Alola, amour!

Chapter 15 ~ Because I love you!

Serena felt her world shatter when Linda kissed Ash. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she suddenly felt a furious desire to hit that girl in the face. However, she did not do it, but in the general commotion and bustle, got up unnoticed by anyone and ran away.

****
Ash had not been able to wait for it. He was completely surprised by what Linda did. He had not guessed that the girl had such feelings for him, especially since they had only known each other for about three hours. He calculated that this was the third time someone had kissed him on the lips (Bianca/Latias was not counted) the other two had done Serena. And Ash had a clear idea of ​​which way he liked more.

He pushed Linda away. "Sorry Linda, I have to get to the bathroom," he muttered and rushed there. He opened the faucet in the toilet and splashed cold water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and only a certain honey-blonde girl spun in his mind. Serena, I have to tell something for Serena, he thought, and left the bathroom.

When he came back, Nurse Joy brought him and Linda's Pokemon back and Ash thanked her absently. Pikachu immediately noticed that his trainer's mind was weighed down by something and he asked with concern, "Pikapi, pika pika-chu?" (Ash, is something wrong?)

Ash looked at Pikachu and said, "I don't want to talk about it now," and Pikachu nodded in understanding, though he frowned slightly as he did so.

Ash returned to the others and Linda was immediately with him. "Ash, why did you run away like that? I hadn't finished yet," she pouted and grabbed Ash by the hand.

However, Ash shook it off. "Sorry Linda, but I don't have time for this now," he said, turning to look at the others still sitting on the bench. "Where's Serena? I want to talk to her"

Mallow, realizing Ash didn't care about Linda, blinked around him. "She was here a moment ago," she said and soon others noticed that Serena had disappeared somewhere. Lillie went to ask Nurse Joy if she had seen anything, but she shook her head apologetically and said she had seen nothing.

Soon they were scattered looking for Serena a little everywhere. Linda, who thought the whole thing was a waste of time, had disappeared somewhere, but no one really seemed to mind it. To tell the truth, they were just happy to get rid of her.

Soon they had inspected the Pokemon Center, the Pokemon School, the mall, the nearby beach, the market square, the backyard forest, and a few other places, but Serena was nowhere to be seen. It looked like she had just evaporated like smoke into the air.

"If she went to your home, I mean, to Professor Kukui's house," Mallow suggested, but Ash shook his head. "She knows that if she had gone there, Professor Kukui would have just asked her unwanted questions. So, she wouldn't have gone there."

And suddenly he knew exactly where Serena had gone. "I have to go," he said to the others and set off to run away. "Ash, where are you going!" shouted Kiawe, and he was about to follow Ash, but Mallow, who knew what Ash had in mind, prevented him.

"Let him go, he has to take care of this himself," he just said and Kiawe looked at her in amazement. "Fine", he finally mumbled.

****
Ash ran toward the road to Professor Kukui's house, but instead of going to the house, he turned to the same path that took him to the same meadow where he and Serena had spent that one, wonderful day.

Ash was sure Serena had gone there. She loved that place and for the past few days she had been in the habit of going to collect flowers from that meadow and put them in vases and make wreaths for herself and her Pokemon. Ash knew it was also the kind of place she would probably go if she wanted to be alone and at peace for a while.