Chapter 1: The Pond

The audience watched in silence as the dust settled in the stadium. The final attack had been so extraordinary that no one was sure if they actually believed what they just saw. Finally the vision cleared, but everyone already knew the result.

"Sceptile is unable to battle! Greninja is the winner!"

Sceptile was on the ground, knocked out, already reverted from its Mega form. Ash-Greninja stood on the other side of the field, arms crossed with a giant water shuriken on its back.

The audience roared. Ash had defeated his rival Sawyer in one of the most impressive displays of strength the Kalos region had ever seen. Returning to its original form, both Greninja and his trainer fell to the ground, exhausted, but clearly ecstatic over their win.

Serena was too excited for words. Her crush had advanced to the finals of the Kalos League. She couldn't wait to congratulate him on his win. She placed her hand over the blue ribbon Ash had given her, which was tied around the collar of her pink dress, and stood to go find him.

As she walked, Serena thought back to her journey with Ash up to this point, almost completely forgetting that she had left Clemont and Bonnie – their other traveling companions – back in the stadium without a word. It had been months since the group set out from Santalune City, and they had changed a lot since then, particularly Serena.

She originally left home because she didn't want to practice Rhyhorn racing with her mother, and to meet Ash again of course, but she still hadn't felt like she had a dream of her own. However, through her journey, and with the help of Ash, her pokemon, and her friends, she finally found one. Serena managed to become an amazing Pokemon Performer, second only to the Kalos Queen herself, and she had everyone she'd met along the way to thank for that.

Especially Ash. He had always inspired Serena with confidence and a desire to succeed. She admired him for never giving up and always striving to be the best he could be with his pokemon. Rather, she loved him for it, and for many other reasons, but was too shy to ever reveal her true feelings to him. She would occasionally drop a not-so-subtle hint in her more confident moments, but it seemed Ash was way too dense to notice. He was always so focused on his training, obtaining his gym badges, and making it to the League that he rarely had time to pay attention to anything else.

Everything had brought them to this moment. Serena waited at the end of a long corridor, ready to congratulate Ash on his win in the Semifinals. Her cheeks had become a light shade of pink, still unsure of what she was going to say when she saw him.

Before she had time to come up with something, she saw a figure moving toward her. He was dressed in blue, wearing a red hat over his messy, black hair, with his yellow partner pokemon perched on his shoulder. It was Ash.

Serena immediately broke into a run, almost tripping over her own feet in the process. Ash grinned, raising his hand to greet her. Serena wanted to hug him, but quickly decided against it after realizing just how awkward that would be for her. She stopped directly in front of him, hiding her trembling hands behind her back.

"Congratulations, Ash!" Serena said, almost yelling out of excitement. "You were great out there."

"Thanks, Serena."

"Only one more win!" Serena exclaimed with a broad smile.

"That confident in me, are you?" Ash asked, smirking.

The color of Serena's face darkened, and she tugged her hat lower in an attempt to hide it. "O-oh, well, y-yeah," she said, flustered. Although Serena knew she was overreacting, she couldn't stop herself. For some reason she was always so easily embarrassed when she was around Ash.

Serena stared at her shoes, unable to speak. The silence was unbearable. It might have only been a few seconds, but to Serena it felt like a lifetime.

"You did it, Ash!"

"Yay! He won! He won!"

Clemont and Bonnie had finally caught up to the two of them. Serena sighed with relief, thankful that the awkwardness she felt had been broken.

"Do you think you can win in the finals?" Sawyer asked.

"Of course I can!" Ash said, in between mouthfuls of had taken off his blue jacket to relax, revealing his plain, black shirt underneath.

Serena giggled. 'He's always so confident,' she thought, watching Ash shovel more food in his mouth. 'And hungry, as well.' She had removed her hat, allowing the wind to ruffle her short, honey-colored hair.

Two hours had passed since Ash's victory over Sawyer, and the group had set up in the fields near the stadium for a celebration dinner. Ash invited Sawyer himself, saying that he was just as deserving of this meal as Ash was.

All of their pokemon were enjoying their food throughout the field, having fun and relaxing after such a long day. The only exceptions being – as usual – Clemont's Chespin and Serena's Pancham, who for some reason always had to get into arguments over their food. Meanwhile, the five of them sat at a nearby table, discussing the League.

"It'll certainly be a tough battle though," Clemont said. Clemont loves to analyze everything. Being the scientist that he is, it's an expected behavior from him. He also enjoys creating new inventions, but something about him seemed to make most of them explode for one reason or another. "After all, your opponent will be Alain. We still only know two of the pokemon he will be using."

Alain was to be Ash's opponent in the finals, and he had only used his Metagross and Mega Charizard to get there. The two had battled twice before, neither ending in Ash's favor. The last time they fought, it seemed that Ash-Greninja might have had an advantage over Mega Charizard, but since Ash was unable to control the form properly yet, he passed out from exhaustion before a winner could be decided.

"But Ash will definitely win!" Bonnie yelled. "He has the coolest pokemon ever!" Bonnie was the youngest of the group by several years. She wasn't old enough yet be a trainer, but she watched over her brother's Dedenne as if it were her own.

"Thanks Bonnie." Ash smiled as he looked toward his pokemon. They had all worked so hard to get to this point, and he was proud of them. "I think we actually have a chance this time."

"This time?" Sawyer asked. "How many competitions have you participated in?"

"This will be my sixth Pokemon League, actually," Ash responded.

This was news to everyone at the table. They had all known that it probably wasn't his first time doing this, but none of them had thought he had done so much.

"Have you ever won before?" Serena asked.

Ash frowned. "Unfortunately, no, I haven't. The best I had gotten previously was Top Four."

"That's still really good!" Bonnie said with a huge smile. "I bet it was a really close match."

Ash sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so." Serena realized that he probably didn't want to talk about that memory for some reason.

Sawyer decided to change the topic back to the Kalos finals. "Anyway, I think it will be a really close match tomorrow," he said. "You two were among the few that seemed to dominate in almost every round."

"The only other being yourself, right?" Clemont asked.

"Of course!" Sawyer exclaimed.

After Sawyer had to leave, everyone else started doing their own thing for the rest of the evening. While Serena was practicing a new routine for her performances, she took a moment to see what the others were up to. She found Clemont tinkering with a new invention of his. 'Probably just something that will explode later,' Serena thought. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw Bonnie, who had asked to take care of Ash's pokemon for their hard work. It seemed she had forgotten that Goodra couldn't be groomed like the others, since she was busy cleaning its slime from her brush.

But Ash was nowhere to be found. Pikachu too, for that matter. Concerned, Serena called out to Clemont, "Have you seen Ash?"

"No, not recently," Clemont said, without looking up from his work.

"Oh, I have!" Bonnie chimed in, pointing. "I saw him go into the woods a while ago."

Thanking Bonnie, Serena followed her direction. "What could he be up to?" she whispered to herself. She weaved between the trees for a short while before coming to a small clearing. There she found a pond filled with sparkling, clean water. It wasn't much, but it was a pretty sight to see. Scanning the area, she found Ash and Pikachu sitting on a nearby rock, overlooking the water.

Now within earshot, Serena could hear that the two were in the middle of a conversation. "You know what I mean, buddy?" Ash asked Pikachu, who nodded at its trainer in understanding.

Not wanting to eavesdrop, Serena spoke up. "Hey, Ash!"

"Pi-pika!" Pikachu cried out, seemingly happy to see her.

Ash looked a bit shocked, but relaxed again once he saw who it was. "Oh, hey Serena."

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Serena asked as she approached him.

"I just," he paused, looking toward the water again, "needed some time to think, I guess."

"Well, this seems like it would be a great place for that," she said, admiring the view again. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

With that, Serena climbed onto the large rock and sat down next to Ash, with Pikachu between them. They sat there for some time, watching the still water as the light began to fade. There were no winds, no sounds apart from their own breathing. It was calming.

Finally, Serena decided to break the silence. "You were great in your match today, you know." She saw Ash crack a small smile at that comment. "And all of your pokemon, too. Especially you, Pikachu." She turned to pet the little electric type, who loved the affection. After all, Pikachu deserved it. Pikachu had been the only member of Ash's team to defeat two of Sawyer's pokemon.

"Chaa!" Pikachu happily exclaimed. It then leapt into Serena's lap, where it curled up to rest.

"Oh, am I not good enough for you now?" Ash said with a light chuckle.

Serena laid her hand over the yellow pokemon, gently stroking its soft fur. She smiled, happy that Pikachu had become so comfortable with her. "You know, for someone so strong, somehow you still manage to be so darn cute."

Directing her attention back toward Ash, Serena could tell that he had his mind on something else. "What's going on, Ash? Is this about the finals?"

"I'm nearly there," Ash replied, turning to her. "I'm so close to the end. Tomorrow determines whether or not I get my first victory in a Pokemon League. But," he trailed off, his smile fading.

"Ash, I know you can win," Serena said, attempting to reassure him.

"It's not that. I'm confident in my abilities, and in my pokemon. We can definitely win tomorrow." He looked back at the water. "But it's just that: tomorrow. Tomorrow my journey here in Kalos ends, and I don't think I want it to be over yet."

Serena felt tears well up in her eyes. He was right; soon, Ash wouldn't have a reason to stay in Kalos. The one she loved would return to Kanto, leaving her behind. Serena had come to this realization before, but until Ash said it out loud she hadn't realized just how close that time actually was. She forced herself to stop panicking before it was too late, wiping away her tears with her hand.

"Y-you don't have t-to leave immediately, right?" Serena stuttered, trying get a grasp on her emotions.

"I suppose not," he said, "but what else is there to do in Kalos? I originally came here for the League, and I feel like we've done just about everything else."

A glimmer of hope sparked within Serena. "Let me worry about that for now," she told him, laying a hand on his shoulder to put him, and herself, at ease. "You need to be focused on your finals."

Despite her newfound hope, Serena was still worried. She needed to find something that would keep Ash in Kalos, and had no idea where to start. If she couldn't find something new he would leave. 'I have to do something before then,' she thought, 'to show Ash how I feel about him.'

"You're right, Serena," Ash said, putting on the first real smile Serena had seen since she had sat down. "Sometimes I wonder what I would ever do without you."

Heat started rushing to Serena's face. "You're j-just being m-modest," she stammered, grateful that Ash couldn't see her face clearly in the moonlight.

"I'm serious," Ash said with a laugh. "If you hadn't been there I would probably still be stuck at the Santalune Gym."

She swallowed. "You're exaggerating."

"Maybe, but you've helped me a lot during my time here."

Serena could hear her heart throbbing, unsure how to respond. She touched Ash's ribbon to calm herself.

"Pikachu thinks so too," Ash said, looking at his partner pokemon, "isn't that right buddy?"

Pikachu didn't respond. It had fallen asleep in Serena's lap. Ash laughed. "I guess anyone would be exhausted after a day like today." He yawned, looking up. The sky was clear and the stars had come out. "I think I could use some sleep too."

"Y-yeah."

Ash gently picked up Pikachu off of Serena and cradled the sleeping electric type in his arms. "Serena, thank you. I needed that talk more than I thought I did."

"Of course, Ash."

After taking one last look at the water, the two stood and left the pond behind them.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Almost Over! I thought I would take a moment to explain some of my thoughts about this story and where it's heading.

First, and most importantly, I would love to hear what you all think of this chapter. I haven't written any stories in quite a long time, and this is also my first attempt at a fanfiction. Your feedback on what you liked and didn't like will help me improve down the line.

I wasn't sure if I was even going to finish writing this when I started. I had been reading a decent amount of Amourshipping fanfictions recently and finally decided to write one myself. After about a week of halfheartedly adding a few paragraphs at a time, I finally dove in and finished it. I have to say I am quite proud of what I've created here, and I spent the last three days or so proofreading the thing to be certain of it.

I've already got a decent idea for the plot, and the first four chapters roughly planned out. I expect this to be roughly ten chapters, but we'll see what happens. I don't plan on uploading more than one chapter per 4-5 days for the sake of quality and my own sanity.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll be back in a few days with chapter two!