Amour in Galar form

19. Only the sky is the limit

Ash, Braixen, and Lucario stood quietly, watching Dragonair lying in front of them, who had twisted its tail so that it almost touched its head. It didn’t make a single move and it looked very sad while lying in a pool of water.

On top of all that, it seemed to be hurt. There was a cut at its tail end from which dripped blood, which had stained the water of the pond light red. Also, the other wing at its head was warped and its blue color did not look as bright as normal.

"What has happened to it?" Ash thought and Lucario looked at the opening in the roof and said, "I'm not entirely sure where that cut came from, but I think she came here to the cave through that opening in the roof. Maybe that wing twisted in it at the same time."

"Is... is it alive?" Ash asked quietly and trembled at the thought of how Dragonair had suffered here all alone. Lucario nodded gravely. "Yes, I feel her Aura, but it's very weak. If she doesn't get help soon, she'll die."

Ash did not need to be ordered twice. He stepped resolutely forward and Lucario, who guessed what he was going to, said, "Be careful. An injured Pokemon can be unpredictable."

Ash nodded, but didn't let it stop him. He slowly made his way to Dragonair until he was about two feet away. Braixen, who was drawn a little closer to Lucario, and Lucario looked at him silently and then Ash nodded to himself and said, "Hey Dragonair. My name is Ash and I want to help you."

It was quiet for a while. Ash, Lucario and Braixen stared holding their breath at Dragonair, and waited for what it would do.

Dragonair slowly opened her eyes. Its purple eyes looked blurry and it stared for a moment without actually focusing on anything.

Then it spotted Ash and locked her gaze on him. Its body tensed and Lucario began to sense the worst. "Master, retreat slowly.." it began, but didn't make it to the end, because that's when happened.

Dragonair screamed shrilly and then plunged Dragon Pulse towards Ash. Then it tried to take off, somehow succeeded, but due to its wounds it didn't stay in the air for long, but crashed into a cliff and lay down on it.

Without Lucario’s quick reflexes, Ash would have been in danger of dying, once again. Now, however, Lucario had time to jump in front of Dragon Pulse and form an Aura Shield with his paws to protect them.

Dragon Pulse hit it and the collision made Lucario slide back slightly. Ash himself did nothing but stare his mouth slightly open in front of him.

"I told you to be careful," Lucario scoffed at him and released the Aura Shield. Braixen walked beside him and glared at Ash, agreeing with Lucario.

Ash shook his head slightly and said slowly: "I'm sorry. I did not think that Dragonair would attack like that" He felt stupid that he was not thought of the wounded Pokemon could be aggressive.

Lucario stared at him and said, "I told you that wounded Pokemon can be unpredictable." Then he shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, I thought you wanted to help that Dragonair"

“And I still want to,” Ash said and was once again his own determined and energetic self. "Come on, let's go before it's too late"

He pointed his hand at Lucario and Braixen to follow and set off to run towards the cliff and look for a path or something along which to climb there. Lucario and Braixen glanced at each other and then left sighing to follow Ash.

                             ****
Serena sat on the ground near the mouth of the cave and leaned on a large rock. It felt cold against her back, but she didn’t care.