All for You

Chapter 35

While the both of them had started off running in the direction Hatena pointed, they quickly realised it wasn't going to get them anywhere. Hatena was still guiding them with its hat. I was no longer glowing, and it had been half an hour and they still couldn't see Balonlea.

But even after they had stopped running, neither wanted to let go of the other's hand, so they were both blushing lightly and holding hands as they walked, Pikachu trailing behind.

As Ash poked a mushroom with his free hand, he thought about his battle. "Do you think we're going to make it on time?" He asked Serena.

"I don't know." She said sullenly. After thinking about it for a moment, though, she smiled slightly. "Well, maybe. Since the map made it look like we were quite close, and since Hatena is guiding us along, I bet we'll make it before it starts!"

This reminded Serena of something else. "Oh yeah. Remember your first battle in the Kalos league?"

Ash was off-put by this change in topic. "Yeah?"

"Why were you late?" Serena had wondered this many times but hadn't thought to ask Ash until now.

"Oh, yeah! Remember that trainer with the Furfrou who challenged me to a battle before registration, and I promised him another one the next time I saw him?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the next time I saw him was in the hallway that led to my side of the battlefield!"

"No way! You had a battle with him?"

"Yeah, right before my other battle! I only just made it in time. That actually wasn't the first time something like that happened, though."

"What do you mean?" Serena noticed that whatever crazy things Ash had done, he had often done them more than once.

"Well, it was my very first league, and Team Rocket captured Pikachu before my battle. I got him back, but was really late to my battle. I actually only made it there because my opponent, Ritchie, had asked the ref not to cancel the battle, and because I arrived on Team Rocket's hot air balloon!"

"Really? That's incredible! Did you win the battle?"

"No. Back then, my Charizard wouldn't listen to me. We were both down to our last pokemon, and I sent out my Charizard. But because it refused to lsiten to me, I was disqualified." Ash flashed back to the event, smiling bitterly.

"Oh no! That must have been terrible." Serena said sadly.

"Pika." Pikachu agreed.

"Yeah. But it helped me grow as a trainer. And I never gave up on Charizard. We eventually became friends, and he grew to respect me as a trainer." Ash smiled at the day Charizard had finally listened to him.

"Wow. You've gone on so many great adventures, and have so many stories to tell!" Serena said in awe.

Ash scratched the back of his head, blushing lightly at Serena's compliment. "Yeah, I've kinda travelled non-stop since I first got Pikachu." Except, of course, Unova. But he don't want to talk about that.

Ash scratched Pikachu's head, who let out a happy "Pika!"

Ash and Serena, still hand-in-hand, then both looked ahead. They were pleasantly suprised to find they had found the exit of Glimwood Tangle. They saw glimpses of houses and people walking around.

"There it is!" Ash said excitedly. Together he, Serena and Pikahu ran for the exit.

Once they could see the town more clearly, Serena gasped in awe. There were beautiful glowing mushrooms everywhere. There were multiple shops and homes, and everything had a whimsical charm about it.