Serena had no idea how much time had passed. Her entire body felt stiff and freezing cold. Just as she started hallucinating a beautiful, welcoming light beckoning her to the afterlife, she finally felt Ash's speed begin to drop.
Ash slowly lowered her to the ground. The moment her feet touched the dirt, her legs completely gave out. Serena instinctively collapsed forward.
"Fro."
Thankfully, Froakie had incredibly fast reflexes. It reached out a hand and supported Serena's waist, helping her barely maintain her balance.
"Thank you, Froakie."
Serena thanked the frog and tried to stand properly. She then looked over at Ash.
Ash's attention was nowhere near Serena. He carefully lifted Mew down from his head and inspected the pink creature from every angle. His voice was laced with deep concern.
"Mew, are you hurt?"
"Mew!"
Mew replied with boundless energy. Not only was it completely unharmed, but it happily grabbed Ash's arm and shook it enthusiastically. It looked entirely ready to go for another ride.
Mew had clearly treated the high-speed escape as a thrilling game.
"I'm so glad you're okay."
Ash let out a heavy sigh of relief. Seeing Mew float up and affectionately rub against his cheek, Ash couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Stop moving, Mew! That tickles!"
"Mew really seems to like you, Ash." Seeing the heartwarming scene, a knowing smile graced Serena's lips. "Did you two become good friends back when you were kids?"
"Huh?" Ash paused, thinking back. "I definitely talked to Mew when I was little, but I don't think we were this close."
Curious, Ash pointed to himself and looked at the floating pink feline.
"Mew, do you actually remember me? We met a long time ago."
"Mew?"
Hearing the question, Mew tilted its head. It stared closely at Ash, floating in circles around him several times. Suddenly, it let out a chirp of pure realization and dove right back into Ash's chest.
"Mew!"
Oh, it's this guy! I totally remember you! Long time no see!
"Fro, fro."
Froakie, who perfectly understood the Pokémon language, shot Mew a massive side-eye. It didn't know how else to describe it, but this so-called Mythical Pokémon seemed like an absolute troll.
"Fro."
But Froakie quickly shook its head. Whether Mew was a troll or not had nothing to do with its goals. Froakie walked over and tugged on Ash's jacket. It pointed to itself, then pointed directly at Mew. A fierce battle aura ignited in its eyes.
I was denied a proper slaughter earlier. But this time, a spar is a perfectly reasonable reward for saving your life, is it not?
"Froakie, do you want to battle Mew?" Ash didn't notice Mew suddenly freeze in the air. Seeing Froakie overflowing with fighting spirit, Ash blinked, then grinned fiercely.
Ash turned to Mew with a burning gaze.
"Mew, let's have a Pokémon battle!"
He issued the challenge directly. Ash had no idea where they currently were, but he knew he had run an incredibly long distance. Vicious and his grunts wouldn't be able to catch up to them anytime soon.
They definitely had enough time for a quick match.
"Mew."
Mew looked at the boy and his frog in total dismay. It was a Mythical Pokémon, sure, but it didn't actually like fighting all that much. Especially not against this specific Water-type. Mew had never seen a Froakie so incredibly bloodthirsty!
Could it fight? Sure. Did it want to get sliced at by a crazy frog? Absolutely not. Mew thought about it for exactly one second.
"Mew!"
Flashing a bright, innocent smile, Mew waved its tiny paws at Ash. It shot straight up into the sky and completely vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
"Huh? Wait, why did it leave?!"
Ash was entirely baffled by Mew's sudden departure. But the one who was truly stunned was Froakie. It never expected a Legendary being to act so incredibly flaky.
A moment later, Froakie's eyes widened in pure fury. It glared at Ash with absolute murderous intent.
"Fro!"
The whetstone ran away! How do you plan to compensate me for this?!
"Ah..." Ash opened his mouth but had absolutely no idea what to say. He scratched his head nervously. "I couldn't stop it! Maybe Mew just remembered it had something really important to do?"
"Fro, fro!"
Froakie wasn't buying a single word of it. It didn't care if Mew had important business or not. The pink rat ruined its mood and just dipped!
Froakie glared at Ash. Before the boy could say another word, a glowing blade of light materialized in the frog's hand.
"Fro!"
Since Mew escaped, you will have to extinguish my flames of war!
"Froakie, what are you doing? Stop! Stop! Stay back!"
"Don't come any closer!"
"Fro!"
Words are useless! I shall cut!
"Gaaaaah!"
...
Sometime later.
Ash was face-down in the dirt. His eyes were totally vacant, and his face was covered in striking red welts. A short distance away, Froakie sat with a piece of wild grass dangling from its mouth, looking entirely satisfied and refreshed.
Serena had watched the entire spectacle. Her eyelids twitched violently. She looked utterly traumatized.
"Ash... the way you bond with your Pokémon is... very unique."
It took Serena a painfully long time to assemble the words to form that single, dry sentence. She wasn't naturally bad with words. She just genuinely had no idea how to describe the sheer absurdity of what she had just witnessed.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Ash slowly peeled himself off the ground, clutching his bruised cheeks. "It can't be helped. Froakie is just way too strong. My Trainer level is still way too low to bring out its full potential."
"But I know that soon enough, I'll be able to let Froakie battle to its heart's content!" Ash forced a confident grin. But the movement pulled at his bruised facial muscles, and his expression instantly crumbled. He held his jaw in agony. "Ow, that really hurts. You really don't hold back at all, do you, Froakie?"
"Fro."
Having completely vented its frustrations, Froakie had entered a state of pure zen. It gave Ash a sidelong glance and waved a hand dismissively.
Of course I use my full strength. Otherwise, there is no meaning to the battle.
However, the sensation of cutting you is getting significantly better. Keep up the good work.
Seeing Froakie's expression, Ash's eyelid twitched. He couldn't speak Pokémon, but after spending almost a month together, he could perfectly decipher the frog's micro-expressions.
It made him seriously question if Froakie viewed him as its Trainer or its personal punching bag.
If Froakie knew what Ash was thinking, it would have immediately answered: both. Who said a Trainer couldn't also be a punching bag?
Ahem.
Seeing Ash wincing in pain, Serena suddenly remembered something. She unzipped her backpack, rummaged around, and pulled out a small spray bottle.
"Ash, this Potion spray should help with the bruising. Do you want to try it?"
"Oh! You have something this great?" Ash accepted the bottle with a bright smile. "Thanks, Serena!"
He gave himself a quick spray over the worst of his red marks. A cool, soothing sensation washed over him.
"Wow, this feels amazing. This spray is super effective!"
"I'm glad it helps," Serena smiled softly.
Watching Ash earnestly treat his wounds, the smile slowly faded from Serena's lips. Her mind drifted back to her childhood memories.
When Ash was carrying her earlier, his speed had been so absurd that she couldn't focus on anything else. But now that she had calmed down, Serena couldn't ignore the striking similarities between Ash's back and the boy who had carried her out of the forest all those years ago.
There was a chance she was just mixing things up due to her near-death experience in the wind tunnel.
But all these little clues were piling up. Serena had always been so confident in her childhood memories. But now, looking at Ash, she felt a seed of doubt taking root. This doubt extended directly to Goh and his status as her supposed savior.
Since so much time had passed, there was no easy way to verify the truth. Serena stared at Ash's back. A sudden, irrational urge to lean against it again to test the feeling washed over her.
"Hmm?"
Perhaps her staring was a bit too intense. Ash turned around to look at her. Seeing her staring blankly at his back, Ash instinctively twisted around to inspect his own shirt.
"Is there something on my back, Serena?"
Ash turned completely around, presenting his back to her.
"Can you brush it off for me?"
"Uh." Snapping out of her daze, a massive blush exploded across Serena's face. She frantically waved her hands in denial. "No! There's nothing there! Sorry, I was just lost in thought."
"Oh, gotcha."
Ash accepted the excuse without a second thought. After all, when he was thinking hard about something, he often stared blankly at walls too.
As Ash went back to spraying his arms, Serena opened her mouth to ask him something, but hesitated. Finally, she gathered her courage and bit her lip.
"Ash... are you absolutely sure you didn't attend the Summer Camp when you were little?"
"Nope." Ash was starting to question Serena's memory, but he answered politely. "I spent the whole time camping out in the forest."
"Did you happen to run into anyone else from the camp while you were out there?" Her heart began to beat a little faster.
If Ash really was the boy who saved her, he would have had to drop her off at the camp. He must have seen the other kids, right?
"I didn't even go to the camp. How would I have met anyone from it?"
"You didn't..."
Serena didn't know exactly what she was feeling right now. Was it disappointment? Not exactly. It just felt like a strange, hollow emptiness in her chest.
But before she could dwell on it, Ash spoke up again.
"But now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I did lead a little girl out of the forest back then."
"You saved a little girl?! What did she look like? Was she..."
Was it me? Serena swallowed the words before they could slip out.
"Did she look... anything like me?"
"Hmm... I didn't really get a good look at her." Ash shook his head. "My brain was completely focused on finding Mew. So as soon as I dropped her off at the edge of the forest, I just ran right back in."
"Is that so..."
It didn't line up flawlessly with her own memories. But the similarities were at least a seventy percent match.
The way Serena looked at Ash shifted entirely.
"Uh... why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing." Serena quickly looked away, offering a gentle, nostalgic smile. "You really do love Pokémon, don't you, Ash?"
"Yeah! I love Pokémon more than anything!" Ash declared without a microsecond of hesitation. Then, he looked at her weirdly. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"No reason. Just a random thought."
Serena brushed it off with a vague excuse before asking her next question.
"So, what are you planning to do now, Ash?"
"Well, Mew is gone. And I doubt those guys will be able to find it again anytime soon. So my next goal is to catch a new Pokémon!" Ash scratched his head, outlining his master plan. Then, he let out a wry chuckle. "But I guess we should figure out where we are first, right? Sorry, Serena. I ended up getting you lost all over again."
"It's totally fine! I didn't know how to get out of the forest anyway." Serena waved her hands, signaling him not to worry. "We're basically just back at square one. Though you are right. We do need to figure out our location."
Speaking of which, Serena looked at Ash as if he were a mythical beast himself.
"Seriously though, your stamina is absolutely insane, Ash. I can't believe you ran that far without stopping."
"Huh? Really?" Ash blinked in surprise. "It's not that big of a deal. I've just improved a lot from sparring with Froakie. I definitely couldn't run this far before."
"..." Serena stared at the prominent red welts still lingering on Ash's face and fell into complete silence.
Right. If he was constantly surviving that level of brutal training, it would be physically impossible for him not to get stronger.
But was this really how Pokémon Trainers trained? It felt a lot more like a martial artist's training regime.
Serena kept her critiques to herself.
Just as the two of them were trying to decide which direction to walk, a sudden rustling noise came from the brush. They turned their heads. A young man with dark skin, spiky hair, and permanently squinted eyes stepped out of the trees.
Seeing Ash and Serena staring at him, the young man paused. He had no idea what was going on, but he figured he should at least be polite.
"Um... hello?"
"Oh man, I am so glad to see you!"
"Huh?!"
Seeing Ash practically vibrating with excitement, the squinting youth was caught off guard. His eyes darted from the red, whip-like marks covering Ash's body, to the flushed, heavily breathing Serena standing right next to him.
Nobody knew exactly what went through the young man's mind. But in the next second, his face completely changed color. He took a massive, panicked step backward.
"Uh, I'm just passing through! I am so sorry for interrupting you two!"
"I won't bother you! I'm leaving right now!"
"What in the world are you talking about?"
Ash completely failed to understand the context. Seeing the only local about to run away, Ash bolted forward and grabbed the young man's arm.
"Wait! At least tell us how to get out of this forest first!"
"Hmm?" The panicked youth turned back and looked at Ash in surprise. He glanced at Serena again. His squinting eyes made it impossible to read his exact gaze, but his face suddenly lit up with profound understanding.
"Ah, I see. You guys got a little too wild and lost your way? Kids these days sure are adventurous."
"It is absolutely not what you are thinking!" Unlike the totally clueless Ash, Serena's face burned entirely crimson. She screamed at the top of her lungs. "We are literally just lost!"
"I get it, I get it." The young man made a zipping motion across his mouth. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed."
"I am not worried about that!"
Serena completely lost her mind.
...
After a massive amount of frantic explaining, the young man finally seemed to accept Serena's story. Well, because of his perpetually squinting eyes, Serena couldn't actually tell if he believed her or not. But she had no choice but to assume he did.
"Sorry about that. I totally overthought the situation," the young man apologized. "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Brock. And as for where we are, this is actually the foot of Mt. Moon."
"Mt. Moon?"
Ash and Serena exchanged a blank look. Neither of them knew where that was. Ash was the first to ask the crucial question.
"How far is this from Pewter City?"
"...You guys are trying to go to Pewter City?" Brock looked at Ash like he was insane.
"Yeah. I need to challenge the Pewter Gym."
Brock's expression grew even stranger.
"Then you guys went pretty heavily off course." Brock pointed directly behind them. "If you want to get to Pewter City, you're going to have to turn around and walk for a few days."
"Huh?"
"Wait, you mean we ran dozens of kilometers in the wrong direction?"
"HUH?!"
Both Ash and Serena gasped in shock, but for completely different reasons. Ash was devastated by the massive waste of travel time. Serena, on the other hand, was simply horrified by Ash's sheer, inhuman velocity.
"So we have to walk for days just to get back to Pewter City?" Ash looked completely crestfallen. "Darn it! That's going to take so much time."
"Are you only going to Pewter City to challenge the Gym?" Seeing Ash's distress, Brock thought for a moment before asking.
"I also need to call Professor Oak and give him an update... but that's not urgent. I can do that at any Pokémon Center."
"Is that so..." Brock looked at Ash thoughtfully. He quickly offered a proposal.
"Since you're going to have to spend time walking back to Pewter City anyway, why not explore Mt. Moon first?"
"Huh?"
"The Pewter Gym requires a 3v3 battle format. You only have two Pokémon right now, don't you, Ash? It would be a perfect opportunity to catch your third partner," Brock advised. "Mt. Moon is home to a ton of different Pokémon. People have even spotted super rare ones like Chansey up there."
"I honestly think I could beat the Gym just using Froakie," Ash muttered under his breath, looking down at his frog.
He said that, but deep down, Ash wasn't completely confident he could actually get Froakie to participate in an official Gym battle. If Froakie decided it was bored and refused to fight, Ash would be forced to rely entirely on Mimikyu, which would be a massive problem.
Besides, Ash genuinely did want to catch a new friend.
"What do you think, Serena?"
"Mt. Moon... I've heard stories about a giant Moon Stone hidden up there for a long time. I'd actually love to go see it."
"Alright then!"
Since Serena was on board, Ash didn't hesitate for another second.
"Then let's head straight for Mt. Moon!"