Strength ~An Amourshipping Story

Chapter 33: Strength

To my favorite readers!

I'm back home so updates will be faster (for those who didn't know I was on vacation)! Also, I hope the last chapter (and this one too, I guess) will make the story more interesting. Sorry for all the character dialogue in this chapter, there's a lot. I also hope you like the title of this chapter xD and please enjoy!

Last time, Ash and Serena battled Aura and Cole in the finals. When Pikachu was rendered useless in battle, Serena and her Sylveon were on their own to seemingly impossible defeat both Aura and Cole's Pokémon. As Serena recalled the time when she and Ash promised to win, to prove their relationship, a golden aura surrounded her and Sylveon, making both of them extremely powerful.

After Pikachu was rescued.

ASH: *Still in shock* What was tha-

Serena cuts him off by grabbing his wrist and dragging him over to Aura and Cole, who were tending their injured Pokémon. Zorua immediately got back on its feet.

SERENA: Aura, I understand now.

AURA: *Nods* Alright, both of you come with us. We need to explain.

The group of four (and their Pokémon) walk away a bit, avoiding the confused and surprised students who came to ask Serena about the golden aura, and her undeniable strength.

ASH: *Still way back* Wait... you guys knew? About... all of that?

ZORUA: In some ways, yes.

AURA: I'm the leader of a research group who's goal is to study people like you. You're all over the news by now, so it wasn't that hard to find you guys.

ASH, SERENA: A research group? You're our age. You're like, fifteen!

COLE: *Scratches head* Yeah... A lot of people we meet say that.

AURA: *Clears throat and nudges Cole* To get back on the topic... We've seen others like Serena who emit powerful auras and receive strength, though the color varies from person to person. Our group is studying the causes of these incidents, and why some colors are different from others.

COLE: In all of the times you were extremely strong and brave, Serena, Ash was with you, correct?

SERENA: That's right.

AURA: And he needed you.

SERENA: *Thinks* During the Pokémon Hunter incident, J was planning to eliminate everyone. Maybe even kill. Ash was one of those targets. With Calem... I couldn't be strong. I was the one he was hurting, not Ash. It all makes sense.

Ash, Aura, and Cole all looked to her for confirmation.

SERENA: When the aura surrounded me, I knew the truth. And you're right. My strength is drawn by Ash.

ASH: *Blushes a tiny bit* Really? Me?

AURA: We thought as much. Even so, only a certain few people can do what you've done.

SERENA: But what I still don't know is how the strength comes. And the aura.

ZORUA: And that's what we're trying to find out.

AURA: For all we know, we could be looking at the work of a Pokémon.

PIKACHU: Pika? (A Pokémon?)

SERENA: Why did you ask me to use Sylveon?

Aura begins to explain.

AURA: From what I've heard, your shiny Sylveon managed to read your thoughts after it evolved. This is rare, even for being the Intertwining Pokémon.

ZORUA: We believed Sylveon would pick up your feelings and amplify them, in a way. So it would be shown physically. It originally was just a theory, but it looks like it worked.

Silence followed this explanation.

ASH: Um, are we allowed to share this information?

COLE: You can. We plan to release this to the public anyways, once we finalize the results.

AURA: We still have a long way to go before that. Just don't make it a huge deal.

Ash and Serena nod.

ASH: Since you're probably busy, you'll be leaving?

AURA: Unfortunately, yes. We already told the school.

SERENA: Will we see you again?

AURA: If we find something. We'll drop by once in a while.

The researchers bid goodbye to Ash and Serena. Zorua changes into Latios, and Aura and Cole hop on its back and zoom away.

ASH: What a day.

SERENA: Yeah. What a day.