"Aria, bien-aime. You're on in 5."
"Thanks."
Aria, the Kalos Queen, was busy getting ready for her performance.
What performance?
It had been a fan request, a concert to celebrate her success as the top idol.
Aria, wanting to please her eager audience had agreed in no time.
It made her smile, seeing how far she had come.
She had started her Pokévision creating career as a hobby. Something that her dear Fennekin and her wanted to try together, just for fun. Originally, she only intended to show it to her family and friends.
Needless to say, she was a natural. Her family saw an opportunity to profit from it and display their shining daughter to the world. They sent it to a professional producer.
The rest was history. The product that came out almost immediately become a hit and all of sudden she want from normal girl to Pokémon idol.
It was then she decided to become a performer, using her talents to entertain the world. She did not know what to expect, but she certainly wasn't expecting her performances to take the entire region by storm. Within only a few of her performances, she took the top spot on the charts and became the Kalos Queen.
She sighed. It sounded like a dream. At times it felt like a dream. But it wasn't without difficulties.
Her so-called friends became insanely jealous of her. She had tried to help them make Pokévision videos like hers, but none of them turned out right. Hers was the only one that ever got produced.
It didn't help then whenever she was planning on hanging out with them or at least making up, her deadline for the next Pokévision or performance loomed ominously in the way. She couldn't help that. After all, the Pokémon Performer thing more or less became her life right under her own nose.
Her friends thought that she was showing off.
She wasn't! She hated that they thought they way. But no matter what she tried, she couldn't convince them otherwise.
And when she had gone to her parents for help, they told her to distance herself further from her friends. 'Focus on your career', They said.
She stopped trying. She gave into the loneliness. It was part of her job, she guessed.
And she did love her job. Showing off the bond between trainer and Pokémon...she couldn't think of anything she'd rather be doing.
Sure, it got lonely at times...but she still had Fennekin.
Well, Delphox now. She was after all, always trying to deepen her bond with Pokémon. So she was still training. Battling was a somewhat entertaining distraction. Her parents didn't approve, but they let it happen and she appreciated that. She felt battling deepened the bond between her and her Pokémon the most.
There was so much room for their bond to grow even now. She had thought that their bond had been deep enough. But ever since she saw that incident on TV...
She was just going to watch one of the upcoming talents perform in a contest. But when she turned on the TV, every channel she saw showed a Garchomp shooting Hyper Beams on top of Prism tower in Luminose City. There was a boy there, with two of what could be assumed to be his Pokémon, a Pikachu and a Froakie, trying to calm it down.
The whole situation seemed surreal. Was it a movie? No, the breaking news label suggested otherwise. Then...this was real? Her whole body tensed when she realized the danger the boy was in. Surely, Garchomp would destroy him. And on top of a tower no less...who let him on top of the tower, for Arceus sake?!
And then she watched astounded, as the boy walked up to the Garchomp. Did he have a death wish? But then, a few tiny movements later, she couldn't see exactly what happened due to the camera being so far away, but the Garchomp miraculously calmed down.
She sighed in relief. Perhaps the boy was Garchomp's trainer. She knew Garchomps could be hard to control, so that boy must of had a nice bond with his Pokémon. A small smile sneaked it's way on her face when she saw a joyous Pikachu and Froakie dash up to their trainer.
And then the ground under Pikachu broke and everything went to hell.
Horror was all she could feel when she saw Pikachu fall. Complete utter horror. That Pikachu was dead, no doubt about it. And she could not feel anything but horror. The poor trainer...
But she didn't have time to feel horror for long. Before she even knew it, he had jumped as well. And it was without thought, without hesitation. The boy had just jumped off of Prism Tower for his Pikachu. While he was falling he kept reaching out to it. He had even positioned so as to fall faster! And he caught Pikachu and hugged it tightly, likely hoping that when they hit the ground, his body would cushion the impact for it.
She didn't know it in the moment. But afterwards she figured out that the boy had just thrown away his life for his Pikachu.
It was thanks to a Mega Blaziken that the two of them both survived. She couldn't believe that this wasn't a movie. There was no way someone would do that in real life.
But the facts were there. The news broadcast kept going. The people around Luminose were real. It would be some time before she realized how violently she was trembling, as she turned to her Fennekin in awe.
The way Fennekin's (now Delphox) eyes shined at that moment. Her own heart had felt like it stopped. She couldn't believe that someone would go so far as to jump off a tower for their Pokémon...
She learned something that day. The bond between Pokémon and trainer was much deeper than she could have ever imagined. The mere fact that he would even throw away his life for his Pikachu...it was clear that it was more than just a mere partnership between trainer and Pokémon. She longed to be as fearless as that trainer, maybe one day even meet him. That boy was an inspiration to her and all other Pokémon Performers everywhere. Or at least he should have been.
The broadcasters never even mentioned his name. She shook her head in disgust. How could they not even get his name?! Although, why that irked her so much she didn't exactly know...
"Aria." Pierre, the director of her next performance, poked his head back into her dressing room. "Show's about to start. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Pierre." she called back.
Pierre nodded. "Give them something to talk about."
No problem, she thought.
"Come on, Clemont, move it!" Bonnie's impatient voice called out to her brother, who was lagging behind the group.
"All right, all right!" The poor older brother was panting hard. "C...Could you please slow down..?!"
"No way! If we slow down, we might miss Aria!" Bonnie explained to her silly brother, while Serena buzzed excitedly in agreement.
The group was headed toward Aria's rare live performance. Serena and Bonnie adored the idol, she was so cute and talented! To actually be given the chance to meet her in person was an opportunity they could not miss.
Ash, well, to be perfectly honest he'd rather be going after his gym badge. But, the girls reasoned with him that seeing an actual idol up close and in person was an amazing and rare occurrence. It didn't bother him too much after he heard that. And after all, he loved seeing a good bond between trainers and their Pokémon, and there was no doubt in his mind that they had one after seeing their previous performances. It was obvious that a top Pokémon star would take good care of her Pokémon.
She was a cutie after all. That Fennekin was.
Clemont, well, let's just say he was along for the ride. Pokévisions were more of Bonnie's cup of tea. Of course, he knew who Aria was and why the girls were so excited to meet her, but he felt he better take a back seat to this event. He was just going to accompany Bonnie- and keep an eye on her. Lest Bonnie tries to get Aria to be his wife. Clemont hastily shook his head. How embarrassing that would be!
"There it is!" Bonnie pointed ahead in excitement.
Sure enough, a huge crowd of people bubbled around a theater building. The group managed to get inside. Clemont did a double take as he examined her fans.
"ARIAAA!" A balding middle-aged man dressed in a pink shirt with a Delphox design cried out near the front of the stage.
"I LOVE YOU ARIA!" A fat and nerdy looking guy boldly proclaimed around two rows back of the first guy.
"BACK OFF, PERV!" And all of a sudden a bunch of roughnecks wearing bright pink shirts labeled LOAFD were jumping on the poor guy and pummeling him into the ground. Security guards rushed over the scene and had to force them to separate. Once they managed to do so, they dragged them out of the building.
"Wait! I did nothing wrong!" The pudgy guy tried to defend himself. "NOOO ARIA, I'LL BE BACK MY LOVE!"
Clemont looked on in disbelief. What in the world?
"Hey, hey!" Bonnie spoke up getting his attention. "I can't see! There's too many tall people here!" She tried fruitlessly to jump around them. "Gah, forget this! I'm moving up!"
"Bonnie, wait-!" Clemont called out to her. But it was too late. The girl had already disappeared into the massive crowd.
Well, there was no way he could let her be alone, not in this crowd of roughnecks, creepers, and...was that guy making out with Aria's face on a T-shirt?
Clemont shuddered. "We have to find Bonnie!" He called to Ash and Serena.
"Huh? Why?" They asked together.
WHAT?! WERE THEY BLIND?!
Not bothering to answer, Clemont grabbed both their arms and dove into the crowd.
The guy licking the T-shirt stopped and handed it to a little girl.
"See? Daddy got it all off." He consoled the sniffling girl. "Don't cry anymore, okay? Just be careful where you drop your ice cream next time, alright?"
Aria backed away from the curtain she just peeked out of in disbelief. What was with this crowd? And, yes she had performed before and in front of many different types of audiences, but she wasn't expecting a demographic like that.
But there was also that girl, the one in the front row wearing the red hat. She recognized her. Serena wasn't it? As famous as she was, Aria had met a whole bunch of people in her career and she couldn't remember every single one of them. But Serena; she stood out to her.
And she knew that Serena wanted to be a performer. Just like her. There was something nostalgic about seeing a girl like her, especially since she had a Fennekin as her starter as well.
All right. At the very least she could put on a show for Serena and her friends. Show what a top performer can do.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at the curtain with new determination. No matter who came to see her performance one thing would remain constant. She would perform. Someway, somehow she would show them what they wanted to see. There was no question about it.
Aria prepared her big entrance.
"Bonnie? Bonnie?!" Clemont called frantically dragging a very winded Serena and Ash through the thick crowd.
"Big brother! I'm over here!" cried Bonnie.
"Bonnie!" Clemont shoved through a couple of bodies and burst through to find Bonnie. "Bonnie!" Clemont grabbed his sister and embraced her. "Don't run off like that!" He sobbed.
"Mmph! Clemont, let me go!" Bonnie yelped in a strangled voice. "I'm perfectly fine!"
"HEY!" A guy shouted behind them. "What do you think you're doing to that little girl?!"
"He-He's ASSAULTING her!" another horrified man yelled.
"What?! We can't let that happen!" Suddenly a group of men that had the LOAFD gang shirts surrounded the siblings.
"LEGION OF ARIA FAN DADS GO!"
And with that resounding shout the group grabbed the aghast inventor and super threw him into the back of the crowd. Some of the men cheered, while others went to comfort Bonnie.
"Don't worry missy, he won't come near you again."
"He just got loaf'd!"
"And if he comes back, we'll pummel him to pulp."
"Uh..." Bonnie stammered, looking perturbed.
The group of men eventually finished celebrating and moved back to where they were standing.
Serena nudged Bonnie. "Shouldn't you have said something?"
Bonnie simply shrugged.
"Hey the show's about to start!" Ash said. Serena and Bonnie looked at him incredulously. "What?" He looked around. "Where's Clemont?"
Before the ladies had a chance to answer, the lights dimmed and the curtains opened. The crowd fell silent in anticipation.
The spotlight came down on a cool and collected Pierre, who had made his appearance unnoticed. He dressed in slick black clothing from head to toe, his top hat covering his bowed head.
"Je t'aime," the announcer spoke. "My mes amis who all love Pokémon very dearly, I'm sorry for the wait. I am monsieur Pierre, your host. Well, then! Let's get this performance by the lovely Aria under way!"
The crowd clapped politely and the spotlight dropped off Pierre, who vanished as quickly as he appeared. There was an excited buzz among the audience as they eagerly awaited what came next.
Out stepped Aria in her thin white tank top and colorful red and yellow striped skirt. Her red hair glimmered in the light, making everyone catch their breath. Elegantly, she stepped toward the microphone, positioned at the center of the stage, her Delphox following her in the same collected manner. In one fluid motion, she reached out a long white glove to take the microphone out of its holder, just as she has done so many times before, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the atmosphere. Delphox patted her shoulder reassuringly and she opened her eyes with a wide smile.
"Hello everyone!" She announced to the crowd. And with that silence was broken as the crowd erupted in cheers of admiration.
"Wow, she's so cool!" Bonnie eyes beamed. Serena nodded in agreement. For her own performing career, she needed to study the best very closely. She was studying so closely, she didn't even notice the little blonde girl inch closer to the stage and realize her intentions until her dreaded words left her mouth.
"Okay, I've decided! Aria's a keeper!"
And before Ash or Serena could react, the younger sister climbed over the protective railing and jumped onto the stage.
"Bonnie?!" Serena called out in alarm, realizing what she was about to do. She looked toward the security guards, but they were just standing there with a smile on their face, clearly not expecting any sort of threat from the petite little girl. They were going to let her have some fun.
"Aria!" Bonnie called out to the bewildered idol. She knelt down in front of her and held out her hand. "Please take care of my brother!" The question caught the mic and was broadcasted to the entire room, which instantly quieted down again after hearing it. Ash and Serena silently cringed for Clemont, who was still somewhere in the back of the room.
"Wh-what?" The surprised idol stammered "Ta-take care of...?"
"Right!" Bonnie confirmed.
"Wha...What are you talking about?" asked a bemused Aria. Had she been in this situation before? Somehow it felt that way.
"My brother! I can't keep looking after him forever. So I need to find him a reliable wife! And I think Aria would make a good wife!"
"A-A wife?!" Aria repeated in complete bewilderment.
The crowd stirred and started to mumble their discomfort for the situation. Serena once again peered over toward the security guards. They were having a fit over there, looking like they were trying hard not to fall over laughing. Poor Clemont.
Aria tried to comprehend what she had just been asked. This girl...wasn't she with Serena? Then it clicked. This was the girl who had made the same request before, when she was in disguise! Why in the world was she here asking her to be a wife again? Before she could say anything however-
"NOOO!" In a surprising display of speed, Clemont burst through the LOAFD men, through the barriers, onto the stage, and used his Aipom arm to snatch his sister. "Bonnie, I've told you to stop doing that! This is so embarrassing..." He looked down in shame.
The knocked over members of LOAFD got up.
"Hey! That's the guy who assaulted that little girl earlier!"
"How disgusting! He'd go that far?!"
"Get him!"
The hoard of men known as Legion of Aria Fan Dads rushed the stage and in one messy pile of bodies transferred Clemont with Bonnie on his Aipom arm to the back of the building once more.
"I hope you'll think about it!" Bonnie, safety elevated by the aipom arm above the dogpile, called out to Aria.
"IGNORE HER!" A muffled Clemont desperately yelled.
The group of bodies rummaged straight to the outside of the building, leaving the crowd in stunned silence and one dumbfounded idol standing in the middle of the stage.
Aria was in a mental state of panic. What in the world was she going to do now? What was she going to say to follow that? And why was the little kid talking about her being a WIFE of all things?!
She looked at the crowd, a little bit emptier without all the LOAFD men. In fact, the demographic changed from too many to too little. There was no possible way that all children were here on their own. Did the men really just leave their kids behind?
There was maybe one guy in the crowd left. Well, one that was at the front of her stage anyway. It was a boy wearing a red hat and a Pikachu on his shoulder. She identified him as another one of Serena's company. The one who was really into the battle she was having with Serena at the time, she remembered. She couldn't quite place it, but he kind of looked familiar, even back then. But that couldn't be right- she didn't have many friend in general, let alone boy friends. Er, that is to say friends that were boys.
"Say something!" A voice hissed out from behind her, quietly so that only she and maybe those in the front row could hear. She took a peek back and saw Pierre's harried head popping out of the curtain. Clearly, he didn't expect this to happen either. "The show must go on!"
Right, Aria told herself. The show must go on. She couldn't just stand here. Maybe she could pretend that never happened and start again.
"Hello everyone!" she announced again. The crowd stirred and turned their attention to her. That's good. Now to further rile them up. "Who's ready to see what Delphox says?" It was a catchy line she had come up with and the crowd gave a cheer. Not nearly of the same volume as it had with all those loud men, but nonetheless there was a cheer. All right. Time for the first act. She struck out her arm in the proper position for the first act and-
"Non, non, non!" Pierre hissed out to her. "We don't have enough time for the first act any more! The commotion took too long! We need think of something to do that will be shorter and fast!"
Aria froze in her tracks. A different act? True, the ruckus at the start took a lot of time, but...just what was she supposed to do now?! The crowd was slowly turning from excited to restless. The ones at the front who could hear Pierre, including that boy, looked on in concern. She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. This was turning into a disaster. If she couldn't perform here, with her popularity as high as it is- no. She couldn't even think about that. She had to do something. If only she could think of something to do, if only someone would help her out, if only-
"Aria!" The boy in the red hat called out to her. He jumped over the railing and onto the stage, his Pikachu jumping off his shoulder to land on the stage. "I challenge you to a battle!"
Aria blankly stared at him. "A battle?" She looked at her Delphox.
"Yeah! A battle is a great way to show the bond between you and your Pokémon. And we can show off your appeal."
The security guards finally woke up. "Hey-" One called out stepping forward.
"No, wait." Aria stopped him. She closed her eyes. A battle would be a good way to show off Delphox in a shorter amount of time. And she had a pretty good batting technique. This was it. It's perfect. "I accept."
The security guard's mouth dropped open in shock. Behind her, Pierre fell over. A battle? Was she crazy?
The boy smiled. "All right!" He cheered. He leaned down to talk to his Pikachu and as he did so, she was able to take him in.
The red hat he wore had a shape similar to a Pokéball with the top half of a white semi-circle as its logo. He had an athletic blue shirt with white stripes and sported a pair of casual jeans. His hands were covered with gripping gloves and a red wristband. She was sure she had met him somewhere before meeting Serena. But who was he?
And that Pikachu...
It clicked. This was the boy..this was the boy who was on TV! The one who jumped off Prism tower to save that Pikachu...was that the very same Pikachu?
She could barely contain a gasp. Their bond was so close, she could practically feel it. Delphox beside her looked at them with the same admiration that she had that day when they saw it on TV. It was him. This was the boy. The one that she wanted to be like. Her idol. And she was about to have a battle with him?
Her mind flurried around thoughts in a panic. What was she going to do? That's right, she couldn't keep referring to him as "the boy" could she? His name!
"Wh-What's your name?" She stammered squeakily. Her mic made an awkward sound. She cursed herself silently for making a casual error presenters should never make, but there was no way she could speak normally in front of him, the guy who she had worked hard so as to achieve a bond like he had, and the guy she had longed to meet.
The boy looked up in surprise. She almost hit herself. He had introduced himself to her before hadn't he? How could she forget? Nonetheless she couldn't take back what she asked now.
The boy gave her a soothing smile, making her heart unexpectedly skip a beat for some reason or another. Standing up he announced. "My name is Ash, from Pallet Town. I'm journeying to become a Pokémon master."
She nearly fell over right there. A Pokémon master? Now she understood where the bond came from. A Pokémon master was something many wanted to be, but few ever stick with. Even fewer succeed. The road to be a master was littered with challenges and almost certain failures; most people would give up before they even hit 10 years old.
But a Pokémon master...she looked at his pockets. Sure enough, a gleam of light caught her eye. Of course, he has gym badges. He's an experienced battler and if he came from Pallet Town, in Kanto, he undoubtedly has fought there as well. What did she get herself into? There was no way she could realistically match up against someone like that. She was about to get her Delphox crushed on her own show!
"Hey can we get a ref?" The boy named Ash spoke to the curtain.
As if walking to his death sentence, Aria saw Pierre answer the call. He tried to catch her eye, but she desperately avoided it. The look on her face would not reassure him at all.
"Ahem.." Pierre cleared his throat. "The...the following will be a 1v1 battle between Aria and Ash from Pallet Town. Both trainers will use one Pokémon and the battle will be over when one is unable to continue." Pierre shut his eyes and stiffened, preparing for the worst. "Battle begin!" He choked out.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded immediately. And without a second of delay Pikachu shot a giant, astounding, Thunderbolt from his little body that looked like it had come from the sky itself. Simply too awe inspiring, Pierre the ref straight out fainted. Before Aria or Delphox could react, the attack hit its mark.
"Delphox!" Aria called out in panic. Delphox had fallen to the ground and dropped her stick to cover her head, but it was far too late. The deadly looking attack had hit and it was possible she was out already. What a terrible way to start a show, losing like that. However, Delphox opened her eyes in confusion. Slowly, she stood up and looked at Aria. She shook her body to test it out. "Del!" She said to Aria happily.
Aria couldn't believe it. Her Delphox appeared completely unhurt. She gazed incredulously at the boy.
Ash shot her a wink, completely throwing her off her train of thought.
"Wow! How cool! Your Delphox is totally awesome Aria, being able to shake off an attack like that."
Aria looked at him. Was he...holding back? To let her Delphox appear better? She looked at the Pikachu, who simply had a mysterious smile on its face. To shoot an attack that looked like that, it must have been powerful. But was the attack itself suppressed? No...an attack like that would make an impact no matter where it hit. She took a closer look at her Delphox, and this time she noticed.
A small blackened crater in the stage next to her beloved partner marked the place where the Thunderbolt hit. Somehow, all that magnificent power was focused on one small spot. She couldn't help but be admire the spot despite the situation. To concentrate a Thunderbolt like that at one small area...that took skill. Pikachu was obviously well-trained. But it was a little odd. If they were able to aim a powerful attack like that in one specific spot, surely they would have hit Delphox? Delphox did not move after all. Maybe...perhaps Ash ordered Pikachu to miss on purpose then, to spare her appearance?
But that would be just too good to be true! And yet, Ash's face, as well as Pikachu's grin...an attack like that, had it hit, they would be sure to know. The attack after all, was powerful enough to create a mini-dent on the stage. So...they really did miss on purpose, then? A thought struck her: was that what they were talking about before the battle while she was checking him out?
Not that she was checking him out! She told herself quickly. His wink was doing strange things to her mind...
"How about you attack now?" Ash prompted her, snapping her out of her thoughts. Right, she was in the middle of a battle.
"Delphox...Flamethrower?" She commanded her in an uncertain, quiet voice.
"Come on!" Ash whispered to her urgently. She looked at him. "Do it like you did before! Mean it!"
Right, she thought. After all I'm a performer.
"Delphox!" she called out clearly. "Show him our Flamethower!" She finished with a pose.
Delphox jumped in the air and shot a Flamethrower at Pikachu. Although she had trained it to look magnificent, it's actual power was not too great. It may leave an impact, but there was no way that Flamethrower would take out that Pikachu.
But when it hit, Pikachu let out a cry of pain and and was thrown back a bit, landing on its back. Sure enough, it looked like it just got defeated. But no doubt was in her mind, that Flamethrower could not have possibly hit as hard as that. Pikachu was selling the blow.
"Wow!" Ash said. "That's one powerful Flamethrower! It looks like it wiped out Pikachu in one hit!" There was a slight pause as no one did anything, not fully taking in the moment. A look of annoyance came over Ash's face but he quickly covered it with his smile. He looked over toward Pierre and directed his statement at him. "It looks like it wiped out Pikachu. In. One. Hit." He repeated with emphasis.
Pierre the ref, who had since regained consciousness, broke out of his stupefaction and weakly got to his feet.
"The winner is...Aria?" He weakly announced as if he couldn't believe it.
There was a silence from the crowd. Then Serena, at the front of the stage, started to clap. She was joined by the others in the front row. Soon, the entire building was filled with tumultuous applause.
"Way to go Aria!"
"I knew you could do it!"
"You're the best Aria!"
Aria looked at the cheering crowd. As usual, she felt the satisfaction of being admired, but unlike usual she also felt a bit guilty. That Ash...he threw the match. She was certain of it. She didn't earn these cheers, they were given. From him. She had to thank him and she had to do it now before she felt any guiltier, before she was forced to think too much about him and his cute face..
What was she thinking? She shook her head and turned toward him-
But he was already gone.
Ash leaned against the wall outside the building and sighed heavily.
"Pika?" The yellow rodent looked up at his trainer. Ash smiled down at him.
"You did great, buddy."
Still, he couldn't believe he did that. Throw a match, that is. He reviewed his plan in his head.
He had heard the young man-he must have been the stage director- whisper to her that they couldn't do the first act anymore, after the Clemont and Bonnie incident. He had a front row seat and a clear view of Aria's face. The poor girl looked completely lost up there, needing something to fill the time before her second act. So he did what he did best. He acted spontaneously, jumping up and challenging her to a battle. The idol's face went from one of confusion, to thoughtfulness, to confidence. It was a perfect way to pass the time after all. But, once he showed his Pikachu, he saw her face turn into panic. At that moment, he was a little confused, she shouldn't know too much about him, and Delphox against Pikachu wasn't a terrible matchup. But maybe she was worried about her Delphox getting roughed up.
And then the thought occurred to him-if Delphox got hurt, and she needed it for her next acts...
He mentally kicked himself. Having a battle was a TERRIBLE idea. He couldn't hurt the Delphox, so what was he gonna do? He had to throw the match. The thought gnawed at him. He didn't like to lose on purpose, but what he was going to do? He'd have to get back at Clemont for this. He leaned down to instruct Pikachu. He told him to make his attacks look amazing, but off target, and get knocked out on the first hit. Luckily, his buddy seemed to understand.
To try and explain the situation during the battle, he winked at Aria. But for some reason or another, she had looked even more flustered after it.
After the battle was over, he had to leave. He couldn't just stand there in the front of the crowd as if nothing had happened. So he moved back outside. Hopefully, everything would work out alright for her.
Music came out of the building. Interested, Ash poked his head back in to steal a peek at the show. The idol and her Pokémon were there in the middle of the stage, glowing brightly. Ash smiled. This was where they belonged and he could see it. The girl was in her element and it showed.
It helped that she was a cutie.
That Delphox.
Reviews appreciated!
I had the idea in my head that Aria was going to be a love rival for Serena since her second appearance. I even had an explanation for why I thought that way! But then her appearance when they met suggested that wasn't going to be the case. Ah, well, I had already planted this idea so I might as well act on it.
This may become a two-shot. That's what I originally intended, but I felt my second chapter was so cheesy, I hesitated on releasing it. I'd have to work on it a bit more.
Thanks.