Before this story starts, I would like to point out a few things.

Ash and Clemont are 20, Serena and Aria are 19, Bonnie is 13

Pokemon journeys start at the age of 14.

Whenever I say, 'Aria's disguise' please remember that it is the one with a white hat and black spectacles.

Finally, hope you enjoy.

THE HIDDEN SECRETS

Aria sat down on her sofa and turned on the TV to listen to the news. Nothing much came up, making her sigh. The Master Class was coming up, and this time, she actually could be challenged for her title.

The girl, named Serena, had caught both her and her mentor, Palermo's attention. It was her first season in the world of Pokemon Performances, and to have qualified for the Master Class on a first attempt was no doubt exceptional.

Suddenly, her phone began ringing. Her secretary, Gina, was calling.

"Hello?"

"Miss Aria, you should go to sleep now. We have to travel to Gloire City for the Master Class training tomorrow. We don't want to be late, and you have to look your best tomorrow. Palermo won't be happy if she sees bags under your eyes ."

"Yes, Gina. You don't have to remind me every ten minutes. I am watching the news right now, and I will get my rest. Now, goodbye."

"But, Miss.."

"I don't want to hear anymore. End the call." And with that, she ended her call and laid her head back on the sofa with a huge sigh.

Ever since that Serena had got into her stride, Palermo had been forcing her to train more and more, until about 2 weeks ago, she started to ignore her completely. Aria didn't know why she was being ignored, but it seemed her assistants were colder to her too.

Back then, she didn't think much of anything and kept on training. It was the same boring routine for her every day, every week, every month for the last 4 years. Deciding to take a break, she disguised herself and went out for a walk under the moon.

Aria was walking around the forest in Coumarine City under her disguise, when she saw Serena and a blonde boy training, while a raven-haired boy was training with his...Greninja?

She had never seen anything like that Greninja before. It had a huge shuriken on its back, and from that distance, it actually looked a lot like its trainer.

Deciding to have a talk, she let out her Delphox, just to be prepared for the worst, and proceeded to the gang. The raven-haired boy was the first to notice her.

"Hey, guys, look! It's the Kalos Queen!" he exclaimed.

The other two stopped what they were doing and came over to her. Before they could say anything, she asked the raven-haired boy, who, she saw, was tall.

"How did you guess it was me under my disguise?"

"Me? oh, uhm." He started stuttering. "Well, you see, I am being chased around by three annoying members of Team Rocket for 6 regions. They often 'try' to disguise themselves to steal Pikachu here," He pointed to the little cute yellow mouse on his shoulder, who responded with a happy "Pika!", "But, I can always see through their disguise, so, uh, you could say it has become a habit for me to guess disguises. Besides, your bright pink hair is quite revealing." He finished with a grin.

Aria blushed, out of embarrassment? She didn't know. Many had commented on her unusually bright pink hair, and she didn't blush. Deciding to ignore it, she continued.

"Well, could you please not reveal my disguise to everyone else,...?" She looked at him, and became embarrassed again, remembering she hadn't even asked for their names.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto. This is my best friend and starter Pikachu, while that one over there," He pointed to the now-normal Greninja, "is Mr. Always-Serious, Greninja." Aria giggled at the description."We are travelling through Kalos to defeat other trainers and win the Pokemon League"

The blonde boy then introduced himself, "I'm Clemont, the Lumiose City Gym Leader. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss." He then looked around, apparently searching for someone, before speaking to her again, "My little sister, Bonnie, also travelling with us, but she's asleep at the moment."

She knew Serena, but listened to how she would introduce herself.

"I'm Serena, and I'm training with my friends here to win the Master Class and eventually become the Kalos Queen!" She finished with a smile.

Aria looked down on hearing the word 'friends'. That word always made her sad, no matter how happy she might have been the previous second. She excused herself from the trio and ran off towards the lake.

Ash, being the most experienced, sensed that something was wrong. He decided to follow her.

"Guys, I'll go follow her. Pikachu stay here allright?" With that, he ran off.

Pikachu let out a big yawn and went into the tent to sleep.

Seeing no one else around, Serena turned towards Clemont with a smirk, "He's gone. Want to continue where we left off last night?"

Clemont didn't reply. Instead he smirked and went over to Serena.

After running for a while, she reached the lake. She dipped her feet into the cool water and broke down. She kept crying until she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. Looking up, he saw Ash standing just behind her, without anyone else. She made an effort, and eventually stopped her crying to look at him properly

She just stared at him. She had not noticed Ash's face particularly well before, but now that she had, she noticed he was extremely handsome. A blush rose to her face on the thought that she might actually have her first crush.

Unbeknownst to her, Ash was captivated by her beauty too. Her spectacles and hat covered too much of her face to let him properly look at her. Ash was stunned. She wasn't just beautiful, she was gorgeous. Her pink hair, now let down, went below her shoulders, almost to her waist and her eyes were, surprisingly, a matching pink. And, without knowing it, Ash had also developed a crush on the Kalos Queen.

After almost a minute of staring at each other, Ash broke eye contact, his face all red. Aria then realized what she had been doing and turned red too. They stood in silence, avoiding all eye contact.

Ash spoke up first, "Are you allright?"

"Yes, I am. Thanks for coming though."

Ash looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "No, you are not."

Aria was shocked. Was she really this easy to read? Was she really this bad at hiding her emotions that even a stranger could read them. But, for some strange reason which she could not explain, she decided to trust Ash with a secret no one, except Palermo, knew.

"You're right." She sighed.

"What?"

"You're right. I am not fine. It's just that...whenever someone talks about their friends, I break down inside. I just cannot control it."

"May I ask, why?" Ash requested in a questioning voice.

Aria was stunned further. No one had ever spoke to her so gently and with such care before.

"I can tell you, but promise me that you will not tell anyone about it, not even Serena, Clemont or Bonnie." Aria demanded, but then realized, "You can tell Pikachu, though. I sensed that you both see each other as brothers."

Ash smiled at the description, but then turned serious. "I promise."

"Let's sit down, it's going to take time."

They both went and sat under a tree, leaning back on to the trunk. They sat close, closer than Aria or Ash had ever been to a person of opposite sex before. Their shoulders brushed against each other, and a faint blush rose on to Aria's face.

"I...had a difficult childhood. I lost my parents seven years ago in a car crash. My dad was a famous businessman while my mother owned a famous restaurant." Aria stopped.

Ash put a hand on her shoulder again and told her, "You don't have to continue if you don't want to, Aria."

Aria smiled at his kindness, but replied, "No, I will tell you. I have tried to forget it for far too long. Now, I have to take another way. Maybe, speaking about it will help. Now, do NOT interrupt."

"Anyway, I had my starter, Fennekin and some money. I was a good painter, so I roamed around Kalos for the next year, doing this and that and somehow managing a living. My dream was to become the Kalos Queen, Katie was my inspiration."

"I watched her PokeVision videos and trained Fennekin to be as graceful as possible. We kept on training and training, until we got better than ever. However, I didn't have any way of getting money to become an official trainer. Many of my employers told me to keep working, as rewards will come."

"I had given up hope, when one day, Palermo spotted me training. She came and told me that she was willing to take me up as her apprentice, and give me a trainer's license. She told me I had enough talent to become the Kalos Queen. I was so happy to get a chance to fulfil my dream, that I accepted her offer in an instant."

"The first few months were great. She made me better. I won my first three showcases easily. It was at the fourth one that I lost."

"Since then, life has become hell for me. Palermo became stricter and angrier, till the day I finally became Kalos Queen, two years after starting my journey officially. She calmed down later, so I passed that period off as a temporary thing. But, after some strong Performers retired from the circuit, I was virtually unbeatable. No one has even got half my points in the Master Class Queen battle."

"But, with that, came a price. Palermo pushed, and still pushes, me so much that I hardly have time to rest now. I can hardly socialize, since I go from stage to stage in a car, live in a hotel, and train the rest of the day. Let me emphasize this, I have no real friends. I know plenty of people who will be by my side when I am famous, but they usually stick with me to either use me for their benefits, or to get intimate. I have forgotten how many perverted men Delphox has had to throw away for me."

Ash looked down. He had never expected the happy-go-lucky, jolly, beautiful Kalos Queen to be going through so much. It was unfair. He said the only things he could utter, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for what happened. No one should have to go through all that. Everyone should have great friends who will stay with them through thick and thin."

"Yeah, life of a celebrity isn't all happy-happy-money. Most people don't understand this. The jolly, happy face I put on in public is a mask."

Ash looked at her, and then out towards the lake. He then stood up.

"Aria, will you please stand up for me?"

"Okay..."

She stood up and looked at Ash, who was thinking about something. After about a minute, Ash looked at her in her eyes and began.

"Aria..."

"Ash..?"

"I know that I can do nothing for the things that have already happened to you in the past. You did not have anyone to depend upon, you did not have friends, you do not have the love parents give. But..."

Aria wondered where he was going with this, she had noticed his use of 'did' and 'do'. But she could only wonder.

"I want to change that, and help you in any way I can from now on. I want to be someone whom you can always turn to in times of need. So, Aria, do you want to be my friend?"

Aria could not believe this. Ash, a stranger to her, wanted to be her friend. She wondered what on earth she had done for her first friend, first real friend, to be someone whom one could consider a gift from Arceus itself.

She was unable to speak, as her mind and body overflowed with joy. She jumped forward and took Ash into a huge hug, burying her face into his strong chest, and letting out all her stored-up emotions.

Ash was startled at her action at first, but then he gladly returned the hug, blushing a bit at his close proximity to a region-wide celebrity. He slowly rubbed her back, letting her cry into his chest.

They stood like that for about a minute before separating, and stared into each other's eyes. No words needed to be spoken, it was as if they had know each other for several years.

Finally, Aria brought up the courage to speak.

"Ash, thank you sooo much. You don't know how much it means to me, having a real friend, a person who treats me as a normal human being, at long last."

Ash just flashed her his signature grin, and replied, "It's no big deal. I am here, and I will guide you in the world of making great friends. You don't have to worry."

She smiled back at him, a true smile, probably here first one in god knows how many years. She looked down at her watch and sighed. It was late.

"I should be going now, Ash. It's late, and I have to reach Gloire early tomorrow. Call me later, all right?"

"I will, good luck in the Master Class, Aria."

"Thanks, and goodbye!"

"Bye"

As Ash and Aria depart to their beds, one to a camp, one to a hotel, both were extremely happy.

Aria was happier than she had ever been. She had got her first real friend, got out the burden of her parents' death, and met a fantastic new person in the form of Ash.

Ash was also happy at getting a new friend. Even though he had travelled through many regions, he had only a small number of great friends. He didn't know whether he was a good trainer or not, but he did know that he had great choice in friends. Brock, Misty, Tracey, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, not to mention his and their rivals and countless other important people like Cynthia and Drake.

As the two settled themselves into their beds, they knew their friendship would be great, celebrity status, or not.

Life couldn't be better for them two at the moment, and nothing could go wrong now.

Or could it?

That's the end of the first chapter. How was it? Love it? Hate it?

Please review for anything you would like to be improved, or if you have a question.

Flamers will be flamed back. The next chapter will start two months after this one.

Thank you,

Saptarshi