I Wanna Be The Very Best

Chapter 55: A Fiery Masterclass opening

It's been a few days since Ash's 18th birthday and tomorrow is the day of the opening ceremony for the master class competition.

Ash and Serena have made the move to a high end hotel in Lumiose city, provided for competitors after Serena registered this morning.

The two have settled in to their luxury hotel room, where they plan to stay for the next few days over the course of the competition.

However, at the moment the room is a little frosty to say the least as the two find themselves deep in thought over two separate issues.

Serena finds herself transfixed by the tv, as she watches something on repeat. Meanwhile, Ash finds himself sat at a desk as he constantly scrolls through pages on a computer.

He takes a conflicted sigh and whispers to himself "Who do I even use? I wish I just had Greninja with me for this match, it would be so much easier that way. With his strength I wouldn't even need to worry."

Serena looks at the tv and continuously watches a commercial for the upcoming showcase, heavily starring the current Kalos queen Aria. She takes a sad sigh and whispers under her breath "Can I really beat you like this?"

Serena shakes off her thoughts and turns off the tv. She decides that she needs to do something to distract herself from her own self doubt.

She gets off the bed and walks towards Ash to see what he's doing as an attempt to distract herself. She sees he's working on the computer and decides to take the opportunity to join him.

She goes to pull up a chair when Ash turns towards her with an inviting smile and taps his hand against his lap.

Serena smiles and takes her boyfriend's invitation as she sits down on his lap with her inner 15 year old screaming the whole time.

She shakes off her clear happiness at the situation before she turns towards the computer screen. What she can see on the screen is Ash constantly scrolling as pokeballs with little icons on them fill the screen.

Serena tilts her head a little as she questions "What are you doing babe?"

Ash takes a small sigh before he answers while never letting his eyes leave the computer screen "I'm trying to decide what Pokémon to use in tomorrows battle. I have so many options but none of them really stand out as a perfect option to take on Diantha with."

Serena frowns a little at Ash's predicament. Over the last few days he's been constantly debating in his head what Pokémon he wants to use in his one on one battle with Diantha. The only problem is, his heart is set on using one Pokémon he has no chance of using. Serena knows all of this of course and can't help but feel sympathy towards his situation.

She looks her boyfriend in the eye and suggests "Why not at least try to call Greninja back? He'd be great and he could easily beat Diantha now, if he almost did it back then when you were still mastering the bond phenomenon. I know how much you want to use him tomorrow."

Ash sighs as he takes in Serena's words. While he knows that every point she makes is right of course. It's not as simple as she makes it sound. He shakes his head and replies in a downed tone "His work it too important, plus I can't rely on him all the time. My other Pokémon need to be just as strong as him if I'm going to be a Pokémon master. While I know deep down he'll always be my strongest, I need to be more versatile than that."

Serena nods a little, not wanting to push Ash further on the subject as she replies "Hmm, I understand Ash."

She takes a second to think before she suggests "Why not use Pikachu then? He's super strong and I'm sure a 10 million volt thunderbolt will be pretty difficult for Diantha to deal with."