Amour in Galar form

8. Hulbury

The salty sea breeze blew the faces of the trio as they arrived in Hulbury. It was a small town right on the coast of Galar. It was an important port city, and there was also the next Gym, where Nessa, the Gym Leader, specialized in Water-type Pokemon.

Ash, Serena and Gou walked along the streets of Hulbury and Riolu walked beside Ash. "You seem restless, Master," it said through Aura and Ash shook his head slightly. "I'm not restless, but excited," he replied with the help of Aura, resolutely raising his fists in the air. Pikachu on his shoulder did the same and said, "Pika!"

Ash had developed a lot using Aura during their few days as they had traveled towards Hulbury. Talking through Aura went from him completely without any problems and next Riolu wanted him to start practicing performing Aura. Although Ash had already done it in past, the skill had been forgotten over the years and now he had to learn it again.

"I see, Master. What about the other thing we talked about on the first night? Do you still understand what I meant by the girl and your density?"

Ash shook his head. "No, I'm not. I still don't understand what Serena has to do here. Couldn't you just tell me?" he created a begging look at Riolu, but it just smiled devilishly. "I'm sorry, Master, but you just have to come up with a solution yourself, I'm not going to help with that."

Then it closed the Aura connection and Ash was annoyed to stare at the back of Serena's head. What did Riolu mean by that? Was this somehow related to the feelings Ash had with Serena and the girl was causing her? Pikachu shook his head on his shoulder. The density of the Ash wouldn't just disappear into anything.

Since only Aura's users could hear the speech using it, Serena had no idea what Riolu and Ash had just discussed. She browsed the Rotom Phone and the Yamper next to her barked and began to spin around her legs restlessly.

Serena had learned that by the time Yamper started doing so, he was either hungry or wanted attention. In this case, she thought the behavior was due to hunger, as they did not eat for many hours and Serena herself was a little hungry, too.

Serena lifted the restless Yamper into her arms and turned to the boys. "What would you say if we went to eat somewhere before we looked for that Gym?" she asked and put her Rotom Phone in her pocket.

"Good idea," said Gou, and Scorbunny nodded on his head, agreeing. "I'm really hungry now"

"What about you Ash?" Serena asked Ash, smiling, turning to the boy, and at the same time gently tapped Yamper on its nose as it had tried to bite Serena's fingers.

Ash startled. He had been completely in his own thoughts when Serena had turned to him, but had been able to save the situation quickly.

"Me?? I think that's a great idea!" he said and his stomach growled, agreeing. Ash laughed in embarrassment. "And my stomach agrees," he said and Serena giggled.

Ash sighed in relief. Luckily, Serena couldn't read the thoughts, otherwise, she would have found out that Ash had been thinking of honey-blonde-girl. Riolu and Pikachu, on the other hand, knew why Ash had been so in his mind and looked at each other like conspirators.

                              ****
A moment later, they stepped into a small restaurant called Captain's Table. It was pretty famous for its seafood, but it wasn't those five-star restaurants where one glass of water was overpriced.

The restaurant was a little quieter today than usual, so the trio easily found a free table. They sat at a table next to the window and the friendly-looking waitress brought them menus, and as she left, Ash looked at the restaurant with interest.