Before I begin this one-shot, I really want to thank all of you who favourited, followed, reviewed or even just read my previous story. It made me extremely happy at that and made me want to write some more. So, here's Letting By!
I don't own Pokémon.
LETTING BY
Ash stared into the night sky, countless thoughts flowing through his mind. Watching the stars by the river bank really brought about a sense of calm and peace within him. It also allowed him to focus on how far he reached in his quest to become a Pokémon master and how much further he would have to go to attain the title. It also gave him time to think about a certain Pokémon performer that had captured his heart and how much she had changed; from the day he met her in Professor Oak's summer camp to her first Pokémon showcase and even her recent Master Class performance. It gave him a sense of pride and other mixed emotions and feelings, love namely. There were also times he would also endlessly dream about his future with her, this time being his wife.
"One step at a time Ash!"he coaxed himself, weakly smiling at his inner turmoil.
"Ash!"
Ash jumped at his name being called out suddenly, by the one in his thoughts. He quickly got rid of the dark red blush on his face before facing the girl behind him.
"Mind if I join you?" the girl asked shyly.
Ash patted the ground beside him in response. "Go for it Serena."
He stared at her, mesmerised by Serena's gracefulness, as she eagerly sat beside him. Serena did not notice the male staring at her and took out a brush from her backpack, before beginning to brush her hair.
The silence between the two was not awkward. On the contrary, it was the most comfortable silence ever, till Serena decided to break it by making small talk.
"Do you do this often? The whole collection of thoughts thing?" she asked.
Ash shook his head in reply. "Not often, I only get to do this at times like this. No upcoming events, other than the Kalos League, and having just witnessed one of the best Performers of all time perform today," he replied.
Serena felt her heart twist and turn at his reply. No doubt he was talking about Aria. She wondered when there would be a time when he would hold her in such high regards. Felling a little depressed, she stayed quiet to see if wanted to add on by pouring more salt into the open wound of her heart.
Ash on the other hand seemed oblivious to Serena's crestfallen demeanour and continued as though nothing happened. "I am actually glad to be travelling with her, I got to learn so much from her. I'd be willing to bet that without her, I would still be stuck in the Santalune City Gym."
Serena eyes shot wide open as she heard this. Was Ash really talking about her? She began blushing at him calling her the best Performer ever.
"Ash," she began slowly. "Are you talking about me?"
"Yeah," he said, confusion etched on his face. "Who else would I be talking about?"
"I thought maybe you were talking about Aria, or Shauna or even Miette! I spent too long preparing…" Serena rambled on, nervousness obviously affecting her.
Ash simply grinned at her. He slowly took both her hands in his and said, "I, with absolute certainty, can say that you are the best Performer. Now if only your insecurities weren't astronomically high…"
Serena's face exploded into many shades of red as he said this. No one had ever held her in such high regards, ever. Her previously depressed state instantaneously changed into one radiating happiness and pure joy. She then leapt into his arms, unable to contain her emotions.
"Thank you so much Ash! I have never felt so happy in my life before!" she whispered through the hug.
Ash's face took a light shade of red. Nevertheless, he held the girl of his dreams in his arms, loving every second of it.
"Ash, I really wish I could be in two places at once. That would mean that I get to follow my dream and yours simultaneously," Serena said, through the hug.
"Two places at once?" Ash asked. "How would you accomplish that? And more importantly, why?"
Serena broke the hug, much to Ash's chagrin, before forcefully saying, "Never mind that, it was just wistful thinking. We should probably go for dinner now, Clemont and Bonnie must be waiting for us."
Ash couldn't help but feel as though Serena was hiding something from him. But since she ended the discussion there, he decided to drop it too.
Serena packed her brush and grabbed her backpack before heading to the campsite where Clemont and Bonnie were cooking dinner. As she grabbed her backpack, she failed to notice a card fall out, the one given to her by Palermo after her Master Class showcase.
Ash noticed it falling to the ground in front him. He picked it up and glanced the name written with a neat handwriting. "Palermo," it read.
Right under this name was a 10-digit number, written with the same neat handwriting. A phone number, he deciphered.
Suddenly, Ash brought his hand before his mouth as realization struck him like lightning. Serena's 'wistful thinking' as she put it, suddenly made complete sense to him.
"Serena," he whispered softly. "Why were you hiding this from all us? Why did you hide this…from me?"
…
…
…
"Serena, why is Ash taking so long to come?"
"Dunno, I could've sworn he was following suit."
Clemont sighed and looked back at his watch. 10 minutes, he noted, since Serena had returned and yet there was no sign of Ash. Eventually, Clemont gave in and voiced his concern.
"Go look for him. Bonnie is rather impatient for dinner, so I'll feed her and then we'll head out to look for Ash, okay?"
Serena nodded in reply. She set out to the spot on the riverbank where Ash was last seen.
As she approached Ash's hideout, she saw him sitting in the same place as earlier. He had his back facing her and by the looks of it, had not moved an inch since she first found him.
"Ash! What's taking you so long? It's time for dinner," she called.
Ash neither turned to face her nor made any indication of having heard her.
"Ash, what's wrong? Why aren't you responding?" Serena asked.
The raven-haired trainer still had not made any movement to acknowledge the Performer behind him.
"Ash, I hate being left in the dark. Tell me what's bothering you!" Serena asked, feeling frustrated at Ash's silence.
Suddenly, Ash whipped his head around, his face reflecting the number of conflicting emotions in his mind. His eyes radiated such indignation, fury and resentment that for the first time in her life, Serena felt an emotion she had never felt when around Ash.
Fear.
"You're the one with a problem," he growled. "And you want ME to tell what my problem is! Such a hypocrite, Serena."
Serena did not seem to understand. "Why am I the hypocrite? I haven't hidden anything from you, honest!"
Ash however was not convinced. Instead he began laughing, laughing so hard his sides hurt. Serena stood before him, watching him, confusion etched on her face. She didn't find anything funny in this matter.
Ash then held out Palermo's card out before them. And now Serena understood why he was so vexed.
He had connected the dots. And the outcome was her secret.
"I haven't hidden anything from you, honest!" he remarked sarcastically. "Darn right you haven't! Tell me, when were you going to tell us about this?"
Serena simply stood there, not uttering a word.
"Wow you hadn't even planned on telling us! Aren't we all such good friends, hiding matters of such importance behind our backs?" he continued in the same sarcastic manner.
Serena wanted to say something, to deny everything he claimed against her, but words failed her.
"Well seeing as you're still with us," he said, in tone so icy, it made her skin crawl, her blood cold and her heart shatter. She was not used to hearing Ash speaking to her like that, or anyone for that matter. "I'm going to assume that Palermo gave you a choice between travelling and becoming her apprentice. So, I'll make the call for you here."
Serena's mouth opened in shock to what Ash just said. Nevertheless, she waited for his judgement, fearing the worst based off the current proceedings.
"Obviously go for the apprenticeship. We were all going to separate and leave each other eventually, weren't we? You just saved us some trouble."
And with that Serena's world came crashing down. Never had she heard such hurtful words, especially from someone as admirable as Ash.
"Ash," she croaked.
"Leave," he replied coldly.
"Ash…please," she cried out, her eyes threatening to spill tears, as she grabbed his jacket.
"Just…just go. Please. You'll save me the heartache," he said firmly while pulling himself away from her.
And with that, the male got up, threw Palermo's card at her feet and left the crying girl to wallow in her sorrow, with pure indifference to her plight.
Once he left, Serena fell to the ground, becoming an absolute wreck of emotions. She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that something so ghastly would have ever occurred. Tears cascaded as she felt the huge hole in her heart were Ash's words had stung her.
Her best friend had effectively ended their friendship.
"No,"she thought sadly. "This was all my fault."
This resulted in more tears flowing out onto her face, with the force of running tap, as she curled into a foetal position, waiting for the pain to recede. Time passed ever so slowly, each passing second seeming like an hour.
To her, it was difficult to say the least as to how much time had passed since she had curled up into a ball. Her clothes were messy from the ground of the riverbank, her hair frizzy from the constant tugs of frustration on them but her appearance seemed to be the least of her worries, contrary to her usual attitude.
"Ash…how am I ever going to set things straight? How can I get you to forgive me?" she wailed out loud.
"You could start by laying your cards on the table."
Serena slowly turned around to face the raven-haired trainer, now much calmer than earlier. He was incredibly poker-faced; his face conveyed no emotions at all.
"Beats having him angry,"she reasoned.
"You've been out here for nearly two hours. Let's get you some food," he suggested, still remaining stoic.
Serena slowly rose from the hard ground that had been her abode. She then ran and gave Ash a big hug.
"I'm so sorry Ash! I had no bad intentions!" And with that, resumed her constant downpour of tears.
She noticed that Ash had neither returned her hug nor had said anything. Looking up from his chest, she could see that a bit of remorse and regret had overtaken his face, a big change from earlier.
"Clemont has left us some dinner," he eventually said, to which Serena immediately reacted.
"And before you say anything about Clemont, I already met him earlier."
Serena then shut her mouth, knowing that Clemont was aware of everything. Ash could really read her like an open book.
Ash broke the hug, before grabbing the girl's hand and heading towards their campsite in the forest.
…
…
…
The walk remained rather uneventful, with both teenagers walking side-by-side in complete silence. Both seemed to be testing the waters, unaware of what the other was thinking. This continued until Ash decided to break the silence once they reached their campsite.
"Well here's your dinner. Hopefully, it isn't too cold."
Serena sat on the bench and watched Ash do the same on the opposite side and begin eating like he'd never seen food in his life, just as he usually ate. The two of them were all alone (Clemont and Bonnie had gone to sleep as Ash told her earlier) and she would've considered it highly romantic but after today's events, Serena considered it to be pure, rotten luck.
She was terribly famished, as her stomach craved for the food in front of her, but her hands seemed to have had a mind of their own, resulting in her poking her food, something her stomach did not accept.
Ash noticed her actions contradicting her usual cheerful attitude and immediately recognised the cause of it. He then addressed the Mamoswine of a problem affecting the two of them.
"Look Serena, I'm sorry for getting so mad at you earlier. The card had struck me home, even though my behaviour was arguably not the best way to react to it," Ash said, looking upset.
Serena looked up from her food to see the distraught young man staring at her with hopeful eyes. Ash had shown her sides that he never had before, emotions that he had never expressed before, actions that he never took before. Today was a day she wouldn't forget.
"I should be the one apologising Ash! I shouldn't have hidden something so big from the three of you," Serena said, countering his statements.
"Don't worry about it," Ash reasoned, as he placed his hands over hers to comfort her. "This decision affects you more than any of us and it's only fair that you get to decide."
"No, I will-"
"Forget what I said about laying your cards on the table. Leave them in your hand if that's what you truly desire," Ash said softly.
Serena froze. "What?" she asked.
"Learn from Palermo if that is what YOUR mind desires, YOUR heart desires, YOU desire," Ash said, pointing at her every time with a small smile. "You'll definitely fare better under the guidance of an experienced Performer, like her, over an average trainer, like me."
Serena felt tears leaking out of her eyes, which she considered extraordinary considering the ocean she filled today. "Are-are you…letting me go?" she cried.
Ash nodded as he rose from his side of his table and started making his way towards his tent. "Maybe it's for the best," he said warmly, with his back facing her
Only now when placed before the prospect of losing her friends did Serena understand how important they were to her. Should she leave, she would miss out on all the exciting adventures and memories that the four of them would create. Her mother had always said that everyone understood the value of something or someone only when they were about to lose it.
Now that made complete sense to her. She was ready to make things right, set things straight.
…
…
…
Ash fell face-first onto his sleeping bag, without even bothering to change his clothes. He had been under such an emotional rollercoaster today that his clothes were the least of his priorities. Right now, his top priority was making sure that Serena made the right choice and supporting her through it.
"Man, today has been such a long day," Ash mumbled to himself as he tried to go to sleep. Maybe that would be his cure to the heart-wrenching sensations he felt.
Due to him being occupied with healing his bloodless scars, he never noticed the zip of his tent open, revealing a girl, nor did he notice this girl jumping onto him, giving him the tightest bear-hug ever.
"I don't care what you think, I'm staying."
(A/N: Story ends here. Continue reading below if you'd like. Credits to Mr. Q on Tumblr)
The next day…
Bonnie looked worried as she bit her nails due to her frayed nerves. The first time this had happened, the consequences were dire. She wasn't sure if this time it would be any different.
She nervously sucked her breath in, trying to cool her parched throat and calm herself before informing the older girl about the situation.
"Serena, there's a trainer that wants to battle Ash but he can't do it-"
"Don't' worry, I'm on it!" was the immediate reply of the Performer as she quickly donned Ash's robes and went to battle in Ash's place.
Bonnie was surprised at how relaxed Serena was, in comparison to the previous time where she was fretting like there was not tomorrow.
"But Serena! Ash is ill-"
Serena once more interrupted Bonnie by changing her clothes into her Nurse Joy outfit with lightning quick reflexes. "Don't worry, I'm on it!"
Clemont was clueless as to what was going on or why Serena had so many different outfits. He waited for Serena to step out of Ash's tent, before setting out to find the truth.
"Don't you think that you're going a little…overboard with this?"
Serena was confused at what Clemont was asking. "Huh? What do you mean, Clemont?" she asked.
"I-never mind that. Just thinking, do you have an outfit for every Ash-related scenario?" he asked, making the girl giggle.
Serena then calmed herself before replying. Making an innocent face, she asked, "What makes you say that?"
She may have avoided his question but he didn't need an answer anyway.
After all, Serena was standing in front of him wearing a white wedding dress.
Oh boy, that took me 4 days to write! And now I'm upset that it's over! I absolutely enjoyed writing this and I hope that all of you reading this enjoyed it as well.
So, please R&R!
Edit 19/12/2016: Gave credit to the artist for the final part of the story (because I had no idea who it was) and some fixes to the wording in some places.