The group walked on in silence. About a week after Serena's showcase performance, they had been traveling, and they were talking, laughing, and Ash and Serena would be holding each other's hands, one of them occasionally snuggling up close to the other, and commenting on how much they loved the other. It usually ended up in Bonnie making an embarrassing remark, but they still stayed close, never wanting to let the other one go.
Now, however, Ash walked behind the group, hands in his pockets, looking towards the ground. He hadn't said much. But it was perfectly understandable. No one held it against him. Recently, he had left Goodra back in its homelands, to be with its friends. Ash had made that choice alone, and while he knew he had done the right thing, it still depressed him. Goodra hadn't been around for very long, but he thought the two of them would make it to the Kalos league together. They had a bond. And it felt like it was gone.
Serena had never seen Ash spill tears before then. She had been sad to see Goodra go too, and she had cried as well, but to her, the sight of Ash spilling tears was not only depressing, but bizarre. He hadn't broken down crying, but it sure had been a first for him. She had hugged him tightly, trying to comfort him.
Now, he followed the group, keeping three or four paces back. The group had decided it was best to give him some space for a while. But Serena was worried about him. She had never seen him like this before. She was used to her energetic, happy-go-lucky, battle obsessed, dense boyfriend, walking next to her, with the group, talking about how excited he was to get to where ever it was they were going, and battling the gym leader there, with a smile on his face and a gleam in his brown eyes. She had grown used to his hands gently gripped around hers, his bare hands, as per Serena's request that he take his gloves off, intertwine their fingers, and never let go. He made her feel safe. The one thing she hadn't gotten used to, and was convinced she never would, was his now occasional habit of laying his head on her shoulder. It had been a little tricky for him to pull off, as he was a few centimeters smaller than she was, but he had managed it now. Every time he would say something like, "You look super pretty, Serena." Or, her personal favorite, a simple, "I love you, Serena." She had also made a habit of it, but Ash never seemed to mind. Now, she didn't have any of that. She couldn't even see his eyes, blocked by the cap her wore. The journey seemed a lot less fun without him, there was an emptiness in the group, that no one could quite fill like Ash could. She didn't blame him for being depressed... She just missed her happy go lucky boyfriend.
Even Pikachu left Ash be. Serena carried Pikachu in her arms, so he wouldn't get tired of walking. Ash not wanting to talk to anyone, not even Pikachu was a worrying sight to behold.
"Pika pi..." Pikachu muttered something to himself in Poké speak, while glancing back at his trainer. Serena noticed this, and forced on a smile.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He just needs some time, I think." She told the worried electric type. Pikachu looked at her, nodded, and slowly looked forward again.
"I hope so." Clemont commented. "I've never seen him like this. It's... Unsettling, to say the least.
Bonnie silently nodded in agreement, deciding it best not to comment on the situation.
"I'm fine, guys. Really." Ash had looked up, and had forced a weak smile on his face. His words were weak, barely even audible.
Serena smiled kindly at him. A smile that showed sympathy and encouragement at the same time. "It's fine. None of us blame you, you know. We're just worried."
Ash let out a small sigh. "Sorry... I'll... I don't know, I'll try to be more... Myself?"
"You shouldn't force yourself to act in a manner that doesn't reflect you yourself." Clemont said. "It's unhealthy. Not to mention, obvious with you."
Ash let out a small, unenthusiastic chuckle. Serena smiled at him lightly. She placed Pikachu on the ground for a second. She walked over to him, and took both his hands into hers. She brought them together, then held them up in front of both him and her, causing him to look at what she was doing, and by extension, see Serena's face. She smiled at him, and tried to put on a cute face, which she did by tucking her chin into her neck, and looking at him, her pupils at the top of her eyes, all the while, giving him the same smile he normally blushed at. Her own cheeks went a light shade of pink, but that worked out fine for her, "Come walk with us, okay?"
Ash hesitated for a moment, before letting out a small sigh. "Alright. Okay, I'll walk with you."
Serena smiled at him, before pulling him along to rejoin Clemont and Bonnie. Pikachu jumped up onto Ash's head, letting out a cry of relief. Once they had rejoined Clemont and Bonnie, Serena urged onto Ash's arm, ensuring he couldn't get away from her, and rested her head on his shoulder, as she normally did. Pikachu smiled at this. "Pika pi, pi pi, pika?"
"Hey, quiet down, up there!" Ash hissed with a trace of humour in his voice, in response to Pikachu. Pikachu smiled and rested its head on Ash's. "What, am I everyone's pillow now?" Ash remarked sarcastically. That earned a laugh from Serena.
"See, you're already acting like normal." Serena smiled.
Ash gave her a small smile. "Yeah... Yeah, I suppose..." In reality, however, he wasn't feeling any better. He simply didn't want to worry Serena. He still felt terrible.
The group had arrived in the next town, Irashu town, within a few hours. It was here they planned to spend the night, and maybe the next day, depending on what they found. It was a relatively large town, just short in terms of population from becoming a city. It had everything you would expect a city to have. A carnival, shops, marketplaces, training fields, and leaving the city, was a nature park, filled with peaceful, wild Pokémon, which was considered by the town to be the perfect place to walk on a date, according to the information on Serena's tablet.
Serena wondered, would Ash want to go on a date with her here? It seemed to be the perfect place for one...
She looked at Ash as she thought this. He still seemed down, she had noticed that. Ash was good at hiding his emotions, but since becoming his girlfriend, Serena had become good at picking up on them. She could see the visible regret and upset he held. She sadly closed her tablet. Maybe not...
Clemont then interrupted her thoughts with news of the room situation. "Okay, we've gotten two rooms, me and Bonnie in one, and you two in the other, like normal. Serena, here's the key, catch." He tossed a key towards Serena. She caught it in one hand, and inspected the room number. Room 101.
"Easy enough to remember." She muttered to herself.
"You say that now." Ash commented. "I'll bet money you forget it before it gets dark."
"Hey, you want to sleep outside, wise guy?" Serena joked, holding up the keys in her hands, reminding him she was the only one who could access the room.
Ash forced a smile and put his hands up in a mock surrender. "Alright, I give."
"In any case, I'm going to take Bonnie and settle in." Clemont said.
"Aww, why do I have to go?" Bonnie whined.
"Because the last time I left you here while I dropped our things in our room, you were trying to make friends with a Stunfisk that tried to shock you." Clemont reminded Bonnie of a previous incident.
"Awwwwwwwwwww..." Bonnie moaned as she was dragged along by Clemont. Serena giggled at the younger girls actions, while Ash sat there, motionless. Serena's giggles soon ended. She sat closer to Ash, and leaned on him, resting her head on him again.
"Ashy, are you okay?" Serena asked him.
Ash tried to smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Serena sighed. That was all she seemed to do lately.
Nighttime came sooner than expected. The group had split up, and Ash and Serena found themselves in their room. It wasn't a particularly large room, with only one bed, though they had gotten used to sharing one, and it was something they enjoyed doing. Tonight, however, Ash was feeling down. He was still upset about Goodra. He began to dwell on it. How long had it been since he had released a Pokémon? The last one was Lapras, wasn't it? And how long had it been since he had seen Lapras? Since Johto, right? Years ago. He was still convinced he had done the right thing, making Lapras leave, but there was sometimes a feeling he had, a feeling of regret, wishing Lapras was still his Pokémon. Still his friend.
"Ash, you're still upset." Serena said, insisting on it. She had mentioned it several times since entering the room.
"I'm not." Ash a tried to deny her, unsuccessfully.
Serena sat opposite him, and took ahold of his hands. They were warm, as usual. "Ashy, I'm your girlfriend. I know when you don't feel good. I've gotten used to it, like you know when I don't feel happy."
Ash didn't say anything in response to this. She was right, after all. He did know when she was upset.
"I hate seeing you like this, Ash... I want to help you. I like seeing you happy... "Serena said. She still didn't get a reply. "Ash... Don't you trust me?"
That caught Ash's attention. "Of course I trust you, Serena... Of course I do, you know I do!..."
"Then why won't you talk to me?..."
Ash was about to deny it, but sighed instead, realizing it was pointless. His efforts to keep her from worrying had, in fact, made her worry more. "Okay, I'm upset. I'm depressed..."
Serena moved closer to Ash, holding onto his hands more. "Because of Goodra?"
Ash nodded. "I... Really cared for Goodra. I did I still do care about Goodra... I wanted Goodra to be happy, that's why I told him to stay at the swamp... Why I... Released him..."
Serena inched closer to him. She tried to make him feel comfortable. "But?..."
"...I don't know if I made the right choice leaving Goodra there. I don't know if I'm ever going to get another chance to see Goodra again. If Goodra would even recognize me if we didn't see each other again. I raised Goodra from a small, weak little Goomy, into a big Pokémon like Goodra..." Ash admitted, spilling out all his thoughts and emotions. "I... Don't know if I made the right choice..."
Serena was close to tears. She held Ash tightly, hugging him, his head rested into her shoulder, and she rested her hands though Ash's hair. "Stop... Stop thinking like that... It hurts... To see you beat yourself up like this... You let Goodra go... Because you thought it was the right thing to do... You thought Goodra would be happier in the wetlands, with its friends, who knew it as a Goomy. You left Goodra there because it wanted to protect its friends... And you left him there... Because you thought it was right... No one can ever fault you for that. Not even Goodra can..."
Ash found himself with a small smile on his face. Only Serena could change his mood from chronically depressed to feeling better about himself.
"You'll see Goodra again. I know you will." Serena told him. She also hugged Ash a second time.
Ash smiled and returned the hug. "Thank you. You know just what to say."
Serena smiled, and went a light shade of pink. "I learnt that from you."