A Brand New Journey

Chapter 11 : Getting to know him

Ash's POV

Ever since after the battle with Paige, I kept wondering about the warning she gave me. Today was Saturday, so there won't be any battles. I sat on my bed wondering what to do.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in!"

"Hey Ash." Serena walked in. "Hey Serena."

"U-umm...Ash? D-do you want to...go out? Together?"

"Sure!"

I walked up to Serena as I noticed her face was red again. "Hey, Serena. Your face is red again. Are you sure you're not sick or something?" I am concerned. Was she alright?

"N-no! It's fine! It's just...I'm feeling hot right now! C'mon! Let's go!" She quickly said that as she ran outside of the room. "Okay...?"

"Have fun with your date Ashy-boy!"

"Shut up Gary!"

I walked outside to see Serena standing there, waiting for me. When she saw me, she walked beside me. "So Ash? Where do you want to go?"

I thought about it. "Hmm...I'm not sure. Let's just walk around."

"Okay!"

After a few minutes of walking, we reached Viridian City. "Walking around here again sure brings back memories." I mumbled to myself.

As we were walking, a rumbling sound could be heard nearby.

"What was that?"

"Hehe...I think that was your stomach, Ash."

"Oops...sorry."

'Come to think of it, I am pretty hungry right now...' I looked around and spotted a restaurant nearby. "Hey, Serena! Let's go eat over there!"

We walked into the restaurant and took a seat at an empty table. A waitress came and took our orders. "Hello. What would you two like?"

"I'd like some spaghetti please. Oh! And also some Pokemon food for Pikachu." Pika~!

"Okay, and what would your girlfriend like?"

"Umm...actually we're not a couple." Serena said to her.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. Since you both came in together, I assumed you two were together."

"It's fine. I would also like the same as him though."

"Okay. Two spaghetti and Pokemon food coming right up!"

While waiting for out food to come, I petted Pikachu and also told Serena about my time in Viridian City. Not long after the waitress took out order, the food came.

"Looks delicious! Time to dig in!" Pikaa!

"You never change, Ash." Serena giggled at my enthusiasm of food.

"I can't help it. It looks good and tastes even better!"

We ate out in silence. Well, probably except for me because I was just gobbling everything up.

"That." I paused to sigh satisfactorily. "Was some awesome food." Pika! Looks like Pikachu enjoyed his food too. Well maybe mostly because I covered ketchup all over his food.

We payed the bill which luckily wasn't a lot and walked outside for some fresh air. Serena walked beside me giggling at my expression.

Pika pi! Pikachu tugged at my shoulder. "What's wrong Pikachu?" He pointed to the direction in front of us. I turned to look at what he was pointing. Or rather, who he was pointing at. I saw him. He was battling someone. We walked closer to have a better look at the battle. When I saw who he was battling, I realised he was battling Paul.

"Torterra, stand by for battle!" 

"..." A Charizard appeared in front of him.

"Torterra, use Stone Edge!"

"..."

Charizard dodged the attack and landed a powerful Blast Burn in it's way. Torterra tried to dodge, but with it's disadvantage with speed, it was unable to not take the attack. When the smoke cleared, Torterra was lying on the ground with swirly eyes.

"Tch. Torterra, return." A red beam was sent Torterra's way, returning it to it's Pokeball.

"..." Another red beam was also sent Charizard's way, returning it. After that, he walked away.

"I don't believe it..." I gasped at how strong his Charizard was. It one-shotted Paul's Torterra. Serena was also shocked at its strength. Still determined to find out who he was, I quietly followed him.

"Ash, where are you going?" Serena caught up to me, and asked. 

"I'm going to follow him. Serena, you should stay here. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"But-"

"It's alright. Besides, if anything happens, you can go tell the others."

Serena looked at me for a while. After a while, she gave in. "Okay. Stay safe Ash..." she said reluctantly. I gave her a thumbs up and a grin, telling her I'll be fine.

After that, we parted ways and I continued following him. He was walking in the direction of Viridian forest. I followed close behind, making sure to be quiet as to not alert him of my presence. Luckily, he was to caught up in his thoughts to acknowledge me. As we walked deeper into the forest, he suddenly stopped in an opening. "..."

'Did he notice me? Crap! I better hide quickly!' I quickly jumped into a nearby bush. As I looked through the bush, I noticed he wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was looking at something in front of him. I moved a little to have a closer look, and realised he was looking and frowning at someone in front of him. That person was also wearing a cloak. "..."

They both stared at each other. Or I presumed they did. I couldn't see their faces as the cloak was covering it. "They are back." The other guy said. "..." "Red."

'Red? So that's his name. Why does it sound so familiar?' I thought. The Mysterious Trainer---Red, took down his cloak. Now, I could see him clearly. He had black hair like me. He was wearing a red jacket and cap. Unfortunately, I couldn't see his face as he had his back towards me. 

"They found out." The other guy said. "You have to protect him."

"..." Red nodded and turned back to where he came from. The other guy, still stayed there. I sat in the bush, afraid they would notice me if I come out now. After a while, the other guy left. I heaved a sigh of relief and got up from the bush. I turned around and walked back from where I came from.

"Hello Ash."

I turned around and saw the other guy behind me. 'He's still here? I thought he left?!'

"I knew you hiding there. Luckily for you, he didn't notice." I assumed that the 'he' he mentioned was Red.

"Why are you here?"

"I uhh-"

Hope you enjoyed! Peace out! ~Speedy