Author's Note: I'm sorry. Kill me now...

In the girls' dormitory bathroom of the Pokémon Center, Serena helps Bonnie reach the soap dispenser. Bonnie thanks her and builds up a large foaming pile of bubbles in the sink. She gives herself a soapy beard, squints one eye shut, and affects the manner of a pirate.

"Arrrr…"

"Nne nne!" Squeaks Dedenne on her shoulder.

Serena giggles. She looks in the mirror at herself and Bonnie in their fuzzy pink nightclothes. Dedenne wears a pint-sized Pokémon sleeping cap. No matter what the situation with Clemont, she'll always be close like a sister to mischievous little Bonnie.

Bonnie continues to giggle, but suddenly Serena holds her hand to her mouth and shushes her gently. "I think I heard something."

Bonnie listens as well, and they hear Ash's and Clemont's voices in the neighboring boys' bathroom.

"Wow. It looks amazing, Clemont. How does it work?"

"I—I'm surprised you need to ask, Ash. You already have one, and this really isn't all that different."

"Yeah, but I've never seen one like that before."

"Well, allow me to demonstrate. You just hold it up like so, insert it at an appropriate angle, then…"

"Like this?"

"No, actually, that's too much of an angle."

"Liii dis?"

"No, no…here, allow me to help."

"Rrr…Ngh…Waghhhh"

Serena turns beet red and instinctively covers Bonnie's ears. But there isn't anything further to be heard except a series of garbled sounds and laughs.

"Oww, what is that for, Serena?" Bonnie struggles free and faces Serena, indignant.

"N-nothing…" Serena smiles nervously.

"Hey!" A shout from the direction of the boys' bathroom.

"What's the matter, Clemont?" asks Ash in an utterly ordinary voice.

"Bonnie must have taken my floss again. How am I supposed to brush my teeth when it goes missing like this every evening?"

Bonnie blinks. She shouts through the grate. "Yeah yeah, big brother. I've got your stupid floss right here." She promptly hops down from her stepstool and races out of the room.

"Here." Serena hears Bonnie's voice coming from beyond the wall.

"Bonnie! You can't be in the boys' room!" Clemont scolds.

"Who cares! There's no one else in here! You got your floss, didn't you? Nyehh!"

Serena hears the pitter-patter of Bonnie's swift steps down the hallway. Bonnie reenters the room, bounces back onto her stool and resumes washing up as if nothing had happened.

Serena blinks, dumbfounded and a little embarrassed. Of course, a mechanical toothbrush. Predictable Clemont. And Bonnie clearly thinks nothing of entering spaces uninvited, intruding on her older brother, and doing it all with attitude.

It's then that an idea enters her head.

Serena is not one to be devious. Would it be right to try and gather intel through Bonnie? She tries to push away guilty thoughts.

"Serena?" Bonnie seems to have noticed that Serena has ceased brushing her hair and has slid into a blank stare. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, uh—Not at all!" Serena smiles. "Last one to bed is an angry Togepi!"

Bonnie shrieks on her way back to the dormitory beds and Serena trails her. In the hallway, they run into Ash and Clemont, who appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

Bonnie weaves between the boys and yells "Goodnight Ash and Clemont!" without so much as a backwards glance. Serena stares, confused, since the two seem to be heading toward the building's exit rather than the dormitories.

In answer to her questioning stare, Clemont explains: "We're going out to the field for some extra training before bed. Ash wanted to work on Pikachu's resistance to ground-type moves, like Bunnelby's Dig."

"Ah hah…" Serena plasters on a forced smile and looks at Ash. "I'll still be awake for a little while too if…if you need extra help." She tosses an awkward wave in his direction.

"Thanks Serena! But I think we're covered. It's just this one move and it'll only be a little while."

"O-okay!" Serena grins and edges around them for a quick escape down the hallway.

Stop being such a loser! She chides herself. She's still not willing to give up on Ash's adorable smile. She enters the room and falls onto the bed. Okay. She's made up her mind. Bonnie will be her unwitting messenger, her eyes and ears, if Serena can do anything about it. She clenches a fist to her chest and shuts her eyes. Restlessly, she fights the urge to tail Ash and Clemont to verify that Training is indeed what they are up to.

Don't be dumb. Of course that's what they're doing. But next time, I'll figure it out for sure… She opens one eye and glances sidelong in Bonnie's direction. Bonnie is somehow already asleep, or very near. Serena snuggles her face into Fennekin's soft, warm fur.

Bonnie's soft snores eventually lull her into sleep, in spite of Dedenne's strange wheezes and her own perplexed state.

It's morning, and Serena decides there is no time like the present.

Bonnie is doing her hair and humming softly to herself. Dedenne watches and occasionally flicks a paw behind its own ears in an apparent emulation of her motions.

"So—Bonnie—" Serena stammers.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering if you know anything about – Well, would you be able to tell me if—"

Bonnie swivels away from the mirror to face Serena.

"Well? What is it, Serena?"

"Nne?!"

"Bonnie, do you know if there's someone that, err…that your brother likes?"

Bonnie blinks. She looks to the ceiling for a second, considering. Then she bursts out, "No! You know what? Every time I try to get him together with the perfect, nicest girls, he really really doesn't want to! And I want him to like someone soooo bad!"

"Do you think maybe…he doesn't want to go out with those girls because there's already someone he likes?"

Bonnie is about to reply, but freezes in her tracks. A little grin finds its way onto her face. "I suppose that's always possible," she declares matter-of-factly.

"I think so, too, Bonnie. Do you think you could try to find out for me?"

Bonnie nods, eyes half closed.

"Please don't let him know I asked you to do that, though. Just…Keep an eye on him for me, will you?"

"Don't worry, Serena. Your secret is safe with me!" Bonnie makes as if to zip her lips shut.

"Great. Okay." Serena pats Bonnie on the shoulder. Then, she mentally pats herself on the back. See? That wasn't so hard.

Bonnie whisks Dedenne into her arms and nuzzles its face. She strides out of the room like a little girl filled with new purpose.

"Hey guys!" Bonnie announces herself loudly at the breakfast table. "I think we should go to Lumiose City next."

"Lumiose City?" Clemont asks. "But why?"

"Maybe she's feeling kinda homesick, Clemont," suggests Ash.

Bonnie's face puffs up. "That's not it, I—! I mean…" She calms. "Yes, actually, I really am homesick for Lumiose. Big brotherrrr…Can we?"

Clemont looks to Ash. "It's really up to you, Ash. After all, it's your journey and…" he removes his glasses and wipes them nervously before placing them back onto his face. He lifts his eyes to Ash's. "…We're willing to go with you, anywhere you want to go."

"Well, it's not that far out of the way, any way you look at it," says Ash.

"True," Clemont agrees. "It's pretty much right in the center of the Kalos region."

"Oh, yay!" Bonnie skips around joyfully. "Do you hear that, Dedenne? We're going home for a little while!"

"You're fine with that too, right Serena?" Ash asks her.

"What? Oh—Yes! Yes, of course that's fine!" she smiles. "Any…where…" She glances sidelong at Clemont. "Anywhere is fine with me, too!"

"All right. Let's start heading there today," Ash decides. "I'd love to make use of Lumiose's great training facilities for some Special Training as well!" He stands up and heads for the door.

Ash acts like the ringleader, but Bonnie is secretly pleased with herself for setting events into motion. She grins.

"Nne. De nne nne!"

To Serena's chagrin, Bonnie tags along closer to her than usual, when she's supposed to be keeping tabs on Clemont. When Bonnie thinks Serena is not looking, she whispers and giggles to Dedenne.

Eventually, Serena slows her gait and addresses Bonnie: "Hey, don't you wonder what your brother and Ash are talking about?"

Bonnie gets a sly look on her face. "Oh, I can guess what they're talking about."

"You—you can?"

"It's either Pokémon, or maybe it's about—loooovvveee," Bonnie winks.

Serena starts. Against her better judgment, her indignant reaction wins over. She rushes to catch up to them and insert herself into the conversation. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Serena," says Ash.

"We were just talking about the effects of a Quick Claw when a Pokémon is holding that item," explains Clemont.

"Yeah, I guess it really wouldn't make sense for Pokémon whose attack power is based on the damage they've already taken on that turn."

"I see…" says Serena. She casts an aggravated glance at Bonnie, who is paying no mind, but gleefully helping Dedenne pick a flower from a low-hanging tree branch.

Moments later, large droplets of rain begin stamping down onto the trail around them. A sudden gust billows from behind, loosening the flower from Dedenne's paws and sending it sailing high into a gray ceiling of clouds.

Serena quickly finds her frilly, pink umbrella and pops it open. Bonnie rushes to Clemont's side and urges him to hurry up with whatever rain-protective gadget he's got stowed away in his bag for just such an occasion. Ash removes his outer jacket and swings it over his head to shelter Pikachu, who is riding there.

"Ash!" call both Serena and Clemont simultaneously. "Don't you want"/"I've got something for"/"—to keep you out of the rain?"

The two lock eyes. Each is surprised to find that there is a palpable air of competition. This is not a conversation for three, or a meal with a main course and a dessert – Just a single offer of protection would keep Ash safe and dry.

Clemont looks down at his feet and hugs Bonnie closer to his side. He's already got a responsibility, and he's not about assert himself over a matter so practical as keeping dry from the rain.

But he sighs. It's no secret that Serena is in love with Ash – She's made it plain from the very first day. Clemont can only hope that Ash will remain too fixated on his Pokémon-related goals to find time to reciprocate. He can only dream that Ash could decide that what he's looking for is a bit shorter, nerdier, and—male.

Ash turns around and starts jogging backwards so he can face his friends. "Don't worry about it, guys!" he grins. "That's why this jacket is waterproof! Bet you can't beat me to Lumiose!"

The rain falls harder in sheets as Ash turns back around and starts running. Plates of water slosh from the narrow protection offered by his jacket, soaking the bottoms of his pants and seeming to get in his face as well.

Clemont wonders if the frame of his umbrella contraption is Stainless (It's not), while Serena struggles with the wind to keep her parasol right-side in.

All the while, Ash laughs, leaving muddy tracks in his wake.