Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! Anyway, let's get straight into continuing the story!
Ash and Serena left their room a few minutes later. Serena had an idea. She wasn't sure whether or not Ash would be on board with this idea, but she decided to vocalise it anyway.
"Ash," Serena said, tugging on his arm to make him look at her as they made their way down the stairs.
"Hm?" Ash murmured, looking over at her. Serena changed her eyes, making them as large and as cute as she possibly could before she asked her question.
"Could we please go shopping?" She asked, staring at Ash. Ash chuckled before nodding.
"Of course," he said, to which Serena smiled, abruptly grabbing Ash's arm and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Really?" Serena asked, shocked, expecting Ash to be joking around. He had previously said to her while he was travelling in Unova that he "didn't like spending time in shops." He had told her this while Iris was dragging him around a few shops.
"Yes," Ash said, kissing her forehead and squeezing her. "Anything you want."
"But you don't like shopping," Serena reminded Ash, to which he shrugged.
"This is the first time you asked," Ash said. "Plus, you're my girlfriend. I don't want to upset you by saying no."
"I wouldn't get upset, Ashy," Serena replied, giggling at the silly idea. "If you don't want to do something, then we won't do it. That's how you feel, as well!"
"I know that you would get upset," Ash said, stroking her hair. "You're a baby in a human's body!"
Serena pouted, annoyed. The two of them had reached the ground floor. Without another word, Serena grabbed Ash's hand and dragged him through the hotel lobby and out of the door, leading him across the road to a shopping centre that she had initially seen on the way into the hotel.
"How big is this place?!" Ash exclaimed, shocked as he looked at the three floors above his head. The building had three levels, with each shop surrounding the edge of the structure. Each floor had a square hole in the centre, leaving an area to look up.
"I want to look at clothes first," Serena said, dragging Ash over towards the escalators.
"Of course you do," Ash sighed, Pikachu mimicking his actions from Ash's shoulder.
Ash and Serena made their way around various shops, Serena, of course, buying a load of clothes, jewellery and make-up, forcing Ash to carry as many bags as he could before she finally took some time to rest, letting Ash's arms also rest.
"You're evil," Ash sighed, exhausted. "I have to carry all of this back to the hotel as well?"
Serena giggled, shaking her head. "Mum's in Lumiose," she said. "I'm going to have her take them back to Vaniville in her car."
"Wha- Since when has Grace been here?" Ash asked, shocked by how sudden he learned of this fact.
"She has to do some work here," Serena said, leaning back. "She texted me to say."
"Why didn't you say anything about it to me?" Ash asked, tired and confused.
"I forgot to," she replied, shrugging. "It's not like that matters, anyway," she said, grabbing Ash's arm before pulling him up.
Ash groaned. "Come on!" He exclaimed. "Not more shopping!"
"You're right, actually," Serena said, giggling at Ash's restraints to shopping. "We need dinner."
"What time is it?" Ash asked, pulling out his phone, only to see that it was half-past six. "Crikey!"
"I know," Serena muttered. "Time flies when you're having fun."
"Time also flies while being tortured," Ash mumbled, making Pikachu burst out laughing while Serena shook her head, a smile on her face.
"There's a café over there," Serena said, pointing at a small area in the shopping centre.
"I need food," Ash said, rushing towards it, letting Serena be dragged around for a change.
"Stop running so much!" Serena exclaimed, finding it unbelievable that Ash could run so fast while carrying three bags!
Ash stopped moving as he reached the café, Serena stopped next to him, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"What would you like to eat?" Ash asked Serena, who shrugged, taking a moment to look over the menu which resided above the counter.
"I'm not sure," she said, squinting a little as she tried to read the prices that were in a tiny font.
"I can hardly read that, either," Ash said, noticing Serena's struggles. "We should go closer, I think."
As they both walked closer to the counter, they spotted a familiar tuft of curly, light blonde hair.
"Is that... Clemont?" Serena asked, pointing the person out to Ash, unsure.
"I think so," Ash replied, chuckling a little as he tried to figure out if it was Clemont or not.
Sure enough, he turned and looked down at someone else who was substantially shorter than him. The crowd moved a little, and Ash and Serena could make out Bonnie stood next to Clemont.
"Yeah," Ash started. "That is Clemont and Bonnie."
They both continued to look for a moment before approaching them, tapping Clemont on the shoulder.
"Hey, Buddy!" Ash said as Clemont turned around to see who tapped him.
"Ash?" Clemont asked, confused as he didn't expect to come across him so soon. "Serena?"
"Yeah," Serena said. "It's us!" She finished, giggling a little when Bonnie squealed with joy and clamped onto Serena's leg, restricting her movement as she hugged her honey-haired friend.
"I'm so happy to see you again!" Bonnie squealed, nuzzling Serena's waist which was head-height for her.
"When was the last time we saw you?" Ash asked Clemont, who chuckled a little as he was still trying to overcome the shock.
"When we went to see Sycamore," Clemont replied, rubbing his arm a little. "That was less than a month ago!"
"I know," Ash said, laughing. "We've managed to beat the first four gyms already."
"In less than a month?" Bonnie asked, looking up at Serena instead of Ash, expecting her to answer for her boyfriend.
Serena nodded, giggling a little when both Clemont and Bonnie's faces had shock written all over them.
"Has Serena been dragging you around?" Clemont asked, noticing the three bags that Ash was holding.
Ash nodded, sighing. "We've been here for about an hour and a half," he muttered, to which Clemont sighed.
"We have, too," he said. "I don't have to carry the bags, though."
"How come?" Ash asked, noticing that he indeed wasn't holding anything.
"Bonnie has so little money that my backpack has enough space to hold everything she buys," Clemont replied, laughing a little.
Bonnie looked over at Clemont and pouted, giving him a light kick on his leg. "I don't have a job as you do," she said. "I only have pocket money."
"I know," Clemont said, rubbing where Bonnie's foot made contact with his leg.
"What would you like?" The dinner lady asked Clemont, reaching over the counter before tapping him on his shoulder to gain his attention.
Clemont span around, grabbing Bonnie before pulling her next to him. "Spaghetti," Clemont said, turning to Bonnie. "What about you?"
"I want Lasagna!" Bonnie told her, gleefully, turning away and looking at Ash and Serena, smiling.
"Are you two Italian today, or something?" Ash asked them, making Serena and Bonnie giggle a little while Clemont paid no attention.
"Yep," Bonnie replied, grabbing Clemont's hand. "Come on!" She exclaimed. "Let's go and get a table!"
Clemont nodded, following Bonnie as the dinner lady gave the cooks Clemont and Bonnie's orders. A few moments later, she turned back to Ash and Serena. "What do you want?" She asked, substantially less polite than she was with Clemont and Bonnie.
"I-I'll have a roast dinner," Serena stuttered, taken aback by the dinner lady's sudden rudeness.
"I'll take the beef curry," Ash said, to which the dinner lady nodded and gave the cooks their orders, quickly shooing Ash and Serena off.
"Why was she so rude?" Serena whispered to Ash, glancing back at the dinner lady to see that she was acting mean to other people as well.
"I don't know," Ash whispered back, sighing before Clemont and Bonnie called them over to their table.
"Sit with us," Bonnie said, grabbing Serena's hand before pulling her into a seat.
"Okay," Serena said, giggling a little as she gave in to Bonnie's cuteness.
"I guess I have no other choice, now," Ash said, chuckling as he sat down next to Clemont.
"You don't want to sit with us?" Bonnie asked, pouting. "That's so mean!"
Ash laughed a little along with Clemont and Serena. "Of course I want to sit with you," Ash told her, reaching over the table to ruffle her hair a little. "It's just an expression."
"Yeah," Clemont said, unable to think of anything else to say despite wanting to say something.
"So," Serena started. "Have you two done anything since we last saw you?" She asked, to which Clemont shrugged.
"We haven't done much, really," he said, mumbling something else that was indistinguishable.
"I met a new friend!" Bonnie exclaimed, catching Ash and Serena's attention.
"Oh," Serena said. "What's their name?" She asked, giving Bonnie all of her attention.
"His name is Max," Bonnie said, lightly kicking her legs underneath the table.
"What does he look like?" Serena asked. "Is he cute?" She asked, nudging Bonnie a little while smirking, making Bonnie pout and blush.
"A-A little," she replied. "He has short, dark blue hair and big glasses," she said. "He's quite nerdy," she said.
Ash looked a little shocked, thinking that Bonnie was talking about one of his friends. Ash, however, brushed it off, rationalising that it couldn't be him. He lived in Hoenn, after all!
The following two hours were full of Ash and Serena catching up with Clemont and Bonnie. They spoke about everyday things, told stories, embarrassing or not. It was when eight-o-clock rolled around that they decided to part ways for the day.
"I'm tired," Bonnie said, hugging Clemont's arm, trying not to fall asleep.
"We should go home, I think," Clemont said, patting Bonnie on the head before he gave Ash and Serena a silent wave as they stood up.
"See you tomorrow," Ash said, waving back before Clemont and Bonnie walked away to pay for their food.
"We should go back to our hotel, too," Serena said, grabbing Ash's hand and pulling him off the chair.
"Okay," he said, also heading over to the counter to pay for their food, returning to Serena a minute later.
An hour later, Ash and Serena were laying in bed in their hotel. Serena had her head resting on Ash's chest, lightly nuzzling him every few seconds.
"Serena," Ash started, gaining her attention. "Please don't wake me up with Skitty ears again."
Serena giggled a little, looking up at him. "I won't," she said. "I just did it as a joke."
"I hope you did," Ash mumbled, chuckling a little.
The two of them felt the weight at the end of the bed shift a little as Sylveon moved, pulling Pikachu closer to her despite being asleep.
"Sylveon and Pikachu are cute," Serena said, looking over at Sylveon and Pikachu for a moment.
"They're not as cute as you are," Ash whispered into Serena's ear, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Stop it," Serena said, giggling a little before pulling him into a kiss.
"I won't stop if that's how I get rewarded," Ash whispered, making Serena blush.
"I-I think we should sleep," Serena said, feeling her entire face go red.
"Goodnight, Sweetie," Ash said, making Serena blush more.
"G-Goodnight, Handsome," she responded, making Ash smile.
There we go! Another chapter! I've been trying to include more Amourshipping moments in the story, as you may have been able to tell. I hope that's satisfying for you! Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!