A/N: What's up guys? Today, I release the second remade chapter of I Choose You! I should really get into the habit of writing these notes after the actual story bit's done, but for now, I'm gonna focus on my writing. Also, I found out how to add those horizontal lines that so many other authors on this site use. That is, of course, why I'm here. So for now, throw yourself in!
Serena hung up on her mother. It was hard enough convincing her to allow Ash to come over, let alone getting her to take him in over the holidays. But in the end, she caved in, and agreed to Serena's demands, meaning her new plans could take place. Now, she simply needed to find Ash.
Walking up the stairs, the honey-haired girl heard some odd grunting noises coming from Ash's room. She turned her head to see the trainer attempting to stuff a bright blue hoodie into a black-and-red suitcase. Serena jogged up the stairs and rounded the corner that separated her from her crush.
"Hey Ash!" said Serena, beaming at the boy.
"Oh, hey Serena!" replied Ash. He flashed a quick smile at her and continued to pack his items of clothing.
"You know, you're never gonna get anything in here if you stuff your clothes down like that," commented Serena. Taking the suitcase and lifting piles of clothes out of it, she looked at him, saying "Here, I'll show you."
She took one of the t-shirts from the disorderly pile she had made, and began to fold it neatly. Meanwhile, Ash watched her intently, as if watching a magic act. When Serena was done, she placed it neatly into the suitcase, and smiled at Ash. "Now you try!"
No more than a second later, Ash grabbed a pair of trousers and began trying to replicate Serena's work. The fuzzy yellow ball that was Pikachu caught Serena's eye. The Pokemon almost seemed to be laughing at his trainer, but in a good-natured way. Seemingly done, Ash held up his folded trousers and displayed them briefly to Serena, before putting it away. "Pretty good," said the girl, "but I reckon I'll have to help you out a little more…"
After about 10 minutes, the work was over, and the suitcase was pretty much full. Ash looked at Serena for confirmation, who nodded back at him.
"Thanks for all your help, Serena," said Ash, "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."
"No problem, shall we go now?" replied Serena.
"Yeah, sure, let's go say goodbye to Clemont and Bonnie first."
The two of them walked down the varnished-oak stairs, and turned to their left to see the siblings from Lumiose almost walk into them.
"Hey, guys," said Ash. "You see, Serena and I are all packed now. I think we're ready to set off to Vaniville Town.
"Aww," whined Bonnie, "Why do you guys have to leave?"
"If we leave it any longer, there's gonna be a snowstorm on our hands." replied Serena, with sympathy in her eyes. "I don't wanna leave either."
"OK then…" whispered Bonnie. "But we're gonna see each other soon, right?"
"Yeah, sure!" said Ash excitedly. "We'll meet again in Lumiose City, remember? I'm gonna go to the Pokemon League!"
"Well, if everything seems to be in order, then there's no time like the present!" said Clemont, smiling to the two of them. "I've booked you guys a hotel in Lumiose for when you get there, OK? Just tell them your names and you should get in. Take this just in case."
Clemont handed a small card to Ash, who took it gladly. It had the name Luces Hotel, as well as two-digit room number and a longer code underneath it for Arceus-knows-what, and would surely grant them entry to their room.
"Thanks so much, Clemont," said Ash. The two boys looked into each others' eyes and shook hands. Meanwhile, Serena bent down to hug Bonnie. Whilst Ash wished he could stay with his friends for a little longer, he knew that if they waited longer there would be the risk of a huge snowstorm to deal with.
"Alright, Serena, I think it's time for us to go. Wouldn't want to get lost in the snowstorm, right?"
Pikachu seemed excited to explore the white snow around them, but Ash kept him on his shoulder. He knew that if his partner were to leap off into the woodlands around them, there would be almost no chance of finding each other in the blinding snow.
Ash looked over at Serena, who was shivering slightly. He could see that the cold was getting to her as she trudged through the snow with him.
"You OK?" asked Ash. No harm in asking, right?
"Y-yeah, I'm fine… just a little cold." The two of them stopped.
"It's kinda snowy out here, isn't it?" Ash reached out his hand so Pikachu could climb up and onto his shoulder. "Maybe the snowstorm's coming early."
"I hope not," replied Serena. "We'd better get inside somewhere."
Ash looked around him. Besides him, Pikachu and Serena, there seemed to be nobody or nothing in sight. The perfectly white snow looked endless. The forests around them loomed above, inviting unwary travellers into its bounds.
"Nothing…" he said. "We'd better keep walking. There's bound to be something between here and Vaniville Town."
Sighing, the two of them soldiered on through the wilderness, looking about them for signs of civilisation. The falling snow made it incredibly hard to see, as did the glare coming from that on the ground. At this rate, they'd never find shelter. They might even miss the gates of Serena's hometown.
As he walked on, and on, and on, through the snow, Ash hit something. Or, rather, his foot did. He barely had time to notice the ground flying towards his face. But as he landed, he found himself lying on a bed of rather soft snow.
Breathing, his head span for a while, until he could see clearly. Serena stood above him, giggling. At least she was happy now. Ash took the hand offered to him by the Performer and pulled himself up.
Looking down to see the source of his literal downfall, he sighed to see a medium-sized rock on the floor. A simple rock had bested him. But next to it, a post. A red post. Something that neither he nor Serena would have seen if not for this moment. Ash followed the post up with his eyes and found that it lead to a gate. When he looked to Serena, he knew that she had found it too. What they had been looking for this whole time. It had felt like hours. It probably was hours, but they were here.
Serena's eyes brightened. For the first time since they had left the chateau, her face was in a broad smile. She stared through the gates, over the thin, winding brick path, and into the small town. And like a deer, she sprang forward.
She looked back for a second, and realised that Ash had fallen apart. He was clearly quite beaten by the mix of fatigue and cold that had fell on him. Regardless, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along merrily into a place reminiscent of a town square, but he couldn't tell.
Serena could, though. After all, this was her home town.
They ran nonstop for the next few minutes, through streets and between stores, when the pair reached a house with a small extension. Like all the other houses, it was covered in snow, but the area around the extension had been meticulously ploughed.
Ash bent over, catching his breath, when a tall brunette stepped out from the door. She looked deep into Serena's eyes, and suddenly broke into a smile. Serena rushed to hug the woman, which seemed odd to the Kantoan, until something clicked. This was her mother.
Following a curt greeting, Ash was ushered inside by Serena's mother. The two took their several layers of winter clothes off, whilst Grace stared at the two of them.
"So, Serena. This is your new boyfriend?" The woman was grinning widely, and it gave her an aspect that reminded Ash of his own mother.
"No, Mom," said Serena. An uncontrollable blush began to spread across her face, "Ash isn't my boyfriend."
"I'm just joking," she said, laughing. Ash laughed along too, if slight nervously. "So, you're the Ash I've heard so much about. Serena speaks so highly of you. In fact, she always speaks about you when I'm talking to her."
The trainer looked over to Serena, who was blushing madly now. In fact, she was trying to hide her face from everyone else in the room.
"Really?"
"Yeah, she has. According to Serena, you've been taking really good care of her. Thanks for that!"
"Well, I wouldn't say it like tha-"
"To be honest, when she told me she would be travelling, I didn't think she'd survive a day out there! I assumed she'd come straight back here! I guess I underestimated her though."
"That's great, Mom," said Serena, stepping almost in between Ash and Grace. "How about I show Ash to his room."
"Yeah, I'll get back to the food. I think the potatoes need a little bake now."
"Sorry about that." Serena began to corral Ash out of the front room and into the hall. Ash looked into the subsequent kitchen and saw Grace placing a tray into an oven. The fumes from the room spread throughout the house. Delicious aromas of turkey, potato and other indescribably delicious complements were being cooked. The raven-haired boy felt his stomach rumbling. Serena heard it.
"No time for that now, Ash," interrupted Serena. "Here, I'll show you to your room!" The Kalosian girl gestured upstairs, and lead the Kantoan up. After walking up and turning around the bannister, the two came to an open door. "There it is!"
Ash stepped inside the room. Whilst he knew it was a guest room, it was still slightly smaller than he would have wanted. However, he tried not to show it on his face.
"It's really nice, Serena. Thanks." He smiled at her.
"I'm sorry it's a little small," replied Serena.
"It's fine," he said, brushing off the apology, "I've slept in smaller." In truth, the only smaller thing he'd slept in was a tent, but he did that often anyway, so what was the problem?
"Ash, Serena, time for dinner!" called Grace from downstairs. Anybody who had met Ash when he was hungry would know that this would ensue a mad rush to wherever said dinner was located. Ash rounded the corner and nearly ran into Grace. But when she moved out of his vision, he saw that on the table was a grand Christmas meal, rivalling even Deliah Ketchum's own. The room was illuminated by warm candlelight, making it feel as if Ash was at his own home. And only now, Ash noticed that on the floor was that same oak surface that he knew from Kanto.
"Wow, Grace. It's amazing!" Ash was in complete awe. Never had anyone apart from his mother completed such a visual masterpiece of food. He could only hope it tasted as good.
"Go on, you two must be starving!"
A/N: Hey guys, thanks a lot for reading! The next chapter should be up next week, as long as I remember. I wrote this chapter listening to music, and I think it has an effect on my creative performance, so I'll be doing it more often. Actually, if you leave a review, tell me what song you've been listening to on repeat! Mine's Sellouts by Breathe Carolina!
Before I go, I just want to say: please leave a review! I can't notice all of my spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, so I rely on you guys to help out! Plus, you can leave your own suggestions (or just PM me those, I don't really mind) there too. So please consider it, as it can make a world of difference!