"Pikachu, use quick attack" Ash yelled out.
Pikachu dashed at Mega Gardevoir, his speed increasing at a rapid pace.
"Gardevoir, Moonblast" Diantha commanded Mega Gardevoir. Gardevoir began to charge up with immense power, and launched several blasts of energy at Pikachu. Pikachu managed to dodge most of the blasts but was caught slightly in the middle of one of them causing Pikachu to lose speed.
"Now use Shadow ball"!
Gardevoir holding her hands out generated a massive shadow ball and sent it flying at Pikachu. Ash desperately commanded "Use Iron tail". Pikachu quickly recovered it's stance and jumped, his tail shining with the metal based attack and cut through the shadow ball.
"Now use Thunderbolt". Pikachu sparking electrical energy launched the attack at Gardevoir. Ash was sure this attack would get through, but before the attack hit, Diantha called out to use the reflect move, and with that a shield formed in front of Gardevoir reflecting the attack right back at Pikachu. The reflected attack struck Pikachu sending him flying to the ground briefly stunning him but long enough for Diantha to command,
"Let's end this, use Moonblast"!
Mega Gardevoir once again, glowed with the power of the attack, just before firing several beams at Pikachu.
"PIKACHU" Ash yelled in shock. But before he could command a way to defend against the attack Pikachu was blasted with the full strength of moonblast. The attack enveloped Pikachu causing a blast that knocked Ash back about a foot before the brightness of the attack blinded him. He than felt himself falling.
Ash jolted awake. He found himself on the floor of the Pokemon centers bedroom. Before Ash could think about what had just happened a massive jolt of electricity, well shocked him. Once the attack had stopped and Ash was yet again on the floor. He noticed Pikachu jump onto the bed from where he had previously landed. He realized he must have fallen directly on top of Pikachu.
"Sorry about that buddy" Ash said rubbing his head.
"Pika, Pikachu" Pikachu yelled clearly angry at being awoken by that.
Ash sighed as he picked himself off the floor and sat on the side of the bed. Pikachu, now over his initial rude awakening came up to next to Ash and jumped onto his shoulder which he didn't seem to notice. Pikachu nudged Ash which he finally seemed to notice.
"Sorry Pikachu" Ash noted as he noticed Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Pika, Pika" Pikachu asked.
"No, nothings wrong" Ash responded as he got up to get his jacket. But if Ash was honest with himself that dream had shaken him a little. Not only because of how real it felt, but because in that moment were he thought he had lost one of, if not the most important, match he'll ever face. It's not like he wasn't worried about the match of course he was, who wouldn't, but that fear of the uncertainty about match just wouldn't leave.
But now he knew he couldn't focus on that. He had to keep a straight head. Once Ash had gotten changed back into his regular clothes he and Pikachu headed for Serena's room. Once he got there he knocked on the door. There was no answer. He tried the door handle and found the door unlocked. He peered into the room and noticed that all of Serena's stuff was gone. Ash suspected she probably went down stairs to get some breakfast. But why she hadn't come and knocked on his door to see if he was ready to go confused him slightly.
Serena was in the downstairs part of the Pokemon center eating her breakfast. She knew she probably should have gone to check on Ash but she wanted to just be by herself while eating for once. It wasn't because she didn't want to see Ash, quite the opposite, but after nearly a whole night of subconscious debate with herself about the decision of going to Hoenn, which she was still in serious doubt over, it just left her feeling, well, hollow. This feeling along with constant worrying kept her up most of the night and when the first beams of sunlight peeked through the curtains she just decided to get some early breakfast hoping it would stump out the hollow feeling. But to be honest it did help a little. Though she had been able to use this time to her advantage. She had her tablet to find out more about Pokemon contests. So far she had found out that the rounds of a contest worked a little differently. The first round was basically a somewhat free style round were you would show off your Pokemon's moves in a performance style way. If you passed that round, then the second round was a basic battle against another contestant, but the catch was the battle would be judged on how good the moves looked. She was just reading about the ribbons you would receive if you won the contest, when she noticed Ash and Pikachu entering the main room. Ash immediately saw Serena and came over to her table.
"Morning Serena" Ash said sitting down at the chair opposite her as he and Pikachu practically began devouring the food on the table.
"Good morning Ash, sorry I didn't come and wake you, I was still a little tired and I was pretty hungry" Serena said smiling.
"I know the feeling" Ash responded through mouthfuls of food, "But it's okay".
Serena told Ash that she had all her stuff so she was ready to hit the road when he was. Ash responded that he just needed to get his items out of his room then he would be ready to leave.
With the food all finished and after Ash had retrieved his stuff from his room, the three of them left the Pokemon centre and were just at the starting point of route 22 where they ran into Viola from yesterday.
"Hey you two, I thought i would come to see you off, and to wish you luck against Diantha" Viola said.
"Thanks Viola, I'll do my best" Ash responded.
"Also" Viola continued, "Serena I wanted to give you this".
Viola reached into her bag and pulled out a photograph and handed it to Serena.
When Serena saw what the photo was of, she swore for a moment she was going to die from embarrassment. The photo was of her and Ash dancing together in the square the other night.
"I took that of you two last night, i thought you should probably have it" Viola said smiling.
"Tha, thank you" Serena stuttered in embarrassment.
"No problem" Viola responded before saying goodbye and heading back in the direction of the gym.
"Wow, Viola sure does take good photos" Ash said looking over at the photograph.
Serena quickly put the photo in her bag, thanking the fact that Viola had not said anything else that would have made the situation a little more embarrassing for herself.
"Yeah she sure does" Serena said quickly as they resumed walking along the route.
They knew the hall of fame wasn't far away from were they were now. If they kept going at a decent pace they should be there by late afternoon at best.
Ash was at the time going over every detail of his strategy in his head, trying to make sure there was anything he hadn't accounted for. Though he knew he would only know if the strategy would work until the battle. He was certain that he had gone over everything, but that familiar feeling of doubt kept him second guessing himself.
"Ash" Serena said. Ash turned in response.
"Of all the regions you've been to, have you traveled to Hoenn".
Ash smiled.
"Yes, I've traveled through Hoenn and I fought in the Hoenn league".
Serena responded with "I was curious if you know anything about the Pokemon contests there".
Ash got a slight gleam in his eyes.
"I know quite a bit about them, I've even participated in a few".
Serena giggled in surprise.
"Sorry" Serena said regaining her composure. "You just don't really strike me as a performer".
Ash laughed at this.
"You're not wrong, I may have made it past the first few rounds of some, but I always became more focused on the battling than making the moves look good".
Pikachu sighed in exasperation.
Ash then said "One thing I can tell you, trainers who take part in Pokemon contests are called Coordinators".
Serena was impressed by some of Ash's knowledge on the contests. He told her about how if you win enough contests you can participate in the regions grand festival. Also that he knew a few people who were not only coordinates but they were pretty advanced coordinators.
It didn't take long for the three of them to reach a fork in the road. Once they figured out the right one to take they continued down the pathway which was now leading them into another dense wooded area. The pathway seemed to keep winding off into random directions. Even with this they knew they were heading in the right direction as there was only one path. This path eventually led them through several cave entrances, but luckily they came out of them just as quickly as they entered.
"I know the Hall of fame is a really important landmark in Kalos" Serena said clearly running out of breath from all the walking. "But why did it have to be out in the most secluded part of the region".
"I see what you mean" Ash said who unlike Serena was still full of energy. "I guess the journey for those going to the hall was made this long to give the challengers a sense of accomplishment once they made it there".
"Probably" Serena responded having finally caught her breath.
After they had gone through a few more winding pathways they came to a straight brick layed road.
"I think we're almost there" Ash exclaimed as he began to run along the road with Serena trying to keep up with him.
It wasn't long before a gleaming white building started to come into view. As they got closer both Ash and Serena were blown away by not only the size of the structure but at how eye catching the building was. To Serena it looked like what she would have imagined a royal palace to look like. They both continued to dash towards the building. They eventually reached what looked like the main courtyard. The pathway lead up to the giant sized doors of the building. The courtyard contained many variety of flowers, which filled the air with an unfamiliar yet intoxicating smell. Once they reached the doors they weren't exactly sure what to do next. Ash tried Knocking but because of the material the door was made of it made no sound. They both stood there for a moment trying to figure out exactly what to do, but the double door then started to slowly open. Without hesitation they both stepped through them.
They were now in a hallway that split off into three directions. Ash noted how big the interior of the building was. The first way which continued straight forward led to another set of giant double doors. The hallway on the left and right though, had nothing to indicate were they led. Yet again before they could decide which way to go a familiar voice came from the left side hallway.
"Ash, Serena"!
They both turned to face the direction the voice was coming. They saw Bonnie running down the hallway with Clemont and Professor Sycamore walking behind her.
"You finally made it, we've been waiting forever" Bonnie pouted in annoyance while hugging Serena.
Serena laughed. "Sorry but we had to take the long pathway up here, it took longer than we thought" Serena commented.
"Well at least you made it" Clemont said.
"Yeah your right" Ash commented grinning before asking, "So where are we supposed to go from here".
Professor Sycamore chimed in "Don't worry it's down this way". They followed him down the hallway that they had coming down. They continued along until they reached a point where the hall split off on the right hand side. They went down in this direction and through another pair of doors. They then found themselves in a Pokemon centre like room, where not only was there a nurse Joy working behind the section were she would heal Pokemon but the room also had a lot of tables and chairs.
"All your rooms are up that staircase" Sycamore said pointing to a staircase on the opposite end of the room.
He then said "You guys should make yourself at home, I have some work I need to complete with Nurse Joy".
"Alright we will" Clemont said. "Oh and thanks for getting me and Bonnie up here in time".
"Was a pleasure" Sycamore said before going through the door that presumably led to the back part of the built in Pokemon centre, leaving the four on their own.
"By the way" Ash said as he turned to face Clemont, "How did you end up fixing the power at the lumiose gym anyway".
"It's kind of complicated" Clemont said as he tensed up slightly. "What matters is that the power was fully restored and that we got here in time, all by my doing".
Bonnie then said smiling smugly "That's not how I remember it". Serena and Ash turned to Bonnie looking slightly confused.
"The way I remember it is that Clemont was trying to use his latest invention to fix the power cords, it exploded and it caused Dedenne to release a thunderbolt that shocked us both" Bonnie said. Dedenne than jumped out of her bag and onto her shoulder. Bonnie continued,
"The extra jolt of electricity managed to restore most of the power, so you can thank Dedenne for getting the job done".
They all turned back to Clemont who looked pretty embarrassed by the whole thing. They then all burst out laughing.
"It doesn't matter who fixed the problem" Ash said. "What matters is that we're all here".
"Ash is right" Serena said reassuring Clemont.
Clemont gave a short smile, then said scratching his head "We weren't exactly the first ones here".
"What do you mean" Ash commented.
"You really thought I would miss my son's battle against a Regional Champion" a voice came from behind him.
Ash immediately turned around to see his Mom having come down the stairs standing there smiling brightly with Professor Oak standing next to her.
"Mom" Ash said in surprise. "What are you doing here".
Delia smiled again. "Like I said, I wouldn't miss this match for the world".
Ash though still surprised to see his Mom, was still overjoyed to see her. Pikachu immediately leapt into Delia's arms cooing slightly.
Delia laughed. "Of course I haven't forgotten about you Pikachu" she said while petting Pikachu. Pikachu then jumped back on to Ash's shoulder. It was then when Professor Oak spoke up.
"You sure have improved a lot of your trainer skills since I last saw you, and I have to say I'm really impressed".
"Thanks, It's great to see you both" Ash responded.
"You have been taking care of yourself" Delia questioned. "Have you been changing your underwear every day".
"Mom, geeze" Ash said scratching his head in embarrassment. Bonnie at this burst out laughing, while the others tried to contain there giggles. It was at this that Delia brought her attention to the others behind Ash.
"I apologise, but since Ash got here we haven't had a proper introduction" she said. She was right, in all the commotion Clemont and Bonnie had not introduced themselves to Delia even though they had arrived at virtually the same time and neither had Serena, though she had arrived with Ash.
"Well I'm Clemont" Clemont said repositioning his glasses.
Ash commented "Clemonts the gym leader of Lumiose City".
"Wow, how interesting" Delia said.
Bonnie chimed in. "I'm Clemonts sister, Bonnie and this is Dedenne" she said as Dedenne jumped onto her head.
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you" Delia said.
Bonnie then smile grew wider and then said "You're a keeper" as she got on one knee. "Will you please take care of my brother". Delia looked a little confused, then Clemonts Aipom arm plucked Bonnie off her feet.
"Bonnie how many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that" Clemont yelled in embarrassment.
"You'll think about it won't you" Bonnie said.
"Ignore her" Clemont said trying to hide his face as he along with him carrying Bonnie, fled up the stairs to the bedrooms, leaving everyone feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Delia then of course turned her attention to Serena.
"And who might you be" Delia said smiling.
"I'm Serena" Serena responded.
"We met back at your camp professor, a few years ago" Ash said. "Then when I began my journey here, we ran into each other".
"Really" Professor Oak said. He glanced at Serena again before his face lit up. "I did think you looked familiar, I'm sorry I didn't recognise you".
"It's fine" Serena said waving it off. "Ash didn't exactly remember me at first".
"Well it's great to meet you as well" Delia said.
She then turned back to Ash. "You too should go and unpack your things upstairs".
"You're right, I almost forgot, we'll be back as soon as we can" Ash said before he dashed up the stairs with Serena following suit.
After reaching the top of the stairs they found themselves in another hallway. While walking through the hallway Ash noticed a sliding glass door that led out to a balcony. He stopped at the door, opened it and stepped out onto the balcony. A cool breeze could be felt on his face as he approached the edge. To his surprise, he could now see for miles of wilderness and mountainous areas. This was finally a moment he could stop thinking about the match tomorrow, and just look at the scenery.
"Wow, the view up here is amazing" Serena said as she stepped out onto the balcony to join Ash.
"Yeah, you can see for miles from here" Ash responded. He honestly could have stayed there for a while to stay in that sense of peace, but he then looked down from the balcony and saw a massive battlefield in the courtyard. At least he now knew where to he could train for the rest of the day. With this in mind Ash turned and returned to the main hallway and approached the door near opposite him. Ash saw that Serena didn't followed him in. He assumed that Serena just wanted to continue to admire the scenery from the balcony. With that Ash entered the room he chose for himself, closing the door behind him.
The room had a simple king sized bed and a doorway leading to the bathroom. It was pretty much what was to be expected from a Pokemon centre bedroom. Ash took his bag off his shoulders and lay down on the bed with Pikachu doing the same thing.
"We're really here Pikachu" Ash said. "We're really about to challenge the Champion of Kalos".
"Pi, Pika, Pikachu" Pikachu responded as he laid beside Ash. Ash instinctively pet Pikachu, to which Pikachu chooed affectionately at.
Ash after a while sat up and got to his feet.
"Come on Pikachu" he said. "We don't have a lot of time left in the day, let's get as much training in as we can".
"Pikachu" Pikachu said triumphantly as he jumped back on to Ash's shoulder and the two left the room and headed towards the battlefield.
Once Ash had found his way back into the downstairs hallway after healing the rest of his Pokemon, he entered the courtyard and onto the battlefield.
"Okay everybody, come on out".
Ash threw the Pokeballs into the air and his final 5 Pokemon appeared from them. Pikachu joined them in the row. Ash looked over them all, with a sense of proudness that he thought a parent would.
"Guys" Ash said. "Before we begin training" to which he then paused briefly. He then continued, "I just wanted to say how proud I am of all of you".
"We've all come along way together and we've all had our missteps and mistakes, but we've always pulled through and I know we'll pull through this".
All of the Pokemon made a triumphant pose to which made Ash smile.
"Let's train hard and let's win this" he said to which not only Pikachu leapt back into his arms but so did all the others. This ultimately knocked Ash onto his feet.
"Okay, okay" Ash said laughing his head off. "Your kind of crushing me". After that happy moment Ash set about going through his strategy once again and soon the battlefield was a mad flurry of attacks being launched.
Serena in the meantime had not left her position on the balcony. Her attention had however turned to Ash on the battlefield. She was so focused on him that she almost didn't notice Professor Oak and Ash's mom had joined her on the balcony.
"Looks like Ash is hard at work again" Prof Oak commented.
"That's Ash for you, he always tries his hardest" Serena responded.
Delia the said "I'm really curious to see Ash battle with his Greninja, from what a saw on TV during the League Greninja seemed to change forms during battle".
"I know" Oak continued on. "I need to get some more information on exactly what happens to Greninja, it could be really important to my research".
Serena decided to provide some insight on the whole thing to Professor Oak.
"Really the most we know about it is that it's called The Bond Phenomenon, and Ash is one of the few trainers that can do it".
Oak turned to Serena in surprise. "I didn't know that something like that even existed" he responded.
"From what Professor Sycamore told us" Serena continued, "It's requires a strong bond between trainer and Pokemon, but it's a very rare ability".
She glanced back at Ash who was in the middle of overseeing a sparring match between Hawlucha and Greninja.
"To be honest it doesn't surprise me that Ash can perform such a rare ability" Serena said.
"He's one of the most determined and strongest trainers I've ever met".
"You're not wrong there" Professor Oak said. He then clearly had an idea cross his mind.
"I must question Professor Sycamore on this matter" he said as he quickly dashed back through the door to the balcony. This left Serena and Delia watching Ash train. However Delia broke the silence.
"I was just curious" she asked Serena. "How exactly did you meet Ash at Professor Oak's camp".
Serena blushed slightly at this. Her meeting Ash, for her at least, was a pretty personal moment for her and she was hesitant to tell Ash's mom all the details as she didn't want Delia to suspect there was anything going on between her and Ash. It's not that there was something going on, at least from Ash's point of view, but Serena knew she had to word what happened carefully so as to avoid being asked more questions.
"Well" Serena said thinking carefully. "We met in the middle of the woods surrounding pallet town, I'd got separated from the other campers and I had got startled by a Poliwag and I fell and hurt my leg".
Serena continued, "But luckley Ash showed up and helped me back to camp".
Delia smiled. "I wouldn't have expected any less from Ash".
"I met up with him here in Kalos when I recognized him on TV during an incident that had happened at the Lumiose Gym".
"In a way if I hadn't seen Ash I wouldn't have started my journey or find my dream of being a performer" Serena said as were her hand gradually fell over the blue ribbon on her chest.
Delia turned back to watch Ash train.
"Ash always seems to bring out the best parts in people" Delia said.
"It's why he's my friend" Serena responded.
"Serena" a voice came from the doorway.
Serena turned to see Bonnie standing there.
"Clemont's working on a new invention, and me and Dedenne were going to look around the courtyards and see the flowers, would you come with us".
Serena smiled.
"Of course I will, lets go" she said as she joined Bonnie in running down the hallway to find the courtyards.
"Are you okay Serena"?
Bonnie and Serena had been exploring the courtyards filled with the many different varieties of flowers. They were both surprised to see a lot of wild Pokemon among the bushes and the flowers. Bonnie and Dedenne were, of course, ecstatic. They both spent a lot of the time in the courtyard interacting with the Pokemon and Bonnie and Serena debating over which flowers were the most pretty. Bonnie had even 'borrowed' some of Clemont's Pokemon food to feed Dedenne but when a lot of wild Pokemon came towards them they started giving most of the food to them. And yet even with all the fun Serena was having, she just couldn't escape the unbearable feeling of doubt over her leaving in a few days. Clearly she hadn't been doing the best job at hiding it as Bonnie asked her about it.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me" Serena said trying to think how to change the topic.
Bonnie of course wasn't falling for it. She knew Serena well enough to know that something was wrong.
"Did something happen between you and Ash while we weren't around" Bonnie questioned.
"No, nothing happened" Serena replied quickly trying to hide the blush on her face.
Bonnie giving up trying to get words out of Serena returned to feeding the Pokemon. Serena sighed. She figured that she owed Bonnie some sort of explanation.
"I'm just sad about leaving, that's all" she said.
Bonnie turned her attention back to Serena.
"Well, I'm sad that you and Ash will be leaving soon too" Bonnie said. "But knowing that you're both leaving to pursue your dreams, in a way..". She paused before saying,
"... it makes me feel less sad and more happy for both you".
Serena was surprised to hear something so mature come from Bonnie. It did make Serena feel a bit better, but that was only half of the problem. She didn't want to tell Bonnie, it wasn't just leaving her and Clemont, but leaving Ash. But the more she thought about not wanting to leave Ash especially after everything that had happened between them on, not just on their journey, but for the past few days. It just made her feelings even more jumbled than they already were.
"And Serena, whatever else your worried about" Bonnie once again spoke.
"This may sound odd but what I've found sometimes helps me when I've had to make a difficult decision, I would watch Clemont's gym battles".
She once again paused before saying "Every time I saw Clemont in his role as a gym leader, he was always in a pinch about a way to teach the challengers to be better trainers, and win or lose he always seemed to solve the problem".
She continued, "In a way seeing someone else come to terms with a problem always seemed to help me come to a solution to my problem".
Bonnie turned back to look at Dedenne who had fallen asleep in Bonnie's yellow bag.
"I know it's not the most helpful advice, but it's the best I have".
Serena remained silent. She knew Bonnie was trying to help her in her own way but she knew that she could only figure this out if she had a clearer head. Serena was about to thank Bonnie for the advice until she noticed how large there shadows had become. She looked up towards the horizon to see the sun beginning to set. Serena was shocked at how quickly evening had come around. They had been so preoccupied with everything else they didn't notice. Almost on cue, Clemont came running around the corner of one of the bushes. He eventually stopped in front of the two, nearly passing out from exhaustion. Once he'd picked himself off the ground he finally managed to get his words out.
"The food…. Is…..ready" he said through staggering breaths.
The two practically had to carry Clemont back, which was a lot harder than it looked. They returned through the main entrance and made it to the Pokemon centre like room to which they found Delia, Professor Oak and Professor Sycamore sitting at the table that had, what looked like enough food to feed a wedding party let alone the 7 of them.
They all took there seats at the table, but before she started eating Bonnie realised something and spoke up.
"Where's Ash".
Sycamore finished his mouthful before saying,
"He said he will be here in a minute, said he was just finishing up".
"That's how you know Ash is working hard" Clemont said. "He never gives up food if offered".
"He's always been like that" Delia said laughing.
This was halted abruptly when the door swung open. Ash appeared in the doorway holding Pikachu. But the look of distress on his face immediately alerted everyone that something was wrong.
Ash abruptly dashed by them to nurse Joy who luckily seemed to already be on the case.
"Nurse Joy, can you help Pikachu" Ash said worryingly.
"Of course" she said. "I'll get Pikachu healed the best I can".
She placed Pikachu on a stretcher and left through the door to the main healing equipment. There was a long silence as Ash dropped into his seat next to Serena and placed his head in his hands.
"Ash what happened" Serena asked with a concerned tone in her voice.
Ash lifted his head and sighed.
"A sparring match between Greninja and Pikachu" he said.
"I pushed them both too hard and Pikachu got hit with a massive blow".
Everyone had their eyes on Ash who remained silent for a while.
"It was my fault, I didn't think the attack was that powerful to hurt Pikachu".
There was nothing that they could do but wait for Nurse Joy to return. Everyone had pretty much lost their appetite. No one attempted to try and console Ash for worry they would make the situation worse.
Ash currently felt awful. Not only had he misjudged the pure strength of one of his attacks, he had unintentionally hurt Pikachu. What was wrong with him. He knew he was better than this. But what scared himself just as much was that he was afraid of the match tomorrow. This match would determine his future as a Pokemon trainer and losing this match would well… he wasn't exactly sure how it would affect him. Ash mentally shook himself out of it. He told himself it was only the stress and Pikachu getting hurt that was throwing him off course. He just had to remember to keep going until the very end, and he knew he had come too far to lose hope now.
"It's okay, I'm fine" Ash said looking up and at everyone at the table.
"Don't worry about Pikachu" Serena told him placing her hand on his shoulder. "Pikachu will be fine, like you he always pulls through".
Ash looked down at his food in front of him. "Yeah your right, Pikachu's strong, I know he'll be alright".
Everyone seemed to be able to resume eating and talking, though Ash remained quite, while he continued picking at his food.
Serena wanted to find a way to make Ash feel better, but she knew she had done all she could do. However her attention was brought to Professor Sycamore, who she had just heard say under his breath,
"She should be here by now".
"Who should be here" Serena questioned. Sycamore who had clearly thought no one would hear him had a bit of an awkward expression on his face.
"Well you see…" he said. "I wasn't meant to say but….".
He was cut off when, Diantha of all people entered through the Pokemon centre's entrance. Everyone kind of stared with blank expressions.
"Sorry, am I late" she said smiling.
"Not at all" Sycamore said.
"It's great to see you Diantha" Ash said getting up from his seat. "I thought you wouldn't be arriving till tomorrow".
"I know, but I wanted to see all of you before tomorrow".
Delia was next to stand up and introduce herself to Diantha, who expressed how impressed she was with Ash's skills as a trainer and how she was looking forward to challenging Ash.
Once Diantha had made her acquaintances with everyone else she of course greeted Bonnie, Clemont and Serena and then Ash. But then she noticed Pikachu wasn't with Ash.
"Where's Pikachu" she asked.
"Oh, Nurse Joy is healing him at the moment, we went a little overboard with the training".
"I see, well I just wanted to wish you luck against me tomorrow, I'm expecting a grand battle".
As on cue the Pokemon centre door pinged and Nurse Joy came out with Pikachu looking a lot better.
"Pikachu" Ash said. Pikachu leapt off the stretcher and back onto Ash's shoulder.
"You feeling better, buddy" he said.
"Pika, Pikachu" Pikachu responded.
Ash turned his attention to Diantha.
"I can promise you my best" Ash said.
"I'm glad to hear it".
And with that both Diantha and Ash shook hands and she left through the Pokemon centre entrance.
Ash returned to his seat and started to dig into the food. Now that he knew Pikachu was fine he could now finally fill his empty stomach. As usual Ash was done just as quickly as he began. This caused stifled laughs from the others.
"Awww, I needed that" Ash said leaning back. He then let out a massive yawn.
"I think that this is a good time for bedtime" Delia spoke up.
Ash responded indignantly, "But I need to spend this time to continue training.
Delia then spoke in a more stern tone,
"Ash you've been training non stop all day, you need to get as much rest as possible".
Ash's face fell in defeat.
"Yeah, you're right".
Serena also yawned. "After all we've done today, I think going to bed now is the best idea".
"But i'm not tired" Bonnie protested.
"Bonnie" Clemont said, "You can barely keep your eyes open".
Bonnie tried to make her best wide awake face but to no avail.
"As a matter of fact, we should all probably get to bed, it's a big day tomorrow" Professor Oak said.
They immediately set about cleaning the table, and then ushering themselves up the stairs. Bonnie had to be directed to her room by Clemont, as she was already nearly asleep.
"Good night both of you" Clemont told Ash and Serena before entering his room with Bonnie leaving the two in the hallway alone.
"Well Pikachu, we should get some sleep as well" Ash said. He turned around to head for his room.
"Ash" Serena asked.
Ash's face turned back to Serena.
"Is something wrong" he asked.
"Are you okay, you know after what happened early".
"Don't worry about me" he said though Serena could tell by his bothered expression he wasn't being honest.
"Alright, well, goodnight Ash" Serena said.
"See you in the morning" Ash responded before leaving down the hallway.
Serena remained there for a while before entering her room. She sighed while leaning against the door. She felt sorry for Ash after what happened with Pikachu. He seemed to be all fired up for the next day, but after that he seemed to have been knocked down in his prime. Serena wandered over to her bed before collapsing in exhaustion. She wanted to find a way to make Ash feel better, something that could help him out, mentally, during the battle. After all the encouragement he had given her during her Showcases, she wanted to give something back to him. She was about to drift off while pondering this, then she suddenly had an idea. She sat up and looked down at the ribbon on her outfit.
"That's it" she thought to herself.
Back in Ash's room, Pikachu had fallen fast asleep, but Ash was still awake. The worry and doubt about tomorrow, which he had been desperately avoiding, had caught up with him. And with Pikachu getting hurt it made him question more and more if he was really ready for this.
"I have too win" Ash said under his breath.
"I just have too".