The Bond

Chapter Thirty-Five: Laverre Challenge

Ash and his friends walked into Laverre City, finding the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon. They walked in and Ash held up two Pokeballs, returning Lucario and Frogadier. He headed over to Nurse Joy and asked, "Nurse Joy, will you please take care of my Pokémon?"

The kind nurse nodded. "I'd be happy to. If you will wait here for a little bit, I will return with your Pokémon battle-ready."

Ash nodded and walked over to the seats in the waiting room where Serena and Bonnie had sat down. He fell into the seat next to Serena and leaned back, relaxing after walking for so long. As he thought about their trip to Laverre City, he turned to question Serena. "Hey, Serena, who was that Calem guy?"

She looked up at Ash and said, "We met in second grade. Back then, Calem was nice to everybody. I had a small crush on him as we grew older, and in Middle School, he finally asked me out. But... that's when he changed. He stopped caring for other people and started manipulating others to do what he wanted. I saw this and wouldn't stand for it. I confronted him, and he said, 'If you really don't like it, there's the door.' I left, and we broke up. That's when I started homeschooling, so I wouldn't have to see Calem again." Serena hung her head down to rest it on her chest. She looked up in surprise as Ash placed his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Serena, if you ever need to talk about things like this, know that I will always be there for you. Okay?" Ash stared into Serena's eyes with a caring expression. Serena was about to respond as Nurse Joy walked out of the back.

"Ash? Your Pokémon are all healed." Ash stood up, releasing Serena from his hug, and collected his Pokeballs.

"Alright, Frogadier and Lucario, come on out!" Ash held up two red and white capsules as the Pokémon inside of them returned to the outside world. "Let's go challenge the Laverre Gym!" Ash fist pumped, excited for the battle ahead of him. He ran over to where Serena and Bonnie were waiting and pulled them out of their chairs. "Let's go, guys, I want to battle the gym leader!" Ash raced out the door as Lucario, Frogadier, Serena, and Bonnie slowly followed. They walked along at a normal pace until Ash saw they weren't keeping up and turned around. "Last one there has to train with me for an hour!" Serena and Bonnie took off, both of them not wanting to have to do physical training with Ash. Lucario and Frogadier jogged behind the two girls, taking the 'punishment' as they train with Ash anyway.

Ash and his companions stopped outside what was supposed to be the Pokémon Gym, only to see a clothes store. Walking in, Ash headed towards the counter on the left and asked the staff member, "Excuse me, do you know where the gym is?"

The receptionist smiled at him and said, "In the back of the store, there is a door with the gym symbol above it. Head through there to challenge Valerie, our gym leader. Have a nice day!"

Ash and his friends walked to the back of the shop, where they saw a door with a symbol above it. The symbol was the top half of a Pokeball that gave way to a bolt of lightning. Ash walked through the door to see a lady playing with three Pokémon on a battlefield. Ash walked up and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but are you Valerie?"

"Yes, I am. You must be a challenger. What is your name, trainer?" Valerie turned to study Ash.

"I am Ash Attrape-Les, ninja of House Froakie. I am on my journey with my friends Bonnie and Serena." Ash bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Valerie curtsied, then replied, "And a pleasure to meet you, Ash. Shall we begin our battle?"

Ash grinned and walked over to his side of the battlefield with Lucario and Frogadier. Upon reaching his side, he grabbed a Pokeball and called out, "Fletchinder, I choose you!" Ash's flying type burst out of the Pokeball and soared around the field to settle in front of Ash.