After the training session, everyone sprawled out lazily on the grass.
The Pokémon followed suit—so stretched out on the adow, so leaned against trees, while others rested by the lake.
"Shanaishanai~"
Gardevoir murmured softly beside loetta.
loetta adored the elegant Gardevoir, so whatever Gardevoir suggested, she would happily comply.
Just like now—when Gardevoir encouraged her to sing a song to help everyone relax.
"lo… lo~lo… lo…"
loetta floated gracefully in the air, gliding back and forth above the group.
Her lodious voice flowed into the breeze, releasing glowing, visible musical notes that danced around them.
The notes shimred in rhythm, and soon everyone was adrift in the ocean of her song.
Even Servine gazed up at loetta, looking after her attentively—though truth be told, loetta's level was dozens of tis higher than Servine's…
Servine was just about to curl up when it felt sothing shift.
Sceptile's tail swished softly, its thorny edges retracting and folding inward, forming a cushiony surface. Perfect for Servine to lean against.
"Servine?"
Startled, Servine glanced over at Sceptile.
But Sceptile's eyes were shut tight, as if it were already fast asleep.
Maybe it wasn't intentional?
Servine watched him for a while, then shook its head and quietly nestled down to rest against the tail.
The mont Servine looked away, Sceptile cracked one eye open, glancing at the little snake.
Did Sceptile really think nobody noticed?
Wrong. Pikachu had seen everything.
"Pikapikapi~ka…"
Pikachu chuckled slyly. It had been with Sceptile since their Hoenn journey, and this was the very first ti it had seen him act like this.
With a grin, Pikachu padded over and whispered the whole thing to Ash.
Ash rubbed Pikachu's rosy cheeks.
"Alright, Pikachu. Let them be. We don't need to interfere."
A soft breeze rustled the grass, and soon everyone drifted into a light, warm slumber beneath the sunlight.
-----
In the middle of her nap, Serena rolled over—straight into Ash's arms.
Ash woke instantly, but when he realized the situation, and especially when he noticed Serena's eyelids twitching as if she were about to wake, he quickly closed his eyes again…
But not before tightening his arms around her, curious about how she'd react.
Serena slowly blinked awake. She had been dreaming under loetta's lullaby, where she had turned over and been hugged by her mother.
But opening her eyes now, she realized… she was in Ash's embrace.
Her first instinct was to push his arms away. Not because she disliked it, but because she was utterly embarrassed.
Then it hit her—if she moved his hand now, Ash would definitely wake up!
Besides, she had been the one who rolled into his arms in the first place.
And truthfully… being held by Ash felt pretty nice.
So Serena hesitated—then decided not to move at all.
-----
An hour later, Ash was the first to wake.
Everyone else was still asleep. Activating his Aura powers, he imdiately sensed familiar presences in the distance.
Team Rocket.
"Well, isn't this a coincidence… Sceptile, take care of it. Our old friends are here."
He patted Sceptile's shoulder.
anwhile, after a long, exhausting trek, Team Rocket had finally tracked them down.
"At last! We nearly worked ourselves to death, and these brats are just napping in the sun like nothing's wrong! It's unforgivable, nya!"
owth's mind flashed back to the humiliating mont when Ash had lifted him by the scruff like a helpless kitten. Revenge was long overdue.
"Isn't this perfect, though? They're all asleep—what better chance could we ask for?"
"Exactly! owth, quick! Get the robot ready—we'll snatch every single one of their Pokémon at once!" Jessie and Jas urged.
"Heh, you'll see! This ti they've got so new Pokémon we've never seen before… plus the ones from Hoenn! If we catch them, Giovanni will be overjoyed, nya!"
"Wobbuffet!"
Suddenly Wobbuffet popped out, but the trio frantically covered its mouth to keep it quiet.
The three clambered into their robot—only to freeze.
Sceptile was already standing before them, arms crossed.
And worse, Ash and the others were all awake, calmly recalling their Pokémon to their Poké Balls.
"Dang it, owth! This is your fault for blabbering!"
"Forget it! We'll take them by force! Watch this!"
The robot's massive fist swung down toward Sceptile. At six or seven ters tall, it was a giant compared to him.
"Scep-tile!!"
Sceptile was furious.
He had just gotten comfortable—sharing a nap with his friends, no less—and now Team Rocket had ruined it.
His rage boiled over. He'd take it all out on them.
Solar Beam—fire!
BOOM!!!
A mushroom cloud erupted skyward.
From afar, it looked spectacular.
And just like that, Team Rocket and Wobbuffet once again blasted off into the horizon like shooting stars.
One had to wonder… maybe their real strength lay in their ability to survive these crashes without a scratch.
-----
With that nuisance dealt with, Ash recalled Sceptile as well. The group began assisting in construction work inside the system space, with Clemont's machines leading the way.
The Pokémon only needed to provide support.
Soon, the place would be transford.
But for now—it was ti to move forward.
Three hours later, they arrived at a small town nad Camphrier Town.
The town had a unique charm: it was tiny, and its residents were almost entirely dedicated to cultivating fruits. Only a small portion of farmland was used for other crops.
And every year around this season, a Snorlax would descend from the mountain behind the town.
Hungry, it would dig into the soil beneath fruit trees, searching for roots left behind after the fruits had fallen.
While useless to people, those roots were Snorlax's favorite snack.
After eating its fill, Snorlax would return to the town. The villagers, in gratitude for loosening their soil, would prepare mountains of fruit as a reward.
Thus, a mutual relationship had ford between the townsfolk and the Snorlax.
But today—just as Ash and his friends arrived—they heard a thunderous uproar coming from the town square.
The unmistakable bellow of that Snorlax.
Sothing was wrong.
The villagers of Camphrier seed to be in trouble.
--------------
T/N:
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