Lost in their Past

Chapter 43:- Silence and Love

Joanne's orders were clear, get Serena out of there before she decided to do something stupid and impulsive like her mother.

Ash and Calem had tracked down Serena's location to a museum of natural history. Serena was wandering inside like a tourist when the two of them walked towards her.

"It's a front," she said before they could ask the obvious.

"What are you doing inside?" Calem asked while examining some bones, "shouldn't you be following them?"

"They're inside," she sighed, "and besides I have a tracker on them."

"Well it was a waste," he tried to touch something ancient but was shushed away by the tour guide, "we have to go."

"Joanne send you?"

He nodded.

Serena determinately took a deep breath, her hand laced the boundary separating them from the relics, and said, "I'm not going."

Calem scoffed, "It's not on you princess, we're going."

"They're Pokémon, Calem." She said, "This is Orre, they'll die here."

"I'm afraid we can't do anything, orders from the headquarters."

Serena exasperated in anger, "I'm not asking you," she clenched her fists and turned to face Ash, who hadn't spoken a single word, "I'm asking the team leader."

Ash found himself lost in her eyes, they weren't cerulean blue but still enchanting enough to trap them in their sea of tranquility. For a moment, he'd forgotten their little spat and all that followed. The only thing that mattered was her.

"Wh... what?" He stuttered.

"They're Pokémon," Serena urged, "Ash... they... they'll die here."

She eagerly grabbed his arm, he felt his cheeks redden.

"They're not going to die," interjected Calem, "unowns are Pokemon and they're still alive."

A groan escaped Serena's lips, "Unowns have lived here since the beginning of time, this is their home and they've adapted... and I'm not asking you, I'm asking Ash."

She looked at him with pleading eyes.

Of course, Ash was going to save the Pokémon despite the orders, he was a trainer and he loves them. He was afraid that if he didn't stand up for them now, he wouldn't be able to look at his own in their innocent eyes. Ash was hesitant because Serena was making him nervous, her grip on his arm, their eyes interlocked, he couldn't help but wonder what her lips would feel on his.

"They're Pokémon," he cleared his throat, "of course we're going to save them."

Serena heaved a sigh of relief and gave him her biggest smile.

"...but the problem is convincing Joanne."

The three of them sighed at the same time and went into deep thought. Serena was nervously chewing her nails while glancing at an ancient fossil, Calem looked a little unbothered and Ash was nervously tapping his foot on the ground.

"Would..." said Serena, "would it help if I say I found an unown amongst them?"

As much as he hated Calem, he hated to admit that he was the most useful of the two of them when it came to sneaking. The museum was quite literally the front for the smuggling, beneath it was the basement in which various antiques were stored safely, and beneath it was the prison for innocent little Pokemon's.

The two of them had followed Calem as they navigated their way through the maze-like basement, hiding behind paintings and inside boxes, waiting for the smugglers, there were at least ten of them to disappear.