The young champion gazed at his mask with mixed emotions. He loved having the power to help more people, but on the other hand, leading two lives had made him feel like he wasn't doing enough in either of his roles. He had been a champion for a year now, which itself came with its set of trials, but now, he had a duty to protect people who couldn't fight for themselves.

It's better this way, he thought. I can't let anyone get hurt because of me...

He set down the mask, and looked outside his apartment window, watching a small flock of Pidgey fly by. A few leaves passed by with the cool breeze, while he heard cars honking. It seemed peaceful for once, which was nice. He smiled seeing the city acting like it didn't need his masked counterpart. But deep down, he knew Veridian City and the world needed him.

Behind the young man, a large blue frog like creature stood behind him with a concerned look on his face. The creature leaned on the wall, with his arms crossed with his tongue hanging behind him as per usual. It was known as Greninja, who was one Pokémon Ash who had a very deep connection with much like his other Pokémon. The ninja Pokémon knew his trainer didn't want to have them fight alongside him. As stupid as it sounded, he understood the young champion's choice to fight injustice solo.

"Grenin," The large Pokémon walked up to his trainer.

Ash turned his head, completely clueless to his friend's sudden cry.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

Greninja nodded.

"Greninja."

"Oh," Ash mentally facepalmed. "No need to-"

Suddenly, a voice could be heard from Ash's phone.

"All units, we have a kidnapping! Suspects are considered armed and dangerous!" Said the police dispatch.

The ninja frog looked to his trainer with a look, that made the Alolan champion awkwardly chuckle. The water type wasn't amused, which made his trainer feel like he was in an even more awkward situation.

Ash began to perspire. A short second later, he opened his mouth.

"I uh... I need to head out," the Alolan champion opened the window. "If I'm not back in an hour, tell Professor Cerise that Peter and Mom needed some formula."

Greninja nodded. As much as he hated his trainer donning his absurd costume in his taste, he knew why he felt he needed to do so.

Moments had passed, as the young trainer suited up, donning his makeshift costume before jumping out of his apartment window. Greninja didn't bother trying to stop his trainer and just watched him propel himself outside. He dived downward for a few seconds before he reached out and fired a line straight at a building and swung to the scene of the crime.

XXX

"Let go of me!" A young woman squirmed while a group of men in black suits with Rs on them dragged her and her beloved Eevee. The evolution Pokémon cried out as she was being dragged away by the men forcefully. The normal type was covered in bruises and could barely move with its leg broken. Beside the criminals were a large tan rat-like creature with large sharp teeth and a tall mantis like Pokémon that stood on two legs and was armed with sharp wings and blades for arms and sharp claws on its feet as well as a large purple snake with a yellow ring like pattern that wrapped around its neck. They were identified as Raticate, Scyther, and Ekans and they were known for being dangerous to both humans and Pokémon alike.

"EEEVEE" Evee cried.

"P-Please, let my Eevee go! I'll give you whatever you want, I swear!"

The thugs all chuckled. Soon, the Scyther raised his left arm to the woman's throat and was an inch away from piercing her skin. She nervously looked down, while one of the men grabbed her by the hair. She couldn't even gulp, otherwise, she might have to practice running around without a head. The bug type Pokémon lowered his head and stared at the woman with a sinister grin.

"Quit crying or you'll have to learn to breathe without-"

Suddenly, one of the criminals was pulled skyward, startling the Pokémon. The rest of the men all glanced up and found him ensnared in a large cocoon made from what looked to them like string shot. Two of them backed away, intimidated, and completely puzzled.

"What the-?!"

At that moment, another of the thugs is pulled upward, but instead of being ensnared, he is met with a hard kick to the chest. The woman and her Eevee looked up and saw the masked vigilante from the news attacking their kidnappers. The man in the mask then leaped off the criminal and landed on the ground in front of the helpless Pokémon in a fighting stance.

"Fear not helpless citizen, for hope has arrived!"

"Oh, c'mon, it's that Pokémon fr- "the team rocket grunt was cut off, mid-sentence by a blast of webbing splattering all over his mouth.

"First off, rude, second off, I have a name," said the web slinger.

Okay, I must get this heroic dialogue thing down, he thought. Next time, maybe go less cheesy, and more genuine."

The last two criminals charged directly toward the web slinger but were countered by him jumping onto the side of the wall. The masked vigilante quickly followed his dodging by leaping off the wall and tackled one of them in the side knocking him back. While that happened, he felt the back of his neck tingle. He jerked his head back and avoided a swipe by the scyther's claw at the last second. Suddenly, the ekans slowly slipped away from the fight, crawling its way toward the helpless Eevee and wrapped its body around the normal type pokemon.

"L-Let her go!" The woman demanded.

The opposing Pokémon glared at her, "Ekannnssss..." the poison type hissed.

The web slinger turned and narrowed his eyes at the venomous snake. He quickly jumped up, and fired a line at the Scyther, and flipped it over, smashing it on the ground face first.

"You guys are going to regret hurting these people!" the masked vigilante shouted.

One of the thugs slowly got up and got an idea just then. The web slinger meanwhile fired a line at the Ekans, but the snake jerked his head downward, causing the shot to cling to a garbage can. However, the poison Pokémon didn't expect the man to pull the line backward and was met with a hit directly in the face.

The Eevee ran off from the poisonous snake and hid behind the web slinger' leg. The man smiled behind the mask,

CLICK!

Just then, the masked vigilante turned and saw the last criminal holding the woman by her neck with a gun pointed at her head. His eyes went wide, and he stood paralyzed.

"Walk away now, or she's gonna be havin' a face full of lead!" The criminal yelled, his finger slowly getting closer to pulling the trigger.

The woman's heart was pounding, her eyes slowly shifted to the barrel of the gun as tears streamed from her face. She slowly looked back to her Eevee, who, like the masked man, was frozen in fear.

He didn't know what to do that wouldn't result in the Eevee losing its trainer. He had to do something; he knew. Thoughts raced through his mind, while he heard the criminal try to back away. He closed his eyes, hoping his idea would work. He fired a blast of webbing and it smashed into his eyes, blinding him.

"AGH! What is this stuff?!" The criminal let go of the woman and ripped the sticky substance off. However, he was then met with a hard punch to the face, knocking him down and out cold.

The Eevee tackled her trainer into a loving hug.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" The civilian said.

The web slinger turned and breathed heavily. That was the closest call that he's ever experienced, which was saying something. He gazed at the two, which made him happy the civilian didn't lose her partner, or vice versa. It was then he let out a slight sigh of relief, in which the civilian heard and looked back to him. Immediately, she slowly backed away.

"D-Don't hurt us! Please!"

The masked man turned to face the lady and his eyes went wide again surprised.

"What?" He asked.

"K-Keep away from us, y-y-you mutant freak! Keep away!"

The woman quickly ran off, leaving the web head to himself. He let out a long, frustrated sigh before shooting a web.

XXX

Ash swung through a few blocks of Viridian City, and landed on the roof of a relatively decent sized building that went up a few stories. The building itself was the headquarters for a small startup company called Octavius Industries, which supplied people all over the world with the most advanced prosthetics ever made. To the young champion though, it was just another building he could see the city from.

He stood on the edge of the roof and took off his mask, letting out a gasp. His heart raced, just thinking about the kidnapping. He looked outward breathing heavily and held his head for a minute. He soon let out a deep breath, and looked out, just trying his best to forget that whole ordeal. He quickly shot a web line and swung off.

"That was way too close..." he said to himself.

He glanced around the city, until he spotted a large billboard for a Pokémon contest being held in Veridian Square Garden. He may have seen his fair share of them, but it always felt nice that the city was expanding into more than just a rest stop for young trainers. But what really caught the young man's attention was the image of a rather familiar face in the far-left-hand corner.

He felt a lot of mixed emotions seeing her face, even if it was just a picture. Joy, anger, sadness, and regret. Where did it go wrong? And why? Why was it he that had to go through all this? His mind raced, as he jumped off his web and landed on the billboard and put his head down.

"I'm sorry..."

6 Months Ago...

"The specimen escaped?!"

"Unfortunately, it has, sir," replied a scientist.

On the other side of the table, Walker Sloan gritted his teeth annoyed. It was one thing for someone to be sleeping on their shift, but another to hear what one of the company's head scientists had just uttered. He looked to the scientist with what seemed like a glare that meant death was imminent, which made the scientist have a gulp. If one thing was known around the office, it was to never anger Walker.

"And no one reported it to be missing?" Sloan asked.

"No, sir," answered the scientist. "Doctor Stewart reported that it must have escaped sometime in the night."

Sloan looked at the guard with the same narrowed eyes as he got up out of his chair. The scientist turned his gaze out the window, seeing Pallet Town in the distance. He gritted his teeth in rage at the thought of the news. How could it have escaped through an advanced facility and under the noses of the region's best and brightest minds?

"How did it escape containment?" He asked.

"We're unsure, but checking on that, sir. All we know is that the specimen somehow escaped the facility and slipped into the wild."

"Fire the floor manager," Sloan ordered. "My company doesn't hire anyone as incompetent as them."

"Yes, sir."

"And you better be monitoring the specimen, Smythe," Sloan looked back at the aging employee with a stern look.

Smythe nodded, understanding how dangerous the specimen could be. He was Alchemax's head geneticist for a reason and was the man that cracked the formula for their 'questionable' experiments. Though, if it meant changing the world, then he wouldn't care if it was unethical or not. To Smythe and the rest of the company's top scientists, it only mattered to help the world at large, no matter the cost.

"I've sent a small team to locate the specimen, Mr. Sloan.

Sloan soon got up and stared out into the small town ahead. He noticed a small flock of spearow soared through the bright blue sky, caterpie crawling through the ground, and even some mankey in the distance. Despite it all, Sloan clenched his fist and turned back to the scientist.

"You had better, who knows what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands..."

XXX

Not being able to sleep, Ash spent the rest of the night simply gazing at the sky. Heke every day he partook in the activity, it was peaceful. No worrying about an important battle, no team rocket, not even a need to train until the sun came up. It was just pure bliss, and he even admitted he liked moments like this from time to time. After everything that happened recently, he needed to clear his head, so stargazing.

First, he won the Alola league, then months later, he got bitten by that weird Spinarak, and then, everything that happened earlier happened. And that wasn't even the most insane thing he had witnessed in his life. A lot of people would think it's insane that he's been through so much and he's not even in his twenties yet. He knew he was lucky to be alive after all that, and even more so after having a status like him. Many people wished they could be like him now, which he admitted, had its moments. He's made so many new friends and inspired them to go and achieve their dreams. None more so than Serena, and Sawyer during his travels in the Kalos Region. So many great memories and bad ones, he thought.

If only they knew what happened now, he laughed in his mind. Having some weird powers, or whatever was happening was something nobody would expect. If only...

And just when he thought Serena kissing him at the airport was the craziest thing that happened to him, then came that bite. Ash chuckled to himself upon remembering those times. It was weird, however, for him to be thinking about her again. And even weirder that he remembered every second of that day in vivid detail.

"Pika?"

The young man turned to see his best friend crawling by him with a concerned look on his face. Ash gave Pikachu a warm smile and petted him.

"Don't worry, buddy I'm okay," he said. "I just couldn't sleep, that's all."

Pikachu let out a pika feeling a little relieved. He crawled up onto his trainer's shoulder and joined him in stargazing. Pikachu was happy that his best friend was doing okay. He could totally understand how anybody would be confused by life if they were in Ash's position currently.

What was with that Spinarak? The trainer asked in his head. Ever since that bite, I've somehow been able to crawl up walls and gotten stronger than ever. It makes no sense...

"Pika."

Ash glanced over to his partner who nuzzled his cheek with a smile. The Alolan champion felt a sense of relief. He knew Pikachu wouldn't attack him unless it was an accident or if he were being controlled or tricked, which he was all too familiar with.

The two smiled, staring at the endless navy-blue sky covered in faint white sparkles and the moon illuminated in the distance. It was something many people found boring, and he even did before he set out on his journey all those years ago. Now, it was one of his favorite hobbies, just sitting down, and being able to escape everything. It was pure bliss. What he needed after the last two days, he thought. Just kick back and get away from everything.

"Pretty crazy, don't you think, Pikachu?"

The electric mouse glanced at his best friend a little puzzled. He let out a soft pika, which Ash looked back at and ruffled his yellow fur.

"Here I thought the craziest things that happened to us came and went," he laughed. "Guess not."

Pikachu nodded with a pat on his best friend's shoulder. Ash looked back up to the sky, and continued to speak.

"We've almost died, beat the battle frontier, nearly won the kalos league, that scene with Serena, and then we became a champion."

At that moment, the image of the airport flashed in his mind again. To the young champion, it was like he was right back there, and could vividly see her running up to him. He quickly shook his head around trying to snap out of it. There it was again, he thought about that moment. But why did it always come back to that day, and those exact seconds? Even with everything after the bite, he still always thought about her, and he had no idea why.

"Man, what is it with me and that kiss?" Ash asked himself, annoyed.

Pikachu patted his shoulder again, letting out several squeaks. The young champion wasn't exactly sure what he was saying, but he had a good idea. He let out a sigh and continued his night of gazing up at the stars.

"I wish I could understand what she meant..."

The electric mouse nodded and nuzzled his cheek letting out a "pikachu!" with a thumbs up.

Ash grinned and gave his best friend a fist bump.

"Thanks, buddy."

"Pika!"

The two looked back to the stars with their heads in their memories. It was peaceful and made them both feel prouder of themselves over their achievements together, and the highs and lows that came along the way.

As the morning sun creaked upward, the young champion got up out of bed, letting out an exhausted yawn. He did a couple of stretches before he changed out of his pajamas and into his clothes from yesterday. While Ash was busy changing, his partner let out a loud 'chaa' as he got up and rubbed his eyes. The electric mouse soon leaped onto his shoulder as always and the two made it downstairs.

Upon entering the living room, the young man immediately caught the smell of Waffles, and sausages coming from the kitchen, which immediately caused his stomach to rumble. He quickly snuck to the kitchen to find his mother, Delia, washing the dishes. He quickly walked away and glanced toward his new stepfather watching TV. It looked to him like it was a movie about a man getting revenge for someone stealing his car and heartlessly killing his lillipup his dying wife gave him. Or maybe its sequel for all he knew.

Despite the very nice morning, something was still nagging at the young champion in the back of his mind: the spinarak. It was very strange looking, he thought. Sure, it looked like a regular one with the green body, and blood red fangs, but there looked to have been something on his back. Instead of the circular pattern, it had what looked like a 62. But why did it look so different? Thoughts raced through his mind as he took a seat at the dining table.

Delia soon walked out of the kitchen, and noticed Ash sitting alone while Peter was watching the movie. She glanced over to her son, who gazed upon the table with one hand holding his spikey hair.

"Ash?" Delia asked.

The young champion blinked before he turned and faced his mother.

"Are you alright, honey?"

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Ash nodded. "Just thinking is all."

"Oh," she said. "What are you thinking about?"

"Uh... It's complicated."

As she heard that, her face went from just her usual grin to a devious smirk.

"Is this about a girl?" she asked.

Ash' face immediately turned red in embarrassment.

"What? No!"

"Oh really? Then what is it?"

"I... I don't know, it's really complicated," the young champion looked away. Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at all this.

"What's her name?" Delia asked, giving her son a wink. At that moment, the young champion's cheeks became a darker shade of red. He could hear his mother chuckling at his expense. "Aww, you have a crush on someone, don't you?"

"N-No!" Ash replied annoyed, his face was as red as a tomato.

"Aww, my baby boy is in love!" Delia squealed in delight.

"No, I'm not!" The young champion gritted his teeth, annoyed. "I just..."

He didn't know how to phrase his sentence without sounding like he was losing any grasp of reality that he had. Sure, his mother knew he had been through some incredibly insane adventures, but even he knew no one would believe him if he explained everything. Ash took a deep breath, regaining his composure, while the electric mouse patted the back of his head. Just then, a familiar older man stepped out of the kitchen, and up to Ash's mother.

"Hey, pretty lady," Peter gave Delia a nice kiss on her cheek. The woman let out a giggle, while her cheeks turned a shade of pink.

"Oh, Peter," She laughed.

"That's something I don't think I'll ever get used to," Ash whispered to the electric mouse.

Pikachu nodded in agreement. Once they heard, the couple both laughed.

Delia and Peter rolled their eyes at the comment. It was good to know that Ash had a sense of humor, Peter mentally noted. Or whatever he would call 'humor.'

"Oh, c'mon, honey. Can't we express our love in the house?" Delia joked.

"Hey, don't put the universe' words in my mouth, mom. Just find it a little strange is all."

Delia gave her son a pout, while Peter just watched and sweat dropped. However, he did overhear their conversation, and a sly smirk crossed his lips.

"So, what's this I hear about a girl?" Peter asked with a small snicker. Delia couldn't help but let out a laugh at her son's expense.

"It's nothing," replied the young trainer.

"Oh yeah? Then why did I hear your mom teasing you?"

Embarrassed, the Alolan champion shifted his hat down slightly, and glanced his eyes away from the older couple. Delia giggled, but signaled to her fiancé that they should let Ash be. Peter nodded in agreement with her. As funny as it was, they both knew Ash didn't really want to talk about a possible crush.

Soon, the young champion let out an exhausted sigh and walked to the table to eat the scrambled eggs and waffles placed in front of him. Meanwhile, his mother leaned closely to her fiancé and whispered to him.

"I think I have an idea who he might like."

Peter snickered, which made Ash merely roll his eyes and just decided to ignore them. The couple joined him in eating breakfast. It still felt a bit surreal to think that Ash now had a father figure in his life and soon, a sibling. It felt a little bit more like they were a family, she thought. Sure, her and Ash still were, but Delia always wanted to have a big happy family with someone, but life had different plans. But now, it felt like her hopes were finally becoming a reality, which caused her to smile even more than she already did.

Peter meanwhile glanced over to his future son-in-law, who still looked like he was thinking about something. He could easily tell he's got a lot going on his mind, so he decided to open his mouth,

"So, Ash, um... Delia has been telling me you've been training since you came back to Kanto."

The young champion swallowed the mouth filled with half of a waffle and gave his mother's fiancé a confident grin and spoke.

"As much as relaxing after the Alola league sounds nice, nothing gets me more fired up than training for a new battle."

"Well then I assume you plan on competing in the world tournament?" Peter asked.

The Alolan champion smirked.

"Of course, I am!" He replied while he pumped his fist in excitement. "All the world's best trainers are competing. It feels like too huge of an opportunity not to."

Peter blinked twice, stunned by the young man's response.

"You are really into battling, aren't ya?"

"You bet! Nothing gets me more fired up than battling stronger trainers and improving my skills!"

"Then I assume you're annoyed by the event not being for another eight months?" Peter arched an eyebrow.

Ash groaned.

"Why must it be so far?"

Delia smiled. She was happy the two seemed to be getting along well, especially after the news had come so suddenly.

"Wow, Mom. This is delicious!" The alolan champion stuffed another piece in his mouth. "Didn't think you'd become an even better cook!"

The Pokémon trainer's mother nodded. She had a huge grin on her face, appreciating the compliment, but she figured that he should know the truth.

"Thank you, but I think you should thank the actual cook."

At that moment, Ash stopped eating his breakfast completely puzzled by that. If his mother didn't make breakfast, then who did? Peter?

Within a moment, the young champion's mother turned toward the kitchen.

"You can come out now, deer."

Ash glanced over to his partner Pokémon, completely clueless. Pikachu merely shrugged his shoulders just as puzzled as his trainer. The two turned their heads and their eyes went wide. At the door stood a beautiful young woman that was Ash' age, whom he knew all too well. From her short dirty blond hair to her sky-blue eyes and of course, a deep blue ribbon that she wore every day. However, she now looked like she was wearing a red fedora with a white strap on it with a nice red blouse with a long blue skirt, dark gray thigh-high socks, and a pair of brown boots. Behind her was a tall fox-like creature with its fur curved out resembling a skirt, a large tail with a piece of wood sticking out and with a ribbon on it, and long red fur popping out of her ears. On her left was a pink and white creature covered with cute ribbons, and bright blue eyes.

Immediately, Pikachu smiled and let out a happy "Pikachu!" when he saw her.

Ash, however, was completely speechless. He wasn't sure what to say, after what happened when they last met.

"Serena," was all he could say.

The young woman smiled upon seeing him and waved.

"Hi, Ash," she said with a large grin on her face. "Long time, no see."

Peter leaned toward his fiancé and whispered.

"I think Ash has a crush."

Delia laughed. As funny as that sounded, she couldn't help but feel nothing but joy that her son has people like her in his life.

"W-What are you doing here?" asked the young champion.

"Well, at first I was coming for this year's Wallace Cup, but I ran into Peter who offered for me to stay here until the contest is over," she explained. "He thought you wouldn't mind."

Just then, the young champion glanced to his mother's fiancé. Peter merely shrugged, and said,

"What? I thought it'd be better than her staying at a hotel."

First the powers, then my mom is getting re-married, now this. Ash thought. What is my life coming to?

Delia could understand the rather awkward direction this conversation was going in, and that her son and their houseguest felt incredibly happy but nervous toward each other. After taking a sip of her morning cup o' joe, she raised her voice.

"Why don't we continue this while we eat?" Delia asked. "Knowing my son, he's going to be ready to eat the entire town."

"Hey!" yelled the young trainer annoyed.

"I'm just kidding."

Ash rolled his eyes and sat back down at the table to eat. Serena took her seat next to him, which while nice brought back all the fond memories of them in Kalos. When they reunited, the countless battles, the league, and then, the airport. The kalos trainer's face became redder as she thought about it, until Peter and Delia stared at her, as dark as Ash' hat.

"So, uh... Serena," Ash stuttered while chewing his food. "How ya been?"

Immediately, the performer slightly jumped when she heard the alolan champion's voice. She quickly snapped out of her trance and went back to normal.

"I've been doing great," She replied. "Going to Hoenn really gave me a new perspective on contests. I met a lot of great people, and Aria has been great as a mentor for me!"

"That's awesome!" Exclaimed Ash.

Suddenly, Serena's cheeks turned bright red. It meant a lot to her that Ash supported her, even when times get hard. She admired him so much, so it was amazing that he was as nice as anyone could be. He may be reckless and tend to risk his life, but she couldn't have asked for a better friend than him.

She smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Ash."

Ash returned the smile and gave her a thumbs up.

"No prob!"

Serena's eyes lit up like a star hearing that. It had been years since they last met, so seeing that he seemed to be his usual energetic self was delightful for her. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink, just seeing him again, like always, but this time, she loved it.

"Aw, you two are so adorable together!" Delia squealed.

"Mom!" Ash' face turned red in embarrassment.

"Maybe they were secretly talking to each other last night," Peter laughed.

At that moment, Serena's face turned just as red as Ash in embarrassment.

"We did not!" Ash retorted.

"Really?" Delia asked. "Then what was it that I heard last night?"

D'Oh! Thought the young champion. Was I really that loud last night?

"Uh... Something," he answered.

"Such as?"

"Uh-"

Suddenly, Ash was cut off by another prickling sensation on the back of his neck. He looked all around, and found nothing, so he looked back to everyone on the table, but weirdly enough, it seemed to be pointing at Peter. What the heck was going on? Why is this happening? The young champion held his head and got up.

"I need to get some air," with that, he quickly raced out of the house.

"Ash, what are you do-"

The kalosian trainer was cut off as the pokemon trainer was already out the door. She watched with concern for him, so without warning, she got up.

"I'll talk to him," she said before heading out.

Ash meanwhile raced through the long dirt road to the rest of the small town. He soon stopped and took a deep breath. He clenched his fist and fell on his knees and hit the ground.

"What's happening to me?!"

He closed his eyes and held his head, like it was about to explode. When Serena caught up, she saw her closest friend look like he's about to burst. She quickly ran to try and comfort him

"Ash?

What am I gonna do? Ash asked himself. Tell someone that I got bit by a spinarak and then got powers? Just thinking about it sounds like I might go insane. Maybe Lillie could help? No, I don't even know where she is. Clemont would probably think it's absurd that all this is happening.

Ash held his head and groaned. Serena placed a hand on his shoulder, hating to see Ash like this.

"Ash, are you okay?" She asked.

At that moment, the young trainer snapped out of his thoughts, and looked to the young performer.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Just a lot has been on my mind lately."

"But-"

"Really, Serena. I'm okay," he stated as he gave her his signature toothy grin.

Serena wasn't sure if he could be believed or not. As much as she hoped Ash was telling the truth, she had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her that he was lying. But why? He's never lied to her before, so why would he do so now? Even so, something was up with him, the performer knew.

He was never this frustrated about something ever since Kalos, she thought to herself. She may not have gone to Alola with him, but even she knew he'd never once looked so confused. And why would he have his hand balled up into his fist and look like he could snap about something. She placed a hand on his shoulder, as she hated seeing Ash like this.

"Do you remember when we argued in Snowbelle?" Serena asked.

Ash let out a deep sigh and tilted his hat downward.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Then you know that you can tell me anything that's bothering you."

"I know, but..." Ash paused, unsure of what he could say. He knew she probably wouldn't believe him if he told her about the bite, even if she'd listened. "It's... It's really complicated. And I'm not even sure if you would believe me."

"Ash, trust me, I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

Ash looked away; his fist being unclenched. He let out a deep breath and said,

"I... I don't even know how I can tell you without sounding like I'm gonna lose my mind."

"Why?" Serena arched an eyebrow.

"I don't know, Serena..." The alolan champion sighed. "It's like, I'm still me, but at the same time, it's like I feel completely different. It's so weird..."

"Don't worry, Ash. I'm sure you'll get through it," she said sweetly. "You always do."

The young champion smiled.

"Thanks, Serena."

"No problem, Ash. I'm always here for you if you need it."

Serena then embraced Ash in a hug. Ash glanced down, surprised she would do that, especially after they last met in Kalos. Just like then, it felt shocking, but nice at the same time. Ever since that day, Ash has had the memory of their kiss on his mind, and whenever he was down, he always remembered it, and it always brightened his mood for some reason. Why? Thoughts ran through his mind, but for some reason, he returned the hug.

The kalosian trainer soon turned as red as an apple feeling Ash' arms wrapped around her. But it felt like heaven to her, especially as he looked like he was as healthy as ever.

"It's really great to see you again."

"You too."

The two trainers continued to walk through the town, while Ash was still entranced in his mind. It felt great to see Serena again, but he wished it was under less... weird circumstances. Namely with the fact that he's developed the same abilities that a spinarak had.

First super strength, then that weird... tingle? I don't know, but some weird thing on the back of my neck, then I can climb up walls...

Ash looked to his hands, completely puzzled by these strange events since the bite. Getting bitten by a Pokémon was one thing, but adopting its powers? That just seemed like something out of a movie. Though in the back of the trainer's mind, what was happening now shouldn't be too out of the ordinary. The young champion gazed at his hands, like he was completely frozen.

Both Serena and Pikachu glanced to him concerned. Even Serena's Sylveon wrapped one of her feelers around Ash' hand, hoping he would snap out of it.

Suddenly, Ash felt another prickle on his neck, causing him to glance around and his eyes went wide. A truck was speeding straight toward Serena. However, as if instincts took over, Ash leaped right over Serena, and placed his hands right in front of the truck. Serena looked away horrified, but to everyone's shock, the truck collided with the Alolan champion's hands, and bounced into the air for a second before slamming right on the ground. The front of the vehicle was crushed like paper. Serena, Sylveon and Pikachu's eyes were all wide, and their mouths were on the ground.

Ash soon backed away, completely confused by what had just happened.

"How did-?!"

"Ash?" Serena arched an eyebrow.

The young man turned to find the kalosian trainer with her Sylveon surprised, but completely confused.

"Yeah?" asked Ash.

"How did- What the heck just happened?!"

The Alolan champion groaned.

"I don't know, Serena. A lot's happened in the last few days, and I'm still trying to figure this out."

Serena wasn't sure how to respond to all this. The love of her life just stopped and destroyed a truck in less than a minute and saved her. What was going on with him? She knew this was bothering him but could tell that he really didn't want to think about it.

"I...-"

Suddenly, the Alolan champion was interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly grabbed it to see it was Professor Oak who tried to call him. Ash signaled for some time to talk, which Serena kindly nodded, and watched as he answered.

"Hey, professor, what's up?"

"Hello, Ash. How are you feeling right now?"

"Uh... Fine, I guess," Ash answered. "What's up?"

"Oh, my apologies. I was just trying to call to tell you we might have a potential result on what's been happening to you," the aging professor explained. "However, I'm going to need you to come by the lab if you want to know what you might be experiencing."

"Gotcha, I'll be there as soon as possible."

With that, the Alolan champion hung up and turned back to the kalosian trainer who had her arms crossed and looked to him with a look of concern. It was the type of face to him that just screamed 'yeah, I know something's up' that he had seen many times in the past.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"It's a long story, but I'm going to need to stop by the research lab today."

"Ash-"

"I... I'll explain on the way."

Serena blinked twice, stunned by what she had just heard. Yup, something was up, she thought. But there wasn't any time to lose, as she watched Ash turn and begin to walk southwest toward the laboratory, and she quickly followed. Hopefully they'll get a clearer answer as to what was going on and if it could be fixed.