Rise Of A Hero

Chapter 32

Serena's POV:

"I'll come", Ms. Ketchum told him and went with him, not before pulling Ash out of the room, and forcing him to sit in the common room, which obviously wasn't well received by him. The next second, she kissed his temple and left with Red, much to Ash's dissatisfaction.

"How is he still alive?", I asked Ash and he rolled his eyes mumbling something.

"Mom let him live. When you guys left, I did fight Red, but he was way too powerful, and he asked Lysandre to finish me off. If possible, Lysandre was even more hard, but he was impulsive, and he fell off the 6th floor or 7th. Red came back, and we were about to resume our fight, but Mom interrupted us and began to attack him. It was quite long, but eventually, Red defeated her, holding her at knifepoint, but he said that he still loves her and couldn't kill her. Mom fell for it the very next second, but I don't trust him", he told me with a strong glare. I moved to the seat right next to him and hugged his arm.

"Maybe he has changed, Ash", I told him and he scoffed.

"You too? I mean WHY is everybody sympathizing with that guy?", he asked me with a huff and I shrugged my shoulders unable to give him a proper answer.

"I can't give you that answer, Ash. But I do know this. People change. Mostly for the good or sometimes for the worse, and I'm sure that it's the former case here", I told him hoping to get a positive response but all I received was a sigh. I gently kissed his cheek and he gave me a small smirk and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer in his embrace.

But something was not right. Even I was able to feel the same, and I felt like a hypocrite when I asked him to calm down. But this was the time I had to stand up for him. I let the chilled feeling slide hoping that my intuition fails me once more.

Suddenly, his PokeTab buzzed and I saw that it was a message from Gary, but it was an attached file, and Ash began to read it. A second later, he got up suddenly, forcing me to fall down on the couch due to the sudden loss of balance and I was about to yell at him, before I saw his expression.

"My gut has never been wrong, and I guess it still wouldn't be. I'm going. Something is horribly wrong, Serena", he told me and walked out of the door stuffing his Pokeballs onto his belt.

Even though I wanted to disagree with him, I let him go with a nod of my head and looked out of the window. From the corner of my eye, I saw a shaded figure walk through the deep forest, with some sort of switch in his hand.

Delia's POV:

Red and I walked in complete silence until we came across an abandoned lake which seemed extremely familiar - the place I had first met him, the place where the first time in my life, my knees weakened.

"Delia, I know I have hurt you beyond words, but the Red who had hurt you, was not me at all", he sighed and I gave him a glare - the usual excuse ANYONE would give.

"I was under the influence of a drug they had manufactured, Delia. Please listen to me for Arceus' sake!", he yelled at me shaking me by my shoulders and I slapped him.

"Don't you dare touch me, you piece of filth!", I scolded him. Even though a dormant part of me loved him, my tough exterior was still wary of him. He always had a way with words with that silver tongue of his.

"The day I came back home after meeting you, YES, from here, I felt a sharp pain on the nape of my neck, but I shoved it away as a sting of a Weedle", he told me and I motioned him to continue.

"J NEVER loved me. She was a woman who would do ANYTHING as long as she gets paid. The next day, I wasn't able to control my own self. It was as if I was being controlled by my mind", he told me and I couldn't find any signs of lies from his tone or his expression.