Amour in Galar form

30. Ballonlea

When Ash woke up the next morning, he found himself staring at the roof of his and Serena's tent. It was dim in the tent, as always, and it took a moment for Ash's eyes to used it.

He had no idea how he had ended up in the tent. The last thing he remembered was that he had been outside and stared at the campfire and hold in his hand the stone given by Lucario. He didn't remember anything about the time after that. He thought he had fallen asleep and someone had carried him inside the tent. Who, he didn't know.

Ash sat up and noticed that Serena or Pikachu were not in the tent. He thought they had woken up earlier and gone out to do breakfast or something, so he didn't think about it anymore. Instead, the cause for thinking was caused by quite another thing. Namely, he felt something in his fist.

He raised his hand in wonder in front of his face and opened his fist to see what was inside it. With his now-opened palm rested the same, strange stone that Lucario had given him last night. It hadn't changed during the night in any direction, and he hadn't really expected it. Its fuchsia red streaks seemed to glow strangely in the dim light of the tent, but Ash thought it was only because of his imagination. It would be nice to know what this stone really is, Ash thought and spun the stone with his fingers.

Then he stopped it and yawned and stretched his hands. He put a stone on the floor of the tent and stood up. He noticed his clothes in a neat pile next to his backpack on the floor and wondered how he had really ended up in his nightwear. He remembered sitting in front of the campfire in his normal clothes...

However, he did not stay to think about it anymore, but took his clothes next to his back and dressed them. He then pressed his cap on his head and, after thinking for a moment, also took that peculiar stone from the floor, and put it in his pocket. Then he looked around once more and finally stepped out of the tent.

****

As Ash stepped out of the tent, he was greeted by Serena and her bright smile. She just put breakfast to Yamper, and Gou, Pikachu and the other Pokemon also ate their own breakfast.

"Morning Ash. Did you sleep well? Lucario, by the way, brought you to the tent at night, you had fallen asleep by the campfire," Serena said, smiling and walking past the tent. As she passed Ash, she pressed a light kiss to the boy's lips and Ash tasted a hint of strawberry in it.

"Really?" he asked, touching his lips as Serena bent down to give Yamper his bowl. "Yep. I woke up to it," she stated, watching as Yamper began to eat his food with a good appetite. Ash's stomach growled commandingly as well, but first he did another thing.

"Everybody out!" he exclaimed as he threw his Pokeballs into the air and his Pokemon appeared in front of him accompanied by various cries. He quickly gave them food and then sat down at the table himself and started making breakfast for himself.

But as he poured the juice into his glass, he suddenly realized something. He glanced quickly in the direction of his Pokemon and the sight made him frown.

"Where's Lucario? He wasn't in his Pokeball, and I don't see him here, so where has he gone?" he asked in wonder. Gou, who was browsing his Rotom and feeding Sobble the dried pieces of berry, replied without looking up, "He went into the woods. I don't know why. Maybe he went to train," and Ash scratched his head.

"I see," he said, trying to solve why Lucario had gone into the woods alone, but couldn't come up with any decent solution. Maybe he really went to train, he thought, and watched as Pikachu squeezed ketchup over his bread. That would be so like Lucario...