The Bond

Chapter Sixteen: Pokémon Performance

Ash and his friends were walking down the road, headed towards Lagoon Town and Serena's first Pokémon Performance. While they were walking, a thought popped into Ash's head. "Hey Serena, do you know what you're going to do for your performance?"

Serena giggled and said, "I do. It's a secret, but Fennekin and I have been working on it while you do your morning training."

Ash thought, 'Did Serena just giggle? I didn't say anything funny, did I? I need to know what these feelings are. They're weird, but pleasantly so.' Lost in thought, Ash continued walking down the road without paying attention to where he was going. Riolu noticed this, and used Force Palm on Ash, snapping him from his thoughts. "Ahh! Riolu! Why did you do that?" Riolu said, "Ri, Riou!" And pointed at a ditch they had almost fallen into. "Oh, sorry buddy. Guess I should've been looking where I was going. I just have these thoughts that I couldn't shake." Ash shook his head, and said, "Alright, I'm in the now again. Let's get moving." Everyone looked at Ash as he talked to his Pokémon, wondering what that was all about. They hadn't seen Ash almost fall in a ditch as Bonnie was doing Pokémon impressions while walking back up towards the front.

"Hey, Froakie, Riolu, what do you say we get a little more training in?" Ash suggested, looking up at the trees. Froakie stood up and said, "Fro, Froakie!" Fist pumping to show he was ready. Riolu stood up as well and, with as much energy, said, "Riou!" While raising his hand above his head. He then said, "Ri, Ri, Riou!" Froakie and Riolu jumped off of Ash's shoulders as the three raced towards the tree line, having a friendly race with Riolu's encouragement. They ran into the treetops, jumping from branch to branch. Ash quickly fell behind as he was unable to keep up with his smaller Pokémon pals. He kept racing anyways, knowing when the two reached the conclusion that one was the winner, they would run alongside him as they practiced moving together.

Froakie took a small lead on Riolu, then Riolu managed to pull a move that gained him the lead, and so on as both of them were evenly matched. Upon reaching a tall pine, the two partners raced upwards, jumping from branch to branch. Ash continued running down lower, then stopped as he reached beneath the tree. He watched as his Pokémon raced for the top, neck and neck until...

"FROO!" Froakie said, leaping into the air and touching the top of the tree. He then proceeded to race back down to stand next to Ash. Not a second later, Riolu, who had also touched the top of the tree, stood next to Ash as well. Ash then said, "Alright, should we see if we can test our stealth? After all, even though Sanpei didn't teach us that, he did say it was an important part of Ninja life." Ash stuck out his hand for a fist bump, as his two Pokémon put their fists in too. The trio raced off once again, this time not focusing so much on speed but on moving together while remaining unseen. They flitted between shadows, moving up and down in a pattern that matched how the leaves swayed as the breeze blew through them. Upon reaching the group, Ash, Froakie, and Riolu ran around and around while the three on the ground continued walking. Serena said, "I wonder when Ash will get back? I always get so nervous when he leaves. It feels like something is going to go wrong." Bonnie stepped in and said, "Ash has Froakie and Riolu with him, as well as Fletchling. Nothing's going to happen. However, you should tell Ash how you feel. Ash might meet another girl in the Showcase and get close to her, and like her, and then I won't get to be an Auntie!" Bonnie pouted, as Ash, still in the trees, missed the entire meaning of that conversation. He might know a lot about battling, but he knew very little about affairs of the heart.

Ash whispered to his Pokémon, "Alright, let's jump down next to... Serena!" The trio leaped from the trees, and landed in front of Serena, causing her to scream. Bonnie screamed as well, as Clemont shouted, "AAAAASH!"

Ash, who had his head tilted down, lifted his face and said, "Yes?" in a cheeky manner. Serena, startled and a little angry that Ash had done something like that to her, started softly punching his arm as she said, "You don't do that to people!" Ash watched her with an amused look on his face, before he said, "I'm sorry, Serena. Won't happen again... probably." Serena, who had sighed and relaxed, turning away, swung her head around at Ash's words.