AN: Yo, it's been a really long time, don't send me rock please :( i'm really sorry for this looooooooong upload... These last months were... really horribles... Having some problems with some people, having problems with ourself, you know... depression... stuff like that... I really wasn't okay... I found nothing to continue, and I even decided to cancel Elys ! Yeah... RIP Elys, but not this story... Because I always dreamt to have a story like this in this fandom, so I will continue it. I have many project in my future, so I prefer you follow me on twitter ( CaptainEverglow) for more new :D I guess if I'm kinda better today is... I fall in love actually... And I want to meet this person really much, being worse of him I guess... I don't know why I fall in love, he had like... strange, rubies eyes... That's weird, but whatever. I guess you don't care about my life x) Anyways, here is the chapter 3, it is really long and I will always thanks AdvancedAlto who take the patience to correct them !

Like always, i use mostly the Japanese Names for the characters by habit, only the town and the Pokemon keep their English names (except the cries); Satoshi = Ash, Musashi = Jessie, Kojiro = James, Nyasu = Meowth.

Pour les Français qui passent par ici, j'ai posté la fic en VF, donc si vous voulez, vous pouvez la lire en version original ;) (sauf si vous voulez vous perfectionner en anglais mais je doute que ça soit en lisant mes fics que vous serez parfait...)

Chapter 3 :

Brave petit Pokemon

When Serena was reunited with her Froakie she couldn't give any explanation to Agent Junsar. The policewoman didn't blame her and she was even happy to see them together, though she still wondered where the boy who'd also called for her help had gone. The nurse had searched everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found. They didn't wait any longer and the agent left. The new trainer, before leaving in turn, left her Pokémon with Nurse Joy to see if it was still in good shape and if it had gotten any injuries while it was gone last night. Fortunately for her, there were no injuries to be found. She also learned that her Froakie was a male, something that might be useful to know.

Satoshi, for the first time, became aware of what it was like to be examined by a nurse for Pokémon. It wasn't so different than when he went to see a doctor for humans, but since he was much smaller, the hands touching him felt very different. He felt like a toy in the hands of a human child.

After her final preparations, Serena took her little blue frog in her arms and finally left the Pokémon Center to head to the city where Calem might be. Satoshi, now in her arms with his back against her chest, identified an fragrance on her neck. She smelled of Jasmine, a flower that could be found in special places in Kanto. It reminded him of his mother, as when it was teatime during the first nine years of his life, they always had a tea that had the taste of a flower she'd added.

On her way, the girl was quickly stopped by a small Pokémon with big ears which had left the bushes to cross her path. She took out her Pokédex to identify it, the robotic voice of the electronic device explaining that it was a Bunnelby, as well as giving her a summary of its abilities. Satoshi, who was still in the girl's arms, listened intently, looking at the Pokémon in front of them. When the Pokédex finished its summary, Serena lowered the hand holding the Pokédex and tightened her hold on her Pokémon with her other arm and looked at the little Pokémon with a big smile.

"He's cute!" she exclaimed and immediately tried to get closer to the rabbit Pokémon, but as soon as she took a step, the Pokémon disappeared into the opposite bush. The young honey blond sighed at her failed attempt.

Satoshi also sighed, but not for the same reason. He looked up to see bird Pokémon sitting on tree branches, the same as he saw yesterday. He called out to his trainer, pointing at the orange-red birds, trying to tell her to use the Pokédex. Serena reacted when she saw him point with his little paw. She smiled when she saw the interest he had and also noticed the same Pokémon.

"Fletchling!" the girl cried out.

She pointed her machine toward them to hear what the machine had to say. Satoshi was attentive as well, knowing these Pokémon could be the perfect flying-type Pokémon for him. Lowering his head, he could see another Pokémon he'd never seen behind some bushes. He signalled Serena to leave him on the ground, something she didn't really trust him with, but was she quite surprised to to see that her Pokémon wanted her to follow him. When he guided her to a bush, they both saw a small gray Pokémon with white fur over its body. She scanned it and learned that it was a Spewpa and that they were totally harmless. They took another direction, as the frog bow showed her a variety of Pokémon that passed in front of them, so that Serena could scan them and most importantly, so that he could get a better understanding of what he was surrounded by.

After a while, he tried to go elsewhere by passing through a new bush. But going through it, he spotted a Pokémon he already knew. Satoshi froze for a few seconds, but remained hidden, as the sight of these Pokémon in the wild with their natural smiles made his heart break a bit. There were Pikachu alongside Pichu. Satoshi took a deep breath, remembering that his best friend was missing. He wondered if it was the first time that they'd been separated for so long. They've been separated a lot, but not for so long each time and they always found each other at the end. But now that he was here with this girl, how long would it take for him to see his beloved Pikachu again?
Serena found herself behind him and noticed the yellow Pokémon. She crouched behind her friend and she cried out softly. "Oh, Pikachu!"

She pointed her Pokédex towards them without being noticed "It seems that there's a movie studio for Pikachu, isn't it cute?"

Satoshi didn't really listen to her, turning away to walk elsewhere while having his head lowered under the gaze of his trainer, who was quite disturbed by his reaction. She stood up and caught up to him and before he could do anything else, she grabbed him with her hands and hugged him. "Is there a problem? You look sad."

The frog boy couldn't really answer, for different reasons. He tried to breathe out in spite of himself and looked at the girl who was holding him against herself, her blue eyes continuing to pierce his soul, eventually feeling a strange sensation in his head. The same as he had felt yesterday, a sensation that felt like his head imagined zapping through random channels.

Like a feeling of déjà vu.

The blue frog shook his head against her. Which did nothing, but kept looking at the ground. The young honey blond blinked as she noticed the reaction of her Pokémon. She thought he looked good at the moment, though something had suddenly changed, but what? Had he thought back to yesterday? No, he seemed determined to stay with her though. Unconsciously, she tightened her Pokémon against herself, while the blue frog gasped as he was squeezed against her. He turned his head to her again, still feeling a mysterious aura floating around them.

"Is there a problem, Froakie?" Serena asked in a very soft tone.

He looked down, shaking his head, with Serena starting to walk slowly, following the path that told her where to go. The sunlight illuminated them somewhat, hidden by the leaves of the trees. In Serena's arms, Satoshi could feel how the heat of the sun was strangely moisturizing to him. The body he had received was a water-type Pokémon. Did his body react to heat and fire? Was that supposed to protect him? He tried to take a few minutes to examine himself. Still, he hadn't yet given himself the time to fully look at his new body. His hands were white with three big right limbs, which was a strange feeling when he was used to having five. He examined the foam around his neck, which was rather thick, it could peel off his neck and he could almost make shapes with it. Where did the foam come from? Even if he removed it entirely, it still seemed to come back. He also noted that his eyes were outside his head. It was so strange to him, having his eyes be above his head and not on his face.

The young honey blonde didn't notice the actions of her Pokémon and tried to look around for any other Pokëmon she could analyze with her Pokédex. Then she saw a bush close to her rustling. She turned around and took a step back, not sure if it was going to be dangerous or not. Satoshi in her arms blinked several times expecting it to be a Pokémon unknown to him. Contrary to what they'd hoped for, three Ariados came out of the bush, looking furious. Serena's body shuddered at the sight of them and took a step back as Satoshi frowned, quite disappointed to see a Pokémon he already knew. The three spiders advanced slowly like predators, ready to jump on their prey. The girl bit her bottom lip, looking at the little blue frog in her arms and stuttered. "D-Do you know any moves?"

It wasn't a question he was certain he could answer. Did he know any moves? He'd no idea if he was honest. He hadn't figured his abilities out yet. His little heart was beating fast and he was suddenly afraid of that. He didn't know what he could do, and a Pokémon who doesn't know how to attack is useless. Since when did he start thinking like that though? No Pokémon was useless!

He tapped his head instantly, trying to force himself to forget his current thought. Serena, however, seeing that her little Pokémon didn't really respond to her and seemed just as bad, she realized that things would be more difficult than she'd expected. She tried to retreat as slowly as possible so she didn't upset the Ariados, since she just wanted to disappear without too much trouble. Unfortunately, the Ariados were about to throw something, and an alarm sounded in the blonde's head at their action. She turned and ran in the direction she had planned to take.

Satoshi, still in her arms, was now shaking in every sense because she was running. It wasn't particularly nice, but it was better than when he was running on his own at least. Serena let out a small scream as she kept running. At the same time in Satoshi's head it was like another part of him which told him what to do. But how was that possible? He wasn't a Froakie originally. It was almost a responsibility. He was responsible for her because he was a Pokémon. Or had he always been like that? It was the same thing when he was protecting his Pokémon. His eyes wrinkled and then, as he was about to move to help her, Serena was already heading for a slope that was far too steep for her that she slipped and fell into the bushes below.

The Ariados, reaching the slope, searched for her. Finding nothing, they decided to move on, disappearing somewhere. The two rookies, at the same time, came out of the bushes with wide open mouths, as if they were trying to find their breath. They looked at each other and a nervous laugh escaped Serena, much to the frog boy's confusion. In the girl's head, this helped her to better get rid of the stress she may have had. At the end, she was happy that it ended rather well for them. She was still quite baffled as to why didn't her Pokémon use any attack. She took the blue Pokémon with her again and then rested against a tree, looking at her Pokédex. She searched for information with one hand, quickly finding what she wanted to know. Taking a few minutes to read, Satoshi looked at her for a moment with a quizzical look.

"Water...Pulse?" she repeated after what she must've read. Satoshi knew it was a water-type attack, since he had already seen this attack before. Shortly after, the girl put away her Pokédex and put her Pokémon on the ground. She took a few steps back, staring at her partner with determination, and pointed somewhere. "Water Pulse!"

Satoshi blinked, trying to figure out what was going on with her.

"Water Pulse!" she shouted again. On the second occasion, he understood. She was trying to give him an order, as she wanted him to use a move. This made him then frown, quite doubtful. Yet he understood her approach, but it wouldn't work like that. Mostly because he didn't know how to use any of his techniques or moves, having only been a Pokémon for a few days. And what would it do for him anyway? He had to find a way as soon as possible to become completely human again.

Noticing his reaction, Serena crouched to be closer to him. She looked back at her Pokédex and began an explanation. "According to the Pokédex, it says that you know this move."

She showed him the screen of her device and she continued. "It's weird. Maybe you don't know how to use it..."

She bit her bottom lip. It was probably true and the professor was right. This Pokémon was indeed too young to be a starter. She put her Pokédex away while she exhaled, then slowly took his two little hands, trying to see how they could do it. Serena was unfortunately not an expert, but she had to see if there was any way to get him going. Satoshi thought if he'd been turned into a Pikachu maybe things would've been simpler. Unfortunately for him, he was a Pokémon he didn't know. The girl then took the blue Pokémon in her arms and finally continued her journey, hoping that the city wouldn't be too far, so they could see one of the nurses of a center to figure out if they could solve the problem.

As they continued their walk, Satoshi heard a small moan. He stirred in the arms of the girl and then got out of her arms. Once on the ground, he continued to hear these noises and tried to get his trainer to follow him. Blinking several times in confusion, the girl eventually understood what her Pokémon wanted. The frog boy pressed on and Serena was surprised by his speed. After a few minutes, the Pokémon and the girl reached a corner where there was a Pokémon on the ground, looking like it had been punched and so weak that its little moans were the only thing it was capable of doing at the moment. The two of them shouted as they saw the little body and Serena rushed over to the Pokémon, followed by the frog. It was a Fennekin, like Sana's, except that it was in much worse shape. The girl dropped to her knees and gently took the little Pokémon in her arms.

"I can't believe that anyone would do something like this! Who would beat up a Pokémon like this?" Serena asked herself, very much upset at the poor condition of the Fennekin.

Satoshi came closer and examined the little fox in the arms of his trainer. It would be necessary to find a Pokémon Center as soon as possible, but there wasn't one in anywhere really close to them. Serena then pulled another machine out of her bag and pressed it several times.

Looking at her, her expression didn't change and she sighed with sadness, putting away her tablet and then worried about the Pokémon in her arms.
"Kero, kero?" Satoshi asked, even though he knew she wouldn't understand what he was trying to say. And yet, as if she understood him, Serena answered. "There's no Pokémon Center in the area, so I've to use my first aid kit."

The Fennekin fidgeted while its eyes were still closed. Serena, in surprise, took the fox against her as the tiny one tried to scream and go under the frog boy's gaze with a wide-open expression. Serena gritted her teeth, realizing the Pokémon must have become panicked because it'd been attacked. Watching Serena fight for the Pokémon to stay calm, Satoshi noticed how she and he were similar. Serena never wanted others to be harmed, having been exactly the same yesterday, except that in place of Fennekin, he'd been in her arms, and she'd done everything to make him feel as good as she could.

His thoughts seemed to be correct, until the Fennekin planted its teeth in the arm of the young honey blond.

"Kero!" Satoshi called out.

Serena had a closed eye in pain and tried to stroke the fox to calm it down, while Satoshi looked at her anxiously, ready to attack if it went too far, even if he knew no move.
However, after petting the Pokémon's head, it opened its eyes and let go of the girl's arm to look around. It saw the Froakie and then heard a human moan,quickly noticing where it came from. Serena was now relaxed, though still in a bit of pain, and offered a smile as she saw the Fennekin had its eyes open.

"Ah, you're fine!" she exclaimed without caring too much about the pain.

The Fennekin gasped and felt ashamed, its heart beating fast. The girl stroked the Pokémon, making it understand that nothing had happened. She put the fox on the ground and took her bag to search for the first aid kit. She pulled out a bottle and cottons, gently tending to the various wounds while the Pokémon grimaced in different ways. Then, when she had finished, she bandaged the wounds and at the end she took another box, the box that Satoshi was starting to know, and served a pokepuffle to the fox. It sniffed first, then tasted it slowly, being delighted at the end. When it was done, Serena tried to touch the little Pokémon in an attempt to figure out its gender. She discovered that it was a female. She then caressed the fox on her head again and reassured her.

"Everything's alright now."

The little fox felt so good, her head leaning into Serena's palm. As she kept going , she moved closer to the knee of the new trainer and looked at her arm. She shuddered as she watched the wound. Serena took Fennekin in her arms again and hugged her.

The Froakie blinked several times. Serena's kindness was totally something else, and it was certainly her smile that gave a feeling of well-being. As she continued to stroke her, she put her eyes on him too. Once again, he felt another shiver in his body, still something similar that he'd already felt earlier. He decided to turn around, not wanting to be confronted by that again.

"Do you've a trainer?" Serena asked, looking at Fennekin now.

As she asked the question, Fennekin shuddered and retracted herself, as if a painful memory came back to her. Sadness was visible on the face of the girl and she patted Fennekin's yellow fur. With her hand, she could feel the chills and, especially, the fear of the little Pokémon. Noticing her fur clenching under her hand, she felt it wasn't a subject to be discussed at the moment. She reassured Fennekin several times, whose her nose fell back into the corner of her arm.

"Everything will be fine, you're safe." she spoke. The problem was that she didn't know what to do. It seemed like this Pokémon still had a trainer, but also a problem with her original trainer. Serena really hoped she wasn't abandoned. She put the Pokémon on her paws on the ground and watched her walk to see if she could still stand. Satoshi had turned around and slowly approached her while observing. Fennekin was frightened of the frog, freezing on the spot as her tail was much thicker than normal. But the young trainer reassured her and pointed to her companion.

"Don't be afraid, he's my friend."

Satoshi might have thought that in his new form, the Pokémon would have approached him with joy, but apparently no, she was still afraid of him. Serena continued to pat the small head of the little Pokémon, still trying to reassure her. Satoshi tried to get closer again and the young fox finally let herself be approached. He finally greeted her with his hand, but Fennekin was still shy. But her expression became one of surprise when she began to smell him. She approached him, her nose moving in all directions and when she arrived at him, she sneezed. The frog had a strange smell. Looking at them, Serena spoke.

"Well, let's see what we're going to do. It looks like you have a trainer and I can't leave you alone. We'll take you to the next Pokémon Center."

An ounce of sadness escaped the little fox again, making her look away. Noticing her reaction, Satoshi clenched his fists in determination, something that amazed Fennekin. Delighted at the display, Serena took Fennekin in her arms and started walking, leaving the frog boy on his own. He was now standing there, staring at her and quite upset at not being in her arms anymore. Serena had stopped and turned towards him, looking at him curiously.

"Are you coming, Froakie?" the girl wondered.

He nodded and started to walk as fast as he could in that form. The march was silent, but without any real tension. Serena was in front of the Froakie, who was feeling a little neglected by the fact that his new friend didn't carry him. After a long walk, the girl raised her head and froze at the sight in front of her, while Satoshi hit his head against her leg. Fennekin looked up too and squeaked when she understood what she'd seen. It was the same for the little Froakie, but he tried not to let it affect him, even if he felt a horrible thrill deep inside him. The Ariados were on different branches of different trees and they were certainly the same ones they'd met earlier, but they seemed more numerous this time around. Serena tried to not think about it, as she turned around and began to run as fast as possible, followed by Satoshi and the large amount of Ariados. Fear had crept deep inside her, which served as her motivation to run as fast as she possibly could. She wanted to scream, but after having thought it over, she looked at her companion and gave him a command.

"Froakie, Water Pulse!"

Satoshi, who was almost in the same situation as her, couldn't bring himself to make an attack, moreover, he really didn't know how to make an attack. While Serena gritted her teeth, because her friend had not made an attack for the moment, she felt something take her feet and tangle them to the floor, dropping the poor Fennekin in pain. Satoshi stopped when he heard the girl fall. Turning around, he noticed that one of the Ariados had used String Shot to tie her legs. He got closer anyway, while Fennekin was struggling to get up and Serena rested on her hands to lift herself up. Turning her head, she noticed the Pokémon spiders coming closer fast.

A shiver ran up his spine and Satoshi couldn't do anything. When he was human, he was tall and strong enough to defend himself, while here he was very small, in the form of a Pokémon and he knew no move to defend himself. Deep down, he felt like he heard a cursed voice inciting him to run away and do what he'd tried to do the day before. He shook his head at whatever that was. He might have become useless, but he wasn't a coward. It wasn't in his nature. He was ready to use his own body to defend this girl!

Before he decided, he saw the little vixen run towards them and she jumped to fly over the girl and with her mouth open, sending a powerful ball of flame, for a Pokémon of her size, at the insect-type Pokémon. Some managed to avoid the attack, while others were hit, but at least they ran away, the fear of fire took over and all of them escaped. She fell to the ground at Serena's feet, but she was unable to stand on her paws for long. She'd exhausted the last of her energy. Serena freed her legs and approached the Pokémon, who was struggling to keep her eyes open. She took her against her and rocked her gently. Behind the two, Satoshi slowly approached with shame. He hadn't done anything. He'd only watched and he had left a wounded Pokémon to defend them instead of him, a Pokémon in good condition. What kind of person was he now?

"Everything's fine! You were very brave!" Serena spoke, comforting Fennekin at the same time.

"Fo...ko..." she responded, being exhausted.

Serena looked at her Froakie. She wasn't mad at her partner, and she knew he was somehow different, but now they had to find a Pokémon Center for Fennekin to recover at.
They had searched almost everywhere and there was still no Pokémon Center in sight. The sun was setting and still no result, neither a Pokémon Center or a city. Serena was then faced with one of the realities she hoped she'd never have to be faced with. That she would need to sleep under the stars. Fennekin was slowly recovering as Serena had changed her bandages every hour, while Froakie was there and shifting his look between the two of them. The new trainer pulled out her sleeping bag and tried to start a campfire. Seeing how she was trying to do it, Satoshi noticed that she wasn't an expert at all. She just took a lot of wood and two stones in hopes of starting a fire, not wanting Fennekin to use her abilities for something so futile. But seeing that she was struggling, the blue Pokémon went elsewhere to get another piece of wood, one that was much bigger. Serena looked at him in surprise and blinked when she saw him placing the pieces of wood and taking two pieces of wood in order to rub them together and make smoke, until fire appeared. No sound was made, as Serena would never have thought that a Pokémon could make a campfire. Fennekin was no different, sharing a very similar expression to Serena. When the fire finally got big enough, Satoshi sighed and turned to the two females and noticed their expressions. He was almost wondering why they were looking at him like that. He was used to making campfires, having been traveling for five years. For him it was normal.

"Kero..." he finally sighed.

The trainer, impressed, let out a rather embarrassed laugh while scratching her head. But she smiled sincerely afterwards, thanking him with a nod.

"At least you got extraordinary abilities, Froakie."

He just shrugged. Fennekin on the other hand frowned. All that was way too strange for her. This Pokémon in front of her had a strange way of doing things, and a strange smell to him.

The moon was radiant that night and Satoshi was gazing at it. He felt attracted to it, his body wanted something else. He finally looked at Serena who'd put herself in her sleeping bag, the campfire slowly beginning to fade. He had to extinguish it completely, before there was an incident with the fire. Fennekin had gotten closer to Serena's head, her eyes asking if she could join her. Serena gladly accepted when she opened her bag, allowing her to enter.

"Froakie, you can come-" she didn't finish when she noticed her first Pokémon trying to put out the fire by tapping on it. Rather strange to see a water-type which didn't use any of its abilities to extinguish a fire. Fennekin was almost exasperated.

Eventually being successful, Satoshi turned to Serena again who, as before, was both embarrassed, but also smiling. She tried to lower the tension by asking what she wanted to say earlier.

"You're coming to sleep with me?"

He tensed, his whole life, and even his journey, never, nobody, had asked him something like that. He'd slept together with his mother when he was a child often because of a nightmare, but he'd mostly slept together with Pikachu after that. And here, despite being a Pokémon, a little Pokémon, it was still weird. Sleeping with a person. With a girl. He froze for a moment, looking at the place she was offering him, as if he was paralyzed. Then he shook his head and decided to approach and say that it wasn't serious, he was a Pokémon and there was nothing more.

Serena was lying down with the entire blanket on her. She looked at the fox Pokémon, who was looking at the frog just as oddly as her, and then at her partner, Froakie, and finally she spoke softly. "Sweet dreams."

Serena closed her eyes, feeling reassured to be with two Pokémon.

Later during the night, Satoshi did everything he could to sleep, but he simply couldn't. Not finding any sleep, he decided to get out of the sleeping bag of his trainer and walk a little to see if he could sleep afterwards. Unfortunately, as he walked away, he didn't suspect that the other Pokémon had raised her head to look at him suspiciously.

Satoshi went further and further away and his current form, being so small, didn't help him at all. He thought back to yesterday. How had he managed to become human again? And by which miracle did he become a Pokémon again this morning? Thinking about all of it hurt his head and as he walked, he stumbled upon a big pond. The water was clear and he could see his reflection, his eyes being on the outside of his head gave him a terrible headache. He sighed loudly. Raising his head, he saw the moon. And then, in realization, he looked at the water again. Last night, he became human again in a lake as well. He decided to jump in, staying under the surface of the water as he was swimming. He then raised his head so he could take a few breaths again. He looked at his body through the water, but nothing had changed.

"Kero?" he wondered what was different, since he'd done the same thing as yesterday.

And then, he noticed something else. The light of the moon wasn't illuminating the pond. It was hidden under tree branches filled with leaves. He thought it might be stupid, but he decided to give it a try anyway. He plunged his head under the water and swam to the illuminated part and finally, he felt a tingling sensation. The same as this morning, the same as yesterday. His body gained a new feeling and although he shone like a Pokémon that was evolving, he felt his body expand in one direction. This time, the effect of the water on his body was totally different. He exhaled as best he could, his head out of the water, and tried to calm himself, as otherwise he could drown at any moment. He swam, his arms stretching out, and then saw them. As he used his legs to keep his head out of the water, he examined his right arm. His skin was back to its true skin color. He smiled and then headed towards the edge of the water, feeling his feet touch the ground. His feet were still in the water, but he was already beginning to fully enjoy being human again. Smiling, he let out a sneeze. His body was human, and naked again, and he was cold.

"How am I going to..." he wondered to himself, realizing he didn't know where the next Pokémon Center was and that he couldn't go and see Serena like this. Satoshi sighed, his situation being far too complicated for his liking.

"Finally, you seem to begin to understand. I thought it would take more time for you to understand this." a female voice said.

Satoshi gasped, hearing a voice he knew, as if it was the voice of a nightmare that haunted him. Turning his head slowly, he saw the silver-haired girl with violet highlights, her blue-gray eyes, that felt like they were trying to piece his mind, and her smile just disgusted him. A thick horn was on her head. Rage began to seize his body, and while grinding his teeth, Satoshi walked toward her.

"You! It's because of you!" he shouted, hardly getting the words out. "It's because of you I'm here!"

He was finally facing her, but the little girl didn't care about his reaction and her head was looking down, as if she was interested in something else.
"So tiny..." she remarked, looking at what she was interested in.

Satoshi's eyes widened and his anger increased as she didn't react to him, but he lowered his head as well to understand what she was looking at. Realizing what she was looking at, blood rose to his face as he felt more shame than he'd felt in a long time. He ran to the pond and crouched in the water, arms around his knees, so that she could no longer see any part of his body he didn't want her to see. He looked at the girl again with a look of hatred, even though his cheeks were completely red with shame.

Estelle was very much indifferent to the situation at hand. It seemed like it wasn't a problem for her. She approached the lake gently and then began to speak with a soft voice. "So, are you used to your new life?"

He bit his lower lip and his eyebrows furrowed more and more as she got closer and continued to speak. "Let's say you start getting used to it."

"Where's Pikachu!?" he shouted at her. "What did you do to him?!"

She put her hands on her hips, trying to understand why he was thinking so much of his Pokémon, rather than focusing on himself. "As he was of no use to me, I returned him to your house, where he's currently with your mother."

Slowly but surely, he calmed down, tried to stop biting his cheek and turned his eyes away, a weight disappearing inside his chest. He was now reassured that his partner was with his mother and not anywhere else. Knowing that, he sighed and turned his head towards her, keeping his gaze on her.

"Stop the curse!" Satoshi exclaimed.

"Eh?" Estelle let out a noise of confusion, blinking at the exclamation.

"Stop the curse and give me back my life!" Satoshi continued.

Estelle put her hands on her hips, visibly irritated at what he was saying. "Are you kidding me?"

"I don't want to be a Pokémon, I want to go home!"

Estelle made an exasperated sound and slapped her hand on his forehead. "How are you this stupid…? I can't stop the curse!"

"And why not?" he asked, using the same tone as her.

"Because I'm limited in terms of power! I can't cancel it anymore! Only you can break it!"

"I won't do anything until you stop the curse!"

Blood rushed to her face, almost bleeding from her nose, making Estelle red with anger as Satoshi kept irritating her. She clenched her fists hard and continued to argue with him. "You're really irritating. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?!"

Instead of looking even more agitated than he already did, Satoshi smirked and looked at the girl with half-closed eyes. "You said it yourself, I'm tenacious."

She grit her teeth at the fact that he annoyed her close to her breaking point. If he had the ability to do anything for her, she knew that he wouldn't do it. Not like it mattered, as she had to get things moving as quickly as possible. She let her exasperated look disappear and tried to appear more neutral by hiding her eyes with her hair.

"Do not force me do that..."

He tilted his head, looking a little more intrigued by her words. "What do you mean?"

She raised her head and now looked much more severe and threatening than she had earlier. "Do not make me want to hurt those you love to force you to do what I ask you to do."

Her voice was hard and she seemed much more mature than the girl's voice that came from her body. A shiver ran through his spine. Satoshi imagined Pikachu and his mother facing her, now that he had a glimpse of her powers, especially with what she'd done to Team Rocket. There was no doubt that she was serious.

"You're not going to..." he started, but didn't finish his sentence when he saw the girl's face.

"If you do what must be done, I will not do anything to them."

Grinding his teeth, he felt pressured by her words.

"I don't want to stay in this form." he said as he tightened his arms against himself.

"Do you think it amuses me to stay in this form as well?"

He gasped at her words.

"I will have to remind you that I am cursed myself! I have to take this juvenile form to avoid using too much of my energy!"

He tried to remember, he knew she was special, but she hadn't mentioned more than that she was indeed cursed too. Estelle turned around and crossed her arms, wanting to appear superior. "I'm not a nine-year old girl! I'm a very beautiful young woman!"

He sighed, as if he was tired of it, realizing how she was just as narcissistic as many of the girls he knew. At this point, he was kinda getting used to it.

"I am one of the most powerful witches." she said in a chilling tone.

He stopped mentally making fun of her when she turned her head toward him saying these words. A witch...After what she had done to him, he could understand why she called herself that. Someone like her, a psychic, had to be terrifying. Then he looked at her horn and he wondered if she really was a witch, or something else completely. Yet when his mother used to read fairy tales to him when he was a child, every time there was a mention of a witch, it was often the old and ugly woman who ate children. Unlike the other psychics, she seemed to have a lot more power than a lot of people he'd met. Thinking about her, he realized that he could discern her aura. Her aura was terrifying. He tightened his knees against himself, figuring that he'd found himself with a really big problem.

"Who… who did that to you?" he asked without really raising his head towards her, preferring to keep looking down.

Estelle relaxed her body and a drop of blood fell from her nose. She didn't notice it and just answered. "Another witch."

Satoshi didn't flinch, as the use of that word was far too normal, yet a shiver ran down his back. If another witch had done that to her, did that mean that this other witch was very powerful?

Maybe there was a reason why she'd cursed Estelle, but he had nothing to do with it. He could still find this witch and ask her to undo the spell. Satoshi almost wanted to add something, but Estelle beat him to it.

"Please, do everything possible to never cross paths with her."

The boy in the water clenched his eyes, surprised that she could have read his mind. Panicked, he looked at the girl again, who still had her back turned to him.

"If you meet her, then it will be the end for you. Do not try to compromise with her, do not try anything, because whatever you do, she will always be ahead of you." she paused and turned back to him, noticing the boy's open mouth. "In this world there is nothing more cruel than this freak."

The teenager closed his mouth and swallowed hard, noticing the bleeding nose of the young witch. He was shocked at the sight, but also for what she'd just said. How terrifying had someone to be to be called a freak by her? He realized that there was almost no way out. He finally had to accept his situation and learn more about it.

"How do I break the curse?" he asked, but the blood on her face intrigued him too much, so he turned his head away at the same time.

The witch smiled and what Satoshi said amazed her. "You must find something that will make you complete. Then you will be able to break the curse."

He began to stir at her explanation. "But how? What'll make me complete? Why do you think I'm incomplete?"

She pretended to think by putting her index finger on her chin. "Well, what you are missing is something you did not manage to obtain on your travels?"

The boy gasped at that moment. The thing he missed, the thing he hadn't managed to get during his travels. He knew what she was talking about. "I have to win a League, right?"

"Oh." Estelle didn't manage any other reaction to his guess, some of her seriousness slipping away right then.

"That's it, right? I have to win a Pokémon League!"

She bit the inside of her mouth and then shrugged, not sure of the answer he had given, but, in a sense, it could be a solution. "If you think that is what you are missing, then yes, maybe that is it."

"But..." he stopped looking at his body through the water. "I don't understand. How do I become a human again and how do I become a Pokémon again?"

Estelle sighed loudly again, but responded immediately. "The rules of the curse are simple. You can only become a human again when you are in fresh water under the moonlight." she explained to him. "If your human body touches the sunlight, then you will become a Pokémon again."

That's why he was a human again today and yesterday he was a Pokémon. Everything was clear to him now. It wasn't due to the fact that it was day or night, but due to a question of sunlight and moonlight.

"But why do I need water to become human again?"

"Your Froakie body needs to hydrate. In this way, under the moon, it activates your human part that wakes up and lets your Pokémon part sleep."

"My Pokémon part?"

"Yes. Because of the curse, you're no longer completely human. You are just made up of two halves."

He was made up of two halves. Half human. Half Pokémon. These words began to resonate in him now. His heart was beating so hard, he realized that something inside him had changed forever. He wouldn't be the same anymore. He looked all over his body through the water. His human form depended only on the moon and the water, meaning he should avoid the sun at all costs.

"I do not know what you are thinking now." Estelle's voice removed him from his thoughts as blood ran down her forehead. "But do not try to stay in one of your forms for too long. There needs to be a proper balance between them."

He gently released his legs forward and gave her a look of confusion, but as he tried to say something, the blood on her stopped any thought he had. "What do you mean?"

"As I told you, you must have a balance between your two forms. You can not stay in one of your forms for too long, because the other will have the need to manifest," she let out a small sigh and wiped her nose. "Well, only in one sense."

Not understanding the meaning of her words, Satoshi changed his position and put his hands forward, ending up being on all four in the water as parts of his body began to come out of the water. "What do you mean by that?"

The witch raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her lips. "I think it is best that you discover it for yourself."

He frowned more and more at her words. With a long sigh, he sat down in the water again and folded his arms, tired of her. The fact that she was bleeding in front of him disturbed him him a lot, though it didn't seem to bother the witch.

"By the way, what're you doing here if you can't go back to your home?" he asked softly.

At first she gasped, then laughed at what he'd just said, but she recovered quickly.

"I am just a mere astral projection," she said, and then the boy noticed that blood began to slip down her chest, flowing elsewhere all over her body. "I only appear in your head."

With the same petty smile, she moved closer to the boy, walking into the water while the cursed boy tried to back off, horrified that more and more blood was pouring all over the girl, but she managed to grab the chin of the boy. Although he couldn't feel anything, he was disgusted and terrified to see several streams of blood running down the girl's body. There was even more when he saw Estelle's head.

"One last rule. Do not try to transform if there is an eclipse," her tone was utterly serious as her face was covered in blood. It made him nod his head without asking a question. "That is good, my little frog boy. I am counting on you to succeed, unlike the others."

She released him and left the lake. Satoshi looked at her again, still just as frightened.

"Oh, and one last thing. You will never be able to talk about this curse to any human being. That would be too easy," Estelle said without turning around. "And I think you should stay with this girl. When you have managed to break the curse, I would love to meet her."

She had only turned her head slightly, but he could see her smile, blood running down from her mouth. And then she disappeared in a particle explosion. After the rather rude disappearance, he blinked several times, letting his brain process everything he'd just experienced. He tried to summarize everything he knew. He was cursed by a witch who wants him to break the curse by himself, so she could be free her from her own. For that to happen he must become complete by winning a League. He had to win it in the form of a Pokémon as he had to be in the water and under the moon in order to become human again, while the sun would result in the opposite happening. Thinking about it, Serena was his trainer now, and she'd just started her journey, but with the little he knew about her, he'd seen that she didn't seem to be very interested in Gyms for the moment. There was also the fact that he didn't even know how to use moves.

His head hurt from thinking too much, so he let out a sigh of despair. The wind on his naked back made him shiver. Turning around, he was surprised to see Fennekin, with bulging eyes, looking at him, and based on what she was looking at, he understood that she had been there a long time.

The two stared at each other for a minute, until one of them finally reacted.

"Hi..." Satoshi said, trying to sound ignorant.

Fennekin took another look and pointed at the boy's head and bombarded him with several barks without the boy being able to understand, since he was no longer a Froakie. He didn't know what she was saying, but by the looks of it, she seemed rather angry.

"Fokko! Fokkooo!"

"Please, calm down." he pleaded desperately at the little fox who kept assaulting him with her barks.
The little one didn't stop and kept making noise. Satoshi bit his bottom lip and felt ashamed.

"You saw everything, didn't you?" he asked in order to make the Pokémon stop.

She stopped slowly, but she began to growl. It did nothing calm her anger apparently.

"I'm not a Froakie..." he said, despite of her continuing grunts.

He remembered Estelle's words, that he could never tell anyone about his curse, but maybe he could tell a Fennekin about it. Was there a difference? He tried to ignore the idea and continued his explanation.

"I was cursed by a witch. I've to find a way to return to my human form permanently."

Instead of barking at him, she'd turned her head up towards the sky with her eyes closed, as if she'd heard enough, bored of the boy who was hiding under the water.
"I swear, it's true! Please don't say anything to Serena!"

She quickly focused back on him, Fennekin beginning to growl in his direction at the mention of her trainer's name.

"What?" he asked, rather hurt. "I wouldn't do anything to Serena! After all, I'm her..." Although he had thought about it this morning, what was he supposed to be to her? Obviously her first Pokémon. But she didn't know his human form. "I'm her friend," he answered simply. Still suspicious, Fennekin stopped her growling, but didn't let her gaze stray from him.

"Fooo, ko!"

"I won't do anything to her!"

"Ko." Fennekin seemed to be ending the argument about it.

"So you won't say anything? And you believe me, don't you?"

Her eyes were half-lidded, still suspicious. Clearly, she wouldn't believe him that easily.

"Look, you saw what happened, right? And the witch explained to me what I had to do."

This time she was confused, but still suspicious. Holding her head low, she tried to figure out what the naked human boy was trying to make her understand. Based on her expression, he remembered what Estelle told him about her appearance to him. She'd appeared in front of him and not in front of others. If Fennekin had seen everything, she'd have seen him talking to no one, like a crazy naked boy. The blood rose quickly to his head. He tried to force himself to forget and act quickly by presenting all the information he'd learned, forcing himself to ignore his nervousness.

"Listen, I'm cursed. I turn into a Froakie every time I go under the sun and I become a human again when I'm under the moon and in the water. And to break this damn curse, I've to win a Pokémon League!" he breathed heavily, even screaming at the end.

"Pff," the little fox whispered.

"Hey! I didn't ask to be cursed. I didn't ask for anything. I just want to be with Pikachu and continue my journey!"

She finally turned her eyes to him, but seemed indifferent. After a few seconds of thinking she sighed.

"So, are you going to help me?"

She didn't nod, only looking at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Fo." her expression was completely neutral that the human didn't know whether she had agreed to helping him or not. He scratched his head.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes..."

And then the little fox went to where the girl was, leaving the boy paddling in the water. "Hey, wait!"

Fennekin stopped.

"Can you bring me something to keep me warm?"

Fennekin looked at him, though she didn't react in any way as she continued on her way, leaving him alone.

"Hey!" he shouted again.

Being in situation he was in was a pretty big problem and yesterday he'd been lucky. Today he'd have to spend his night naked in the water. Wind caressed the shoulders of the boy, so he sank as best he could into the water in attempt to find the warmth deeper in the pond. Nothing helped though, as the more he sank into the lake, the more he could feel the cold and the pressure of the depth. When he was a Froakie the cold didn't seem to bother him, his body adjusting to the temperature. But here, in his human form, his body didn't and he had to wait for the sun to rise so he could change his form.

Satoshi heard a strange noise and then, to his surprise, he saw Fennekin dragging a pale pink towel, which probably belonged to Serena, with her mouth. It seemed to bother her to do that for him. He moved closer to her, without getting out of the water, and took the towel when she let go. He put it around him, getting up with only his feet left in the water. He looked at her, lowering his head and then gave her a soft smile.

"Thank you."

"Ko," she answered, bored.

He decided to move to lean against a tree while he was still being watched by the little fox.

"What if we tried to be friends?" he asked.

Fennekin didn't react, instead preferring to leave again, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation and seeming incredibly embarrassed. He watched her go rather confused, having thought she just had to get used to it. It made him wonder if Serena would react the same way if she learned the truth. Would she reject him? He shuddered, probably because of the wind and his body still being wet. He tightened the towel around himself and began to wait. He thought hard about Pikachu and how he was dealing with the situation. Without him he was certainly lost and worried. He hoped that everything would return to normal as soon as possible, even if it might take a very long time until it did. Soon he fell asleep.

Satoshi awoke and with some difficulty. He'd been sitting all night leaning against a tree, with Serena's towel around him, and his entire body felt numb. He sneezed. Sleeping naked didn't help either. Amazing that no one had found him here alone, not even a Pokémon.

Looking at his surroundings, he saw that the sun was lighting up the lake in front of him, but wasn't high enough in the sky to illuminate his body. The tree against which he was leaning covered him from the light. The witch had been right. It was only if the sunlight touched him that he could change his form.

He took a long breath before he got up, slowly getting out of the shade of the tree, though he stopped for a moment. What could he do during the day? It was absolutely necessary to learn how to use his moves if he has to win the League. Not like that mattered if he couldn't get Serena to participate in the League and battle against the Gym Leaders. It might be too much for her. He still hoped she would. After all, wasn't that why she had gone on a journey? Though not like he really knew, since he still didn't know her real intentions and her purpose. Did she also have a dream? Trying to get to know Serena better and being able to use his abilities were his goals for the day. Thereafter he went into the sunlight.

He barely had time to sigh as his body changed shape, feeling the same sensation as last time. Now in his much smaller form, he turned his head several times to see if somebody had seen him, but no one obviously had. He took the towel in one hand and brought it back with him to find Serena. Arriving at the little camp, he saw the girl looking in her bag, her hat on the ground, and Fennekin sitting next to her, who noticed him but didn't welcome him. The honey blond haired girl finally turned her head towards him, immediately spotting him.

"Ah, Froakie!" she exclaimed, letting go of her bag and heading towards him. "I'm so glad you're finally here."

She took him in her arms and hugged him, surprised to see her towel with him. She didn't ask about it and brought him to her bag.

"I was worried when I woke up, since you were gone, but Fennekin let me know you weren't far away."

Satoshi turned his head to Fennekin, quite surprised when she still didn't look at him. The young human girl put him next to the fox and continued her search in her bag.

"You seem to be good friends, you two," she commented as she searched her bag.

The two looked at each other, Satoshi's eyes going wide and sparkling, reassured that the female Pokémon was finally considering him a friend after what happened last night. That was until he noticed her jaded expression.

Serena finally found what she was looking for and took out a small bag of wet wipes, from which she took one and wiped her face with. Satoshi noticed it and finally understood where the smell of Jasmine came from. Serena was a person who paid attention to herself and who therefore smelled nice by using a wipe, a bit like Hikari. Once she was finished, she put away all her belongings, and put her hat on and her bag on her shoulders.

"You guys ready to go?" she asked happily.

They nodded their heads with different expressions, Satoshi being excited and Fennekin looking indifferent, and they began to walk at a slower pace. The frog boy looked several times at the little vixen who had almost no reaction to him. She really didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

"Kero!" he tried to start a conversation with her, but he went ignored. He tried to get closer to her, prompting her to move away with her head held high. "Kero..." he sighed.

Was there a feeling of uneasiness coming from him? Whatever her reason for not wanting to have a conversation with him, it irritated him.

"When we get to Santalune City we'll meet Calem and go directly to the Pokémon Center," Serena began to explain. "There's something we have to do for you, Fennekin!" Serena had turned to look at the little fox, who'd stopped and was just as shocked. The girl crouched in front of her and gave her a pat on the head.

"You'll see, everything will be fine."

Fennekin's eyes began to shine, as since yesterday the trainer had never ceased to be so sweet to her. She could only imagine her future if she became her Pokémon
"Ro." the Froakie mocked from behind her, which made her feel annoyed. Yes, of course, there was him. Since she spied on him yesterday and learned that this Pokémon was not a Pokémon, and especially since he was talking to an imaginary person on his own, she couldn't trust him that easily.

Serena got up and continued, while leading her small group. The frog boy stopped worrying about the other Pokémon and now focused on his trainer. He had to ask her, or to make her understand, that she had to participate in the Pokémon League. He decided to run to her under the watchful eyes of the fox and called to her in his language.

"Kero! Kero!"

"What is it, Froakie?" Serena asked, stopping and focusing on him.

"Kero!"

She bent down and picked him up.

"What is it?" she asked again.

"Kero! Keromatsu!"

The sweet girl blinked in confusion, while Fennekin understood perfectly and seemed totally bored.

"Fokooo..." she mumbled.

Satoshi frowned in her direction, having fully understood what she'd said and it was quite insulting. He decided to ignore her and keep talking to the only human, but Serena smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Froakie, but I don't understand what you wanna tell me."

The frog boy suddenly stopped. That's right, he was no longer human, and Serena didn't have a powerful bond to her Pokémon yet, making her unable to understand him in the same way he understood Pikachu. Seeing him being discouraged, she caressed his head with confidence.

"But it doesn't matter, you can try to show me!"

The frog raised his head slowly at what she'd just said. Serena was trying to at least understand him in another way. He didn't know if it'd work, but he'd have to hope. Before Satoshi could do anything else both of them heard a scream from the fox. When both of them turned to look at what just had happened, they could see Fennekin being held by a mechanical hand that was attached to a familiar balloon.

Laughter was quickly heard. Satoshi frowned with discontent, easily recognizing the laughter.

Not them again.

Three strange characters appeared in the basket. All sneered at the new trainer, while the poor fox wiggled in all directions to escape the hand without any real success.

"Fennekin!"

"Fokoo!"

Seeing the pain that the poor little Pokémon must be in, only made worse by the damage she'd already taken the previous day, Satoshi could feel the arms of his trainer tightening against him.

"Who're you and why're you doing this?!"

"Why're you doing this, she asked." a rather feminine voice responded.

"Probably because our goal would be to make our boss proud." a second, masculine, voice continued.

"The pity of the world is what responds!"

"To prevent the destruction of the world!"

"To protect the peace of the world!"

"To stand by the evils of truth and love!"

"The lovely, charmy villains!"

"Musashi!"

"Kojiro!"

"The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!"

"A white hole, a white tomorrow awaits us!"

"Something like that!"

"Sonansuuuu!"

Shortly after their speech, the duo, alongside a Wobbuffet, revealed themselves as if they were a group of super villains from some comic. Serena, while tightly holding her friend against her, blinked several times. Why did these people want to take the Fennekin she'd met? She didn't notice that her Froakie was gritting his teeth.

"Team Rocket?" she wondered. "But why do you want to take this Pokémon?! She didn't do anything to you!"

The tall woman, Musashi, laughed at the words of the inexperienced trainer. "As if that matters to us! A Pokémon as rare as this one's clearly a wonderful gift for the Boss!"

"And we even said that a small bonus can always make him happy," Kojiro also replied.

At the same time, Nyarth pulled a lever that revealed a second mechanical hand. Satoshi felt his pupils widen when he realized that this time it was meant for him. In his frog form, Satoshi was nothing to them but what they saw in Pikachu during these last years. Serena hadn't taken a step back, but Satoshi tried to defend himself anyway. He jumped from the girl's arms and with both hands he managed to create a ball of water that he launched against the machine. With the force he'd used, the metal hand faltered, having seemed to have lost its maneuverability. Falling back to the ground, Satoshi looked at his hands, surprised and excited, but shocked at what he'd just done. It had felt natural. He'd managed to use his first attack.

In the basket of the balloon, Musashi showed clear discontent and grabbed Kojiro by his shirt collar.

"Can you explain to me what exactly happened?"

"Well..." the blue haired man tried to justify himself. "You see, we're still in the beta version of our devices and we used more resources to protect our tools against electricity. You know, it's a habit-"

She didn't give him time to answer as she started to shout at him so that they could find another way to catch the Froakie. At the same time Nyarth tried the best he could to operate the metal hand.

Meanwhile, the frog boy took the opportunity to climb on the dysfunctional metal limb and hang on to the long thick pipe, continuing his way up in an attempt to get to the basket.

"Froakie!" he heard Serena panicking, but he couldn't care about her currently. He had to rescue Fennekin.

"Ah, I think we finally have a new passenger!" Nyarth exclaimed.

Musashi and Kojiro looked over the basket and saw that the frog was getting closer by climbing the metal pipe. He winced as he had his arms pressed against the metal part. At least he was in the air, though the wind pushed him back, but he didn't let go. He wouldn't stop. He climbed to reach the trio who hadn't removed their gaze from him. When he reached them, the frog managed to stand up in a determined pose. The two human adults opened their eyes wide and began to move to catch him, but before they could get to him, the blue frog darted forward and took the foam around his neck and threw it on the heads of his two old enemies. The woman screamed as the man stepped back to find the Pokémon cat screaming while he was in control of the machine. At the same time, the metal arm moved in all directions, and Satoshi took the opportunity to move to the other arm where he went to find the little fox.

"Fokkooooo!" she cried out as the hand moved in all directions.

The path was difficult, but Satoshi managed to reach it. He tried to loosen the big metal hand and then he held out his little hand to her. "Kero!"

Fennekin watched him, first looking at his hand and then his eyes. At first she was reluctant, but seeing the serious look of the frog, she experienced a feeling of guilt. She was afraid of this Pokémon, this human. She didn't know even what he really was. His special behavior, his way of doing things, everything he did was so strange to her. What he said last night, what if it really was true?

In the end, she held out her paw to him, which he grabbed and pulled, helping her out. He grabbed her, making it clear that they had to jump. The little vixen's eyes widened, and before she could say anything, they jumped.

"Damn, they're escaping!" the Pokémon cat shouted.

Fennekin screamed with her eyes closed, with Satoshi looking at the ground that was getting closer to them fast. But before they touched it, he felt two protective arms tighten against them. He had the impression that everything was slowed down at that moment, and that everything returned to normal when the person who caught them had fallen to the ground.

He looked up, looking at Serena whose face was showing her being in pain. He examined her in more detail, but as she moved slowly, her expression forced itself to smile and her eyes opened to look at the two Pokémon in her arms.

"Are you two okay?" she asked softly.

The frog's eyes twinkled and he smiled at her. He tried to show that he was fine, while Fennekin next to him still had her ears down, but nodded when she heard Serena. She got up with her two little friends, and looked up to see the thieves, whose balloon had crashed to the ground at the same time, leaving the basket angrily.

Musashi was the first to get out of the basket grunting and still had moss tangled in her hair, while her teammate had managed to remove it and was just as angry as the young woman beside him.

"You're going to regret this!" she yelled while pointing at the blue frog.

Satoshi smiled mischievous. He turned his head to Serena, who hadn't lost sight of the trio that was in front of her.

"Kero! Kerooo!" he called out.

She stopped looking at them, instead looking down at him with surprise. Before she said anything, Satoshi reassured her with a confident smile, and lifted one of his hands as if he was gesturing to her, showing her a thumbs up, that everything would be fine. Serena didn't know what to say, but the frog boy jumped from her arms, while the fox let out a little cry. Once on the ground, he nodded to her.

"What are you going to do?" the lavender-haired man asked. "Do you think you can beat us that easily? We've already dealt with a twerp much tougher than you."

Satoshi gave them a serious look, while frowning with his invisible eyebrows.

It wasn't over yet.

"Kero! Kerororo!" he yelled at his trainer, hoping she understood.

Strangely, Fennekin jumped from Serena's arms as well, and stood next to him. Both in a determined position, ready to fight.

Satoshi felt like there was a huge knot in his stomach. He was no longer the trainer now, it wasn't his role, he was the Pokémon. Only half as Estelle had told him, but for the first time, he was really going to experience what all of his companions had gone through when they'd faced these idiots. It was only a slight sense of excitement running through his veins, as he was finally going to do it himself.

Damn, how'd he feel if it was a match against a Gym Leader?

Serena gulped, watching the trio with the Wobbuffet that was now in front of them. Before she could say anything, Fennekin rushed towards them, something that also shocked the frog. She rushed furiously and threw a small ball of fire from her mouth, like yesterday. Only, when the flame reached the Psychic-type Pokemon, he surrounded himself a strange light around his body that reflected the attack as soon as it hit him, returning to where it had come from.

"Koooo!" she yelled the moment her own attack hit her, sending her flying.

Serena yelped and rushed towards her, managing to catch her.

"Fennekin! Oh god, not again..."

Satoshi had enough and rushed towards them, not able to wait any longer.

"Froakie!" Serena screamed as she watched him leave.

But he didn't listen. He jumped as high as he could, in order to be able to attack them.

"Get ready, Wobbuffet," Musashi instructed, while everyone else smiled.

But Satoshi knew what they were going to do. He took the foam around his neck and sent it at the big blue Pokémon. Although the strange Pokémon did the same technique from earlier, the foam landed on him and remained stuck.

"Soooooo?!" the Pokémon yelled.

Both humans reacted the same way. Satoshi landed close to Serena. He turned to her, and spoke in the same tone as earlier, saying the same thing. "Kero!"

Serena got up slowly and she stared at him surprised. She examined his gestures and the way he spoke. He asked her something, that was for sure. But what...?

She suddenly realized it. She swallowed the saliva in her mouth, and without thinking, she raised the hand that didn't hold the other Pokémon and pointed to the group.

"Froakie, use Water Pulse!" she commanded.

Satoshi smiled. She finally understood. And like a Pokémon would, he obeyed. He rushed back to his enemies, who were trying to clean the other Pokémon, and with his hands he sent the strongest orb of water he could at them. When the orb hit them, it made them fly towards the balloon, making it explode. They took off from the ground and were sent flying. It was far too loud to understand anything they'd said, besides them having screamed something incomprehensible.

On the ground, watching them disappear, Satoshi was amazed by the power he'd managed to achieve with the help of an innocent smile. In the end he'd figured out how to use his abilities, and now he would've to train a lot to get a better grasp on them. Before he could think of anything else, a pair of arms grabbed him around his waist and pushed him against something hard, but also soft.

"Froakie," Serena whispered. "You managed to use your first move!"

She loosened her grasp on him a little and looked him in the eyes. "You even saved Fennekin!"

In Serena's blue eyes, Satoshi could see as if they were filled with thousands of stars. It was a strange effect, but he could understand that with the events that'd just happened she was a little bit out of it, and that exhaustion was getting to her. But that's how a journey was. Facing all the dangers was something you had to do. The girl tightened her grip on him again.

"I'm so happy that nothing has happened to you at least."

Satoshi was immediately reminded of a previous experience, once again thinking of Pikachu when they met together every time they'd experienced a mishap. By now he knew it. He was very important to her.

He turned his head to Fennekin who was watching them. Satoshi tried to disengage himself from Serena's arms, and once he was on the ground, he slowly went towards the fire-type. Smiling, he raised his arm at her. He waited for a response from her, but Fennekin turned her head, refusing to press her paw against his own. Feeling deflated, he lowered his arm. He'd really expected her to finally accept him, but she still didn't. However, he didn't wait more than ten seconds before Fennekin mumbled something in a small voice.

"Fokoooo..."

Through her fur, Satoshi could see that she was blushing softly. Behind him he could hear a little laugh from Serena. He understood perfectly well what she'd said. He smiled. Maybe not today, but he knew that one day, they'd be good friends.