A Journey's Link

Chapter 15 - Control

Serena watched as the boy with black and red-streaked hair was pulled back inside the Pokemon Center, and sighed. I guess asking him such a stupid question was pointless, she thought. Besides, my Pokemon are healed up, and I need to find May, wherever she is.

Unbeknownst to her, May was right inside the Pokemon Center helping out two other trainers. Serena stood up, collected her things from the bench she was sitting on, and trekked towards the Contest Hall, hoping to find any clues to where May could've gone.

I should find May there, she thought. After all, it was the last place I saw her. Looking at her surroundings, she noticed that the stone buildings, which had people entering in and out when they arrived, were empty as the streets; it seemed that everyone needed to be at the Pokemon Center.

Serena kept mindlessly walking until she walked to the front door entrance to the Contest Hall. She hadn't even noticed that she arrived there until she saw the inside through the glass. It was still bright and grand inside; just how it was when they had gotten there that morning.

But instead of countless spectators and coordinators bustling about, there was no one, just the shiny reflection of the ceilings and the sparkling floors. Taking a deep breath, she entered the hall, hoping to find her friend and, just maybe, some answers as to why her crystal was acting so weird.

[-]

Goh, who was back at the Pokemon Center, was being swarmed by desperate trainers and their injured Pokemon. He tried calming down all of the trainers; he didn't want anyone to get hurt in the commotion, but he also couldn't heal everyone's Pokemon all at once.

"EVERYONE STOP!" Ash's voice yelled over the noise. Goh looked over at the source of the voice and saw Ash with a serious look on his face. The room became dead silent as any living soul in the room now had their full attention on Ash.

Ash looked shocked for a second that everyone had looked up at him so quickly, but he quickly became serious once again. "I know everyone wants their Pokemon to feel better, but if everyone doesn't work together, they'll never get healed!" he yelled.

Every person in the Pokemon Center looked up at Ash and nodded, agreeing with his words. Ash saw each trainer looking up at him with respect, almost as if he was a leader to them. He hadn't planned to come up in front of everyone and give them orders; it had just sort of happened to him.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw who it belonged to. It was May; she noticed Ash had frozen and realized the opportunity she had with everyone's attention now. Instead of yelling abruptly as Ash had done, she went for a calmer, more stable tone.

"Everyone needs to form a single file line right here," she said, pointing to the area that led to Nurse Joy's reception desk. Silently, people began lining up until it reached outside the door and into the streets. All the while, Ash and May were trying to ensure that everything was going smoothly at the front desk.

Goh had continued helping people throughout this entire fiasco, working harder than before order was attained. While the three volunteers were hard at work at the Pokemon Center, a certain coordinator was searching for May across the town at the Contest Hall.

"May?!" May, are you in here?" yelled Serena, searching through the changing room. She had been searching for May the entire time the other three were helping at the Center, to no avail. She couldn't find her closest friend, let alone anyone else. The Contest Hall had been empty the entire time, and not a single soul was inside.

Serena sighed; no one was there right now. Why would people even come here? She thought. Obviously, they would go to the Pokemon Center before anything else. She had thought that maybe there would be some clues as to where May went at the Contest Hall, but she supposed her nerve-wracking experience with the crystal had muddled her thought process.