Alright, I bet you guys didn't expect this kind of a story from me.
I'm still a die-hard pearlshipper, so before you chew me out allow me to explain why I'm writing this.
You see me and my girlfriend Starskulls(Not in that way! Starskulls is a friend that's a girl, not my romantically involved girlfriend) are having a friendly writing competition, we didn't want to be at a disadvantage so we chose something where neither of us have the advantage, so we chose a pairing neither of us had written before that would be popular enough that people would read it, and since there's too much pokeshipping out there we settled on amourshipping.
Both me and Starsulls will publish a one-shot and there will be a poll on my profile page to determine which one-shot was better, and I encourage you to read both one-shots before making your decision.
Alright, now let's get this over with.
I don't own Pokémon and most likely never will.
-*X*x*X*-
It was a typical Tuesday night, which meant lots of homework for Serena. She sighed wondering why she ever agreed to take those AP classes, she barely had enough time to do anything anymore. She put down her pencil and reached under her glasses to rub her eyes. She was so exhausted.
She looked out the window to her room and saw her next door neighbor's house. Almost directly across from her window was a raven-haired boy talking on the phone, it was her best friend – and longtime crush – Ash Ketchum, and from the way he looked to be screaming into the phone. He was on the phone with his girlfriend; Ursula Bryans.
Serena watched Ash look aggravated as he talked into his phone. Soon he pulled the phone away from his ear and sat on his bed with a sigh. Serena grabbed her own phone and found Ash in her contacts list. 'Look out the window' she typed before sending the text.
Within a few minutes Ash looked at his phone and then looked at the window. Serena waved giving him a smile, Ash returned the smile and waved back. Serena looked back done are her phone, 'You okay?'.
In a minute or so Ash responded, 'Tired of Ursula's drama'
'Sorry ' Serena responded frowning at Ash through the window, Ash gave her a half smile and shrugged. 'What was it this time?' she texted.
Ash's next text took several minutes before his text came, 'I was telling her how Paul's hair looks like someone dumped purple paint on his head.' Serena laughed.
'Lol, that's hilarious.' She texted.
Serena could see Ash chuckle, 'That's what I thought, Ursula thinks it wasn't funny. She got upset.' Serena nodded to herself. She often wondered how those two got together in the first place. They had nothing in common, Ursula never laughed at any of his jokes. Serena on the other hand always laughed at Ash's jokes. She got Ash's humor a lot better than Ursula did. Serena's phone beeped and she looked at it, 'Hey I'm going to hit the hay, see you at school tomorrow.' He said.
'Goodnight.' Serena texted, then she figured she might as well send one more message. She started to text, but when she looked up at the window she saw that Ash shut the curtains on his window. Serena sighed and looked down at her phone and looked at the message, 'I love you.' she felt tempted to hit 'Send', but instead she put the message into 'Drafts' where it will be ignored for now.
She went to her speaker and plugged her IPod into it before scrolling down her songs and found Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend and pressed 'Play'. When the song played Serena grabbed a hairbrush and used it as a makeshift microphone as she sang along to the song.
She loved this song, she sang and danced to it all the time. She one time did it at school and Ursula got mad at her because she really hated that song, but that didn't stop Serena from loving it.
Meanwhile in the Ketchum household Ash heard the music and pulled back his curtains slightly to see what was going on. Seeing the dance moves Serena was – or attempting to – pulling off couldn't help but make him laugh. He closed the curtains again. He didn't want to risk looking like a peeping-tom.
The next day school passed by a little too quickly for Serena's taste. Serena was putting away her school stuff so she could go home, "Serena!" a voice called out, Serena turned around and saw a blunette girl and a sandy-blonde haired boy coming her way.
"Hey Dawn, who's your friend?" she asked seeing as she had never seen this guy before.
The boy reached out a hand, "I'm Taylor, a transfer student from Hoenn. I started attending school here last week." Serena shook Taylor's hand.
"How come I haven't seen you around before?" she said, sure she wasn't the most social person. But I'm pretty sure Dawn would've told her about a new boy at school.
"Well I've kind of been keeping him busy showing him around," Dawn said. Serena eyed her friend.
"Taylor, do you mind if I steal Dawn for a minute?" she asked.
He shrugged, "Sure, I have to go anyway. I have MMA Club in ten minutes. See ya." He said before walking away.
Serena looked at her friend, her eyebrows raised behind her glasses, "What?" Dawn asked.
"Don't play dumb with me," Serena said, "You think the new boy is cute and you most likely like him too." She said.
"What?" she said out of shock, "I do not." She said, though it was obvious she was blushing.
"You're blushing," Serena said in a sing-song voice.
Her blush only intensified, "Hey at least I haven't harbored a crush on my best friend that a boy ever since the 4th grade." Dawn said and Serena blushed knowing who she was talking about.
"Well the guy you have your eyes on doesn't already have a girlfriend." She said grabbing the rest of her books and putting them in her bag.
"Oh come on, those two are slowly falling apart. Just tell him and he'll probably break up with her." She said.
"Not likely she's beautiful and the captain of the cheerleading squad." She said.
Dawn groaned, "Don't remind me, I trained hard for that spot and that skirt-wearing skank steals it," she said sitting next to Serena. "Plus, you're the section leader of the Pokéflute players in the pep band. That's something to be proud of."
"Okay first off don't call Ursula a skank it's not lady-like." Serena said, "Second off no one wants to date a girl in the pep band." She said. "Thirdly it also doesn't help that I'm a girl that sports a t-shirt and sneakers."
Dawn sighed, "There's nothing wrong with your fashion, so what she wears high heels. Do you know what it's like to walk in those things?" she asked.
Serena giggled, "Good point," she said.
"Hey Serena, hey Dawn." the two girls looked up and saw none other than the boy they were just talking about; Ash Ketchum.
"Ash," Serena said in total surprise standing up her glasses slightly coming loose. She readjusted them, "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Ash chuckled a little, "I'm supposed to walk you home today, or did you forget?" he said and Serena realized that she did forget.
"Yeah I did, sorry." She said.
"It's alright," he said, "but we gotta get going." He said.
"Okay," she said turning to Dawn, "see ya later Dawn." She said. Dawn said her goodbye and Serena went with Ash.
Serena didn't really live all that far from the school. Only a few streets away so the walk wasn't very long. So Serena tried to make the best of it. Serena loved it and hated it at the same time. The reason was because it was so hard being around him, yet so easy to talk to him.
"So you excited for the big game tonight?" she said trying to get her heart under control.
Ash smiled, "Yeah, we're going against the Snowpoint Weaviles, now they've had a really good winning streak this year, but I really think we stand a good chance against them." Serena was trying to pay attention, but it was hard because she was captured in Ash's smile. It just lit up the entire town whenever she saw it. "Serena you okay?" Ash said, "You kind of zoned out."
"Oh sorry, it's just your smile." She said and she almost covered her mouth, "I haven't seen it all that often since you started dating Ursula." She said while sighing in relief on the inside. Nice save Serena.
"Oh, I didn't notice." Ash said, they continued to walk until a pink car pulled up in front of them. Ursula was in the driver's seat.
"Ashy-boy are we going to go on our date before the game?" she asked and a tone that faked innocence, but Serena could clearly see that she was annoyed. Dense Ash on the other hand couldn't.
"Oh right," he said turning to the honey-blonde, "Sorry Serena I had to go." He said walking to the car. Serena tried not to look disappointed as he got into the car. Her blood really began to boil when Ursula pulled Ash in and kissed him. Ursula pulled away from the kiss and hugged him, while shooting a sly look towards Serena before getting back in her seat and driving away.
She sighed, why did Ash have to be dense enough not to see that he shouldn't be with Ursula and that he should be with her?
Later that day Serena was getting on her band uniform on, even though she didn't feel like going tonight. This game was still a big deal to Ash, she would just have to ignore Ursula whenever she did a routine and pay more attention to Dawn when they did.
The game was a full of suspense and tension, the team Ash was playing on – the Vaniville Chesnaughts – were giving the Snowpoint Weaviles a run for their money. They were tied 35 – 41 and there were only 25 seconds left in the game. Serena was fully engrossed into the game. The cheerleaders were going basically nuts with all their cheering to give support to their teams.
The Weaviles had the ball and the quarterback threw the ball so the receiver could catch it in the end zone. The ball was caught, but not by the Weavile's receiver. It was caught by one of the Chesnaughts, number '13'. Serena gasped, that was the number on Ash's uniform.
Ash had the ball and was charging across the field and towards the opposite end zone, dodging the opposing team members and was getting closer and closer. Only five more seconds left in the game.
"4… 3… 2… 1…!" everyone in the stadium yelled and Ash ran into the end zone right before the ending buzzer sounded.
"The game is over, you saw it here. The final score is 42 – 41. Chesnaughts win!" the announcer boomed over the loudspeakers and everyone jumped up and went crazy. The football team was cheering just as loud as the spectators and they ran towards Ash. When they got to him they picked him up and carried off the field. Ash pulled off his helmet and cheered for his success.
Serena was so excited and happy for Ash she forgot to play the victory song with the rest of her band mates. The cheerleaders lead the spectators in a victory cheer as the football team carried Ash of the field.
About ten minutes later in the band room Serena was hanging up her band uniform. "Serena!" Serena turned around and saw Dawn, "Do you think I can sleep over tonight?" she asked.
Serena was confused, "Sure, why?" she asked.
"I have big news you just have to hear about it." Dawn said.
Serena looked at her friend, "Why can't you tell me here?" she asked.
Dawn looked at Serena like she was nuts, "Because I don't want to look like a gossip girl." She said like it was obvious, "C'mon Taylor's going to give us a ride to your place." She said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the band room almost causing Serena's glasses to fall off.
After Taylor dropped the girls off at Serena's place Dawn went into Serena's room with the honey-blonde teen following her. "Okay so what the big news?" Serena asked Dawn.
Dawn sat on the bed, "Well after the game Ursula started to talk and flirt-" she said.
Serena groaned, "I know, with Ash." She said, but Dawn shook her head.
"No with Paul," she said causing Serena's jaw to drop, "I know, she wasn't even trying to hide it. Then Ash caught her and they got into this big argument. Now I don't know the exact details, but the important thing is after the argument they broke up." She said.
"They broke up, really?" she asked.
Dawn nodded, "Yep, which means Ash is single and up for grabs. This is the perfect opportunity," she said. When Serena gave her a confused look she added, "For you to tell Ash your feelings and become his girlfriend." Serena blushed.
She was about to make a retort when her phone began to ring. she pulled it out and saw the caller ID. It was Ash, "It's Ash," she said. Dawn looked ready to squeal, but Serena shushed her and answered, "Hello?" she asked.
"Serena, it's Ash?" he said, his voice sounded close to tears. "Can we talk for a second?"
"Sure what's up?" she asked.
"Can you open the curtains on your window?" he asked.
Serena was a little surprised, "Sure, just give me a second." She said before taking the phone away from her ear and covering it with her hand, "Ash wants me to open the blinds. Get down and try to stay out of sight." She told the blunette Dawn only giggled and went to a place where she couldn't be seen from the window.
Serena opened the curtains and saw Ash sitting on his bed, he had taken off his pads, but he was still in his football jersey. Serena waved, "Hey," Ash said through the phone.
"So what's wrong?" she asked, "Not that I don't like talking to you, but it's pretty late." Dawn held back a giggle and Serena tried not to look at her.
"Well, after the game… Ursula and I broke up." He said , Serena was surprised. Not at the news, but the fact that Ash sounded sad about it.
"Really? That's terrible." Serena said, "I'm sorry to hear."
"It's fine, I caught her cheating on me with Paul so it was quite easy to end." Ash said.
Serena gave Ash a look, "Your tone of voice tells me it wasn't as fine as you say it was." She said, she could read Ash like a book.
"Well it's hard to take in, it is my first break-up." He said.
Serena nodded, "Well I wish I could say I know how to feel," she said, "but that would be a lie." Strangely enough, that made Ash laugh, Oh sure laugh an my inexperience." Serena said sarcastically making him laugh even more.
"I can always count on you to make me laugh Serena." Ash said smiling at her through the window. "I'm glad I have a best friend like you." he said and Serena felt her insides fall a bit. Best friends, is that all they were going to be. "Well I won't keep you up any longer, goodnight." He said.
"Goodnight." Serena said before hanging up and closing the curtains.
Serena looked at Dawn, "So what did you guys talk about?" she asked.
Serena shrugged, "I made him laugh when he was about to cry." She said.
Dawn thought for a minute, "I swear I've heard that somewhere before, I just can't remember where." She said. Serena had to admit it sounded familiar, but neither of them could place where they had heard it before.
About a week passed and Serena was in her room studying for her finals that were coming up in a couple of days. She was reviewing some history dates when her phone beeped. She looked at the text 'Look out the window.' Serena looked out the window and saw Ash, he was dressed up in a tux. Serena had to admit he looked really handsome, 'You going to the dance?' he asked.
Serena sent a text and shook her head, 'No, studying for finals'
A few minutes later the response came, 'Wish you were' Serena gave a slight laugh and looked up to see Ash walking out the door of his room.
Serena thought for a minute then looked at her text drafts and saw the test 'I love you'. She came to a decision, she found a different contact on her phone, 'Dawn it's Serena, you think you can hook me up with a dress for tonight?' Serena and Dawn had about the same dress size, so if anyone could get her a dress in a moment's notice it was her.
When Serena didn't get a response for ten minutes she was worried, but her thought s were interrupted by a knock at her bedroom door. She went over and opened the door. Dawn was there with a dress in her hand. Dawn smiled at Serena, "You need a dress?" she asked and Serena hugged the blunette.
"Thanks Dawn." She said.
"Don't mention it," Dawn said pulling away and walking into the room, "So, ready to knock Ash off his feet?" she asked.
Serena took off her glasses, "Let's do this." She said in a determined form.
Ash wasn't having as much fun as he thought he would. He was talking to his football friends, but he just kept wishing Serena was here. "Whoa, who is that?" one of his football friends said looking over Ash's shoulder. Ash turned around and saw that the crowd was almost parting to let a gorgeous girl wearing a white dress walk through. She wasn't wearing her glasses, but the honey-blonde hair and blue eyes gave away her identity. It was Serena.
Serena spotted Ash and walked towards him, Ash started to walk towards her, but he was stopped by none other than his ex-girlfriend.
"Ash, I was wrong. I shouldn't have left you. Please come back to me." Ursula said in a sweet tone, but this time Ash saw through it.
"Forget it," Ash said and he continued to walk towards Serena.
Ursula was appalled, "What?" she said out of shock wondering how Ash could choose Serena over her.
When Ash and Serena was within a few feet of each other the stopped and stared at one another for a few seconds before Serena pulled out her phone and sent a message. Ash's phone beeped and he looked and saw the message from Serena, 'I love you.' Ash looked at Serena silently asking if she was serious. Serena smiled and nodded.
Ash then sent a message of his own to Serena. Serena looked down at her phone, 'I love you.' Serena gasped silently and looked at Ash, he smiled and took a step closer to her and reaching up to cup one of her cheeks with one hand.
Ash leaned in and Serena did too, before they closed the distance between them Serena said one thing quiet enough that only Ash heard her, "You belong with me." then their lips came in contact and they shared her first kiss.
-*X*x*X*-
And that's a wrap, finally it's over! I thought I was gonna explode. Do you know how hard it is to write a amourshipping one-shot and be a die-hard pearlshipper? Well let's me tell you, it's hard!
There were so many times when I wanted to turn this into a pearlshipping one-shot, but I had to follow the rules of this contest.
Don't look too much into this, it was a onetime thing and I will never give up my pearlshipping beliefs.
So be sure to read Starskulls one-shot, which is called 'Love In Simple Steps' the poll is on my profile. May the best author win.
This is W. R. Winters signing off.