Fidelity

Chapter 6: Heart to Heart

AN: Okay this time around I actually have no excuses, other than procrastination. Also Pokemon GO later down the road once I got a new phone. That shit is strangely addicting. Also helps that it encouraged me to not be a lazy fatass all summer and go outside. It also helped me shed a few pounds too, which is pretty good ngl. But regardless, I was able to get this done before my summer break completely ended. Not one of my best works in my opinion, but I think it's good enough.

Oh yeah and Sun and Moon info. That's been taking my attention away from this. Seriously I NEED them. I NEED to have my flying railgun-beetle, electric-fairy totem pole chicken deity thing, giant fucking mud horse with the broken ass ability, and poison lizard that can poison Steels and Poisons. Oh yeah and Alolan Marowak and Raichu. I need those.

Moving on; to reviews!

to ra: Yeah I kinda figured the castle/mansion area would be a good place to throw Kalos's resident knight in. Also his ye olde English was hard to emulate holy crap. I don't even know if it's accurate or not. But I'm glad you like it at least.

Tony Anderson: Thanks!

Guest (May 31): Thanks! I'm trying to flesh out a lot more characters in this one, since a good majority of them were pretty flat in the canon games. I felt they could've done a lot more in the games with the roster they had in XY. Oh well, that's why we have fanfics, right?

FantasyLover88: Thanks! And hey, who knows, things could turn out differently ;)

Anonymous Trainer: Huh, well that's interesting. You know more about Shakespearean than I do. That's pretty cool ngl. Regardless, thanks for the feedback, I had no idea how to write out Wikstrom's dialogue at first. I googled medieval translator and the first thing that popped up was English to Shakespeare translator. Which was good enough for me at the moment. So I'm gonna have to work on that for later chapters, when I'm gonna need Wikstrom to appear again. Glad you liked Korrina's entrance though.

DragonXDelinquent: I dunno man, maybe Serena will outgrow her crush. Or maybe it'll develop into a full-blown love. Who knows.

Knight of Wings: Welcome back. And I'm glad you liked the expansion in settings and character development I had in the last chapter. Also glad you liked how I introduced Korrina and Wikstrom. And as for Shauna, Tierno and Trevor being able to use Mega Evolution, I'm honestly not too sure. I mean yes, it's kinda sad that they weren't able to use it in the games, but it was justified, given they were only accessed to more skilled trainers like yourself or Lysandre, and they admitted in the games that they felt that they wouldn't be able to use it. All and all, I'm not too sure about this just yet. Maybe Shauna since she has the blastoisinite, but idk yet.

Unpropro: No worries at all, I'm just glad you like my stories! :) And a story where all the protagonists meet up huh...that could be arranged in the future...

I M Poik: Glad you like Wikstrom and Korrina. And regarding Serena, I understand that you don't seem to like her as much as the other protagonists I did. Frankly I can't blame you since you're comparing her to Hilbert, Dawn, and especially Nate. I also can't blame you in thinking that Serena is arguably kinda flat outside of her phobias and fixation on Calem, and that Calem is more interesting since he arguably fits the archetype of protagonists I have going in three other stories. Hopefully I can remedy that and develop her into a more unique character (which is kinda the goal anyways), but who knows.

And Shauna's starting to annoy you huh...interesting.

Regina D'Inverno: Well hello there! And welcome aboard! No worries, your English isn't terrible, and I can understand you just fine. I'm glad you like the story so far, with all the characters and what not. I hope you continue to enjoy the story as it keeps going :)

Now that I look at this, you all seem to like Wikstrom and Korrina. That's good. Alright moving on.

"Ah, look guys! We made it out!" Shauna informed everyone.

The next morning following the events that had happened in the Parfum Palace, Serena and her friends departed from the palace to reach their next destination. By the time they had woken up, Wikstrom had already left for the Pokémon League after handing over the detained intruders to the police, Korrina had already left for Shalour City at the request of her grandfather, and Calem had disappeared without a trace.

After going through Route 7 and trekking through the Connecting Cave, the group finally got out of the cave and reached the outside. They found themselves on top of a large and steep cliff as they exited the cave.

"Wow..." Serena said as she gazed off the cave, before spotting a town far off from where they were. "Is that Cyllage City?"

"That's right," Trevor answered. "It's a city located near the beaches, famous for its many terrain sports-related facilities and huge cycling track. It also has a League Gym there."

"Really?" Serena asked as she released her team to let them enjoy the fresh air.

"Yeah," Trevor nodded. "I'm pretty sure the gym leader specializes in Rock-types."

"Rock-types, huh," Serena said, before glancing to Marisso and Rill. "Hm, Marisso and Rill would be good choices against the gym then."

"-Hey, what about me?-" Salamé perked up, getting Serena's attention. "-I wanna fight in a gym!-"

"Huh? Oh, I think Salamé wants to fight in the gym too," Serena told Trevor.

"Uh...I'm not sure Salamé would be the best choice..." Trevor said nervously. "I mean, Fire-types are pretty weak to Rock-types after all. It wouldn't be the best place for him."

"I see..." Serena said, before glancing at Salamé apologetically. "Sorry, Salamé. But I don't think the next gym is right for you. Maybe next time, okay?"

The lizard slumped down in disappointment upon hearing the news, where Marisso and Rill did their best to comfort their friend.

"-C'mon, it's not that bad...-" Marisso offered.

"-Yeah, quit sulking about it,-" Rill chided. "-There's probably a gym where you'll be a lot more useful than us.-"

"-You think so?-" Salamé asked.

"-Yeah, of course!-" Marisso encouraged him.

The encouragement seemed to have done its job, because Salamé looked much happier. Glad to see that, Serene looked around to see what else was in the area. She decided to take out a note she had received from Mr. Parfum, whom had apparently received it from Korrina while being instructed to give it to Serena, before reading it over again.

"Hey, Sere-chan!

By the time you're reading this, then Cal-chan and I are long gone by now. I wished I could've hanged out with you and your friends some more, but Grampa called and I needed to get back to my gym. Cal-chan said he was going to head for Glittering Cave, so if you wanna go after him, there's your destination. :D

You'll just have to go through Route 7, go through the Connecting Cave (there's a lot of zubats in there btw so don't make any noises), then head west at Route 8, before reaching a town called Ambrette Town, and then go through Route 9 which is south of the town. At the end of Route 9 is where Glittering Cave is. The cave is known to house fossils of old Pokémon, so maybe you guys can get lucky and get your hands on some of them. Ambrette Town is also known for having a facility that can revive fossils. I dunno if there's anything about Mega Evolution there, but it's still a good place to check out, regardless.

Oh and outside of Ambrette Town, there's this nice beach where you all can relax at, and then there's Cyllage City, where you can challenge the gym there.

Welp, that's about it for me, or else this letter's gonna become a bit too long. Hope you guys enjoy your journey! I'll be waiting for you at Shalour City and for your challenge at the Shalour Gym!

-Korrina

P.S. You better step your game up when you meet back up with Cal-chan and I, cuz I won't lose ;)"

Apparently they became close enough for Serena to earn herself a nickname from Korrina. Which was nice. Within the day they met, Korrina had already proved herself to be a very nice, friendly and compassionate person, if a bit eccentric at times.

Although the way she kept goading her about their mutual fixation (and affection) over Calem is kind of annoying. Regardless, Serena was glad to have met Calem's eccentric childhood friend and gotten to know her as much as a day would allow for.

But enough of that, she needed to focus on reaching Glittering Cave.

"How much farther are we?" Tierno asked.

"Not too far," Trevor replied as he checked the map on his Holo Caster. "We're at Route 8, so if we head west, then we should make it there by 2."

"Sounds good," Tierno nodded, before glancing around. "Wait, where's Shauna?"

"Squirts, use Water Pulse!"

The trio looked around to find that Shauna wasn't around and frantically began to look for her, until they found her away from them, battling a small, spherical purple balloon-looking Pokémon with Squirts.

"A drifloon?" Trevor asked.

"I guess she wants it," Tierno shrugged.

"Wow, that's pretty cute," Serena commented as she scanned the balloon with her pokédex.

"Pokémon

"Entry data does not exist in current version of the Kalos Central Pokédex," it read.

"Huh?" Serena asked, confused at the lack of data the pokédex had on the drifloon. "Does that mean drifloon's not from Kalos?"

"That can't be right," Tierno argued. "I mean she found it living here."

"But the pokédex doesn't have any data on it," Serena countered.

"Uh, is letting her catch a drifloon a good idea?" Trevor asked, breaking up the conversation. "There's been rumors that drifloons actually kidnap children."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Tierno said. "She's not a little kid; she's fourteen."

"That's not the point here..." Trevor muttered.

Drifloon flew back and whipped up a gust of wind at Squirts, who retreated into his shell to block the attack.

"Now Squirts, Bite!" Shauna yelled.

Once the gust ended, Squirts got out of his shell and shot at Drifloon, before gnawing into the balloon harshly. Drifloon squirmed in pain as it tried to free itself by slapping Squirts with its string-like appendages.

"Hold it still, Squirts!" Shauna called out as she took out a pokéball. "Alright, go!"

Shauna hurled the pokéball at the drifloon, where Squirts threw Drifloon at the ball. The ball hit Drifloon, absorbing the balloon into it in a red light. The ball landed, shook three times, before flashing briefly and stopped any motion whatsoever.

"Yes!" Shauna squealed, before rushing over to pick up Squirts and the pokéball. "Good job, Squirts! We caught Drifloon!"

"-Hehe, easy,-" Squirts smirked, rubbing his nose somewhat cockily.

"Next time let us know before you go off trying to capture something," Tierno told her as they walked up to her.

"Uh...sorry..." Shauna mumbled sheepishly. "But I really wanted to catch it. It was just WAAAAY too cute."

"Yeah, I know," Tierno sighed, before chuckling. "Just, give us a heads up before you go off on your own like that."

"Right...sorry Tierno..." Shauna mumbled.

"It's alright," Tierno smiled.

"So you caught a drifloon, huh," Serena said.

"Yep!" Shauna replied, before releasing the aforementioned drifloon. "Isn't he just cute?"

"Yeah, he is," Serena admitted. "Wait, how do you know it's a male?"

"Uh...that's a good question..." Shauna said, before glancing to Drifloon. "Are you a boy?"

Drifloon stared at Shauna for a moment, before nodding his head (body?) in confirmation.

"He's a boy," Shauna confirmed. "Hm...If you're a boy...then I'll call you BB!"

"BB? What does that stand for?" Serena asked.

"Balloon Boy," Shauna replied.

"Wait, why does that sound familiar...?" Tierno asked.

"HEEY!"

Seemingly ignoring the question, everyone glanced over to see two familiar faces; Dexio and Sina, as they approached them.

"Fancy meeting you all here," Sina said.

"Oh hi, uh..." Serena said, trying to remember their names. "Dexio and Sina...right?"

"Right," Dexio smiled. "So how's your journey coming along so far?"

"Pretty good," Shauna replied. "So what's up? What're you two doing here?"

"We were just exploring Route 8," Sina replied. "Speaking of, haven't you wondered how a single pokédex could possibly cover a region as big as Kalos?"

"Huh?" Serena asked, glancing down at her pokédex. "It can't?"

"Unfortunately, no it can't," Dexio said. "Professor Sycamore's still working on his own National Version, but it would require time if he's working on it alone."

"But no worries!" Sina smiled. "We can power up your pokédexes!"

"Really?" Trevor asked, genuinely interested.

"If you would hand over your pokédexes, if you all would be so kindly?" Dexio asked.

All four of them handed their pokédexes to Dexio and Sina, where the two lab assistants began to fidget around with them for a while, before handing them back to their proper owners.

"There you go," Dexio said. "Now your Pokédex has the Coastal subpage added."

"Coastal?" Serena asked.

"The Coastal Kalos subpage covers Pokémon that resides in the western area of Kalos," Sina explained. "Up to this point, you were all using the Central Kalos subpage, which contained data about Pokémon that resided in the middle section of Kalos. Now you can look up data about Pokémon that reside in the western parts. Such as that drifloon your friend just caught."

Intrigued, Serena rescanned Drifloon, now christened as 'BB', with her pokédex.

"Drifloon, the balloon Pokémon. A Pokémon formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon. It loves damp, humid seasons."

"Hey, it worked," Serena noted.

"Good," Dexio nodded.

"New encounters help people and Pokémon grow and mature," Sina said. "With each new encounter, you and your Pokémon will learn more about the world and grow further."

"Is that so–?!" Serena began, until something suddenly landed in front of her, pushing her, and everyone around her, away. "Kya!"

"Whoa Seré!" Shauna exclaimed, catching her best friend. "What was that?"

Marisso, Salamé and Rill got in front of Serena in a defensive position, glaring daggers at the intruder. The intruder was a quadruped, mammalian Pokémon with a dark blue body covered in white fur with red eyes and a sickle-shaped horn on the right side of its face.

"What is that...?" Serena asked as she scanned the intruder.

"Absol, the disaster Pokémon. It senses coming disasters and appears before people only to warn them of impending danger."

"What's it doing here then...?" Serena asked.

Absol didn't move at all, merely staring at Serena for a long time.

"And why is it staring at me...?" Serena asked meekly.

"Absol, a Pokémon that appears in front of others to warn them of impending calamity," Dexio said. "It's often blamed for said calamities due to said role, but it is merely trying to warn them. Perhaps could it be trying to warn you of some impending danger...?"

"Is...Is that true...?" Serena asked Absol, before slowly approaching the Dark-type.

Before she could make any contact, Absol suddenly jumped away from her, before landing on the mountainside nearby the group. Absol gave them one last glance, before roaming off away from them.

"What was that about...?" Tierno asked.

"I don't know..." Trevor muttered. "But...could it have been warning us about something...?"

Serena stared off at the direction Absol had ran off to, still confused, yet curious about the sudden appearance of the Dark-type.

"...Well anyways, we better get going," Sina said. "We need to head back to Professor Sycamore."

"You're leaving already?" Shauna asked.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be staying here too long," Dexio admitted. "We already accomplished everything we need here anyways. Are you all heading to Ambrette Town?"

"Yes, actually," Trevor replied.

"Well, it shouldn't be too far from here," Dexio said. "Just head west from here and it should be a 20 minute walk."

"Thank you," Tierno said his gratitude on the group's behalf.

"No problem," Dexio said. "Now then, we better get going now."

"Right," Sina nodded. "Alright then, enjoy your journey. Bon voyage!"

With that, the two assistants left, leaving the group to their own business.

"Alright then," Tierno said. "If Ambrette Town's not too far from here, then we should get going."

"Right," everyone else agreed.

As the group headed towards Ambrette Town, Serena couldn't help but think about the absol that suddenly intruded on the group briefly. It may have been random, but surely a Pokémon with such a role would have a reason for showing up in front of her. If what the pokédex entry and what Dexio said was true, did the absol show up to try to warn them of something?

And if so, what exactly was it trying to warn them about?

"Aerial Ace!"

At Calem's command, Scyther disappeared, avoiding the opposing mienshao's Force Palm, before striking the Fighting-type from behind with a strong slice. Mienshao stepped back in response, only for Scyther to lunge forward and smash his foot into its gut. Before Mienshao could recover from the blow, Scyther was already floating above the Fighting-type.

"Brick Break!"

Before Mienshao could react, Scyther slammed one of his blades down upon its head, smashing his head and knocking out the ermine. The mantis flew back down towards Calem as Mienshao fainted.

"Good work," Calem said to Scyther, complimenting his battling.

Scyther nodded in response, relatively pleased with the compliment and his overall performance. The mantis then glanced at the pokéball on Calem's belt. Specifically, Blaziken's cherish ball, before glowering slightly.

Their first and only battle was still fresh in Scyther's mind. Never before had he ever been beaten down so ruthlessly. He wanted closure, but he knew he was currently not strong enough to take on his trainer's inarguable ace. And thus, he needed to get stronger, and relished on any training he could get.

Calem, meanwhile, was slowly starting to get frustrated.

"Damn it...not one showed up..." Calem muttered. "They shouldn't be that rare..."

Calem was currently searching for a certain Pokémon, or at least a member of said Pokémon's species, which were only located in Route 8 of Kalos. So far, he had no luck in finding one, but on the bright side, he was able to find suitable opponents to train Scyther. He had Froakie and Bulbasaur train against each other while he trained Scyther personally, feeling that he had neglected the Bug-type recently. But none of that changed the fact that he hasn't found his target yet, in spite of searching all morning, ever since he reached the area four hours ago.

Frustrated, the boy took a bottle of water he had purchased on his way here, before chugging down the remaining contents of it. Noticing this, Calem checked his bag to see that he needed to restock on supplies.

"Tch...Well I better head to Ambrette and find a shop..." Calem muttered. "Let's just look a little longer..."

The boy glanced around, searching for any new opponent. He glanced up to the nearby mountainside, noticing an absol roaming across it. The absol glanced at Calem for a second, before resuming its path. Calem raised an eyebrow, before dismissing it, and resuming his search.

After some more time passed, Calem glanced at his watch, noting the time.

"It's almost noon," Calem muttered, before sighing. "Better head back to Ambrette, then try again later..."

"Calem?"

The boy turned around to find Serena and her friends, approaching him.

"You guys," Calem muttered. "...I guess if I wasted that much time, then you all would catch up..."

"What're you doing here?" Serena asked. "I figured you'd be way ahead of us by now."

"...I'm trying to find a Pokémon I want to catch here," Calem decided to reveal. "...But I've hadn't have the best luck finding it..."

"Which one?" Shauna asked.

"A bagon," Calem revealed. "The line only reside in Route 8, so I wanted to find and capture a member of the line here."

"A member of the bagon line...?" Trevor asked, before looking around, searching for a member of the line. "...You mean like that one?"

"What!?" Calem blurted, before darting his eyes towards where Trevor was pointing.

From near the edge of the cliff they were all on, a quadruped Pokémon that resembled some sort of pupal stage with four stubby legs and an opening in the front which revealed two yellow eyes was staring up at the sky, minding its own business.

"Wow, what Pokémon is that?" Serena asked as she scanned the Pokémon with her pokédex.

"Shelgon, the endurance Pokémon. Its armored body makes all attacks bounce off. The armor is too tough, however, making it heavy and somewhat sluggish."

"It's also the evolved form of Bagon," Trevor pointed out, glancing at Calem. "So that would be what you're looking for."

"Wow, you must've had some bad luck if Trevs could find the thing you were looking for in 15 seconds," Shauna said.

"Scyther!" Calem snarled, ignoring Shauna and pointing to Shelgon.

Getting the memo (and raring to get into another battle), Scyther immediately sprinted towards Shelgon as he brandished his two blades. Shelgon noticed Scyther lunging for it and immediately braced itself as Scyther slammed his blade against the hard shell. The blade bounced back, forcing Scyther to jump back.

"-Hey! What's your deal?!-" Shelgon growled in a feminine voice.

"-You're a girl?!-" Scyther blurted.

"-What, you got a problem with that?!-" Shelgon asked.

"X-Scissor!" Calem yelled, snapping Scyther out of his stupor.

The mantis lunged at Shelgon before striking her with the attack, pushing Shelgon back. Shelgon glowered at Scyther, before repeatedly stomping the ground as a raging aura surged around her.

"What?!" Calem blurted.

"That's Dragon Dance!" Tierno gasped rather enthusiastically.

"Tch! Swords Dance!" Calem growled in retaliation.

Scyther held his blades up, as several swords began to circle around him, before dissipating on eby one into red mist that flowed into Scyther, bolstering his power. Shelgon stopped her stomping, before reeling back and bulleting towards Scyther.

"Meet it with X-Scissor!" Calem yelled.

Scyther brandished his blades and clashed against Shelgon, as the dragon pushed Scyther back. Scyther gritted his teeth as he managed to push Shelgon back, before wincing from the pain that collision inflicted him. Shelgon, meanwhile, managed to shake it off with relative ease.

"Tch, Double-Edge..." Calem muttered, recognizing the move. "And it didn't get any recoil, so its Ability is Rock Head..."

Shelgon glared at Scyther, before charging at him once more.

"Ah, it's coming!" Serena informed Calem.

"I know that!" Calem grumbled out of frustration. "Aerial Ace!"

Right before Shelgon could hit Scyther, the mantis disappeared, making the dragon stop in her tracks.

"-Huh?-" Shelgon asked, looking around in confusion. As Shelgon looked around, Scyther suddenly reappeared besides her and sliced Shelgon cleanly.

Shelgon fell to the ground, faltering from the surprise attack. Shelgon growled as she got back up, before stomping her feet in anger. Shelgon roared, before suddenly glowing.

"What?!" Calem blurted.

"I-It's evolving!" Tierno gasped.

Shelgon growled as she changed shape, growing out of her round structure and growing bigger. Once the light dispersed, in place of Shelgon stood a quadruped, draconic Pokémon with a long tapering tail, and two large, red wings.

"Salamence!" Trevor gaped.

Calem gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated that the shelgon evolved at such a timing.

"-So what?!-" Scyther growled as he lunged at Salamence.

"Scyther, wait–!" Calem yelled.

Scyther brought his blade down upon Salamence, but she easily flew away, avoiding the blade. Salamence sneered at the mantis as she spewed intense flames at the bug, forcing him to defend himself to no avail. Eventually Scyther fell to the ground, roasted by Salamence's Flamethrower.

"Tch..." Calem clicked his tongue as he recalled Scyther.

Before Calem could switch out for Blaziken, Salamence sneered at Calem, before taking off.

"Wha–No wait!" Calem yelled to no avail, as Salamence flew away.

"Goddamn it..." Calem grumbled, stomping his foot onto the ground in frustration.

"A-Are you alright?" Serena asked meekly.

"Ugh...yeah...just frustrated," Calem sighed, knowing it wouldn't be any use to be angry about the failed capture.

"So you were planning to add that salamence onto your team?" Tierno asked.

"Yeah," Calem replied. "But apparently that failed..."

"That was a pretty rare shelgon–salamence though," Trevor pointed out. "Not many know Dragon Dance...that's usually a move that needs to be bred onto a bagon from its parents."

"Yeah, I know," Calem grumbled. "...Damn it I wasted enough time here as it is...I better rest up at Ambrette first though..."

"You're going?" Shauna asked, noticing Calem collect his things.

"Yeah," Calem nodded. "Thanks anyways, for helping me find the shelgon...I suppose it was thanks to you all that it showed up to begin with."

"Ah, you're headed for the Glittering Cave, r-right?" Serena asked.

Calem stopped in his tracks, before shooting a glare at Serena, making the girl flinch a little.

"How do you know that?" Calem asked.

"Uh well..." Serena mumbled, taking out Korrina's note and handing it to Calem.

The boy glanced through the note, before scowling at the paper.

"Damn it, Korr..." Calem hissed under his breath. "I can't ever tell if she's helping me or trying to screw with me..."

"Why do you want to go to the Glittering Cave, anyways, if you don't mind us asking?" Tierno asked.

"...I just need to go there..." Calem replied in a strained voice before handing the note back to Serena. "For your own good, I suggest you don't follow me."

"Huh? But why?" Serena asked.

"...Just don't," Calem grumbled, almost pleadingly. "Now then..."

Without another word, Calem left the group, heading towards Ambrette Town.

"Is Glittering Cave a dangerous place?" Shauna asked.

"I don't know," Trevor responded. "Glittering Cave isn't a dangerous place; it's a tourist spot."

"Then why did Calem warn us not to go there then?" Shauna followed up.

"For now, let's just head to Ambrette Town," Tierno chimed in. "Maybe we can find out what's going on there."

"Right," Trevor said as the group headed to Ambrette Town, before noticing Serena's conflicted expression. "Serena?"

"Huh? What's wrong, Trevor?" Serena asked.

"Are you alright?" Trevor asked. "...Are you worried about Calem?"

"I...Yeah..." Serena mumbled as they followed Shauna and Tierno.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Trevor assured her. "He's proven that he can take care of himself."

Serena nodded somewhat reluctantly, but couldn't help but be worried. With that absol that suddenly showed up, that salamence now roaming free to do whatever it want, and now with Calem subtly warning them not to go to Glittering Cave...the blonde couldn't help but worry. Was this what the absol was trying to warn them about? Or was there something else...?

Eventually the crew reached Ambrette Town. The town was situated on the edge of a seaside cliff, among the other cliffs that made a good portion of Route 8. A narrow coastline neighbored the city, where a vast and beautiful ocean expanded out towards a nearby beach. The group had immediately rested up at the pokécenter, healing up their teams, before leaving the center and deciding to go around to gather information.

Apparently the Glittering Cave, once a tourist attraction where rhyhorns trained by the locals were available to cross the rocky roads of Route 9, was currently blocked off by the public. Some rather suspicious people were spotted at the cave, with several helicopters stationed there. When confronted, the suspicious people had scared the people off, using violent methods such as having Pokémon attack the civilians, discouraging them from approaching the cave. Now the cave, and the entirety of Route 9 for that matter, was closed off for the time being.

"Do you happen to know what the person looked like?" Trevor asked a person.

"They had some weird red hairstyles..." the person said. "And they were wearing these admittedly snazzy red suits with equally snazzy red sunglasses."

"Red suits..." Trevor muttered, recognizing the attire. "Thank you very much for your time."

The man nodded in response and made his merry way, before Trevor regrouped with the others.

"There's no mistaking it," Trevor said. "It's the red suits from yesterday."

"Those red guys?" Serena paled, remembering the red intruders from the Parfum Palace.

"No one else fits the description," Trevor said. "And considering what happened yesterday, it's highly likely..."

"But what do those red guys want with Glittering Cave?" Shauna asked.

"Well, the Glittering Cave is known to have many Pokémon fossils..." Trevor deduced. "Perhaps that could be their aim."

"Wait, isn't Calem headed there right now?" Serena asked. "You don't think..."

"...Perhaps Calem's after the guys in red," Trevor proposed.

"You sure...?" Tierno asked.

"There wouldn't really be any other explanation," Trevor replied. "Knowing Calem, he probably wouldn't be after the fossils, but rather them."

"So what do we do?" Shauna asked. "Do we just go after him then?"

"I'm not sure...It wouldn't be the best of ideas considering what everyone else is saying..." Trevor mumbled, before turning to Serena. "Serena, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Serena asked. "Uh..."

Trevor did have a good point; if the people of Ambrette had closed off Route 9, then that meant the perpetrators were that dangerous. It wouldn't be the best idea to carelessly head for a place like that. Especially with all the forewarnings Route 8 subtly gave her. There was bound to be something that would go horribly wrong once they entered Route 9.

...However, in spite of all that, surely Calem must've found a way in and was more than likely there if he wasn't here. In spite of all the warnings the people here said, Calem would've most likely headed there regardless, probably to hunt down the men in red suits that may or may not be at Glittering Cave.

"...We should go there," Serena declared, her expression hardening with determination.

"Are you sure?" Shauna asked.

"We can't just leave this be," Serena said. "This is a serious problem, and we shouldn't just ignore it."

"You have a point," Tierno agreed somewhat. "But what they're much stronger than us...? It's probably likely since they were able to keep an entire town away..."

"We should at least try...right?" Serena asked.

"...I guess..." Trevor said. "Although we should approach this carefully. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into...so we need to be careful at all costs."

"Right," everyone agreed.

With everyone in mutual agreement, they headed towards the south of the town, heading for Route 9, while preparing themselves for what would wait for them ahead at the route.

Salamence roared as she soared through the skies of Route 9 with glee. Today was a good day.

She finally reached evolution and was able to fulfill her dreams of soaring through the vast, blue skies to her heart's content. Now she was no longer bound to the ground, forced to trudge around as a shelgon. Salamence was much more nimble, faster, agile and lighter than compared to her fat self as Shelgon. Albeit she felt that she was much frailer when compared to herself as shelgon; having a hard shell for a body did have its perks when it came to defenses.

Salamence supposed she had to thank that boy with the scyther for fighting her and inadvertently helping her reach evolution. Ah well, nothing she could do now.

As Salamence kept soaring, she noticed a lone absol perched on top of a cliff, seemingly crouching and leering at something.

"-Hm?-" Salamence mused as she decided to descend down to the absol. "-Haven't seen you around here before. What're you doing?-"

Absol glanced at Salamence, before quickly glancing back. Salamence tilted her head in confusion, until Absol gestured below. Salamence walked up to Absol and glanced down to see what the Dark-type was spying on. Down below was the entrance to Glittering Cave, but in front of it there were several helicopters stationed.

"-What the...?-" Salamence asked.

Several men and women, all wearing matching (and admittedly snazzy) red suits, were going in and out of the cave. Guarding the group was two other men, accompanied by two large, brownish-gray Pokémon with club-like tails, blade-like protrusions on their elbows and was partially covered by orange, rocky plates. The ones coming out of the cave were carrying massive rocks with them and loading them into the helicopters.

"-What're they doing...?-" Salamence muttered. "-...Are those fossils? What would they want with petrified bones?-"

Absol glared at the group down at the cave, before rising up from the hiding spot and lunging out towards them.

"-Whoa, whoa what're you doing?!-" Salamence yelled as Absol quickly descended to the group.

Absol freefell down towards the cave entrance, before landing on a man and smashing them into the ground, knocking him out.

"What the–?!" another red man blurted as they all turned to see Absol. "What the hell is this absol doing here?!"

Absol glared at all of them, before glancing at the helicopter. Growling, Absol shot a beam of ice at the helicopter, which was somehow intercepted by a stray rock from one of the hulking guard Pokémon.

"It's after the fossils?!" another man asked.

"Neutralize it!" the second man yelled, before yelling to the helicopters. "This is an emergency! Get out of here and head back to the main headquarters! The goods are being compromised!"

The pilots of the helicopters seemed to have gotten the message, as the helicopters began to ascend to the air. Absol tried to shoot the helicopters down, but the hulking guards stood in the way.

"Rhyperior, Rock Blast, now!" one of the men yelled.

The rhyperiors aimed their arms at Absol, before proceeding to shoot several rocks at the Dark-type. Absol avoided all of them, before proceeding to retaliate with Ice Beam. The icy laser blasted the rhyperiors, pushing them back. As Absol was fighting off the rhyperiors, Salamence was watching the battle from the cliff they were previously hiding at.

"-What a crazy girl...-" Salamence gaped. "-Randomly jumping into the fray and picking a fight like that...-"

Before Salamence could stand back up, she felt a sharp pain from her back.

"-Agh!-" she yelped, before turning around to see two large blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon, floating above her. "-What the...? Gliscors...?-"

One of the gliscors sneered as it clamped one of its pincers tauntingly.

"-Oh so that's what you want, eh?-" Salamence growled. "-Well if it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!-"

Calem glanced to the sides as he slowly, treading over the rocky terrain of Route 9 carefully. With the news of strange people blocking off the civilians of Ambrette from the Glittering Cave, it would be natural if they kept a means of surveillance to make sure no one could sneak into Route 9. Thus, using the rental rhyhorns to safely traverse the rocky roads was out of the question, seeing as how it would be extremely rowdy and bring a lot of attention to himself. So he had no choice but to traverse on foot.

Calem kept glancing from side to side, then into the air, searching for any potential security, before moving on, being extra careful about keeping stealth on his side.

"Calem? Heeey! Calem!"

...Well, so much for keeping stealth on his side.

Calem looked behind him to see Serena and her friends, riding on the rental rhyhorns and approaching his position.

"What the hell...?" Calem grumbled. "What're you guys doing here? I thought I told you all not to follow me!"

"Did you honestly expect us to listen to that?" Shauna asked.

"We came here to investigate," Serena replied as they reached him. "What about you? You shouldn't be out here without a rhyhorn! That's dangerous!"

"I'm trying to sneak through the route," Calem grumbled. "And hulking around rhyhorns isn't exactly a good idea for stealth."

"But...then we would've been discovered by now," Tierno pointed out, pointing to the sky. "But here we are now."

"...You do have a point..." Calem muttered, glancing up to the skies. 'Could something else be distracting them then...?'

"Well in any case, it seems to be safe enough to travel with the rhyhorns," Serena said, before beckoning at him. "Now, c'mon! Get over here! It's not safe to walk out on the rocky path like that!"

"Huh? Oh...r-right..." Calem muttered, rubbing his head.

Calem begrudgingly made his way towards Serena, who patted on the saddle she was riding on; the space that was behind her.

"Eh..." Calem muttered, until Serena insisted with a stern expression on her face; one that caught Calem off guard.

"Oh, her switch got flipped," Shauna commented amusedly as they watched Calem awkwardly get on Serena's rhyhorn.

"When it comes to these kinds of things, then Serena's surprisingly motherly after all," Tierno chuckled. "Honestly you wouldn't expect that from someone as normally shy and timid as her."

"Yeah," Trevor smiled, before it turned into a frown. "But...what Calem said does bring up a point...if there's someone keeping the people of Ambrette away from here, then why are we able to sneak in so easily...?"

"...Then we should probably move on and see what's going on..." Tierno suggested.

Meanwhile, Calem managed to sit behind Serena on her rhyhorn, carefully adjusting himself.

"Like this?" Calem asked.

"Yeah, just put a firm grip around my waist if you need to hold on," Serena instructed.

"Around your–okay then..." Calem muttered, before doing as instructed.

"Alright, let's get a move on then," Serena said as she signaled her rhyhorn to move forward.

"Ah, wait for us!" Shauna called out as they did the same.

"...But still, that wasn't a very smart thing to do, coming from you of all people," Serena scolded Calem lightly. "It's dangerous to traverse such an unstable ground like this by yourself."

"Like I said, I was trying to sneak through inconspicuously," Calem retorted.

"Even so," Serena said sternly. "You could've gotten seriously hurt."

Calem grumbled under his breath, before sighing in defeat.

'I guess she has a point...' Calem thought. 'Even if I did want to infiltrate the route, going at it without the proper equipment would've been risky. I'll admit that at least. But still...'

The boy glanced at Serena, who was focusing on the path in front of her.

'Never expected her to take such a stern approach,' Calem mused. 'Considering how she kept acting so shy, seeing her act assertive is pretty surprising. Almost refreshing...now that I actually have a good look at her, she's pretty cute...long blonde hair, glistening blue eyes, smells pretty nice, all things considered, a bigger rack than Korr that's for sure–

Wait what the hell am I thinking?!'

Calem shook his head furiously, snapping him out of his thoughts and blushing profusely, much to his chagrin.

"C-Calem? Are you alright?" Serena asked, noticing the sudden movement.

"N-No, nothing's wrong," Calem muttered.

"If you say so..."

'But still, Calem does some pretty reckless things sometimes,' Serena thought to herself. 'Like when he fought the hydreigon, and then Scyther, and when he stopped the doduo...he really needs to be more careful, or else he'll end up getting hurt. Well at least he won't fall off here since he's hugging my waist–.

Wait...'

Serena stopped for a moment, before her head began to process what Calem was doing, and the girl blushed furiously when it hit her.

'CALEM'S HUGGING ME!'

Serena suddenly panicked from the thought, almost losing her balance off of the rhyhorn, and almost dragging Calem with her.

"Whoa! Calm down!" Calem yelled.

"S-Sorry...!" Serena stammered as she managed to regain her balance. 'He's actually hugging me...well granted I told him to so that he didn't fall off...but he's hugging me...this would be a dream come true if it was in a more romantic setting...'

"Hmm..." Shauna said as she stared at Serena and Calem, whom didn't notice the other three. "Y'know, now that I'm staring at them and they're both acting like awkward hormonal high school kids, they actually do look kinda cute together."

"Huh?" Trevor asked. "Wait, I thought you were against them being a couple."

"Yeah, well at first, mostly because Calem's a jerk," Shauna said. "But Serena likes him a lot, and he's not a complete jerk as it is, and as her best friend, I want what makes her happy. And if being with him makes her happy, then who am I to go against that? Besides, if anyone's gonna make the ice prince over there defrost and open up, then it's definitely Seré."

"True," Tierno said. "Calem does seem to treat her better than us. Or at the very least he seems to be more comfortable around her, and acts less aloof around her than us."

As the crew approached closer to Glittering Cave, a commotion could be overheard.

"Huh, what's going on?" Trevor asked as they all moved in slowly and carefully.

As they passed a hill that was blocking the view, they all laid sights on a full-scale brawl at the front of the Glittering Cave entrance; with an absol taking on two rhyperiors that were being commanded by two men in red suits, while up in the skies, a salamence was spewing fire at two gliscors.

"Whoa!" Trevor gasped at the sight.

"Well now we know why we were able to sneak in so easily," Calem said. "And the salamence from earlier, I would assume..."

"...Wait, that's the absol from before!" Serena gasped, recognizing Absol. 'Is this what it was warning me about...?'

Absol growled as she shot an Ice Beam at the rhyperiors, whom jumped back to avoid the attack and retaliated by shooting rocks at the Dark-type. Absol avoided the incoming projectiles, which then proceeded to head towards the rhyhorns.

"TAKE COVER!" Calem yelled as the rocks blasted into the ground, causing massive explosions of dust and rubble.

The rhyhorns, panicking, scattered away from one another, separating the group from each other.

"SERÉ!" Shauna cried out as her rhyhorn ran away from Serena's rhyhorn against the girl's will.

"You guys!" Serena cried out as the other rhyhorns ran away from their direction in panic.

"Tch!" Calem clicked his tongue as he reached for a pokéball.

"Wait, what're those kids doing there?!" a red man yelled, finally noticing them.

"Damn it, we were too busy with these things that we let intruders sneak in!" the other red man grumbled. "Rhyperior, aim for the brats over there!"

Absol gasped, before glancing behind her to see the group as Rhyperior aimed one of its arms at the pack of rhyhorns, before rushing to try and stop it. Unfortunately it led into her getting hit by the rock, before being blown back into the group and sent flying into Serena and Calem.

"SHI–!" Calem swore as he tried to get Serena and himself to duck, but wasn't fast enough and ended up getting knocked off their rhyhorn by the absol. While Calem fell and hit the ground, Serena took the direct hit of Absol, and was blown off the cliff. The girl barely grabbed onto the edge, while instinctively grabbing Absol.

"Kh!" Calem yelped as he was knocked off the rhyhorn, before noticing Serena hanging off of the cliff. "SERENA!"

The boy got up and rushed over to Serena, before grabbing her hand.

"Don't move!" he yelled as he began to pull Serena and Absol back up.

Salamence was able to swat off the gliscors to notice the chaos going on at the ground, before noticing Calem trying to lift Serena and Absol back up.

"-Holy–!-" Salamence gaped as she began to fly over to Serena, before feeling a sharp pain across her body. "-AGH?!-"

She eyed down to see the other rhyperior having shot a rock at her while she was distracted. Before Salamence could retaliate, one of the gliscors swooped down and sliced at the back of her head. Salamence was knocked out from the combination, unable to keep flight and falling straight for Serena.

"?! LOOK OUT!" Serena yelled, seeing Salamence falling down. Calem didn't have enough time to react as he looked up, witnessing Salamence falling straight for him

"FU–!" Calem blurted, as Salamence fell onto him, knocking him, along with Serena and Absol, off of the cliff.

"...Man, don't you think that was a bit too much...?" one of the men in red suits asked his partner.

"You heard the others. No intruders," the other man huffed.

"But they were kids," the first man argued. "And we kinda dropped a dragon on them and all...not to mention ended up pushing them off the cliff with said dragon..."

"Hey we're just doing our jobs," the other man shrugged. "It was either them or us, and I'd rather it be them than us. Now c'mon. Pretty sure there were like three other kids with them."

"...Yo, just leave 'em," the first man sighed as his rhyperior sighed as well. "What can three kids do anyways?"

Meanwhile, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor were already far away from them, gathered behind a platform.

"What do we do now?!" Shauna whispered. "We gotta go save them!"

"You really wanna try at the two rhyperiors out there?" Tierno asked.

"Then you just wanna leave them and run!?" Shauna growled at Tierno.

"What I'm saying is that we three can't take them on ourselves," Tierno reasoned, where Shauna realized that. "...Look I want to save them just as much as you do, but what if we fail trying? Then who will go save Serena and Calem?"

"Uh..." Shauna mumbled, looking too unsure.

"...We're all feeling the same, Shauna," Tierno smiled, comforting her. "But we can't afford mess this up. And most of all, we need to stay calm."

"...Right..." Shauna agreed. "Sorry..."

"It's alright," Tierno replied, before turning to Trevor. "Trevs, got any ideas?"

"...What if we got the people of Ambrette to help us?" Trevor proposed.

"Huh? But they're all staying away from here," Shauna pointed out.

"True, but what if we could somehow convince them to band up as a group?" Trevor asked. "Sure it would be near impossible if they did it by themselves, but what if they were to go at it as a united group? Surely our chances would be much better. We can even have someone send a search party from below."

"That's true..." Tierno agreed. "...At the very least we don't have any better ideas. Now we need to first get out of here without getting caught and then think of a way to convince the people there to help us."

"Right," Shauna and Trevor agreed, as the trio began to make their way back to Ambrette Town.

As their rhyhorns trudged through the rocky path, Shauna couldn't help but look back.

"Seré..." Shauna mumbled worried. "Please be alright..."

Serena groaned as she opened her eyes. The girl found herself drenched as she looked around; finding herself in the shallow waters of a beach.

"Huh...we're alright," Serena mumbled as she got back up, before groaning in pain around her torso. "...Or maybe not...well it could've gotten worse."

She looked around to see Calem, laying nearby her unconscious, along with an unconscious Absol and Salamence.

"Calem!" Serena gasped as she rushed over to wake up the boy. "Calem! Calem!"

"Ugh..." Calem groaned before waking up. "We're alive...?"

"Somehow..." Serena replied. "Are you alright?"

Calem got back up, before wincing in pain and falling back into the water.

"Damn it..." Calem muttered, glancing at his leg.

"Is it broken?" Serena asked.

"No, just a little sprained," Calem replied. "I should be able to move after a little rest."

"But you can't move...?"

"I mean I can...but it'll hurt like a bitch."

Serena looked around, until her eyes laid on their belongings, sprawled on the beach.

"Good, our stuff isn't wet," Serena said. "I should have some medical supplies in there. We can patch up your leg wound with them."

"Well that's good," Calem said. "But I can't really move..."

"Oh no worries, I can carry you," Serena smiled.

"Huh?" Calem asked, before suddenly Serena put her hands under Calem and effortlessly lifted him up a la bridal carry. "...What...?"

"Huh, you're pretty light," Serena commented. "C'mon, let's get out of the water."

As Serena carried Calem to the beach, the boy simply had a blank expression on his face, still somewhat confused and surprised at Serena being able to carry him, before groaning to himself.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked. "Does your leg still hurt?"

"No, just my pride as a man..." Calem muttered. "...Great, two girls that can actually carry me...Korr's never gonna let me live this down..."

As Serena placed Calem onto the beach near their belongings, Serena then proceeded to grab Absol and carry her to where Calem was, and then, to the boy's shock, proceeded to do the same to Salamence with relative ease.

"What the hell...?" Calem muttered as Serena placed Salamence near him. "Huh...you're...a lot stronger than you look..."

"Huh? Oh, well my mom wanted me to succeed her in rhyhorn racing," Serena explained as she dried her hair. "So as a kid I went through a lot of training for that since rhyhorn racing's a pretty hard thing to do."

"And that included strength training I would assume?" Calem asked.

"Yeah," Serena nodded. "Although it wasn't really working out...I'm kinda glad I was able to become a trainer instead. Even if I'm not too cut out for it..."

Calem simply kept staring at Serena while she went on as he took off his coat and dried it off.

"Ah–Sorry, I shouldn't be rambling on..." Serena stammered.

"No, it's alright," Calem shrugged. "Besides, you're not that bad of a trainer..."

"Really?" Serena asked.

"Normal trainers wouldn't have won against a Bug-type gym with a Grass-type," Calem said. "If anything, you're just growing as a trainer. You have potential, just be more confident in yourself."

"You really think so?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Calem nodded as he got his bag and checked his belongings. "...At least all my stuff is here."

"Ah, that's right, lemme patch up that wound of yours," Serena said as she got her things and took out some bandage tape and a medicinal spray.

"Thanks..." Calem muttered as he let Serena tend to his wound, before rummaging through his bag and took out a hyper potion and a sitrus berry and leaned towards Salamence.

"Thanks," Calem said to Serena once she finished applying the spray onto his wound and wrapped it with gauze tape.

He managed to scoot over to the dragon, before spraying the potion at the obvious wound around her neck, causing the dragon to wince, before opening her eyes and noticing Calem.

"-You...-" Salamence grumbled, before wincing in pain.

"Don't move," Calem chided lightly as he showed Salamence the sitrus berry. "Just rest. You're gonna need it."

Salamence stared at Calem, before opening her mouth and prompting Calem to place the berry in there.

"-...You're a lot nicer than you look...-" Salamence muttered as she ate the berry, before closing her eyes again to rest.

As Serena saw Calem tend to Salamence, she rummaged through her bag to take out an oran berry and went over to Absol to check up on her.

"Hey, are you alright?" Serena asked, gently shaking the Dark-type.

Absol groaned lightly, before slowly waking up to see the blonde girl.

"Are you alright?" Serena asked, before presenting the oran berry.

The absol stared at Serena, before eating the oran berry.

"I saw what you did back there," Serena said. "You tried to shield that attack for us, right? I just wanted to thank you for that."

Absol simply smiled as she chewed on the oran berry. Serena smiled, before she glanced back to Calem, who watched Salamence sleep, before he released Froakie to let him get some air.

"...You're not gonna try and catch Salamence?" Serena asked Calem before she released Marisso to do the same. "I mean...I would assume this would be the perfect chance...seeing as it's immobile and all."

"...Catching it while it's down like this won't do me any good. Chances are it won't listen to me if I catch it while it's resting like this..." Calem retorted. "I'd rather earn its respect than simply catching it while it can't do anything."

"Huh...I guess you have a point," Serena said, before smiling. "...Y'know...you're a lot nicer than you make yourself out to be."

"...What's this all of a sudden?" Calem asked.

"I mean...you act pretty cold and distant," Serena said. "But you help me out a lot, you actually care about your Pokémon like Froakie and Bulbasaur, and now, you helped out Salamence. If anything, you're a nice person. Even if you don't look like it or act like it at times."

"Oh? And what if I was simply acting this whole time?" Calem challenged.

Serena looked a little surprised, before contemplating that. What if Calem had been simply acting nice? What if he really was cold and distant; just a really good liar?

"...Well, then that's that," Serena replied. "But I still believe that you're a nice person; even if you think otherwise. No matter what."

Calem hadn't expected an answer like that and was taken aback. "I-I see..." he muttered.

Marisso glanced at Serena, then back at Calem, confused at what was going on, and why they were at the beach. Froakie, meanwhile, simply stared at his trainer, seemingly studying his expression.

"...Let's focus on how to get out of this situation," Calem muttered, changing the subject. "I can't really move...and even if you can carry me, I highly doubt you can carry all of us at the same time; especially up this cliff."

"Right..." Serena mumbled as she sat down. "...Can any of your Pokémon fly?"

"Scyther can't carry all of us," Calem said. "And Blaziken needs to use Brave Bird to be able to fly, and I'm not taking the risk of him carrying you in the middle of an attack...If anything I'd rather stay low and avoid attracting attention to ourselves. We're not exactly sure if there's anyone here to worry about anyways..."

"...Huh...well, I guess we're stuck here, until either Salamence recovers enough and is willing to give us a ride, or we wait on Shauna, Trevor and Tierno to come get us," Serena concluded.

"...Y'know, you're rather calm, considering we're stuck here while being potentially hunted down," Calem noted. "I figured you would be panicking right about now."

"Ha ha...I guess so..." Serena chuckled mirthlessly. "...I am scared you know. Those guys in red suits might find us here. I'm scared of a lot of things...I'm a coward after all; I know that...and I'm not that strong...but...I know right now that being scared and panicking won't help anyone's case. So yeah I'm scared. I can't help but worry. But I gotta do my best to pull it together. So as to not make the situation worse.

"...And besides...if there's one thing I'm not afraid of, it's to worry about people I care about."

Calem raised an eyebrow at that statement. Well, it would explain why she seemed more assertive back at Route 9.

"And I also trust Shauna, Tierno and Trevor to come help us," Serena said. "I know they'll come through because they're my best friends. I know they can do it. And besides, if those guys in red do find us..."

Serena flashed a small smile at Calem.

"If it's with you..." Serena admitted, blushing slightly. "Then I feel safe. Like there's no need to worry."

Calem's expression became genuinely surprised. He didn't expect Serena to have this much faith in him. She completely believed in him and in his abilities. He didn't know why, but it felt somewhat refreshing; touching even, to know that. Serena, seeing Calem's expression, chose now to panic somewhat.

"Ah-I-I mean if those guys in red do find us, then we can take them...or I guess you can..." Serena began to suddenly stammer. "B-But I can help too! Even if they do have strong Pokémon like those rhyperiors and gliscors, I can at least help...and..uh.."

"Yo, calm down," Calem muttered uneasily.

"R-Right..." Serena mumbled, before taking a deep breath. "...Wow look at that. I said I would do my best to pull it together and not panic, and here I am acting like a mess...ehehe..."

"It's alright," Calem assured her. "Thanks...for the reassurance, I guess."

"No problem..." Serena mumbled. "A-Anyways! I'll go look for some food! You know what they say: you can't fight on an empty stomach, after all!"

"A-Ah...right," Calem said. "Froakie, go with her."

Froakie nodded as he hopped towards Serena, as she and Marisso got up to search for some food.

"W-We'll be back soon," Serena said as she left with Marisso and Froakie in tow, leaving Calem with a resting Salamence and Absol.

Now all alone with two sleeping Pokémon, the boy was left with his own thoughts. He certainly hadn't expected the answers he had gotten from her. It was strange, seeing someone that wasn't his friends have that much faith and belief in him. Especially considering he had acted pretty cold towards them and kept his distance. Yet despite that, Serena chose to believe in him. Even when there was still a possibility that he wasn't who he seemed to be, she still chose to believe in him.

And for some reason, he felt dirty for keeping his own secrets from her.

The boy sat there in silence, before he released Blaziken.

"...Go gather some firewood," Calem instructed. "I'm cold..."

Blaziken nodded without hesitation, before setting off to collect some firewood. The boy simply laid down on the sand, staring at the still-blue sky.

"...You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Serena..." the boy mumbled. "...At the very least, you're a lot stronger than I am..."

To be continued

AN: To be honest, this was originally supposed to go on up to the Glittering Cave, but I decided to cut it here in favor of focusing on more character development. Also I didn't feel like keeping it for that long. So anyways the gang reached Route 9, Serena and Calem were blasted off said Route and now are somewhat stranded on a beach below the route, and the duo had some heart-to-heart bonding time. And a cliffhanger for once. This is gonna be a lot more common, you just wait hue hue hue.

And here's the usual rosters, only this time Shauna gets a new member:

Serena: Marisso (Chespin) / Rill (Marill) / Salamé (Charmander)

Calem: Blaziken / Froakie / Scyther / Bulbasaur

Shauna: Kinniekins (Fennekin) / Kitkat (Skitty) / Squirts (Squirtle) / BB (Drifloon)

Tierno: Corphish / Fletchling / Budew

Trevor: Flabébé / Pikachu

Cuz y'know, she'd go for the cute balloon ghost, right?

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time and take care.