Alolan Danger **ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE**

Chapter 28: Love Or Death?

In the Ultra Space, Serena and Tierno were battling against each other. She was using Xurkitree while he was using a Blacephalon that he had gotten as a gift from the honey blonde trainer herself. Tierno's face was also bruised, and his nose was also bandaged up, due to Ash.

"Blacephalon, Flamethrower!" he called out, sweating profusely after having endured an hour of tough training. Serena seemed unfazed by how long they've been doing it for, despite actually sweating a little bit as well.

"Block it with Thunderbolt, Xurkitree!" she exclaimed confidently. Blacephalon took his head off his body and shot a circular red-orange stream of fire from it directly at Xurkitree. He smirked before shooting out a yellow bolt of lightning from his body. The two attacks collided with each other, causing a massive explosion. Once the dust cleared, Serena could see Tierno wobbling on his feet, obviously exhausted.

She smiled warmly as she asked, "Hey Tierno, why don't we call this battle a draw and take a break for now?" Tierno nodded in agreement before letting out a relieved breath and falling to the ground on his butt. Serena snickered a little bit while walking over and sitting down next to him. At the same time, a green aura enveloped Xurkitree and Blacephalon's bodies. A few seconds later, they were completely healthy again.

"I don't know how you are able to train in here for longer than we had been, Serena. Geez, I'm totally out of shape here..." Tierno stated, mumbling that last sentence to himself. Unfortunately for him, Serena heard that and frowned.

"Yes, you really are...pathetic. I mean, come on, getting your ass handed to you by a Ketchum is certainly not going to win you any kisses from me. Besides, why does he hate you so much anyway? Not to mention Mom, Guzma, and Miette. He sounds like he has a vendetta against you guys." she replied harshly and, at the same time, curiously. Tierno flinched at the sound of that. He clearly knew that the reason for Ash's deep hatred of Team Skull and the Aether Foundation was staring at him directly in the face, even if he wasn't about to tell Serena that.

Tierno simply shrugged before saying in what he hoped was a neutral tone, "The hell if I knew what his damn problem with us is! Oh well, at least Guzma and Miette are going to wipe his memories clean...oops." He covered his mouth with his hand, but it was too late. Serena was glaring at Tierno now, which was making him sweat even more.

"Uh, you weren't supposed to find out about that..." He trailed off, very afraid of the angry girl in front of him.

"Let me guess, you agreed to their plan, did you?" she asked with venom evident in her voice. Serena didn't know why, but the idea of taking one's memories away, even if said memories belonged to a guy who poses a major threat to their plans, just did not appeal to her the slightest bit. Tierno, who was taken aback by the tone, gulped before nodding in confirmation. Serena then did something that he did not expect her to do. She smacked Tierno across the face with an open palm. His mouth was wide open in shock as he held his now red cheek.

"So...not only are you a pathetic fat boy, but you are also a coward. What, are you all so scared of Ketchum that you're willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of him before he does any more major damage? I can't believe that I agreed to marry such a wimp as a part of the deal you made with Mom! Though, that would be revoked if you can't do something as simple as winning a League battle against him...without cheating!" Serena shouted as she turned her back to Tierno and crossed her arms. Xurkitree was actually snickering at him while Blacephalon was torn between laughing with him and comforting his new trainer. He decided to go for the latter and put a hand on Tierno's shoulder. He looked up at Blacephalon, still shocked over the slap.

Hey Tierno, you doing all right there? That sounded like a hard slap. he asked worriedly via telepathy. Tierno shook his head while caressing the cheek.