It was just a normal sunny day in the Kanto region. The sun shone down through the thick vegetation, creating light through the gaps within the forest, illuminating the shadows created by the trees. Serena slowly sat down against a tree, relaxing herself. A slight breeze wafted through the forest, whistling through the branches and holes within the thick tree trunks.
Serena's mind flashbacked to Ash's words. She fully understood how he felt still, but she wasn't going to feel any different, ever. Her mind fell over Miette, for some odd reason. She was thinking about Ash and Miette popped into her head, like a mental image of the future. Serena shook her head, getting rid of the cobwebs and cleaning out her mind. She blinked once. Her first mistake.
The whole forest became dark, as if time had just skipped a few hours. Serena looked up, with worry etched on her face, the gaps in the tree's that the sunlight shone through had disappeared, there was no clear view of the sky anymore. Serena shivered, having a knack for thinking about the worst scenario in a scary situation.
"It's okay" A girls voice whispered in her ear.
Serena snapped her head around and jumped up, facing the tree she sat against. No one was there.
"Who just spoke?" Serena asked in a shaky voice.
A flash of white teeth grinned in the dark, right infront of Serena. She took a deep breath, refusing to scream out. Her lips trembled as the person in the shadow stepped out.
"That would be me" Elizabeth flicked her hair over her shoulder and her Greninja came from behind her. Elizabeth was a very small girl, around the same size as her Greninja, who was just over 5 foot tall.
"I know who you are...Team Shad-" Serena started, but she was startled by Elizabeth, who raised her palm up.
"Don't speak our name, Serena" Elizabeth sighed. "Did you enjoy your little nightmare? Courtesy of our friend Darkrai"
"We knew it was you, as soon as we saw Darkrai the other day" Serena put her hand to her side, preparing to grab a pokeball. But, she felt around and nothing was there.
"Looking for your stuff?" Tristan and Jake said in unison, standing behind Serena, who jumped in fright.
"Give me my stuff back, my Pokemon!" Serena shouted at them, in frustration. She took a shaky, panicked breath and span around to the tutting Elizabeth.
"We can't do that, you see, we have plans for you, Serena. I don't think you will need your Pokemon anytime soon" Elizabeth laughed, but Serena scowled back.
"Give me my stuff, we can settle our troubles at the tournament!"
"No can do, you won't be participating in the tournament anymore" Another voice in the shadows, Serena presumed it was Jeremy as she saw his glasses in the shadows.
"Wha-" Serena began, but she dropped down and fell into a deep sleep.
"Good job Umbreon" Parker chuckled, kneeling down beside Serena. "We have the bait, so lets get going"
"Have you sorted out the message, Parker?" Elizabeth asked, watching Greninja lift up Serena.
"Of course, everything is ready. Lets get back" Parker stood up and began to walk off, followed by his team.
On the other side of the forest, only 100 metres away, Ash, Miette and Clemont were hanging around the forest.
"Serena said she would be around here somewhere..." Clemont spoke to himself, looking around the forest.
"This forest feels sort of ominous, kind of like when we saw Darkrai" Miette said, with a shiver.
"We will be fine, right Pikachu?" Ash looked at his shoulder, to his partner.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu said, agreeing with Ash.
"I have a bad feeling myself" Clemont knelt down and then he saw it. "What's this?" He walked up to the tree, a weird etching on the trunk.
"I can't see what it says" Miette tilted her head slightly, looking at the tree.
'Everytime she laughs, she hopes he's watching' the words on the trunk said. Miette gulped from behind Clemont and Ash, who both looked inquisitively at the trunk.
Ash gasped and then his mind went back to the hospital.
"Serena is in trouble!" He immediately said, realizing what the whole thing meant. It was like a jigsaw waiting to be put together.
Oh, Serena. Of course. Miette laughed in her head, her mouth becoming slightly crooked as she tried not to laugh at herself physically.
"How do you know it is about Serena?" Clemont asked Ash.
He explained what happened in the hospital, and what Parker had said. Clemont took in the information then nodded.
"But that could be about anyone..." Clemont scratched his head in thought.
"HELP!" Miette screamed and suddenly, she was gone. Completely out of sight.
"Miette?" Clemont shouted, looking in a full circle. Ash back into Clemont, waiting to see if the threat loomed.
Then, they both noticed the next tree had a message.
'Not so that he-' and it ended. Clemont studied the message, trying to see if he could work out the ending.
"Everytime she laughs, she hopes he's watching; not so that he sees she's happy, but that maybe, just maybe, he'll fall for her smile, just as hard as she fell for his" Ash repeated the message Parker had told him and Clemont turned around.
"Is that the whole message?" He asked, receiving an instant nod in reply.
"Pika" Pikachu, who had been silent, nodded also.
"So it suggests it must be about someone who loves you and wants you to feel the same" Clemont hypothesised. "So, Serena is the person they are after"
"But, this means it is Team Shadow and the fact they took Miette must mean..." Ash started the sentence.
"She must feel the same also..." Clemont finished.
"Yup" Ash gulped nervously. What can we do? He wondered. I didn't know Miette...
"Anyway, we should think about where they might be, last time they took Miette they purposely let us find them, but warned us about how easy it could be for them to take our Pokemon and the others" Clemont frowned to himself, his brows furrowing in frustration. He shifted his glasses up and looked around.
"Well, we just do what we can" Ash knelt down and looked around also, then a light bulb appeared over his head. "I just had an idea"
"What?" Clemont asked.
"I think I need to find Professor Oak...It's time to fight fire with fire!" Ash said, instantly sprinting off and out of the forest.
"Ash!!!" Clemont started rushing behind Ash. "Stop running and wait up!"
"What is it Ash?" Oak asked with a slight amount of worry as Ash came through the front door, panting wildly.
"I need..." Ash took a deep breath.
"Breath, Ash, then you can talk" Oak smiled and then turned his full attention to Ash.
"Miette and Serena" Ash said out loud, sounding like an idiot.
"The two girls from Kalos, what's wrong with them?"
"They get taken by those Shadow guys, whatever they're called" Ash then realized Oak hadn't even heard of the name before, so he explained in detail who they are and what they were doing.
"The twins from the second round, with their Absols are in this 'Team Shadow'?" Oak asked, receiving a nod in reply. A very fast one, Ash wasn't here to chat all day.
"That isn't important, I need Greninja as soon as possible" Ash held out the Pokeball of Quilava, to trade with Greninja.
"Ok Ash, I understand" Oak went into the back and came out with Greninja's pokeball, swapping it for Quilava.
"I need to get going as soon as possible!" Ash turned and ran back outside, Clemont just catching up.
"Oh come on!" Clemont groaned, turning around and trudging down the path as Ash sprinted away.
As soon as they made it back into the forest, Ash threw out Greninja's pokeball.
"Greninja, I need your help. Serena and Miette are in trouble. I am counting on you!" Ash shouted it out like he meant it, the bond between him and Greninja becoming even stronger. Greninja began to undergo slight changes, mimicking Ash's appearance into its new form, Ash-Greninja. Greninja instantly became shrouded in a cloud of water.
"I need you to find Serena and Miette. The people that took them hide in the shadows, so I want you to think like a ninja, what would you do if you was in the shadows?" Ash spoke to Greninja with meaning, looking around himself.
"This is a good idea Ash, fire with fire" Clemont decided to help search the forest, splitting away from Ash.
A few moments later, Ash came across an opening, leading to a small cave. Greninja was standing by the cave, waiting for something. He turned to Ash and nodded, but said nothing. Ash knew they was in there.
"Peekaboo!" Parker dropped out of the tree behind Ash, making him jump forward and turn. "Woah, didn't mean to scare ya!"
"I knew I would find you!" Ash said with vengeance in his tone, Greninja jumping to his side.
"Ah, your own little Greninja I see. but it won't help you, oh no. We don't plan on fighting you today. Instead, you can make a choice" Parker threw his arms out and pointed to the cave, as Serena and Miette came outside. They both had tape on their mouths and their arms were tied up. They looked pretty rough and scared, wide eyes staring at Ash.
"What's my choice?" Ash asked, seething with anger.
"It's a simple one. Which girl do you want, Ash? Which one do you love more. Whoever you don't choose, will be returning to you at a later date, after we have continued with our plan of course" Parker laughed with evil intent, Ash scowled, his eyebrows furrowing in anger.
"I can't choose, Greninja-"
"Umbreon..." Parker yawned as Greninja flopped to the floor like a fish out of water. "Now, choose"
Ash's face tensed as he looked at one scared face, to the other. Did he really have to choose which one he wanted more, it was a choice he couldn't take, because he wasn't up to leaving anyone behind. He couldn't choose like this and drive the other one away from him.
Ash dropped to his knees and stared at Serena, then Miette. His heart thumped in his chest as he tried to make a decision.
"I...I...can't choose" Ash said quietly...He felt like crying but he was tensing his face so hard in anger that the tears didn't flow.
"What's that? I can't hear you" Parker cupped a hand around his ear, a big smirk on his face.
"I...I..." Ash stopped speaking, Pikachu stared. He felt like the world had stopped spinning.
He couldn't choose.