash hadn't been too worried about not seeing Serena, but now that he had seen her again, he found it harder to lose her again. Why did I ever leave her? He thought, questioning his own choices. I should've just stayed and talked with her about Miette.
Upon thinking about Miette, he realized that she wasn't there and felt incredible happiness because of this. There was a small level of guilt involved with this feeling, but Ash remembered what she had done and felt angry at her again, now understanding why he had left again.
He walked through crowds of people going about their day. He noticed some people trading goods with people in small tents, children running around playfully, and Pokemon all interacting with the people harmoniously. Ash couldn't help but feel a sense of peace amongst the village, temporarily forgetting about Serena.
That was, he forgot until he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked around. Ash stood face to face with his slightly green clone, A. "We're here to help you!" A exclaimed, Goh and Chloe, walking side by side behind him. "I can't find her anywhere!" Ash responded, yelling over the noise of people having separate conversations.
A gave Ash a confident look and exclaimed, "Then we'll look where you haven't!" He ran off in a randomly chosen direction and began searching in between different stands where people were selling goods. Ash looked on in disbelief as A continued searching without any rhyme or reason, coming up short every time. "Why is he doing that?" Ash asked out loud. "It's not going to work?"
Goh and Chloe both immediately burst out laughing. Ash raised an eyebrow and looked over at the two. "What's so funny?" He asked cluelessly. Goh chuckled and looked at Ash. "Nothing... nothing," he said mischievously, earning a suspecting look from Ash. "Whatever, let's just split up so we can find Serena, ok?" Ash said, Goh and Chloe, finishing their laughter and agreeing with Ash.
"Chloe and I will take that section right there," Goh explained, pointing towards a section of tents set up near the western side of the village. "That means I'll get the area over there," Ash said, pointing towards the opposite side. Goh nodded and said, "We should start looking, then." Ash nodded and turned around, but not before Goh grasped his shoulder quickly. "Just promise you'll come back here when you're done," he said, his voice quivering a little.
Ash hesitated for a moment before nodding. It had just occurred to him how much his friends had missed him upon his sudden disappearance, so he promised Goh then and there that he would return. "Promise," Ash responded, giving Goh a fist bump. "You better," Goh retorted, smirking. Ash turned around again and began walking in search of Serena. He waved at Goh and Chloe, who departed in the other direction, and disappeared into the crowd.
As for A, who had gone off on his own sporadically, things were going great. Along with his search, he had met with an old woman who said she had seen a young girl with honey-blonde hair running down the street towards a local zen garden. A had thanked her, and in response for being so polite, the lady had allowed him to take a small sample of the mint-flavored Moomoo Cream she was selling. He noticed that ever since he broke free of Aaron's control, life was more fun and exciting.
A was just finishing his free sample, which he found incredibly tasty, as he entered the area that held the zen garden. He carefully walked and looked around, unsure of what he was seeing. He expected to see a garden full of plants, but instead, he saw rocks and sand in a space, which was a garden unlike one that he had seen before. Tiptoeing around the area, he looked around to see if Serena was nearby.
"Serena," he whispered, trying to see if she would respond to her name. He shook his head and scolded himself. She's not a Pokemon! He thought to himself angrily. He continued walking around until he reached the backside of a large rock. There she was, quietly sitting down with her eyes closed. "Serena!" A aggressively whispered, walking over to her.
She opened one eye and sighed before closing it again. "What do you want, Ash?" She said in an annoyed tone, mistaking A for Ash. "Oh, I'm not Ash. I'm his... well... y'know," he said awkwardly, causing Serena to sigh again. "That's right. His clone," she said in a defeated manner as if she couldn't believe what she was saying was real.
"I didn't mean to startle you," A said apologetically, sitting down near Serena across from her. She opened both her eyes and gave A a soft smile. "It's fine. I just came here to cool off," she responded, giving off a friendlier presence than a few moments ago. A nodded and said, "What Ash did was pretty rude."
"You can say that again," Serena said, frustrated. A frowned and tilted his head to the side. He had been told that Serena took a liking toward Ash, but the way she was talking about him seemed to be like she hated him. A expressed his thoughts by asking, "I thought you liked Ash, so why do you hate him right now?"
Serena gave A a dirty look and stood up. "I care for him," she explained. "Which means if he does something stupid, I'll get angry at him solely because I care for him." A gave Serena a look of complete and utter confusion, so she just waved her hands in the air and said, "Never mind. It's not like he's going to apologize to me anyway."
A stood up alongside Serena and exclaimed, "But he is trying to apologize! You should've seen him running to try to find you!" Serena looked at A before a look of sadness came over her face. "Ugh, I always do this!" She yelled loudly, disturbing the peace in the zen garden. She sat back down, leaving A to stare at her with a shocked expression.
"D-do what?" A asked nervously, not knowing if he had just done something wrong. One second she was mad at Ash, and now she seemed mad at herself. "I just assume the worst, always," she responded, covering her face with her hands. "Not just with him, but everything," she added.
"Like what?" A asked, sitting back down. He found that Serena acted nothing like her clone, which confused A as he was under the impression they were supposed to be exact copies. "I never think something is going to work out," she responded, taking her hands off her face.
"With Performances, I never think I'm going to succeed, I'm always thinking that Ash will lose a battle, or that someone hates me," she explained, getting more and more upset with herself. "Arceus, I even assumed that some evil ghosts were watching me in an old mansion before!" she exclaimed.
A had to hold back a laugh upon hearing that last example, as it would most likely just make Serena feel worse about the situation. "Maybe that's a good thing," A responded, attempting to empathize with her. "It'll keep you ready for whatever may happen, y'know?" The look on Serena's face after he said that indicated that she didn't agree.
"But it's causing me to go insane," she responded quietly, tilting her head back. "I'm always worried about something, so whenever there is nothing to worry about, something is usually wrong," she explained, confusing A. He believed that if there was nothing wrong, then there was just that; nothing wrong.
It was silent for a few moments, with A sitting quietly by Serena, who stared at the empty blue sky. A felt the urge to console her in some way but decided it would be best if he left her alone. He began drawing small shapes and patterns in the sand they were sitting in until he heard a small gasp from Serena.
"What is it?" A asked inquisitively. Serena, who was still looking up at the sky, pointed at it with her index finger. "Is that what I think it is?" She asked with fearful tones in her voice. A, perplexed, looked up and realized what Serena was referring to. "It's like a green dot," she explained, trying to get a better look at it. "Almost like-"
"Zygarde," A interrupted hastily. They both looked at each other in understanding. "Is it the-" Serena began before getting cut off by A again. "The third core," he finished as Serena nodded in response. She got up quickly and stared at A. "We've got to find the group, regardless of what's currently happening," she explained. A nodded in agreement and they both quickly left the zen garden in search of Ash and the others.
Ash, who was just finishing his section that he had to search, was searching around a vendor's tent, only to come up short. Serena was, of course, safely with A and trying to find Ash himself, but he didn't know this. He began walking back towards the meeting spot when he heard someone shouting, "Look up! Look up!"
This sudden shouting caused some distressed mumbling among the people going about their everyday life. Ash followed the screaming person's commands and looked up alongside everyone else. What he saw was an ever-approaching green dot that had a similar hue to something all too familiar to him.
"Zygarde," Ash whispered to himself. He hadn't known if what he had been hearing about the fabled third Zygarde core was true, but at this very moment, he had no choice but to believe it. He quickly put on a determined face and began running towards the meeting spot in hopes of finding his friends before the ultimate clash was going to happen.
Unfortunately, the road was now littered with panicking villagers, so Ash tried his best to help them calm down by not showing any signs of panic himself. He calmly walked towards the meeting spot where he saw Goh and Chloe waiting for him. He assumed they would've finished before him because of their numbers, so he jogged over to them.
"You know what's happening, right?" Ash asked Goh and Chloe. Goh nodded and responded, "The third core, right? I've already filled in Chloe on everything, so we need to just be prepared for whatever may happen." Ash nodded in return and grabbed two of his Pokeballs that contained Greninja and Lucario.
"Right," Ash responded, sending out his Pokemon. Greninja and Lucario both appeared, already understanding the situation. They looked up and analyzed the incoming Zygarde core, both scouting out their target. Ash never said anything, but both Greninja and Lucario did what he wanted by going to nearby villagers and trying to direct them back to their homes.
Goh grabbed a Pokeball and sent out Raboot, saying to him, "We're gonna fight against a threat, Raboot. Got it?" Raboot nodded and looked where Goh pointed at the Zygarde core which was still approaching. Chloe took a step back and watched in anticipation as the two trainers stood their ground in preparation.
"Ash!" A voice rang out amongst the crowd. Ash looked over and saw A and Serena sprinting towards them. "Ash!" Serena said again, reaching the two. "Did you see the-" She began, pointing upwards at the Zygarde core in the sky. She was cut off by Ash hugging her, catching her off guard.
"I'm glad you're okay," Ash said, surprising Serena. She returned the hug and sat there for a moment, everyone watching. When Ash pulled away, Serena hit him on the shoulder. "Now you know how I feel about you leaving!" She said in an annoyed voice. Ash gave her a forced smile and turned his attention to A.
"Thanks for finding her," he said, giving A a handshake. As they clasped hands, A pulled himself to Ash's ear and whispered, "Talk with her after everything goes down, ok?" As they pulled away, Ash nodded seriously.
"Ash!" Another voice carried its way over the crowd. Who is it now? Ash thought to himself, finding it quite absurd that more people were calling for him. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a small child with blonde hair running towards Ash. "We've been looking for you everywhere!" Bonnie said, running to give Ash a small hug.
Clemont, who, surprisingly, wasn't far behind, ran up to Ash and began breathing heavily. "We...ran...over...after...we saw...the...Zygarde," He said in between breaths, explaining their appearance. "Where's the Professor?" Ash asked, looking behind Clemont. "Right here," Sycamore said, appearing behind Ash.
"Where have you guys been?" Ash asked the three, realizing that they weren't there for everything that had happened. "We were helping a family that got hit by the Zygarde blasts," Sycamore explained, putting down his backpack and opening it up. He pulled out a few Pokeballs and released an Arcanine, Rhydon, and Roserade.
"I may have Garchomp right now for the bigger battles, but I came prepared," Sycamore explained after seeing Ash's shocked look. Clemont walked over to Ash and gave him a serious look. "That's not the only reason we tried to find you though," he said solemnly, something that happened in serious situations. "A portal opened up near the edge of the village and some man walked out of it," Bonnie explained mysteriously.
Clemont nodded and turned back to Ash with a confused look on his face. "He started screaming about finding his son and he kept on saying, "Where's Ash? Where's Ash?" over and over again," Clemont explained, causing Ash to come to a realization. Since the Zygarde core was here, the conflict between Aaron and Giovanni was going to occur in the same spot, and Ash was going to have to be the one to stop it all.