Back In Lumiose

Speeches :

"A" – Normal Human Speech

'A' - Thoughts

With the Santalune City Gym battle behind him, Ash marched through the road on his way to Lumiose City from where he would be leaving for Cyllage City to earn his second Kalos region Gym Badge. He appeared as happy as ever with Pikachu on his shoulder. Along with Ash, Serena too walked happily as she read a pamphlet held in her hands.

The honey-haired teen leaned towards Ash as she started. "Hey Ash." She called. "Have you ever participated in a Rhyhorn race?"

Not stopping his stroll, Ash turned to look at his travelling companion. "No. I have heard of them though. I have participated in a few Pokemon races." He answered, now lost in the memory of when he rode the Ponyta in Kanto, which evolved into Rapidash during the race. It was a fond memory of Ash's that he would never forget. The next time he participated in a race was in Johto where he won an egg which eventually hatched into Phanpy, which evolved into Donphan.

"There is a Rhyhorn race taking place nearby in 2 days. Do you want to participate in it?" she questioned the amber-eyed trainer. With a blush creeping up to her face, she played with her hair nervously. "I can teach you to ride a Rhyorn if you want."

Ash kept a hand in his chin as he thought about the offer. It would be a good break from training and moreover, the idea of Serena teaching him was just an undeniable offer. Without thinking anymore, Ash pumped his fist in the air. "Sure. We could use a little break anyway."

Serena stopped walking as she smiled at the raven-haired trainer. "Great. We should reach the village where the race is taking place by the evening. So I'll have lots of time to teach you."

Ash just smiled back at the Pokemon Performer from vanville Town. "Sounds good."

"Ash Ketchum." A voice from behind the couple called out. "Wait, I have something important to talk to you about."

Ash and Serena stopped in their tracks when they heard the voice. They turned around to see a young man with brown hair and black eyes approaching them. He wore black pants and a blue jacket which was zipped.

Ash appeared to be confused by the stranger. He'd never seen the guy so how did he know his name? "Sorry. But did you call me?" he questioned the brown haired man who walked towards him.

The man gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yes. As I said, I have something important to talk to you about."

"Important?" Ash appeared to be a bit sceptical about the stranger. 'What does he have to talk to me about. I don't even know him.' He thought.

The serious look on Ash's face made the man lightly chuckle. He should've expected such a reaction. He did just approach someone he'd never met and told him that he has something important to talk to him. "Don't worry." He waved a hand at the young man from Pallet. "It's more like I have something to give you. By the way, My name is Jack."

Ash got even more suspicious with the last statement the man just made. "What do you have to give me?" he asked the man still remaining polite and calm.

The boy now identified as Jack opened his backpack and removed something. In his hands was now a silver egg in a glass container that appeared to be glowing. The egg glowed for a moment and then, regained its original silver colour. Jack opened the container and carefully removed the egg out of it, now holding the mysterious egg in both his hands.

Ash, Serena and Pikachu all looked at the glowing egg in awe as well as suspicion. They had never seen a Pokemon egg like the one in front of them. The egg was simply astounding with the silver colour of the egg shining ever so often due to the sunlight falling on it.

Ash stuttered, still keeping his eyes on the egg. "What kind of an egg is it?" he asked in awe.

After a moment of thinking, the black-eyed man lowered his head and offered the egg to Ash. "I want you to take it Ash Ketchum. Please, do not reject it. I can't fail in my mission."

Ash was completely blindsided by the gesture. A strange man just approached him and offered him a mysterious egg. The egg seemed special, there was no doubt in his mind about that. The man in front of him too didn't look evil. But such a thing happening, it just felt too good to be true. There was silence between the group for moments as they all seemed to be in thought. Ash was deciding whether to accept the egg or not, Serena and Pikachu just kept wondering about the Pokemon that would hatch from an egg like that while the stranger prayed that Ash would accept the egg.

Not getting a response, the man looked up at the stunned faces of the two humans and the Electric-Type Pokemon. He then realized that it might have been too straightforward for him to ask Ash to raise the Pokemon from the egg. But that was his job. According to his mission, he was to give the egg to Ash. And that was his only order. So he didn't know what else to say. But soon, he realized it wasn't' the time to think about it now. The egg would be hatching soon and it had to hatch in Ash's care; that much was absolute.

"Will you take care of the egg and raise the Pokemon that would be hatching from it?" he almost begged Ash. The gesture he did surprised both Ash as well as Serena. He knelt down and held the egg in front of his head, which was lowered for Ash.

Quickly, Ash made the man stand up. He smiled at him and spoke. "I'll take it. You didn't have to do that."

Jack felt relief when he Ash said those words and accepted the egg. His mission was finally complete. He'd left home to find the young man who would be the trainer for the Pokemon in the egg a year ago and he got little success until the day he saw Ash jump to save Serena and Snivy.

The man had a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you!" he said bowing his head. "I'll be on my way now. I have some important business to take care off." He removed a Pokeball from his pocket and tossed it in the air. "We'll meet again soon. Good bye." A Salamance came out of Jack's Pokeball and quickly he got on it and the Salamance took flight not long after.

Ash stood at the same place, gazing at the egg and comprehending what had happened in the space of 15 minutes. Jack didn't seem like a bad guy to him. He decided to trust his instincts which seldom let him down.

Serena remained stunned by the quick event that took place right now. "That was … fast." She spoke in surprise.

"Yeah." Ash responded as he turned backwards. "Let's go." He decided to thik about the egg later. It would be a waste of time if he thought about the egg now.

And with that, the duo of humans continued their trek to the Rhyhorn Racing arena.

Ash saw the posters of the Rhyhorn Race stuck everywhere around the town. Our heroes arrived in Odyssey Village just a few minutes earlier and they decided to have a look around the village. Of course, both Serena and Ash looked forward to the teachings of Rhyhorn racing Ash would be getting from the pretty girl, who seemed to be an expert when it came to Rhyhorn Racing.

After strolling through the village for quite a while, Ash registered himself for the Rhyhorn race that would be taking place the next day. No doubt, he was quite exuberant about the Rhyhorn race, like he always was whenever he tried a new thing. Now, they stood near a field which had several Rhyhorn in it.

"Pick any Rhyhorn that interests you." A young girl told Ash and Serena politely as she showed them the different Rhyhorns grazing in the field.

Ash nodded and gave the Rhyhorn a good look contemplating which one would be the best to race with. "Now which one should I choose?" Ash thought out loud.

He started to approach one of the Rhyhorn from behind but just then Serena yelled in a bit of panic. "Ash, don't do that!" she warned her companion. "If you approach a Rhyhorn from behind, it might panic and run." She smiled at the boy who listened intently and started approaching the Rock-Type from the front. "Do this. Come in from the front and pet it very carefully."

Serena bent down and petted the Rhyhorn with one of her hands. The Rhyhorn squealed showing its pleasure and joy. Ash was surprised by how good Serena was with Rhyhorn. She was getting along with the Rhyhorn as if she'd done it a thousand times.

"That's amazing Serena!" Ash said in awe of Serena's expertize with the Rock Pokemon. "You really know how to tame a Rhyhorn." He added.

"This Rhyhorn seems to be really calm and smart." She commented and looked up at Ash while the Rhyhorn squealed again. "You could pick this one."

Without any hesitation, Ash said. "Whatever you say Serena. Rhyhorn, I choose you!"

"Rhyyy!" The Rhyhorn roared in victory as he stared proudly at Ash and Serena.

"I am impressed. How did you learn so much about Rhyhirn Serena?" Ash questioned.

The compliment made the said trainer blush. "Well, you see." She started. "My mom is a Rhyhorn racer and she taught me how to handle Rhyhorn from a very young age." She concluded.

Soon, Serena started teaching Ash more about Rhyhorn racing in her pink Rhyhorn Racing outfit. The two days Ash and Serena spent training for the Rhyhorn Race were pretty amazing for the two teenage travellers, both having lots of fun. Serena taught Ash how to race with Rhyhorn by sitting ahead of him on the Rhyhorn and they both enjoyed such moments together. Of course, they didn't admit it to each other.

The Rhyhorn race too went great for Ash as he won first place. Sure there weren't many professional riders as the tournament was pretty small but still winning first place in his first try was an excellent achievement and it was all thanks to Serena's hard work over the two days.

The duo were now ready to leave but before they left, Serena wanted to introduce Ash to her mother so here they were in front of the video telephone in Odyssey village's Pokemon Center.

"I am Ash and this is my partner Pikachu." Ash introduced himself with a grin. "Nice to meet you."

Her mother too gave Ash a warm smile. "I am Grace. It's a pleasure." She greeted.

Serena standing next to him cackled. "We are travelling together mom. Isn't that wonderful?" she asked dreamily with a cue of red on her cheeks.

Grace didn't fail to notice her daughter blushing when she said she had decided to travel with Ash. She was Serena's mother after all. She glanced at Ash before speaking. "Take good care of my daughter Ash."

With confidence brimming from his face, Ash agreed. "Of course. That's what friends are for."

After the little conversation that Ash and Grace had, Serena's mother felt that Ash would be a good travelling companion for her daughter since he had experience travelling through various regions and Serena could learn a lot from him. 'He's not that bad. And he's kinda good looking too so…' she thought as she kept her gaze fixed on Ash.

They talked with Serena's mom for quite a while before saying their goodbyes. Both of them now left Odyssey Village to continue what was going to be a long and memorable journey for the two teens.

It was a nice and warm morning as Ash and Serena finally packed their bags and were now ready to resume their travels. They were very close to Lumiose City, but since it was afternoon, the two had decided to take a break for lunch.

But just when they were about to start walking again, they heard a loud cry coming from behind them. They turned around to check from where the noise came from and they saw the bushes nearby shaking. Steadily and carefully, Ash approached the bushes and what he found shocked him.

An injured bipedal Pokemon struggled to walk as it limped around in a dazed manner. Its body and legs seemed to resemble a long gown and its green hair covered most of its face "It's an injured Ralts." Ash grimaced at the sight of the wounded Pokemon. If there was one thing Ash hated to see, it was someone in pain, especially if it was a Pokemon.

Soon, a few barks could be heard. Ash looked upwards and he saw a group of black hounds running towards them. 'They must have done this to the Ralts.' Ash thought. The Ralts seemed to be in very bad condition. When it heard the Mightyena bark at it, it trembled in fear.

It didn't take long for Ash to realize that the Psychic-type Pokemon needed treatment right away. But the Mightyena would get in their way so he needed to take care of them first. Ash unclipped a Pokeball from hi belt and tossed it up. Out of the Pokeball, Ash's Garchomp materialized with a loud roar.

"Gar Garrr!"

Ash picked up the Ralts in his arms, who struggled to get out of his grasp. Ash realized that the Ralts must believe that the trainer would harm it. The Mightyena must have attacked the poor Ralts and since there were so many of them, the Feeling Pokemon didn't stand much of a chance against them. But Ash knew that the Pokemon was in critical condition and there was no time to think about why it was in such a terrible condition. He had to take it to the Pokemon Center right away and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Garchomp, use multiple Dragon Pulses to get them away." Ash ordered before turning to Serena who blinked in surprise. "We've got to get this Ralts to the Pokemon Center quickly Serena. Garchomp will take us there faster." The trainer finished and the honey-haired Performer nodded.

Meanwhile, Garchomp did as it was told and fired three back to back Dragon Pulses at the Mightyena. The Mach pokemon was smart enough to identify the biggest Dark-Type as their leader and striking it first so that he wouldn't need to fight all the tens of Mightyena. And he hit the nail on the head as the remaining Mightyena seemed to be intimidated by the Mach Pokemon after their leader went crashing through the ground. As their biggest Mightyena struggled to stand up, it howled once and all its group howled as well. Soon, they all began to retreat and Garchomp's plan succeeded. It wasn't that Garchomp couldn't defeat them all at once, it would be a walk in the park for him but he too saw the Ralts in Ash's arms and had heard his trainer.

As soon as Garchomp finished his attack, Ash jumped on his back and helped Serena and Pikachu up as well. With a determined look on his face, Ash commanded fiercely. "Garchomp, quickly fly to the Lumoise City Pokemon Center."

Obliging, Garchomp jumped into the air and sailed through the skies at high speeds, taking off for Lumiose City which came into sight soon after.

After only a few short minutes, Garchomp landed right in front of the huge Pokemon Center of Lumiose City. The City was the biggest in Kalos and rightfully, the Pokemon Center appeared to be massive as well.

"You've gotten faster Garchomp. Thanks." Ash thanked his Pokemon. He got down from the Dragon-type's back and so did Serena and Pikachu. Returning Garchomp back to his Pokeball, Ash spoke. "Let's hurry!"

Serena nodded. "Right."

The duo ran in the Pokemon Center and without wasting any time, Ash went straight to Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy." He called frantically getting the attention of the pink-haired Pokemon Nurse. "Its an injured Pokemon."

Hearing about the injured Pokemon, Nurse Joy quickly glanced at the Ralts. She winced at the condition that Ralts appeared to be in. Quickly, she took the Psychic-Type from Ash's hands into her own arms. "It's in very bad shape." She told Ash in a worried tone. "Wigglytuff, ready a room for an injured Pokemon."

The said Pokemon quickly obeyed and readied a room as the Nurse too went inside with the Ralts. Ash gazed at the door of the Emergency Medication room in concern about the wounded Feeling Pokemon. Serena and Pikachu weren't any less worried about Ralts. It made Serena feel upset when she saw at the state Ash was in. He was completely down, his hat covering his distressed face.

In Ash's mind roamed only one thing : What if Ralts couldn't pull through? Whose fault would it be? Would it be his fault for not getting it to the Pokemon Center quick enough? He brought it to the Pokemon Center as fast as he could but still if anything were to happen to Ralts, he would feel all the guilt for it.

Serena decided to comfort the trainer. She took a few steps closer to Ash and kept a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Ash. It's going to be fine." She said in a soft and reassuring tone.

Ash turned his head to Serena and gave her a weak smile. "I hope so."

A few minutes passed as Ash waited for Nurse Joy to come out of the treatment room with news about Ralts. Every second seemed like eternity to Ash. He tried to think as positive as possible but he couldn't help but have those negative thoughts in the corner of his mind.

Ash's wait ended as Nurse Joy came out of the Medication room. She walked towards the counter and seeing her, Ash scurried towards her impatiently.

He banged his hands on the counter. "Nurse Joy. How's Ralts?!" He questioned.

The Pokemon Nurse gazed at Ash with serious face for quite a while before finally snickering. "Ralts is going to be okay. It had no internal injuries so the wounds on its body should heal soon."

Hearing her, Ash sighed in relief. "Thanks, Nurse Joy. Can I see it now?"

"Yes you can. Come with me." She said and started walking.

Ash and Serena followed her to the room where Ralts was being kept. They arrived near the room and saw Ralts on the bed though the window. It seemed to be sleeping peacefully with a few bandages on its body. Ash breathed easy now that Ralts appeared to be in better shape than it was when he brought it to the Pokemon Center.

"Thanks again for treating it, Nurse Joy." Ash said.

The Nurse waved a hand in front of her face as she spoke with a chuckle. "There's no need to thank me Ash. You did a great job of bringing it to the Pokemon Center in time. The wounds could have been more troublesome if you would have been a few minutes late."

Ash then suddenly realized something. "Nurse Joy." He called. "Are there any rooms available at the Pokemon Center that we could spend the night in?" he asked, tilting his head. "We need two rooms, one for me and one for Serena." He explained pointing a hand at Serena.

While Ash did that, Serena felt a little upset. She thought that they might be able to stay in the same room. Not that she had any intentions of doing anything with Ash but being with him made her feel happier.

"Ash, we have only one room available." She shook her head in disappointment.

Ash's face fell at that. He was hoping that he would be able to spend the night in the room of the Pokemon Center for once. They had been travelling quite a lot and he was quite comfortable sleeping in the open but something about the soft and comfy bed aroused him. He felt so much like he was home with his mother.

"Ahh.." he groaned disappointingly. "I was-"

Ash was interrupted by the pink-haired Nurse as she spoke again. "But why don't you two share a room?" she asked.

At that statement, Serena twinkled in delight. "That sounds good. It would be much better than sleeping outside, don't you think Ash?" she spoke in excitement of the moment without any control over her words.

The raven-haired trainer thought about Nurse' joy's suggestion for a few moments. "That should do. I never thought about that." He grinned at the two ladies.

"Pika Pika!" exclaimed Pikachu. While Ash was still a bit unaware about his feelings that seemed to be developing for Serena, Pikachu knew his trainer better than anyone. He had realized Serena's crush on Ash as well as the fact that Ash seemed to be slowly falling for her too. So, he would try his best to help his trainer in something the boy wasn't too good at.

"What are you doing Ash?" Serena questioned Ash, who picked up one of the pillows from the bed.

Ash turned to face Serena, a quizzical look on his face. "I am gonna sleep on the floor so that you could have the bed." He replied blandly.

Serena snickered at the innocent look Ash had on. He looked so cute when he had no clue about what he was doing. But these silly things were a part of Ash and it attracted Serena to him even more. "Why don't you sleep on the bed? It's quite big and I am sure we both can fit in it comfortably?" she requested with puppy dog eyes.

"Are you sure about that?" Ash inquired.

Serena approached Ash with a smile. Coming closer, she gently placed her lips on his cheek.

The gesture made Ash's face go deep crimson and Serena blushed as well.

Ash was immobilized by Serena's sudden gesture. He didn't expect Serena to kiss her, She kissed her on the cheek which wasn't such a bug deal as there had been girls who had kissed him before like Melody and Bianca or Latias or whoever that was. But the feeling of Serena's soft lips on his cheeks gave him indescribable pleasure.

Serena enjoyed the feeling as well. She'd been planning to do something like this but never got a chance to show her feelings to Ash. She was afraid that Ash wouldn't return her feelings so she never directly confessed to Ash and decided to instead drop subtle hints. She hoped that Ash would slowly return her feelings.

"What… What was that for?" he asked as his face flushed. "Why'd you do that?"

Serena grinned as she took one of Ash's hands in her own. "That was what you thought it was." She said intertwining her hands with Ash's and dragging him to the bed.

Ash didn't speak a word. He appeared to be too embarrassed too. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy it but it was just too sudden and he didn't know how to react.

Serena took one side of the bed while Ash hesitantly laid his body on the other.

"Goodnight Ash." Serena wished our young hero.

Ash buried his face in the blanket as he responded. "Goodnight!"

Pikachu, who saw the entire scene unfold from the corner of his eyes smirked. He would have lots to tease his best friend about now. And he couldn't wait to tell this to all his friends whenever he would meet them.

The next day, Ash woke up early and quickly took a shower before Serena or Pikachu even woke up. He got dressed and made his way to the ground near the Pokemon Center, the morning still new.

Standing in the field, Ash threw the Pokeballs attached to his belt in the air. The 5 Pokeballs snapped open and out of them came Froakie, Fletchling, Garchomp, Totodile and Buisel.

"Good morning guy!" Ash greeted his team of Pokemon, who all cried their respective cries in acknowledgement. "It's time to start a new training session." He explained to his Pokemon that he caught in different regions.

Froakie appeared to be looking around for something as he turned his head in different directions. Ash noticed Froakie's behaviour and tittered. "Are you searching for Pikachu, Froakie?"

The blue frog Pokemon nodded his head.

"He was asleep so I decided to give him a break for today. He has been working quite hard to become more powerful." He looked towards the sky as if in thought. "You know, he did lose a battle that he should have won quite easily in the Unova League." He told the Water-type Pokemon of Kalos.

His statement had gotten everyone's attention as they gazed at their trainer. Noticing them look at him like that, Ash realized that they wanted to know what happened in the League battle.

"So you want to know how he lost?" hIs Pokemon nodded at his question.

"In the top 8 of the Unova League, I faced a guy named Cameron. His last Pokemon was a Riolu which evolved into a Lucario during our battle." He started explaining. "And even though Pikachu had much more experience than Cameron's Lucario, he lost. Now that I think about it, I think it was my fault. I put too much of a burden on Pikachu because I didn't use all my Pokemon like I should have. And most of my team was defeated mostly because they were inexperienced. I still can't believe that I lost to a guy who was foolish enough to only bring 5 Pokemon in a full 6-on-6 Pokemon battle. But I promise that something like that won't happen from now. We will win the Kalos League." He told them with pride.

All his Pokemon stood with respect for their trainer. They understood that Ash had made a mistake but he was brave enough to acknowledge it and move on instead of throwing all the blame on his Pokemon for losing the battle. After a few moments they all roared and without any further delays, they got back to training.

The Lumiose City Pokemon Center seemed to be as busy as always as Ash, Serena and Pikachu waited for Nurse Joy to give a final say on Ralts' condition. After waiting for a while, Nurse Joy finally strode out of the room with Ralts in her arms.

She smiled at our heroes, stopping right in front of them. "Ralts has made a great recovery and you can take it back with you now."

Ash grinned at that. "So Ralts, where is your home?" Ash asked leaning towards the Psychic-Type Pokemon.

The Ralts' face thought fell as it looked down at the ground. Nurse Joy abruptly spoke up "You mean this Ralts doesn't belong you to?" she questioned, surprised by the fact that the Pokemon was wild.

Ash shook his head. "No Nurse joy. I found it on the way to Lumiose City where it was being attacked by a bunch of Mightyena." He told her.

"But Ash, I don't think that there are any Pokemon of the Ralts line living anywhere near Lumiose City." The Nurse explained with a serious expression on her pretty face.

Ash gazed at Ralts as in thought about the best thing to do for it. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Hey!" he called out excitedly. "Why don't you stay here with nurse Joy?"

The reaction Ash got from Ralts wasn't the one he expected. According to his mental calculations, Ralts should've been happy to stay with Nurse Joy but it seemed to have gotten even sadder.

Nurse joy clicked her fingers as she got the perfect idea. "Why don't you take Ralts along with you Ash?" she suggested. "I am sure it would be an excellent Pokemon for your team."

This made Ralts' happier as it looked up and squealed happily. "Raltsss!"

Ash glanced seriously at Ralts for a moment before a huge grin spread across his face. A new pokemon was always welcomed to his team. He was a trainer after all and catching Pokemon was the thing trainer did. A Ralts, a Psychi-type , A type which he hadn't trained before. Just the thought of raising a different Pokemon made him excited.

"Do you want to come along with me Ralts?" Ash questioned the Pokemon. The reply of the Psychic-type came when it jumped from nurse Joy's arms and clutched onto Ash's body, burying its head in Ash's chest.

"Rall Ral!" The Psychic-type nodded in agreement and rubbed its head on Ash's chest affectionately.

"Pika pi pi!" Pikachu greeted the Ralts from atop Ash's shoulder.

"So I guess I it's settled then." The Nurse joy spoke with a huge smile.

Removing an empty Pokeball from his belt, Ash showed it to Ralts. "Ralts, this is a Pokeball. It will be your new home. So do you want to go inside it?" Ash asked.

The Ralts appeared to be a little scared of the Pokeball as it moved retreated a little and examined the ball thoroughly. It wanted to check the Pokeball so it tapped on it, but to its surprise the Pokeball opened and sucked it inside a red flash. The Pokeball lightly shook a couple of times in Ash's hands before making a 'ping' noise.

"I caught a Ralts!" Ash exclaimed and extended his hand, not bothering to do anything else in public.

"Pi Pikachu!"

Serena and Nurse joy smiled at Ash and Pikachu's small celebration for catching a new Pokemon.

How have you been? It's been quite a long time since I last updated. I know that. (Just kidding, I updated this story last Friday).

Anyways, how was the chapter? The second half of the chapter(from where Ash encountered Ralts) might not be up to the quality that I would have liked it to be. I didn't have enough time to go through that part thoroughly. You see, I would be studying the whole day tomorrow and the next couple of weeks are gonna be really busy for me so I wanted to update this today.

And I have started the second chapter of 'A Legend Awakened' but it still might be a while before I release that chapter since I am going to be busy the next few days.

Tell me what you thought about the chapter and as always, thanks for reading.