Lost in their Past

The Fourth Week

"I've noticed it too," Gary sighed, "Ash is over exhausting himself."

"I know," Serena adjusted her turtleneck, the finger marks that Ash left a week ago had still not disappeared, "and ever since Ailsa chose him to be the team captain... it's all so..."

A sigh escaped her lips.

Gary sighed alongside her as he took a bite of his Watmel berry which smelled a little funky but he ate it anyway.

"Does it smell weird to you?" He asked Serena.

She made a grotesque expression and shrugged off his request. "I just hope he's alright."

"Yeah, we have a big mission ahead of her."

"Who the fuck cares about the damn mission? Nothing is worth it if Ash isn't alright."

"Yeah I know genius," Gary took another bite, "Well, maybe it's a moment of weakness. I think Ash will be alright at the stimulation today."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

"Ash is nuts!" Gary took off his belt, slamming it down on his bed.

"He's not nuts," she sighed, "he's going through something."

"I know he's going through something," the brunet sighed, "but that's no excuse for being a jerk... I mean he almost killed the lot of us back then in the stimulation... plus, I think I heard him muttering to himself."

Serena rubbed her face. Today had been Ash's first day as the team Captain and it had been nothing but short of a disaster. Ash was getting restless, haughty, and short-tempered.

It was weird because Ash didn't have a mean bone in his body, he was the most level headed person Serena knew.

Whatever he had been seeing... it had so been something so terrible that it managed to make Ash Ketchum angry.

"We have to help him," Serena said.

"Of course we do," the brunet popped his knees against his elbow, "but what can we do if he wouldn't even accept help if this goes on for one more day... Ash will become our dad!"

Serena scoffed at the thought. She ransacked her brain trying to come up with an explanation or a solution for his troubles.

She did find one, but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

"What if... can we tell Ailsa that Ash is troubled? Maybe she can make Alain our captain, it will lessen his burden."

"Alain hasn't been here for some time, but... I'm sure he'll appear, the main question is that how are we going to tell her? You think she'll replace Ash before of some 'troubles'?"

"Why not?"

"Have you met her?" The brunet scoffed, "maybe... maybe we can tell her that somehow his instability will jeopardize the mission, or that it was you who saw the where Spencer is so..."

She pouted her lips, "But who will do it?"

The two of them stared into a moment before breaking into a game of rock, paper, and scissors.

Serena lost.

"Oh my Arceus," Serena put her arm around her stomach as she walked in. Her stomach had been acting weird since Gary made her smell that fruit, the turtleneck around her neck was not helping with nausea.

"Is your stomach acting weird too?" She stood by the corner of the bed, "I think I'm about to go... nope false alarm."

Ash was sitting quietly at the end of the bed, the ominous silence reminded her of those scary nights and the lifelessness she'd seen in his eyes.

"Sweetie?" She got up.

A scoff escaped Ash's lips as he turned around, it felt as if the strength had left his body, but he still managed to turn around.

"So..." his voice broke, "Ailsa called me in an hour ago."

"Oh no... what did she say?"

"She thought that I wasn't a good fit for captain because—"

"Oh sweetie I'm so—"

"She said it was because you said you didn't have any belief in me... that why she made you the team captain."

Nausea seemed to have crawled its way towards her throat. She could taste it in her mouth which wasn't good, at all. Their little plan had backfired, they'd forgotten to count in the special variable which was that their grandmother was still a bitch.

"Ash I—"

"You don't believe me?" There were tears in his eyes, "that's the... I... can't... I... Oh my Arceus!"

Serena's two-step forward was ten steps backward. As soon as her foot touched the ground. All of her insides came out. Her relationship fell off the cliff the same way chunks of food came of her.

Soon, the same thing happened with Ash.

Little did they know that was what was happening around the whole Island of Hald Fest.