#Ash and Serena

[witchpuppies]

(via GIPHY)

[wingedballoonpeace]

[media-enthusiast]

"Nightmares"

Summary: Serena has a nightmare spurred by a bad memory. May shares her own, very similar experience. Based on this unused scene where Ash is possessed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNtMOQetQI

_____________________________

“Ash…?”

The boy she had feelings for turned around, giving the group a menacing look. His eyes…

She started to close the distance between them. “Ash, what’s wrong?”

“Serena!” A voice called out. “Get away from him, now!”

“Ash please, snap out of it! I can help you!”

An orb began forming in the trainer’s hand.

“He can use aura?!” Baraz cried out in shock.

The orb flew out of Ash’s hand. “Watch out!”

_____________________________

Serena shot up from her sleeping bag breathing heavily. She took in her surroundings as she tried to get her breathing under control; she was still in the tent.

Her eyes shifted to her brunette companion, jumping a little as she found a pair of piercing sapphire-blue eyes staring back at her.

“I heard you mumbling in your sleep,” May stated as matter of fact, sitting up in her sleeping bag. “Bad dream?”

“You could say that.” Serena replied.

“I heard Ash’s name once or twice.”

Serena gulped.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

May raised an eyebrow and Serena sighed. “Yes.”

The brunette looked to the side. “Ash hasn’t told me much, but I know something happened to him.”

Serena tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“When we get to talk on the video phone, he…” May hesitated. “He will occasionally get this look in his eyes, like he is afraid. He will slightly lean back and he won’t speak for a few seconds.”

May placed a gentle, comforting hand on Serena’s shoulder.

“Now, I have my suspicions but I still don’t know for certain; so please… What happened in Dahara City?”

“How did you know it was about—?” “Serena, please.” May interrupted. “You were mumbling his name like you were scared. I know what happened during the other events and it is nothing that would have made someone even a tiny bit afraid of him. It’s the one Kalos event that he still doesn’t talk about. I am not an idiot.”

The blonde hesitated but soon sighed. She could not keep this bottled up forever.

“It's not Ash specifically that I am afraid of, I trust him with my life.

May smiled. She felt the same way.

“Basically, there was this… spirit, that was inside a bottle. Anyone who touched it would become possessed by it. Some things happened and the bottle was falling to the ground. To stop it from breaking and be lost forever, Ash jumped and caught it. He was… the spirit possessed him. That wasn’t what scared me though.”

May nodded, indicating for her to continue.

“When he turned around… I don’t know how to describe it, May. He… he was gone. His shoulders were squared up like in a fighting stance, his eyes were red. His face was of pure evil.

“I tried to talk him down. I thought I could get through to him but he didn’t listen. Then he…” Serena wiped a lone tear away. “He threw an aura sphere at me!”

May’s eyes grew a little. Even if Ash couldn’t use much aura, she was glad his powers either weren’t or couldn’t be accessed by the spirit that possessed him back in Kanto.

Serena continued. “Luckily, Pikachu must have escaped from Bonnie’s arms because he hit it with a thunderbolt. After that, the spirit tried to fight some more but Hoopa got it out of Ash.” She sighed.

“I just can’t get the image of him possessed out of my head. I know it wasn’t really him but… you know.”

May was silent for a long time.

“Believe it or not, I know exactly how you feel.”

Serena was confused. “Huh?”

“That look in his eyes that I told you about? I have only ever seen him with that look once before. After he got possessed by the King of Pokélantis.”

“He’s been possessed before?!”

May nodded. “It was during our journey through the Kanto Battle Frontier. Ash was going to face Brandon in his Battle Pyramid. We accidentally found ourselves in some ruins after the ground collapsed beneath our feet. This is where we first met Brandon. One thing led to another and Ash came across a stone orb, similar to a Pokéball. A spirit trapped inside possessed him. The spirit never attacked us directly, but it used Brandon’s referee, in order to force an attack to be called off.”

Serena audibly gasped.

“Eventually, we got the spirit out and sealed it inside the orb again.”

“Ash never mentioned any of that when he spoke about his journeys with you guys.” Serena said.

May gave a tight smile. “I’m not surprised. While he did apologize to everyone, even though most of what happened wasn't his fault, he never really talked about how he felt about it. Even though the experience clearly affected him.”

Serena nodded. “Same here.”

May kept talking. “I helped Max deal with it and Brock dealt with it in his own way I guess. But me and Ash… honestly, we struggled. It affected me a lot more than I initially thought. We both found ourselves struggling to sleep. Sometimes, we would sit beside each other and watch the stars until we got tired. Other times, we would just stare at each other from our sleeping bags or beds in the Pokémon Center until one of us fell asleep.”

Serena fiercely fought off the small pit of jealousy that started to form in her stomach. Now was not the time.

"Eventually though, he stopped getting that look and we were more or less back to normal. After I saw him on tv during the event in Dahara City, I called him via video phone. That's when I saw that look had come back."

Serena nodded. "Sometimes, whenever I had my eyes closed but wasn't really out yet, I would hear Ash jerk in his sleep.”

May’s brow furrowed in worry.

“When did the bad dreams stop for you?” Serena asked.

“Actually, I still have them.”

Serena was surprised “You still get nightmares?! Even after so long?!”

May shifted uncomfortably. “Sometimes. They’ve gone down in frequency though. Maybe once a year for that particular dream. If you count other events during my journey though, I’ll have a really bad nightmare maybe once every four to five months.”

Serena grimaced. “So will I," she admitted.

There was another long period of silence.

“I take it you haven’t talked to him about it?”

Serena shook her head. “No. I’m sure you know but he doesn’t like to talk openly about what he is feeling unless it’s joy. Have you?”

May also shook her head. “No, we haven’t. Perhaps we should have; and maybe someday we will. But we could tell what the other was going through. We were just quietly there for each other.”

May gave a small smile. “We’re in sync, I guess. When he stops talking and gets that look in his eye, we just… look at each other. I know something happened to him in Kalos and he knows that I know. We comfort each other in those few seconds.” The girl shrugged. “And maybe that’s enough.”

Serena was unsure. “You think?”

May nodded. “I do.”

May then smiled fully. “But if you want to talk to him about it, I’m positive he will listen. I can’t guarantee he will open up himself, but he will listen. Trust me, it will get better. Just be there for each other and the nightmares will get better.”

Serena smiled back and nodded.

[teehee-vibes]

Late night updates: Stepparents

[xxtc-96xx]

How would the Mew Squad react if they saw Ash return home with a girl who claims to be his girlfriend?

look I'm sure she's nice but the one-sided crush she has on him is hilarious lol

[malama-art]

cardcaptor satoshi (and serena is there too)

[pokemon-ash-aus]

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Well looky what we got here, an update!

I had the sketch fished out for awhile, but lining was hard lmao. I regret choosing bisharp.

[valynnz]

Kalos gang

[pokemonedits-outofcontext]

[screwpinecaprice]

Kofi commission for Astro-Aaron! Thank you for commissioning! 😊

[anthrophobixx]

This is someone you definitely don’t know and not a mutual, you gotta post all your ash misty and Brock stuff from twitter, gotta show the tumblr people peak, also hopes this finds you well!

WAAAAAH I HAVE SO MANY DRAWINGS OF THEM BUT THEY'RE NOT THAT GOOD, HERE'S SOME OF THE ONES I'M MORE HAPPY WITH 😭😭😭 I love os trio sm they mean a lot 2 me my 2022 self was onto smth

[witchpuppies]

[wingedballoonpeace]

Uh oh, looks like Ash and Serena are facing Captian Hook and Jafar aboard Hook's pirate ship, the Jolly Roger.

[media-enthusiast]

"The Princess of Hoenn"

The group saw their friend in a very animated discussion with someone on a video phone.

"Who are you talking to Ash?" Ash smiled. "Hey guys! Let me introduce you to my friend, May Maple.”

He then added with a cheeky grin, “The Princess of Hoenn." "Ash, I told you to stop calling me that!" May scolded.

Serena started choking. "P-princess?!"

"It's just a nickname people gave me."

"A deserved one." Ash quickly added.

May flushed. "Stooopp." 

[fairytyperacoon]

My xy future designs (from the still nameless Galar au I've mentioned like once before I think)

I tried to mimic the title-cards a bit with the colours over the top, version without that under the cut

[phantomstatistician]

Fandom: Pokemon

Sample Size: 8,614 stories

Source: AO3