Hey guys, Jeff here!

Interestingly, I was kinda busy today, since I went off with my family to watch this cool movie in the cinema. It's actually been a while when I've a movie, but I liked it. Why am I even talking about this? Sorry about that guys... xD

By the way, hopefully you all like this story so far, since I'm getting some positive feedback from it, so thank you guys and continue to doing so! :D

Without further ado, let's get to reading...

(With Tierno; in the classroom)

Tierno sighed. "Hey, I've done what you set out for me to do. Can you do your side of the deal now?"

The person behind the phone laughed. "Oh, Tierno. Why should I do that~"

"What?! I have already done it, right? So, what is there to do?" Tierno spoke with a serious tone, losing his patience. "I got Serena to join me in this assignment thing, just like you said."

"You have done only the first phase of my plan~" The person on the phone answered confidently.

Tierno shrugged. "But what else do I need~"

The person on the phone chuckled. "Tierno, Tierno, Tierno… stop being stubborn and play along with the plan. I already told you what I want. If you don't follow my orders to the letter, then you know what happens…

Tierno paused for a moment. He knows that this guy, whom he doesn't know his true identity, knows what he is doing, and he is doing it very well. It seems to Tierno that this has been planned out by this guy for some time. I mean, how did this guy know about how Professor Oak will set their class this certain task, how did he know this school, and even how he is very interested with this girl named Serena, who Tierno doesn't know exactly, but only a classmate. There are a lot of things that doesn't add up with this guy's wants, but Tierno doesn't care about all that. He is only doing this in order to save someone, to save someone's life, someone whom he cares about the most.

There is no telling if this mysterious person will actually do his part of the deal that they had; well, if you say a deal, it is more like an act of blackmailing, seeming how he is kind of in this situation. To be honest with himself, he needs to seek help, maybe even talking to Professor Oak; but he knows he can't do that, he knows that this mysterious guy is watching him wherever he goes, which he is most concerned about. For now, he can only do one thing, which is to just play along. He has a reason for doing this, even though he doesn't want to do anything what this random person might ask him to do, but it is doing him a favour for his own good; not for this guy, but for this person who is special for him; however, before anything, he needs to get someone off his back…

Tierno sighed. "All right, I get your point. But before that, there is someone who I think is going to bother us…"

"Oh… who might that be?" The person on the phone spoke out of curiosity.

"Ash Ketchum." Tierno answered with nervousness.

There was a slight pause before the person on the phone spoke again, because this person might be a concern to him; well, that's what Tierno thinks anyways. At that point, Tierno became suspicious that Ash might have something to do with this guy, probably someone that he knew from before, but he can't really be certain if that is the case. All he knows really is that this person behind the phone must know Ash; otherwise he shouldn't have reacted like that. Tierno now becomes very suspicious from what he uncovered.

"You need to get rid of this, Ash. No matter what the cost." The person behind the phone demanded.

Tierno scratched his head. "Well, how am I going to do that exactly? Ash is basically clinging on Serena, since he is supposedly her guide."

"What ridiculous idea is that? Who thought that idea up?" The person behind the phone complained.

"It's Professor Oak's." Tierno replied quite casually.

The person on the phone chuckled. "No matter, I'll make sure that he won't bother you. For now, focus on your part of the plan. Make sure you do it right, or else…"

"I'll get you for this after I get her back." Tierno mumbled.

"What was that you said?" The person on the phone spoke out of curiosity.

Tierno shrugged. "Oh, it was nothing. Don't worry about it."

The person on the phone laughed. "That's what I thought. Anyway, I'll keep in touch. By the way, next time we talk, call me Mr.X, okay?"

Tierno nodded. "All right then. I'll make sure your plan is a success."

With that, the call ended, indicated by the complete silence on the call before the continuous beep immediately after that. No matter what happens, Tierno needs to get her back, otherwise he failed her, which is not really what he wants, as he is going to break their promise with one another. I mean, he knows that the only thing that he needs to do is follow Mr.X's orders and everything will be fine for her, but he is still worried about doing this, how maybe this guy might have just tricked him the whole time, but there isn't really anything out of the ordinary to be suspicious about.

Tierno sighed. He doesn't really know what to do, but he is very nervous, especially when he knows that Ash is behind his back. To be honest, it's not really a surprise that Ash is suspicious of him now that he is kind of happy that he is picked with Serena. I guess you can say that he's happy, because of how Mr.X's plan is actually in progress, but really, it was kind of a lucky break for him. If he wasn't picked with Serena, who knows what Mr.X might do or even what he will do; but he has no need to worry about anything, since he just needs to do this and then everything will be good for him and her.

'After I got her back, I'll get this guy, even if it kills me.' Tierno thought with determination and confidence. 'I will make sure he pays for what he has done.'

(With Ash and Serena; in the dining hall)

Before long, Ash and Serena got into the dining hall to meet up with everyone else, presumably because everyone else in the group is probably already sat down and already eating without them. As expected, the dining room is already full, just like they have anticipated, but luckily the group has already reserved some seats for Ash and Serena to sit down on. As they both sat down, they can already see that some of them are already eating and some of them are waiting patiently for Ash and Serena, which didn't really surprise them much.

As everyone then tucked into their lunches, they all started their own conversations, and interestingly Serena also joined in as well; however, there was one person who didn't join and also surprisingly not eating his lunch and that was Ash. For some reason, he is filled with thought, most likely about Tierno, since that is the only thing he must be thinking about. There's not really a surprise that he is thinking about him, how he reacted when he was picked for example. In all honesty, it is actually bothering the whole group, not because he was thinking for once, but because he wasn't eating his lunch, which is unusual for Ash…

Gary snapped his fingers in front of Ash. "Hey, Ashy-boy! You there?"

"Earth to Ash! Answer me." Barry added.

Lyra sighed. "Why is Ash not eating? He looks kind of depressed, if you ask me."

Paul sniggered. "That's interesting… the only reason that might be is because he confessed to Serena, but was immediately rejected. Is that it, Ash?"

Ash blushed madly. "Hey! That's not it!"

Paul smiled. "There you go, he's back now."

"Hey, Paul! Why did you do that exactly?!" Serena complained whilst her face is bright red out of embarrassment.

Paul laughed. "Well, that's the only way I thought of that could bring him back."

Gary chuckled. "Well played, Paul."

Paul smiled. "Thank you for your appreciation."

May pouted. "Don't say things like that, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Why do you always do things your way, Paul?" Dawn added.

Drew flicked his hair. "Hey, come on, just chill. Anyway, why are you acting like this Ash? Seems you're off today."

Barry nodded. "That's true. What's wrong, Ash? Something happened."

Well, the truth is that there was something that happened, and it does concern him. He is somewhat off right now, how he is acting differently to how he normally acts in a normal day. To be honest with himself, he didn't realise it, but he realised that he isn't actually eating, which meant that everyone in the group will notice that, because normally Ash would be very excited and very contented eating his lunch, but right now, he is more focused to the matter in hand; well, actually it is just his matter, because he's the only one who is overthinking about the whole thing. Is it good that he is thinking about Tierno for his concern for Serena or not? He doesn't really know, but he also doesn't know how to answer everyone's question…

Serena sighed. "Well, something happened in class that made him sort of suspicious."

Lyra grinned. "Oh yeah, what could that be?"

"It's about the assignment Professor Oak gave us, more specifically, about who we were working with." Serena explained.

Paul laughed. "I knew it! It was about Serena after all. He's disappointed that he didn't get Serena as his partner to work with."

"That's a shame, isn't Ashy-boy?" Gary teased. "Not being able to be alone with Serena. One to one… in her room… working hard~"

Ash blushed. "It's not like that!"

Lyra titled her head. "Oh yeah, then what is it about?"

Ash sighed. "I don't really know, but I feel suspicious with this guy. When the professor picked our groups, he was surprisingly happy to have Serena as his partner. I thought at first that it was because he liked Serena, but I think there's another reason…"

Drew sighed. "Ash, you don't have to be suspicious with this guy. You are probably right when he might have a crush with Serena, so let's leave it there."

Gary chuckled. "Seems Ash is jealous with this guy then."

Paul nodded. "Nice idea, Gary. Well, that settles it, Ash is definitely jealous with this guy and that's the end of that."

Ash sighed. "I said it's not like that, but you're right Drew, I should just leave it."

Serena smiled. "Anyway, you're here to protect me Ash in case he does anything to me, right?"

Ash nodded. "Of course!"

To be honest, Serena is right about saying that. It was true that Ash will be there for her, so there is definitely no need to worry about that, but the main problem that Ash has got is that he isn't going to be with Serena all the time, because he too has the assignment to do himself, but then that opens another mystery in his mind about his partner. How come she isn't in today? Maybe she is sick, or is it something else? He isn't too sure about the answer about that, but all he can do for now is do all of the work by himself first, but he is still slightly suspicious as to why his partner was not present this morning. For now, his focus is on Serena above anything else.

"Look at that, there's no way that those two aren't together." Lyra teased.

Gary nodded. "No doubt about that. Well, it was anticipated anyway, since Serena~"

Paul held up his hand. "Hold on a minute, if they are together, surely they would have told us by now. Otherwise, they're on the way to being together, am I right?"

Ash and Serena blushed madly. "Stop it, you guys!"

Barry scratched his head. "Hey, what's going on between Ash and Serena?"

Ash and Serena turned to Barry. "Nothing, so don't pay attention to it."

Paul sniggered. "He won't pay attention to it anyway, since he has no brain."

Gary smiled. "Dense like Ash it seems…"

"Hey, you two! Stop with the teasing! Look, Ash and Serena is feeling uncomfortable here." Misty scolded.

Paul sighed and then grinned. "All right, fine; but you two promise me this – if you two get together, you have to let us know."

Ash shrugged. "Why would we promise you that?"

Serena nodded. "I don't accept that!"

Paul sighed. "Seems I can't win, but I'll find out anyway, so don't worry about it."

Ash and Serena blushed. "Paul!"

With that, everything just went back to normal with everyone in the table. With that ordeal finished, Ash still couldn't get this thought out of his head, but he knew that he had to. I mean, he knew that he shouldn't really hold grudges with other people, especially his classmates, but he is still very suspicious, so you can't exactly blame him; however, since he promised to Serena that he will protect her, then he needs to fulfil that promise – the promise to protect her, since he's her guide after all. That's his job.

There you have it, guys! Chapter 12 is done! Hopefully you have enjoyed this chapter! :D

Wow, what can I say with this chapter! Tierno has his problems it seems and is forced into doing something, but what exactly? It involves Serena too, so what is Ash going to do too? Also, who is this Mr.X whom has identified himself to Tierno? Stick around to find out the answers to these questions! ;D

Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter, but also please put your thoughts of this story in the reviews! Please show some support!

But also Private Message me for any story suggestions!

Also, please check me out on Twitter at jeff_amour if you can for updates of my stories!

So, that's it from me!

See ya! Have a great day!