"Fen! Use Flamethrower!"
"Fang, dodge it! Great, now get in close and use Force Palm!"
"Fen!"
Ash and Bonnie were having a practice battle to prepare the younger trainer for her battle in Saffron City. Ash knew that the previous Gym Leader, Sabrina, had quit after an incident with Ash and a Haunter. All he had been able to tell her was that the Saffron Gym used psychic types.
"Now Fen! Use Thunder Punch and follow it up with Psybeam!"
"Fang! Stop it with a Low Kick!"
Fang slammed its foot into Fen's arm, knocking away the Thunder Punch before it could hit.
"Now! One more Force Palm!"
Fang's paw touched Fen on the back and shot it into the dirt, causing major damage to the fire type.
"Use Flamethrower! On the ground!"
Flames shot out in all directions as they hit the floor, Fang had to jump away from Fen to avoid being hit. But the Riolu quickly followed up with a Quick Attack once the flames were gone, fainting Fen.
"Ash!" Serena walked up to the young man, "You've been battling with Fang all day, let it have a break for a while."
Serena scooped the pokemon up into her arms as it smiled up at her, "Besides, dinners ready."
"Awesome!" Ash grinned as he rubbed his stomach, "I'm starving!"
"Aww," Bonnie groaned as she gave Fen a Max Revive, "I wanna battle more..."
"We'll battle some more tomorrow!" Ash told her, running after Serena and Fang as they walked back to the campsite.
As they ate, Serena suddenly remembered something, "Ash, did you ever open that letter Mr. Blue gave you?"
Ash froze, fork sticking out of his mouth as he look over to the girl. Pulling out his fork he shook his head before standing up, "I'll be right back..."
He walked away from the table that Clemont had set up, he walked out of the clearing and into the woods; even Pikachu had been left behind as he walked away.
"Pourquoi j'ai dit ça..." Serena felt guilt hit her like a bus, it was crushing to say the least; she stood up and ran after him.
________________________________________________________________________________
Ash stood by a small stream that ran through the trees, the sound of Pidgeys in the distance was comforting as he pondered. The letter. He had yet to open it, he'd kept it with him in his pocket but hadn't even started to open it; he was scared of it.
"Ash!" he could hear the soft voice of Serena calling out to him.
Serena finally caught sight of her friend, his back was to her as he looked out at the stream ahead of him; letter in hand.
"Ash," she began, "I'm so sorry I said anything about the letter I-"
"Is it bad that I'm scared to open it?" Ash's voice was quiet, almost to quiet for the Kalosian girl to hear.
"No." she shook her head, despite him not being able to see her, "Not at all. It's been a long time since you saw your dad right?"
"Yeah..." Ash nodded slowly, "I haven't seen him since before I left on my journey in Kanto. It's been over seven years, he's the best trainer in the world and I haven't even won a league after seven years... what if he's not even proud of me?"
"Ash..." Serena moved to sit beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder, "I obviously don't know your dad, but I do know you. You're kind, brave and strong; your dad would be stupid if he wasn't proud of you."
They sat in silence after that, even if only for a few moments. Ash held the letter in his hands, the thought of his fathers words still worried him but he felt like he could handle them. Then, after another moment; he spoke again.
"Will you stay here with me?" he asked the girl beside him, "While I read this, will you stay with me?"
"Ash..." Serena smiled fondly at him, his innocent words warming her heart, "Of course."
Ash smiled, it was small but it was there; then he tore open the letter.
Ash,
It's been quite some time now since I was able to come and see you. I apologize for that, I've been very busy lately but I've made sure to watch everything you've done. I saw you compete in the league in Kanto, I was so proud of you. Then I saw you get even better in the Silver Conference, and better still in Hoenn. You're tactics in Sinnoh were fantastic too kiddo! I saw you hit that slump in Unova, I almost came to see you but I knew that you could get through it; that me interfering would do more harm than good. And then you placed second in Kalos! That Greninja of yours was amazing, you'll have to show it to me someday. Again Ash, I'm really sorry that I haven't spoken with you in so long and so I want you to go somewhere for me so that I can talk to you. I won't be able to see you in person just yet, but in Johto there's a Pokegear waiting for you. It has my number on it, it should be in the Pokemon Center in Azalea Town.
I wish you the best of luck son, sincerely- your father, Red Ketchum.
Ash stared at the note, his father must have spoken with his mother to know he didn't have a Pokegear. That at least meant that he was doing well, that was something he was happy to know.
"Ash..." Serena placed a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Ash turned to her and smiled, "I'm great!"
________________________________________________________________________________
"So after we're done in Saffron City, we'll head out to Pallet Town and then go to Johto." Ash told them in the morning, "Bonnie, you can start working on some badges there so that you'll be ready to get all eight in Kalos!"
"Awesome!" Bonnie grinned, "Let's get moving then!"
"I think that sounds like a great idea Ash." Clemont told him, "However I still think we should take our time getting to Saffron City, and maybe you can catch a new pokemon Bonnie."
"Clemont's right," Serena nodded, "You only have two after all."
"What kind of pokemon live around here?" Bonnie looked to Ash.
"Pidgeotto might..." Ash told her, "Metapod, maybe some Beedrill..."
"I wanna catch a Pidgeotto!" Bonnie exclaimed, jumping up from her seat the collapsible table.
"Well the," Ash thought for a moment, "I suggest we start looking around for a flock."
They ventured off into the woods once more, searching for a flock of Pidgey's and Pidgeotto. Ash had told them it was more common to find a Pidgeotto here since higher level pokemon tended to reside around Saffron City. As they walked, Clemont and Bonnie ended up splitting off from Ash and Serena after Ash said something to Clemont.
"We're gonna look this way," Clemont had told them, "See you in a bit."
"What was that about?" Serena questioned, looking to the raven haired trainer beside her.
"No clue..." Ash said, scratching his cheek slightly, "Umm, Serena?"
"Yeah?" the honey blonde turned to face him, "What is it?"
"I just wanted to say thank you." Ash told her, "For last night I mean, I really appreciate you helping me out like that. I don't think I would have opened the letter if not for you so, yeah; thanks..."
Serena felt a slight bit of heat rise to her cheeks at his words, "Ash..."
She stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Anytime you need help, I'll be there."
Ash felt heat rise to his own face, unsure of what was wrong with him he opened his mouth to speak; but was interrupted.
A flash of light came from the direction of Bonnie and Clemont.
"Dedenne! Use Nuzzle one more time!" Ash heard Bonnie yell as they ran to find her and Clemont.
"De!"
When they found them, Bonnie was standing with a pokeball in her hand and a grin on her face.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Ah! Ash, how are you?"
"I'm doing well professor, how have you been?"
"I've been well, but I assume there's a reason you called?"
"Right," Ash was standing at the videophone in the Saffron City pokemon center, "I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of Mega Stone this is?"
Ash held up the stone to the camera, and Professor Sycamore's eyes went wide at what he saw, "I'm afraid I can't tell just by looking. But if you give me a moment I'll send a portable identifier over to you."
"Awesome, thanks professor!"
Sycamore dissapeared from the screen, but continued to speak, "So Ash, where did you find a Mega Stone in Kanto?"
"Oh," Ash replied, "A man named Mr. Fuji gave it to me, along with a Keystone."
"Interesting," Sycamore came back onto the screen, "Well, I just sent the identifier over to you; good luck!"
The screen went black as the professor disconnected from the call, Ash walked over to the transporter and picked up the machine. He set it on the table as Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena returned.
"Here we go." Ash placed the stones on the machine and it began to scan them slowly, a few minutes later it dinged.
Charizardite X
Ash grinned and reached for his pokeball that contained the large fire-flying type, "Let's go outside."
Outside the pokemon center, Ash called out Charizard and stuck the Mega Stone into a cloth that he wrapped around the pokemons arm.
"Charizard." he began, "This is gonna make us even stronger!"
Charizard let out a roar of excitement at the idea of getting even more powerful. Ash grinned and pressed his fingers to the Keystone, "Alright Charizard, Mega Evolve!"
Translations: Pourquoi j'ai dit ça - Why did I say that