No one knew how much time had passed. Serena only felt her whole body stiff and cold. Just as she vaguely thought she saw a beautiful world beckoning to her, she finally felt Ash's speed beginning to slow down.
Ash gently set Serena down. The moment her feet touched the ground, her legs went numb and she nearly collapsed.
"Froa."
Froakie reacted quickly. It reached out and supported Serena by the waist, allowing her to barely keep her balance.
"Thank you, Froakie."
Serena thanked it, then slowly tried to stand properly. After that, she looked toward Ash.
But Ash's attention was already elsewhere.
He lifted Mew off his head and carefully examined it from side to side.
"Mew, are you hurt?"
"Mew!"
Mew responded energetically. Not only was it unharmed, it even tugged on Ash's arm as if asking him to do it again.
To Mew, the whole escape seemed like a fun game.
"That's good. As long as you're not hurt."
Ash let out a sigh of relief. When Mew rubbed against his cheek affectionately, Ash laughed.
"Hey, stop that, Mew. That tickles!"
"It really seems like Mew is close to you, Ash."
Serena smiled warmly at the scene.
"Did you become friends with Mew back then?"
"Huh?" Ash blinked. After thinking for a moment he said, "When I was a kid I did talk with Mew once, but… I don't think we were this close."
He pointed at himself and tried asking,
"Mew, do you still remember me? We met once before…"
"Mew?"
Mew looked up and carefully examined Ash. It even flew around him several times.
Suddenly it gave a sound of realization and threw itself into Ash's arms.
"Mew!"
"Oh! It's that guy! I've seen you before! Long time no see!"
"Froa."
Froakie, who understood what Mew meant, glanced sideways at it.
For some reason, this legendary Pokemonfelt a little… unreliable.
"Froa."
But Froakie quickly shook its head. Whether Mew was unreliable or not had nothing to do with it.
Froakie walked up to Ash and tugged at his clothes. Then it pointed at itself and at Mew, its face full of battle spirit.
The fight earlier hadn't been satisfying.
But now that it had saved Ash, asking for a battle with Mew as a reward seemed perfectly reasonable.
"Froakie, you want to battle Mew?"
Ash didn't notice that Mew had completely frozen.
Seeing Froakie burning with fighting spirit, Ash's eyes lit up.
"Mew, let's battle!"
Ash challenged it excitedly.
Although Ash didn't know where they were now, he felt they had run quite far. Those people chasing Mew probably wouldn't catch up anytime soon.
At least there should be enough time for one battle.
"Mew…"
Mew looked troubled.
Although it was a Mythical Pokémon, Mew wasn't particularly fond of fighting. Especially not with a Froakie that was this battle-crazy.
Could it fight?
Sure.
But Mew really didn't want to get beaten up.
After thinking for a moment—
"Mew!"
Mew smiled and waved its tiny paws at Ash.
Then it flew into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared.
"Huh? Why did it leave?"
Ash was completely confused.
But the one even more stunned was Froakie.
It never expected that a legendary Pokemoncould act so freely.
The next moment, Froakie glared at Ash.
"Froa!"
Now the whetstone is gone.
How are you going to compensate me?
"Uh…"
Ash scratched his head helplessly.
"There's nothing I can do. Maybe Mew suddenly had something important to do?"
"Froa!"
Froakie clearly didn't believe that nonsense.
Whether Mew had a real reason or not didn't matter. It had ruined Froakie's mood.
And now it wanted to leave so easily?
Froakie turned toward Ash with killing intent.
A blade of light appeared in its hand.
"Froa!"
Since Mew ran away—
You'll have to release my battle spirit instead!
"Froakie, what are you doing?! Stop! Don't come closer!"
"Don't come any closer!!"
"Froa!"
Enough talking.
Slash!
"GAAAH!!"
Afterward.
Ash lay on the ground with red marks all over his face, staring blankly into space.
Nearby, Froakie lay comfortably in the grass with a blade of grass in its mouth, looking extremely satisfied.
Watching the entire scene, Serena's eye twitched.
"Ash… your relationship with your Pokemonis… quite unique."
She struggled for a long time before finally managing to say that.
It wasn't that she lacked vocabulary.
She just genuinely didn't know how to describe what she had witnessed.
Sometimes going out into the world really lets you see all kinds of strange things.
"Ow… that hurts…"
Ash slowly stood up while holding his cheek.
"Well, there's nothing I can do. Froakie is just too strong. My trainer level isn't high enough yet to bring out its full strength."
"But I believe that soon I'll be able to let Froakie battle to its heart's content."
Ash said confidently.
But the moment his facial muscles moved—
"OW! That hurts!"
"Froa."
Having finished venting its frustration, Froakie seemed to have entered a sage-like state.
It glanced at Ash casually and waved its hand.
A fight should always be done with full strength.
Otherwise, what's the point of fighting?
Besides…
You're becoming a better punching bag.
Keep it up.
Ash's eye twitched.
Even though he couldn't understand Froakie's words, after nearly a month together he could more or less guess what Froakie meant from its expressions.
Which made him wonder—
Did Froakie see him as a trainer…
Or as a punching bag?
If Froakie knew his thoughts, it would probably answer without hesitation:
Both.
After all—
Who said a trainer couldn't also be a punching bag?
Trainers aren't that inconvenient.
Cough.
Seeing Ash wincing in pain, Serena suddenly remembered something. She rummaged through her backpack and took out a spray bottle.
"Ash, this spray should help your injuries. Do you want to try it?"
"Huh? Something like that exists?"
Ash took it happily.
"Thanks, Serena!"
He sprayed it over his injuries.
Cool and refreshing.
"Wow, that feels great. This spray really works!"
"I'm glad it helps."
Serena smiled.
But as she watched Ash carefully treating his injuries, her smile gradually faded.
She fell into deep thought again.
When Ash carried her earlier, everything happened so fast that she didn't have time to think.
But now that she was calm, she realized something felt familiar.
Very similar to the feeling of being carried by that boy when she was little.
Of course…
Maybe that was just a near-death illusion.
Still.
All these small clues made Serena start doubting her memories.
For years she had believed that Goh was the boy who saved her.
But now—
That belief was starting to shake.
Just then—
They heard rustling nearby.
A brown-skinned young man with spiky hair and permanently closed eyes walked out.
Seeing Ash and Serena looking at him, the man hesitated before greeting them.
"Um… hello?"
"Thank goodness we found someone!"
"Huh?!"
The man froze.
He noticed the red marks on Ash's face and body.
Then he looked at Serena.
Something clearly clicked in his mind.
His face changed instantly.
"Oh! Sorry! I was just passing by! I didn't mean to interrupt!"
"I'll leave right away!"
"What are you talking about?"
Ash had no idea what he meant.
He quickly grabbed the man.
"Wait! Can you tell us how to get out of this forest?"
"Huh?"
The man looked surprised.
Then he glanced at Serena again.
Even though his eyes were closed, his expression somehow showed sudden realization.
"I see… you two had too much fun and got lost."
"Wow, young people these days are really wild."
"That's NOT what happened!!"
Serena exploded, her face bright red.
"We're just lost!"
"I understand, I understand."
The man made a zipper motion across his mouth.
"Don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets."
"I'm not reassured at all!!"
Serena completely lost it.
After a long explanation, the man finally seemed to accept their story.
Or at least pretended to.
"Sorry about that."
He said apologetically.
"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Brock."
"And this place is actually at the foot of Mt. Moon."
"Mt. Moon?"
Ash and Serena looked at each other.
Neither of them knew where that was.
Ash asked,
"How far is Pewter City from here?"
"…You're going to Pewter City?"
Brock looked at him strangely.
"Yeah. I'm planning to challenge the Pewter Gym."
Brock's expression grew even stranger.
"Well… you're pretty far off."
He pointed behind them.
"Pewter City is several days back in that direction."
"Huh?"
"You've already run dozens of kilometers past it."
"HUUUH?!"
Both of them shouted.
Ash was shocked because he would have to walk back.
Serena was shocked because Ash had apparently sprinted dozens of kilometers.
"So we still need several days to get back…"
Ash sighed.
"That's such a waste of time."
Brock thought for a moment.
"If you're heading to Pewter City anyway, why not visit Mt. Moon first?"
"Huh?"
"The Pewter Gym battle is a 3-on-3 match. Ash, you only have two Pokémon, right?"
"Mt. Moon has a lot of Pokémon. You might even find rare ones like Chansey."
"I feel like Froakie alone could win…"
Ash muttered.
But he knew Froakie might refuse to battle if it wasn't interested.
And Mimikyu alone might not be enough.
Besides—
Ash really did want to catch another Pokémon.
"What do you think, Serena?"
"Mt. Moon?"
Serena smiled.
"I've always wanted to see the giant Moon Stone there."
"Alright!"
Ash immediately made up his mind.
"Then let's head to Mt. Moon right now!"
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