Warming Hearts

A/N: Geez! Sorry for such a long wait on this chapter. I've had a little bit of trouble trying to put a specific scene in place, but I have finally finished. I hope this is worth it.

Let's get on with Chapter 9! Roll it!

Chapter 9

A Meal With New Friends

Soon, Ash and Pikachu looked down the window. Their makeshift rope seemed long enough for them to climb down. But just before Ash could swing a leg over the sill to get a better check, a knock was sounded on the bedroom door. He turned to the door with an annoyed glare.

"I told you to go away." He said angrily, thinking that it was the beast on the other side.

"Don't worry, kid." An unfamiliar voice answered him. "It's only Zoey, the housekeeper. May I come in?"

Ash and Pikachu quickly pulled in the rope and tried to hide it behind the bed and the window curtains. "Come in." He then said.

The doors opened, and a Glameow with ruby red eyes instead of crystal blue walked in, balancing a tea tray on her coiled tail and followed by a little Bellassom, who was hiding behind her, blushing slightly at the sight of Ash.

The Glameow smiled brightly when she saw Ash. Leona was telling the truth about how handsome he is. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" She said. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Um, thank you?" Ash said uncertainly. He still was a little uneasy that some of the Pokémon around here could talk, and that some of the female ones think he was attractive. Well, the Glameow showed no implication, thankfully. But there was still a bit of self-awareness in him the more he thought about it. He never thought that he was considered to be good-looking, even without dressing up. His mother was different, though. He had always thought that it was her job to compliment him, except when he would come back with torn clothes, drenched in sweat.

Zoey, as she introduced herself, then saw the unwell-hidden rope that he and Pikachu made. She sighed. "Well, it's quite the journey. At least let us prepare you for it before you go."

Ash flinched that he got caught, but then felt relieved when she implied that she wasn't going to get mad at him.

Zoey placed the tea tray on a nearby table. "Would you like some hot chocolate?" She asked.

"Yes, please." He answered with a faint smile at the thought of hot chocolate. The little Bellassom got the tea pot and poured some of the warm liquid into one of the tea cups. It then carefully took the cup and went over to Ash. The boy smiled warmly at it while taking the cup, making it feel a little less shy.

"Pleased to meet you." The Bellassom said in a very young feminine voice. "My name is Laine."

"Nice to meet you, too." Ash said after he took a sip. "I'm Ash, and this is my partner, Pikachu." He introduced.

"Pika, pika." Pikachu greeted, making Laine giggle.

Zoey then came up to them. "That was a very brave thing you did for your mother, kid." She said.

Paris the Lopunny then came into the room, carrying a stack of different colored dark fabric in her arms. "We all think so." She added.

Ash's face fell when thoughts of his mother filled his mind. "I'm worried about her." He said, walking back to the tea tray to put the cup down. "True, I do leave her when I go off journeys, but this is way too extreme. For the both of us."

Zoey and Paris glanced at each other. So, this is another reason why he held a lot of resentment towards their mistress. It was not only just because he lost his mother, but also because he is a free spirit. People like him don't like staying in one place for too long.

"Cheer up now, kid." Zoey said. "Things will turn out better in the end. You'll feel a lot better after dinner."

Ash raised a confused eyebrow. "But, I thought she said that if I don't eat with her, then I don't eat at all." He said, remembering what the beast had angrily said earlier at her terrible attempt to try and invite him. Then, just for the sake of the situation, his black-hole stomach rumbled loudly, making him flush in embarrassment and Pikachu and Laine giggled at that.

Zoey shook her head, trying to contain her laughter. "Well, people say a lot of things in anger. It's only our choice whether or not to listen." She then began to head towards the door, with Laine following. "You coming, Ash?"

Ash turned over to Paris, who had set down her pile of fabrics on the dresser. "Go on." She said. Seeing that it seemed okay, he gestured to Pikachu to follow him. The Electric type obeyed, jumping onto his Trainer's shoulder as they left the room.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, the enchanted servants were preparing the meal.

"Come on, everyone!" Leona encouraged. "Keep it coming!"

"This is a bad idea, Leona!" Kenny pointed out. "If the mistress finds out that you violated her orders again and fed him, she will blame me!"

"Yes, I will make sure of that." The Swinub said nonchalantly. She then hurried out of the kitchen and into the cleared out dining hall, with Kenny following. "But, did you hear him stand up to her? I'm telling you, he is the one! They must fall in love if the spell is to be broken, and how can they if he stays in his room?"

"You know he will never love her." Kenny said. "They can't even be in a few feet of each other without them fighting."

"But all we can do is try." Leona stated, giving him a firm glance. "And I don't think that you want to be a walking feather pillow for the rest of your life."

"All right, fine!" Kenny groaned. "But just keep it down."

Just then, Ash entered into the dining hall behind Zoey and Laine. He looked around the hall, seeing that there was one place setting at one end of the table, while two settings were on both sides. And on the floor next to the table, bowls filled with Pokémon food were stationed in rows.

"Take a seat, kid." Zoey gestured to the setting at the end. Though slightly reluctant, Ash complied and sat down. Pikachu was eyeing the many bowls, and his Trainer let him go over to one.

Leona and Kenny jumped up onto the velvet seats and sat down at the two place settings on Ash's left, while Zoey and Laine took the ones on his right.

"You ready?" Leona asked.

Ash raised a curious brow. "Ready for what?"

No sooner did the words leave his mouth, silver trays having of all kinds of food flew in gently, highlighted in blue light. They all carefully landed on the table as Pokémon entered in and took towards the many bowls on the floor. Ash noticed that it was the work of a Psychic attack from an Alakazam that had made the trays come into the hall by themselves. All of the Pokémon had appeared to be wild, since they weren't speaking his language.

But the two Pokémon that really caught his eye were a Piplup and a Buneary. The Rabbit Pokémon immediately had hearts in its eyes when it saw Pikachu, donning it to be female. Ash surpressed a chuckle when the Buneary started to bound over to his partner, her paws outstretched to him and Pikachu having an uncomfortable look on his face.

But the Piplup had kept the lovestruck Normal type a good distance from him, reprimanding her for making a guest feel uncomfortable. The little Water type was male, since he had placed Buneary at a bowl a couple over away from Pikachu, and sat at the one next to him, greeting him cheerfully, and Pikachu returned it.

Ash smiled at his number one Pokémon companion already making a new friend. Then, his attention was drawn to the many silver trays positioned on the table.

"You guys got all this ready yourselves?" He asked.

"Believe it or not, they are more servants in here." Leona said. "It takes a lot of help to keep this place from falling apart."

Ash felt the corners of his mouth slightly curl up in a tiny grin.

"So, Ash. Where are you from?" Zoey asked.

"I'm from Pallet Town, in the Kanto region." Ash answered as the Alakazam from earlier used Psychic again and brought some food over to him and the enchanted servants.

"Kanto, huh?" Leona said, impressed. "Man, you are a long way from home."

"Yeah." Ash replied. "By now, we would've also had our first snow of the season." A sad look then came onto his face.

"What's wrong?" Kenny asked.

"You must really miss your home." Zoey guessed. Laine nodded in agreement.

Ash used his fork to push around some of the food. "Yeah, I do." He answered. "I'm not sure if I will ever see it again." In more ways than one. He kept the last thought to himself.

"Pikachu." Pikachu chirped sadly when he saw the longing look on his Trainer's face. He wanted to go home, too.

"Piplup, piplup." Piplup reassured Pikachu by patting his back with a flipper. The Electric type looked over at the Water type and gave him a small smile.

Everyone saw the interaction between the two and smiled softly. "Don't worry, Ash." Zoey assured him.

"Yeah." Laine agreed. "You'll soon see your home again. I know it."

Ash wasn't going to ask where that faith came from, but it sure made him feel a little better. After all, he showed that kind of faith many times, and the many times they did, they eventually turned out for the better.

"Thanks." He said with a soft smile on his face. "Well then, let's eat!"

Everyone slightly laughed as they began to dig in, them and the wild Pokémon.

A/N: The dining scene is where I had some trouble, but I think it managed to work out. Hopefully, next chapter won't take so long next time. And I think you guys know what's coming up next.

Until then, I hoped y'all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)