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Regrettably Like a TV Show

(Based on EP07)

By the time two more months passed, Silica had progressed up to frontline level and the Beast Brigade had begun to take an active role in Clearing (again, in Ash and Serena's case). Aside from an instance where the dragon tamer had almost acquired another familiar, however, those months were not very eventful.

During the event in question, they had been exploring a dungeon near the front lines when an odd skeletal cat started to approach them. It didn't seem hostile, so when Silica mentioned that it reminded her of when her real-world cat ("though you're still great, Pina!") wanted to play they decided to stand back and watch.

It took several minutes of slow advancing, during which time the light red of its cursor gradually faded towards a medium gray, but eventually the skeletal feline appeared willing to let her stroke it behind the ears. Just before she could, though, a group of other explorers loudly burst into the adjacent chamber and activated its "flight" response, returning its cursor to the previous shade of red as it bolted. Silica was slightly disappointed, but admitted that she didn't know whether or not she would have been able to handle more than one Familiar at once in battle. Even with Pina's increased intelligence, fighting on the frontlines still took all of her attention – which was probably why Kayaba hadn't imposed a limit on the number of familiars a single player could have.

Of course, the ability of Pokémon to act independently in combat circumvented that requirement, and Ash and Serena soon took the opportunity to "acquire" another Pokémon each. Serena's choice was (obviously) Braixen, and at the fire fox's request Frogadier took on the role of Ash's "new" familiar. Pina was initially somewhat skeptical of their arrival, but Pikachu and Talonflame soon reassured her that the "newbies" were from the same place as they had originally come from. Before long, she actually came to appreciate having Braixen as a female conversation partner (Fletchinder remained deliberately evasive when asked a question regarding gender, so nobody but Fletchinder knew for sure).

Silica, on the other hand, took the synergy between the two as yet another sign that their Trainers were "meant to be." The fact that Ash and Serena had chosen to remain isolated for several hours to allegedly learn their new partners' fighting styles just reinforced her belief even further.

She had shared her beliefs with the blacksmith Asuna had recommended them to, who took them with a grain of salt but agreed nonetheless. If anything, Lisbeth seemed more concerned with Asuna's lack of a dating life than anything between Ash and Serena (which she claimed would work itself out in time). That wasn't to say that she didn't enjoy the "girly gossip" time Silica provided – in fact, thanks to her work-focused and relatively sedentary lifestyle, Asuna was probably the closest she came to legitimate socializing and Silica the second-closest.

Which was why it was such a surprise to arrive at her smith shop in Lindas and see a sign that said "CLOSED." Asuna appeared a few minutes later, and was just as surprised.

"So you didn't have any idea she wasn't going to be here either?" Ash asked when he saw her reaction.

"Of course not! Why would I come visit her if I knew she had closed up and left early?" Asuna said, huffing in irritation. "I suppose I should be glad she's actually gone out somewhere, but this is so out of the ordinary for her that I can't help but worry."

"Well, the Friends Locator says she's on Floor 55…" Serena informed them, manipulating her Menu to display Lisbeth's location. "Did she say anything recently that might have meant she was getting ready to go on a trip?"

Asuna thought for a moment, irritation still evident on her face. "I don't think so. Let's see, I asked her to sharpen my Wind Fleuret yesterday before my meeting with Kirito and she asked a lot of silly questions about it…" At Silica's quizzical glance, a small rush of pink flooded to her face. "Oh come on, not you too! Lisbeth had the exact same look on her face – but I'm telling you, it was just meeting up as friends! I even gave her a referral…"

Her eyes widened, and she quickly paged through her own Menu before sighing. "Of course Kirito is mixed up with this somehow. But why would they go to Floor 55 together, of all places?"

"I think I know!" Silica piped up. "A couple of days ago, Lisbeth mentioned something about a miniboss on that floor that drops a rare metal, but people think you need a blacksmith with you to find it. Maybe they went to try and get some of that metal or something."

"I suppose that makes sense." Asuna admitted. "And with the way difficulty has been scaling, a Floor 55 miniboss shouldn't be too much trouble for Kirito. I just wonder why she didn't say anything to me…"

Ash shrugged. "I guess we'll find out when they get back. Wanna train with us while we wait?"

"Sure, why not?" she agreed. "It's better than spending all day worrying, at least."

If nothing else, Asuna had to admit, the trio's training technique was quite unique. Rather than focusing on sheer attack power or defense like most of the frontliners, they put most of the emphasis on evasiveness and reaction time by having their own familiars try to hit them with low-powered versions of their own attacks. Not only did it encourage independent action from the familiars, it also prepared their trainers to respond to non-standard methods of attack (as each Tamed Monster had a ranged elemental attack in addition to close-quarters physical fighting). After all, if an enemy could attack you from across the room while you were engaged with another, you needed a heightened situational awareness if you wanted to be able to survive.

But while Silica's aptitude was impressive, especially for her age, Ash and Serena seemed downright scary. They moved to counter almost before the attacks were even launched, dancing practically unscathed through a veritable storm of flames, water, wind, electricity, and dragonfire. Entire conversations seemed to be shared with a single glance, though no words were ever spoken. For a moment she considered the possibility that they were somehow in a state of constant visual communication, but had to discard that hypothesis when they continued to somehow synchronize through an impenetrable wall of flames.

A brief flash of nostalgia flowed through her as she remembered feeling that kind of connection for herself once, back during the battle against Illfang. United by a single purpose, she and Kirito had temporarily been able to communicate on an instinctive level – but she hadn't felt anything nearly that strong anytime since, and she remembered feeling mentally exhausted afterwards. Between Ash and Serena, though, it looked almost as natural as breathing (which was understandable, since they had been battling side-by-side since the game began), and in that moment she understood Silica's assertions at a level she never had before.

Unfortunately, the two of them also had to battle against the most implacable of enemies known to man: exhaustion. In a five-against-two battle where the two are only allowed to defend, only one outcome could reasonably be expected. Surely enough, one of them finally slipped up – just a fraction of a second too slow to deflect an attack. And in keeping with the old adage the more that hit you, the more that will, their HP was soon whittled down below halfway.

At that point, they called off the fight and she became privy to yet another outside-the-box tactic. Rather than completely ceasing all attacks, Pikachu and Braixen continued generating shockwaves and flames respectively – just strong enough to shave off about 10 HP every ten seconds. Thanks to the fact that they were being actively damaged by something other than a DoT effect, their moderate-strength Battle Healing continued to raise their HP faster than normal passive regeneration would have. Pina also sped up their recovery by positioning herself between them and using Heal Pulse.

Asuna shook her head incredulously. "You guys are just full of surprises, aren't you? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you could take on a Floor Boss by yourselves."

With all the Legendaries I've managed to survive against, you're actually not that far off the mark, Ash thought wryly. "Maybe so, but I'd much rather try my luck against a regular old miniboss." he said aloud, nodding his thanks to Serena for the health potion she handed him. "Speaking of which, I wonder if Kirito and Lisbeth are back yet. It's been a couple of hours – that should be plenty of time to beat something on that floor."

Serena checked her Menu. "Nope, it says they're still down there. I wonder why?"

The KoB's vice-commander sighed. "You two of all people should know how stubborn Kirito gets when he's on a mission. He probably decided to keep trying until he gets that metal, even if it means staying out overnight. And with how selfless he is underneath that tough-guy image he puts on, he probably gave up his camping gear for Lisbeth to use and didn't even think about keeping himself safe…"

"I know exactly how you feel." Serena said softly, glancing in Ash's direction with a gentle smile on her face as he engaged in a lively discussion with Silica. "That sounds a lot like a certain someone my friends and I know and love."

"I know, right?" Asuna chuckled. "They're alike in more than a few ways, aren't they? Kind-hearted, strong-willed, self-sacrificing, ignorant about how others feel about them…"

Serena nodded in agreement with each description, but the last one made her pause. "Wait, what did you just say?" The flush that appeared on Asuna's face was as much of an answer as words would have been. "Are you saying you do actually like Kirito?"

"Well, um, I… er, I don't really know yet, but I think maybe." Asuna admitted in a whisper. "I just didn't want to say anything in case it turned out to be nothing."

The performer placed a hand gently on her friend's shoulder. "I understand perfectly. When I first reunited with Ash, I felt the exact same way. Just be yourself and keep on smiling, and even if he never notices you like that you'll still be lifelong friends." A ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Not that there's anything wrong with hoping…"

Asuna smiled back. "You're right – thanks." All of a sudden, her face took on a mischievous air. "How about a deal? You don't tease me about this, and I won't tease you about Ash. That way we can talk to each other honestly without having to worry about each other's reactions."

Serena met her eyes and clasped her hand firmly. "Deal. Now let's go get something to eat before –"

A loud rumble echoed through the dungeon cavern, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

"Well, I suppose the stomach has spoken." Pikachu said, hopping off Ash's shoulder and heading for the door. "Nothing we can really do about it but go get something to eat and reconvene tomorrow."

By the time they met up the next morning, Kirito and Lisbeth still had yet to leave the 55th floor and Asuna was starting to get worried. "When I said 'overnight,' I didn't actually expect them to take all night…" she complained as they sat in a café waiting for their breakfast to be served. "And to top it all off, they're in one of those special dungeons that blocks private messaging, so I haven't been able to contact either of them!" She crossed her arms in indignation. "Honestly, I'm almost considering trying to get Klein to help me go drag them back here by force. Even if Kirito's fine, this is the longest Liz has been away from her store in months…"

Ash hmmmed thoughtfully. "Well then maybe this is just what she needs to encourage her to get out more. Back when I first met up with Serena again in the real world, she didn't really like camping out all that much – but just look at her now! Brave, strong, an incredible battler, an even more incredible baker… but more than anything else, an irreplaceable friend. It's hard to imagine life without her there anymore."

"Could you have come any closer without actually saying it?" Pikachu muttered sotto voce, resisting the urge to facepalm. Before anyone could ask him what he had said, though, their breakfast arrived and further conversation was abandoned.

As usual, Ash vacuumed up his food. "Ahh, that hit the spot." he announced, patting his stomach and leaning back in his chair to relax. Fletchinder flew out the open window to sun itself on the chimney, and Frogadier sat down cross-legged in the corner to meditate. Pikachu mimicked his Trainer's posture, stretching out on the table where it met the wall, while Braixen continued to elegantly take small bites of her own food.

Even having witnessed his appetite the night before, Asuna was still dumbfounded by how quickly and how much Ash ate. Based on Serena's reaction, though, she figured it was just something you eventually got used to (and maybe even one of the quirks Serena found endearing about him). She finished her meal at a much more sedate pace, taking the time to savor every bite and hoping it would distract her from worrying about Kirito and Lisbeth but actually thinking about them more by trying not to think about them and why did feelings have to be so confusing?

A squawk from the window interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see Fletchinder muffling its beak with its wing. "Kssshht – smoke in the smithy, I repeat, smoke in the smithy. The dwarf has returned to the forge, over. Ksssht."

"And why can't you tell us these things normally?" Pikachu asked in exasperation.

"Kssshht. We have a code 84-7A: Skeptic in the vicinity. Requesting permission to smack him silly."

"Permission denied." Ash and Serena answered in unison before Serena translated the initial message for Asuna. "It looks like Lisbeth is back. You wanna go now or wait a few more minutes to give her a chance to set up?"

Asuna didn't answer, instead dropping a bag of Col on the table to pay for her food and walking briskly out the door. "Guess it's right now, then." Ash said, pushing his chair back and standing up. "C'mon, let's go."

As they approached Lisbeth's shop, they could hear the faint pounding of a hammer against metal. She's already making a sword with it? Asuna wondered. I didn't think Kirito actually needed a new sword, what with his Elucidator and all… Maybe I'm just overthinking things, and she let him watch because he helped her get the metal. She barged into the shop, ignoring the NPC clerk, and made her way quickly into the back room. Sure enough, Kirito and Lisbeth were both in there, and she hesitated for a fraction of a second before rushing forward and enveloping Lisbeth in a relieved hug.

"Oh my gosh, Liz – I was so worried about you! Where have you been? I tried messaging you, but nothing would go through and all the map told me was that you were somewhere on Floor 55…"

Liz slowly peeled herself out far enough to speak. "Sorry about that. I kinda got stuck in a dungeon."

That did nothing to reassure her anxious friend. "You were in a dungeon all night?" she asked incredulously, forgetting that she already knew the answer. "Tell me you were careful, at least!"

"Of course I was." Lisbeth said, pointing to the other occupant of the room. "Kirito was there with me."

His presence finally registered fully with Asuna, and her nervousness spiked through the roof again. "K-Kirito?"

Kirito laughed sheepishly, scratching his head. "Hey, Asuna. Long time no see, huh?"

"Wait, you two know each other?"

"Of course we do. We're on the assault team together." Kirito said, slightly embarrassed. "She was actually the one who recommended you to me when we met up a couple of days ago."

As soon as he said that, Lisbeth's eyes widened in realization and she seemed to deflate slightly. "Oh, I see…"

This time, Pikachu did facepalm from where their group was watching up on the staircase. "And of course this happens. There's always a friend or acquaintance who falls for the protagonist even though somebody else already likes them."

"What'd you say? I didn't quite catch that." Ash asked him as Asuna began chewing out Kirito for Lisbeth's odd behavior.

"Just lamenting how similar this is to TV show dramas…" Pikachu answered. "You'd be surprised what the Nurse Joys not on duty watch during their free time."

A surprised outburst from Asuna interrupted them. "HE WHAT?"

Lisbeth chuckled sheepishly. "Yep. Attacked his own sword with it and busted it right in half."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Asuna apologized, voice choked up slightly.

"Don't be – it wasn't your fault." Lisbeth reassured her. She then leaned in closely to whisper something to Asuna, and for a second Serena could swear she saw the blacksmith with blue hair and a Slurpuff.

Asuna reacted almost the exact same way Serena had, though the coloring on her face was not quite as prominent. Before she could say anything, though, Lisbeth headed for the door with an excuse about 'picking up supplies.' She completely ignored the group on the stairs, stopping only to tell Asuna to 'hold down the fort."

"Character leaving under flimsy pretext, presumably to let out buried emotions? Check. Now all that's left is for the protagonist to go talk to her and clear the waters, and we'll be three for three."

"What's he saying?" Kirito asked.

Serena, who had spent plenty of time in front of the TV recovering from her mom's 'riding lessons' (read: torture) was the first to catch onto Pikachu's meaning. "I think he said you should be the one to go find her, and that anything we might say would help more if it came from you. If you want, Fletchinder can help you search."

"Right, thanks." The black-coated swordsman swept out of the shop, already searching his menu for the Long-Distance Visual Enhancement mod to his Searching skill.

It took Asuna a few moments to understand, but eventually it clicked. "Wait, do you mean that she…"

"Yep." Serena confirmed.

"And she knows that I…"

"Probably."

"So you're saying that's why she –"

"If I'm not mistaken, yeah."

"Which means it wasn't…" Asuna's eyes flicked over to where Kirito had been standing.

"Nope. Not on purpose, anyways."

"And I didn't need to –"

"No, you didn't."

Ash was incredibly confused, and nothing they were saying seemed to help. "I don't get it. What are you guys talking about?"

Silica, who was sitting up on a stack of crates, patted him on top of the head. "It's girl talk – you wouldn't understand."

"If you say so…" Noticing the blinking icon that indicated Clemont was trying to contact them, Ash decided to take the opportunity to leave before he got any more lost. "I guess I'll be waiting outside, then." I'm gonna be talking with Clemont, so if you feel the need to say anything just tell me this way, he added telepathically, he and Serena having practiced enough by this point to carry on simultaneous internal and external conversations.

Gotcha, Serena replied. Be sure to tell him and Bonnie hi for me!

Sure thing. Pushing open the door, he exited the shop and sat down next to the waterwheel behind it to accept the call. The sound of the wheel creaking and water flowing by were enough to obscure his end of the conversation from any eavesdroppers, so he wasn't worried about being overheard. "Hey there, Clemont. How's it been?"

A sigh came from the other end of the connection. "Pretty much the same as it's been for the past week and a half on this end. I haven't been able to find out anything about Akihiko Kayaba anywhere I've searched – the closest I've come has been this guy from Kanto named Akihabara who proposed something similar to my invention several years back. His work was focused around total digitization, though, and he discarded his research in favor of studying Porygon and its evolutions after his test audience nearly had seizures as a result."

"Oh yeah, I remember that… sort of." Ash chuckled. "Aside from asking Pikachu to Thunderbolt something and a bunch of bright flashing lights, all my memories between going in and coming out are kind of fuzzy. My memories from in here are a lot clearer, which just goes to show how far science has come since then, right?"

"You know it!" Clemont agreed, voice tinged with pride. "Wait a minute, that was you? I'm amazed your mom still let you travel after something like that! That was actually why Dad enrolled me at that electronics school – I accidentally blacked out Lumiose City for a day and a half while trying to make something, and he wanted to ensure that couldn't happen again."

Ash stiffened up suddenly. "Uh oh. That's gonna be a big problem."

"What? What's the problem?"

"We completely forgot to ask you to call our moms – they've probably been worried sick!" He shared the thought with Serena, who agreed after a similar initial surge of oh-no-we're-totally-dead.

"I don't think they'll be quite as worried as you think, but I'll still tell them. Remember, it's only been about a week and a half here, so from their perspective you haven't been gone that long."

"Thanks a lot. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Not really. There was another program trying to track your player data – I think it was called MHCP001 or something similar – but I managed to stop it. Viola's sister Alexa stopped by earlier to see if she could learn anything from Clembot about the superhero with the Blaziken mask, but everybody was too busy to talk to her. I have to say, though, I didn't know Dad even had a rubber band collection, much less one so extensive it would need organization."

Ash chuckled. "Well, I guess everybody has their own hobbies. You invent stuff, my mom gardens, the guy with the Mega Blaziken is a part-time superhero, and your dad apparently organizes rubber bands. But honestly, that's not the weirdest thing he could be doing."

"I suppose you're right." Clemont admitted. "And speaking of parents, I should probably call yours. Also, Bonnie says hi."

"Tell her Serena and I said hi back, then."

"Will do." Clemont cut the connection just as Kirito and Lisbeth came back, walking along the banks of the river with Lisbeth in a much improved mood.

Ash waved at them with a grin. "I see you guys figured out whatever was the matter…"

Lisbeth smiled back, though it still seemed slightly pained. "Yeah, we did. And now that we've got that over with, do we have a story to tell you guys!"

Omake: Clemont's Calling Capers

After Clemont disengaged the NERVEGEAR Visual Communication Software, he immediately headed over to the phone to call Delia and Grace. But while Mrs. Paschall responded with the standard protective-mom why-didn't-you-tell-me-earlier speech, Mrs. Ketchum was utterly blasé about the entire thing.

"Oh, has my little Ashy gotten himself into another predicament?" she asked when she saw that Clemont was the one calling. "What is it this time, and which Legendary Pokémon is involved?"

"Erm, well, uh, long story short, he's stuck inside a time-accelerated videogame for a week and a half our time and about a year and a half in theirs. No Legendaries this time…"

Delia was much less worried than Clemont had expected. "Aww, my little boy's gonna be so grown up when I next see him!" she said, looking slightly sad that she was missing that part of his growth but also slightly proud. "By the way, where's Bonnie? I suspect Serena's in taking care of Ash right now, based on what Grace told me when we reconnected after our kids started traveling together."

Clemont lauged half-heartedly. "Yeah; funny thing about that is, they're both stuck in there. Bonnie's actually the one keeping an eye on them right now, since Ms. Grace isn't here yet and I'm talking to you. And knowing her, she's probably trying to make them hold hands while asleep…"

"I have a kindred spirit helping me from inside!" the aforementioned girl yelled from upstairs.

*sigh* "See what I mean? She's convinced that she's a natural matchmaker and refuses to accept that she might be wrong."

Ash's mom giggled, remembering her own adolescent 'matchmaker phase.' "Don't worry, she'll eventually grow out of it – at least until she grows up and has kids of her own. I actually wouldn't be upset if she was right this time, though. Serena sounds like she would be a wonderful daughter-in-law…"

Clemont groaned under his breath. "Oh no, not you too!"

"Ah, well. If Ash actually asked you to call me about this, it's probably serious enough for me to come and check up on him. I'll be there soon!" The video screen clicked to black and Clemont sat up straight again, wondering with slight apprehension what he had just gotten himself into.