Love in the Time of Tenacity

Chapter 19: A Light

This is the first full battle I've written for the series. I hope it lives up to expectations in energy, strategy and everything in between. Now, time for Chapter 19!

Chapter 19

A Light

"To both our semifinalists, congratulations!" Clemont cried out, standing upon a table as he declared this. Serena had to laugh, not understanding just what had made Clemont start acting this way. Really, he was acting like he was drunk on some kind of adrenaline sugar from the battles they had watched today. Which was fine and all, but not really Clemont.

"What's gotten into you?" Serena had to laugh out. Next to her, Ash was shoveling down food with Pikachu. Just behind him, the three that had participated in that day's match were wolfing (literally in Lycanroc's case) their food down eagerly.

"Nothing!" Clemont defended himself, waving his hands rapidly in front of his face. "I'm just very happy and excited that Ash made it to the semifinals of the League. It's rather exciting to know that he's one of four trainers remaining. Plus, I've chosen to be supportive no matter what. If you'd like, Ash, I'm sure I could provide some extra training for you and your team. I know Vikavolt and the others wouldn't mind some before the Day of Stars!"

That was a sobering thought, Serena realized. Sure, the upcoming Day was on every one of their minds, including those of their friends who had chosen to not quite celebrate with them. Some of them, like Sawyer and Seamus (who had forged this odd friendship between one another), had gone off to rewatch all of the videos from the League thus far. Serena realized there weren't many, given this was the first League. However, thinking on it, did make her remember their own upcoming battle for the world, itself. It seemed so close now, an unsettling thought that reached all of them at the table in that moment in time.

I wonder if my father's still watching...Serena mused to herself, taking a brief look outside of the Pokémon Center to the snow outside. It was definitely wintery, though that wasn't really the worst of things, she realized. There was still plenty of the day to enjoy.

"Thanks for the offer, Clemont. Maybe we'll do some late training tonight!" Ash said, pumping his fist in the air. Serena smiled, giggling just a little at his enthusiasm. This really was the Ash that she loved to see: driven, determined and confident. He really looked to have enjoyed himself during his battle with Ryuki, and judging from after the battle, the two boys had become fast friends, it seemed. Ash seemed very pleased with that.

"I'm happy Ash is going on, too, but you're acting like he's never gotten into the semifinals before..." Bonnie drawled out with boredom, her head touching the table as a straw was sticking out of her mouth.

"This is different, Bonnie!" Rotom corrected her before Clemont had a chance to. "Right now, Ash stands a chance of becoming Alola's first ever Champion! Rotom estimates that Ash has roughly a-"

"I don't like to hear the odds!" Bonnie snapped at the Pokédex. From within her bag, both Squishy and Dedenne stirred for all of five seconds before returning to sleep. "Though...he'll be facing Hau tomorrow..."

"Hmm..." Clemont noticed, as well, stepping down from the table (and away from attention). "You're right. One of our friends won't be making it on to the finals...though Gladion might. Even if the rest of his Pokémon go down in a full battle, Silvally has more than enough strength to ultimately pick up the slack."

"No matter what it is, we'll win it!" Ash proclaimed, twisting in his seat to face his team. Serena noticed that even though they were stuffing their faces, they had a fire lit in all of them for the battle ahead. "No doubt Hau is training real hard for the battle tomorrow, and I can't wait to battle him! It's been a long time since the last one."