All for You

Chapter 34

It was Saturday morning, and Ash and Serena were walking to the airport. Their flight left at 9:00 and they would arrive in Stow-on-Side at 12:00. From there they would travel through Glimwood Tangle to get to Balonlea, and their match would start at 4:00 that evening for the battle, if all went well, they would arrive in plenty of time.

Ash and Serena weren't concerend about that, though. They were having a nice time walking to the airport together. Together they passed by shops they knew and reminiced on their times in Lumiose City.

They arrived at the airport just in time for their flight. They both walked onto the plane together, still chatting. They had seats side by side; one window seat and one aisle seat.

"Which seat would you prefer, Serena?" Ash asked politely.

"Um, I'd like the window seat, if that's all right." Serena said, blushingly lightly as Ash's gentlemanly act.

Serena took a seat and Ash sat down besides her, Pikachu taking its place on Ash's lap. The both of them blushed lightly at the thought of sitting side-by-side for the entire flight. 

"So what do you know about Glimwood Tangle?" Serena asked nervously.

"It's a really pretty forest. It always looks and feels like night there, and there are these large mushrooms that glow when you touch them! It's really cool!" Ash said excitedly.

Serena giggled, then thought about the first part of the sentense. "It's always night there? What do you mean?"

"Because the foreset is so thick and tall, the trees block out all the sun. But since the mushrooms glow when you touch them, it's not a big deal! It's easy to get around, so don't worry!" Ash gave Serena a reassuring grin.

Serena sighed in relief. "Well, since you're so sure, and since you'll be there with me, I guess it'll be fine."

Ash smiled, petting Pikachu. "Of course! Y'know, last time I went, Goh, Chloe and I went to a bakery that made the best treats! Well, not quite the best. Your pokepuffs and macaroons win that prize. But the chef used Alcremie cream to make the desert extra-delicious!" Ash said excitedly. He always got worked up over desert.

Serena blushed lightly again. Ash thought her treats were the best in the world? "It sounds like it's really great!" Serena said happily.

"Yeah! The gym lealder there, Opal, is a bit strange though."

"What do you mean?" Serena loved hearing about all the strange people Ash had met on his journeys.

"The first time I met her, she had Goh and I put on pink clothes and quizzed us on herself."

Serena broke out into giggles. "What? What were the questions?"

"She asked us to tell her what her favorite color was, her age, and what food she liked to eat for breakfast! We didn't get any of the questions right." Ash said while laughing. 

Pikachu and Serena laughed too. 

They chatted the entire plane ride to Stow-On-Side.

When they both dismbarked at the airport, they explored the city. Ash insisted on looking for a resturant at which to eat lunch at, and Serena happily agreed. Together they explored an open air market and watched kids play

Eventually they ate lunch at a small resturant with great food. They then prepared to walk down the path through Glimwood Tangle.

Ash checked his packpack; it was filled up with water, snacks, flashlights, his phone, a map, and a few other items for travelling through a forest. The World Corronation Sereies offered to book him an escort to Balonlea, but Ash thought it would be more fun to travel through himself.

He zipped it up, swung it on his back, and looked to Serena. "You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Serena said confidently. "We're definently not going to get rained on then have to take shelter in a haunted house like before because the trees block the rain!" After she had realised this, her worry had eased considerably.

Ash took a moment to realise how often that happened to him. Now that he thought about it, almost every time it rained in the forest, there had been a house which he and his friends took cover in, only for them to realise it was haunted with ghost-type pokemon.

Together the two of them stepped into the forest. 

Serena looked around at the trees and mushrooms; once she took a few steps into the forest, it felt like a whole new world. After getting away from the entrance, there was almost no light except a faint glow coming off some mushrooms nearby. Serena thought she understood what Ash had been talking about untill Ash touched it. It lit up brighter than a lightbulb, and the light it gave off was relaxing but mysterious. Serena giggled a bit.

She then noticed the pokemon. There were many Hatena and Hatrem along with Passimian. There were a few Phantumps as well, wich worried Serena slightly since they were a little creepy, but they turned out to be friendly.

Every time they ran into a pokemon, Serena would watch Ash walk up to it and introduce himself and Pikachu. She giggled often as the Morgrem and Impidimp would steal his hat, or as the Hatena would sit on his head and replace his stolen headwear. Ash would then tell her "Come, on, everyone's friendly!" and Serena would have no choice but to work together with Ash to steal his hat back, or to don a Hatena hat of her own. Even the Phantump played with them; they would often put sticks in her hair to make her look a bit like a Phantump. 

Serena had a lot of fun in the forest with Ash. They and the pokemon walked  together, having fun. The adorable Hatena Serena had put on her head stayed there the entire journey.

After walking for around 2 hours, they took a break to check the map and have a sip of water. Ash took out the map to check their course. He had been told by Goh that his phone had a navigation feature, but he prefered a map. He did, however, utilize the compass feature on his phone to align the map. What he found confused him. They had been following the trail the whole time, but the map read that they should have arrived at Balonlea already. "Hmmm.." He mused.

"Pika?" Asked Pikachu.

"What's wrong?" Asked Serena. 

"The map makes it look like we should have arrived a while back, since we already passed that stream," He pointed to the map. "Quite a while ago. We followed the path, though, so I don't see how we could have gotten turned around. Unless..."

"There was a fork in the road that we missed!" Serena wailed. They were lost in a forest at kinda-sorta night, and Ash's battle started in an hour or so.

"Don't worrry. I've been lost in more forests I can count, and I've always made it out." Ash said it confidently.  

That didn't put Serena at ease. "You've gotten lost in more forests you can count, and didn't think to tell me when you insisted we didn't need the guide?" She said sternly.

"Heh heh heh, I guess..." Ash gave her an apologetic grin and scratched the ack of his head nervously.

Serena couldn't help but smile a bit and shake her head at his childish antics. "Well, what do we do now?"

Ash thought for a moment. Maybe I could use Aura vision to see if the village is nearby. But then Serena would know about it. I could ask Lucario to do it, but... Why don't I want to tell Serena? I might as well. She's a really good friend, and I can't think of any reason to keep it from her. Yeah, I'll-

"Whoa!" Ash quickly turned to Serena, who had gasped. The Hatena on her head was glowing. 

"Hat ten aaa!" It said. It then pointed to the left with it's hat.

"We should go that way? Alright! Thank you, Hatena!" Serena said. After taking a second to wonder if she should, she grabbed Ash's hand and they started running towards the direction Hatena had pointed in, the dark forest hiding both their blushes.