Betrayed (Completed)

When Enemies Meet

Aeria's POV

Ash and Max sent out their Pokemon at the same time. Charizard on Sceptile.

Max must have realised that he was at a disadvantage, because he started first, with Sceptile launching into Leaf Blade then Leaf Storm. Charizard did not dodge, nor did he counter.

" Are you too scared to move? " Max gloated upon seeing the attacks land.

Ash only said one thing, " Blast Burn. "

A beam of red light as Charizard was recalled. " Never insult my Pokemon. "

Ash walked away with me, leaving them right where they were, frozen to the spot.

He knew now that they wouldn't take him lightly. As for me...

For someone who had won six leagues in a row, he wasn't worried. He was confident that I could take them down easily. He didn't need to worry.

But the problem wasn't me, it was him. After seeing them again for the first time in ten years, I knew that feelings of anger, hurt, and distrust had reawoken in him. Then, there was love. I knew that he once had a crush on me, that he had slowly gotten over it, and that he had a crush on Serena.
He had hidden away those feelings after we hid, but on seeing Serena again, I knew that he was thinking about her.

I talked to him through telepathy instead of normally. This was one conversation that others should not hear. You don't need to keep thinking about her. Win the Tournament and she will realise her mistake. Trust me on this.

He gave the slightest of nods.

As we left the Pokemon Centre, someone roughly Ash's age ran straight into him and knocked him over. This time, his hood fell off.
" What..." I silenced him, then pulled him and Ash behind a clump of trees. Only then did I get a good look at him.

" Cameron? " I recognized him as that boy with a Riolu who beat Ash in the Unova League. I lowered my hood.

Memories of that day were a little fuzzy, but I realized that I hadn't seen him with them. " What are you two doing here, wearing hoods like you don't want to be recognized? " Cameron asked.

I told him a shortened version of the story and saw his eyes widen in shock. " How could they? Just because Ash lost doesn't mean he isn't strong! It just means that there are people better than him out there. "

" Thanks for the support, Cameron, but don't go running to them to tell them to change. The best thing you can do now is to pretend that you never met us today. " Ash told him.

Cameron nodded, then left.

That was weird. But then again, at least there are still people out there who support Ash. Now that I think back, I didn't see Trip or Paul anywhere among them either. Oh well. At least they could still be friends.

" Let's just camp here tonight. " I looked around for a suitable tree, then, on finding one, brought Drakeon out of her Pokeball and told her to use Secret Power on the tree. It turned into a kind of tree house. " Well, that's the best I can do with the tree. "

We climbed up and settled inside, thinking about how we would spend the next week.

We both fell asleep, not knowing that there was already someone who already regretted his decision ...