Ash had finally won his first gym badge from Viola, the Santalune City gym leader, and we were making our way towards Cyllage City, where he would have his next battle. We kept on walking peacefully through the woods until we came across the little village that Serena had told us about earlier. By this time, it was getting dark, and we needed a place to spend the night.
"Maybe we could try seeing if there's somewhere we can stay the night?" Serena offered and we agreed. We made our way into the town, earning a few weird looks from the few local village people who were still out at this time. We asked a nice-looking lady if there was a Pokémon Center where we could stay or a little hotel. She gave us directions to a little inn that was just down the road and right turn from where she was.
We thanked her and started running towards the hotel since it was now past sundown. While we were running, something caught my eye and I stopped in my tracks. I walked towards a lamp post and it had a poster on it. I had just started reading it until Ash called me.
"Cass! Come on! What's slowing you down?!" He yelled for me. I turned to see that he stopped but he really wanted to catch up with Bonnie, Serena, and Clemont (Clemont passed Ash after he stopped). I looked at Ash, then back to the flier. I was really curious about it so I ripped it off the lamp post, stuffed it into my pocket and ran towards Ash.
Once I caught up to him we ran to the inn, where we saw Bonnie, Serena and Clemont, out of breath and waiting for us.
"Where were you two?" Serena asked, a little annoyed that we stayed behind. "I was worried about you... UH! I mean, we ALL were, of course, worried about you BOTH!!" She continued weirdly. I look at her weird but it seemed like Ash didn't catch onto to her strange comment.
"Cass stayed behind for some reason and I couldn't just leave her. So, I stayed behind to make sure she was okay." Ash explained and I could see Serena's face fall a little. Hmm... I think I know what her problem might be... but I need to make sure I'm right and not just assuming things. A small smirk crept onto my face while the others weren't looking and I cleared my throat.
"Yeah right Ash! Are you sure YOU weren't just worried about me?" I playfully asked while nudging him in the arm with my elbow and winking. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously while Bonnie and Clemont laughed at us. I could see, out of the corner of my eye, Serena had some sort of hidden rage or sadness. I knew it...
I laughed at Ash and everyone walked into the inn. We were greeted by a nice lady at the desk and asked her for two conjoined rooms. She eagerly gave us room keys and we made our way to the rooms. As we were walking we passed by a gift shop that sold clothes and what looked like souvenirs from the village.
"We should go in to see if we can find something good!" Serena said excitedly.
"Ughhhhh," I groaned. I was exhausted from walking and SOOO looking forward to crashing down to sleep. "I don't wanna!" I whined like a little kid. Ash grabbed my hand and dragged me inside of the store, along with everyone following behind. I bought a small tea to help me stay awake for the next hour or two while we did a bit of shopping.
While the others were looking around at other things, I searched around and found an area full of postcards. I looked in awe at the pretty pictures of Suou Village and the forest surrounding it until I saw one that really caught my eye.
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