The Bond

Chapter Thirty-Six: Healing

In the morning, Ash woke up and threw on his clothes in order to train. Lucario and Frogadier woke up and Ash pulled them up, whispering to his Pokémon. "Let's go, guys." The trio snuck out and ran into the forest, running into the branches to leap from tree to tree. Seeing a pond, Lucario nudged Frogadier and pointed. Frogadier nodded to Lucario and the two headed down to sit by the edge. Ash noticed their absence and looked around to see where they were. Upon landing beside them, he asked, "What are you guys doing?"

Lucario patted the ground beside him. "Please sit, Master." Confused, Ash listened and sat down between the golden Pokémon and the blue one. "We're concerned about you."

Frogadier spoke, "You're bottling in too much anger, so Lucario thought it would be a good idea for you to let it out and attack something. I think this pond would be a pretty good receptacle for your emotions."

Ash stood up, listening to his Pokémon. "What should I do?"

"Think of someone that betrayed you, one at a time, and for each person use a move." Ash closed his eyes and thought of those he had traveled with.

"Dawn." An Aura Pulse. "May." Another. "Max. Cilan. Iris. Tracey. Misty. Brock. Delia! PIKACHU!" With the final name, Ash's fists clenched as his body set alight with a blue flame as an explosion of Aura raced out of his body, obliterating the trees around him. Lucario and Frogadier took cover behind a rock that was half pulverized after the blast. Their eyes widened as the two Pokémon saw the damage Ash had done. Where there had been a pond was now an empty pit, and all of the trees in a fifty-foot radius had been knocked over. Ash's chest heaved as he let go of his anger, draining it into the ground. Opening his eyes, Ash studied his surroundings, surprised at the damage. "Did I do this?" He turned to his Pokémon with a puzzled look.

"Yeah..." Frogadier stared at his trainer. Lucario walked forwards and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Do you feel better now?" He stared into Ash's eyes, searching for any hurt or anger and finding none.

"I feel a lot better. I thought I only used moves on the pond, though, so how did the trees fall over?"

Frogadier walked over and spoke. "When you shouted out Pikachu, your body became ablaze with a brilliant blue flame. Then you made a massive explosion of Aura and Lucario and I dove for cover. It was a little scary, to be honest." Ash's mouth fell open as he heard Frogadier's recount of events. He turned to the sky and saw the sun starting to rise.

"Well, we should be getting back, but thank you, guys. You helped me a lot." Ash wrapped an arm around each of his Pokémon and they all walked back to the center. Serena rushed out of the building with Fennekin and shouted out to Ash.

"Ash, are you hurt?" She rushed over and checked his body for any signs of injury

"No, I'm fine Serena. What happened?" Ash was puzzled by Serena's behavior until he heard her explanation.

"There was an explosion in the forest this morning, and you were gone for training. Do you know what that explosion was?" Ash rubbed the back of his head and subtly asked his Pokémon for help. Behind Serena's back, they acted out battling each other. Fennekin looked at them, puzzled.

"Uh... yeah... that was our training. I had Lucario and Frogadier face off full power, the explosion was a result of a collision of Bone Rush and Cut." Serena turned to study Frogadier and Lucario, who quickly stopped miming a battle.

"How come they don't look injured?" The young performer narrowed her eyes and turned back to Ash.

"Uh... I bought a potion. I left it in the forest, though." Sweat started beading on Ash's forehead from the intense interrogation he was getting.

Serena laughed and said, "Relax, Ash. I understand, just be more careful next time." Ash nervously chuckled.

"Yeah... Hey, is Bonnie up?" Serena shook her head no. "Wanna go grab a bite to eat?" Ash slightly bit his lip in anticipation of Serena's answer.

"Sure, let's go." As they were walking, Serena turned back to Ash. "Hey, have you thought of letting your anger out by punching something?" Ash nodded.

"I actually did that before Lucario and Frogadier started training. It was becoming too much, and now I feel a lot better." Ash grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her along again. "Let's go, I'm starving!" On cue, Ash's stomach growled loudly.

Serena giggled and said, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" They walked into a pancake place with Fennekin and Frogadier following right behind, Lucario lagging a little bit.

Ash turned to his Pokémon and said, "Stay with Bonnie, please? Let me know if she wakes up." Lucario nodded and ran back the way they came.

Fennekin cuddled up to Frogadier, who blushed and hugged her. Fennekin placed a paw on his chest, seeming to claim him. Serena, who had gotten seats while Ash talked with Lucario, watched her Pokémon in envy. Now that she knew Ash liked someone, she instantly assumed it wasn't her and was down in the dumps. She brightened up as Ash walked over, covering her emotions. "Where's Lucario?"

"He's going to watch Bonnie while we're away. I trust him more, and I told him to come to tell us when Bonnie wakes up." Serena nodded as a waiter walked up.

"What can I get for you lovely couple today?" Serena blushed as Ash stuttered out a response.

"U-Uh, we're not dating yet." He covered his mouth quickly as the last word slipped past his lips. Serena turned to him curiously, her mind turning over the last word and wondering what it might mean.

"I apologize, what would you like to eat?" Ash ordered a stack of pancakes with syrup while Serena ordered only one pancake with chocolate chips. Frogadier and Fennekin shared a plate of pancakes. When the food arrived, they dug into the delicious food. Almost done, Ash looked up to see Lucario walking into the shop. He turned to Serena.

"Excuse me for a moment, Lucario's here." He got up from the table and walked over to the Aura Pokémon. Noticing Lucario was injured, Ash's brow furrowed in concern. "Lucario, what happened?"

The Aura Pokémon sounded out of breath. "Men... in red suits... Team Flare... took Bonnie!" He bent over and rested his paws on his knees.