Narrator / October 13th / 5pm
It wasn't raining like it never had before, but Ash didn't care, because he was too busy distracting himself in training with his water-type Pokemon. If his emotions hadn't been in tact before, then they definitely weren't now.
"I guess I really did screw up, sorry guys" Ash apologized to his Pokemon
"Froak" Froakie assured that it was fine, and both Totodile and Oshawatt agreed with him
Ash sat down in the rain with his normal clothes on, no raincoat or umbrella either. It was raining heavy enough that his clothes felt heavy, and that he was sure he was going to get sick. He looked up to the sky, and thought I should have just told her, now I missed my chance.
From behind him, the old, creepy bells began to play, and Ash didn't bother turning around, instead waiting for Y to speak. "You're going to catch a cold like this, and then you won't have any time to train"
"I figured that it would be easier to train my water-types in the rain" Ash replied
"I would make an analogy to explain how idiotic that is," Y said, "but I think you already understand"
"Yeah"
"Are you aware that this rain was caused by you?" Y put his hand out and let the raindrops hit it and slide off - if you asked him, it was a nice feeling, especially against his metal glove
"By me?" Ash questioned
"It's a response to your emotional state" Y said. "If it wasn't caused by you, I would be concerned, considering how heavy it's raining. Whatever is bothering you must be really important"
"I didn't listen to you" Ash sat back, laying flat against ground and facing the sky, letting the rain drip off of him. "I was too scared to tell Serena how I felt, and Calem beat me to it. Now it's too late, and I don't think I'll ever get the chance to tell her"
There was a momentary pause of silence that scared Ash to a degree. "You mean to tell me... Serena is with Calem?"
"I'm sorry" Ash said. "It's my fault, and now the Bonds of Amour or whatever are at risk"
"Humans make mistakes, especially when there's fear. It's only natural, and I can't say I blame you" Y said. "If I have to protect the bonds the hard way, then so be it. Though I do wish you didn't care for Serena so much - at least romantically - because then you wouldn't be moping around, and you could actually get some training in"
"Is there anything I can do?" Ash asked
"Not right now" Y turned to walk away. "But I'll tell you one thing. While it has a simple name, Hydraulic Punch is an extremely advanced move"
.
"It's raining so heavily" Calem observed from the café window
"I wonder if we should be concerned" Serena said
"Maybe; we shouldn't be getting rain like this out of the blue, no pun intended" Calem said
Serena giggled. "I don't think it's anything to worry about"
The rain finally died down fifteen minutes later, around the time that both of them were expected to be home at. They parted ways with a simple hug, and walked in opposite directions away from the café that they had gone to.
Calem had a smile plastered on his face as he walked home, passing through a small forest towards his large house - basically a mansion; his father was deeply invested into business and made a lot of money. His smile was stuck on him the whole walk through, until he heard the sound that he feared most. The old, creepy bells that echoed through the entire vicinity, vibrating the walls of his brain and haunting his thoughts.
His smile quickly faded, and he froze in place, his heartbeat speeding up as he scanned his peripheral for anything. The sound kept coming closer and closer, until he heard the footsteps from behind stop just a couple of feet away.
"I thought we had a deal"
"And I thought you knew I couldn't go through with it" Calem replied
"Your love for Serena is going to cause big problems" Y said. "But alas, this isn't the endgame; this is just a phase that will blow over with time"
"And who are you to judge?" Calem asked
"I've calculated the future; I've studied the past. Know this Calem: if I wanted to have my way, I could have it in an instant" Y replied
Though he wanted to, Calem was unable to run, instead frozen in fear. His heart rate was so fast, Y could practically hear it out attempting to beat out of his chest from where he stood.
"Why should fate get to choose who I love?" He said quietly, almost a whisper to himself
"It's not fate" Y removed a staff off his back. "Serena may be the girl for you... but you're not the boy for her"
.
Serena was almost home when she heard a twig snap, followed by a branch split from a tree and fall from the ground. There was a light thud as two feet touched the ground, and she turned to her right to see the black-robed X and his Corvinight, who was perched on his shoulder like usual.
"I'm impressed" He said. "You really did it; you saved the future"
"You're still on about that?" Serena scowled. "I thought you were just trying to trick me; I didn't get with Calem because of you"
"Regardless, you still served your purpose" X lowered down his hood, and this time, his face felt different to look at because of the circumstances. "As a little reward for your success, I'll tell you what happened to your father"
"My... dad?"
"I knew that the conditions for my plan to succeed were perfect" X began. "The fairy-type master had a daughter who met all of the conditions, that if he were to fall, that she would become the next in line. After doing some research, I discovered how close you were with the steel-type master, Calem Xavier. If something were to happen to your father, you would become the next fairy-type master. From there, all I needed to do was make you and Calem fall in love.
The Bonds of Amour will finally be mine for the taking, given time. I hope that in the near future you become a strong trainer just like your father. He really put up a good fight when I ended him; I had to use one of my most powerful attacks to finish it"
Everything that he had said hit her at once, and tears began to fall from her eyes. She looked away, not wanting to associate that face - minus the scar - with what was causing her to feel this way. As much as she tried, she was unable to stop herself from crying.
"When the time comes for me to cultivate a new world - my world - I think I may let you live" X continued. "There would be no fun in letting you die after everything you've done for me"
"You're... not the Calem that I know"
"I have his face don't I?"
"But you're not him"
"I'm what he could become" X's right eye, where he had his scar, turned pure-black, the iris glowing bright red. "He almost did a couple of times, but it was you who prevented that"
"What are you?" Serena asked, her voice barely coming out
"An alternate timeline version of Calem who was sent here by mistake when I was little" X explained. "I was trained by the previous water-type master alongside Y, until I struck a deal with a primordial entity that transformed me into this"
"You don't have to be like this" Serena said
"He doesn't let go"
"Who's he?"
"...Abbadon"
Ash / 8pm
"I'm not going to get anywhere like this" I sighed, sitting down on a rock - the same rock Serena had sat on with Calem yesterday - and returned Froakie.
"Pika" Pikachu pointed out
"I know" Ash said
The minutes passed by like years, and occasionally I would come up with an idea to train Froakie, but I was too demotivated to actually try any of them out. I was about to hop off the rock and go home, when I heard the voice I didn't want to hear call out to me.
"Ash?" Serena asked
I turned, and I spotted her walking over with a concerned look on her face. Were non-single girls allowed to have that look on when talking to other boys? I wondered.
"Oh, hey Serena" I responded, faking a smile, which must of look really genuine because she smiled back
"What are you doing out here so late?" She inquired
"I guess I could ask the same question, couldn't it?"
"Well, you got me there" Serena hopped up onto the rock next to me, and we sat in silence until she spoke again. "Do you really think I can become the next fairy-type master? If a really good trainer like you is having trouble, I'm doubting if I can do it"
"Are your emotions... intact?" I asked
She gave me a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Y said that if I wanted to start learning to become the next water-type master, that I had to have emotions in check" I explained
"And they aren't?"
"Not really"
"Oh" She said. "I don't think mine are either..."
"Something wrong?" I finally turned and looked her in the eyes, which was harder than I thought it was going to be
"To be honest, I'm not really sure" She admitted. "Things are good, but I feel like they could be better. Maybe a lot better"
"Yeah, I can understand that" I said
We once again sat in silence, and I wondered what it would be like if we could do this everyday. There was no denying the fact that I was jealous of Calem, but if Serena was happy with him, then there wasn't anything I could do, and there wasn't anything I was going to do.
"When's your next gym battle? It's been a whole month" Serena asked
"It's already Sunday, so I'll probably go for it next week" I answered
"The next go-to place would be Cyllage City. It's not too far from Santalune City" Serena informed. "Just tell me when you want to go, and I'll be happy to take you there"
"Thanks" I said, though I wasn't planning on taking her - not like this. "We should probably start going back now, before it's too late to see anything"
Serena nodded, and we hopped off the rock, heading back to our houses. Once we reached the midpoint between them, we gave each other a small goodbye-wave. I entered the house, Pikachu on my shoulder, and immediately sat down on my bed, turning on the TV for something to distract me.
I didn't pay too much attention to the battle being played on TV, until I heard the name Steven Stone. I looked up, and noticed it was a rebroadcast of Y VS Steven Stone. Serena had told me that Y had beaten Steven in record time, and considering the battle was just beginning, I was about to see what she really meant by that.
"Metagross, use Meteor Mash!" Steven commanded - he had Mega Evolved his Shiny Metagross off the start
"Charizard, use Dragon Fist" Y countered
The two Pokemon charged at each other, but Charizard managed to overpower Metagross, sending him slamming against the ground. Before Metagross could recover, Charizard fired a Flamethrower composed of white flames that exploded upon impact, covering the field in smoke. Charizard's silhouette moved downwards, and it looked like it was attacking Metagross.
When the smoke cleared, Metagross had already fainted, and the ref, who was in shock, declared that Y was the victor. The crowd went wild, and the camera zoomed in, panning around. It was when they did that, that I noticed Serena, Calem, and Shauna sitting in the stands, having watched the battle. Even stranger, a couple of levels higher than them, I spotted X watching the battle as well.
I feel asleep thinking about how different things might have turned out if I had just told Serena my feelings towards her - just how much I cared about her. On one hand, maybe she had feelings for me as well, and she might have been with me instead of Calem. On the other, I might have just embarrassed myself. I thought about what Y had said, and going over it, he seemed confident that if I had gone for it, I would have had a shot.
Needless to say, I had difficulty sleeping that night.
