Hey guys, Jeff here.

I bring you all the 4th Chapter of this story.

*Spoilers* The ending might make you cry a bit - probably not...

Let's get to reading...

(Serena's Room)

Serena stood in front of the mirror in her room. She examined her appearance intensely, looking for any faults at all – as it was an important day for her after all.

She had cleaned her clothes herself, as they were spotless and neat. Her short hair had been brushed over and over again, so that it was straight as it could possibly go, and kept stroking it with her own fingers to ensure straightness. She didn't wear any makeup, because she didn't have any and she didn't want to put any on anyway; however she did apply a bit of foundation on her face, carefully handling the powder and brush with a steady hand, and spending at least 30 minutes.

After spending hours making herself look cute and beautiful for Ash, she had just realised the time was 10:38 am – hours after they were supposed to head out onto the road; however she had to admit, she did actually look really good today. It was one of those few times a girl actually felt pretty. She had never been the type to look pretty for a boy, but who can blame her, she was in love with a certain someone.

Why was she so intent on looking good today? The reason was to try out Shauna's idea and get Ash's attention by doing so.

This was the first time that she will trust her friends to get to at least notice her, but she had some doubts that it won't work, because of Ash's density stands in her way. With any luck, she could charm him with her appearance today.

"Serena?" A young voice spoke up from behind the door whilst doing a sequence of light knocks on the door, which Serena identified as Bonnie. "What's taking you so long? Ash and Clemont are waiting for you."

"Sorry, sorry!" Serena said in panic as opened the door for Bonnie to let her enter her room.

"Wow, Serena! You look so pretty!" Bonnie complimented Serena's good looks as she walked into her room, whilst she admiring Serena with awe and a bit of jealousy.

"Thanks, Bonnie." Serena replied as a light blush appeared on her face from Bonnie's compliment.

"Ash will definitely notice how good you look today." Bonnie teased as she instantly giggled after she had finished her sentence, and at Serena's blush – which had grown bigger. "You might even get over Ash's density, if you're lucky~"

"Shush, Bonnie!" Serena said as she interrupted Bonnie from finishing her sentence, as she started packing and tidying up her things into her backpack; however Bonnie's speech did give her a bit of confidence and therefore decided to forgive her for that.

"Serena, you know I'm only teasing." Bonnie said with a giggle, before sitting on the bed Serena had just made whilst Serena let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, okay." Bonnie said again in an apologetic tone, but was still smiling.

"I'm not too sure what else to try, other than what Tierno suggested; but still this is my only chance, so I can't afford to lose..." Serena said as she blushed lightly, hiding it in her hair.

"It'll be fine, I hope…" Bonnie said as she trailed off to what she was saying.

"For someone so young, you know way too much about romance and that sort of thing for my liking." Serena mumbled to herself; but she knew that Bonnie was doing this to make her relax and not to feel nervous about it – like what a friend would do.

(Lobby)

"What do you think is keeping Serena and Bonnie so long?" Ash asked, impatiently. Clemont and Ash were waiting for about one or two hours already for Serena. They all decided that they would head out early, so that they will arrive at the Pokémon Centre before nightfall, but that's not going to happen.

"I'm not sure..." Clemont sighed as he glanced at the empty doorway, anticipating Serena and Bonnie's arrival; but he knew what was going on, how he knew that it was the day Serena will try and undergo on impressing Ash and making him notice for once – as Bonnie filled him in with the details this morning.

"Have you noticed anything... different about Serena lately?" Clemont said as he turned to face Ash with slight nervousness, as he doesn't want Ash to react madly with his touch of a personal matter.

"Not really. Why, what do you mean by 'different'?" Ash questioned on what Clemont had just said. Ash had no clue on what Clemont was talking about or what Clemont had just said about this kind of personal matter.

"I'm not sure. A bit... out of the ordinary, I guess." Clemont continued to try and make Ash realise that something's up.

"Why, have you noticed something up with her?" Ash asked, still had no idea what was going on, and was now even more impatient than ever.

"I don't know, I'm probably just tired or something." Clemont finished their conversation off and shrugged off the question, as he has realised that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this.

"Well, in any case, I hope she shows up soon. We've got to get back on the road soon." Ash said with an annoyed voice, he was becoming even more impatient with waiting her Serena; but his yellow partner Pokémon jumped up onto his shoulder and let out a squeal of comfort – Pikachu just wants to calm Ash down, because he felt that his trainer was going to get angry.

At that moment, Bonnie came running into the area from the corridors of the rooms that they were sleeping in last night, in a near sprint. She was going at a fast pace and just narrowly missed bumping into Ash and Clemont, who were just standing around the lobby aimlessly, and helping herself onto the couch by jumping onto it. She was displaying a huge and gigantic grin on her face, something Ash had learnt either meant Bonnie found another potential wife for her brother; but actually was something else that, obviously and not surprisingly, he didn't know.

"Bonnie, did you check on Serena like I asked?" Clemont asked his younger sibling, who was still giving off a huge smile, trying to convince Ash that he too didn't know what was going on, but in fact, he did.

"Uh huh, I did, Clemont!" Bonnie answered as she nodded whilst answering her brother if she had fulfilled his request to her.

"What are you so happy about? Have you found Clemont another wife?" Ash asked, an eyebrow quizzically rose at the younger blonde girl, who was filled with excitement in her.

"Just wait 'till you see Serena!" Bonnie said as she giggled and winked towards Ash, but he returned by just giving off a confused and agitated look at Bonnie.

Ash was confused at this. What the heck did that wink mean to start? What was so special about Serena today? Is something happening that he didn't understand?

That question was about to be answered, as the group heard Serena's footsteps coming from down the hall. Pikachu weren't too concerned, as he spotted a ketchup bottle and rushed to it – like a thunderbolt – and started to eat it, as it minds its own business. For Ash and Clemont, however, they were both intrigued (well, one of them is as one of them doesn't know what is going on) by Bonnie's behaviour of screaming with excitement and keeping an eye on the corridor she would have to walk out of. Bonnie, meanwhile, kept giggling; clearly imagining a variety of scenarios this could go down in.

"Morning, everyone! Sorry I took a while."

There she was. Turning the corner, she had come into the view of the group. The changes of appearance, though it was only minor cosmetic changes, were glaring and obvious. To begin, she looked clean, cleaner than ever before – like she had taken a bath three times. Her shorter hair was sparkling, reflecting in the artificial light of the Pokémon Centre. Her outfit seemed flashier, despite having no changes whatsoever. Her bow, the possession she held most dear to her heart – as Ash gave it to her as a present for helping him find a gift for his Pokémon during their stay in Coumarine City – was located at her chest, has been washed, as it was brighter than before – as the blue colour was standing out significantly. The previous night, Serena had washed it herself, without the use of the Pokémon Centre's washing machines, as she had done with her other clothing – as she was worried that it would get damaged. She knew it was a silly thing, but the ribbon mean so much to her. It was her precious gift from Ash, and she held it so very dear. It contradicted the rest of her outfit, making it stand out more. Altogether, she looked, to put it simply, incredible.

To Ash, she looked the same. He noticed her outfit and hair had undergone a clean, which he found normal as he always knew that Serena wanted to keep and present herself in a condition with no dust, dirt or any of that sorts. He also didn't notice that Serena had some foundations on her face, and how she wasn't wearing her lilac perfume that she always used to put on during her Pokémon Showcases only.

As far as he was concerned, she was regular old Serena.

"Wow Serena, you've really outdone yourself today." Clemont said, complimenting her appearance – even though he already knew about this happing and has anticipated how Serena would look; but he didn't anticipate Serena going on levels that deep. He could clearly see that Serena had put a lot of effort into looking her best today. That aside, she had done a cracking good job at it too.

"Uh huh! You look really pretty, Serena!" Bonnie nodded in agreement. She then instantly turned to Ash, smiling, "Don't you think so too, Ash?" as she put Ash on the spot a bit.

Ash scanned Serena. To him, she didn't look any different. It was obvious that she had straightened herself out, but he couldn't really tell any kind of differences in her appearance.

"Yeah, she looks fine to me." Ash said whilst smiling at Bonnie, showing that he had responded to her question already and was ready to move onto another topic.

As Ash said this, he noticed how Clemont, Bonnie, and especially Serena had disappointed and annoyed expressions on their faces. He noticed how all of them went silent, as they were all staring at him with blank faces.

"What's wrong?" Ash questioned his friends' unusual behaviour in response to his comment about Serena's looks today.

"N-nothing." Serena shrugged. She felt all right on the outside, but on the inside, she was heart-broken and defeated. She knew that Ash is very dense and that this would stand in her way, but she didn't realise that his density would go that far – she didn't anticipate this reaction at all. She just wanted to leave the lobby and go back to her room and cry for a few minutes alone. She wanted to shout at Ash for his stupidness, but she couldn't. All she could do at the moment was just look down and say "Thanks." for Ash's 'compliment'.

She realised her plan didn't work and there wasn't anything else in her mind, other than using Tierno's idea, but she had some doubts that it wouldn't work. She was depressed about what just happened and wanted to be left alone for the rest of the day.

Wow, that was unexpected! You didn't expect that Ash's density would be that bad... but this is Ash that we are talking about...

What will Serena do now? Will Clemont and Bonnie help? Will Ash ever realise what's going on?
If you want to find out, then stick around to end of the story! ;)

I would like to mention - even though I mention this every time - about your massive support. I would like to thank you all for your support and that hopefully you enjoy reading this story as much as I do writing it!

Anyways, keep up with the reviews and suggestions - as they will all be accepted.

Also, I urge you all to review each chapter and say what you think about it. It would be a great help to me! :)

Okay, I'll see you all in the next chapter!

See ya! Have a great day!