Chapter 8: The Fog of Love

After the ceremony in which Aria was crowned Kalos Queen once again. Serena had met her friends near the front entrance of the stadium. They all congratulated Serena on such a great performance. They couldn't have been more proud of her and how far she's come. However, Serena could sense something was off with Ash.

What's with him? He's so distant now...Is he that bummed that I didn't win? No...he was like this before the finals too.

They stood there in silence, a bit of awkwardness in the air. Bonnie broke the silence with a yawn, "Ah...I'm so tired. It's not even 7pm" she said. Clemont picked her up, piggyback style. "Well you've had a busy day. You helped with Serena, and you were jumping up and down for the most part during the competition" He said. Three of the friends laughed. Ash, who was lost in his own thought looked up. "Yeah, it's been a long day, I think we should go back to the hotel and have an early night."

As they walked back across the street to their hotel, Serena couldn't shake her feelings about Ash. Did she say something wrong earlier? Did something happen when she left for the finals? Serena was first in the bathroom, getting all the make up off and getting ready for bed. When she got out of the bathroom in her pajamas, Bonnie was already fast asleep on her bed. Clemont was rolling out his sleeping bag, but Ash was nowhere to be seen.

Before Serena could ask, Clemont answered her question. "He left to go think about something with his Pokemon." Serena questioned Clemont, "What was that something?" Clemont shook his head, "I don't know, he just said that he needed to think. He also said that he didn't want to be disturbed." Clemont stood up and faced Serena with a puzzled look.

"Do you know what's up with Ash, Serena?" He asked. It was her time to shake her head. "He's been like this since this morning. I hope everything is ok." She said with a worried tone. Clemont walked up to Serena, "He said he was fine to me, but then..." Clemont started.

"...He told me to tell you not to go after him. That he wanted to be alone for awhile..." He said. Serena interupted, "But why would he say that?" Clemont looked down, "I don't know, but I think we should respect his privacy."

Clemont left her standing there in the middle of the floor as he went to his sleeping bag. She took a long look at the door, contemplating whether to look for Ash or respect his wishes to be left alone. Eventually she decided to leave Ash alone, and climbed into bed. Serena decided to wait for Ash to come back. An hour had past, and the two siblings had been asleep for most of it. Serena had been teary eyed for the entire time but soon felt her eyelids getting heavier. She silently cried herself to sleep.

When Serena awoke, the sun was just rising. She looked down from her bed to see if Ash had made it back. His sleeping bag was out, which it hadn't been last night, but it was empty. A note was next to her bedstand.

Got up early to start training. I'll be at the Pokemon Center practice arena. -Ash

She silently got dressed, making sure not to wake up Clemont or Bonnie. She slipped out of the room, and made her way downstairs. When she left the hotel, she ran into Cynthia by the side of the road.

"Oh hey Serena, how are you?" The champion asked. "Oh fine, thank you. Just getting some fresh air." Serena answered, not giving away her true intentions. Cynthia nodded, "Yes, fresh air. Something that we all have to get sooner or later. It's been a long time since I've had a break like this one in Luminose. People like Aria and I tend to forget how beneficial a break from your daily routine can do to you." Cynthia explained.

They stood there in silence, watching Luminose spring to life again as the sun broke the horizon. "Speaking of Aria, you know I voted for you yesterday?" Cynthia added. Serena looked at Cynthia astonished. "Really?!" Cynthia nodded her head. "Oh yes, for two reasons. First, you deserved it. Your performance will be remembered long after today. Second, I kind of wanted Aria to lose" Serena tilted her head, "Why would you want her to lose, isn't she your friend?" Cynthia smiled, "Yes, but it gets kind of boring for the same person to win year after year. Aria will now be Kalos Queen for three straight years now. It also isn't healthy for a person like her to live like that." Cynthia said. Serena remembered how Aria said how hard it was for her to find true friends.

Cynthia continued, "I mean look at me, I've been the Sinnoh League Champion for 5 years straight now. Though I won't make it easy, I can't wait for the person who will take my place one day. Who knows, maybe it will be Ash if he decides to take on the Sinnoh League again. You know...besides me, only Lance from the Indigo Plateu has been a champion longer. But he's a different story, he lives for that kind of stuff. I'm not sure exactly, but he's been in the Elite Four for 28 years, and been champion for 12 of those years."

A car pulled up in front of them. Cynthia picked up her bag that was next to her. "Well there's my ride, Serena. Tell the others I said goodbye" Serena said her goodbye and watched the champion go back to her life. Her break from being a champion was now over.

Once the car was out of sight, she continued onward toward the nearby Pokemon Center. When she arrived, she went around back toward the practice arena. She saw Ash, and next to him was Pikachu. Infront of him was Greninja and it was fighting something. As she rounded the corner, she gasped seeing what Greninja was fighting. A giant orange dragon that was spitting out flames. It had used a powerful Flamerthrower that was countered by Greninja's Water Shuriken. In an instant, the two Pokemon collided. Greninja had used Cut, and the orange pokemon now had its arms glowing green. Again, both attacks stalemated and both Pokemon broke off the engagement.

Serena looked towards the other side of the Arena, wondering who the dragon pokemons trainer was. She expected it to be Alain. It had been awhile since they had ran into the trainer. But there wasn't any, nobody else was nearby. Wondering if this was a wild pokemon, she heard Ash's commanding voice.

"Greninja, use Double Team along with Water Shuriken! Charizard use Overheat!" He shouted. Serena eyes widened. This...Charizard pokemon belonged to Ash? Serena could feel the air heat up around her. Charizard was glowing bright as Greninja had multiplied to a few dozen and had launched a multitude of Water Shurikens. Before they hit Charizard, a bright flash exploded from Charizard, making Serena cover her eyes. "ASH!" She screamed.

As the heat dissipated, Serena looked up. Ash was still there, along with Greninja and Charizard who were still standing but were bruised and exhausted from their battle. Ash went over to the two pokemon telling both of them how great they were. Charizard caught sight of Serena, and motioned to Ash to look.

"Oh hey Serena, you got my note." Ash said seeing Serena. Serena hadn't felt a bit mad at Ash about leaving without a word last night. She had been worried, sad, confused, crying herself to sleep, but frustration or anger had never been on her mind...that is until now. She went up to Ash and slapped him. When Ash looked back at Serena wondering what the heck that was for, he noticed she was in tears. "Where were you Ash, I was worried sick about you." She said trying to keep the tears at bay.

"You said nothing, just walked out as I was in the bathroom, and what's worse, you told Clemont to tell me not to go after you?!" Ash, who had been holding his cheek from Serena's slap didn't answer. He looked down at the ground, but didn't say a word. Serena couldn't wait for an answer so she continued, "You've been acting strange ever since yesterday morning." Serena had calmed down a bit, and started using a softer voice, "If something is wrong Ash, you can tell me..."

The two stood there in silence, Pikachu had escorted Greninja and Charizard to the other side of the arena to give the two trainers their space. After a pause Ash spoke, "It isn't that simple Serena." He said almost whispering. Serena noticed Ash's hesitation, then a very painful thought crept into her mind, one that almost broke her.

"I-Is it...me?" She said, almost losing her voice.

That made Ash snap his head up. Serena was looking down, hugging herself on the verge of tears. "What?! No...no Serena, it's not you." He said, but Serena wasn't moving. "I just needed some time alone that's all. I would never be mad at you Serena." Serena wiped her eyes, but stayed in her position. Ash didn't know what to do, he couldn't understand Serena's reaction to all this. As he was about to say something else, Serena spoke. "I guess I need some time alone too."

Before Ash could react, Serena turned around and ran off leaving Ash stunned. She ran for a minute through the main street of Luminose until disappearing into a side alley. There she slumped down against a wall and finally succumbed to her tears. Ash had said that she wasn't the reason, but she was overwhelmed by her emotions that they convinced her that she was in fact the problem.

It was me...but why? What did I do? Was us getting close this past week too much for him? Maybe us getting closer made him realized he likes another girl from his past adventures. Oh no, maybe he called one of them last night...he probably called her and...confessed his feelings, and...

She stayed there for almost an hour, plummeting further down into despair, until a familiar voice came around.

"Serena? Is that you?" Serena looked up, her face drenched in her own tears. It was Professor Sycamore. "Oh Serena, what's wrong?" Sycamore said as he knelt down beside Serena. She put her face down into her arms again, hiding her face. "Nothing Professor, just..." She couldn't tell him the truth.

"Just sad that I lost yesterday." She lied.

"Hmm, yes. I saw the whole contest Serena. You did so well, and any close defeat like that is hard to manage. But think about it. That was your first Master Finals, and you came within an inch of becoming Kalos Queen. If you continue like you did this past year, there's no doubt in my mind you'll win next time." Serena nodded her head, none of this was helping her in her actual crisis, but knew the Professor was only trying to help. "Besides, you have Ash and Clemont, and Bonnie to support you on your journey." Sycamore concluded.

Serena's heart sank. It was because of Ash, and Clemont and Bonnie but mostly Ash, that she got to where she was, but now...? She may accompany him to the Pokemon League, cheer him on during his battles and hope he wins, but it wouldn't be the same anymore. While she had hoped that Ash and her could travel together afterwards, it now looked like it wasn't going to be a possibility anymore.

Sycamore spoke up, "Which reminds me, have you seen Ash? I'm needed in Anistar city tomorrow, but I have something for him." Serena knew where Ash was, but didn't want to give Sycamore any hints that she was crying because of Ash. "I don't know, he said that he wanted to train with his Pokemon alone today. He said he would return at around dinner time." She said as she wiped her tears.

Professor Sycamore thought of his options, then reached for something in his bag. "Here Serena, would you give these to Ash?" Serena looked over to his outstretched hand. In his palm were two stones. One was small and white, while the other was a bright orange and almost twice as large as the other. "I had planned on giving these to Ash personally, but I couldn't find him at the Pokemon Center where we decided to meet, and my plane leaves in an hour."

He's not at the Pokemon Center anymore?

Serena looked up at the Professor, "When did you talk to Ash about this?" She asked. "Oh, actually he called last night." Sycamore replied. This made Serena's heart jump up.

He wasn't calling one of his past girlfriends...or friends that so happened to be girls...

"As you know, he's going to compete in the Pokemon League, but he only had 5 Pokemon with him. So he asked me how many Pokemon I knew about that could mega evolve. He seemed particularly interested in Charizard, Sceptile, and Heracross and their mega evolutions. He then asked me if I had any of their mega stones that he could borrow for the Pokemon League."

"Borrow them? Serena asked. Sycamore nodded, "Yes, Ash and I made a deal. I would lend him a mega stone and in return I would analyze the data from his usage of it at the Pokemon League. And it turned out, that a good friend of mine had found a special version of Charizardite that hasn't been seen before just two weeks ago." Serena looked at the orange stone still in his hand.

"You see, I have extensive research on Charizardite mega stones from one of my pupils, but this one is different. It radiates a different kind of energy." Sycamore explained. "I would normally reach out to my pupil for this, but I haven't been able to contact him in over a month. There's no way that I would pass on this opprotunity. Now please, Serena would you give these to Ash?"

Serena nodded her head and took the stones and put it in her own bag. "Yes Professor, I'll make sure Ash gets them." Professor Sycamore sighed in relief, "He's lucky to have such a good friend like you...Oh my look at the time, I got to leave now or I'll miss my flight, thank you Serena! He said as he got up and ran. Serena look down at the ground...

He was just calling Sycamore about getting his 6th pokemon, that was all. But why did he want to be left alone? Why all the secrecy? And why was he not at the Pokemon Center to meet the Professor? Maybe he's...looking for me? Oh my, I got to get back to the hotel.

Serena got up, wiped her tears and dusted her skirt. When she was all cleaned up she made her way to the hotel. After a couple of minutes she stood outside her hotel room. Wondering if Clemont and Bonnie were still asleep, or if they knew about what happened. She took a deep breath then opened the door.

Nobody was there. All their stuff was there but they were gone. Serena thought to herself that maybe the two siblings went out for breakfast. As she stepped inside she saw a note at the foot of her bed. She went over to it, and saw Clemont's handwritting.

Ash came by to see if you were here. We went out looking for you, but if you get this letter before we find you, We'll be back at ten.

Serena looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was only 9 o'clock. With that, she sat on her bed but was shortly consumed by a thousand different thoughts plaguing her mind. She turned on the T.V to distract her from the day's events. As she lost herself in the news and her own thoughts, she didn't realize it was ten o'clock until the door opened...