Love in the Time of Teamwork

Chapter 17: A Villain

Here we embark upon the final phase of this story. Looking back, we've really come a long way in such a short time. Thank you for staying with me! Now, please enjoy Chapter 17 with me!

Chapter 17

A Villain

"Uh...why's it all dark?" Ash's voice said from next to her, although Serena couldn't see him. In fact, she couldn't see anything. There were no lights on in the stadium, and judging from how pitch black it was, she wondered if there were any lights on in the city at all. "Is this part of the celebrations?"

"I don't think so, Ashy-boy," Gary said. Like Ash, Serena had heard him perfectly clearly, but couldn't see him. Unlike her raven-haired crush, she couldn't even tell where Gary was. The only thing she could feel was her Pokémon as Sylveon led Braixen and Pancham over to her.

"I wonder what's going on..." Serena said, hoping that someone, somewhere could answer her question. Her heartrate was spiking in that moment, even more than it had in the tournament. She had just been about to confess her deepest feelings to Ash only for this to happen. If she were a superstitious individual, Serena would have taken that as a sign that she and he weren't meant to be together.

Unfortunately, she wasn't superstitious and felt it was, instead, an omen of something much worse. Next to her, Braixen lit her wand and the flame that burgeoned into existence gave a soft glow to the surrounding area. She wasn't the only one to have the idea as other Fire types near them like May's Blaziken and Trevor's Charmeleon were also lightning up, allowing at least some of the arena to be seen. Serena looked around, trying to get her bearings since the light had gone out and noticed that every screen in the arena was dead. They hadn't exploded or anything, but there wasn't even a blip of static on them.

In the stands above, some of the spectators had left the stands, but a majority of them were all just standing around, confusion consuming the masses. It was clear that a number of them thought like Ash had, as if it were all part of the competition. Clearly, though, it wasn't. Serena's gaze turned back to Ash and Gary, who she could now see. On top of that, Clemont, Bonnie and Brock were also coming to join them. The honey-blonde instantly turned to her inventor friend.

"Do you have any idea what's going on, Clemont?" she asked him. If anyone knew about whatever technical malfunctions were going on, it would be him. He just shook his head. Worried and bamboozled murmurs rose up from the trainers that were in the arena, and as it grew in noise, Serena began fearing that a riot might start up.

"I wonder if it's the same throughout the city?" Clemont asked, adjusting his glasses a little.

"It is," called Dawn's voice as she and Piplup stumbled over to them. The poor penguin still looked quite tired, if comfortable, in his trainer's arms. May had approached with them, increasing the radius of their light. The two foreign Coordinators weren't alone, either, having been joined by the rest of their team along with Miette, Nini, Conway, Sawyer and Aria, whose Delphox also added to the ring of light. Their little group seemed to become a beacon for all the approaching trainers from the tournament. "I sent Togekiss up, and from what it seemed, the whole city is pitch black. The screens, the lights...everything."

"What about the castle?" Brock asked. His voice was so dark and unexpected that he drew the majority of the trainers' eyes. Serena was one of the first to look at him, and her eyes widened at just what he was implying.

"Talonflame, I choose you! Check out the castle!" Ash cried out, letting Talonflame launch off from his shoulder. Talonflame gave a screech and took to the air, rising towards the top of the stadium. Next to Serena, Miette was tapping her foot, looking very pensive.