TDBigJ's message: Another week, another chapter. I hope life has been going good for you in the last week. Mine sure has. I bring you here another chapter. I can't believe this story is already at chapter 10. I'm proud of myself for going this far. This is the story I've probably been the most dedicated to. And all the people who read this story and give it so much support warms my heart as well. I'd like to thank you all who have been with me since the start, propelling me to work harder every week to get the next chapter out. Trust me, some chapters have been easy, some haven't, but I've lived up to my promise of releasing a chapter every Friday since the start of this story. This story has now reached over 4,200 views. Thank you all so much! This chapter has become the longest chapter to date, being over 7,200 words. So you know how I start my chapters, after the message, I respond to reviews. If you're itching to get to the chapter, just surpass all the reviews. I know that the chapter is what you're here for. I'd thought I would leave something else before I do so. If you ever want to know something about me, want to suggest something to me to put in a chapter, or just want to talk, give me a PM. I won't bite. I'm a really friendly guy so I won't jump your ass for anything. If you feel like contacting me, just shoot me a PM. I'm always more than willing to answer your questions, suggestions, or give you a nice chat if you've seen better days. And there is also one more thing I would like to say. I've officially begun typing my next story. I'm not too far into it as I just started it this past Sunday. I'm still working on the first chapter. And in case you were wondering, yes, it's an amourshipping story. I don't want to go too much into detail with it right now. Once I get to the end of the final chapter of this story then I will tell you everything about it, okay? Let's get to the responding of reviews shall we?

Wolves22 (Guest #1): Those questions will be answered in this chapter. Although the first question you will probably know the answer to. Thanks for the review!

Espeon44: I'm hoping she will. Well, I'm the author so I will determine if she does or not. Although I've been thinking about them doing so. As I said last chapter, what is a romance story without romance? No, I don't think Dawn will be scared of her friends knowing she loves a girl. I wouldn't make them homophobes. I would never go that far. I wouldn't want you to be disappointed that I made the characters judgmental of Dawn dating your OC. That's the last thing I would do. Thanks for the review!

Marlins27 (Guest #2): I will definitely make sure Brock gets in a good relationship. He's one of my favorite characters in the show so I want him to have some luck for once. If you want, you can either suggest an actual Pokemon character to be in a relationship with him or you can send me an OC to do so. It doesn't matter if you're a guest, I will gladly accept an OC if that's what you want. May and her love interest might get married, but the most that will happen with them by the end of the story is just them being boyfriend and girlfriend. I am planning on making Dawn and her love interest dance, that I can promise you. I am actually planning on putting Bonnie in this story. As a matter of fact, SPOILER ALERT, she will actually be making an appearance THIS chapter. It's only a minor appearance but she is definitely in this one. There are two other characters that will be making their first appearance this chapter. I will consider reading that story you suggested. Thanks for the review!

Pokemonmeat: Glad that you liked the chapter! You have a good point there on the second part. Serena kissing him on the cheek was as she said "payback". So she was just playing around with him on that as he did the same thing to her. It wasn't really a romantic moment for either occurrence. Sorry if the preview confused you. The boy thinking about doing that to Serena is all about the hazing. You will know more about that this chapter. Thank you for giving me and this story a favorite and for the review!

Guest #3: Thanks yet again for the supporting review. I like how you say this story is getting spicy. I appreciate your continued support.

Blizzard21: Wow! That review is, wow! A great presence of thought, no one has ever said that about me before. I appreciate that you honor my thoughts and the fact that you mentioned that not only the endings of the previous chapters have been greatly executed, but this whole story has been. This is your 2nd favorite high school fic? *Blushes* Aw thank you! I don't care if it's not the first, that's not important to me. Two is actually my favorite number, and it's funny that I am twenty two and that has two twos. Okay, setting that aside. I had always planned on putting events from the anime in this story as I try to make this story as canonical as it can be to the anime. It seems to you that I'm doing a good job with that, and that pleases me. Putting them in seemed like a good idea as at the start of this story Serena just met Ash at the age of 16, unlike the anime which made them meet in their childhood, prior to the age of 10 as a matter of fact. Glad that you are looking forward to the new chapter. Well here it is. And don't worry about me taking a while to update as on previous occasions, I stated that I update every Friday. Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or it's characters, they belong to game freak and Nintendo, and… whoever else.

May sat in her room at home. She was sitting there, looking at the ribbons she had won during her journey with Ash in Hoenn. She had to admit that she was proud of herself for her accomplishments. She had won the title of Princess of Hoenn after all the effort she put into it. She'd like to stay and tend to her duties but school had to come first. When summer came, which was not too far away, she would continue with where she last left off before the school year started. She heard her phone buzz and looked at it. It was a call from Dawn. She pressed the answer button and put the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Dawn, what is going on?"

"I just thought I would run something by you." Dawn said, her voice clearly in a panic.

"You don't sound too good. What's up?"

"You know what tomorrow is?"

"No, what is it?"

"Just look at the date."

May looked at the date that was on the calendar on a wall in her room. When she realized the date, her jaw dropped.

"Oh my, I didn't know what it was until now. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. Just be careful when school gets out tomorrow."

"Noted. Let's just hope we are still alive by the time we get home tomorrow."

May pressed the hang up button on her phone and put it down on her bed. She now was scared for school tomorrow. She had no idea how she would sleep tonight. Her little brother Max walked into the room and noticed her fearful expression.

"Hey sis, why do you look so scared?" Max asked his older sibling.

"It's nothing Max. It's just what tomorrow is going to be at school." May responded. Max heard what she said and immediately knew what she was talking about.

"It's the day the seniors haze all the lowerclassmen isn't it?" Max asked. May nodded her head. Max closed his eyes and pushed up his glasses with his index finger.

"Man, I'm sure glad my school doesn't have something like that." Max remarked. May looked at him with an unsure look.

"What do you mean Max? There are a couple of kids who treat you like crap at your school." May stated.

"Yeah, but I completely ignore them. It's not too hard really." Max replied. He turned around and put his arms behind his back.

"I just hope you get home in one piece tomorrow." May pressed her legs against her torso and wrapped her arms around them.

"Yeah, me too."

Meanwhile, a blonde inventor just got a call from Dawn himself. He was now scared, if not more than May was. Tomorrow was a day he dreaded, ever since it first happened in his Freshman year two years ago. He was in the same physical position as May. His little sister Bonnie came into the room and looked at him.

"What's wrong big brother?"

"Tomorrow. That's what's wrong." Clemont said, whimpering.

"What about tomorrow?"

"Look at the calendar." Clemont said, pointing at the calendar that was on his door. Bonnie looked up at the calendar and looked at the date that was the following day.

"Oh. I see. It's that day." Bonnie said. She remembered the days that Clemont came home from those instances.

"You'll be fine Clemont."

"What do you mean I'll be fine? I get a lot of disrespect on those days." Clemont said in a worried tone. Bonnie just rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Clemont. If you've survived it the last couple of years, what makes you think you won't survive it this year?" Bonnie asked. Clemont saw that she had a point, but was still worried.

"That's true. But what happens if I don't make it this time around?"

"You'll live Clemont. I believe in you." Clemont took those words to heart. His little sister believed that he would get past all the hazing and ruckus tomorrow. That was enough to get him determined.

"Thanks Bonnie. You always know to say the right thing when I need it." Clemont said, calming down a bit. Bonnie came over and hugged him.

"Just stay focused. I wouldn't want to live in a world without my big brother." Bonnie stated. Clemont smiled and returned the hug. Bonnie released from the hug and then left his room. Clemont's look of fear changed into a happy one. He was set for tomorrow. He still felt a little nervous but it was mostly confidence he was feeling.

Meanwhile, Dawn just called Ash about the whole predicament that was going to occur tomorrow. Ash didn't feel nervous for it. Many people would describe him as fearless. This wasn't a day he felt scared about. Of course he dreaded it, mainly because he hated how the upperclassmen always tried to show their "power" as the "kings" and "queens" of the school. Just because you were in the highest grade doesn't mean you're stronger and better than everybody. Ash and his friends were all juniors and they knew that when this day came next year that they wouldn't take part in this. They would be the seniors that actually helped out the lowerclassmen. There were seniors now that went rogue and helped out the lowerclassmen get out of school "alive" as they called it. Ash respected those people, people who thought power wasn't everything. When it came to this day, the reason Ash wasn't nervous for it was because he would end up being the hero to many students during the whole event. He would be the one rescuing people left and right. So many that it would be ten times as much as the person who saved the next best amount of people. Sometimes when he was rescuing people he would either take the hit for them or have Pikachu threaten to thunderbolt them to a crisp. Even though it was against school rules to have Pokemon attack other students, they said nothing about giving them a good threat to cease their actions, and it usually worked. Ash looked down at his partner who was also looking at him in concern. Pikachu knew what day it was tomorrow, and he was just as ready as Ash was.

"Let's just keep our cool tomorrow, Pikachu. Save whoever we can and scare off anyone who dares to cause harm to another being." Ash told his buddy. Pikachu smiled and got in a battle stance, sparks emanating from his cheeks. Pikachu no doubt was ready for battle tomorrow, and it wasn't even a Pokemon battle in this case.

"It's going to be a hard day. But I'm ready. Those upperclassmen need to learn that you don't get away with something like this. I've survived it the last couple of years and I am determined to do the same this year. Whoever needs my help, I'll be there." Ash stated to himself. Pikachu was right there beside him, looking just as determined as his trainer. They've been through thick and thin many times. They could get past this situation again. Delia came up into the room, wondering what Ash was babbling to himself.

"Honey, what are you saying up here?"

"Oh, nothing mom. It's just that day again tomorrow."

"It's that time of the year again, huh? The day of hazing?" Ash nodded his head.

"It is mom. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'll get through it. I promise." Delia took this moment to hug her son. She loved how brave he always was and she was proud of him for it.

"You're not just my hero every day, but you will be for some other people tomorrow." Delia stated proudly. Ash could barely breathe because his mom was hugging him so tightly. She always did this to him. It didn't bother him though. He loved her bone crushing hugs, even if it meant he could faint from them. Delia let go of her son so he could breathe. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Go get 'em!" Delia chanted. Ash smiled and his mom left the room. He didn't want tomorrow to come, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He actually liked helping the other students get home safely on the day. When it came, he was ready for action.

Tomorrow came and Ash and Pikachu, like mentioned the previous night, were set for the day to come. They arrived at school about twenty minutes early and Ash had dropped Pikachu off in one of the nurseries and went to his locker and got set for school. School didn't start until a little later so he had time to do whatever. He went through how he would crack into action when school ended. He hoped that not only he survived the day, but all his friends as well, especially Clemont. Poor guy last couple years endured it as hard as some other kids, but he wasn't aware that Clemont was actually set for the chaos when school ended. Clemont wasn't the bravest when it came to this situation, but he survived the last couple of years didn't he? It's not like this event literally killed anybody, just harmed them to the point where they wished they were never born. Man, did he hate that.

Ash wondered if any of his friends knew about this day. Last year they weren't aware that this was an annual event so they weren't really prepared for it. It did happen in their freshman year but sophomore year caught them off guard. Ash had a feeling that if they were told, they would get situated for it. He definitely was. He had been set for it since last night when he found out. Dawn obviously knew because she was the one who called him to warn him about this very day, so he knew that much. He was so focused on the subject that he didn't see Shauna running up to him.

"Hey Ash."

"Oh Shauna, hey. What's up?"

"Have you heard?"

"Heard about what? Oh yeah, duh! Yeah I've heard about today."

"You scared?"

"Nah, I'm ready for it actually." A look of realization hit Shauna's face.

"Really?"

"Yeah. When Dawn told me yesterday I felt that I could overcome this whole thing."

"Can't say I'm surprised Ash. I always thought of you as brave." Ash rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes.

"Ah, think nothing of it. I wouldn't say I'm the bravest guy out there."

"You're braver than most people I know. Out of all of us, you're probably the most brave."

"Well, when you've been on so many journeys in so many regions and encounter all sorts of danger you kind of get used to this sort of thing." Ash explained.

"That's completely understandable." Shauna wrapped her arms around Ash and gave him a big hug. "I admire the kind of person you are. I wish I could be like you in some ways."

"Ah Shauna…"

"It's true! I wish I was."

"You can become like that if you tried your best to become a person you want to be. Only you can decide that." Shauna let go of Ash and looked straight at him.

"I'll take that to heart. Good luck today Ash." Shauna said and turned around and wave goodbye. She would see him later in the day. Shauna admitted she did have a little crush on Ash. She would've asked him to prom but she had already asked Clemont. Another reason was Serena wanting to ask Ash to prom because she had a crush on him. If Serena didn't have a crush on Ash, Shauna would have been the one to ask Ash to prom. Shauna only had a little crush on Ash prior to that. It wasn't a big one but enough of one to have the courage to ask him to something like that.

After that encounter, Ash decided he would get to class a little early. He really had nothing else to do. He could have done whatever, but he got over that.

The school day had a rather hostile aura looming in the air. A lot of the seniors were giving the lowerclassmen devious smirks. The looks on their faces spoke "Oh I'm gonna get you!" The freshman, sophomores, and juniors were all scared for their lives.

Serena noticed the seniors giving those looks. What was going on? Was there something she was not aware about? Did these students have grudges on the younger crowd? What did they do? Turn the tables on them somehow? She didn't have the faintest clue. Whatever it was, she just hoped that she wouldn't be involved. But, what were the odds of that happening?

Lunch came around and Serena had a change of plans. She thought she would sit outside and do some classwork. She wasn't really all that hungry but luckily the tree she was planning to sit under had apples in it. Yeah, surprise! The school planted that for such an occasion. She walked over and sat under the tree and opened her binder to see what she could do.

She went over her work and wrote or fixed her answers. She was currently working on her history assignments. She got a little behind on them so she needed this time to catch up on them. She erased one of her answers and quickly wrote in her new response. A boy with spiky brown hair and who wore a black shirt walked up to her.

"Hey there cutie!" Serena jumped a little, not realizing that the boy was standing there. She looked up at him.

"Oh, hi."

"What's a pretty thing like you sitting out here all alone?"

"Just catching up on my schoolwork is all. And what's with you giving me compliments?" The boy just chuckled and sat down next to her.

"I'm just playing around with you. I know you like Ashy boy." The boy responded. Serena was a little startled when she heard that he knew she liked Ash. He said "Ashy boy" so who else could he be talking about? And him saying she liked "Ashy boy" gave it away.

"H- h- how do you know I like Ash? And more importantly, how do you know Ash?" Serena asked, having little knowledge of who this guy was. But you could guess because, well, you know why.

"The answer to the first question is that my friend Dawn told me, and the answer to the second question is that I was Ash's rival during my journey here in Kanto and over in Johto." He replied. Serena heard of Ash mentioning the first rival he ever had, but his name escaped her.

"Who are you?" She asked. The boy straightened his position before answering.

"Have you heard of Professor Samuel Oak?"

"Yeah. His lab is not too far from my house."

"I'm his grandson, Gary." Now Serena recognized that name. She remembered all of the stories Ash told her about his encounters with Gary. He started out as a jerk but later respected him when the two met up in Sinnoh.

"I've heard of you. You used to be Ash's rival." Serena said, pointing a finger at Gary. Gary raised his hands up.

"Guilty as charged."

"Why did you treat him so badly?" Serena asked. She heard Ash's side of the story, but she wanted to hear from Gary's point of view.

"Well, at first, I didn't think he was all that great of a trainer. I got all my gym badges well ahead of him and he seemed to take forever to get his. We became trainers at the same time but I thought I was better than him at first because I obtained all my badges legitimately and on my first try. He on the other hand only got two legitimately and didn't' get any of them on the first try. I thought he would never achieve his dream. But later on, I thought that he wasn't as bad as I put him out to be. We're friends now. That rivalry is behind us."

Serena heard everything Gary had to say. He sure had a bunch to point out. She was glad that he was no longer rivals with Ash, so she had nothing against him anymore.

"That's good to hear. I'm happy you two get along together now." Serena stated.

"Well, he's a whole lot better as a trainer now than he was then. I mean, I've seen some of his battles on tv participating in the various leagues he was in. I know he has never won a league but how close he got every time impresses me." Gary looked over at Serena. He had told her about him and Ash, now he wanted to know about her and Ash.

"So how did you meet Ash?"

"I started coming here a few months back when my mom and I moved back here. And on my first day Ash helped me when no one else did." Serena explained. Gary no doubt wanted to know this next thing.

"So why do you like him?" Serena didn't hesitate with her answer, but she did take time to respond.

"It's just that he is so considerate, helpful, and selfless. I admire that he always puts others before himself. I love everything about him. I love how his hard work and determination drives him to succeed." Gary was surprised at her response.

"Wow! I've never heard anyone describe Ash like that. It even surprises me that there is a girl like you out there that has a crush on him." Gary stated.

"Yeah. I just… well… I just love his personality. That's what attracts me the most about him." Serena said.

"Does he know?" Gary asked.

"No he doesn't. But please don't tell him. I don't want him to know yet. I especially don't want anyone to tell him that I like him more than a friend." Serena pleaded. Gary made a zipping motion across his lips.

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." He got up and stretched his arms. "All right I'm going to go now. Maybe I'll see you around school. Come talk to me if you need to all right?"

"Sure." Gary picked an apple off the tree above him and handed it to Serena. "Here. Thought you might need one." Serena thanked Gary and took the apple from his hand. Gary walked off afterwards and closed his eyes.

"Not bad Ash! She's definitely a keeper." Gary thought to himself.

A few more hours passed and it was nearing the end of school. Everyone was on the edge of their seat, either in a positive or negative way. The seniors were itching to get this torture underway, while the lowerclassmen were literally wanting to get the hell out of here before a world war would start. The seniors who were the good ones out of the bunch thought why the other ones thought this was a good idea. Why? Was harassing other kids such entertainment to them? If that was the case, that was just sickening. A lot of these seniors suffered this torture in the last three years. Why did they decide when they became seniors that they would join in? Victims turned villains seemed also pretty sickening to their minds. The good seniors were more than willing to help out the lowerclassmen with getting home safely. This wasn't something that they could prevent. The teachers couldn't do it because there would be so many students getting in trouble and they wouldn't be able to identify the ones who did so.

As the seconds ticked by on the clock, counting down the final moments of the school day, every student checked the time. The seniors would bring out their "weapons" while the lowerclassmen would book it and make a hasty attempt to get home in one piece.

This was it. Fifteen seconds left until school was out. The infamous hazing was about to begin.

10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

0!

The freshman, sophomores, and juniors bolted out of their seats and slammed the doors to their respective classrooms open. The seniors got out what they needed and simply walked out of the classrooms themselves with smirks on their faces. Hell was definitely going to break loose today!

Serena had just started making her way out of the school and on her way home. A lot of students were running around in a frenzy, apparently fearing something was about to happen. Serena didn't know what, but she didn't hear anything during school today, so she had no idea what it could have been.

"What is going on? Is there an Ursaring loose in the school or something?" Serena said to herself. Most of the students had scared looks on their faces while some had looks of determination, wanting to avoid what was about to happen. One of the students, a boy ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders, looking like his life was about to be cut short.

"You have to get out of here. It's about to happen." He said, clearly in a panicked state.

"What is going to happen?" Serena asked him. She was unclear on the whole event that was going on in front of her.

"Whatever you do, avoid the upperclassmen. This is the day, that… you know." He remarked.

"I actually have no clue what is going on right now." Serena replied back. This student must not know that she has only been going here for three months.

"Just avoid the upperclassmen at all costs." He instructed and ran off.

Serena was really confused right now. Was this a traditional event that happened at this school every year on this very day? She was warned to avoid the seniors of the school. But before she could think any further, she heard brief screams coming from many students, both male and female. After hearing that, she went behind the nearest wall and peered out to get a view of the chaos. Clearly there were some seniors throwing water balloons at the lowerclassmen. Not only that, there were some students being pinned to the wall for some apparent reason. Luckily, there were some brave students who either stood up to the seniors or rescued another. Serena knew she wasn't going to get home this way, so she had to find some way out of it before she became a victim. She started walking down the hallway she entered and scouted for a way to get out of here. She turned down hallways that were either empty or with some students unaware of her presence and she made her way through them without being noticed. She didn't want to admit it, but she felt pretty scared right now. She had that bad feeling that one upperclassmen was going to jump out and strike her.

"Just focus on getting out of here, be smart, and don't attract any unwanted attention." Serena said to herself.

She continued down numerous hallways and luckily didn't get noticed by any of the hazing seniors. She eventually found a path that would very much be her ticket to freedom. She made her way down the hallway, but, alas, it was too good to be true, as a senior jumped out fifteen feet in front of her, with a water balloon ready at the helm. A smirk played at his lips and prepared to strike. Serena whimpered at the sudden appearance of her attacker. She took a few steps back but realized that there was no way out for her, so she had to pray that he would miss her, but she had that thought that he had more ammo.

"Target acquired. You have nowhere to go, so you're out of luck." The boy said menacingly and wound up his arm backwards and threw the balloon. Serena had no choice but to stand there and hope that he overthrew it or didn't put enough effort in it. The balloon was coming at a good speed and was about to hit her. Serena closed her eyes and waited for the impact. But all of a sudden, a pair of arms wrapped around her and threw her backwards. She heard the water balloon burst and heard many splashes of water hit the floor around her. She opened her eyes and felt her clothes. No traces of water on it. Not one drop. Who had put themselves in harm's way just for her? She turned around and saw who took the hit.

It was Ash.

"Ash…"

"Just stay down!"

Many more water balloons were thrown in their direction, most of them hitting Ash in the back. Ash grunted when each one hit. Of course it was just water, but the impact of the balloon hitting him did sting a little bit. When it appeared that they were out of ammo. Ash spun Serena back around and faced the tormentors.

"My turn." The seniors looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Oh what could you possibly do to us?" Ash closed his eyes and smirked.

"This! Pikachu, threaten them with thunderbolt!" Pikachu jumped from behind Ash and let out enough electricity to threaten the tormentors, and luckily not enough to actually release and attack them. This proved to work as the seniors stepped back a couple feet and whimpered a bit.

"Yo- you- you are going to need more than a Pikachu to scare us away." One of the seniors said.

"Then here you go!" A voice shouted and jumped out and threw his Pokeball, releasing his Golem. Ash and Serena saw that it was Gary. Serena just met the guy and he was already showing to be a big help. The seniors then went back more steps than before. Gary turned his head towards the two.

"You guys find a way out of here. I'll hold them off." Gary commanded. Ash smiled and slightly tipped his cap.

"Thanks Gary! I owe you one." Ash stated.

"You can repay me by getting home safe. Now go. Run!" Gary shouted. Ash and Serena did as they were told and Ash grabbed Serena's hand and ran off in the opposite direction. They knew where the nearest exit was and hoped that it wasn't guarded. They found it and to their luck, there was no one there, with the exception of a few cowering lowerclassmen. Ash told them that there were no seniors in this part of the school and to go out the doors. The two of them, plus the cowering students, exited through the doors and noticed there were no seniors around. They breathed a sigh of relief. The now no longer scared students ran off in the direction of their home. Ash and Serena stood there and made sure there wasn't anyone around to pop out of nowhere and attack them. When the coast was clear, Ash grabbed Serena's shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for saving me in there."

"You're worth saving." Ash commented. Serena blushed a faint pink after he said that. She was lost in his soulful, amber brown eyes as he looked at her. She stared at them for a good period of time. Her knight in shining armor had just helped her in a situation that she was unaware about. She stared into his eyes for a good period of time and then hugged him.

"Thank you for being so brave. I wouldn't have made it out of there alone." Serena said.

"I'll never let you get hurt like that. You're too important to me." Ash stated. Serena's blush was now a bright red. Her rank of importance to him was far high. She felt the back of Ash's jacket and noticed it was drenched from the many water balloons that hit him. She released from the hug and took a look from the front. She saw a few spots wet but not as bad as the back.

"Your jacket is pretty soaked." Serena commented. Ash patted the back of his jacket and did feel how wet it was.

"Oh yeah. I must have gotten hit by quite a bit of water balloons in there." Ash stated.

"Come on. Let's go to your home and throw it in the dryer." Serena said and motioned him to come along.

Ten minutes later they walked into Ash's house and made their way to the laundry room. Serena opened the dryer and asked for Ash's jacket.

"Hand me your jacket." Serena asked. Ash took off his hat and then his jacket and handed it to Serena. He realized his black t-shirt was also wet after he took his jacket off.

"My shirt is wet too. Must have soaked through the jacket." Ash said. Seeing this, that needed to be dried as well.

"Give me your shirt too." Serena asked. Ash then took off his shirt and handed it to Serena. As soon as she grabbed his shirt, she stared at him. He was now shirtless, revealing his bare torso. It was so muscular, even his arms. Did he work out? She was staring at it for so long that she didn't know Ash saw her staring at him.

"Serena? Are you all right?" Ash asked her. She then heard him speak and snapped out of her trance.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. It was just… nothing." Serena responded. She then put his shirt in the dryer as well, blushing, half out of admiration, half out of embarrassment. She liked looking at his muscles, but him noticing her doing so kind of got her out of nowhere. She shook it off as he didn't seem bothered by it. She hoped she didn't come across as weird or a freak for looking at him like that. Pikachu looked at Ash with half closed eyes and a mischievous smirk. Ash looked at him and wondered why he was staring at him like that.

"What?" Pikachu kept on looking at him with the same look. Ash looked down at himself and realized why Pikachu was giving him that look.

"Oh wipe that grin off your face!" Ash said out loud. Pikachu looked away, smirk still on his face but his eyes were now closed.

"I guess I should make myself look decent." Ash said and went into his room and got a white t-shirt from his dresser and put it on while Serena turned on the dryer for twenty minutes. She walked into his room after doing so.

"Sorry for staring at you like that." She apologized.

"Oh, it's okay. I wasn't really complaining." Ash replied. Serena mentally sighed in relief. She got away with that one, and she was pleased with it. She sat down on his bed and took her fedora off.

"So that whole event at school today, does that happen every year?" She asked.

"Yeah. For some reason the seniors think it's cool to do something like that." Ash responded.

"I wish I knew that it was going to happen." Serena stated.

"Didn't Dawn call you?"

"No, why?" Ash now felt a little upset at Dawn for not warning Serena about what was going to happen today.

"Well she reminded everyone else. Why didn't she remind you?" Serena now felt a little hurt that Dawn didn't tell her about it. That upset her a little.

"Must have forgot or something." Serena replied.

"I'm going to have a talk with her tomorrow about that." Ash said.

A few hours later after getting his jacket and shirt dried and putting them back on, Ash had fallen asleep on his bed. Serena was sitting right next to him, checking her phone to see if she had any messages. There were none so she put it down. She felt a little tired herself so she laid on her side and crouched. Ash had fallen asleep about half an hour ago. He was probably tired from all the rescuing he did today. She loved how he selflessly saved her today. This was the man she had been dreaming for. A man that put everyone else's life before his own. That was why she admired him so much. She nudged him a few times to see if he was sound asleep and it appeared that he was, as he didn't respond. She remembered the last two times she was in a situation like this. The first time she kissed him while he was asleep, and the second time she cuddled with him while he was asleep. She thought that she would try something else this time, not as big as the other two but still with that romantic feeling. She reached out for his left hand and grabbed it. She opened it and put her fingers between his and clutched his hand tightly as she started holding it. She loved the feeling! Luckily he wasn't awake to catch this, but she looked at his face to make sure he didn't show any signs of knowing. He didn't so she sighed in relief. She smiled and closed her eyes as his body heat made her drowsy. She was definitely happy. Ash may not have known it but Serena did. She could sense that they were very close to having a relationship. That she was sure of.

Author's note: Well how about that? After a long and enduring day the two end up resting next to each other. I liked how this chapter turned out. I also like how in the anime that Ash is so selfless, which gave me the idea for this chapter. I like how Ash always puts someone's life before his own, although that could get him into some serious danger one of these days. This probably ranks in the top 5 out of all the chapters I've written in my personal opinion. You guys are probably tired of hearing me say things like that every so often, so I'll leave you the preview of the next chapter if you're interested.

The last few nights Serena had been practicing the things she would say when she asked Ash to prom. She said it over and over again to make sure she didn't screw up at any point. She wanted to say it perfectly which means she didn't want to stutter, pause for long periods of time, or babble too much, nothing that would make it seem more difficult than it needed to be. Asking him would be difficult itself but she didn't want any of those actions to increase it.

"Next time you see him, ask him. You can't waste any more time with this." Serena said to herself. She was nervous but Ash was such a good friend to her that she didn't want to screw this up. She doubted that their friendship would go down the drain if she did but it probably would screw up her chances of being in a relationship with him. She would never let herself hear the end of it if that occurred.

"What if Miette already asked him? It has been a month since this whole prom thing started. And she said she would ask him if I took too long." She thought to herself. That was another thing that was also stressing her out. If Miette asked him by now, her mission would have proven pointless. She was dying for this. This would be a huge stepping stone for her being in a relationship with Ash.

Then she looked up and saw him not too far away from her, standing in front of his locker, alone. There was hardly anybody in the hallway but those that were there were nowhere near him. This was it, this was her chance. She had to do it. She took a deep breath and straightened herself out, making sure there was nothing wrong with her appearance. Ash probably wouldn't care but she wanted this to be perfect. She took another breath and started walking in his direction.

"It's now or never. It's do or die time." She thought to herself. She approached him which caught his attention. He turned so he was facing her.

"Hey Serena, what's up?" Ash asked.

"Nothing much. But there is something I wanted to ask you." Serena said and began to ask him the very important question.

Author's note: Pretty good preview, huh? This is it. The next chapter Serena will be asking Ash to prom. Will he say yes? Will anything else happen? Sit tight and the answers will be revealed in the next installment. You all have a good Valentine's Day this Sunday and share it with that special someone close to your heart. Until then…

TDBigJ out!