After Serena's first Showcase victory, it was decided that it was too late to set off for Anistar City, so the group voted to spend the night in the Dendemille Pokémon Center. So late, in fact, that Clemont has already put Bonnie to bed (he had thought of retiring himself, and he hasn't returned, so it is assumed that he already did fall asleep).

That left Ash and Serena by themselves on opposite sides of a wooden bench outside the Center. The former and his Pokémon are just finishing up a late night snack of Poképuffs baked by Serena, and the latter with her own team admiring their first hard-earned Princess Key.

One last Poképuff is in the basket of sweets. Ash swiped it off the basket first, but Pikachu nabbed it from his hands with his teeth. And then Frogadier suddenly snared Pikachu's hind leg with his tongue, and the pulling motion caused the puff to rapidly fly vertically into the air. Before Frogadier could jump up and grab his prize however, Fletchinder swooped in and grabbed it by his talons. And then Halwlucha executed Flying Press from an even greater altitude, making the two birds get entangled among themselves while still in the air. Hawlucha swatted the Poképuff out of Fletchinder's reach, sending it careening back down to the ground, right on Noibat's lap, who immediately swallowed the whole thing in one loud gulp. Oh, the irony of it all: After a free-for-all for a single Poképuff, the one who got it in the end was the very Pokémon who didn't even participate in the melee.

Defeated, Ash sat back down, looking dejected. Serena couldn't help but smile a little. "You do know that I can just bake you guys some more Poképuffs, right?"

"Well, yeah," Ash replied, "but being the last one in a batch makes it all the more desirable, Serena."

Serena shook her head. "Have it your way then." From out of nowhere, she procured another box. "Ta-dah!" Opening the box, the contents revealed more Poképuffs. "Fourteen Poképuffs. Two each for all of you, so hopefully you won't have to fight for it like the last one." Just to make sure, Serena herself was the one who handed two apiece to Ash and his Pokémon.

While Serena was busy giving the remaining four Poképuffs to her own Braixen and Pancham, Ash had already devoured his share. All his Pokémon must have sensed it, so they ran off to different, very distant corners of the lot just to get away from him. "Wait, it's not like I'm gonna steal from you guys!" Ash protested aloud. Not a single soul believed him. "So, all that camaraderie and power of trust goes out the window when food is involved huh?"

Having extra food denied him, Ash decided to try getting some sleep, but he just couldn't. His chin on one palm while the elbow is on the table, he turned his attention to the girl sitting across from him. Serena, who was twirling the Key ring in her pointer finger, didn't seem to realize she was being watched. At least, until he spoke to her.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Serena. About...your hair."

If Serena wasn't paying attention then, she certainly is now. She looked like she was about to jump out of her skin when Ash mentioned her hair, of all things. Her back still turned to him, she asked, very, very slowly, "M-My h-h-hair? Wh-What about it, A-Ash? I never would have thought that you'd bring a subject like that up..."

As flustered as Serena is, Ash (of course) still doesn't seem to pick up the fact that she's embarrassed to talk to him about it. "How long has it been since you cut your hair?" he pressed on. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

Absently counting the days that passed with one hand and twirling a lock of her hair into a curl with the other, Serena nodded. "Yes. I guess it's been a long time since then. I really didn't count how long, though. But you still didn't answer me: why bring it up all of a sudden?"

Lifting his head up just so he could rest his chin on the table itself, it looked like Ash was leaning closer, with his stomach even hitting the table's edge. Serens still isn't facing in his direction, but she could definitely sense it. Her imagination was running wild as a result. "I dunno if you noticed, but has it started to grow a little longer again?" he inquired.

Surprised, Serena pulled a mirror out of her pocket, and started examining her hair. "Really?" she asked. She was sosurprised, even she didn't seem to realize it! Or was it just Ash's imagination?

"I never would have thought my hair would grow back so soon," Serena said, angling the mirror several times for closer inspection.

With that in mind, Serena was reminded of a question that she wanted to ask him ever since that event, but never got around to it. "How about you tell me something, Ash." There was no stuttering this time, but Serena was choosing her words carefully, so the speech came out still a bit slow and drawn out. And with good reason, too. "Do you think I look better with my hair short like this, or when it was long, like back then?"

There was a very long pause from Ash's front, making Serena think that either he couldn't find an answer for her, or (what was more likely in Serena's own opinion) already gone fast asleep. She'd immediately find out that it's more or less the former.

"I'm really not the guy you want to ask for that, Serena," Ash muttered, "since I really don't care what hairstyle you have."

Serena gave a loud sigh. 'Just figures that you wouldn't,' she thought to herself. But, boy, she isn't totally expecting what Ash would say next.

"Besides, you really look cute whatever style you decide to put your hair in."

From a distance (give or take 100 kilometers or so) it looked and sounded like a volcano just erupted violently. The real source of the "disturbance" isn't actually a cause of alarm, though...

Standing up abruptly, Serena decided to cut this conversation short. "Well, will you look at the time?" she asked rhetorically, and all in a very fast clip. "Wereallyshouldturninnowit'sgettinglateandyoudowanttohaveabigstarttomorrowonourwaytoAnistarright?"

Eight pairs of eyes watched in astonishment as Serena raced back inside the Pokémon Center, completely neglecting to return Braixen and Pancham back into their Pokéballs. Scratching his head, Ash asked them, "What's gotten into her?"

All he got was a pair of shrugs. They were just as stumped as he was. Rolling his eyes, Ash just took Srena's Pokéballs and withdrew Braixen and Pancham himself. He doesn't notice that Pikachu, off to the side, was also shrugging, but for a completely different (perhaps even opposite) reason.

The next morning...

"Rise and shine, everyone!" Her impromptu alarm clock "buzz" was enough to wake the rest of the twerps, but Serena pulling the curtains wide open, spilling sunlight right into the bedroom was, her way to make sure.

"I know she's happy about winning her first Princess Key, but I would have thought she'd be saving her energy until the next Performance," Clemont said with a big gaping yawn. "And we should very well save ours..."

While rubbing her eyes, Bonnie turned in the direction of Ash's bed, who only covered his face with his blanket to try filtering the sunlight. "How about you wake up, too, Ash?" she said, tossing one of her pillows at him.

There was a muffled "Ow." from both Ash and Pikachu under the sheet. Who would've thought a bundle of feathers could make a great weapon. "I'm awake, I'm awake," he groggily replied. Bonnie tapped him again ("Just to be sure,." what she said).

That was not the end of Serena's morning vigor, taking the lead by several feet while her friends, all of which are still sleepy, followed sluggishly. "Come on, you Slowpokes!" Serena called and waved out to them. "Ash, whatever happened to that excess energy you always show whenever the prospect of an upcoming gym match is in your sights?"

Clemont fell on his backside, trying to catch his breath. "Now I remember how she wasn't this happy about winning the Showcase. Just WHAT happened to her?" He turned to Ash, who, for once, was as exhausted as Clemont was. "You were with her outside the Pokémon Center last night. Do you know what happened then that invigorated her like that?"

"Uh," Ash immediately thought back to Serena's weird behavior last night which only confused him more, "I think I'll get back to you on that..."

Before Clemont or Bonnie could make sense of what he said, Serena called out to them again. "C'mon, you all have had enough rest already. The sooner we get to Anistar City, the sooner I might get inclined to finally tell Ash something I've been meaning to tell him since, well..." Even from a distance, even though she quickly turned away, the tint in her cheeks was very obvious.

Bonnie's eyes shifted suspiciously and she turned left. Clemont did the same, turning right. And Pikachu, on Ash's head, looked straight down, This caused Ash to feel uneasy, since three pairs of eyes are now piercing him inquisitively, from three different directions.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, don't look at me like that," Ash said, springing to his feet. "Serena's right, we have to make up for lost time! Let's go!"

Shaking her head, Bonnie followed in pursuit, as she muttered with a shrug, "And he still doesn't get it..." Now doesn't that sound familiar?