The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 27

Serena's heart freezes in place, and her eyes widen in fear at the sight of Ash's screaming at the top of his lungs as the unknown Pokémon on top of him squeezes the life out of him. Whatever this angry Pokemon wants with Ash, it's clear to Serena that it wants to cause the poor boy she cares for pain. She reaches into her backpack, takes out Braixen's Pokeball, and gets ready to throw it when Brock suddenly grabs her arm, stopping her.

"What are you doing?" she asks. "That thing is hurting Ash!"

"No, it's not," Brock says calmly. "Can't you see it's hugging him, and Ash is happy to see Primeape?"

Serena tilts her head in confusion and turns her head and gasps to see that Brock is right. The strange ape-looking Pokemon stands up and cheerfully hops from one foot to the other while Ash laughs and wraps his arms around it.

"Hey, Primeape, good to see you," Ash giggles.

"Prime...ape?" Serena asks as she takes out her Pokedex.

"Primeape, the pig monkey Pokemon," it says. "If you make eye contact with this evolved form of Mankey, it will chase you forever."

"Chase you forever? Is that why it came after Ash?" Serena asks.

"No, Serena, this Primeape is mine," Ash answers.

"What? This Pokemon is yours?" Serena asks, surprised.

"Hey, Primeape, wait up!"

Everyone turns around to see a tall, muscular man and a young woman running over to them. Ash, Pikachu, and Brock smile, immediately recognizing them.

"Hey, Anthony, Rebecca!" Ash calls out.

"Wow!" Brock shouts with hearts in his eyes. "Rebecca is even cuter than I remember!"

Brock begins to run over to the girl only to have two arms wrap around him from behind. He turns around to see Serena holding him back with a sympathetic look.

"Brock, remember when we talked about you acting creepy?" She asks. "I'm afraid this is one of those times. Please take a deep breath and greet her calmly but nicely."

Brock whimpers quietly, wanting to run after the woman out of habit, but he sighs in defeat and takes a deep breath before turning to Rebecca, who just caught up with Primeape with Anthony and greets her with a friendly smile.

"Rebecca, long time no see," he says with Serena smiling satisfied with her friend's changed demeanor. "How has it been with you and your father?"

"Oh, it's been going great," Rebecca answers happily. "Ever since Ash won the P1 Grand Prix with Primeape, Daddy has been at home with our family all the time now, and we couldn't be happier. My mother and I can't thank you two enough."

Brock blushes bashfully and looks away, scratching his nose in an attempt to play cool.

"Oh, well, you know, we did our best," he says, chuckling nervously.

Meanwhile, the tall, muscular man walks over to Ash and his Primeape with a hearty smile.

"Well, what do you know?" He says. "Long time no see, Ash. It's good to see ya."

"Good to see you too, Anthony," Ash says as he and Primeape break their hug to face the man. "Have you been training Primeape hard?"

"You bet," Anthony says with a toothy grin. "With the help of my Hitmonchan and me, Primeape has gotten stronger than ever. Though it's clear as day that it misses you more than it's ready for the P1 Grand Prix again."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Ash chuckles as Primeape starts to hug him tightly again.

Serena, meanwhile, looks down and sighs worriedly.