c115: Singing In The Dark Forest!!
"Let me take a look…" Ash murmured, activating his waveguide sensor to scan the campgrounds. He wasn't just idly watching the team formation process—he was gauging the emotions of the remaining students, using his aura abilities to distinguish who was overwhelmed with fear and who radiated courage.
Moments later, the results of the scan flashed clearly in his mind. To his surprise, among the few students still without partners, one radiated remarkable composure and bravery. That student was a girl standing quietly not far from him.
Ash blinked, then gave a faint nod of recognition. It was Xunzi—the calm, kimono-clad girl with a red ribbon tied in her hair, the same one who had used Bellsprout in the camp's opening battle the day before. Despite her gentle appearance, her demeanor had left an impression of surprising tenacity.
"Tierno, that girl over there Xunzi hasn't found a teammate yet," Ash pointed her out. "She's standing near the edge of the open area. Go ask her to team up with you."
"Oh! Got it!" Tierno nodded enthusiastically. He didn't question Ash's insight for a second. Trusting Ash's judgment fully, he trotted off toward Xunzi with confident energy.
Given Ash's group had the highest cumulative scores on the Summer Camp's Student Performance Ranking Board, teaming up with one of them carried natural appeal. And Tierno, though round and jovial, radiated a kind of grounded warmth that gave people a sense of safety.
Xunzi glanced at Ash when Tierno approached her, then gave a small, acknowledging nod. Without much hesitation, she accepted Tierno's invitation.
With that, all of Ash's group had successfully formed teams:
Ash × Serena (Ser Lena)
Gary × Blue (Xiaolan)
Shauna × Trevor
Xunzi × Tierno
After the teams were finalized, they walked to the staff station where Professor Oak and his assistants were waiting to register each pair.
~ 15 minutes later ~
"Alright," Professor Oak called out with energy, holding a clipboard and pointing toward the equipment table, "each group should send one representative to collect a flashlight. Teams will depart in three-minute intervals from the camp's main gate."
Students began forming two-person lines in front of the gate. In the middle of the group, Ash leaned slightly toward Serena, his voice kind and low.
"Well, Serena, are you nervous?"
"Mm-hmm~" Serena hesitated but answered honestly. "I am… just a little scared."
She didn't need to hide her emotions in front of Ash. Ever since their first meeting and journey through the forest earlier that day, she had come to trust him deeply. Ash was the person she felt most comfortable with at camp.
"If you're scared," Ash said with a small smile, "just hold my hand."
He extended his hand toward her gently.
"En…" Serena, cheeks burning, looked down for a moment. Then, shyly but earnestly, she reached out and placed her soft, trembling fingers into Ash's palm, gripping it lightly.
Her heart thumped like a drum in her chest. Though fear still lingered, the warmth of Ash's hand gave her a feeling of protection, banishing the worst of her anxiety. Her face was bright red, but in that moment, she felt brave.
Ash, meanwhile, didn't read into it too much. He simply thought that helping Serena stay calm was part of being a good teammate and friend.
While Ash soothed Serena's nerves, the line at the front of the camp had begun moving. Teams were departing one by one at regular intervals, signaled by Professor Oak and other supervising aides.
Suddenly, a loud shriek erupted near the gate.
"Ahhh!!"
"Eeeee!!"
Two girls, clutching flashlights and holding hands in terror, screamed as they rushed into the shadowy forest path. Their cries echoed through the night air less a sign of danger, more a release of mounting fear.
However, the unintended effect of their shouting was contagious. The students waiting in line behind them grew even more uneasy. Tension thickened among the kids still standing under the camp's bright floodlights.
Every three minutes, two more students were released into the darkness, their flashlights bobbing like fireflies as they vanished into the sea of black trees.
The line slowly moved forward. Ash and Serena's turn was drawing near.
More than ten minutes passed. The gap ahead of them had shortened with each pair's departure, and finally, Professor Oak turned to them and gave the signal.
It was time.
"Come on, everyone! Serena and I will go first." Ash looked over his shoulder at Gary, Blue (Xiaolan), and the others still waiting in line behind him. Without waiting for a response, he turned back and gave a nod to Serena.
"Let's go, Serena."
With their hands still joined from earlier, Ash gently tugged her forward. The two stepped into the mouth of the dark Viridian Forest, leaving the camp's warm lights behind.
"Swish…"
"Rustle…"
The moment they passed under the thick canopy, they were engulfed in gloom. The tall pines towered overhead like unmoving statues, their leaves whispering ominously in the cool night wind. Even the undergrowth thick with ferns and gnarled roots seemed to crawl with shadows.
Every gust of night wind whistling through the trees sent branches swaying in silence. In the dim light of the flashlight Ash carried, the forest looked like a world of giants dark, twisted silhouettes swaying like Titans come to life.
Low shrubs rustled at odd intervals. Small Pokémon like Nidoran, Caterpie, or even the mischievous Zubat rustled through the leaves unseen, feeding the eerie atmosphere with uncertainty. In such darkness, even a tiny Rattata could startle a six-year-old into panicked tears.
Earlier, Professor Oak had explained the rules clearly before everyone entered the woods. Every 200 meters up to 1000 meters from the camp number plates were hidden. These markers served as checkpoints. Each time a team retrieved one, both students would earn 2 points toward their Summer Camp ranking.
But that logic the point system, the competitiveness meant little when swallowed by a forest so oppressively silent and black.
Even the camp's top scorers, students who had excelled in previous activities like Ash, Gary, and Blue, found their natural reaction to be fear. The instinct wasn't to strategize for points it was to turn back and run.
Judging by the tension hanging in the air and the frightened murmurs heard even during team registration, Ash guessed that once tonight's Courage Test was over, the Student Performance Scoreboard would change drastically.
But Ash was confident that his score would hold steady. This Courage Test posed no real threat to him.
Why?
Because Ash wasn't an ordinary six-year-old.
Once he activated his waveguide aura perception, he could detect everything moving or still within several hundred meters around him. No wild Pokémon, no sudden movements, no jumpscares could catch him off guard.
Besides, despite his young physical form, his consciousness housed the soul of a young adult calm, measured, and utterly unshaken by such superficial challenges.
Still, while Ash felt nothing but focus and vigilance, Serena was another story entirely.
Back at the camp gate, she had only gently clasped the front of his hand. But now, deeper inside the woods, she clung to him completely her entire hand curled tightly around his, her small body pressed against his arm for reassurance.
Ash didn't even need aura to sense her trembling. Through the close contact alone, he could feel how nervous she was.
"Serena," Ash said softly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, "let Clefairy out. I'll keep Froakie with me too. If we're surrounded by familiar friends, it might help you feel safer."
"Mmhmm…" Serena gave a quick nod and fumbled with her Poké Ball. In a flash of soft light, her Clefairy appeared at her side.
Ash, on the other hand, didn't need to release Froakie from a Poké Ball. Froakie was always outside, traveling alongside him like Pikachu did with Red in the early manga days.
Clefairy blinked up at its trainer and noticed Serena's tightly clenched hand and anxious expression.
Ash crouched and gave the fairy-type a calm suggestion:
"Clefairy, Serena's scared. Could you sing for her? Not the Sing move, but just a normal lullaby. Something gentle… to ease her nerves."
"Pii~yi!" Clefairy gave a little salute, then turned to face Serena.
And then, the singing began.
"Pi…yi… Pi"
"Pi…yi… Pi~yi…"
The tune was a little flat and off-key. It lacked the mystical charm of the actual Sing ability and didn't cause drowsiness like it would in a battle. But that didn't matter. The familiarity of the sound the sweetness of Clefairy's effort—worked better than any spell.
Serena didn't say anything, but the trembling in her fingers lessened slightly. Her breathing evened out.
Ash, still holding her hand, walked at a steady pace, flashlight cutting a narrow beam through the woods. Froakie flanked his left, ready and alert. Clefairy marched a few paces ahead, singing its offbeat lullaby as if leading a gentle parade.
No one spoke. But a feeling of quiet courage grew between them.
In that moment two kids walking through the unknown the forest had no flowers, but it had song.
And that was enough.
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