Serena and Clemont, who were both still looking for fifteen points to finish their scores, had been worrying about Ash the whole time.

"I wonder if he is okay, what if we can't turn him back?" Serena was saying to the thinking Clemont. Their Pokemon were both standing and moving around freely. The comeback from the Team Shadow attack was slowly happening.

"Well, we will have to wait and see what happens. I am worried about his chances in the tournament in his state" Clemont ran through the scenario in his head once more. "He has turned into a complete psychopath, devoid of life. We need to revitalize him"

"But the same question pops up, how?" Serena huffed, sitting down to rest by a tree. She felt upset that Ash was in such a bad state. She felt like somehow it was their own faults, because they had agreed to stay in pairs, but only in the forest. He was attacked by Team Shadow somewhere else, which meant they wasn't careful and had to pay the price. Tears dropped from her eyes as she continued to worry, but Clemont held his hand out, a smile on his face.

"We will get Ash back, don't you worry. Even if we have to make sacrifices, Ash will come back" Clemont was being determined and keeping his cool for Serena. She slowly smiled, wiped away her tears and then nodded. 

"Ok, lets go and get our points and then find Ash!" Serena fist pumped, looking at Braixen. "Lets go!" 

...

After sometime, Serena and Clemont had finally obtained their points and decided to look for Ash. 

"We just need to find Pikachu, maybe his electricity can be useful" Serena hypothesised, thinking of ways to find Ash.

"This is where I come in. The future is now thanks to science! Clemontic gear, ON!"

"Oh no" Serena said over the excited Clemont, who had already deployed his gear. He had a handheld device with an aerial on top, that was surging with electrical energy. 

"I call it the Find-Me-A-Pikachu device!" Clemont exclaimed, pushing his glasses up slightly. "You see, I made it using a little sample of Pikachu's electrical energy. It will track Pikachu's position whenever he charges up an electric type move. 

They both waited in the field for any electricity, but nothing came up for five minutes. During this time, the alarm signalling that there was fifteen minutes left rang out around the whole area. Then, there was a flash of lightning and a signal was picked up.

"Oh! This way!" Clemont instantly jumped up, rushing off, which was unusual for him.

"Woah, wait up!" Serena was surprised, she was trying to catch up to the slow runner Clemont. Braixen and Luxray followed closely, both keeping up with their trainers.

Serena and Clemont made their way through a forest and into another field, were they saw Ash once more. He was laughing maniacally, while Pikachu was using a constant iron tail on his opponent, completely destroying the Leafeon. It had fainted, but Pikachu was still using his iron tail like it was some sort of assault.

"ASH! STOP IT!" Serena screamed, rushing past Clemont. Ash turned and cocked his head to the side, his grin spreading into an psychotic smile.

"Oh, more guests? hehehehe, looks like it is you two again!" Ash exclaimed happily, clapping his hands. "Lets have some more fun, so much fun!"

"Ash, please" Serena murmured under her breath, finding it hard to speak. She hated seeing Ash like this. She thought desperately for a plan, anything. She was willing to sacrifice her own life to this mind control if it meant sparing Ash, her body felt twisted, completely tangled up and unable to move. She was frozen on the spot, staring at the slowly advancing Ash. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder.

"Pika pi..." Pikachu said coldly, menacingly staring at Braixen, who was stood beside Serena. 

"I think I will take all of your points, it looks like you have 100 and your friend the same! Oh what fun, I have always wanted to have 600 points!" Ash clapped his hands and then he raised his finger like a light bulb had popped up above his head. "Oh yeah, I forgot to take the Leafeon's tag!"

"Wait, where is its trainer?" Serena wondered.

"Oh, him. I sent him packing a few hundred metres back, it was so much fun watching his eyes fill with terror, hehehehe!" 

"You're insane! This isn't the Ash I know!" Serena shouted out, but Ash frowned.

"Now now, pretty lady, this isn't the time for squabbling" Ash shook his head, while Serena blushed at the word 'pretty'. Even though Ash was in some sort of mind control trance, she felt like his words meant something.

"Ash, do you not remember us?" Clemont asked.

"Remember who? And what? Who cares about such trivial matters, lets get on with the fun!"

"Wait, Ash. You have to fight this feeling. Please, come back to us!" Serena begged. She finally found the strength to move and she jumped in front of Ash. "You must remember us all"

Ash's face twitched slightly and he grimaced, feeling pain. "Re...member?" 

"Yes, you can do it Ash!" Serena begged, but she was ignored by Ash, who just laughed.

"Ash is my former self. I will show the world that Team Shadow is the strongest team in all of Kanto!"

Serena felt tears beginning to well up once more. They fell down onto the ground, while Ash continued to laugh. Then, she thought of the only thing she could do. She threw herself onto Ash, planting a kiss on his lips. Ash couldn't even react, even in his state. She pressed her lips hard onto his, hoping for any kind of response. She wrapped her arms around his neck, continuing to kiss Ash. She refused to let go, even while the controlled Ash continued to struggle. Then, Pikachu leapt up and shocked Serena, sending her flying back. This too made Ash fall backwards and he landed hard on the grass.

"S...Serena?" Ash murmured, slowly sitting up. His eyes had returned to colour and the redness from Pikachu's eyes slowly faded.

"Pi....Pika pi?" Pikachu looked around, wondering where he was, while Serena and Clemont gasped in shock. Serena's face had gone completely red as she wondered if Ash had felt her kiss, or even her emotions that had been dwelling within her body since they first met so many years ago. The Butterfree within her stomach had finally escaped and now her heart played a new melody. This time, the melody wasn't locked up, it was unleashed onto the world, complete and full of sound. Serena felt awkward, but she noticed Ash blink twice, to regain full conciousness, before smiling.

"Thank you, Serena. Without your help, I don't think me and Pikachu could've escaped" Ash got up and walked over to Serena, before surprisingly wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay now, you see?"

Serena felt her emotions overwhelming her and she burst out into tears. She was happy that Ash was okay, but she was also happy that Ash had reacted this way. He held onto her tight, as if she was hanging from a cliff and he couldn't let go or she would fall to her demise. Ash put Serena's head on his shoulder and looked at Clemont, who was still looking on in shock. Ash smiled over Serena's shoulder, causing Clemont to smile back. Then, as Ash released his grip on Serena, he realized he had a load of tags.

"I have enough tags here for five people, what should I do?" Ash wondered, scratching his head. While he was thinking, another thought crossed his mind. 

Did Serena kiss me to save me? Ash thought, looking at Serena, who was wiping her tears away. No. For the first time in my life this felt different. It felt like Serena was trying to tell me something. I wonder how long she wanted to tell me...I better talk to her later, we have to figure this out.

"I think we should keep hold of them, just in case some of our friends don't make it" Clemont suggested, making Ash smile.

"That's a great idea! After all, Team Shadow purposely targeted you all so they could go through and then massacre the rest of the competitors. So, we may just need these extra tags"

"Ok, so what now?" Serena wondered, having finally recovered from the transpiring events. 

"We go to the Pokemon Center and wait" Clemont said. "I will lead the way, stay on high alert for nay other trainers"

"Gotcha buddy" Ash looked at Pikachu. "You ready?"

"Pika!" Pikachu pumped his fist, declaring he was as ready as he would ever be. Ash nodded and then followed Clemont and Serena through the forest and to the Pokemon Center.

Now, it was time for Ash and his friends to fight back against Team Shadow. Their goal? To make it to the next round so the tournament could stay safe from the ones called Team Shadow.