For Cilan, finding Ash and Serena was the priority. Brock had May on his back, giving the passed out girl a piggyback across the field. The rest of the gang followed swiftly behind, without a moment to lose.
"Where's Miette?" Dawn shouted over the raging storm.
"I don't know! Just let her go, if we can find Ash and Serena then Miette will be our next problem, if she gets hurt" Cilan quickly replied.
"Since when did you become all leader this, leader that?" Misty jogged next to Cilan, with a grin on her face.
"You know now isn't the time for jokes" Cilan replied, still looking ahead. He was deadly serious. "If Team Shadow have Zekrom and have a Darkrai with the intention of causing chaos in this region, then we need to find Ash and Serena and then stop them from finishing their objectives" Cilan huffed and puffed, but continued to sprint. He felt like a recorded message, repeating himself over and over.
"G-guys, w-wait up!" Clemont continued to pant for breath, but Bonnie tugged onto his arm and kept him upright.
"Come on slowpoke!" She shouted, continuing to sprint down the path with ease.
Clemont pushed himself to continue, his legs burning. "I am not cut out for this" He panted to himself.
They came to a clearing, where there was a rocky hill leading upwards onto another platform within the forest.
"Wait!" Clemont stopped, half-kneeling down and started to regain his breath.
"What is it?" Iris asked, everyone else turning as Clemont pushed his glasses up his nose.
"I have a vague idea of where they might be"
"Why didn't you say anything sooner!" They all shouted at him in unison, giving him the hair dryer treatment.
Meanwhile, Ash, Serena and Miette were all still fast asleep in the small cave they had found. But, Ash instantly woke up when he heard voices coming through the trees. He instantly rolled up to a sitting position and threw water over the fire, making the whole cave dark.
"Ash?" Serena stirred, but Ash shushed her right away. He waited in the darkness, not being able to see.
"Where could they have gone?" Tristan was speaking to himself, or so Ash thought because Elizabeth came into view.
"I need to pay that bit-" Elizabeth started, but Jeremy threw a hand infront of her.
"Less of the language, Elizabeth" He interjected, pushing his glasses up. "We need to find them for The Boss so we can continue our plan"
"We know that, doofus" Jake shook his head. "It shouldn't be too hard"
Their voices began to trail off. When Ash figured it was safe, he stepped outside into the moonlight.
"Ash?" Serena asked again.
"It's okay, they're gone" Ash turned to Serena, who slowly got up and walked over to him.
"Thank god" She replied, slowly resting her head on his chest. "I was scared for a moment, that cave was horrible"
"I know" Ash replied, putting a hand on the back of her head and slowly stroking it. "We should get going ourselves" He continued, slowly letting go of Serena.
"Right" Serena nodded with determination.
A small tear swept from Miette's eye as she watched, but she stifled a sniff and wiped it away, before hopping to her feat.
"Did I hear 'get going'?" She replied, with a sudden burst of energy.
"Mhm, lets go" Serena said, her and Ash packing their things away.
"Sir yes sir" She done a mock salute and rushed around to get her things.
Ash watched, knowing she was doing everything for show, but he couldn't help but smile.
Once they all got their things together and gathered up their Pokemon, they decided to double back and try and meet up with their friends.
"Are you sure they will be there?" Serena asked Miette, who was marching forward, taking the lead.
"Of course I am sure" Miette replied, without even glancing Serena's way.
"Well, atleast we bought some time by putting Zekrom on hold, the sky is starting to clear up" Ash said, causing the two girls to look up into the sky.
"Oh yeah, the sun is peering out from above the clouds!" Serena watched the clouds part like the red sea, the light of the sun slowly creeping through the gap.
"It looks so beautiful like that, doesn't it" Miette said, taking in her surroundings with a deep sigh. "This area seems too peaceful now"
"We mustn't let our guard down" Ash warned the two, both of them switching back into gear, focusing on their current goal.
"Ash is right" Miette went back to marching forward, her full attention on the path ahead. "If we let our guard down for one moment, anything can happen. We managed to get out safely and pretty quickly too, so now we capitalize on the chance we have"
"Right" Serena nodded to herself, agreeing.
Once they came up to a clearing, where the forest parted on the left and right, the path ahead to the cave was empty and the whole environment was quiet, besides the birds that had come out and started to chirp.
"Maybe I was wrong" Miette scratched her chin nervously, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Ash, Serena, Miette?" Dawn's voice rang out from not too far away.
"You guys around?" Clemont's voice came next, followed by a few other shouts.
"Looks like you was right, huh?" Ash grinned, waiting for their friends to appear at the corner. Once they did, everyone broke into smiles and began hugging each other, making sure everyone was okay.
"You guys alright?" Cilan asked Ash.
"We spotted Team Shadow heading the opposite way not too long ago, they will be coming back soon, no doubt" Ash replied, realizing he hadn't given Cilan an actual answer. "Oh yeah, we're fine"
"Well, we know Zekrom is currently inactive, so we need to go somewhere and come up with a possible strategy in taking down Zekrom and their whole team. It doesn't look like anyone else is stepping up to help the whole region stay intact" Cilan had everything thought out and since no one else had a better plan, they all agreed.
"We should go to Professor Oak, he could help and it is a safe place to go" Ash suggested to the others.
"Sounds like a plan" Cilan spoke for everyone. "Lets go"
"Not so fast" There was a voice in forest, right next to the group. A mysterious man in a large robe walked out, his whole face was impossible to see, a black void in its place. As soon as the man grinned and his teeth flashed, Ash knew who it was.
"This guy is the Team Shadow boss" Ash said under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Yes, it is I, 'The Boss'" He mocked with another grin. "I heard we had some rapscallions running amok. I came to see to the problem myself"
"You guys go" Ash stood infront of everyone, Pikachu by his side, sharing his emotion. "We can't all stay here and hope his team don't get back, head to Oak's lab and I will catch up"
"But As-" Serena tried to talk him out of it, but when Ash threw his hand out to stop her from interjecting, she knew he was serious.
"Just go, all of you!" Ash adamantly put his foot down and turned to The Boss. "I will stop you here and now, with my Pokemon. You will pay for what you intend to do"
"Oh? Me? I will pay?" The Boss pointed to himself, raising his eyebrows mockingly. "Ha, do not make me laugh child, you will be the one that is paying after I put you into the ground with my Pokemon"
"Ash do-" Serena tried one more time, but Clemont turned her around and everyone jogged off, listening to Ash.
"You are going to pay, for disrupting the tournament, for targeting me and my friends, for the things you are doing to May!" Ash clenched his fist, watching The Boss as he just smiled, enjoying the whole ordeal.
"The reason we targeted you is because you got involved in our business too soon, Ash Ketchum. Now, once I am finsihed here, we can complete our mission and it will be all. Your. Fault."
The sound of a bird chirping, the wind rolling in, the grass waving in the direction of the wind. The small noise created from the shifting of feet, the button of a pokeball being pressed at that very moment.
"Lets go, Darkrai" The Boss grinned as he released Darkrai.
Ash didn't have to say anything, Pikachu stepped forward and the fight begun.