Lights of Laverre
AshXSerena.
Chapter 1: Enchanted Expectations
"Ash..." Her voice called. "Do you think we'll always be together?"
The raven haired trainer turned around, to see his female companion's delicate eyes.
"Always." He confidently replied.
But "together" simply wasn't enough. She felt she needed more than that.
As she walked on, watching him surge ahead to the next city, Laverre City, she pondered over the moment she would finally tell him. Time had passed, and the group walked on, tired from the struggles of another long route.
The faintest sound of Fletchlings grew brighter and more welcoming with every step. The smallest glares of sunshine splashed with every gap in the trees. Emerging from the dark and dangerous swamp of Route 14, the "Laverre Nature Trail", were the four bright, young travellers of Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie. While they had to brave eerie depths to make it past the trail, their spirits were not dampened, as Serena pulled out her Kalos guide, the group knew they were close to Laverre City, location of Ash's next gym battle, and Serena's next Showcase. While they believed they were about to advance through another city as per usual, little did they know that by the time they left, things would be a little different.
Serena was particularly keen to arrive in Laverre, following heartbreak in her first Showcase, she had made changes and was eager to put things right and claim her first Princess Key. Walking along with her close friends by her side she began to realise that she was "fired up", a phrase usually only associated with Ash. Over time she had realised just how much of a family the group had become, and looked down to her side to see Bonnie, as ever full of life, eager to explore. They were like sisters, and judging by her grin she was just as excited to reach the next destination. Serena gave a bright smile to Bonnie, who beamed back.
"Are you looking forward to arriving too?" Bonnie asked while jumping up and down.
"Of course! Right now I'm looking at Laverre City on my guide, maybe I'll get the chance to meet Valerie at the Laverre Gym!"
Serena beamed back, with her voice getting higher the more the anticipation grew. The word "gym" suddenly triggered Ash's attention, the boy she had known for years and finally got the opportunity to travel with. If anything, Serena thought of it as like a dream, yet his priorities always remained as one would expect.
"Is Valerie the Laverre gym leader? I wonder what kind of Pokemon she uses."
The raven haired trainer questioned. His sights were immediately set on how he would defeat her before he even knew who she was. Typical of Ash. Yet she liked that in him, for as long as she could remember, Ash was full of heart, and was relentless in aiming to achieve his dream. Serena examined her guide further;
"She is famous throughout Kalos for her gorgeous taste in fashion! Not to mention the fact that she's so pretty! Her bond with her fairy type Pokemon is something so unique!"
Serena began dreaming of encountering Valerie, she had so many questions, and idolised her. Maybe she would have some tips for her upcoming Showcase.
"Alongside that, Laverre City is famous for being enchanted with fairy type Pokemon-" Clemont tried to add, but was suddenly interrupted by his younger sister.
"Fairy Pokemon like Dedenne? I hope we find lots of cute fairies!"
She beamed as Dedenne poked his head from her bag. All of this talk of cute fairies and beautiful women was not exactly clicking with Ash's mind.
"Fairy type, huh... Looks like I'll need to do some training!" He clenched his fists in eagerness, and once again Ash's fire had been lit.
His blazed spirit was fitting of the current season, spring had bloomed, and was meeting the beginning of summer. The temperature had crept higher, and finally the group emerged, and there it was before them, Laverre City. A metropolis of mushrooms growing from all corners, small, traditional houses crowding around the huge tree that stood proudly in the middle of the city, much to the amazement of the group. The scenery was beautiful, the city was already sun-baked and gloriously teeming with golden leaves amongst the greenest of branches. "That's the gym!" Exclaimed Serena, and the group began running with joy towards the epicentre of the bustling, yet traditional city. The sheer size of the gym took their breath away, yet Ash straightened his hat, and made that confident grin that immediately told everyone he meant business. Ash had put his game face on, and the anticipation for his sixth gym badge had soared. Meanwhile Serena had a closer look at her guide.
"Laverre... Named from the flower 'lavender'. Has connotations of purification, the easing of tension, and spread of calmness." She immediately felt more peaceful just by reading, and then turned her head to admire the amber-eyed boy as he approached the door. She took some time to think by herself for a bit, and deep thought pondered for a while.
"The easing of tension... Maybe this time nothing will go wrong in my Showcase. Maybe then Ash will also begin to understand me, and realise what I simply cannot put into words. I wonder what he thinks about when he's not battling... The truth is, there's a lot I want to say, and there's a lot I've tried to do. Maybe he doesn't quite understand, or maybe he perhaps chooses not to understand..? I don't know if I sometimes overcomplicate things that can be so simple. I suppose you could say that about my last Showcase, when I overdressed Fennekin, and maybe it's the same with Ash. If I offered him my hand, I wonder what he would think... Would he doubt? Would he decline? I came so close during that 'date'. Was it a date? Maybe... not, maybe yes. No yes it was definitely a date!"
The more she thought to herself the more she realised she was probably over-thinking the situation; but still, she remained naive to how quickly times can change in a matter of days.
Some things never change though, after all, there he was, marching towards the front door ready to bellow his voice across the room to whoever had the task of answering his pleas to battle. There was no stopping him once his sights were set. "Don't give up 'till it's over" he once said to her. The truth is, nothing is over with Ash, "maybe I should do the same" she thought.
"Hello-! I'm Ash from Pallet Town and I'd like to-" His proud announcement was drowned out by a sea of women passing boxes around frantically like the tide was coming in. You could see Ash's excitement vanish as if a candle had just been blown out. Suddenly the flame was gone, as bemusement struck to signify that maybe today wasn't going to be Ash's day.
"Maybe there's an event or something going on later..." Serena gently said as she appeared behind Ash's shoulder. He dashed over to the counter to ask the receptionist if there was a chance he could battle, but his worst fears were immediately confirmed. He then slowly waltzed back to the group, and Serena couldn't help but smile at the dejection in his eyes. He had the excitement of a little boy, which Serena found adorably sweet.
Ash took his hat off and scratched his head for a bit, he didn't know what to do at this point. Bonnie took this opportunity to whiz off amongst the women to continue her quest for a suitable candidate to become Clemont's wife. The women were dressed in brightly coloured traditional kimonos, and certainly caught the attention of the young girl. Her energy was infinite as she dashed from one confused woman to another, bellowing a chorus of "S'il vous plaît!" each and every time. Her efforts were admirable, and so were Clemont's as he tried to catch his sister and save himself from any further embarrassment. Ash and Serena looked on at Clemont's woes from a distance, and could only laugh at his failings. While the other two were caught up in their own business, Serena galvanised on her rare opportunity with Ash.
"There are always other things we can explore first in the city, Ash!" She said with open eyes to flatter him. He tried to force a smile, and looked back into her gazing eyes. "I suppose so..."
"If it's okay with you, we can-" She pushed to release her potential date-creating-sentence but suffered more rotten luck with an interruption, it was the receptionist.
"We're terribly sorry about the inconvenience caused. Today we are hosting a fashion show, hosted by Laverre City's very own gym leader, Valerie. You are very welcome to browse our exhibition ahead of tonight." she said in a calming voice. Serena put her hands together in glee, her eyes lit up in front of Ash to ask: "Can we look at the display?" It was at this point that Clemont returned with a sulking Bonnie caught in his Aipom arm.
"You know you'll thank me for this one day..." Bonnie groaned.
"And you'll thank me for teaching you that you can't suddenly propose to random people you've never met before. You need to charm them a bit first, obviously." He replied almost boastfully.
"And you'll do that with your science?" She began to tease. Clemont adjusted his glasses.
"Mhm, of course." he said with a smirk.
Just as Bonnie was about to open her mouth a voice from afar conveniently intervened to prevent a domestic brawl from beginning.
"The Lumiose City gym leader!"
The group turned around to see a small green haired boy dashing towards them.
"I recognise that face..." Clemont thought.
"Gym Leader Clemont! It has been a while! What brings you here though?" the boy excitedly exclaimed.
"I'm here learning and travelling with Ash. We are all travelling together." he politely replied.
"Wow, it's a pleasure to meet you all! I'm Sawyer!" he introduced himself eagerly, he was smaller than Ash, Serena and Clemont but slightly taller than Bonnie and had the look of a beginning and naïve Pokemon Trainer. Everyone introduced themselves, however deep down in Serena's mind she was slightly flustered at how her chance with Ash alone had suddenly turned into a situation where the group had suddenly gotten bigger. Nevertheless though, she thought it was nice to meet a new trainer, who was keen to learn from Ash after Bonnie raved on about his gym badges and victory against Clemont. He seemed just as excitable as Ash, and so it wasn't any surprise that they hit it off instantly. Serena's sense of dejection began to linger; he's just met a new trainer, surely this means he wants to battle?
"We're going off to look at the display ahead of tonight's fashion show. You guys coming?" Ash announced, he seemed to have claimed back some energy, but why would he be excited for a fashion show? Serena was suddenly alerted and taken back. Doesn't Ash want to go out to train and battle?
"S-so we can go?" she quivered.
"Sure! It's something you'll like, right?" Ash replied confidently. She suddenly had a burst of excitement and happiness. But those words, "It's something you'll like"... She blushed slightly. Maybe he was thinking about her after all.
Bonnie ran on up ahead, and Serena soon followed. Ash felt a small hint of satisfaction watching them go off like that, but couldn't help keep an eye on his battle tomorrow now that Sawyer was around to watch. The boys walked along behind them, and found a nearby bench to talk over battles, which Ash had been itching for so much he was probably getting withdrawal symptoms.
Up ahead Bonnie and Serena were surrounded by gorgeous dresses and kimonos. Braxien had come out of her PokeBall to browse with the girls.
"Hey Serena I wonder what you should wear for your next Showcase?" Bonnie asked while examining an Umbreon-style dress.
"There's so much to choose from! Maybe, something Ash would perhaps choose would be nice..." She said with slight hesitation. She was getting that warm feeling again, something she only felt when thinking about Ash. She turned around to see if he was there to ask his opinion, but him nor Clement or Sawyer could be seen. In the midst of their browsing, little did they know of two girls watching them from the curtains..
"They'll do just fine." One said to the other, before disappearing back into the shadows.
The browsing girls then saw a certain Hawlucha swoop down from the sky and could not help but laugh upon realisation.
"Oh Ash..." she thought to herself.
Ash was a dense character, but she knew that patience would eventually reward her. One way or another, she would make him notice.
"Maybe I should ask him later."
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the first chapter! Hopefully this is the first of many stories. This one I wanted to realistically keep in line with the current anime proceedings and so the first parts of the story are a bit of a slow-burner, and are going to be heavily based on the events of XY73. While maintaining the adventure element to the story, I also wanted to introduce a feel-good factor, as we're all ever so close to summer now. Hope you've enjoyed, and stay tuned for the next chapter where events begin to change..! If you could leave a review, I would really appreciate it!