Hey, people!

Here's the 31st chapter of The Double, Trouble! I hope you guys enjoy reading it! And I'm sure this chapter is gonna get you all excited! (Because I myself am too excited to see your reactions! Waaaah!)

I'm sure you guys are suprised to see this one! Especially, after 'DarkestLightOfHope' has updated! (I'll leave it upto you guys to guess whether it was planned or not! XD) LOL! I'm having way too much of fun like this!

Anyway, enjoy! XD

Chapter - 31

Birthday bash!

"Look, there they are!"

I heard someone shout as we made our way to our teammates. I waved wildly at them as I ran to them, Piplup held in my arms. Leaf came to my way and quickly hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. She squealed, "Dawn! Congrats!"

I yelled, happily, "Same to you!" I smiled at everyone and whispered in her ear, "I have something to tell you and May privately." She nodded.

I pulled away from her and embraced May next, and then the two boys. I saw them hug Ash, too. Gary slapped Ash's back. "Looks like you have accomplished your mission, too!"

I nodded. "Yeah! We totally had it!"

"Pip-lup!" my Pokémon agreed.

May squinted her eyes as she went to Ash and held his arm. She asked, concerned, "Ash, how did you get hurt?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Uh, you could say, that..."

Pikachu copied his trainer's actions, "Pika!"

I suggested, "Why not talk about this, later?"

They nodded as Drew replied, "Yup, sure."

We all made our way to a Pokémon center. Since Ash's house was in the eastern side and we were in the west, we had to stay there. Leaf came to me and whispered, "Hey, Dawn! Did you bring the stuff I asked you to?"

I nodded. "Yup! I even bought a present for him."

"Good," May said, and then continued, "C'mon, let's hurry and go to the banquet hall of this center. I have already booked it! We should prepare everything by twelve..."

Leaf looked around and whispered, "You don't know, right?" I nodded. "We are gonna celebrate at sharp twelve, which is the beginning of his birthday."

"What?! This quickly?" I asked, incredulously. "I mean, you should've told me earlier!"

"Pip!"

She shushed me. "Talk slowly! We're gonna leave tomorrow, so it's better if we celebrate it now!"

I nodded. "Then, let's hurry and go!"

We quickly ran to the banquet hall. I carried the bag which contained all the decorations. May had texted Ash and Drew that we were preparing for his birthday party, so they had to keep him busy.

The banquet hall was quite huge for just a six member party. But it was decorated with small balloons and banners. Nurse Joy has said that she would decorate it with the help of Pokémon, but we declined. What's the fun if you don't decorate your friends birthday party hall with your own hands!

I turned to May. "Hey, did you order the cake?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it might get here any moment, now."

I nodded as I quickly helped them remove the items from my bag. Piplup was a great help too; he helped us in carrying the things from one person to another.

I climbed up on a portable staircase. After standing up on a stool, Leaf handed me some blue and white balloons. I started hanging it up on the walls and roofs. Then, she gave me a hanging decoration which said "happy birthday." I quickly stuck it on the wall.

"Here." Leaf gave me some more colourful hanging items that she had made out of shining cray paper, and I hung them on different places. Also, my friends asked me to put lightning creepers on the balloons.

I climbed down the stairs. Just when I was about to go and bring the table to keep the cake, I heard my mobile ringing. I went there and took it out of my pocket without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" I said.

"Um, hey, Dawn!" My eyes widened at the voice coming from the other side of the call. "Where are you girls?"

I stuttered, "Uh… um.. hey, Gary! How are you doing!"

I saw Leaf and May quickly make their way to me. I kept it on speaker, so that they all could hear the conversation, too. "Is Leaf with you?"

"Uh..." I glanced at Leaf, who waved her hands in the air, aimlessly. "No! She isn't here!"

"Then, where is she?" he asked with concern in his voice.

I saw May waving her hands here and there, in different directions. I understood as I said, "She is taking a… bath! Yes, a bath!"

He asked, "Why was her phone switched off? I mean, I'm calling her. So… I was worried when she didn't pick up..."

I searched for an excuse, "Er… Her mobile's battery is down!"

"Oh, alright. Then, I will talk to you, later?"

I replied, almost too quickly, "Yeah, yeah! Bye!" I quickly disconnected the call before he could say anything. I sighed, "I can't believe that he is so overprotective of you, Leaf!"

Leaf said, "I had switched off my mobile, so that I wouldn't get too excited and spit out the surprise..."

"Alright, let's get to work!" I glanced at the watch. "It's almost eleven!"

May picked up some more decorations. "Yeah, we have just one hour left... let's hurry up!"

I opened the store room in the banquet hall and saw that there were tables for different types of occasion. I mean, it had the wishes written on it! I quickly found the birthday table and started pushing it out of the room. "Piplup!" I called out.

He ran and came to me. "Pip?"

"I need some help with this thing," I sighed. Then, he and I began to push it out, but it was of no use. Just then, I saw Drew enter the room. I cupped my mouth, "Hey, Drew!"

He came to me with his hands in his pocket. He raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Can you help us take this thing in?" I asked as I pointed at the table next to me.

He nodded as he came next to me. "Yeah, sure."

We pushed the table out of the store room and dragged it to the stage. "Drew, what are you doing here? I mean, shouldn't you be with those two?" I gave him a questioning glance.

He smiled. "Actually, I was here to deliver the cake. May asked me to collect it and bring it to her."

"Oh, it's a good thing that the cake arrived in time." I returned the smile as I began sticking the ribbons on the wall.

"So, did you make any progress with Ash?"

I choked as I turned around to see that he was wiggling his eyebrows, suggestively. My cheeks turned crimson red as I replied, "Wh-what progress? Ash and I fought right in the morning today."

"Mm, did you realise your feelings for him? That was the progress I was asking for." He whistled.

No use in hiding them, anymore. I blushed more as I whispered into his ear. "Y-yeah. I have realised my feelings for him. I mean, I think I know."

He chuckled. "Best of luck with it, then!" He walked away with a two finger wave. I couldn't help but feel a little proud over my realisation.

Actually, I wanted to tell all of them about my feelings for Ash but not together. Because… I don't like it when they question me with four pairs of eyes staring at me. I didn't have the courage to do that, so I thought it's better for me to tell them separately.

"Dawn, would you stop slacking!"

My thoughts were interrupted by May's voice. "Oh, okay! Sorry!" I yelled.

I went back to work as Leaf climbed on the stage with the box of cake in her arms. She kept the box on the table and then opened it. She removed the box and let it stay on the silver tray.

I saw it was a strawberry cheesecake with a lot of strawberries and cream on it. It was decorated with some choco sticks and sprinkles. It had 'Happy Birthday to Gary' carved on the cake in a cursive handwriting.

I jokingly pouted. "Hey! Why don't we have a chocolate cake with us?"

"Dawn, I think that this flavour is the birthday boy's favourite." May shook her head at me while smiling.

Leaf wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Besides, you'll get a chocolate cake on your next birthday." She then asked me, incredulous, "Don't you ever get bored of that flavour?"

I shook my head. "Nope. It's my life! How can I get bored of that!"

May laughed. "Leaf, this is Dawn we're talking about!" They both high-fived while laughing, and it didn't take me long to join them in.

"It's all done, right?" I asked.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, it's all done. I'll text Drew to bring him here, by eleven fifty-five." We nodded as she typed a message and sent it to her boyfriend.

We looked around to see if there were any mistakes. I muttered. "It's awesome!" It was looking really fabulous!

Leaf nodded. "I know, right."

The walls and roof were covered in a number of blue and white balloons, with more lying on the ground. The dark blue carpet made it even more attractive. There were colourful hangings on the wall, and many lights were shining. On the stage, there was a brown coloured desk with 'Happy Birthday' written on it in a different font with white colour. We also had the party poopers ready on the corner.

Just then, May shouted, "Guys! Drew sent me a message that he is on his way with Gary!" She switched off the lights. We went and hid wherever we could. I took Piplup in my arms and hid with him.

I heard the door creak open and the sound of footsteps. Then I heard Gary ask, "Dude, why the heck did you bring me to this hall? I mean, we're not allowed here, are we?"

Ash said, blankly, "Stop asking questions and do what we ask."

"Geez, Ash! You don't have to be this intimidating all the time!" I heard Gary say. I stifled my laughter. Seriously! Ash should stop scaring Gary like that!

When we saw that the time was exactly 12'o clock, we switched on the lights and yelled, "Happy birthday, Gary!" We took the poppers and popped them at him.

"Pip-lup !"

"Pika-pi!"

I saw that only we three girls said it. For some reason, Ash and Drew didn't shout like us… which means we had acted a bit too excited.

"What the hell?!" was Gary's reaction.

Leaf went and wrapped her arms around him as she whispered something in his ear. I'm sure she might be wishing him. I saw Gary blush in embarrassment and tighten his hood around her. Looks like it was a couple's talk~

After Leaf released him from the hug, Drew slung a hand over his shoulder and started ruffling his hair. "Happy twenty-second birthday, pal!"

He shouted, "Hey! My hair!"

Then, Ash smiled as he wished, "Happy birthday, jerk."

"Was the jerk part necessary?" the brunette asked with an eyebrow raised. I saw the brown-eyed chuckle as they both did a fist bump.

May yelled, "Let's cut the cake, first!"

"Oh, yeah!" Gary pumped up his fist as he jumped onto the stage. We all went behind him and climbed up on it.

We all sung the birthday song, except Ash and Gary. Actually, to be honest… it would seem a little weird if Ash sung this song... because it totally wouldn't suit his personality!

After the song was over, we all clapped and Gary cut the cake. He gave the first bite to Leaf and I snickered, "Looks like your best friend is not going to get the first pieces anymore, because when in love, friends are not cared about."

He had said something similar to that to me a few days ago, when I listened to Ash instead of them… so, this is called revenge, baby!

We all laughed as the couple, who were exchanging the first bite, blushed. Gary took another piece of cake and turned to me. He stuffed the pie in my mouth as he smirked. "This is called revenge, sweetie!" He winked at me and turned around.

Damn, did he read my mind?

I saw him feed it to May, then Drew. Gary sighed. "Ash, are you gonna eat it this time or not?"

He shook his head. "Sorry but can't."

I frowned as I told, "It's just a small piece and you're not eating it? Why?"

"I don't like it," he replied plainly.

I turned to Gary and said, "Gary, force him."

He nodded and stuffed that small piece of cake into his mouth and he glared at me and Gary. We both sheepishly replied, "Sorry..."

But… we weren't regretting our decision. Definitely not.

After the cake distribution, it was time to give presents. Leaf went to him first and handed him a rectangular medium sized box with a yellow gift wrapper. "Here."

He took it as he asked, "Can I open it?"

She nodded. He took no time to waste as he tore that wrapper and found that it was a… red and black checkered shirt? "This is what I want you to wear on our first date after the mission," she said, shyly.

"Oh, cheesy much!" I snickered.

He smiled as he embraced her, ignoring me, "Aw, so glad that you thought about that. I mean, I didn't think about it, before but… you had, huh?"

"Shut up!" She lightly punched him on his chest as she pulled away.

Next was May, who gave him a small rectangular box with a blue gift wrapper on it. He tore it, quickly and opened the box. It was a pair of red reflecting sunglasses. "How did you like them?" she asked expectantly.

He hugged her excitedly, "I love them! Thanks a lot!"

She smiled, "I'm glad that you loved it."

He then turned to me, expecting me to hand him his present. I smiled evilly as I took out a small box with a red wrapper. He took it from me and unwrapped the gift, finding a digital photo frame.

He looked at me with a bored expression. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

I smirked. "You're supposed to keep a photo of your future family with Leaf."

Leaf blushed as she yelped, "Dawn!"

"What? Don't you want to have a family with him?" I was finding it so hard to stifle my laugh.

"Yes… no, I mean I do but I don't… yes… no… Urgh!" She wore a confused expression with a blush on her cheeks. She crossed her arms.

I looked at Gary and smirked as I whispered, "She wants to be with you, forever… and no need to say thanks. Chocolate will be enough."

He caught my arm as he whispered back, "Why? Today is my birthday, so this should be my gift." He glared at me as I shut my mouth.

Drew handed him a circular shaped box with a green wrapper. He took it out and saw that it was a leather belt. "Loved it?"

"Not really," he joked.

Ash threw a circular ball with black wrapper and the birthday boy caught it. He removed the wrapper and saw that it was a blue Pokéball. He asked, "Which kind of Pokéball is this?"

He shrugged. "It's the newest technology of Pokéball, which allows your Pokémon to be healed immediately after being put back inside it."

"Thanks, bud!" Gary winked and he just shook his head.

After the gift opening ceremony was over, we all sat down on the empty chair and started to talk about our own missions.

"We had to do a background check for Miette, who used to work in a bar as a waitress. We got to know a lot about her. She was an orphan who loved serving people, but was fed up with her boring life. She was good at fighting and stuff, but never had the chance to show it off. Then, some men came and offered her a job in the base Team Cosmic. She had no reason to deny it, so she accepted," Drew informed us.

Leaf said, "We did the background check for Trip. We heard that he was actually from Kalos region. He came to Sinnoh to become a Pokémon master but when some people cheated and prevented him from winning, he was enraged. Then, some people, who we suppose are the same men who offered Miette a job, found him. He wants to take revenge on this cruel world, that's the reason he's working for that team."

Ash and I told them our whole story. They all looked at us with looks of "seriously?" written on their faces.

"What the hell? You mean, Ash took the attack of a prismatic laser and survived?!" Leaf's jaw dropped.

Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. But, it's okay."

"You sure are lucky enough to survive that attack. It's very harmful for a human to bear that attack," Gary said as he slapped a hand over his forehead. "Why did Jerry even send you both together!"

May nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Reckless plus reckless is equal to complete danger."

I yawned. "Ah, we better sleep… it's already one-thirty!"

Everyone nodded as we left the room and walked away. I signalled Gary to meet me in the front of the Pokémon center, and he nodded. I sneaked out of the group and went out the center. I left Piplup to go with Leaf and May to our room because I said that I had some work.

Ash insisted that he would come with me, but I declined and told him to go back. He was sleepy, anyway. I could see it in his eyes.

After a few minutes, I saw Gary walk up to me with his hands in his pocket. He raised an eyebrow. "What's up, dude?"

I fidgeted, "Uh… I have to talk to you about something."

He came and sat down on a bench. He said, "Fire away."

I took a deep breath, "Listen, I'm telling you because you confided to me about your feelings, so I'm gonna tell you my secret."

"What kind of secret?"

"Um… do you promise me that you won't tell anyone about this?" I warned him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I won't. So, will you tell me, already? And not raise my suspense?"

"Oh...Kay! But, let's go for the pinky promise!" I said, so that I'd be sure that he won't tell my secret to anyone.

He smiled, irritated. "What are we? Elementary kids?" He stood up. "Listen, Dawn. Say it what you want to, quick or else I'm leaving."

He was about to walk, but I quickly caught his arm. "Wait, wait! I'm telling you! Why are you acting so grumpy!"

He sat down with a sigh as he said, "Continue."

I faced the other way as I admitted, "Uh… I wanted you to be the first one to know about it, but since Drew asked me before you, I had to tell him. So, during this trip… when Ash saved me from that attack, I felt something for him. Then, I met a girl named Lyra, and she helped me realise that I..." I blushed. "I may have fallen for him!" I breathed, "That took a lot of courage!"

"Woah! You realised it now?!" I nodded as I turned around to face him. "I thought you knew about it, before! Damn, how could I be so stupid to think that you'd realised it! Seriously, Dawn? You're so stupid!" he exclaimed.

"Hey! This is not the reaction you should give me! I was expecting some wise words from you! You know, I told you this with such great difficulty and you're making fun of me?!" I stomped my foot as I turned away. "Humph, I should've told Leaf and May instead of you! They would at least be considerate!"

He chuckled. "Then why did you tell me? Did I ever ask you? No, right?"

My jaw dropped. "How rude! I told you just because you'd told me your feelings for Leaf before, so I thought if I told you then, you'd be more willing to listen and advise me! But you're a jerk as always!"

He came from behind and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Woah! Is the little Dawnie angry?"

I just turned away my face and tried to jerk his arm from my shoulder. He laughed. "Seriously? You thought I'd be like that?" I glared at him. "Stop, stop! I was just kidding! You don't have to get so serious about it!"

"You know what? I'm gonna go back to my room. I wish I had done the same thing to you when you admitted your feelings for Leaf to me!" I narrowed my eyes at him.

He said, defensively, "Alright, it's fine. Now, no more joking. I'll be serious." He took a deep breath as he straightened his position. "Hm, I'm glad for you, Dawn."

I smiled. "Thanks."

He grinned. "Are you sure that you like him?"

"101 percent," I confirmed.

I saw a glint of sadness in his eyes, and then it returned to his usual self. He sighed, "You know, it'll be a lot harder for you to confess to him than you think."

"I guess, but it's fine. No need to worry!" I grinned.

He smiled at me, softly. I was so happy that I embraced him, and I knew he was shocked by this sudden touch. Then, he relaxed and hugged me back. I muttered, "Gary, you're the best best friend ever!"

"Are you sure that you're not flattering me?" He laughed.

I replied, with joy, "Yup!"

I wonder what would I be if I didn't have friends like these...

The next morning, we had already left the Pokémon center. Actually, Sunyshore City was quite advanced. The streets were kinda made like escalators, which made it very easy for people to reach different places. I thought that this facility should be available in every city, because it makes it easier for old people and ones who have some injuries.

I was dressed in my usual uniform again. I had my mom send it to me by the delivery at the Pokémon center. I held Piplup in my arms.

Leaf sighed, "This city is so cool!" She was dressed in a light yellow corset and light brown pants with her boots. Her hair was let loose with her usual cream hat with a red ribbon.

I couldn't help but nod at her. "Yeah!"

Gary walked to us with his arms wrapped behind his head. He was wearing a simple black full-sleeved, scooped neckline T-shirt with grey pants and normal white shoes. He had his hands in his pockets. "Hey, you both found some piece of paper torn away from a book, right?"

Ash nodded. "Yes. We had delivered it to Jerry already. He said he'd inform us about it when we're all together. I guess he might call us today or tomorrow." He had donned a crew necked white Tee with a black and grey checkered shirt, which he left unbuttoned, and light grey pants with black sneakers.

"Mm, alright," Gary said.

I glanced at May, who was dressed in a neon yellow off-shoulder with thick strapped innerwear, and blue pants with her same boots. She had wrapped a white bandana on her head.

Drew was wearing an orange v-neck plain T-shirt with full sleeves, and cream pants, with his usual black sneakers. He flipped his hair as he asked, "Where is your house, Ash?"

Ash said, "It's just the other way."

We walked and reached a big mansion, which was so huge! My jaw dropped when he motioned, "This is my summer mansion. Let's go in."

"Pika-pi!"

We all followed him in the entrance gate. I glanced around and saw that the yard was quite green and had a fountain some steps away from the main door of the mansion. Also, there was a path that led inside house.

I couldn't help but mutter in awe, "This is Ash's summer house?"

Drew nodded. "Yup. We three are quite rich, so we have mansions like these a lot in different cities."

Lead gulped. "You three are high-class men?"

"Yeah, why? Did my respect increase in your eyes?" Gary smirked.

She smiled teasingly. "Nope. If I knew, then I'd never fall in love with you."

"What?"

"Got scared, sweetie?" Gary blushed as he looked away.

I mumbled, "I never knew that Ash would be this rich! I mean, he does act like one with pride but… this? I totally didn't expect it!"

"Pip!" Piplup whispered.

Ash was walking ahead of us and talking to someone whom I assumed was one of his butlers. Then, he walked up to us and called us to follow him.

"Ash!"

Just then, a girl of my age with waist-length honey blonde hair ran in our direction. She had light blue eyes and a medium skin tone. She was wearing a white sundress with black stripes on it, and her feet were adorned with wedges.

We glanced at her, confused, but for some reason, it looked like Gary and Drew already knew her.

"I'm so happy to see you, Ash!"

That blonde girl ran to Ash and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his body. I was surprised when he smiled at her and circled his arms around her waist. "Nice to see you too, Serena."

"Pika!"

My face held a surprised expression when I saw them embrace. Who was she? Maybe she was his sister? But… nothing seemed similar between them, though.

Then, the girl released him and they both turned to face us. May cleared her throat. "Introductions, please."

Ash nodded as he turned to the girl next to him. "You know them, right?" She nodded as she smiled. "Guys, this is Serena… my fiancée."

My jaw dropped to the bottom of the ground as the colour faded away from my body.

A-Ash has... a f-fiancée?!

Ta-daaah! How you like that, da da da?!

Did this twist, twist your mind?! Oh, gosh, I'm so excited for your reviews! I'm sure you're all gonna be as surprised as much as I can imagine! You all really didn't expect this, did yaaaaa?! Aaah, I'm excited! Lol.

And yeah, Dawn confided her feelings to Gary! And how did you like his birthday celebrations? I hope it satisfied you guys.

Please, let me know your thoughts! I bet you guys are going to be frustrated! XD

Anyway, read, review, favourite and follow!