The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 48

After several hours of training with Pikachu, Serena practicing with her Pokemon, and Brock and Holly touring in Viridian City after going out for ice cream, the four of them and Pikachu go back to the Pokemon Center together and have dinner before going to bed. Brock and Holly are having the time of their lives together, still thrilled that Holly has all the badges she needs to compete in the Indigo League.

Meanwhile, Serena is feeling satisfied with all the routines she has practiced with Braixen, Pancham, Sylveon, Poliwag, and Absol. But out of all them, Ash has been looking distant during dinner and when everyone goes bed in their room. When Brock asks him if something was the matter, Ash just claims he is tired from all the training before he goes under the covers of his bed. Brock, Holly, and Serena are all confused with why he's acting that way, but they decide to let it go as they all went to bed.

Later in the middle of the night, Serena slowly wakes up and quietly got out of bed to use the bathroom, making sure not to wake up Absol who is sleeping next to her. After she went, she walks back to her bed to go to sleep again. But right as she sits down, she glances at the bed next to her to find that Ash and Pikachu are not there. Serena stares at the empty bed in surprise and looks around the room to only find Brock and Holly asleep in their own beds. She walks around Ash's bed to see if he and Pikachu fell off their bed in their sleep, but they are nowhere to be seen.

Just as she is about to exit the room and see if the raven-haired boy and his partner are anywhere near the halls, she hears the sound of small explosions and Pikachu calling out its name from outside. Serena walks over to the window, and from a distance, she can see Ash and Pikachu half a mile away from the Pokemon Center training. The honey blonde girl frowns disapprovingly and decides to walk over there, waking up Absol, who silently follows her in the process.

By the time Serena and Absol make it over to Ash and Pikachu, the raven-haired boy and his partner are using a couple of trees as target practice.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball on that tree!" Ash shouts.

Pikachu throws an Electro Ball at a tree, and the ball explodes on impact.

"Now use Quick Attack around it!" Ash instructs.

Pikachu runs around the tree multiple times with incredible speed before it rams into it.

"Alright," Ash begins. "Now let's hit it hard with -"

"Ash!" Serena shouts.

Ash and Pikachu stop what they're doing and turn around to see Serena storming toward them like an angry mother ready to discipline her children, followed by Absol. Ash looks at his friend, confused, and turns his body to face her.

"Serena? What are you doing up?" he asks.

"I should ask you the same thing," Serena counters. "It's past 3:00 in the morning, Ash. Why would you -"

But as she is about to ridicule Ash, she stops to get a close look at him. It takes a moment before she realizes that despite Ash's tall posture, and his energetic voice, his face looks exhausted. Serena stares at him in shock before she talks to him more calmly.

"Ash, how long have you been up and training?" She asks, concerned.

Ash looks up at the sky and scoffs.

"I don't know," he answers duly. "Probably a few hours."

"What?! You've been training in the middle of the night for the last few hours?!" Serena shouts. "You need to go to bed right now."

"No, I can't sleep," Ash says. "I gotta keep training."

"No, you can't keep training in this condition," Serena rebukes.