Merry Christmas! Thank goodness this chapter is longer! I'm hoping to go ahead and complete another chapter by the end of the week so that we can get some action in this story!

EDIT: changed this part too! Now with less unnecessary robots!

The next morning…

Everyone had woken up early to prepare for the fun activities throughout the day. Although all 4 of the kids had been offered to stay the night over at the Limone house, they preferred to sleep in a nearby Pokémon Center. Serena was busy fixing her hair in the girls bathroom alongside a tired Bonnie, while both of the guys were getting dressed.

"Serena, what kind of sane person wakes up at 8:00 in the morning?" While Bonnie was usually eager to have fun, she did not enjoy it when fun conflicted with her sleep.

"The only showing of Lasses Day Out is at 9:15, and since we need 30 minutes to get ready and another 30 to walk to the cinema, we would need to get ready an hour beforehand."

Following a moan from Bonnie, Serena though it would be a good idea to bring up the shopping district right beside the theater, where she could shop for an hour unsupervised so long as she kept her phone on her (in reality, luxray would be keeping an eye on her to make sure she stayed out of trouble.) Everyone else would be shopping as well, picking out nice outfits to wear during their possibly last month together. After the hour was up, all 4 of them were to meet up at a new smoothie shop called Galaxy Berries, where they would discuss their plans for the rest of the day.

After they all had finished getting ready, it was off to the movies! Given that it was a chick flick, Serena and Bonnie seemed to enjoy the film the most, though Clemont was able to find it entertaining also. Once the movie was over, each person went their separate ways to begin shopping. However, after she had been out for only 10 minutes, Serena received a message on her pokedex.

"Can u meet me my place w/ a few things? (List is down below) I'll pay u back. - Clem"

Wondering what on earth he needed more supplies for, Serena ran out and picked up the items from a nearby hardware store, and headed over to the Lumiose Tower, the Gym/Apartment complex where the Limones lived. Thankfully, it was close by, and within 5 minutes she was walking inside the residential entrance to see a red-faced Clemont standing near the door to the basement, embarrassed and waiting with some cash in his hand. When he saw Serena, he seemed to relax a bit and walked up towards her.

Noticing the tension in the teen, she tried to lighten up the situation. "Hey Clem, what's got you spooked? Did Clembot threaten you with a screwdriver down there or something?"

Hearing this, he began to smile, and swapped the bag of mechanical parts for the cash. "No, but I'm pretty sure something is wrong with his language settings - for the entire day, he's been speaking nothing but kalosian! Thankfully, most of the natives speak it, but it's been a pain to any foreign visitors."

"God, that must've been a pain," Serena replied, before realizing something. "Wait, does that mean you speak kalosian?"

Clemont looked at her with a confused expression "You can't? I thought I heard you say you learned before moving here."

"Yeah, but only basic phrases like hello and thank you…" she admitted

From the basement downstairs, the broken robot could be heard muttering gibberish phrases. Serena could pick up on a few phrases, such as "hello, how are you?" and "where is the nearest Pokécenter?"

Slightly annoyed, Clemont opened the door and shouted at the broken machine. "Pouvez-vous vous taire!"

Grinning, Serena looked at Clemont as he shut the door. "Cool - didn't know you were bilingual." Wrapping her arms around his waist, she began to joke with him. "I love it when you talk that sexy kalosian to me, Clem."

He, however didn't see it as playful banter, and immediately became flustered, trying to laugh it off once he realized she was joking. Seeing her mistake, Serena quickly apologized and let go. Strangely, though, Clemont didn't let her go immediately, only releasing her when she pulled away. She said goodbye and made her way out of the building. Before she made it out, she swore she could hear him say "Je t'aime tellement, Serena…"

Note to self, she thought: learn more kalosian.

Once she left, Serena went to shop for the last 15 minutes before lunch, where she was able to buy a pair of sneakers and a nice big backpack. Once she arrived at the smoothie shop, Serena was able to find a table with everyone else, where Ash was just showing his new pokeballs.

A waitress came around the table with 4 smoothies on a tray, 2 with red lids and 2 with blue. "Care for a smoothie? In order to promote business, we're giving away a free drink to anyone we can find!"

"Wow, thanks!" Bonnie was happy about the idea of free drinks, and as soon as she the tray was on the table she grabbed a cup with a red lid. She picked up the second red one and handed it to Clemont. "So we can match!" She explained right before she started drinking.

"Your giving these out to everyone?" Ash was a bit curious about this promotion.

"Yep! And it's been a success! I would venture to say that nearly everyone in Kalos has enjoyed one of our drinks, and they agree that it tastes fantastic!"

"Works for me!" said Ash as he began to enjoy a blue cup. Laughing, Serena and Clemont both started drinking their respective drinks until all 4 were empty, everyone felt great, and all was good.

Except it wasn't.

Minutes after the smoothies had been drunken, Bonnie began to complain about a stomach ache. "I think I had a bad reaction to whatever what's in that drink."

Clemont was also beginning to look a bit pale, though he stayed silent. Oddly enough, most of the customers also had an unpleasant reaction to the smoothies, though a few seemed to be fine, including Ash and Serena. However, this moment of curiosity didn't last long, because one man had collapsed onto the floor, gripping his stomach as a noise escaped his mouth.

He was screaming.