DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon.

Hey! This is The Missing Fangirl again! The idea for this fanfic came to me yesterday morning when I was scrolling through random Pokémon pictures on Google Images. I hope you'll like it! I'll let you go now, so have fun reading!

Too Slow

-By The Missing Fangirl-

"Agh! It's a stampede of Rhyhorn!" I yelped. I held onto my hat and ran for dear life. Pikachu gripped tightly on my shoulder.

"You just had to try and hop onto one!" Bonnie screamed at me. She ran quickly beside me.

"Dedenne!" Dedenne gasped when it peeked through its owner's pouch.

I apologized. "I'm—" huff. "—sorry! I couldn't—" huff. "—help myself!" My blood was pumping, the adrenaline coursing through me. My legs were a blur underneath me.

Bonnie shot back, "You really can't restrain yourself at all, can you?"

"It's not his fault!" Serena defended me. "The Rhyhorn were just territorial!" She ran to my other side, her short hair flying back.

I looked at the two girls running beside me, then went back to look at the road ahead of us. Wait, was I missing something? I looked again. I almost tripped over my own two feet. Oh Arceus. "Clemont!" I yelled out. "Where is he?!"

Bonnie and Serena appeared to not have been listening. Their eyes were focused ahead.

I shrieked in a panic, "WHERE IS MY CLEMONT?!" Did I just say that?

That caught their attention all right. Serena raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my goodness!" The color drained from the youngest girl's face. "My big brother! He's still back there! He can't run very well!" She slapped her hands to the sides of her head.

"I'll get him!" I turned back to get my boyfriend. "I'm coming to get you, Clemy!" In the distance I heard Serena protesting. "Ash! You'll get hurt!" I shrugged off her comment.

There was a huge dust cloud and the silhouettes of angry Rhyhorn were behind it. A blur of blue and yellow caught my attention. Clemont.

"Wait, you guys!" He cried out. I noticed that his glasses were near the point of falling off his face. His pace was super duper slow, which didn't surprise me. Even in peril he couldn't run to save his own life! He held onto his backpack straps tightly, his knuckles turning white.

So cute...wait! I shouldn't be distracted at this moment! I ran faster than I ever ran before. One Rhyhorn was getting too close to the young gym leader.

I have to save him! On impulse I ordered, "Pikachu! Use Electro Ball!"

My partner Pokémon leaped into the air. "Pika," he summoned a glowing ball of electricity. "CHU!" Then hurled it at the Rhyhorns' path.

"Good job, buddy!" I praised my Pikachu. The horde of ticked off Pokémon halted for a second. Now's my chance! Without a moment to spare, I grabbed the inventor's hand and hoisted him off the ground.

"A-Ash?! What're you doing?!" He asked in disbelief.

"I'm saving you, that's what!" I smirked at him.

"Yes, I know you're saving me, but why like this!?"

I told him flat out, "Because you're too slow!" He shut his mouth, his cheeks a bright pink. There I was, running faster than the speed of light, with him laying in my arms. Bridal style. His arms were squeezing the life out of my middle, but I didn't care.

I caught up with the rest of our group. Clemont was actually pretty light. I'd have to talk to him later about his eating habits, I thought like the concerned boyfriend I was. The two girls stared at me, agape. But I didn't hear any objections from either of them. "This way, guys!" We turned sharply into the trees and watched as the Rhyhorn continued to dash along the path. We all let out a sigh of relief. That was close. Then we plopped down onto the grass.

Everyone was breathing heavily, because we ran what was similar to a marathon. I rested my forehead against Clemont's. I felt his cool breath fanning against my lips. We were so close...

"Uh, Ash?" He snapped me out of my thoughts. My head tilted up to meet his gaze. Our eyes met and this warm feeling spread throughout my body. I blushed a little. "Thanks for saving me out there. I really appreciate that." A hint of light pink dusted over his cheeks.

I grinned. "No problem, Clemy! I'd do anything for you!" Curse my big mouth! I'm really making things obvious now!

He blushed deeper. "Thanks." Then his mouth straightened out into a thin line. "You can let go of me now."

I flinched. Afterwards, I glanced at how we were positioned. The Lumiose gym leader was sitting in my lap, with our arms around each other. I forgot about that part..."S-sorry." I awkwardly let go of him and he scrambled off my lap. His face was completely flushed.

My ears were burning. I peered at the others to see if they noticed our little "predicament". I hope nobody saw that! Bonnie was busy feeding Dedenne Poké Puffs. Serena was looking through her belongings. The only off thing I noticed about her was how her lips were pursed into a firm line. She also had this strange look to her face. Was that sadness?

I wonder what she's sad about? I pondered for a moment. Eh, she's probably sad about something she lost. Probably. I shrugged and let out a sigh of relief. Phew! It seems like nobody saw that incident! I praised myself. Good job, Ash Ketchum. You're a real good detective!

I snuck a peek at Clemont, who was frantically fixing his appearance. He put a hand through his hair and flattened some parts. Then he went on to adjust his backpack straps and his sleeves. He's so cute when he's all awkward like that. The young inventor lifted his eyes and they met with mine. He gave me a small smile. My breathing hitched. His cheeks burned a deep pink, and he averted his gaze quickly out of embarrassment.

I leaned back to lay down on the soft grass, my arms crossed behind my head. Pikachu jumped off my shoulder and curled on my stomach. He looked at me knowingly, then went off to sleep. A smile played on my lips.

All according to my plan.

So as it turns out, Ash planned out the entire incident! The only one in on the plan was his partner Pokémon, Pikachu. I wanted to try and surprise you guys just a little, so I hope it worked!

My thanks goes to the users who reviewed on my last story! (I'm not going to list any names, because I'm most likely going to spell your usernames wrong... ;)) You guys are the sweetest! You're the source of my Diodeshipping drive! Thanks again for being so kind!

Thanks for reading! Please review!

~The Missing Fangirl