Hello sorry for the extremely late post of this story but I was currently in the middle of examination and that further delayed my posting because I had to study and then right the examinations themselves. So in other words my typing time was very limited and therefore couldn't post the chapter.

I did the best I could to post the chapter as soon as possible once I was done with exams so please do not blame me if they are a few mistakes because I kinda rushed through this one.

I just want to thank all those who have chosen to follow me and this story, I hope I can hear more reviews, votes, comments and even PM's.

Anyways without further delay I introduce you to chapter six.

Important notice: I do not own Pokemon or its characters in any way

Chapter six: A friend in need is a friend indeed right?

Serena woke up the next morning feeling quite heavenly and feeling a lot better than she had been the previous day. A lot had happened yesterday from starting her journey then catching her first pokemon ,which Serena hadn't asked if it wanted to stay with her, to being chased by a flock of angry birds. One thing was for sure Serena never wanted to experience anything of the sort ever again.

Serena then stood up slowly as she didn't want to put too much pressure on her knee but surprisingly it didn't even hurt at all, in fact her whole body wasn't in any pain any more. That was odd, she was sure the injuries she had gotten yesterday would last for a day or two and maybe three for her knee but no she felt...perfect. As if she had never been attacked in the first place. She wonder what exactly had happened but decided not to ponder on it too much considering it was a good thing.

She looked to her left and noticed Ash was still asleep which she found weird considering he always woke up before her back when he was staying at her place. Pikachu, froakie, fennekin and furfrou were all asleep in middle of both Ash and Serena. Furfrou who had been extremely injured the day before now looked perfectly fine as well which is something Serena was relieved to see, she didn't care how it happened she was just glad furfrou was okay.

Serena then made her way to the entrance of the cave they had spent the night in and what she saw was breathtaking. The sun was still rising in the horizon and you could see it in its full beauty but it wasn't only that but it was the way that the sun shined into the forest that amazed Serena. She found it hard to believe that this was the same forest they had been running through because there was no way she or Ash would have missed this.

"It's hard to believe that I actually missed a wonderful sight like this." Serena said as she continued to look at the scene before her. She stayed there for a few minuets, taking in the atmosphere of the air and allowing the wind itself to blow against her hair. After a few minuets she then turned around and went back into the cave.

When she was back inside she noticed that all of the pokemon had woken up and seemed to be worried about something except for furfrou who was calm at the moment. Pikachu and froakie were next to Ash and we're trying to wake him up but it seemed to be no use as Ash wouldn't wake up Serena couldn't help but giggle a bit at that situation, fennekin seemed to be pacing back and forth with a worried expression that was until it heard its trainers voice.

"Hey fennekin what's wrong." Serena asked, as soon as she said that all the pokemon faced her before she felt something tackle her down, she looked to see it was fennekin who was rubbing affectionately against her with a relieved expression. Serena then then put the two together and figure fennekin had gotten worried when it woke up and Serena wasn't there.

"You were worried about me weren't you?" Serena asked.

"Fenn." fennekin cried as it nodded in agreement.

"I was just by the entrance." Serena said as she giggled a little bit, she found it heartwarming that fennekin cared about her this much.

"Pika chu." pikachu cried as it came over to Serena and tried to get her attention by grabbing onto her red skirt.

"What is it pikachu?" Serena asked as she saw the worry on pikachu's face. Pikachu then pointed in Ashs direction before it began to make multiple gestures which Serena couldn't really understand. Upon seeing Serena wasn't getting it fennekin decided to take matters into its own hands.

"Fen kin nekin, fennekin." it cried as it made gestures, Serena had grown to understand fennekin a little bit over the years it had been with it so she understood some of the things it had said. Appearantly Ash had taken care of them last night using herbs he had gathered, which explains her recovery, but on the way back he was attacked by a wild pokemon which poisoned him. She wasn't sure if she got the message right but that's what she had put together from what she understood.

"Wait so you guys are saying Ash was poisoned!" Serena nearly shouted, pikachu merely nodded its head before rushing towards its trainer whom froakie was still trying to wake up but it proved to be useless.

Upon seeing this Serena rushed over to Ash and turned him so he could face upwards and Serena could see him more clearly, when she did what she saw nearly frightened her. Ash was there laying down as his face was starting to show a light shade of green that was barely noticeable but Serena had noticed it, that meant the poison had begun to circulate around his body and if they didn't do something soon he would die but what could she do. Why did he have to be so stupid as to go outside at night by himself, all of that so he could take care of their injuries but now he was the one in need of their help and there had to be some way to help.

"Damnit Ash why did you go out on your own, now look at you. What do I do now?" Serena said before asking herself the question. She had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation right now and to make matters worse if she didn't do something soon then Ash might end up dead. Serena then felt tears step art to come out of her eyes, she didn't know why she was crying right now. She wasn't as close to Ash as she used to be but still ever since yesterday in the forest Ash had started showing that there was still a part of him that was more like the old Ash or maybe she was crying because she felt so helpless to do anything right now and she didn't think she would be able to live with herself if she watched someone dying right in front of her while she could've done something about it...but what. What could she possibly do right now, she wasn't good at finding herbs like Ash and even if she was she would probably get lost if she went out into the forest or probably get attacked by wild pokemon herself.

"S-S-Sere-Serena, t-there is a poke-mon center nearby." Serena heard Ash stummer as he whispered slowly, she looked at him and noticed his eyes had opened slightly but only slightly.

"Ash you idiot what were you thinking going out on your own?" Serena asked him as she really wanted to know what was going through his mind at that point and time. Sure

"You seemed in pain while you were asleep, both you and furfrou. So I went out to gather some herbs so I could use them to attend to your wounds but now look who needs the help." Ash said weakly as he chuckled, before he started to cough terribly.

"Don't talk too much, just relax." Serena said as she looked around for her pokepad, once she found it she began to search for the nearby pokemon center that Ash was had been talking about before, if there was any chance of saving Ash before the poison killed him then Serena needed to be quick. Soon she found the pokemon center on the pokepad before she closed it and turned back to Ash only to find Ash laying there in front of her. His body wasn't moving anymore and that worried Serena a lot.

"Ash. Ash. Ash!" Serena shouted but it proved to be no use as he still wasn't moving, he seemed to be getting worse with each passing minuet and if they didn't do something soon then Ash would most surely die. Serena then quickly stood up before making her way towards the entrance of the cave but stopped when she noticed that all the pokemon were following her.

"I need some of you to stay here with Ash incase something happens or someone comes." Serena said as she turned to the pokemon.

"Furfrou and pikachu you guys can come with me, fennekin and froakie you guys don't mind watching Ash while gone do you?" Serena asked.

"Froakie!" it cried as it stood on salute.

"Fennekin!" it cried as it mimicked foakie's stance. Serena then laughed a bit as froakie began to laugh while fennekin blushed a little bit from embarrassment.

"Come on you two lets go we don't have much time." Serena said as she put on a serious face and gestured for pikachu and furfrou to follow her.

Serena, pikachu and furfrou had been running for a while being guided by Serena's pokepad to the pokemon center. They had been searching for almost an hour and that worried Serena greatly because with each passing minute Ash's condition was only getting worse. They had to hurry and find that pokemon center. Serena then opened her pokepad once again to check if they were going in the right direction but was surprised when it seemed they had arrived or at least that's what the pokepad showed. Serena looked around but couldn't see anything except trees and bushes. As they continued to look around pikachu decided to divert itself from the group when it smelt something, it smelled delicious and mouthwatering. Pikachu decided to follow the smell after a few seconds he came across a clearing and right in the middle of the clearing there was a wooden building that looked more or less like a cottage but slightly bigger, pikachu figured this must be the pokemon center that Serena was looking for.

"Pika pikachu!" It cried out happily as it tried to get Serena's attention. After a few seconds Serena came out from a bush with furfrou not too far behind her.

"Did you find something pikachu?" Serena asked in interest.

"Pika pika pi." the electric mouse cried as it pointed towards the building in the center of the clearing. Serena turned to look at where pikachu was pointing. When she saw the building in the middle her face immediately lit up.

"That must be it, come on let's hurry we don't have much time!" Serena shouted as she ran towards the building as fast as she could with pikachu and furfrou close behind.

Once they got there they barged in through the front door as they looked for Nurse Joy but she was nowhere to be seen, maybe she was at the back of the building or something.

"Hello is there anyone here?!" Serena shouted as she was kind on time limit at the moment.

"Coming!" A female voice shouted from where Serena assumed to be the medical room. After a few seconds Nurse Joy came out running and stood in front of Serena and her pokemon before bowing her head.

"Sorry for making you wait I was just finishing up some potions I had been making. Anyways how may I help you?"

"I have a friend of mine who is very ill and is need of your help. He was poisoned by a wild pokemon last night but I was asleep and only noticed it this morning." Serena explained.

"That terrible! It's a miracle he's still alive, we need to hurry and attend to him before it's too late. I have a van at the back of this building we can use that to get to him faster." Nurse Joy said as she quickly grabbed her keys and a few herbs which were on a nearby shelf. She then ran outside with Serena following close behind, once they were inside the van Nurse Joy started it before stomping on the acceleration button causing the van to go at full speed.

Serena guided Nurse Joy to the cave as best as she could use the pokepad since she had set the cave as home so they wouldn't get lost. There were a few times where Serena thought that Nurse Joy was going to crash into a tree or something due to the speed of her driving but everything turned on to be okay afterwards. Once they arrived they quickly made their way out of the cave what they saw horrified them both. Froakie and fennekin were barely standing on their feet as they were being continuously attacked by a number of eight fletchling. The two of them seemed badly beaten with multiple cuts and bruises. Serena also recognized that four of the fletchling said were the same ones that had attacked her yesterday, she then saw a thunderbolt fly from behind her and strike three of the fletchling down onto the floor unconscious. Serena turned to see where the attack came from though she already had an idea of who did it, her suspicions were confirmed when she saw pikachu behind her with its cheeks sparking. The attack caused the rest of the fletchling to retreat in the forest.

"Great job pikachu. Nurse Joy please hurry, I don't know how much time he has left." Serena said worriedly as she moved towards Ash, his face was now visibly green and his breathing was now becoming slow which definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Don't worry, come on out audino!" Nurse joy said as she reached into her pockets and took out a pokeball which she tossed forward. As flash of bright light appeared and once it had disappeared audino was standing.

"Audino use psychic and get that boy in the truck quickly!" Nurse Joy said.

"Aud!" it cried as it nodded its head before turning to face Ash. It's eyes then began to glow blue as Ash was surrounded by a blue energy, he was then lifted of the ground and audino placed him at the back of the van as gently as possible.

"Alright now let's go before those fletchling come back!" Serena shouted as she ran back and got into the passenger seat while Nurse Joy took the drivers seat.

Nurse Joy the hit the acceleration, her speed actually scared Serena a little bit considering the fact that they were n the jungle which meant that if Nurse Joy made a simple mistake she might end up crashing into one of the trees.

It didn't take them long for them to arrive back at the cabin and much to Serena's relief they weren't any accidents along the way. Once they got there Nurse Joy and audino didn't waste anytime as audino used its psychic attack to carry Ash out of the van before taking him inside into the medical room. Serena was just about to follow audino but was stopped by Nurse Joy by the door.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you in, you'll can stay in the lounge if you like." Nurse Joy said, Serena frowned once she said this. She wanted to make sure Ash was going to be okay, didn't know why but she felt as if she had to know.

"Will he be okay." Serena asked hoping she would get the answer she needed.

"I don't know but I'm going to do my best. Now if you may excuse me." Nurse Joy said before closing the door behind her. Serena then sighed before she turned around and sat on one of the sofas in the living room.

Serena then began to think about how most of this was her fault, Ash had gone out at night trying to find a way to help her then he ended up in a far worse situation. None of this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been as irresponsible as she was yesterday I hinting she could challenge an entire flock on her own when she barely knew much about battling. She needed a way to make this right and to make sure those fletchling don't terrorize anymore pokemon and people.

"Pika pika!" pikachu cried as it ran into the living room, it seemed to have a worried expression on its face which could only mean one thing.

"They're here." Serena said as she stood up from her seat, she was going to make sure to deal with this once and for all.

Serena walked out to see a large number of fletchling outside, even larger than the ones they encountered yesterday. So that's how they wanted to play, using strength in number. Serena looked around in order to try find fletchinder but it was nowhere to be seen which Serena found to be strange. She was sure with an army this size the leader was also bound to be close. Not a second later Serena heard a piercing screech and turned to see none other than fletchinder high above the fletchling.

"Fletchinder I challenge you to a one on one battle!" Serena shouted. The bold statement surprised not only the fletchling and fletchinder but also pikachu froakie, furfrou, pikachu and fennekin as well.

"Fletch" the fletchling began to communicate amongst themselves.

"Or are you to scared to face me alone that you need an entire army!" Serena shouted, this caused all eyes to turned to fletchinder.

"Fletchinder!" It cried not hesitating to accept the challenge, there was no way it was going to let this girl disrespect it like that in front of its flock. No way! She had to be tayght a lesson and it would be more than happy to deliver the beating itself.

Serena then turned to face fennekin. This would be their first battle against a wild Pokemon and to make matters worse it was the leader of an entire flock but that just meant they had to take it more seriously.

"Are you ready to for a bit of payback fennekin?" Serena asked.

"Fennekin!" It cried out in determination. Truth be told it wasn't sure if it would be able to beat this fletchinder considering it hasn't really won any battle but if Serena was this confident and also believed in it then so should it.

Fletchinder didn't waste anytime, now that it knew its opponent it could attack. The best part was it had beaten this puny fox before so it was a guaranteed win.

It enveloped itself in flames before charging towards fennekin who was still distracted in her thoughts. Luckily for it Serena saw fletchinder as it was approaching and was quick to react.

"Fennekin jump and use scratch." Serena shouted. At first fennekin was confused at why Serena was all of a sudden shouting a command before it noticed fletchinder coming towards it at rapid speed. Fennekin quickly reacted by jumping over fletchinder and just before it could fly past it fennekins claws began to glow white as they grew a longer, it then used its claws to scratch fletchinder on its back causing it to cry out in pain before losing its balance and fall onto the ground with an audible thud.

Serena was surprised that she had been able to come up with something like that and that it had actually worked. Did that mean that she was actually getting better at this whole battling thing or was it just an adrenaline rush that was coursing through her body right now. Serena then saw fletchinder recover faster than she had expected before it took of into the sky once more. It didn't matter right now if she was getting better or not, what mattered was that she defeated this fletchinder.

Fletchinder then faced the two of them once again, that was a cheap move. That fix had just caught it of guard that's all but it would be sure no to underestimate it and this girl again. Fletchinders wings began to glow white as it began to flap them rapidly, with each flap a white blade made of air itself made its way towards fletchinder at high speed.

"That's razor wind, Quick counter that with flamethrower!" Serena shouted. Fennekin as fast as it could released a jet of flames towards the razor wind attack. The razor winds cut through the flamethrower and stick fennekin head on causing it to soar back as it cried out in pain.

"Okay that didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, this fletchinder is a lot stronger than it makes itself out to be. It's clearly stronger than fennekin so how do I beat it?" Serena thought to herself.

"Think Serena think, what would Ash do in the kind of situation."

She then thought back to the time that she had a double battle with Ash against Shauna and Daniel. Ash had made to mobilize chespin so he could deal with Shauna's froakie, giving him the field advantage, then he attacked chespin on its weak spot. That's it, she needed to work with her surroundings and find fletchinder so weak spot. That shouldn't be to hard considering its weak spot is obviously it's wings, if Serena could keep it on the ground by attacking one of its wings then she might be able to finish this soon.

Serena then looked up to see fletchinder coming in with steel wing, she couldn't attack its wings now because they were currently hardened by the attack which meant that she would have to counter the attack.

"Fennekin counter that with scratch!" Serena shouted, her eyes then widened as she realized her mistake. It had already been made clear that fletchinder can easily overpower fennekin. Serena was about to tell fennekin to cancel the attack but it was already too late. Fennekin had already jumped into the air, when the two pokemon collided as expected fletchinder easily overpowered fennekin and went past its attack before striking it in its mid section hurling it into a nearby tree.

"Fennekin!" Serena shouted in worry as she ran away towards her partner.

As Serena made her way towards it fennekin began to stand up but it was rather a bit slow. It had taken only two hits and was already going down. No...it wasn't going to let Serena down like that, not when she was counting on it. Fennekin then stood up and glared at fletchinder. It wasn't going to lose twice to this pokemon, not after what it did to Serena the previous day. It was going to pay for attacking and hurting not only Serena but furfrou as well. Even though it had just recently met furfrou it was not a member of the team and that meant that in a way it was now part of the family. Fennekin then summoned its strength before releasing a jet of flames towards fletchinder to show that it still had plenty of fight in it but fletchinder dodged it. Fennekin then turned to Serena who had stopped and nodded to show it was just fine to which Serena smiled causing it to also smile.

Serena then noticed the tree behind fennekin and an idea came to her head but it would only work if fletchinder used the two moves that she expected it to use. It was a bit of a gamble but it's not like she had any other better ideas.

"Fennekin I need you to stay exactly where you are okay." Serena said as she looked at her partner with a smile on her face.

"Fennekin!" it cried as it remained in position though it refused to take its eyes of fletchinder. Fennekin knew it could trust Serena.

Fletchinder then once again enveloped I tale in flames before charging towards fennekin with greater speed than before. As it approached fennekin it noticed that the fox pokemon was doing nothing to avoid the attack. Had they given up already, that just made things a lot easier for it.

"Alright fennekin this might be hard considering how much faster fletchinder has gotten but I know you can do it! Jump above it and use scratch!" Serena shouted.

Fennekin remained in its position as it eyed fletchinder who was approaching , it didn't want to give the opportunity to react so it had to wait until its timing was just right. Just when fletchinder was about to strike it fennekin jumped and barely made it as it felt its paw touch the top of fletchinders head. It didn't waste anytime in feeling relieved as it quickly extended it claws before slashing fletchinders left wing. Fletchinder then noticed it was heading for the tree that had behind fennekin and tried to maneuver itself out of the way but due to its imbalance that was caused when fennekin struck wing it was unable to avoid the tree and ended crashing into it.

"Now use flamethrower then takle!" Serena shouted.

As soon as fennekin landed on the ground a few meters for the tree it unleashed a jet of flames from its mouth, the flames struck fletchinder head on. Fennekin wasn't finished with its assault just yet it then stopped releasing flames but jumped into them before they could disappear and began to charge towards fletchinder while surrounded by flames. What surprised Serena was when the fennekin became enveloped in the flames completely and was noticeably becoming faster, that could only mean one thing.

"Way to go fennekin you learnt flame charge, now go get him!" Serena shouted.

Upon hearing its trainer cheer on fennekin ran faster than Serena had ever seen it run before crashing into fletchinder causing it to soar high into the air before crashing onto the ground with a thud. Once the dust cleared fletchinder was on the ground with swirly eyes clearly defeated.

"Alright fennekin we did! We won our first battle!" Serena shouted as she ran towards fennekin, fennekin just remained where it was as it waited for Serena to pick it up.

It was clearly exhausted but it still managed to put a smile on. It had finally done it, it had finally won a battle. Even it was against a wild pokemon it had still managed to come out on top. Fennekin then felt itself get lifted of the ground and turned to see Serena holding it.

"Fennekin." it cried out in joy but it was exhausted so there wasn't much emphasis.

"You did amazing out there fennekin but I think it's time you take a rest." Serena said as fennekin began to rest in her arms. Serena then turned to the fletchling and noticed that they had begun to fly away. Must be because they were afraid now that their leader had been defeated.

"You did well Serena." Serena heard, she turned to see Ash standing under a nearby tree.

"Ash! You're all better, thank god you had no idea how worried you had me." Serena said.

"Yeah I made full recovery a while ago thanks to nurse joy and was just about to come help but it seemed like you had thing under control." Ash said as a smirk appeared on his face, this caused Serena to blush a little. She didn't know why but she just did.

"Thanks but I think it was just an adrenaline rush nothing special." Serena said. Ash then frowned at that. He walked up to her and put both hands on her shoulders causing Serena to blush even more, what the hell was going on with her right now.

"You need to have more faith in you battling ability or else you won't get far. Even if it was an adrenaline rush the on just teach yourself to battle like that and trust me you'll definitely get far in the chateau." Ash said.

"You're right, all I need to do is keep on training and by the time the first tournament starts I'll be okay." Serena said as Ash removed his hands from her shoulders.

"That's the spirit. So anyway what do we do about this fletchinder?" Ash asked.

"I don't know, I originally planned to capture it after I defeated it but now that I think about it I don't think that would be a good idea." Serena said.

"Why not, it's actually a tough Pokemon from what I have seen." Ash said.

"I'm not saying it's not strong it's just that it wouldn't fit in with my team because furfrou is scared to death just by seeing it and fennekin hates it because of how it attacked me the previous day." Serena explained.

"I see. So I hope you don't mind if I catch it?" Ash asked.

"Huuuh?" Serena said clearly confused as to why someone like Ash would want such a troublesome pokemon.

"Well like I said before it's actually a strong pokemon and not only that but I want to help it change its ways. I'm sure the next time you see it you'll be surprised if it's the same fletchinder as before." Ash said.

" well when you put it like that you make it hard for me to say no." Serena said. Ash then reached into his pocket and took out an empty pokeball.

"Go pokeball!" Ash shouted as he threw the pokeball it hit the knocked out fletchinder before sucking it, the pokeball, immediately sparkled as fletchinder was caught.

"Well that was quick, I thought it would at least try and resist but I guess I had really damaged it to the extent of no return.

"Yeah maybe. Looked like we're going to be spending the night here." Ash said as he looked at the sun which was already starting to set.

Later that night Ash and Serena were in the guest room, since they were no beds they had to sleep in their sleeping bags on the floor. Ash didn't really mind because it was just the same as sleeping outside but Serena still had some getting used to considering it was her first time traveling. As she lay in her sleeping bag Serena couldn't help but wonder if she and Ash would be splitting ways tomorrow. She couldn't really explain it but for some reason she wanted to travel with him more, she couldn't wait until tomorrow to find out she had to know now.

"Hey Ash are you still awake." Serena asked but kept her tone low so not as to wake Nurse Joy.

"I am now, what is it?" Ash asked.

"Well I was just wondering if we were going to be going our separate ways tomorrow." Serena said.

"To be honest I thought we could travel together until we get to santalune city before we go our separate ways." Ash said, this surprised Serena a little bit. Ash wanted to travel with her.

"Why." Serena asked curiously.

"Don't get me wrong. It just that you're clearly not capable of surviving one day in the forest without someone to protect you and by the time we get to santalune maybe I could have changed that." Ash said.

"I am very much capable of taking care of myself thank you very much!" Serena shouted but covered her mouth quickly. Ash didn't respond to that which meant he had fallen asleep.

The nerve that guy has to say she can't take care of herself. To think she had actually believed that he wanted to travel with her for a different reason. Serena then shook her head, why did she care anyways. What difference did it make if Ash travelled with her, he would probably hold her back. Serena then sighed, even though she didn't want to part of her wanted to travel the whole of Kalos with Ash, she couldn't explain it that's just how it was. She had been acting very weird around Ash ever since yesterday and she couldn't really explain it. Could it be that she was starting to develop feelings for Ash...no that can't be, he's definitely not her type. I fact he's quite the opposite, he's a very cold guy, always keeps to himself, rarely talks to anyone and to top it off she didn't even know anything about him other than what she learnt from summer camp and when she was staying in Pallet town but it had become clear to her that that Ash was long gone. He was now a completely different person. Still that didn't explain these feeling she was getting whenever she was around him.

Well folks that does it for this chapter, I'm sorry for the last postage it just that I've been working on two new stories and one of them is going to replace Sycamore's college and before that I was doing some exams so as you can see things were a bit packed, I hope you understand.

Anyways that aside I just finished with this chapter and posted it as soon as I was done typing it. I wrote it I a bit of a rush so I could post so I'm not sure if it came out right, tell me what you think about it.

Chapter 7: The Battle Chateau Tournament