The uproarious jubilation of the crowd faded into uneasy murmuring as none other than Calem himself stepped forward to assume his position on the opposite side of the battlefield. Serena stared at the crowd, baffled, as did Ash, Clemont and Bonnie, and she strained to hear what the people around her were saying.
"Is that really Calem?"
"He's a Kalosean legend!"
"I thought he was dead!"
The raucous claims started to descend into utterly ridiculous assertions regarding what Calem had apparently been up to for the past several years. Shauna couldn't have held her mouth open wider if she tried. Calem, despite the lack of real fanfare he was receiving in comparison to his opponent, waved to the crowds surrounding him. Upon noticing Shauna and the others in the stands, he winked flirtatiously and, after fiddling with a small microphone headset that both he and Diantha had received to allow their commands during the battle to be heard by the audience, pointed directly to her and called out, "This one's for you, Sunshine!"
Shauna was beet red as hundreds of pairs of eyes suddenly turned on her, Trevor and Tierno immediately jumping in between the crimson performer to shoo away the nearest stares, their reaction time indicating they anticipated the event. Serena was embarrassed for Shauna, but privately she suspected that the attention Calem had just thrown her was worth all the stares in the world to her. The only person not gawking at Shauna was Clemont. "I had my suspicions when we first met, but this will really prove or disprove my hypothesis. Calem definitely didn't tell us everything," Clemont spoke ominously.
Ash, Serena and Bonnie whipped around to face Clemont. "What do you mean by that, Clemont?" Bonnie asked with an edge of nervousness to her speech.
Squishy poked its head out Bonnie's bag to stare intently at Calem, and the younger girl stroked the green amorphous blob absentmindedly while Clemont responded, "Oh, I presume I spoke improperly. What I meant was that Calem appeared to hold back heavily when he was battling Ash. No offense to you of course, Ash." Clemont punctuated his last statement with a sheepish gesture towards Ash, causing the boy to grin.
"It's fine, Clemont. People like Calem just make me want to work harder to achieve my dream!" Ash declared, pumping a fist in the air briefly.
"Good mentality, man! You'll need it if you're ever going to feel good being so far behind me!" Tierno spouted out, having returned to his seat along with Trevor as the fickle crowd lost interest in Calem's callout quickly and chattered aimlessly amongst themselves as Diantha and Calem stared each other down.
That comment ignited the spark of competition in Ash that balanced out with his compassion. "What was that, Tierno?!" Ash growled.
"Oh, nothing. Focus on the match, Ash, you're crowding Serena." Tierno retorted.
He wasn't lying. In a burst of passion, Ash was leaning directly in front of Serena to get in Tierno's face, never one to resist a direct challenge. Upon realizing his infringement on Serena's personal space, the boy actually blushed a bit and returned to his seat, Serena giving him an understanding smile, ignoring the expectant stare Tierno was giving her as Ash mumbled an apology that was washed away by the wave of the announcer's voice. "Alright, everyone, I was just as amazed as you were to see this former league winner myself, but I promise you he'll be all the more exhilarating when he starts battling, so let's get right down to it! This will be a one on one battle between the champion Diantha and Calem, a wandering trainer! Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because this battle is about to go down in the history books!" the announcer spoke enthusiastically, drumming up anticipatory cheers from the audience.
Diantha and Calem drew a poké ball from their repertoire, the judge that had walked onto the battlefield during the announcer's small speech raising his two flags in preparation for their release. Serena noticed the ever-calm and collected countenance that Calem had carried ever since she met him, but Diantha was more tense and grievous than the performer had ever seen her. Both trainers tossed their balls into the air, and the result was two gardevoirs making an entrance onto the field, Calem smirking at what was clearly a prediction on his part. Diantha didn't share his amusement. "I do hope you don't hold back this time, Calem. I certainly won't be," Diantha announced as she gripped her mega stone tightly, enveloping both the stone, the gardevoirite around her gardevoir's neck, and the gardevoir itself in a brilliant white light.
Serena shielded her eyes from the intense glare that signified the impending mega evolution. When the glow faded, Diantha's gardevoir had mega evolved into mega gardevoir, its dress expanding outward among other small aesthetic changes to accompany the massive boost in power that resulted from the physical bond between Diantha and her pokémon. Trevor immediately began snapping pictures while Bonnie cheered at the appearance of a mega evolved pokémon. Serena found herself puzzling over what Diantha had meant, why she was so adamant about a simple exhibition battle compared to the other exhibition battle she had witnessed, during which Diantha hadn't broken a sweat, and, most importantly, if Calem would be able to match the feat of mega evolution placed as his opposition. Calem grinned broadly. "Well, Sanity and I couldn't not accept a challenge like that, could we? It would be... uncouth. Now, where did I put that gardevoirite..." Calem began to dig into his bag, carelessly tossing various other mega stones out of his bag and onto the graciously soft dirt, causing nearly everyone watching to cringe at the callous treatment of such precious and rare stones, at least those who were able to get over the fact that anyone could even have that many mega stones on hand.
Eventually, the judge stepped in. "Calem, I cannot delay the beginning of the battle any longer. Decide what item you are going to give your pokémon now or you will be forced to battle without doing so," he impartially stated.
Calem looked up at the red-shirted official addressing him and heaved a sigh. He gathered up the five or so stones he had scattered around him and faced Diantha diffidently. "I'm not quite sure how to say this, but I do believe my gardevoirite is in my other bag. I can promise Sanity will give you a good match as she is, though. No holds barred, as it were," Calem explained.
Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. He has to be insane for taking on Diantha's mega gardevoir without mega evolution himself... "He's going to win," Shauna declared, all vestiges of blush vanquished from the girl's face as her stare bored into the competitors on the field.
Serena looked at Shauna with a bit of concern. She completely understood how her friend was feeling, but her faith in context seemed just a bit absurd. Tierno, curiously enough, nodded along with Shauna's ultimatum. "Forgetful or no, not mega evolving his pokémon will force Calem to take this battle seriously. It's obvious Diantha isn't going to hold anything back either," Tierno claimed.
Trevor remained mum in favor of continuing to capture the moment with still photography. Serena took the cue to return her focus to the match. Diantha nodded to the judge to indicate that the battle should commence. Said judge raised both flags and threw them down. "Let the exhibition battle between the champion Diantha and pokémon trainer Calem begin!" he called out, the announcer miming his official statement in time with him to make it clear that the battle had started.
Nobody moved. The stadium was a portrait painted by a master artist. Diantha and mega Gardevoir were uncomfortable with the lack of happening in what should have been them dodging Calem's attacks, but Calem simply stood there, his gardevoir actually yawning while it waited for its foe to take the initiative.
It took an excruciating amount of time, but Diantha eventually relented her strategy of avoidance. "Shadow ball, go!" Diantha ordered.
Mega Gardevoir wasted no movement, summoning a dark blob of dark energy and hurling it at Calem's Gardevoir. Calem removed his sunglasses from his hat and placed them gingerly over his eyes. "Sanity, block it with shadow ball," Calem slowly and deliberately instructed.
Sanity had prepared and fired a shadow ball of its own at the oncoming attack long before Calem finished speaking, the two identical moves colliding and exploding in a deep purple explosion. "They're even..." muttered Serena.
"And what does that say about Sanity, able to match the strength of mega evolution without the stone?" Tierno asked rhetorically.
Serena noticed Clemont nodding to himself as Tierno spoke, and she found herself coming around to Tierno's postulation as well, but the once still match was too enthralling to pause to check everyone's reaction. "Another one, Gardevoir! Don't let up until you hit it!" Diantha commanded.
Mega Gardevoir focused itself before hurtling several shadow balls, all equal in appearance to each other as well as the one fired before them, in several different arcs towards Sanity. Calem pointed at each shadow ball in a random order. "Alright, would you please hit each shadow ball in the exact order I point at them, Sanity?" he requested.
Sanity again began to fire and eliminate each shadow ball with its own dark energy attacks, only after wiping out each of the seven total shadow balls making it apparent that Sanity had followed Calem's request perfectly despite not seeing which shadow balls Calem pointed at, Calem pointing to where the fifth ball was by the time Sanity had destroyed the seventh. Diantha was clearly irked. "If you won't attack, we'll being you to us! Psychic, Gardevoir!"
"This is where we see the real fireworks. Psychic, Sanity!" Calem directed.
Both mega Gardevoir and Sanity closed their eyes, and nothing happened. The fizzing, cracking and popping of shadow balls mingled with the unique energy each trainer put behind their respective commands and the crowd's cheering died out suddenly, an eerie silence projecting a far darker implication than the color of any shadow ball attack. For the second time, the battle devolved into a staring contest. Serena at this point was totally lost as to what was taking place in front of her, so she instinctively turned to Ash for guidance. "Ash, um, what's happening?" she asked tentatively.
Ash tore his eyes away from the intense standing contest to face his friend, Serena pushing aside the fact that they were sitting so close to each other to listen to his response. "They both used psychic, so I'd guess that they're having a mental pokémon battle right now instead of a physical battle, and the winner will get to use psychic and weaken the other Gardevoir," Ash explained.
"But that's boring! Why can't they just fight the whole time like a normal battle?! What's the point of a pokémon battle you can't watch?!" Bonnie pouted, folding her arms and puffing up her cheeks.
"On the contrary, Bonnie, this is one of the fiercest battles I've seen in a long time, whether it looks like the pokémon are fighting or not. The mental fortitude of not only the pokémon but the trainers themselves has been strained and tested right from the beginning. One side certainly should have overpowered the other by now," Clemont commented, attempting to cajole some interest out of his sister.
Bonnie merely huffed, while Trevor lowered his camera briefly to throw his two cents in. "In addition to that, Calem has been calling out his commands late on purpose, since his gardevoir already knows what he wants it to do before he has to say it. He's been trying to throw Diantha off by doing that and not attacking just to start this mental grapple," Trevor spoke sagely, clearly experienced in the battle style of his friend.
Tierno nodded. "You got it, as usual, Trevor. What do you think, Shauna? Same old Calem you know?" Tierno inquired, curving his voice into a question abruptly, seemingly cutting himself off from saying something.
Shauna didn't notice Tierno's awkward tone, or his question at all for that matter. Instead, she had her hands clasped together tightly, her gaze trained on Calem, unwavering in spite of the conversation around her. Tierno paused expectantly for a few seconds and shrugged. "Well, it's nice to know you haven't changed your watching style, I guess," Tierno sighed, returning his gaze to the match.
Serena wanted to ask Tierno what he meant by that, but the sudden rise in excitement from the crowd stole her attention away from the performer seated near her. Mumbling thanks to Ash for his advice, Serena returned her attention to the battle, the source of the crowd's reaction being Calem's gardevoir, which had dropped to one knee, Diantha's Gardevoir standing as straight as ever.
Time lost meaning as the four beings locked in combat hung frozen in their own private existence where the only purpose to be found was directly correlated to overpowering the team standing across from themselves. Serena could feel her pulse racing despite staring at unblinking statues as the seconds dragged themselves along at the pace of minutes. Finally, Diantha's gardevoir opened its eyes, now laminated by a bright blue glow, and began to hover slightly in the air. "Gardevoir!" cried Calem's gardevoir, unleashing a blood-curdling expression of anguish as its foe continued to hover in the air.
Right as Serena was sure that Calem's gardevoir was going to collapse from exhaustion, it too opened its eyes. Unlike its opponent, Calem's gardevoir had its normal eyes, albeit with a spark of determination glowing in them instead of raw psychic power. With visible effort, the non-mega evolved gardevoir rose to its feet, and as it did so, Diantha's gardevoir was suddenly yanked into the air and hurled into the ground at lightning speed, a cloud of dust mushrooming out of the impact site. "Voir... voir!" was the proud cry emitted by Calem's gardevoir, standing up straight again, albeit somewhat woozily.
The built up excitement of the audience over Diantha's impending victory was crushed in between the ground and Diantha's gardevoir. Calem took no heed of the crowd's mood swings. "Well done, Sanity. Use calm mind while it recovers," the boy instructed.
It was a difficult conundrum for Serena to decide if she was more shocked that Calem's Gardevoir had overcome Diantha's pokémon in that fight, or that Calem assumed the battle would continue after such a devastating blow. Then again, he was battling the champion and her strongest pokémon. While the crowd was overwhelmingly still in favor of Diantha, a few people did start to cheer for Calem as his pokémon closed its eyes and appeared to go into a more focused state, relaxing the strained muscles throughout its body. "That's wise. By raising his own special attack and special defense, Calem is ensuring that his gardevoir will have even more of an upper hand than it apparently already has in another psychic battle," praised Clemont, adjusting his glasses in tandem with Trevor adjusting his camera to get a better shot of Sanity's move.
Her unasked query resolved, Serena simply refocused on the parting cloud of particles surrounding her right side of the battle field. As the dust scattered, mega gardevoir's form reappeared, standing with a heavy lean towards the side that hadn't taken the impact of the ground. "Moonblast. Withhold nothing," Diantha coldly ordered, witnessing the failure of her pokémon in the mental battle erasing any sort of inhibitions she might have held over Calem not taking the match seriously.
Mega Gardevoir's form shone before a small ball of white light, drawing energy from the luminescence of the moon, coalesced in its hands before being fired like a bullet from a gun at its fellow gardevoir.
Calem frowned. "Dodge that one, Sanity," he advised unemotionally.
Sanity disappeared right as the incoming attack flew through the airspace it was occupying a blink before. Mega Gardevoir didn't sit idle, rushing forward into the field that felt empty with only one occupant. A shadow ball manifested itself in Mega Gardevoir's hand, and it flung the ball like a death Frisbee towards the vast emptiness to its right. While Serena thought the psychic attack had ruined mega Gardevoir's sanity, Sanity reappeared right in front of the path of the shadow ball, taking the unexpected assault to the melody of an explosion. Calem's pokémon was flung backwards, landing hard on the dirt where it lay, still conscious, but unmoving. "Mega Gardevoir has your energy traced perfectly, Calem. There's nowhere to hide," Diantha boasted, bolstered by a resounding cheer from the crowd.
Trevor shook his head. "The battle's over. Calem has pushed Diantha completely out of her normal battling style," the photographer predicted.
Tierno exclaimed something along the lines of "I told you so," to nobody in particular, while Serena, despite the complete inaccuracy of her own predictions, couldn't see how Calem was going to get around Diantha's admittedly unorthodox battle style, for her at least. If anything, Diantha was battling like Ash. Calem adopted a stone cold expression and removed his glasses in order to wipe a bit of the dust from them while he waited for Sanity to recover, allowing Serena to see his eyes. It was difficult to make out, but she swore she could see the same glimmering in them she saw during his battle with Ash, although the distance might have just made her see things. If I'm right though... then what is he hiding about his battling? Why would he try to hold back his emotions like this? The pressing questions wouldn't be answered immediately, as Calem returned his shades to his face and acknowledged his partner as it returned to its feet. "No reason to panic, Sanity. Let's use calm mind again," Calem calmly spoke, like he was using the move himself instead of his pokémon.
Sanity again focused itself, raising its stats further while Diantha sighed. "You aren't going to be able to raise your defense quickly enough. Another moonblast, Gardevoir!" Diantha more confidently called out.
Mega Gardevoir repeated its flashy move set up before firing another small round directly at Sanity. Calem didn't open his mouth, but Sanity teleported away regardless, receiving another perfectly predicted super effective shadow ball for its troubles. While the explosion was no less powerful, this offensive failed to knock Calem's gardevoir to the ground, forcing it backwards several feet instead. Calem nodded to himself. Serena realized that Calem was still relying on non-verbal, even thought cues between himself and Sanity to instruct his pokémon, a bold move considering the heavy damage both sides must have taken by this point in the battle. "Another calm mind, Sanity. No, actually make it two. Can't be two careful, right?" he joked, grinning expectantly and getting an audible groan from an audience member in response.
The far more serious implications of Calem's instruction became readily apparent as the pokémon closed its eyes to focus and Diantha ordered another moonblast. Instead of opening its eyes and teleporting, Gardevoir remained in its meditative state as Mega Gardevoir's most powerful attack pounded into the pokémon, actually sending it flying across the field and into the stadium wall behind Calem. Serena actually winced at the sickening cracks left in the wall Calem's gardevoir had met the hard way, each individual fissure webbing out from the impact site as a testament to the true power of the champion. The judge stared intently as the tension hung in the air quietly, apparently long enough for said judge to announce his decision. "Calem's Gardevoir is unable to-" the judge started to proclaim before Calem cut him off.
"Whoa whoa whoa, man. Haven't you ever heard of a grand entrance? Let Sanity do its thing, and then you can decide this match," Calem spoke in defense of its pokémon, indignation at the incompetence only he could see edging into his tone.
The judge shot a look at Calem and raised a flag to declare Diantha the winner anyways, but when he returned his gaze to the field, Sanity had reappeared at Calem's side, pirouetting in place with a serene smile decorating its face, the cuts and bruises marking its body painting a completely contradictory image to the graceful nature of Sanity's movement. The judge said nothing, but he lowered his flag impartially. Serena and the rest of the crowd were aghast at Sanity's survival, but perhaps not as shocked as Diantha herself. "There's no way, Calem. Your gardevoir shouldn't be able to take that many shadow balls and then a moonblast from my gardevoir, special defense raised or not. How?" she asked, momentarily forgetting the battle and giving Calem the window he was searching for.
"Bring the queen down for me, would you Sanity?" Calem proposed harmlessly.
"Gardevoir. Gard," stated Sanity, summoning a purple light around itself, before sending said bright purple energy directly into the sky, the ineffective angle of the attack becoming irrelevant as the lavender tidal wave of energy rapidly completed its course and impacted Mega Gardevoir from above, engulfing Diantha's pokémon in the largest explosion the battle had played witness to yet.
Serena turned away to defend her eyes from the bright light of the detonation, unintentionally facing the same direction as her crush, bringing the two's faces incredibly close together. Ash had a positively stupid grin on his face as he faced the performer. "This is really cool, huh?!" he exclaimed over the raucous noise of the confused crowd and the attack itself.
Serena didn't know what to say to that, the absurdity of their position getting the better of her. "Yeah," was all she managed to squeak out before she decided that the effects of such a powerful attack must have worn off and quickly removed her crimson face from the boy sitting next to her.
Serena did her best to ignore the stare Tierno was giving her while Bonnie rubbed her eyes, clearly choosing to gawk at the pretty light instead of protecting herself, Clemont doing his best to reassure his sister that the spots dancing around her vision would not be permeant. Trevor was whispering something to Shauna, who was nodding empathetically. Did I really just get that close to Ash? And when he said something to me I said yeah. Great. Way to take advantage of a moment, Serena. Focus on the battle. Serena looked at Mega Gardevoir just in time to see it fall to its knees, the damage from the attack used against it combined with all of Calem's gardevoir's special attack increases overcoming the mental fortitude that had allowed it remain standing through the attack itself. Sanity teleported directly in front of its foe, summoning a small shadow ball that it tossed playfully between its hands like a basketball. "I won't finish it if you don't want me to, Diantha. I'm not interested in anyone getting seriously injured," he offered nonchalantly, punctuating his statement with a shrug.
Diantha grimaced. "We will never give up until the battle is over. You have not won yet, Calem," the champion claimed.
Calem nodded to himself, allowing a rueful smile to appear upon his countenance. "Right then, I should have known. Stop playing around and finish it, Sanity," he ordered.
"Quick, get out of there!" Diantha shouted urgently.
Mega Gardevoir took a deep breath before vanishing. Sanity, however, hadn't made any motion to fire upon the prone opponent. Instead, it stopped tossing the shadow ball and expanded it in its left hand before turning and, in one swift motion, shooting its basketball in a high arc that hammered itself into mega Gardevoir as it appeared behind Sanity, ruining its landing process and as a result cratering the pokémon into the ground. A mournful light arose from the small hole that indicated the reversion of the champion's pokémon to its original form. The judge didn't bother hesitating. "Diantha's gardevoir is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger, Calem and his gardevoir, Sanity!" he declared, ending the intense battle.
Serena sat agape. Calem had pulled off what should have been impossible, the odds she saw putting Calem at every possible disadvantage. Shauna shot out of her seat. "All right! Great job, Calem!" the performer shouted out, leading the stuttered clapping and celebration from the clearly shell-shocked audience.
Serena and Ash exchanged a look before rising along with Shauna to add their noise to the slowly growing clamor and celebration, their action garnering the support of the friends around them. On the field, Calem sauntered over to his pokémon and gave it an empathetic high five, Sanity moving Calem's glasses back onto his hat with its psychic powers. Diantha removed her microphone, kneeled over her fallen battler and whispered something to it before returning her pokémon. She then met Calem at the center of the battlefield and shook hands, much to the audience's approval. They exchanged words, but Serena couldn't make them out over the commotion, and as the crowd continued its rancorous shouts, the loudspeaker again roared to life. "How about that, ladies and gentlemen!? I bet nobody was expecting Calem to turn that one around! On behalf of all of Cinder Town and Suicune itself, I thank all of you for attending our humble festival and I hope to see all of you right here tomorrow night for the fireworks show. I can promise it will be just as explosive as the battle you just witnessed, but until then, I bid you all adieu!" A final crackle over the microphone signified the conclusion of the event, and the populace began to file haphazardly out of the stadium.
Serena watched as several men in dark suits exited from Diantha's entrance side of the battlefield and met the two competitors at the stadium's center, proceeding to escort them both away from the commotion. Ash took this cue to signal to everyone to make their own exit. Serena stuck close to Ash and eventually they all managed to brave the crowds and found themselves standing just outside the newly constructed stadium. As they looked for a less crowded place to speak about the battle, Shauna lost her own battle to hold in the snide remark that Serena noticed building up inside her ever since Mega Gardevoir fell. "I told you all, didn't I? I said that Calem was going to win!" Shauna proudly exclaimed.
Tierno cocked his head at his performing friend. "Actually, Shauna, I was the one who said Calem would win from the beginning. I'm not sure if you actually said anything that entire time," Tierno accused, only half-jokingly.
Trevor stepped between the two before an argument could erupt. "What's important is that we all believed that Calem would win. What did you four think of Calem now that you've seen what he can really do?" Trevor inquired at Ash's group, clearly trying to change the subject.
Bonnie, as per usual, piped up first. "That was incredible! I thought Calem would lose for sure, then the battle was boring, then it was amazing! I've never seen a cooler battle ever!" Bonnie gushed, clearly in love with the psychic battle she had witnessed.
Clemont, a finger on his head in contemplation, suddenly raised his head to face his companions. "Yes, as I mentioned earlier, it was a spectacular battle. That attack that Calem's gardevoir, Sanity, was it? Yes, the attack Sanity used to bring Mega Gardevoir to its knees. That was stored power, wasn't it?" Clemont hypothesized.
Trevor nodded. "Yes, it was. That's one of Calem's preferred strategies. I'm surprised Diantha didn't find a way to counter it as soon as Sanity started using calm mind," Trevor mulled.
Tierno shook his head. "You know exactly why, man. Not even Diantha can step up to Calem's dance moves that mess with your mind. It all started when he refused to mega evolve Sanity. You noticed this of course, right Ash?" Tierno asked, the innocence in his tone tinged with a bit of animosity that Serena only barely managed to catch.
"Yeah. It's not easy to explain, but there's something about the way he battles... his aura of control is unnerving to face. It's like he's suppressing his emotion or something," Ash spoke, allowing his train of thought to flow freely after being put on the spot.
"You saw it too?!" Serena blurted out.
Everyone stared at the source of the outburst. Ash was startled, but he responded first. "Saw what, Serena?" he asked the blushing girl.
"Oh... um... nothing. Don't worry about it," Serena backpedalled. She didn't need everyone thinking she was crazy because she might have seen Calem suppressing his emotions during a battle, her only evidence a miniscule glint in his eye.
Nobody pushed the issue, but Trevor eyed Serena skeptically while Shauna maintained eye contact with Serena longer than everyone else before something else seemed to catch her attention. "Alright then. What should we do now? I recommend we find something to eat. I'm starving!" Tierno spoke, breaking the silence Serena had delivered to the group.
"You've been eating since we got here, Tierno. How can you still be hungry?!" Trevor asked incredulously.
The accused shrugged. "You can never be full when there's so much good food around. It's getting late anyways, so it's not like we have something better to do," Tierno reasoned.
"I don't want to eat something until we can find Calem. I'd feel bad if we ate and he didn't," Shauna added.
Trevor shook his head at his friend. "Honestly, Shauna, can you think of something other than Calem for a moment? You saw him leave with the champion. He's probably off having some incredible dinner at a fancy restaurant with her by now. You're just fine without him," he stated firmly.
Of all people, Ash decided to help break up the rising tension that Trevor's statement carried before Shauna could respond, although it was clear he was still oblivious to the real meaning of Trevor's words. "Honestly, dinner would be a great idea right now. Clemont, what do you know about food in this area?" Ash interrupted, giving the inventor his turn to be on the spot.
"Yeah, Clemont! Dedenne and I are hungry! Find some food now!" Bonnie ordered her brother.
Clemont panicked. "H-hold on now! Serena has the town map, not me! Ask her about the food around here!" he rapidly uttered, passing the responsibility to his older female travelling companion.
Thankfully, Serena was used to covering food duty when they passed through a town and had her town map whipped out before Clemont could even start to speak. "Now, let's see here... what abou- Shauna?" Serena questioned, interrupting herself as Shauna pushed through her and Bonnie to march away from the group towards the still-trickling out crowds.
Before Serena could ask her friend exactly what had come over her, it became apparent what Shauna was targeting. A man in a dark uniform, identical to the ones that had taken Calem and Diantha out of the battlefield was slowly and methodically navigating through the crowds. Serena sighed. There's a difference between having a crush and stalking someone. She didn't pause to consider where she herself fell on that line. "We should probably stop her before she gets in trouble," Serena commented.
Tierno frowned, but he nodded to Serena and took the lead, the group ambling off after Shauna, thankful that the suit she was pursuing was moving at a leisurely pace. This grace period ended when the man glanced around and noticed a group of seven people and a pikachu heading directly for him. A look of discomfort spread across his face immediately, and he took off, pushing through the people flowing around him. "Wait! Stop! I just have a question!" Shauna yelled after him, oblivious to her own friends following her.
Shauna broke into a run after the man, and Clemont groaned about exercise as Serena's group was forced to sprint to keep up with the two. She must have bumped into at least twenty people, but there was no way she was going to leave Shauna alone to chase down some random security person who could probably get Shauna in serious trouble if he wanted to. She found her stride surpassing Ash's and matching Bonnie's as her boots thudded methodically upon the pavement, merciless in their pursuit of the green eyed girl chasing the promise of ascertaining the whereabouts of her crush. Shauna and I need to have a talk about this Calem guy. They all finally abandoned the main path paved from the stadium that led into the thick of the festival and the town itself to a back alley of the commercial district. Ash suddenly stumbled behind Serena as they ran, placing a hand on the ground and causing Serena to glance back with worry at the sound of his misfortune. Ash looked up and flashed a grin at Serena before applying another layer of speed to his run, taking the lead with little effort, reminding her just how speedy her own crush could be. This admiration was suddenly ground to a halt as Ash turned a corner leading back onto a main street and skidded to a sudden halt right in front of her. Serena was forced to grab Bonnie's hand to prevent her from plowing directly into Tierno thanks to Ash's stumble sprint.
She caught her breath as she peered around the corner to see what had caused Ash to end his marathon running. The man in a suit was now joined by three similarly dressed men, all standing in front of a door to a restaurant. The alley Serena found herself in itself served as the boundary between two fancy restaurants, at least according to her tablet that she realized that she forgot to put away. In fact, the road itself seemed to be the most heavily laden with eateries, and she realized that their little shortcut had put them in front of the droves of people that were still making their way slowly back into town from the stadium. Shauna was saying something to the four men, but it was unintelligible in between her tired gasps for air and the decent distance she still had on the group. The previously running man glanced lazily over at Ash and the others as they peeked at the scene in front of them. "Hey, kids. Can you tell your friend to scram? She doesn't understand what no means," he called out with clear irritation in his voice.
The man showed no signs of having just sprinted for several minutes, despite Shauna herself gasping for air in front of him. His expression revealed nothing but annoyance at the girl in front of him. Ash stepped forward gingerly. "Shauna, I don't think we're allowed to go in there. We can easily find somewhere else to eat, if that's what you're worried about," Ash offered, trying to cajole Shauna away from trouble.
Serena and the others approached the men and Shauna as the latter responded, "It's not about food! Calem's in there and I need to chew him out for not telling us he was battling the champion!" She stamped her foot on the ground as she spoke, and Serena was more than a little surprised at the complete turn of emotion she was seeing out of her friend.
One of the guards, a larger man with dark brown hair, slapped a palm to his face. "Listen, kid, first of all, the reason we're here has nothing to do with you, and secondly, even if the Calem you're looking for was here, the restaurant is currently in use by a private party. Put simply, no brats allowed. So scram, so we don't have to do our jobs," he threatened, nothing in his tone implying a bluff.
Serena wasn't about to let Shauna get herself hurt over something as stupid as wanting to see a guy again. Pushing down her mind highlighting how hypocritical she was being, she stepped forward and put a hand on Shauna's shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, Shauna. We can meet up with Calem after he's done with his business here." She leaned in close so that only Shauna would hear her. "I understand how you feel, really. I promise you we'll see Calem again after we get some food," Serena whispered.
Shauna paused to gaze longingly at the lavish door of the restaurant before looking at the understanding in Serena's eyes. She released a breath and nodded. "Alright, I trust you, Serena. Sorry for running off, everyone. Let's go get some food, alright?" Shauna suggested, a bit of her normal peppy personality returning as Serena's promise circulated in her mind.
Tierno and Trevor welcomed Shauna back to the group while the first man that Shauna had been chasing smirked. "Good luck with that, kiddies. Every food place in town should be fully booked by now. Why don't you go beg some other restaurant to let you in?" he taunted.
Ash, who had turned away, whipped back around to face the guard. "Hey, what's with the rudeness? What did we do to you?" he asked.
The larger guard sneered. "You wasted my partner's time chasing him around, and, to be frank, you're lucky we haven't called the police on you for doing so. So maybe mind your own business, hmm?" he fired back.
"Ash, let's just go. They aren't worth it," Serena urged softly.
Ash clenched his fists, but he eventually looked at Serena and nodded. The running guard grinned broadly. "Yeah, listen to your loser friend. Maybe she can teach you how to deal with being second place for the rest of your life," he jeered mercilessly.
Serena was mortified. Why does this guy of all people have to be the one who recognizes me as the runner up to the Kalos Queen title? Ash and Tierno immediately stepped forward, a poké ball in Tierno's hand, Pikachu jumping from Ash's shoulder to do battle for him, cheeks bristling with electricity. "Insult me if you want, but don't you dare make fun of Serena," Ash spoke with ominous calmness.
Tierno gripped his poké ball tightly. "Serena worked incredibly hard to get as far as she did. You have no right to mock her," he added.
The guard carefully withdrew a poké ball of his own. "Touched a nerve, did I? Oh well, it's been a while since I had a good scrap anyways. Hope you kiddies are ready for-" the guard was interrupted by the sudden swinging open of the restaurant door, smacking him square in the face and startling the other three guards.
Diantha stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. "What's with all the commotion out here? I swear I can't go one day without- oh, it's you all. Are you the ones interrupting my dinner?" Diantha asked as she noticed Ash's group poised for a battle right in front of her.
Bonnie was the first to recover from the champion's sudden appearance. "Ms. Diantha, those guys in the suits were being really mean! First they didn't let Shauna in, and then they made fun of Serena!" Bonnie tattled.
For once, Serena was grateful for Bonnie's big mouth. Diantha surveyed the scene carefully and noticed her own guard on the ground. "I see... well, I'm sorry my men gave you so much trouble. As an apology, why don't you join Calem and I for supper? We have plenty of food in here," Diantha offered.
A third guard, a woman with long blond hair, spoke up at Diantha's invitation. "Ms. Diantha, I cannot approve of the safety risks regarding your decision. We don't know these people," she stated.
Diantha shook her head. "You don't know these people. I do. They're wonderful trainers, all of them, and I would greatly enjoy having them at my table this evening," Diantha coolly retorted.
Clemont, of all people, leaped on the opportunity. "Thank you so much, Diantha! We would love to accept your offer," Clemont exclaimed, bowing in gratitude.
Ash exchanged a glance with Tierno before having Pikachu return to his shoulder, again denying the mouse a battle. Clemont took the lead, and everyone else, not about to turn down such a generous offer, filed into the restaurant behind Clemont. Diantha excused herself from the doorway to avoid drawing attention to the scene. The guard hit with the door groaned, a red mark decorating his face as he struggled to his feet with help from the larger guard. He shot Serena a dirty look as she stepped through the doorway. Attempting to ignore the rudeness of the man, Serena took in the dining area the champion had reserved for herself. It was a typical Kalosean eatery, with multiple tables and booths scattered around the hardwood floors and gaudy chandeliers illuminating the establishment. Dominating the room was a feast that spanned several tables put together with delicacies Serena had only ever read about in magazines in greater numbers than the champion could ever possibly consume. A few chefs stood by the kitchen door, chatting idly while a waiter stood at the ready at each corner of the table. Calem sat at the head of the table, munching on some sort of vegetable, glancing up when he realized that there was more than one person returning after Diantha excused herself. "Well, look who got past the fuzz! What did you all think of the battle? Oh, tell me later, I'm sure you're all famished. Have a seat! I saved you a spot, Sunshine," Calem welcomed everyone, patting the chair to his right invitingly.
Shauna blushed and sat at Calem's recommended spot, while Ash claimed the chair to Calem's left. Serena moved to sit next to him, but Bonnie, in a rush to get at the food, happened to randomly grab the other chair next to Ash. Serena resigned herself to sitting between Shauna and Trevor, while Clemont and Tierno took seats of their own, and Diantha sat at the other end of the table. The waiters poured water for everyone, which reminded Serena just how thirsty she actually was after all the running she had done. Silence became the theme for the group as everyone dug in to the food. As splendid as Clemont's cooking was, it paled in comparison to the classy selections that only hours of preparation in a professional kitchen could allow for. After several blissful minutes of consuming, Diantha decided to speak up. "I take it you enjoy the food? The best chefs in the region prepared it as thanks for my participation in the festival. I insisted that they didn't have to go to such lengths, but they wouldn't take no for an answer, so I'm glad that you all are able to prevent it from going to waste," Diantha said.
"The food is amazing!" spoke Tierno, Ash and Bonnie at the same time, causing Serena, Trevor, Clemont and Shauna to giggle at the outburst of happiness.
Calem suddenly looked up from his platter to the champion. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Diantha is the only person who actually gets to see Suicune on the third day of the festival, so the town really goes all out on pampering her like this before-hand. If she didn't serve as the town's ambassador at the shrine located at the mouth of the river when Suicune appeared, then who knows what would happen?" Calem spoke, throwing his arms up to accompany his last statement.
Diantha sighed. "If you would challenge and claim the role of champion for yourself, then you would know, Calem," Diantha pointed out, a bit of edge in her voice.
Calem grinned ruefully. "Walked into that one, I suppose. You know exactly why I don't want your job, ma'am. You're doing it wonderfully, anyways. I would just mess things up," he explained.
Shauna shook her head empathetically. "You would be a great champion, Calem! Why wouldn't you want to be the champion?!" she pressed.
Diantha retrieved some bread from the cornucopia of edibles and stared at it as she spoke, "He won't take the mantle of champion because he finds the many duties I have attached to the role... restricting. Am I wrong?" She looked directly at Calem with her question.
"You're correct, as usual, champ. There's too many things in life that need to be done, and a job that can't get those things done isn't for me," Calem admitted uncaringly, tossing a grape into his mouth while leaning back in his seat.
An uncomfortable silence descended over the group, punctuated only by the muffled chewing of various foods. Bonnie suddenly looked up at Calem, seeming to remember something. "Oh yeah, Calem! I wanted to tell you how awesome you were in that battle earlier! Diantha too! Your gardevoirs fought really hard!" the young girl gushed.
Calem grinned in embarrassment. "Well, thank you, Bonnie. I was just trying to give everyone a good show," he stated.
Diantha actually rolled her eyes. "You know that's not true. You were trying to win that battle, because if you didn't care, you would have mega evolved Sanity," she accused.
Calem raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, you got me. But I had to respect your Gardevoir's power. Even with all of those defensive boosts, we still needed that sitrus berry to maintain enough health to overpower your mega evolution," he admitted.
Clemont's eyes lit up, as if a question he had been mulling over snow had a satisfying resolution. "So that's why you didn't mega evolve your gardevoir. You wanted to give your pokémon a sitrus berry to help it better survive Diantha's onslaught instead. That requires... a lot of faith in your abilities, Calem. I'm thoroughly impressed," the inventor praised.
Tierno grinned. "That's the X-factor for you. He always has a plan to win every battle, and sometimes you never know what it is, even after he steps off the field," Tierno exclaimed.
Calem chuckled. "I don't need any flattery, really, even though it is appreciated. I just try to do what I think is the best for me in every battle I'm in," he declared.
Trevor looked up at Ash and decided to change the subject. "So, Ash, will you and the others be staying for the entire festival? That's the plan for Shauna, Tierno and I," Trevor stated.
Ash sat straight up, and Serena realized that he was having a problem deciding whether or not it would be rude to leave now that their friends were there. She decided to take the initiative and explain things for him. "Well, Ash really wants to get to his next gym battle in Snowbelle City, so we decided to visit the festival just to see Diantha have her battle. We'll be leaving in the morning," Serena carefully answered for her crush.
Ash threw a grateful look towards Serena, while Tierno looked at Ash in confusion. "Dude, you don't have your eighth badge yet? Trevor and I got our eighth badge over a week ago. Might want to pick the pace up a bit, eh?" he teased, smirking at his rival.
Serena could see the already hot blood beginning to boil in Ash's body, but it was Bonnie who reacted first. "That's not fair, though! Ash went out of his way to make sure Serena was able to make the Master Class performance on time! You can move faster because you're travelling alone!" Bonnie accused.
Tierno shrugged. "I suppose so. I'm just a bit surprised that Ash hasn't won his eighth badge yet. I mean, with all of his-"
"That's enough, T-man. Eat your food," Calem ordered, interrupting his friend mid-sentence.
Tierno looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't, returning to his dinner silently. Diantha looked between the two before settling her gaze on Ash. "Well, I appreciate you going even further out of your way to see my battle. Since you're only staying the night, you can use this," Diantha spoke, handing Clemont a hotel card key.
Clemont inspected the card and raised his eyebrow. "A free room? May I ask why?" he questioned.
The champion indicated the chefs in the corner. "The same reason they provided this meal. I prefer to sleep in my trailer, but they gave my a four bedroom room anyways, and you all could use it to a far better degree than I could," she explained.
Clemont considered this before nodding gratefully. "Well, thank you very much for your generosity, then. We'll be sure to take advantage of the room," he said.
That business completed, everyone who hadn't done so already quickly finished their meals. Once their plates were cleared away, Calem rose. "Well, I have a room of my own to retreat to, and I assume the three of you have rooms already, so shall we be going?" he offered.
Ash and Shauna nodded, while Diantha rose as well. "If you're ready to go to the hotel, just follow this road until you get to the residential district and then turn right. It's the largest building on the edge of town, you won't miss it. As for myself, I'm going to stick around here a while longer and wait until I can return to my trailer without the public eye on me. It has been a pleasure seeing you all again," Diantha spoke, smiling genuinely at everyone.
Ash returned a toothy grin that was uniquely his. "Thank you, Diantha! Today was awesome!" he exclaimed.
Everyone said their goodbyes to the champion and she rapped on the front door. The larger body guard opened it and allowed everyone but the champion herself to exit the restaurant. "Make sure you all clear out of here. It's hard enough keeping fans away from the champion without you people around," the larger man warned.
Calem grinned at him. "Whatever you say, Smiles," he spoke, waving and urging everyone else away from the establishment.
The trek to the hotel was uneventful, or at least the setting sun had caused Serena's mind to lose interest in the conversation around her in favor of thinking about sleep. Night had claimed the land as they paused in front of the revolving doors of the brightly lit hotel, the words "Cinder Town Hotel" emblazoned in red neon over the entrance to their four story home for the night. Trevor faced everyone and held out a hand to Ash. "If we don't see each other tomorrow, then I wish you best of luck in your final gym battle and I hope to see you in the Kalos League," the aspiring photographer stated.
Ash smiled and accepted the gesture. "Thanks, Trevor. I'll see you in the Kalos League!" Ash promised.
Tierno leaned over to Serena in what she assumed was supposed to be a seductive manner. " Make sure you watch out for me in the Kalos League, alright Serena?" he asked.
"Um... yeah, sure!" Serena replied, her voice breaking off into a high pitched squeak of uncomfortableness as she spoke.
Ash shot Tierno a look but said nothing. Serena exchanged a brief hug with Shauna and promised to meet her again at the Kalos League. Calem, watching the proceedings with mild amusement, spoke up. "Well, it was nice meeting you all, and seeing some of you again. I'll check in to my room later, so you all go ahead," Calem stated.
Shauna spun on her heel with a dancer's serenity and snatched Calem's arm. "You. You and I are going to have a chat. I haven't forgotten everything you've tried to pull on me today," Shauna spoke darkly.
Calem looked for aid, but nobody stepped forward to release him from the bear trap of Shauna's grip. He slapped a jolly smile on his face and proceeded to get dragged around the side of the building by Shauna, Trevor and Tierno waving the two off. "They really are like a married couple, aren't they?" Bonnie commented out of nowhere, giving Serena an expectant stare.
"Alright, it's getting late, Bonnie, and we all need some sleep, so let's get to it!" Serena stated in a rushed tone.
That said, Serena's group entered the hotel and headed to the reception desk while Trevor and Tierno broke off to their respective rooms. As much as she didn't want Bonnie trying to bring up her romantic life in front of Ash, she couldn't help but admire Shauna in a different light for her forwardness with her crush. At least she doesn't freeze up at every important moment. These thoughts raced around in Serena's mind as Clemont explained his possession of the card key to the reception desk lady inside the hotel and received their room number on the second floor. The room she eventually found herself in wasn't anything particularly special, four beds lining the west wall of the room, a small balcony bordered by a glass sliding door, and a small television mounted on the wall on the east side of the room being the only notable features. Clemont claimed the bed nearest to the balcony, while Ash took up residence on the one next to him, followed by Serena herself and then Bonnie. The four took their turns getting changed in the unremarkable tile bathroom before saying goodnight and drifting off to sleep in preparation for the morning's travels. Serena spent some time on her tablet before she slept, gazing longingly at the fireworks event being planned and wishing for the guts to be selfish for once and ask Ash to wait another day for her. He's already gone out of his way for me once this journey, and Tierno made fun of him for it. I can't waste another day for him. I'll get another chance. That promise to herself in mind, Serena forced herself to validate her own words over and over again as fatigue teamed up with the comfort of the hotel's pillow to claim her consciousness.
Serena's eyes snapped open as she slammed the refrigerator door shut. The bandages on her face were itching after only recently being applied to cover up the bumps and bruises from a long day of ryhorn racing practice. Her mother sat in the living room, watching the news. She was saying something, but Serena was too frustrated to discern any meaningful phrases from her speech. She gripped the water bottle she had retrieved from the fridge tightly in her hand as she waltzed over to see what her mother was going on about. On the screen, a reporter was commenting about how a garchomp had gotten loose in Lumiose City and had somehow ended up on top of prism tower. It was interesting, but not the kind of thing Serena particularly cared about. If a garchomp wanted to mess around on a tower, then that was its problem. The live helicopter camera zoomed in, and Serena was able to get a good look at the poor soul who apparently tasked himself with stopping the garchomp... no. That couldn't be. Serena leaned in closer to the screen, rubbing her eyes. It was him, the same boy from the forest all those years ago. So much time spent hoping, praying, begging anyone who would listen for the chance to see him again, and now she knew exactly where he was. The boy chose that moment to leap from the tower in pursuit of a pikachu. Serena gasped, as did her mother. The camera tracked him hurtling to the ground, getting closer and closer to certain death, until... Serena looked away. The television had gone silent. The entire world seemed to skip a beat, the consequence being a complete and total silence around the planet. She felt herself swooning, the ground swept away as the inspiration for her goals and aspirations was pummeled into the pavement. As she neared the ground in mimicry of her crush, the supple yet firm hands of her mother enveloped her, ending her fall. Serena opened her eyes to look at her parent, but instead of her mother, she was being held dearly in Ash's arms. The performer felt the wind whipping at her hair, and she realized that it was in fact her that Ash Ketchum had sacrificed his personal safety to leap off of Prism Tower for. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ash shook his head, glistening liquid running from his eyes. "You could have done something about this," he uttered, and the crush Serena had been pining after for years upon years let her go. As Serena entered freefall alone, a comet of blazing fire streaked across the sky above her and rescued Ash from the fate Serena had been assigned to by gravity. Her last thought was of whether the pain of impact with the ground would hurt worse than it felt to have Ash abandon her.
Serena shot out of bed, grasping wildly for the reality she had lost her grip on, losing her balance and tumbling to the ground in a heap of performer and blankets. She paused for a moment to confirm that she had just been dreaming before peering over the cusp of her bed to ensure that her night terror hadn't disturbed Bonnie. Confirming this, Serena dragged herself to her feet, bringing her comforter with her. A groan from the other side of the room caused Serena to whip around, but all she saw was Clemont rolling over in his sleep, muttering something about diodes and synthesizers. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding captive. Relax. Nobody heard you. You were just dreaming. It was all a dream. You're fine. Ash is... Serena squinted in the darkness, but it was clear that the bed previously being use by Ash now sat unoccupied.
Panic again immediately started to seize Serena, but she forced herself to remain calm and collected. She padded silently over to the balcony door, her bedsheet dragging behind her receding form like a regal cape. She forced open the door with a bit of effort, the sliding glass shifting behind the paneling adjacent to it as she stepped outside. A blast of chilly night air greeted Serena, and she was grateful for the cape that had followed her. Gazing out into the darkness, she found exactly who she was looking for. Slightly obscured by one of the large decorative trees placed inconveniently in front of their balcony, Serena could see a single beacon of yellow light shining down on the lone battlefield the hotel had to its name. Ash was a small figure giving orders to an even smaller mouse from Serena's perspective, but he captured her vision just as effectively as he would have been able to if he were the tree by the point she stood on. A flash of electricity emanated from the small mouse and reached for another form, likely Noivern, Ash's dragon and flying type. The sound wave pokémon would be useful for this battle with its ability to see in the dark. Serena shook herself. He's just training. That's it. You didn't do anything wrong. Go back to sleep. The girl dragged her gaze away from the object of her affections and took off her cloak, tossing it on her bed as she returned to the promise of sleep, closing the glass door behind her with a nearly inaudible clink.
Having slightly adjusted to the lower lighting that always followed the appearance of the moon, Serena realized that her bag had spilled open when she had fallen. She sighed to herself, removed her adornment that doubled as a blanket, and kneeled down to return everything to its assigned place, neatly folding clothes, storing poké balls and zipping pockets. When she reached into her vest pocket to ensure the safety of Palermo's offer, however, her blood ran cold. Empty air tickled at her hands, tantalizing her with the openness that only followed the utter disappointment of finding something that was expected to be present to be absent from its home. This time, Serena was unable to stem the frantic fear that invaded her system. The card couldn't be gone. It wasn't possible. She threw out any conventions of being immaculate along with most of her belongings as she scoured the travel bag for her third most valuable possession. Nothing yielded success, not the clothes she wore yesterday nor the entire area of her sleeping location. Serena was seriously considering opening one of her poké balls on the off chance one of her pokémon had managed to get a hold of the offer, when a paralyzing thought struck her. Ash might have the card. What if it fell out of my pocket and he picked it up? No, that's not possible. There's no way. Unless... Serena suddenly remembered Ash's stumble from their chase earlier in the day. She thought he had tripped while she was running in front of him, but what if he had just paused to retrieve something from the ground?
Serena forgot about everything else. She practically threw herself out of the room, disregarding the sanctity of her friend's slumber by slamming the door shut behind her as she flew towards the stairs. The creaking of wood reverberated around the tacky striped plaster wallpaper adorning the stairwell. Each step was another one of Serena's nerves breaking under the stress of Ash having her card in his hands. She had no choice but to hope that he hadn't looked at it. She burst into the lobby of the hotel and turned for the back exit, ignoring the look she received from the lady at the lobby. The automatic doors leading to the posterior of the establishment glided open for the performer, and allowed her to collide directly with Ash as she took her first step outside. Having all the momentum turned Serena's desperate attempt to reach Ash into a football tackle, sending the two crashing onto the carpet placed on the outside of the doors. Pikachu, more aware than his trainer from his vantage point on his trainer's shoulder, jumped as the two collided and landed neatly on the ground next to them. Ash somewhat caught the girl as she attacked him, and the two ended up side by side on the ground, Serena dazed, Ash alert and concerned. "Serena, are you alright?! What's wrong?!" he asked urgently.
As the shock of suddenly being on the ground was adjusted to, Serena realized that she had made contact with her crush sooner than she expected. "Oh... yeah, I'm alright, I was just... searching for something, and I thought that you might have it, so I came downstairs since I noticed you were practicing, and... um, are you alright?" she inquired awkwardly to end her stuttering speech.
Ash brushed himself off absent-mindedly and rose quickly, offering a hand to Serena that she gratefully accepted. He released Serena's hand, much to her chagrin, and allowed his familiar toothy grin to spread across his face. "I'm doing great Serena. You said you had lost something, right? I picked up a card that I thought you dropped while we were running earlier. It wouldn't have happened to be that card, would it?" he innocently presumed.
Serena's heart was caught in her throat. "Uh-huh," she managed to get out with a nod.
Ash's smile faltered a bit at his friend's reaction. "Are you sure you're alright, Serena? You were definitely in a hurry to talk to me. Do you want to lie down?" he offered.
Serena didn't have the current brainpower required to notice that Ash was being unusually attentive to her well-being. Instead, she had one current objective regarding Ash Ketchum that had to be accomplished. "I promise you I'm fine, Ash. Can... can I just have the card? Please? And can you not tell the others what it says?" she practically begged.
Ash tilted his head, but eventually shrugged and dug into his pockets, withdrawing a card. "Well, if you're certain, Serena. Not sure what there is to say about an ace of spades, but I won't tell Clemont and Bonnie about it if you don't want me to," he responded uncertainly, holding the playing card out to her.
Serena was dumbstruck, but her mind, set on retrieving a card, took the playing card anyways. She flipped it over and confirmed that she had indeed just received an ace of spades. Great. Now my business card is still gone and he probably thinks I'm weird. I can't even tell him what I thought he had. How did I even get this card? As Serena continued to stand there, staring at the card like it was some sort of fantastic new creation Clemont had created, Ash cleared his throat, causing her to snap back into reality. Card later. Ash now. "Thank you Ash. I... um... just needed to get this card back, so I appreciate you picking it up," Serena said carefully, trying to hide her deception effectively.
Ash, thankfully, didn't question her questionable behavior. "Hey, as long as it makes you happy, Serena, it's fine with me. Let's go get some sleep now, though. I can't practice anymore since Pikachu accidentally shorted out the lamppost out there," he explained, laughing a bit at the memory as they returned to the lobby.
The receptionist didn't share Ash's mirth. "Excuse me, sir, did you just say that you shorted out our lamppost on the battlefield? If so, I hope you are able to compensate us appropriately for it. Lamppost wiring isn't cheap, you know," she explained in an irritated voice.
Pikachu, having just made its way back to Ash's shoulder, hung its head in shame. Ash gave his pokémon partner a grin. "Hey, don't worry about it, buddy. How much is the lamppost, ma'am?" Ash asked.
The lady punched a few numbers and came up with a price tag that gave Ash a chance to go pale. Serena was trying to ponder the best way for all of then to work off such a large sum of money when she suddenly felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She started and turned, only to immediately relax when she recognized Calm standing behind her, still in his day clothes. "I will fully reimburse the hotel for any damages caused by these two or their friends during their stay here. Is that acceptable, Jane?" Calem asked, although it sounded more like a command.
Jane sat straight up. "Oh, of course, Calem. I'll just put it on your tab. Sorry to bother you at such a late hour," she apologized.
Calem waved the apology off. "No problem, Jane. Just keep doing your job and I'll try to make it as easy ass possible for you," he assured her.
Ash apologized once more to Jane before all three of them congregated around the front door of the hotel. Serena decided to take the initiative. "So Calem. First of all: thank you. Second of all: what are you doing out here this late and how do you know the receptionist here?" she asked.
Calem checked his pokétch and shrugged. Serena noticed that it was five minutes past midnight. "Alright, first of all: you're welcome. Second of all: I'm just taking care of some logistical elements of my participation in today's exhibition match. Oh, and training. One cannot neglect training. As for Jane, I've been using this hotel and staying out late for a while now, so Jane and I have gotten to know each other as the only human contact we have at night. She's a nice lady when you don't break the rules, I suppose. In any case, what brings you two out of bed at this hour?" Calem responded in question form.
Ash placed a hand on the back of his head nervously. "Well, I was training, and then I broke a lamppost, and then I accidentally ran into Serena. She was looking for... something, but she found it, so now we're going back to bed," Ash explained, remembering to keep the pointless secret Serena had foisted upon him.
Calem nodded knowingly, but something about his story didn't quite make sense to Serena. She hadn't noticed at first, but Calem had worked up a decent sweat doing whatever he was doing, and his normally cool and passive countenance was replaced by a slightly more on edge nervousness, still under the guise of complete control. "Calem... where's Shauna?" Serena asked, taking a shot in the dark.
Calem froze, and Serena knew she had hit the nail on the head. "Sunshine is, you know, around here somewhere. I'm sure she's just asleep in her room. Why?" He couldn't completely remove the edge from his tone.
Serena put her hands on her hips. "Calem, why are you running from Shauna? She's very clearly interested in talking to you," Serena urged, trying to subtly help her friend out.
The older trainer shook his head in denial. "Serena, I must apologize. I have things to take care of. I hope to see you all in the morning before you leave," he stated, quickly walking away out the back door of the hotel with naught but a small wave over his shoulder.
Ash turned to Serena in confusion. "What was that all about, Serena? Are Calem and Shauna fighting?" he wondered aloud.
Serena wasn't about to explain the intricate details of having a crush to her crush, so she merely shrugged. "I think Calem is just really busy. We should probably just go to-" Serena was interrupted as the revolving door of the hotel was pushing around at a blistering pace, spitting Shauna out, panting, into the presence of the two. She looked up, fire in her eyes. "Ash, Serena. Good to see you all. Which way did Calem go?" she asked impatiently.
Ash responded before Serena could explain what Calem had said to her. "He went around back. He said he was busy though," Ash admitted.
Shauna sighed heavily and nodded to herself. "Well, he still owes me a conversation after slipping away earlier. I'll have Tierno and Trevor try to get a hold of him. They were nice enough just to follow me around, but I wouldn't have you two try to track him down, especially with you dressed like that, Serena." she conceded.
Serena, trying to ignore the lack of authority being in her pajamas imparted upon her, grabbed Shauna's arm as she tried to exit out the hotel's front door to inform Tierno and Trevor of her findings. "Hold on, Shauna. Have you been chasing Calem all night? What about sleeping?" Serena asked, genuine concern in her voice.
Shauna shook her head empathetically. "Calem and I had a great chat. I went to bed, and I woke up thirty minutes ago to hear a door closing with a note from him explaining that he was going to need my help in the morning. I've been following him with Trevor and Tierno's help to get an explanation since then," Shauna stated.
Ash frowned and put a hand on his chin in contemplation. "Whatever it is Calem wants, though, he'll definitely explain it in the morning. I don't know why he felt the need to contact you like that, but if you give him space tonight, I'm sure he'll get around to explaining himself," Ash stated.
Serena was thoroughly impressed by Ash's reading of the situation, as was Shauna, who seemed to pause for a moment before gathering herself, the fire in her eyes extinguished. "You're right. I'm overreacting. I'll go to bed with the others now. If we see you in the morning, I'll let you know what Calem wanted. Good night," she said, quickly rushing out the revolving door to give the change of plans to her friends.
Ash watched the door rotate upon itself for a moment before he looked directly at Serena. "Alright, Serena, I'm officially confused and tired. Should we just go to bed before something else happens?" he asked.
Serena smiled and giggled a bit. "Same old Ash. Yeah, let's get some rest. We can help Shauna and the others out if we get the chance in the morning," she advised.
With that, the two made their way back up the stairs and towards their room, all the while the fears Serena had over losing control of her card resurfacing in the nastiest ways possible. She maintained an air of casual calm with Ash standing right there, but on the inside, questions over where her card was and how she ended up with a playing card in her pocket buzzed around in her mind like a pack of angry beedrill. As they turned a corner to start walking down their hallway, Serena's mulling was interrupted by a small girl wearing a tyrantrum onesie running up and confronting her. Bonnie clearly wasn't happy to have been awoken to find two of her friends missing. "Where have you two been?! Clemont and I have been worried sick!" Bonnie exclaimed, close to tears.
Serena felt even worse than she already did, and thankfully Ash stepped in to take the fall. "It's my fault, Bonnie. I was having problems sleeping, so I left the room to train, and that caused Serena to panic and come looking for me. It's all my fault, I'm sorry," the boy apologized.
As he spoke, Bonnie began to put the pieces together in her head, and she looked at Serena with a sly grin. Serena frowned and shook her head at the little girl, pleading with her not to say whatever embarrassing thing she was about to say. To her surprise, Bonnie nodded and relinquished her chance, yawning and turning back towards their room. "Okay, as long as you two are alright. Clemont will want to know you're alright, so come on," she spoke, motioning back to their room.
Serena leaned over to Ash as they walked back to the room. "Thanks for taking the blame. It means a lot to me," she whispered.
Ash smiled at her. "It was my fault. I would do anything to help you, Serena," he whispered back.
The warm sensation returned, filling Serena's body and maintaining itself as Ash apologized to Clemont for their little nighttime jaunt around the hotel. She clung to it viciously as she once again exchanged good nights with her friends and crawled back into bed. Questions of the location of her card, what Calem was doing contacting Shauna the way he did, how Ash managed to say and do all the right things in spite of being so dense, and even why Bonnie had chosen not to make fun of her romantic aspirations with the golden opportunity in her mind all attempted to disturb her and drag her into the despair of the unknown. Instead, she held onto the warm, unabashedly good feelings she felt when she was around Ash and her friends, the kind of emotions that picked her up and made her feel better about herself. Tomorrow, I'm going to find my card. That's all there is to it. Worrying tonight will not solve anything. I will not give up until it's over. That decision made, Serena forced her mind to focus on the more positive things around her as the stress of suddenly dealing with the potential loss of her offer gave way to exhaustion that brought upon sleep.
Serena's eyes snapped open as she heard the soothing sound of a glass door being shattered.
