Galactic Z

Chapter 4: Closer

It was evening. Two trainers were walking through a narrow path in a deep jungle. There were no wild Pokemons nearby either. The female trainer was scared. She slid a little closer to her male companion. A day ago they received a call from the Lumios gym stating that there was some trouble. So Clemont and Bonnie had to head back home. They would be back within a week and would meet Ash and Serena in the Sage Town. Serena's next contest was to take place there. So currently, there were only Ash and Serena trying to pass a dark forest. The sun was going to set in a while. But the jungle was already black. Not much light was entering through the canopy. It was slowly getting cold too. There was no way one could pass the forest at those hours. But Serena did not want to camp. She was too scared. But she knew that they could not go any further as they could get lost. She moved closer to Ash and wrapped her arms around his tightly. Her face was pale. Ash noticed her condition. He knew she was scared. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her as close as possible. Serena was feeling a little bit safe now and was blushing. "Are you alright?" Ash asked politely. Serena's cheeks grew redder as she hugged Ash tighter. "I'm scared!" She said. Ash looked into her eyes and placed his hand on her cheek. "Don't' worry; I'm right here with you." He said with a smile. "And besides, we have been through a lot of deep jungles before, remember?" Ash's brave and confident smile gave Serena some courage as it always did. But still, she had her reasons to be scared. "I heard rumors about some horrible incidents that took place in this jungle recently!" She explained, still sounding scared. Ash caressed her hair to comfort her and stated," We have faced many troubles in the past too. We always find a way. We will get ourselves out of this jungle for sure. Nothing can stand in our way as long as we stick together." He said in his usual cheerful manner. That so much positive energy would be enough to encourage anyone. A smile grew on Serena's face as she gained a lot of her confident back. Seeing her smile again made Ash feel light too. "Come on, we gotta find a place to camp." He said as he held Serena's hand and started walking again. Serena walked along with him, blushing from holding hands with her crush. Neither of them realized that someone or something was watching. Even Pikachu did not feel that they were being followed.

It did not take much long to find a suitable place for camping. Ash and Serena set up their tents and Serena started preparing dinner while Ash went inside the jungle to find some woods for the camp-fire. Pikachu stayed with Serena to make sure she was safe. Although it made Ash a bit unsafe. As the boy wondered in the woods, a creature with red eye continuously kept its eye on him. After a while of wondering into the forest, Ash found out enough woods. He returned to the campsite with the them. Serena was already finished cooking. They had dinner and Pikachu fell quick asleep. Ash and Serena on the other hand wanted to stay up for a bit longer. They went to a cliff Ash found out while finding woods and sat by the edge. It was quite. All that could be heard was the cry of some Hoot-Hoot. But it was not very frequent either. The shadow with red eye was still watching them. Ash and Serena sat there silent. They watched the beautiful dazzling stars. It was a full moon, so moonlight made it easier to see the surroundings in that little clearing from the denseness of the jungle. The two heroes were sitting so close together. Ash slowly put his hand on Serena's. They both blushed as they forgot that they were in a kind of haunted jungle. Both were feeling Vivillons in their stomachs. "The full moon seems so beautiful doesn't it?" Serena said in a rather shy voice. Ash was already smiling anyway. Serena's voice made his smile even more radiant. "Yeah it is." He answered. Then he grabbed Serena's hand a little tighter. "You know what; sometimes I feel like... the moon is so lonely." He added. Serena giggled and answered," I guess being beautiful does not help you to get some good friends..." Now, Ash chuckled. "Then I think the moon should have a boyfriend then..." Serena's blush grew redder. "Some people are meant to be alone." She said, looking down. Ash turned towards her, put his hand on her cheek and made her face him. They looked eye in eye. One's eyes reflected the other's image. It was like a deep ocean with no ends. It drew sailors and they got lost forever in that beautiful world where there is no hate, no discomfort, no sickness. The only thing there is is love. Both Ash and Serena were losing their strength. They did not feel anything but the pleasure and excitement they felt because of being together and so close. Neither of them realized when they started leaning towards each other. They both closed their eyes as they were centimeters apart. One could feel the other's fast breathing. Serena's hands were on Ash's chest and Ash had one of his hands on Serena' back and the other on her cheek. Their cheeks were red, heart beats rising by every second. And finally their leaps made contact. Although it was just a little and could not be appreciated as a kiss. They pulled apart quickly as they were disturbed by the sound of the Hoot-Hoot. Both Ash and Serena were blushing hard. There was one thing in both of their heads, "We almost kissed!" After a while of some awkward silence, Ash pulled out something out of his pocket. He held it in-front of Serena. "I bought it in the festival. Thought I might give it to you." He said. Serena blushed bright pink as she took it from Ash. It was a container locket made out of gold. Serena opened it and found two pictures on the two sides. One was of her and Ash's when they were kids. And the other was of how they currently looked. Serena's eyes started to water as she held it close to her heart. "So do you like it?" Ash asked. Serena tackled Ash and buried her head on his chest. "I love it... I'll always treasure it..." She said as they parted. "I'm glad you like it. You see, I had to draw these as the pictures were never taken" Ash said with a proud smile. Serena looked in his eyes and smiled as-well. "It's the best ever gift I've ever had..." Serena said as she started leaning towards Ash again. They both closed their eyes again and were about to kiss.

The shadow watching the two suddenly emerged from the dark and used shadow ball. The attack hit the edge of the cliff right behind Ash and Serena. The explosion broke the cliff and the two heroes fell down. Once again, they couldn't kiss. The shadow floated up-to the cliff to see the two fall. As it reached the edge and looked down, an orange creature soared into the sky with high speed. The phantom creature took a few steps back. The orange Pokemon flew from over its head and landed on the opposite side. Ash and Serena jumped down from its back. As they landed on the ground, Ash saw the Pokemon and said, "A Dusknoir!" Serena checked in her pokedex for some information about Dusknoir. "So that clarifies who was causing the incidents in the jungle; but why is it attacking people?" She said. Ash looked at Dusknoir and noticed some serious injuries on it. "Someone must have attacked it. It is injured." He said. "Then it must be trying to protect itself." "We should help it." Ash tried to reach Dusknoir, but it used willow wisp on him. Ash took the first hit and luckily was not harmed much. He tried to convince Dusknoir that they were not its enemies. But Dusknoir would not listen to anything he said. So finally, not seeing any other way, Ash commanded Charizard to use dragon-rage on Dusknoir. Dusknoir tried to counter with shadow-ball and failed. Ash caught it in a poke-ball. Then Ash and Serena took it back to the campsite and treated its wounds. It was badly hurt, so they could not do it all, but they did manage to make it feel good. Dusknoir hesitated to believe on Ash and Serena but did understand that they were not bad people. Our heroes decided to take it to the Pokemon centre with them the next day and then, after it was all healthy, they would let it do whatever it wanted. After putting the Dusknoir back in its poke-ball, Ash and Serena prepared to go to sleep.

After one hour or two, the atmosphere was getting colder and colder. The air outside made horrible noise. Ash was indifferent to all this as he was fast asleep due to all the tiredness. Serena on the other hand was unable to sleep due to the scary atmosphere. She clenched her teeth tight and wished for the night to end fast. She was really tired too but just couldn't sleep. After suffering enough, she accepted the fact that she could not sleep like that. She came outside her tent and went to Ash's. As she entered the tent, she saw Ash sleeping peacefully. Her cheeks were burning. She knew what she needed to do but just couldn't gather the courage. It was pretty awkward too. She soon realized she didn't have enough courage. She was about to turn around and head out as she heard a loud noise of thunder. She got terrified and threw herself on Ash. This caused Ash to wake up. As he snapped out of his sleep, Ash found Serena embracing him. Her arms were around his neck and her face under his chin. Ash blushed bright red. It was extremely surprising for him. But he did wrap his arms around Serena. He heard the noise of the storm outside and understood how Serena was feeling. He petted her head. "It's ok Serena. Everything is fine." He said, sounding as caring as possible. Serena slowly lifted her head up and asked," Can I sleep with you today?" Her whole face was crimson. The whole night had been like both a nightmare and a fantasy world at the same time. And now she was asking Ash if she could sleep with him. She knew she was asking for too much. But she had no options. Being close to Ash was the only thing that could give her the courage and comfort. She looked at Ash with pleading eyes. Ash could see she needed some company for the night. He didn't waste much time thinking. "OK, you can sleep with me if it makes you feel good." He said politely. Serena didn't know what to say. It was like the impossible was happening. She never imagined that she would be experiencing anything like that. Her eyes were watering and she wore a huge warm smile on her lips. Ash smiled back at her and lied her down. Then he lied next to her, keeping a little gap between them. But Serena wanted something more. She slid closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her head under his chin like before. Ash was socked again. "Serena?" He said, his voice trembling. In the inside, he felt like it was the best moment of his life. His heart was racing faster and faster and was crying for him to take her in his arms. He said again," Serena?". In-spite of trying hard Ash just couldn't find any other words. Serena didn't say anything. Her heart was about to explode. The pleasure was too much for her to even move. She just whispered, ---" Please.."-- This was more than enough to calm Ash down. He took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her. Serena's body had started to warm up and Ash could feel it. She soon fell asleep. The beautiful smile on her lips made it clear to Ash how safe and comfortable she felt with him. He just admired her beauty for a while. Then he kissed her forehead and went to sleep himself.