Chapter 3: First Meeting with Serena

Serena, your face is so red!

Youlija saw Serena, whose face was red as a boiling bubble pot.

Ah! Really?

Serena touched her own face, feeling hot, and instinctively looked toward Ash; seeing Ash also looking over, her gaze darted away nervously, afraid to meet his eyes.

It's all Mom's fault for saying something that put me in such a difficult spot; she couldn't just hint at it without spelling it out.

Seeing the interaction between Serena and Ash, Shitron nodded thoughtfully.

At this moment, the white Light Screen's image ended like that, and the Black Light Screen lit up in its place.

The scene was still the summer camp hosted by Professor Oak, with Ash as the protagonist, except this Ash was a little different—not in appearance, but in his behavior.

At this time, in the Black Light Screen, Ash first played with the Pokémon together with the other kids, greeting and getting to know each other.

Then Ash found a Machop pounding a wooden post, played with it—no, he was doing push-ups and running together with the Machop.

Other kids were playing with Pokémon, but Ash was training with them.

After warming up, get ready to train.

Ash began arm-wrestling with the Machop, and they seemed evenly matched.

【Shitron: Huh? Is this Ash really that strong? At his age, he's actually on par with a Machop!】

【Xiba: The Pokémon at the summer camp are all very gentle; when playing with kids they're careful and basically won't go all out, but the Ash from the Black World is indeed quite different compared to kids his age—while others play, he's training his body.】

【Professor Oak: I've hosted so many summer camps, yet I've never encountered a child like the Ash from the Black World.】

After training for a while, Ash in the screen saw the Machop getting tired, let it rest, and then took an Energy Block from his bag to feed it.

Machop, thanks for your hard work—this whole box of Energy Blocks is yours!

Machop smiled; every time it trains with this kid, it gets lots of food, and it looks forward to continuing next time.

Poliwag, use Water Gun on me.

Ash saw a lone Poliwag, fed it an Energy Block, then began intensified training.

?

Its big eyes were full of incomprehension; the Poliwag couldn't understand this kid with his strange brain circuitry.

Professor Oak heard this and panicked at first, thinking some kid was being reckless, but when he saw it was Ash, he stopped his hurried steps.

It's Ash, so it's fine!

?

Professor Oak, what are you saying?

What do you mean 'it's fine because it's Ash'!!!

The Professor Oak of the Black World wasn't surprised at all by Ash's behavior, as if it were utterly ordinary, and he sighed:

"Ash, to prepare for his journey, not only trains his body every day but also comes here to learn Pokémon knowledge from me; he gets along great with the Pokémon, and I've never seen such a hardworking kid."

"Good thing Xiaomao didn't come; otherwise, seeing Ash so diligent, even coming to the summer camp to relax would make him train, and with his personality he'd probably lose sleep at night."

【Xiaomao:... Not really, not really, truly not!!】

【Brock: The Ash from the Black World values his physique just like Master Xiba!】

【Xiba: Haha, I never expected the Ash from the Black World to realize from childhood how important a strong physique is—kindred spirit, finally someone gets this.】

【Xiaoxia: Ash can withstand Pikachu's 100,000 Volts head-on; is he also like the Black World Ash, training with Pokémon from a young age?】

【Ash: I didn't train like this when I was little; maybe it's just talent!】

The Poliwag shown on the Black Light Screen ignored Ash, ran off to play elsewhere, and Ash followed behind, wanting to practice his resistance to Water Gun.

Again, following the Poliwag into the forest, he blocked it; just as Ash was about to call for the Poliwag to act, he suddenly heard crying and a loud shout for 'Mom'.

Following the sound, Ash went over and saw a little girl who had fallen to the ground.

At this moment, Serena's pretty face was a little embarrassed; as a child she was very timid, even afraid of Pokémon to the point of crying for her mom.

However, looking at the bullet comments, no one noticed her; everyone's attention was on Ash.

【Sachi: Serena from another world also met Ash; it really seems they were destined to meet, and they're still traveling together now.】

【Hanako: Mm-hmm, I hope they get along well; if they have time, Ash could bring Serena to Pallet Town to play.】

【Ash: Don't worry....... We're companions, of course we'll get along well.】

【Serena: Good!!!】

Ash in the screen saw the wound on Serena's knee and immediately took out his own handkerchief to bandage it.

The Poliwag also hopped over to join the fun, wanting to see what this little girl was crying about.

Seeing the Poliwag hop over a few times, Serena felt a little frightened, her body leaning toward Ash; now she's somewhat afraid of Pokémon.

Noticing Serena's reaction, Ash blocked the Poliwag and smiled gently: 'Don't be scared, Poliwag is adorable, and Pokémon are our loyal companions.'

Upon hearing that, Serena blinked slightly, looking at Ash whose smile was like a spring breeze.

The Poliwag watched for a moment, then hopped off on its own.

"Hello, I'm Ash. Are you lost?"

Serena gave an 'um' for a moment.

Ash looked at Serena's knee for a while, turned his back, tilted his head, and said: 'Come on up, I'll take you back.'

Serena stared blankly at Ash's profile.

"Hurry up and get on, or else the Poliwag will come back looking for you later!"

"Ah? No!"

Serena anxiously climbed onto Ash's back.

Ash carried Serena all the way to the summer camp grounds, chatting with her along the way.

Serena gazed at Ash.

From it one can see gratitude, longing...... and also a hint of vague affection.

Ash also turned his head to look at Shalinna, giving a gentle smile.

The final frame froze on the mutual gaze between the two.

【Brock：Black World's Ash is too good at this! The other party was injured and he proactively carried them, chatted, diverted their attention, reduced pain.】

【Saqi：So young, yet the mind is so meticulous; this Ash is not bad.】

【Xiaomao：Eh, Black World's Ash is just different, so careful, and even proactively carried them; much better than this Ash now!】

This Xiaomao is stepping on him again...... Ash is so angry his teeth are clenched, but the key is he really has nothing to rebut, the facts are laid out here.

Shalinna bashfully looked at the final frozen frame of Black World, which was the picture of her and Ash gazing at each other!