A Journey's Link

Chapter 17 - Skipped

"Wow! It's so good!"

May said this in between bites of her sushi, which she had almost finished, even though she received it roughly five minutes prior. Serena, on the other hand, was delicately eating her food and watching in horror as May scarfed her food down.

I know I've seen her eat like this before, Serena thought. But I'll never get used to it. She watched as May pushed her empty plate forward. "That was great!" She exclaimed, patting her stomach in satisfaction. Serena herself had also become full, even though she ate far less than May. "Are you two finished with your food?" The waiter asked as she walked over; they nodded that they were, so she grabbed their plates and retreated to the kitchen.

Serena pulled out her phone to look for available flights back to Petalburg City and found one that they could board that was leaving in two hours. "We have about an hour until we need to board the plane," Serena told May. "What do you want to do until then?"

May, who was leaning back in her chair, pulled out her phone to look for things to do in Rustboro City. She and Serena both searched, and after a few minutes, realized nothing seemed to be appealing at the current hour.

May brought herself forward and leaned on the table. "What if we go to the lake by the Contest Hall?" She suggested, placing her head in her hands "I heard the view there is breathtaking!" Serena frowned at the suggestion; she wasn't too keen on revisiting the Contest Hall if she could help it, given what she went through while she was there.

Serena looked at May and nervously nodded. "Yeah," She said. "That sounds like a good idea." She stood up as May offered to pay the waiter. What if the crystal does something again? Serena thought; she suddenly felt nauseous, and this wasn't ideal given the dinner they had just eaten. As she sat back down, May just finished paying the waiter and noticed that Serena's face looked pale.

May remembered when they were inside the Pokemon Center when Serena's face suddenly turned red and was worried this might be a similar incident. "Serena, I don't think you're okay," May said worriedly. "Maybe we shouldn't go to the lake after all." She sounded a little disappointed, which filled Serena with guilt.

"Wait!" Serena spoke up. "We can still go, don't worry!" She stood up suddenly, which didn't make her feel any better; nevertheless, she tried to hide her sickened state. "In fact, I feel better already! Let's go to the lake!" She exclaimed, running out of the restaurant in an attempt to get May to follow her.

May was slightly confused, but simply giggled and whispered to herself, "Sometimes she acts just like Ash." That entire day had reminded her of just how confident and positive Ash was, and she was beginning to notice that behavior a lot in Serena.

Walking outside, May saw Serena waiting for her, so they both began walking toward the lake. Even though Serena wanted her friend to have fun at the lake, she was still worried about the fact that it was near to the Contest Hall, so she tried to take a route that would avoid it as much as possible.

After taking a few questionable turns, they finally reached the lake; Serena did admittedly think that the moonlight reflecting off of the dormant waters was quite pretty. May ran down the grassy hill, deciding to skip rocks while viewing the scenery, which Serena thought was the perfect time to take out the crystal and watch it.

Taking it out, she saw the color was still orange but noticed now that the fire pattern which had once covered it was now gone, replaced by a clean surface. I guess I never got a proper look at it on stage, Serena thought, turning it. It honestly doesn't look all that different.

She looked up at the Contest Hall, thinking about the events that occurred earlier that day. Her gut feeling that the crystal caused the noise was more prominent and convincing. Something so mysterious must be able to cause so much damage, right? She told herself.