I Wanna Be The Very Best

Chapter 36: Silencing The Doubters

After the first day of the Alola league, Ash and Serena return home to the professors house. After eating dinner and doing their nightly routines, they head up to their room for the night.

Serena lies on their bed while scrolling through instagram. A lot of her news feed is about the Alola league opening round and how well Ash did. She smiles as she likes some positive posts about him. As she continues to scroll through her tablet she begins to feel a little impatient. She's been waiting for her boyfriend to come to bed now for the last hour and she's beginning to become a little frustrated.

Meanwhile, Ash sits at a desk in their room. Initially he was just planning his strategy for tomorrow but now he's completely deep in thought about something else.

Serena looks over at him and notices he looks a little caught up in his thoughts. She shakes away her frustration and questions "Ash are you okay? You've been planning your strategy for a while. It usually doesn't take you this long."

Ash shake out of his thought and looks over at his girlfriend. He puts on an embarrassed smile and replies "Oh sorry Serena, I'm not thinking about my strategy anymore. I was thinking about all the people who ganged up on me today. I know I could handle it but it just makes me think, was it really necessary. Like I don't really understand why people would want to team up to eliminate me."

Serena sits up on the bed and looks at Ash as the raven haired boy swings his chair around. Serena takes a deep sigh and exclaims "Ash of course it wasn't necessary. Ganging up on people is wrong but people will do anything to get an advantage to win. However, we both know there's a way to win without going over the top to do it."

Ash nods in agreement and replies "Yeah I agree, if I did something to gain an unfair advantage in a battle then I'd feel like I didn't deserve that win. If I teamed up with some other trainers to eliminate someone from a battle royal then I wouldn't feel like a champion. I'd feel like a fraud."

Serena smiles at her boyfriend's way of thinking and exclaims "Me too Ash, I want to become Kalos queen the right way otherwise I won't deserve it and I'll never feel accomplished."

Ash nods in agreement and remarks "Your right Serena, sometimes I struggle to understand others reasoning for doing bad things. That was really confusing me so thank you."

Serena smiles brightly and says in a cheery tone "It's okay Ash. if ever something is bothering you then you can talk to me. We can work through these things together."

Ash smiles and replies "Sure I will and same goes if something is bothering you."

Serena feels really happy that she can talk through these things with Ash. In truth there some things that are bothering her all the time even if they are just her own insecurities. Typical things most teenage girls worry about but still, it's nice to know Ash will listen to her problems.

She decides to change the subject and asks "So, what is your strategy for tomorrow, anything special?"

Ash smirks and states "Nothing too out there, but I'm going to win by not losing a single pokemon that's my challenge. After tomorrow all my doubters are going to be proved wrong."

Serena raises her eyebrow and questions "So, how are you gonna do that?"

Ash smirks and riddles "Easy by being stronger."

Serena rolls her eyes at Ash's refusal to tell her his strategy. He used to do this before they were a couple but she was hoping that he'd be a bit more open now that they are together. Then again she always keeps her performances a secret from him so it's no real surprise.

She shakes her head slightly and replies "I see, anyway can you come to bed so we can get some sleep."

Ash grins and jokes "You can sleep without me there you know."