Going for Glory ;; An Amourshipping Fanfiction

Chapter 16 - Post-Round Questions

Ash was walking through Viridian City, thinking about a variety of things. They had made it through to the next qualifying round, yet Ash had a gut feeling that it would've been better to drop out. He had a weird feeling in his stomach and it he was distracted, not aware of his surroundings.

"OW!" Serena dropped onto the pavement, bumping into Ash's head first. Ash stumbled back, holding his head.

"Woah! Serena, are you alright?" Ash asked, instantly holding out his hand. Serena took it and used his hand as support to help herself up.

"Yeah I am fine...Guess I wasn't looking where I was going" Serena looked around awkwardly for a moment. "Where are you heading off to?"

"In truth, I was just taking a walk, to clear my head. I wasn't even aware you was walking down the street" it was Ash's turn to feel a little awkward. He searched for some more words to say, but he couldn't think of anything. There was a moment of awkward silence before Miette appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey!" she made Ash and Serena jump out of their skin.

"Don't scare me like that!" Serena gasped for a breath.

"That was sneaky Miette" Ash looked at Pikachu, who looked like he wanted to shock Miette to hell and back. "Calm down Pikachu"

"Pika..." Pikachu sent shivers down Miette's spine, he spoke coldly, which was unusual for Pikachu.

"Guess he doesn't like it when people sneak up on him" Miette stared at Pikachu for a moment, when his expression suddenly softened.

"Pikachu is okay, right buddy?" Ash looked at Pikachu out of the corner of his eye.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu exclaimed, answering Ash.

"Anyway, I didn't make you jump so I could talk, I just saw you staring at each other awkwardly so it was the perfect opportunity. Bye, lovebirds!" Miette teased, spinning around and skipping away with a big grin on her face.

Serena's face went completely red while Ash stared into space for a moment.

Love...birds? Was all he could think of in his head.

"A-anyway, I..I better get going" Serena awkwardly walked around Ash, who was still staring into space. He shook his head and turned away.

"Ok, see ya later Serena!" he waved and then continued down the path. Having now completely lost track of all of his thoughts, Ash pivoted round on his heel and headed back home.

"Pikachu, we are going to get plenty of rest for the next round tomorrow and we will win!" Ash suddenly felt pumped up and Pikachu shared his feelings.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and raced off.

"Pikachu, wait up!" Ash laughed, running after Pikachu. They raced all the way home and rushed through the door at the same time.

"Ash!" it was his Mom's turn to jump out of her skin. She was completely freaked out by Ash barging through the door that she almost fell over. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry Mom" Ash scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh. "Pikachu wanted a race and I wasn't about to lose!"

"Pika!" Pikachu pumped his fist, feeling exactly the same.

"Well, it looks like you drew. Dinner will be ready soon so don't go too far"

"Will do Mom!" Ash raced upstairs, closely followed by Pikachu.

As soon as Ash sat down on his chair, his thoughts came back to him. What was Team Shadow's ultimate goal? Why were they here in Kanto? Was it just coincidence that Ash and his friends got mixed up in their plans? Well, it was clear to Ash that they were going to try and win the tournament, but in a very unorthodox way, because they were trying to decimate their opponents and make them almost incapable of ever battling again. They haven't stolen Pokemon before, which suggests they are not all evil. But their true motives, to Ash, were still unknown. Then there is Serena, whom Ash had been thinking about all day. Why did she kiss him like that? Was it meaningful? Ash had never felt anything like that before, nor had he ever felt like he loved someone, but after the kiss, he felt different. Ash wanted to ask Serena about it, but it was hard to after such an awkward confrontation.

After his dinner, Ash headed back out again. He decided that he was going to speak with Serena. He found her almost instantly, with Dawn and Iris. All of Ash's friends by know had become great friends with each other and their interaction was on a whole other level compared to when they first met. Serena was giggling while Dawn was messing around with Piplup. Iris had a look of concern on her face as if she was saying 'You're both such kids'. Serena turned her head and saw Ash walking over. Each girl stopped and turned to Ash, who was only looking at Serena.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Ash asked, looking out of the corner of his eye at the other girls, who both suddenly looked suspiciously at Ash.

"Sure, go ahead" Serena smiled, waiting to hear what Ash was going to say.

"Alone..." Ash pointed out, making Serena feel weird inside. Her heart began to beat faster and faster, almost echoing in her ears.

"Oh..Okay. I'll be a minute girls" Serena headed off around the corner with Ash. Dawn looked at Iris, then back at Serena, who just caught a glance of Dawn's teasing grin, which made her feel even more flustered.

"I just wanted to talk about the tournament" Ash looked around, searching for the right words to say once more.

"What about it?" Serena asked.

"Well, I remember being in some sort of mind control, but everything is a little hazy" Ash scratched his head, trying to remember everything.

"Is that all you wanted to ask?" Serena wondered. She could see that Ash was trying to say something else, but it seemed like he wouldn't be able to say it.

"Wh-why did you kiss me?" He suddenly blurted out of nowhere. Serena almost collapsed on the floor, her whole face went bright red.

"Wh-what-what kind of a question is that?" Serena looked away for a moment, completely embarrassed. "I-I thought it was the only way of saving you"

Ash took that as a good enough answer, the thoughts completely draining from his head. "Well it was a pretty surprising way of doing things" Ash admitted. Pikachu looked at Serena first and then Ash, not saying a word.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" Serena snapped back, in her embarrassing state.

"I'm not trying to make you mad Serena, I was just wondering why..."

"Well, you got your answer" Serena huffed and walked away, while Ash stared at the space where Serena was, wondering what had just happened.

"Pika..." Pikachu sighed, sharing the same thoughts as Ash.

Serena walked round the corner and almost bumped into Dawn and Iris.

"Why don't you just tell him?" Dawn asked, concerned for Serena. "You just got really embarrassed and hid it in anger, you should have just said it"

"I..I don't know what I should have said" Serena sighed, leaning against the wall they stood by.

"I think Ash is too much of a kid, I don't see what you see in him" Iris folded her arms and watched Ash, who had decided to walk in the opposite direction, avoiding a confrontation.

"You wouldn't because only I see it," Serena said. She too watched Ash go.

Dawn propped her chin on Serena's shoulder, looking over it at Ash, who was talking to Pikachu. "All I can see is one dense boy and a misguided, lovestruck girl"

Serena looked on, realizing Dawn was right. She had no reason just to snap at Ash like that and then walk away, she had to tell him her feelings. It had been awhile since she tried the first time, but she knew that sometime in the tournament, it had to happen.