So, my one-shot "Nightmare" was a success... I think? For a small time one-shot, it at least got views, which I'm happy about! I was actually thinking of making this a trilogy. I've had ideas for two more one-shots based off "Nightmare" and this is one of them! This takes place roughly a few days after Ash gets his Noibat and has his Noibat race in Episode 77 of the XY Anime.
The last one-shot within this trilogy will be a tad harder to come up with as I originally wanted it to take place in Lumiose City. However, I will find a way to make it work. Ash won't be the main focus in the last part of the trilogy. He'll still be the main character, but he won't take the spotlight in the next one-shot I am currently writing. Look forward to it when it comes out!
I hope you all enjoy the new one-shot!
It's been a few weeks since Ash and Serena spoke about his nightmares and truth be told, he still suffers them. Luckily, they're as rare as finding Ho-Oh in a city. Both Clemont and Bonnie have noticed the two have gotten closer, with Bonnie often teasing Serena about in private. Clemont thinks Ash and Serena being close is a great thing, thinking they might have feelings. Sure, he figured it'd be awkward seeing them, let alone Ash, be romantic towards one another, but if it happens then that's awesome!
Best part about is that Bonnie has forgotten to find a wife for him as she does her best to tease the two, much to his happiness and to their chagrin.
Clemont noticed it was getting to be around the afternoon and they've been out on the road since 7 a.m. He surprised himself on the fact he even was able to walk for this long without getting tired! Maybe traveling with Ash helped him with his endurance? Most likely.
He figured the others were probably starving and truth be told, the moment he went to turn around and ask them, the entire group heard a loud rumble. They glanced towards Ash's stomach as both he and Pikachu laugh nervously and rub the back of their heads in unison.
"Eheheh, sorry, guys… guess I'm just a little bit hungry," Ash stated with a sheepish grin, a blush forming due to his embarrassment.
"Chu…" Pikachu apologized as well with his own sheepish smile.
Clemont let out a small laugh, "Ah, no worries, I was just about to ask if you all were hungry anyway! It's already the afternoon, so I thought it would be the perfect time to take a break!" He then let out his Pokémon such as Chespin, Bunnelby, and Luxray. They all muttered their name as they stretched rather merrily, waiting for food to be made.
"Great idea, Clemont," Ash praised his blond friend as he himself sent out his own Pokémon such as Frogadier, Fletchinder, Hawlucha, and his recently hatched Noibat. Noibat looked around as he saw his 'father', proceeding to fly to him and land on his shoulder.
Serena smiled, "It seems as though Noibat wants to be with his daddy!" she giggled as Noibat nuzzled to Ash, before flying to her, although rather facing some difficulty. Fletchinder and Hawlucha were prepared to catch the young bat if there was any signs of it falling. Luckily, a crisis was averted as it flew successfully to Serena and it seemed extremely proud of itself while perching on Serena's own shoulders.
She smiled and pet its little head as it sighed in pleasure.
Bonnie grinned, already with a way to tease them, "If Ash is the daddy, does that make you the mommy?" She asked with an innocent look, but that was betrayed by her snickering. She saw Ash turn red, looking away while Serena was trying to tell her to stop teasing, but fails as all she can do is stutter!
"Bonnie! Don't tease them right now! Come on and help me prepare the food for the Pokémon!" Clemont scolded her, causing Bonnie to pout but oblige to her big brother's orders. She loved helping!
"Coming, Clemont!" she exclaimed as she skipped to help prepare each dish for the Pokémon.
There was an awkward silence as Ash and Serena had nothing to say, but chuckle nervously at what Bonnie said. It's true, they did look like they could pass as the parents for Noibat. It seemed eager to be with her as much as it being eager being with Ash. Pikachu noticed the tension and scampered off, telling Noibat to come along.
Noibat let out a small whine, not wanting to leave, but Pikachu gave it a gentle smile, "Pika! Pikachu pipi chu!" it stated that there will be food for it to eat and that apparently worked as it glided down to Pikachu and followed it while turning to its 'parents' as if it needed permission.
Ash and Serena smiled at it and both nodded in approval, causing it to smile and follow Pikachu happily.
"Oh! I almost forgot," she berated herself lightly as she sent Braixen and Pancham! She quickly let them out and told them to go wait for the food to be passed to them. They quickly left for the food and it just left the two teens alone, just like last time.
Serena shuffled her feet shyly as she didn't know how to begin a conversation and truth be told, neither did Ash… not the way the situation was presented. He figured he could at least give his gratitude to her for all that she has done for him. It wasn't easy for him to let out his pain, but he did it and she was always there for him. She didn't even tell Clemont or Bonnie much to his pleasure.
Taking a deep breath, he started, "Serena?"
Said girl jumped a bit from her little shuffling, "Y-yeah?" she mentally cursed herself for such a weak reply.
Not noticing, or pretending to not notice at least, Ash smiled at her, "Thanks for… you know, the, uh, help," he stated with a bashful face. He wasn't used to being so 'soft' spoken about anything, not to this degree.
Serena blushed, but gave off a smile of her own, one that made Ash smile more, "It's not a problem, Ash. Like I told you a while back, I'm always here for you. You have nothing to worry about, not when I'm here!"
He nodded and another awkwardness enveloped the scene as they try to hopelessly end said awkwardness. It was tough. What could they say? What can they say?
She then heard Noibat chirp happily as it flew around before falling, but luckily Hawlucha caught it. Hawlucha began to pose like always and Noibat stared at it with an awestruck look. Serena giggled at the scene, it's like they were brothers and Fletchinder was the older sister to it.
"You know, Ash," she began, "they all look like a big happily family. Noibat is the baby brother and they're all trying to give it the love it needs. It just goes to show they got their caring side from you." She stated, giving him a warm smile as she held her hands together.
Ash beamed at the praise, giving off another blush as he scratched his cheek nervously, "I, uh, guess so! Thanks, Serena. It means a lot coming from you!"
"O-oh, really?" she asked with her own blush, looking at him with a bashful gaze.
"Yeah… I mean, yeah!" he grinned, "Who knows, you might have been a big influence on my Pokémon too!"
"Oh, I don't know about that, Ash. You pretty much shower them with affection!" she retorted happily.
"Yeah, but you also deserve credit! You're an amazing baker and my Pokémon love your Poffins! They can't get enough of them! You also help me with Noibat and it really trusts as you as much as it trusts me! You're no slouch either, Serena!" He giving her praises made him realize how special she is, there's literally no other girl that he knows like her.
She was silent to his praises and he decided to continue, "I think Bonnie was right, we are Noibats parents. We help it grow and get strong while also supporting it no matter what. You helping him in the race was incredible! I noticed you were so worried for it and how proud you were when it got 2nd Place! You pretty much are its mother and you know what? I wouldn't trade that for anything!"
Serena's face was turning an incredible, and worrying, shade of red from all this praise Ash is giving her. What can she say to that! To her, it was the sweetest thing he's ever said to her! She couldn't top that!
She then realized something, if he was giving her all the credit for being a mother to the young bat, she could give him praise for being a father to it as well! Plus, it might help him further with getting rid of those nightmares once and for all. Even though he doesn't get them as much as he used to, when he does, they're pretty bad. Luckily, he doesn't scream or anything, he just goes to her when morning rises and asks for her help.
She would never say no to him like that, not when he needed the help. That same day, when they woke up from their first encounter, Serena decided it was best to talk to his mom about it. She felt bad for pressuring Ash to giving her his mother's number, but when she did and the two began to talk: Delia felt like she was perfect for her son.
"Oh, Serena, you're absolutely perfect!" Delia gushed out at her when they began to talk. Serena never felt more embarrassed in her life, but she also felt glad that Ash's mom approves of her should they ever try to get into a relationship.
"Please help him out as much as you can, please… Ash is very sensitive to this sort of history that happened. I don't want him hurting himself or you over this." She remembered Delia begging, tears on the verge of streaming down her cheeks and Serena gave the most heartfelt monologue ever:
"Mrs. Ketchum, I promise you that I will. Your son has been a source of inspiration to me the day we met and the day we reunited. He has this motto that he once stated to me, 'Never give up until the end' and I use this motto every day. I care a lot for Ash and I swear, I'll do my best to make sure he won't suffer from those horrendous nightmares!"
She even felt her own throat lump up as she began to tear up from her own monologue, it didn't help that Delia was in tears. Delia was moved by the vow and even said for her to call her 'Delia' from now on, saying that she would be a perfect daughter-in-law, to which Serena had almost fainted hearing! That was a bit much! She clearly loved Ash, but marriage was too soon!
Delia had to laugh at the reaction and told her to not worry about that until later. The two hung up after they made their peace and gave Ash a smile letting him know everything would be alright.
Ever since then, Ash would always go to Serena and they never noticed how close they usually got to one another… until Bonnie started mentioning it to them.
"E-even if I was a great mother," she stammered while trying to force down her own blush, "you yourself are an amazing father," she stated with a smile. She noticed him flinch from being called a father and she knew it was still a sore subject, but she had to continue… for his own sake. "Ash, I know… but listen to me: you're very supportive yourself. You gave Noibat a chance to be able to fly; you encouraged it. You take care of it when it cries and have the best time doing so! Your Pokémon all love you, they trust you and they look to you for guidance. You inspire them to do their best and they want you to be proud of them, just like any child would want from a father."
It was his turn to stay silent as he absorbed what she said, was it true?
"Food's ready!" Bonnie yelled out as she motioned for the two of them to come on and eat! How long have they been standing there talking? The two looked disappointed in ending their conversation, but Serena smiled at Ash and held his hand, surprising herself more so than him.
"Why don't we discuss more about this later on?" she asked him, pulling him gently as she led them to the table to eat.
"Sorry, everyone… how long were we just talking?" Serena asked politely to Clemont, who merely thought about the stew being cooked and how long the preparations took.
"About 20 minutes, nothing too bad I hope?" he asked as he glanced with a worried expression, especially since Ash stood there silent.
Luckily, it all ended as Ash grinned, "Nope! Just a good pep talk between the two of us! I was just worried about my next gym badge and Serena gave me a good talk to lift my spirits up!" He half-lied, there was an obvious pep talk, but not about gym badges. Clemont successfully believed it and offered them scoops of the stew, to which they both accepted.
Ash glanced once more at Serena and whispered in her ears, "We make amazing parents, don't we?"
She had the biggest blush, but she turned to him anyway and nodded with the biggest grin, "The best!"