The Unknown warrior

Chapter 36

*In the previous chapter.*

On the other hand, Charizard reverted to his original form. As for Ash, he falls on his knees due to exhaustion. It was a draw?!

*Now.*

"Well done, Charizard, you deserve a long rest," Ash said as he recalled Charizard into his Pokeball.

"Hey Ash, Charizard did an amazing job," Alain said as he touched Ash on the shoulder from behind.

"Thank you, Alain; your Charizard did well with the grunts as well," Ash praised.

"But it was nothing compared to you, Ash," Alain replied.

"Hey! Someone praise me too..." muttered an enraged Jack as he approached the two.

"Yeah yeah, why don't we thank you? You did an excellent job in asking us for help ", Alain added with a chuckle.

"Hey!! That's not fair! There were hundreds of Pokemons, and Typhlosion and Moltres were not enough for them! ", Jack yelled in defence.

"Then why did you tell us to back off when we came to you for help?" Alain teased.

"Ok! Leave this one alone! ", yelled an irritated Jack.

When Ash overheard this talk, he chuckled a little. "You guys are already friends," he stated.

They both looked at Ash for a second before breaking out laughing.

"We honestly weren't aware of it," Jack said.

"Yeah, a lot has happened since we met," Alain explained.

"So, Ashy-Boy, how have you been?" Gary inquired, his typical attitude unchanged.

"First of all!!! Don't. Call. Me. That!!"

"Okay, Ashy-bo..." Gary began but was cut off when a specific honey blonde girl dashed towards Ash and embraced her in a hug.

The unexpected hug stunned Ash. He suddenly felt wetness on his shoulder. Was she sobbing?

She then sniffed, while crying and clutching Ash tightly, and whispered, "..."

When Ash saw this, he hugged her and whispered, "Everything is alright, don't cry..."

Serena then sniffed and answered, "I thought I'd lost you... again..."

"Hey, it's fine now. This matters the most, isn't it? Now cheer up!", said Ash in a humble and caring tone as he slowly patted Serena's back.

Serena then broke the hug and looked Ash in the eyes. She then dried her eyes and exclaimed, with enthusiasm and determination, "Yeah, Ash, now go. Go put an end to this."

"Yeah!! That's the spirit!"

"Heyyy, somebody got a girl!" Gary teased.

"What do you mean, Gary?" Ash inquired, confused.

"You're still the same," Gary replied, sighing and shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Ash questioned, unaware.

"Nothing!" said Gary, irritably. Pikachu was on the ground, trying hard not to giggle.

Ash was puzzled but shrugged it off. He then began walking towards Lysander, who was on his knees. Ash could hear what he was murmuring... in shock.

"How can I fail... My preparation was perfect ", were the words Ash could hear as he approached Lysander.

As Ash reached Lysander, he put out his hand and grabbed Lysander's collar, pulling him up. He was about to say something when some black metal balls appeared out of nowhere, unobserved by Ash but noticed by Serena.