A Valentine's Day Carol
An Amourshipping Fanfiction
By Taeuk Nam
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
In Lumiose City
It was Valentine's Day, a time for couples and romance and love. At least it was for Serena Yvonne, a young girl traveling in the Kalos region with her friends.
She had a huge crush on Ash Ketchum, and everyone was aware of it. Well, almost everyone, that is. Ash himself was not. He was, quite possibly, the densest human being in the entire Universe.
Serena decided that today was the day to change all that. She would ask him out on a date today. She braced herself, popped the question, and hoped for the best.
"Hey Ashy… Since it's Valentine's Day, and this is the city of love, would you… go out on a date with me?" asked Serena, sheepishly.
"But we are out on a date, Serena. We're outside, and today's date is February the 14th!" Ash replied.
Everyone facepalmed.
"Just forget it…" Serena pouted, sad about the "rejection".
Later that night, when Ash and Serena were asleep in their hotel rooms, Clemont and Bonnie had a plan to get Ash and Serena together. They had plenty of help, as well. They had called in many of Ash's friends, rivals, and friends' rivals to help them, for they were also sick with Ash's density.
The group had gathered themselves in the Hotel lobby, and Clemont was explaining the plan to everyone.
"I'm sure everyone here has read, or at least heard of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Scrooge starts as a jerk, ghosts scare him in his sleep, and then he becomes a nice guy. Is everyone familiar with that?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well, we are going to do the same thing with Ash. We are going to change his dreams to mimic this footage I collected earlier, with everyone's help. The "ghosts" will have to be acted real-time, as they must interact with him. Does anybody have a question?"
"Ummm… How are we going to influence his dream?" Brock asked.
Clemont's glasses flashed. He adjusted their position on his face.
"The future is now, thanks to science! Clemontic gear activate! Dream influencer, ON!" Clemont yelled out his catchphrase.
"Now, for his first visitor, will Red Ketchum please step on the platform and enter Ash's dream?" Clemont requested.
In Ash's dream
Ash was in the middle of a pleasant dream, where he was counting all of his 9008 badges from 1126 regions.
"How many badges do I have? Oh, right, I have OVER 9000!" Ash thought to himself.
All of a sudden, Ash was back in his room. A visitor awaited him.
"Awww Man! I was having such a pleasant dream!" Ash pouted.
"Hello, Ash. I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Have a seat." Red said, to his son.
"I've heard of your journeys in Kanto, The Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. I'm very proud that you've done so well, but I'm here to tell you that there is more to life than Pokémon. I learned that when I met your mother."
"I know there's more to life than Pokémon, dad." Ash said, a bit offended.
"You do?!" Red asked, in surprise.
In the lobby
"He does?!" everyone also asked, being able to see Ash's dream on the large screen.
In Ash's dream
"Of course, dad. There's also food!" Ash replied.
Red, along with everyone in the lobby, facepalmed.
"… I meant romance… Oh well, you'll be visited three more times, so you have plenty of time to be enlightened. Goodbye, Ash!" Red said, fading away.
In the lobby
One would think that the group would be upset, but they were not. This was tremendous character development for Pokémon! Ash had finally spoken with his father, and had matured as a result of it.
Clemont was calling up the next visitor, one that would show Ash of his past.
"Can Serena Yvonne please come up to the platform and enter his dream?" Clemont asked.
Serena came up, but it was not the current Serena. Rather, it was Serena from the past.
Everyone gasped.
"I asked Celebi to take me to the past, so I could borrow her and take this footage." Clemont explained as an eight-year-old Serena climbed onto the platform and went into Ash's dream.
In Ash's dream
Ash was again having a nice dream, this time of being at a restaurant with an all-you-can-eat-for-free-buffet. He was just in the middle of biting into a Bacon Cheeseburger when again everything disappeared, and was back in his room.
A young Serena was waiting for him.
"Awww… Not again!" complained Ash.
"Tee-hee! I'm taking you to the past, so you can see your former self, and how much of a gentleman you were!" giggled Serena.
"And how do you plan on accomplishing this?..." asked Ash, slightly sceptical.
Serena snapped her fingers.
They were instantly teleported to Viridian forest, three years prior.
Ash and eight-year-old Serena watched silently Serena's flashback. Flashback Serena had hurt her knee, Flashback Ash came and comforted her, helped her up, pulled her in for a hug, and held her hand as he led her safely out of the forest.
In the lobby
"That's Ash?! What happened to him?" everyone asked, puzzled.
"… You'll see." sighed Clemont.
In Ash's dream
Serena, as sad as she was to do this, changed the location to Ash's house, Two years later than the flashback.
Red and Delia had just been divorced, and Ash wasn't dealing with it too well. Flashback Ash was in his room, sobbing. He couldn't believe that his family was… well, no longer a family. He clenched his teeth and made a solemn promise to himself that he would never love, at least romantically. He never wanted to be in this kind of pain again.
"Ready to tell me the truth, Ash?" asked Serena.
Ash nodded.
"When this happened, I couldn't stand the pain. I swore that day to never have romantic feelings for anyone again… Not having the heart to reject girls' advancements towards me, I pretended not to understand. But I do love you, Serena." Ash said, grimly.
"I… I'm sorry I had to remind you, Ash. The next Visitors show will be much more cheerful. Don't worry." said Serena, fading away.
In the lobby
Everyone was brought to tears by Ash's confession.
Even while he was requesting the next visitors to come up, Clemont was choking up.
"Will Drew Hayden and May Maple please come up and enter Ash's dream?" he managed.
"We managed to turn Ash's obliviousness into hostility. At least we can now honestly talk to him about the subject…" May said, while she and Drew entered Ash's dreams to show him what it was like in the present.
In Ash's dream
Again, Ash was having a pleasant dream. He dreamed that he was having a Pokémon battle with Xerneas, and he was just about to capture it, when suddenly he was back in his room.
He saw two visitors this time.
"Three times in the same night? Come on!" said Ash, disappointed.
"Hello, Ash. We've come to show you the beauty of romance!" said May.
"Where should we take him, love?" asked Drew.
"To see how couples are spending Valentine's Day, of course! First let's take him to our date." Replied May.
Drew snapped his fingers, and the three of them were at a fancy restaurant in Hoenn. They observed the couple on their date.
Footage Drew was feeding Footage May some soup. Later they were looking into each other's eyes, and Footage Drew broke the silence by kissing Footage May.
The real May and Drew snapped their fingers again, and they were in a cinema in Sinnoh, where Footage Kenny was putting his arm around Footage Dawn, who was stuffing her face with popcorn.
May snapped her fingers once more, and they arrived at the Cerulean Gym in Kanto. Footage Tracey was feeding Footage Misty Chocolate-covered Strawberries.
"Now, what did all three scenes have in common?" asked Drew.
"They were all… eating food!" said Ash, stupidly.
Drew, May, and everyone else facepalmed.
"I thought he wasn't dense." said May, puzzled.
"I think he's just not as dense as we thought, which is still not saying much." replied Drew.
Ignoring the insult from the obnoxious green-haired Co-ordinator, Ash thought long and hard.
"I know! They were all happy!" said Ash.
"Precisely our point! We ought to give more credit to you, Ketchum." said Drew, acknowledging that Ash was slightly less of an idiot than everyone thought.
"I… just don't want to hurt anyone. Which is why I refuse romance." said Ash, in a serious tone.
May sadly said to Drew, "Do we have to go there?"
"We… have no choice. Drew snapped his fingers, and they were in Serena's room.
Footage Serena was burying her face into a pillow, sobbing over Ash and his rejection, if it could be called that.
"See that?" asked May.
"You're hurting your love because you're denying her the affection she deserves." asserted Drew.
"I… didn't know…" said Ash, falling to his knees.
"Remember what we've told you, Ash." said May, as she and Drew faded away.
In the lobby
The group was cheering. They were THIS close to making SatoSere a couple. There was only one more step until sweet, sweet, victory.
Clemont was calling up the final visitor, who would show Ash the possible futures. He was none other than…
"Paul, please come up to the platform and enter Ash's dream." Clemont stated.
In Ash's dream
Unlike the last three times, Ash was not enjoying his dream at all. The guilt of making Serena suffer so much was unbearable. He was debating whether or not he should ask Serena out. He was starting to lose his mind, when Paul showed up.
"… I'm taking you to the future. Or at least how it'll be if you don't…" Paul trailed off.
"Ask her out?" asked Ash.
"…" Paul snapped his fingers and there was nothing but static.
"What? How did this…" started Ash.
"You didn't ask her out, she left the show, and the fans all boycotted the Anime." Paul stated, breaking the fourth wall.
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Ash, falling to his knees. "What will happen if I do ask her out?"
Paul snapped his fingers again. They were at a route. Two ten-year-olds: a girl with Serena's looks and his black hair and brown eyes with a Pichu on her shoulder, and a boy with Drew's green hair and May's blue eyes with a Budew in front of him walked side by side.
"The girl's name is Leaf. Leaf Ketchum. Yours and Serena's. The boy is Drew Hayden Jr. May's and Drew's." Paul explained.
Ash became determined. He would make sure that Leaf would be born, that Pokémon would survive more generations to come. And that He and Serena would be wed. He just had to ask her out.
Paul faded.
In the lobby
The group was ecstatic, but there was something that Clemont had to do.
"Celebi, could you please take young Serena back to her own time? And make sure she doesn't remember this? Also, we need you to turn the clock back to the dawn of Valentine's Day. Could you see to it that Serena doesn't remember anything that happened today?" Clemont asked.
"Celebi! (Okay!)" replied Celebi.
There was a flash of blinding light.
In Ash's room
Ash was waking up, and was determined to ask Serena out. He heard knocking a the door. He opened the door, to find his future wife waiting for him.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ashy!" Serena said, excitedly.
"Valentine's Day?" Ash asked.
'The Gods must be giving me another chance' thought Ash.
He saw a rose on the counter and gave it to Serena.
"Awww… Ashy... That's so sweet!" commented Serena.
"Why don't you and me go Luvdisc fishing?" suggested Ash.
"Okay!" agreed Serena.
The two held hands and walked to Kalos Route 12 with their Old Rods and Inkay with the Suction Cups ability.
"I love you, Ashy…" confessed Serena.
"I love you too, Serena." Ash confessed as well.
And all was well.
The End