While You Were Sleeping (An Amourshipping Story)

Chapter 1

Serena Yvonne was always a hopeless romantic. Ever since she was a little girl, she dreamed of the perfect man to spend her life with. A handsome, funny, smart man who is always there to make her feel loved. Of course, having him being a big hugger and a good kisser wouldn't hurt either. Where many women in Lumiose City, the Kalos region's capital, dreamed of staying in the city to live in beautiful apartments or houses with their husbands, Serena wanted a man who would transform her lonely, boring life into one of adventure. A man who would give her the chance to travel beyond Lumiose City or even Kalos if possible. Her dream to travel was the only dream that she desired as much as she wanted love, but in the five years since she got her passport, it has been kept inside her nightstand drawer with no stamps on it.

Of course, Serena didn't decide that she wanted either of her dreams out of the blue. Her father, Chandler Yvonne, was as much of a hopeless romantic as she was, Lord rest his soul. Throughout her childhood, Serena only knew her mother, Grace Yvonne, from the stories her father would happily tell her like a priest preaching the word of the Lord. Chandler talked about all the adventures he had with Grace and when he cheered her on during her Rhyhorn races. This passionate man was Serena's whole world, and she wanted nothing more than to travel with her special someone just like he did.

But in the years since her father's passing, Serena's hopes of finding love and seeing the world began to fade away. She only makes enough money as a token fare conductor to make ends meet while living in her second-floor apartment. Her only friends are her co-worker, Shauna, who works in the same token booth as her, her boss, Iris, her landlord, Mr. Walken, and her Pokemon partner, Fennekin. Most of the time, when she's outside of her apartment, she kept her head down to shyly hide her face with her shoulder-length honey blonde hair whenever she saw an attractive guy. Whether it was one of the guys paying the fare at the station Serena works at or someone she saw passing by on the street, she would look down, feeling nervous to even look at a guy for longer than a couple of seconds.

But out of all of them, there was one man, in particular, that Serena had a special crush on. Every day this man in a fine business suit would be taking a train from her station, and he would always pay for the fare at her window. Serena had no idea who he was. All she knew was whenever she saw him tossing a token into the slot on her booth; she would have a moment to look into his dark blue eyes, his shiny black hair that reached to his shoulders just like hers, and a friendly smile on his well-formed face. At that moment, her heart skipped a beat, and she smiled back while her cheeks turned red as her crush got on the train. After she had that moment, her mind would be focused on him, daydreaming about who he is, what's his job, whether or not he has a Pokemon, and how amazing it would be if he was the one. At the very least, she wanted a chance to strike a conversation with him that would lead to learning his name.

That's what was on her mind on the morning of Christmas Eve when she was decorating her Christmas tree. She was hanging up ornaments and putting on lights with her Fennekin, both having a fun time together. Still, while she was hanging decorations, she imagined her crush decorating the tree with her and Fennekin, wearing a vermillion sweater and having a cute Pokemon of his own to help them like a Skitty, or a Vulpix, or better yet, an Eevee. The thought made Serena giggle with her mouth closed as Fennekin picked up the Christmas star with its mouth, and she lifted the fox Pokemon up so that it could place the star on top of the tree.

"Just look at it, Fennekin," Serena said as she took a few steps back to look at the tree. "It's the prettiest tree we've had yet."

"Fennekin," Fennekin said happily.

Serena smiled at her Pokemon before turning to a picture of a cheerful man hanging on the wall and said, "I wish you could see this, Daddy. We outdid ourselves this time."