I'm back with the second chapter, so let's get to it!

Disclaimer: It needs to be done anyway, so… I don't own Pokemon!


"Okay now I'm really starting to worry" Serena frowned as she turned Ash's attention back to her.

"W-what? I-Is there something on my face?" Ash asked her, as he realized he wasn't listening to her for at least few minutes.

"You've spaced out again Ash. You're really creeping me out" she explained her reaction few seconds earlier, looking at Ash like he was some kind of new, weird looking pokemon. At the same second Ash caught a glance of something bright between the trees. Ash shook his head like he was seriously trying to focus. It looked to him like there was someone observing them and leaning on a tree nearby, but after a second, he was gone. Ash rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He could have sworn there was someone standing there!

"Ash!" Serena shook Ash's arm.

"Huh? Oh sorry, it's just… ugh… forget it" Ash explained, but at the same time he made a mental note to himself about this weird situation "I guess my eyes must have fooled me this time" Ash thought. Serena let out a shy giggle.

"What?" Ash asked her with an annoying tone. Then he glanced over to Pikachu who was laughing a bit as well. In his own pokemon way, of course.

"It's nothing. I just think that it doesn't suit you" Serena's giggle turned more into a laugh now.

"What do you mean?" Ash still didn't have a clue what was Serena trying to say. Although when she and Pikachu started to laugh, Ash automatically grinned as well.

"I mean behaving like that doesn't really match you, silly" Serena was still laughing at him "Because I swear every third sentence you say 'Pikachu, Thunderbolt!' or something like that" Serena's impression was rather comedic. But it let Ash understanding her statement, but only a tiny bit. Then again, Ash was asking himself "Does she really think of me like that?"

"I do not sound like that Serena!" Ash crossed my arms in disbelief and tried to defend himself.

"Oh yes you do! Don't deny it!" Serena pushed Ash back lightly and giggled even more.

Ash looked over to Pikachu who was now laying on the ground, rolling around and laughing "O-okay m-maybe I say it often, but it's because of Team Rocket! And it's not every third sentence!" Ash desperately tried to defend himself and but Serena was right- he usually talked only about Pokemon.

"Yeah, you're right…" Serena seemed a little bit apologetic at first, but quickly her expression changed "More like every second sentence! You know, with few breaks for 'I'm hungry' and some stomach grumbles in the meantime!" she laughed hard as she turned around and started running in the direction of Pallet Town "Race you Ash!" she yelled, as Ash shook it off, he found out that she was already far away from the point Ash was at.

"Hey, you don't even know where to go in the first place!" he yelled to her trying to catch up.

"I'll manage!" she turned her head and stuck her tongue out while running away from Ash. Pikachu also ran down the road, so the boy started sprinting as fast as he possibly could. All of the conversations with Serena earlier today made him think "Serena acts different today. During our time in Kalos she seemed more… how I should put it… more formal? She always looked like she cared what she was saying, trying not to say something she would regret. And now, she seems more relaxed, cool about everything. I really think that I did the right thing asking her to come with me" But Ash soon stopped overthinking, as he saw Serena getting further away from him, rather than him catching up with her. So he went straight back to running. He couldn't possibly lose a race to a girl, could he?


"So… I won" Ash huffed triumphantly and lifted his hands up like a winner, when he overtook Serena right before they got into Pallet Town.

"Not fair…" Serena quietly responded, with a little bit of jealousy in her voice.

"Hey you already had a huge advantage at the start. You took me off guard!" Ash told her, as they arrived in front of his house. "Well, that's my home" Ash pointed at the house with his index finger.

"Awww… your home is so cute!" Serena happily exclaimed with those heart-shaped anime eyes. Ash looked again at his house and didn't find anything cute about it. Just plain white walls and the roof made of red roof tiles.

"You didn't even see the inside, and you're already saying it's cute?" Ash asked, not really understanding her logic.

"Because everything that's connected to you is cute" Serena was about to say that, but in the last second she bit her lip and quickly thought of something else "I mean… from the outside, it looks so nice and cozy…" she corrected herself, and to her relief Ash bought it, telling himself it's probably some girl-thing. So without any more hesitation he went up to the door and opened it, inviting Serena inside.

"Phew… That was close. Serena get a hold of yourself! You were hiding your crush for nearly a year now, while traveling with Ash and now you can't wait a bit longer?!" Serena told herself. She wanted to wait for a good opportunity to confess to Ash…


I know this chapter is super short, but I wanted to upload as soon as possible and with Christmas going on I just didn't get enough time to finish more. But I promise I'll upload more in next couple of days!

Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas! See you in the next chapter!

~Jmtx100