c156: Serena's Confession of Failure!!
"Ash~"
"Ash~"
"Where are you, Ash?" After stepping out of the camp boundaries and into the forest surrounding the valley, Serena wanted to call out loudly. But due to her inherently reserved personality, the words that should have rung clear and strong came out soft and tentative more like a whisper carried by the wind than a true shout.
Though the Pokémon summer camp hosted by Professor Oak lasted only two short weeks, Serena realized that the growth and joy she experienced in this brief time had already far surpassed the emotional gains of her entire life up to that point.
She had once been painfully shy, timid, and self-effacing someone who hesitated to speak up or pursue dreams. She had never imagined that she could one day become the cheerful, confident girl she now saw reflected in the mirror each morning. She never thought she would dare to dream, let alone burn with genuine passion for the future.
And the source of all this transformation was the same boy she met again in Kanto, after years apart: Ash Ketchum the one who once offered her a hand when she fell at Professor Sycamore's camp in Vaniville Forest.
Ash was so knowledgeable, determined, and full of boundless energy. To her, he felt like a miniature sun one whose light pierced the heavy clouds that had long obscured her inner world, illuminating her path and gently guiding her out of the shadows.
Despite her being so unremarkable in her own eyes, Ash never once looked down on her. Instead, he offered encouragement at every turn, cheered her on during challenges, helped her train her Fennekin, and treated her as an equal. His simple kindness and unwavering optimism helped her rediscover parts of herself long buried under doubt.
Under Ash's quiet encouragement and steadfast presence, the once-introverted Serena had learned to smile, speak up, and even battle with confidence. She felt, for the first time, that she had value and that she could chase a dream of her own.
It was Ash who made that possible.
At first, Serena simply felt grateful for all he had done. But as the days passed and they trained, explored, and laughed together, that gratitude deepened. The warmth in her chest whenever he smiled at her, the nervous flutter in her heart when he called her name it all pointed to a deeper feeling.
Eventually, Serena recognized it for what it was.
She liked Ash.
The realization had startled her. For days, she tried to suppress it, ignore it, convince herself that it wasn't real. But this feeling, once planted, only continued to grow. Like a sprouting bud nourished by sunlight, it flourished in her heart without her consent.
Now, the summer camp's final activities had concluded. The official closing ceremony would take place that evening, and by morning, she and her friends from Kalos would be boarding the train back to Lumiose City.
Thinking about saying goodbye and possibly never seeing Ash again—sent a wave of fear and regret crashing over her. The emotions she had so carefully suppressed finally broke free, flooding her with clarity and urgency.
She no longer wanted to run from her feelings.
Before the camp ended, before they were separated by regions and schedules and leagues, Serena had to tell him. She wanted Ash to know exactly how she felt—that she, Serena Yvonne from Vaniville Town, really, truly liked him.
Even if he didn't feel the same… even if her confession didn't change anything… she needed to say it.
However, the valley campgrounds were vast. Ash, who had gone to the outer forest regions to record and replicate the final batch of wild Pokémon skills for his Aura-based training, was nowhere near the usual camp spots.
Serena wandered farther than she realized, looking for him in every clearing and trail they had previously explored together. But as she followed the winding paths deeper into the outer woodlands, the trees thickened, and the familiarity of the landscape began to fade.
Before long, Serena realized she was lost.
The surroundings had changed. No trails. No voices. The thick canopy overhead blocked the sunlight. Shadows fell heavy, cloaking everything in quiet, eerie darkness. The deeper she went, the more oppressive it felt.
She hadn't noticed it when she first entered this part of the forest—so focused had she been on finding Ash. But now that she paused and truly looked around, her heart began to pound in her chest.
There were no other people in sight.
No Pokémon nearby.
No obvious direction home.
Serena, who had bravely stepped out to face her emotions, now stood alone in a forest far from camp, and for the first time in days, fear overtook her.
She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered slightly not from the cold, but from the sudden uncertainty and dread that replaced her confidence.
Still, even with fear creeping in, one thought held her steady:
She had to find Ash.
She had to tell him.
Even if it meant pushing past every bit of fear in her heart.
There was no sunlight filtering through the thick canopy of the woods, and the deeper Serena walked, the colder it felt against her skin. The dampness of the forest clung to her sleeves, and every now and then, a gust of lin feng that intermittent mountain wind unique to the valley's edge swept through the trees. The wind wasn't consistent; sometimes it came in soft whispers that rustled the grass gently, other times it howled through the branches like a living thing. The way it shook the underbrush, it felt as though something might lunge out from a dark corner at any moment and grab her.
Surrounded by this eerie atmosphere, Serena began to feel a creeping terror she hadn't experienced since childhood.
"Ash..." she murmured. Clutching her Clefairy tightly against her chest, Serena shrank her shoulders and called out again, though her voice now quivered with fear. Without realizing it, tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.
Then—"R-rustle..."
Suddenly, the bushes directly in front of her began to shake violently. She froze in place. Every hair on her body stood on end, her breathing caught in her throat. Something was definitely coming fast.
"Whoosh!!"
In the next instant, a Poliwag with dark blue skin and a spiral belly suddenly burst out of the brush, skipping across the clearing and diving into the shrubs on the other side. It was harmless likely just foraging for berries or returning to a pond.
But Serena, already on edge, panicked.
"Ah!!" she shrieked. Her body reflexively stepped back, and in doing so, her right foot landed directly on a thick, dry branch with a loud crack.
She lost her balance.
With a startled cry, she fell hard to the forest floor.
Pain shot through her ankle like a jolt of lightning. It throbbed immediately, and as she looked down, she could already see a red swelling rising near her shin.
She winced and slowly let Clefairy down from her arms. Using her hands to push herself up, she tried to rise but the sharp, shooting pain stopped her.
"Ahh! It hurts…!" she gasped, tears finally falling freely.
She had entered the woods, heart filled with determination and hope, desperate to tell Ash her feelings before they had to part. But instead of finding him, she had lost her way. And now she had sprained her ankle alone, helpless, and hurt.
Fear and frustration flooded her heart.
She had pushed herself so hard just to say those words. But now she sat crying alone in the woods, with Clefairy hovering nearby worriedly.
"Sniff... Ash… where are you...? Sniffle..." Serena sobbed. One hand gripped her ankle tightly to stop the pain, while the other wiped away the tears pouring down her cheeks. Her voice trembled with sorrow and helplessness.
"Shaaaa..." Another rustle came from the bushes ahead closer this time. Serena stiffened and held her breath, panic once again rising in her throat.
Then
"Serena!!"
The voice that called out was urgent and unmistakable.
Pushing through the brush, holding his Froakie protectively in his arms, Ash appeared.
When his eyes fell on the sight of Serena, sitting on the ground in tears, he froze for a brief second. The image struck him with déjà vu—reminiscent of the moment they first met as children at Professor Sycamore's camp, when she had fallen and he had helped her up.
But this wasn't a time for reflection.
He rushed to her side immediately.
Pulling a soft, light-blue handkerchief from his pocket.one with a small Poké Ball stitched into the corner he gently knelt beside her and began dabbing the tears from her cheeks.
"Serena, are you okay?" he asked, worry thick in his voice. He noticed the swelling on her ankle instantly. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
"Hm… I-I fell," Serena murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I twisted my ankle."
She wanted to hide her face. Ash's gentle voice and concerned expression filled her heart with warmth, but also with embarrassment. She had intended to find him, stand tall, and confess her feelings like a confident Trainer.
Now here she was crying, injured, and completely unromantic.
She had planned to meet Ash under the sunlight, maybe near the riverbank where they trained, where she could speak her heart without fear. But instead, she had wandered too far, ended up in an unfamiliar part of the woods, and fallen like a child.
And now Ash, like the hero of a story, had come to her rescue.
Except… she didn't feel like a princess right now.
She felt like a mess.
Even though her heart ached with love, and even though this moment brought her joy deep down, Serena couldn't bring herself to say the words she had come to deliver.
Not like this.
She looked at Ash his hair tousled, his face still streaked with dirt from exploring, his gaze completely focused on her.
He looked strong, dependable… and just like the boy who once helped her up so long ago.
But she—Serena wasn't ready.
Not yet.
Not while sitting in the dirt with tears on her face.
Not while her heart still trembled.
She bit her lip, swallowed her words, and let the moment pass.
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