An Adventure of a Lifetime

Chapter 10

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt! Greninja use Water Shuriken!"

A bolt of powerful electricity arched towards the Greninja from Pikachu just as he threw the powerful water based throwing star. The moves collided head on in the middle of the field causing an explosion of dust and debris. The field had been pulverized over the last ten days, with Ash and his team of six battling and training hard day in and day out.

Every day started the same for Ash and his team. Wake up at five am, have a light breakfast then head to the battlefield. Once there they would do as many laps as they could in twenty minutes, always pushing themselves to do several more laps than the day before. At the start, the best was ten laps, now though they all were averaging twenty-three with Lycanroc getting as many as thirty-seven one day. He had been so proud of himself but had overdone it as he collapsed before he could even start the real training.

After the laps, Ash and his Pokémon would sit and discus the plane for the day. Almost always it consisted of working on strengthening their weaknesses and working on power and accuracy. Greninja would use Water Shuriken as targets for the accuracy training, and it was paying off. Pikechu and the others could hit a moving target with such accuracy now that they were hitting several at once in some instances. After lunch Ash would have his Pokemon tea m up and battle in 3v3 battles with one partner changing sides every twenty minutes.

Ash trained just as hard as his Pokémon. He would use rocks to add weight as he did sit-ups and push-ups. He would have Greninja use his tongue as a strap to help him build leg strength. He even had his Pokémon attack him so that he would endure more. Every trainer that saw him and his team train thought he was crazy, well almost every trainer. The only one who had faith in him was Serena. She would help him by giving berries to his Pokémon after each session and water during to himself and his Pokémon. She would sit and watch and cheer them on, knowing that they were doing what they did best. Serena's team would sometimes join in as well. Pangaro, Delphox, Sylvion, Absol, and Dratini would all join in the warm up laps and then would stay to the side while they worked on new move combinations for their contests. Serena has been amazed at how hard her team was working and it made her smile.

Ash looked at Pikachu and then Greninja. He knew they were far from tired even though they had been training for the last few hours. His whole team was full of energy and he loved it. They all looked bigger and stronger, if that was even possible for Charizard.

"Ok guys, take a break. Get some water and relax for a little bit. You all have earned it." Ash called out to his Pokémon. He walked over to where Serena was drawing, working on ideas for her performances for the future. "That looks like it's going to be amazing Serena!" Ash said as he looked down at the page.

"Thanks Ash, I really hope it works. I'm not to sure it will though...it's harder than any other routine we have done yet and uses all five of my Pokémon. No one has used more than two or three in a routine before because it's so hard to make it flow. I'm going to try and be the first to do it!"

Ash looked at Serena and saw the determination in her eyes. They shon with hope and strength. Ash couldn't help but loose himself in Serena's eyes. They were beautiful, but words couldn't describe just how beautiful they were.

"Ash? What are you staring at so intently?" Serena questioned, causing Ash to snap back to reality. "Are you doing ok? You seem to be conflicted about some things lately." Serena was looking at him with concern, and for good reason. Every time he looked at her, Ash's mind started to wander and question what the future might hold for them both.

Ash nodded with a slight blush on his face. "I'm fine Serena, I promise. My mind has been busy of late and I have been thinking about the future a little." Ash sat down beside her, taking a swig of water as he did so. "I have been wondering what my future holds for me. Will I find someone to spend the rest of my life with when I'm ready? Will I want to settle down at all? Just things like that."