Chapter 91: Keerni's Martial Arts Performance! A Shock That Will Stay With Serena Forever!

Early the next morning,

The sky was just light, still a bit hazy, and from the forest came a pleasant melody of insect and bird calls intertwining,

Ash and Serena woke up early,

Under Ash's personal attention, the shy Serena finished getting dressed, which naturally also included black silk for the male privates,

Although they had already had more intimate interaction,

During the process, when Ash's hand lightly touched the girl's jade foot, the girl almost cried out, quickly covering her mouth tightly,

Once Ash had helped the girl finish dressing completely,

Serena, whose nature was already shy, turned completely red in the face and her body went completely limp,

After Ash finished dressing, Serena finally emerged from that state,

With a flushed face, she tiptoed out of the tent, afraid to disturb Keerni, who had only just fallen asleep late last night,

Coming to a grassy spot farther from the tent, Ash immediately summoned Latias to appear,

He asked Latias to bring the two of them back to the town's Pokémon Center, where they found the gentle Nurse Joy and got a room,

After taking a shower, Ash glanced at the time—two full hours had already passed,

Under Nurse Joy's strange gaze,

Ash, having changed into new clothes, checked out of the room as usual, calm and composed,

Meanwhile, Serena, who had also changed into a fresh outfit, was blushing, her cheeks moist and still steaming, head lowered, too shy to meet Nurse Joy's gaze,

After walking out of the Pokémon Center,

Serena felt as if she had just left prison, taking a deep, heavy breath,

The two arrived at a secluded spot, and Ash called Latias back,

But when Latias appeared again, it was clearly a little angry, its jealous state written all over its face,

Having no choice, Ash had to cuddle Latias and even kiss its head before gaining the dragon girl's forgiveness,

Instant Teleportation brought Ash and the obviously somewhat guilty Serena back to the forest near the cave entrance,

After seeing Latias conceal its form with their own eyes,

Ash then took Serena's hand and returned to the vicinity of the tent,

Just as they had barely emerged from the forest into the distance, they arrived at an open clearing,

Ash saw Keerni practicing her punches,

Two hours passed, and Keerni, who had been constantly worrying about Lucario's safety in her heart, had indeed woken from her sleep,

This made Ash exclaim how fortunate it was,

Fortunately he hadn't let Latias directly bring the two of them back, otherwise Keerni would surely have sensed something was off,

On a huge rock platform about half a meter high and five to six meters wide,

Keerni, who was practicing her punches, turned her head and likewise noticed Ash and Serena returning from their wash, quickly stopping her movements,

She jumped down from the stone excitedly, smiling warmly, and strode across the grass to meet them,

"Ash, Serena, where did you just go?"

"We went out to find a place to bathe; seeing you weren't awake, we didn't want to disturb you."

Seeing that both still had droplets of water not yet dried on them, and catching the scent of body wash from their bodies, Keerni had no doubts: "Oh, that's how it is."

Because Ash's answer wasn't actually a lie—just omitting some details—Serena felt neither shy nor guilty,

Instead, she curiously voiced the doubt in her mind,

"Keerni, what were you just doing? Practicing martial arts?!"

In the Pokémon world, martial arts concepts do exist, but since Pokémon themselves are mainstream, very few people study them,

plus the portrayal in TV dramas,

so in most people's minds they are quite mysterious,

Serena is therefore very curious about them,

Ash then casually took off his backpack behind him, pulled out the sandwich breakfast that Serena had prepared the day before, and shared it with the two beautiful girls,

"Thanks!"

After expressing thanks, Keerni reached out to take the breakfast,

The three sat on the half-meter-high stone platform where Keerni had just been practicing her punches, and began the breakfast segment and casual chat,

"Mmm~ Although it's probably not the kind of flying-about martial arts you imagine, it really is martial arts!"

After swallowing the bread, ham slices, and sauce in her mouth, Keerni began to answer Serena's curiosity,

"Because our family is a martial arts lineage, even as a Trainer I needed to train martial arts from childhood; I've been training together with that Lucario since I was little."

"Huh? Then can you give a demonstration later?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly felt it was inappropriate—there was a risk of comparing the other to those mere showy flower arrangements—Serena quickly stood up and apologized earnestly,

"Sorry, Keerni, I just meant I wanted to observe, I didn't mean to offend."

"No problem, Serena, you're being too sensitive! This is totally fine."

"The speaker means nothing, the listener takes it to heart,"

"What's with being sensitive..."

That remark instantly made Serena recall the image of Ash playing with her jade foot, and her delicate body couldn't help but tremble,

Keerni tilted her head in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Um, I mean, I'm really grateful that you're willing to let me observe."

"It's nothing, we're friends, aren't we? But to better match those fantasies in your mind, I still need an opponent!"

While speaking, Keerni swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and extended a forefinger.

The expectant gaze turned toward Ash.

"Come to think of it, I've always been quite eager to see the Waveguide Messenger's skills."

If Princess Serena, who is always polite to others,

then in front of Ash, Serena can gradually drop formalities and make some appropriate jokes.

"That's certainly fine, Ash—just go ahead and use it."

"Hmm, is this really okay?" Keerni blinked,

"What if I want to take Ash as a husband? Would you still let me use it freely?"

She said that, but she had no such intention at all,

yet when the words reached Serena and Ash's ears, both widened their eyes in surprise.

Feeling shy under their strange stare, Keerni punched Ash's chest repeatedly while explaining,

"Ahem, I was just teasing Serena, Ash, don't give me that look either!"

After breakfast,

the three packed up the tent and decided that once the battle ended, they'd go into the cave to find Lu Kario and the Ninja Frog, and meet up with Clemont siblings.

On the massive rock platform, Ash and Keerni assumed their stances,

Serena watched below, focused and expectant.

"Then… I'm about to start the attack!"

Keerni moved her wrist and launched the first attack,

She stepped on the stone slab, hurried to Ash's front, and a kick from the side lunged straight at his head.

Concerned about hurting Ash, Keerni held back her strength.

But just before her kick reached the right side of Ash's head, he grabbed Fair Skin's ankle with one hand,

no matter how the girl exerted force, she couldn't break free.

"Hm!"

The girl showed a ghost‑stunned expression, unable to believe Ash's strength was so great.

But Serena kept watching, unwilling to yield and let Ash release her,

so she shifted her weight onto the right leg seized by Ash, using it as an axis, and the left leg suddenly surged, attacking from the other side,

This time Keerni showed no mercy, swift and violent,

After the attack was blocked, Keerni, fully immersed in the fight, paused not at all; her bent left leg hooked Ash's back and surged power.

He hadn't expected Keerni to have such strength; the smooth ankle in Ash's hand slid forward with the motion.

An awkward scene unfolded,

Keerni clamped Ash's head between her legs, facing him directly.

Especially when Ash realized this, the moment he was stunned and his hand loosened, Keerni's whole body began to fall backward.

In a startled shout, Keerni instinctively reached out to hold Ash's head, delivering an immediate critical hit!

Onstage, Keerni's face flushed red as she muttered that she could never marry again,

Ash was also stunned by the sudden turn of events, standing awkwardly in place,

Below the stage, Serena was equally baffled, thinking, "I've never tried this kind of pose with Ash!"