@Thor94
I have plans now in place for Ash to catch a legendary, the problem is that Ash has shown to be better than many legendaries, and I don't want to give him something too big like Groudon, or too powerful like Victini.
Ash was fast asleep, the blankets thrown about, Pikachu next to him in a similar position.
"Ash! Wake up! The boats already docked!" Chloe whined, banging on his door.
Ash rolled over, not a change in the slightest.
"Let me try." Serena said. "Oh Ash, don't make me come in there." Serena half threatened.
Once again no changes.
"You two are trying to appeal to Ash's higher functions, watch and learn." Goh said. "Ash! Leon is giving away his title to the first person who can bring him a Pikachu!"
"Wahhh!" Ash screamed, running straight into the closed door.
"And that's how you wake up Ash." Goh said.
20 minutes later, Ash and Pikachu walked out of their room. Ash was wearing a black overall style skirt that ended just before his knees, with a white tee shirt underneath, along with some tennis shoes.
"Morning sleeping beauty." Serena said, wrapping her arms around Ash.
"Not funny Goh." Ash complained.
"We've been docked for a bit now, everyone else has already left." Chloe said. "Hey, since there's no ruins, or caves. Let's just split into teams of two again, and explore the village." Chloe offered. "I'll go with Goh, and Serena, you can go with Ash."
As Chloe dragged a protesting Goh off, Serena silently worded 'thank you' to her.
"Come on, let's see what this island has to offer." Serena said, grabbing Ash's hand.
On the island, at a bazar
"So how long does it take to make one of these?" Serena asked.
"A dress like this will take me around three days of work to complete. However this is a very elaborate dress." The woman said, before returning to her work.
"Don't mind her, she just prefers to be focused." A man said approaching. "My name is Manto, I'm the owner."
"Hi there." Serena said, shaking the man's hand. "We're here to try and bring tourism up a bit."
"You and her?" Manto said pointing at Ash, who was currently struggling with Pikachu to let go of his bag.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Serena sighed. "Will you two knock it off!"
"He started it." Ash accused Pikachu.
"Pi Pikachu Pika!" Pikachu said pointing back at Ash.
"A feisty one, I'd keep her close if I were you." Manto said. "However, I might have something she might like."
"I feel like this is going to fall off at any moment." Ash complained, adjusting the dress again.
It was a red and white floral wrap dress that hung off one of Ash's shoulders, and stopped just below his knees.
"Then it's not tight enough." Serena said, messing with the side knot. "Now hold still or it will still be loose."
"You're enjoying this too much." Ash said, "And can I have my shoes back?"
"Maybe, and not unless you need them, every path has been sand or grass, you'll be fine." Serena said, packing away Ash's other clothes.
At lunch
"So, I see you two had fun." Chloe commented on Ash's new wardrobe.
Since the dress, Serena had found a necklace, several bracelets, and an anklet for Ash to have as well.
"We're experiencing the culture, and different arts they have to offer." Serena defended.
"You've been quiet Ash." Goh said.
Ash had been staring off into the woods, he couldn't make it out, but he was sure he saw something.
"They're back!" A woman screeched.
The group turned to see a horde of Manley and Primeape ransacking the restaurant.
"Not gonna happen. Pikachu, Swellow, let's do this!"
"Drizzile! Ekans! Let's go!"
"Eevee! Boltund! You're up!"
"Pancham! Grookey! Let's help out!"
"Pikachu use Quick Attack! Swellow use Steel Wing!"
"Drizzile use Water Pulse! Ekans use Bite!"
"Eevee use Copycat! Boltund use Spark!"
"Pancham use Circle Throw! Grookey use Branch Poke!"
The eight Pokémon charged at the horde of wild Pokémon, attacks flying everywhere. Serena saw a Primeape headed straight for Ash.
"Ash look out!" Serena shouted, pushing Ash out of the way, only to see Pikachu had stopped the wild Pokémon first. "Sorry, I guess that wasn't needed." Serena apologized, seeing Ash's annoyance on his face.
"We need to push them back into the forest. Goh use Cinderace and Lopunny to push them into a group. Chloe use Araquanid, and Serena you use Sylveon to keep them from leaving this side, Pikachu and I will keep them from the other direction." Ash said, taking charge.
Ash's plan worked, causing minimal further damage to the restaurant, as the Pokemon climber back into the forest.
"Great plan Ash!" Goh said, watching Ash leave. "Ash, we won, what's wrong?"
"Maybe you should go talk to him." Chloe said to Serena.
"I have a feeling, I might have caused this in my fun." Serena said.
"I'll talk to him then." Goh said, running off.
"Do you think that's going to work out?" Serena asked.
"Those two have been through worse, they'll either battle it out, or brawl it out." Chloe said.
Goh had followed Ash to the boat, when he entered his room, Goh gave Ash some time before knocking on the door.
"Ash, it's Goh. Can we talk?" Goh asked through the door.
"Yeah, you could've said something earlier." Ash said.
"You could've too." Goh said walking in. Ash had changed into a pair of cargo shorts, and a tee shirt. "Want to talk about what's wrong?"
"What do you think?" Ash pointed out.
"I think Serena should be here instead of me, but I also think that might do more harm than good." Goh said with a smirk. "You need to set rules, or limits. I have to for therapy, it's part of what keeps me from going crazy again." Goh said.
"How do I tell her not to be my girlfriend without breaking up with her?" Ash said.
"I, don't know." Goh said, defeated. "You have an odd situation here, and it might be a thing you two have to figure out without me and Chloe."
"Yeah, I think we have things to figure out before we keep working together." Ash said.
"Look, how about we check where the Mankey and Primeape went, just me and you, that'll give you time to think about it." Goh offered.
"Good idea." Ash said.
Later that night
Serena carefully approached Ash, he had been distant since lunch, and she had a few good guesses as to why.
"So, I think I owe you an apology." Serena said.
"You owe me a few, you went too far today." Ash pointed out.
"I'm sorry that I dressed you up all day." Serena said.
"It isn't that you treated me like your personal doll. You didn't trust me in battle." Ash said.
"I was just watching out for you back there, is that so wrong." Serena said.
"I'm the supposed to be the battler of the group. You have to trust I know what I'm doing in them." Ash said.
"Is this going to work. I mean, this is my first REAL mission, and I'm being way too overprotective of you." Serena said.
"Look, you just have to lay off of it during missions, and we can make us work." Ash said. "That means no more treating me only like a doll, and understanding if I run into trouble, I'll let you know if I get in over my head."
"Okay, It's a deal." Serena said. "Can I still treat you like a precious doll when we aren't on the job?"
"From time to time, I guess it would be okay." Ash relented.
Authors Note
Tajiri island, named after Satosho Tajiri, the designer behind Pokémon Red and Blue.