Atychiphobia

She wasn't perfect, not even close. But the world didn't need perfect, it only needed possible.

Chapter II: Too Slow

"Perhaps we all fear failure, it just manifests itself differently."

Her hands shook by her sides as she gazed upon the towering Gym, power fully restored. In her mind she had hoped Calem, or at the very least Shauna, would be there with her as she entered the building that housed one of her more prominent fears.

But that was before the argument. And now, Serena didn't think anyone would come even if she asked.

So with a quivering breath and a nervous grasping for her closest Pokémon's ball-one who couldn't aid her in a battle against electricity, she shuddered- Serena forced her head up and entered with only a slight hiccup to her steps. Calem had told her once when she was having an anxiety attack over an upcoming battle not to visually lose her nerve if at all possible.

And with that thought... quickly turned tail and returned to the Pokémon center. The badge could wait another day.

Of course, by the sixth day the looks Nurse Joy was giving her as she once again booked a room without any exclamation about a new badge were starting to make her feel slightly anxious.

And maybe a little guilty.

The sudden thunderstorm that struck that night didn't help any.

Serena jumped at the loud knocks against her door, her form huddled against the corner post and slight tremors reaching down to her fingertips. Slinking out of the bed, she yelped as another bought of lightning struck outside her window and flew towards the door, throwing it open.

The color drained from her face as she stared down her drenched rival, unsure of what to say.

"How do you think it makes me feel huh? To always lose. To always be too slow or too weak. And you sit there and talk about how you aren't good enough? That's rich."

Calem, illuminated by the lightning, was gasping for breath and, placing a hand on his knee to steady himself, looked up at her with eyes swallowed by sleepless nights. A crash of thunder, she flinched and his gaze widened, his arms flying around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Why does it matter?" She hadn't meant to sound condescending, really she hadn't.

"God, I'm so sorry Serena." His grip relaxed as she did. "I'm used to living in people's shadows by now. First my parents now you. Losing to you isn't the problem."

Her voice cracked, a hiccup escaping her. "I'm afraid of lightning." Burying her face deeper into his shoulder, she could feel his lips twitch from where they rested on top of her head.

"I would've never guessed." A relieved sigh escaped her as his breath tickled her scalp. Perhaps he hadn't forgiven her, but he wouldn't leave. "I'm afraid I'm going to lose you one day, all because I couldn't protect you."

"I'm scared so scared Calem. Of not living up to my mom. Of doing the wrong thing. I don't want you to hate me but..."

"We're all allowed to doubt ourselves Ser. I just overreacted, that's all."

Her nod was brief, just enough to be felt before she pulled away. Serena refused to look him in the eye as she glanced back towards her room, the dark space uninviting and sending chills down her spine.

Grabbing onto her hand, Calem lead her in and ushered her towards the floor where they sat and talked for the rest of the night. Through the lightning and her invisible tears. Like they had for weeks. Like those days without the other never existed. Like those words had never been said.

But she knew he hadn't just overreacted.

Shauna's bone crushing hug in the morning was enough to wind her, sending her stumbling backwards. A reassuring hand from Calem kept her upright and she mouthed 'thank you' over her shoulder.

The younger girl's enthusiasm magnified as they ventured to the gym, a skip in her step and a soft hum on her lips. So exuberate was she that she missed the slight hesitation from Serena walking off to her side. Shauna didn't however miss Calem holding her hand through the door and shot him a not-so-subtle wink after said blonde made her way to the second floor.

"Shall you go first or shall I? I wouldn't want the lovebirds to be too far apart." She laughed at the blush on his face before ducking to avoid the swat at her head. Hopping backwards, she stuck her tongue out at him and entered the elevator door. "Too slow!"

Shauna also didn't miss the expression of pain that flew across his face in the last moments before the doors closed and wondered what it was she had said.

Within a week they encountered Team Flare inside the Poke ball factory. Serena hadn't been expecting it and hadn't properly healed her Pokémon or rested herself after the rough encounter with Valerie of Laverre Gym or the trip to the city-verging on two days without sleep. It had seemed like such a simple thing to go talk with her friends before visiting the Poke Center but now she stood before two Admins, dead on her feet and only vaguely aware of the danger she had put herself in.

She felt an overwhelming relief when Calem rushed in, once again, to aid her before the battle began. The heated glare he threw her dampened her already meager spirits but she didn't complain when the first move he made after sending out Chesnaught was a full restore on Greninja.

Unlike with the grunts, the Admins were fairly evenly matched, and with her slow reaction time the fight seemed to lean in Flare's favor.

Greninja dodged.

"Chesnaught, Wood Hammer!" A direct hit. One Pokémon left in their arsenal.

Greninja dodged again, glancing furtively back to his unresponsive trainer who hadn't said a word for several attacks. He didn't notice the Liepard behind him.

"Chesnaught! Urk,... Greninja, Water Shuriken! Behind you!" The Pokémon didn't hesitate to respond to the familiar trainer-though not his own, turning in time to see the cat-like Pokémon crumble to the ground with her claws extended, a mere foot away.

The green-haired admin sneered before recalling her fallen partner and, shoving Serena, ran out of the room, the second one close behind. "You won't get away with this," she threw over her shoulder, not glancing back at the teenagers.

Sighing in relief, Calem stepped over to Serena, and shook her lightly so she'd look at him. Her eyes, glazed over and inattentive, slid shut and she crumpled. He caught her as she fell, dropping them both slowly to the ground. "Serena!"

The bed beneath her was stiff, the room cold. Slight pain radiated up her arm from an IV she was sure, and her eyelids were heavy. She didn't even bother trying to sit up.

She heard the whisk of an electronic sliding door being opened and felt rather than saw someone pull on the tube in her arm. "Rest, rest and support is all she needs. Exhaustion isn't hard to treat but just the same is easy to avoid with enough diligence." The voice was light and soothing, slightly on the high side but not annoying. Nurse Joy. "I talked to Professor Sycamore and he has cleared you to stay with her. Come get me or Clefairy if anything is amiss."

"Thank you," Calem. "Some other friends might stop by later when she wakes but we'll clear it with you so we don't overwhelm her."

"Good, good." Her soft, retreating footsteps were silenced with the closing of the door and Serena felt the depression of the bed off to her right. The muffled groan from Calem suggested he had put his head down on the bed and his next words were audible only after the bed shifted upwards again.

"You aren't doing anything to ease my worries Ser." His chuckle was breathy, but resigned and she wondered if his eyes weren't watering with how his breath caught. "You are going to be okay, you always have to be okay."

She wanted to answer, to open her eyes and see his expression but the already faint sounds and sensations grew dimmer as she slowly lost consciousness. With the last of her thoughts she remembered something he had said to her what seemed so long ago, amidst their sole real argument. And wondered why it hadn't bothered her before.

"If I'm too slow, who's going to be there to protect you?"

I would say I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but you don't understand the sheer number of times I have rewritten this chapter. I have at least five separate files on my computer and most of those were revised once before giving up on that particular idea. Hopefully this won't be a problem for the next (and final!) chapter. Also, while the story-line is linear the story itself jumps to particular mindsets or issues as they appear, so don't expect really any overflow from this chapter to the next.

That's its own beast entirely. :)