After that, Serena ran out the room in tears. Pikachu stayed on the bed next to Ash. I looked to Clement and Bonnie.

"We'll stay here for now. You go on ahead." Clement said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

So, I ran out the door with Lucario by my side, up the hall and down the escalator. When we got to the lobby, I looked around and saw Serena crying at one of the booths to the left of us. We walked over to her and sat opposite from her.

"Serena...I'm extremely-"

"Was Mega Evolving Lucario that important to you?"

"Well-"

"You just HAD to Mega Evolve him sooo bad, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Do you see what your choice has caused? Ash is almost to the point of death!"

"Nurse Joy said that she'll perform an operation tonight to save him."

"What if the surgery doesn't save him? What if he dies on the operating table? He would've never been able to accomplish his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master," She said with increasing volume, giant tears streaming down her face more than ever, "And I won't be able to tell him how I feel about him."

That stopped my heart cold. Serena loves Ash. She LOVES Ash! So that means, if Ash does die, Serena wouldn't be able to...I can't even imagine what.

"Pikachu has been by his side through everything. If Ash died, Pikachu wouldn't ever be the same. He would be a worse version of who he is now. I can't imagine what would happen."

That is true. According to Ash, they've been together ever since they've met. It's amazing that Ash would do anything for Pikachu. But if he were to die, then Pikachu would be withdrawn and angry. He would become a monster unleashing all his anger on everyone.

Lucario looked at me and his eyes seemed to say, "Let her take her anger out on me. I'm the one who did it, so let me take the punishment. I won't fight back." I hated that I understood why he wants to do it. I shot him a look that said, "Are you sure?" He nodded in response.

I looked back at Serena, her face buried in her hands. "Listen..." I said slowly.

She uncovered her face and looked at me, her puffy, red eyes still generating tears.

"Lucario wants to let you take your anger out on him. He promises he won't fight back."

Shock spread across her face. "Why?"

"He said that he's the one who did it, so he should take the punishment."

"But...that's not a fair fight. It's wrong-"

"He knows it's wrong but he's still willing to do it. Just-"

"No," She interrupted with such sincerity it made me shrink, "I'm not the right person to do it. I just wouldn't feel right afterward. But, I do know who is the right one who should do that."

Lucario seemed to know who that was. So he got up and ran up the escalator. Serena and I looked at each other, and tailed after him.

怒りと受容

Ikari to ukeire

"anger and acceptance"