| The Twisted Love |

❝They say every problem comes with a solution.❞

Serena realized it when she first met him.

Serena had been devastated all her life. The hope to be loved and held again had died a long time ago ever since she had lost him - who was someone she loved and cherished most - and started receiving hate from her own mother instead. But all her problems were marked with an end when he abruptly entered her life. From saving her to being her friend, from friend to something more. - he was something she could rely on. She trusted him. She followed him. She leaned on him. And she saw the light of that hope - that she could be loved again.

But what would happen when even he would turn her down?

Her life shattered and her will to live died along with it.

Would Serena be able to recover? Would Ash be able to save her? Or the two opposite hearts clashing in the war of a twisted love would break forever?

Author: StreetRacer-Sam

Genre: Romance. Hurt/Comfort.

[Warning]

This story rated T. It contains dark themes, minimal suggestive themes, and suicidal thoughts & actions. The overall concept of the story is relatively safe but the content is preferably for the mature audience. Unless you can tolerate depression, please read at your own risk. This story is based on a specific real-life event. Every incident mentioned in the story is purely coincidental to any other real-life event unless said otherwise.

Her feet skidded as she dodged a tree. The environment around her was vivacious in the kind of way that made her heart bubble, but she did not stop for it. An imminent sadness welled in her chest as she beat on. Her hand brushed back the unkempt hair and she took a moment to catch her breath as she displaced the final set of underbrush from behind her.

Serena's hand moved salmon hat that curved round her head and clutched it tightly. The silence swam as she allowed the heat in her chest to be heaved out, and for a moment she let the tranquility distract her from the emotion.

It was early morning. In fact, it was too early for someone to leave their house. And yet, she was here, far away from her house.

After catching her breath, Serena looked up. Her eyes gazed longingly in distance at the small town that was sleeping peacefully. If she was certain, it was a rather serene sight.

A gush of cool wind passed by, her hair swayed with it. She wiped her hair off her face and tucked them behind her ear. Her other hand still clutching her round pink hair.

There was a long silence. But the sudden call of nature washed over her senses when she heard the soft buzzing of trees and the gush of wind in her ears. Such a serene sight melted her heart.

As the blow of air lowered down, Serena let go of her hat. Her arm straightened and she held it with her other hand, her eyes lowering to her feet.

Was it the right choice?

The question shrouded her mind and she once again found herself uncertain of her own decision. She knew where she was. Her house was behind her but not too far away. She could still return. But is that what she wanted? Is that what her mother wanted? She knew that if she continued on the path ahead, there would be no turning back. She would never be able to return again.

At that moment, his image flashed in front of her eyes. The silhouette of his smiling face was all she could see, a fading memory that he had become, somehow stuck in her mind. She knew exactly why she made that choice. She knew what her choice was. Taking a long breath, the girl began to walk, her steps as small as she was fragile. Her weak heart was pressurized by guilt and a pain rushed through her mind.

Was it really the right choice?

"I'm off, mom," Ash called out as he stepped down the stairs. "Is Gary here, yet?"

"Gary is waiting for you outside sweetie. Professor Oak is with him as well," his mother replied as she walked out of the kitchen. She still had the apron around her waist and her hands were partially wet due to washing dishes after the breakfast.

Ash walked to the exit and stopped briefly to wear the shoes. The electric mouse Pokemon quickly rushed to him and perched over his shoulder. When Ash was done he turned around and faced his mother. She smiled warmly at him.

"Take care, you two," she said and then bent down to Pikachu's eye level. "Please make sure he won't get in any trouble, okay?"

"Yeah. Don't worry," Ash replied, wavering off the worry and walked out of the house before Pikachu could even speak in affirmative. He did nod, though. Although Delia was uncertain of his words, she was glad that he had someone like Pikachu to stay with him and look after him. "Bye mom!" He waved one final time and disappeared from the house.

The door closed behind them.

A brown colored jeep was parked outside the Ketchum residence and as Ash approached it, the occupants looked at him. Ash beamed brightly at them.

"Morning, Professor Oak."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried as well.

"Good morning Ash and Pikachu," Professor Oak said.

"You are on time, I am surprised," Gary remarked while checking time in his wrist watch. Ash walked behind the jeep and hopped inside, taking the seat behind Gary.

"Ready to go?" Professor Oak said and turned the ignition on. Changed into the first gear, he pressed the accelerator slowly and the jeep revved up as it started moving, slowly catching up speed and soon started running on the newly built roads of the Pallet Town.

Ash Ketchum was just another teenager from Pallet Town and an aspiring trainer. Taking a break from his journey, he had decided with some of his friends to meet up and go out somewhere. There had never been a time that they all spend together and he was up for it.

Although excited, Ash felt an uneasy feeling welling in his chest. It slightly worried him.

"Strange," he muttered to himself.

"What's that?" the brunette asked while looking over his shoulder. Ash grinned sheepishly and scratched his cheek.

"Nothing important," he replied. Gary shrugged his shoulders and turned forward again and finally, Ash sighed. Perhaps he was thinking too much, but he could swear that something was about to happen. And he had never been more certain than this.

"Pika-chu?" The electric mouse Pokemon nudged Ash and the raven haired boy looked at him.

"It's nothing, buddy," he said and attempted a small smile. His hand worked on his fur and Pikachu cried in ecstasy. "It's nothing…"

"So where are we going?"

A brown haired boy asked, standing next to the raven haired boy.

"Hoenn," Ash replied. "Wasn't that everyone said Gary?" he asked, looking at the other boy on his other side. The brunette nodded, not really minding the conversation at all. Ash turned back to Ritchie as he continued. "I don't think you have really gone there."

"Not yet," Ritchie said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

At that moment, the brown haired Pallet teen looked to the left and noticed Professor Oak waving his hand towards him.

"I'll be back in a moment," he said and walked away. Ash and Ritchie looked at him for a moment before turning back to each other.

"You will love that place," Ash remarked. "There are a lot of strong Pokemon and gyms there. And the league is cool, too!"

Ritchie chuckled. "Then I might have a look as well," he said. "Not for a while, though."

"Yeah…" Ash muttered. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked up; a long sigh escaped his lips. "I really can't wait to see everyone else. It have been so long now – I wonder what they are all doing."

His eyes briefly moved to their feet where two electric mouse Pokemon were conversing. He was certain they were as happy to see each other as he was to see Ritchie again.

"Hey…"

Gary's voice pulled Ash out of his thoughts. When his eyes shifted at him, he saw three tickets flaring in the brunette's hand.

"Three tickets for us," he said, handing them their tickets as he continued, "Our flight is twenty minutes from now. This is the last one and next one will be not for another day. We got lucky," he said and began to walk. The other two followed. Both, Pikachu and Sparky, quickly rushed to their trainer's shoulders.

"We gotta hurry then," Ash said. Both the brunettes looked at him and saw him smiling, a familiar grin came over their faces. Without wasting another moment the three broke into a run towards their flight.

It was early morning so luckily they did not run into someone, albeit they created trouble for some passersby.

It took the group another ten minutes to arrive at their destination and after going through the long process of security checking, they managed to make it in time. The three kept their bags with them as they rested comfortably in their seats; Ritchie on the corner, Gary in the middle and Ash sitting next to the window.

The three buckled up and nearly held their breaths as the flight took off, but once they gained enough altitude they let the air flow through them and calmed down, sulking comfortably in their seats.

Soon enough Ritchie and Gary were lost in their own conversation, keeping Ash at the bay. However, he did not seem to mind. His eyes were staring outside the window. A lot of gigantic flying types of the native region were flying outside and as he looked at them, somehow, Ash could even feel the breeze flowing outside. He knew every adventure had been amazing for him. They shaped him up in a lot better person than he was before. They strengthened his bonds with every single one of his Pokemon – mainly Pikachu who was more than just his friend at this point.

And he was certain that this one adventure would not be different either.

But not in the way he thought it would be.