"It's done!"
As soon as the green check mark flashed across the computer screen, Bonnie gave Serena a high five. "I'm going to get the boys!" the tiny blonde declared, and she began to hurry towards the door of the editing room. As she turned the doorknob to exit, though, Ash startled her by thrusting the door wide open.
"I heard cheers and figured you were done! Can we see?" Honestly, Serena had never pegged Ash for the type of guy to get pumped about watching PokeVision videos. However, he was an incredibly loyal, kind, and passionate friend, so if his friends cared about something, then he would become enthusiastic, too. Serena couldn't help but smile as she saw the raven-haired trainer's sparkling eyes, brimming with excitement for the two girls who had spent the past few hours working on their project.
"Of course!" Bonnie skipped back over to the computer screen. "Whoa, Serena! Tierno already commented!" She elbowed the older girl playfully. "He really likes you, huh?"
Serena blushed slightly and shook her head. "W-well, I wouldn't say that," she stammered. "That's more like... puppy love." That was probably the best way to describe it.
"Puppy love?" Ash echoed. He plopped down into the chair beside Serena. "What do you mean? Because you're wearing Fennekin ears?"
The performer self-consciously brushed off the skirt and tail of her costume, feeling the blush deepening on her cheeks. "No, no, that's not what it means," she said with a small laugh. "Puppy love is... well..." How could she explain it? Bonnie was looking up at her expectantly, and even Clemont seemed slightly befuddled by this abstract concept. How was Serena supposed to explain this to a young girl and two dense boys? With a sigh, she fumbled around for the right words. "It's like a kid's crush. It's when you think somebody is c-cute or nice or something, but it's not quite… l-lo…" She turned back to the computer screen. "Let's watch!"
Ash scratched his head in bewilderment. "I don't really get it," he admitted with a chuckle. "There are different types of love?"
Bonnie now whirled around to face him with disbelief plastered on her face. "Of course!" she blurted out. "You don't love Pikachu the same way you love sandwiches, right?" She never failed to amaze Serena with her quick uptake of knowledge and her worldliness. She wasn't quite an inventor like her brother, but Bonnie was brilliant in her own way.
"Of course not!" Ash exclaimed, sounding horrified at the thought.
"Now, now, she wasn't implying that you did," Clemont cut in hastily, now that he had a grasp of the situation. "She just means that love for family, friends, and Pokémon are different than love for objects."
Ash nodded slowly. "Oh! Well, of course. That makes sense." He paused. "Yeah. I see." Was he trying to convince them or himself? He whirled around to face Serena again, locking his fiery brown eyes onto her patient, gentle blue ones. "Thanks for explaining it to me! I get it now!" he declared triumphantly. "I like rice and sandwiches and macarons a lot, but I love my Pokémon! I love my family! I love you! All of you!" He spread his arms wide to gesture to all three of his companions. "Something like that, right Serena? Uhh… Serena?"
Serena had buried her face into the keyboard, trying to calm down before her heart burst out of her chest. 'That was too sudden!' she thought as she struggled to fill her lungs with air once more. Even though his intentions were truly innocent and pure, the word "love" threw the young girl's mind into chaos. 'You can't just shout things like that without warning!' Apparently, he didn't understand quite as well as he thought he did. Hopefully he would one day, though.
Hopefully, when that time came, the boy from Pallet Town would say those words to her again.