I was in a mood to entertain some old crack ships and I decided to play around with this cute pairing.

It's a fairly simple idea but it was fun to work on.

Characters are aged up to about 15-16 except for Bonnie. I'd like to imagine that travelling an entire new region takes about a year and Kalos islike the 5th region we've seen(?)

Anyways enjoy and let's not tear each other apart with shipping wars. It's just fun and games, it ain't that deep

Sleeping outdoors was not what Serena imagined it to be. Not one bit.

When she decided to join Ash on his journey she knew that the transition from her comfy home life to a nomadic life wouldn't be easy. There wouldn't be a fridge full of her favourite treats, there wouldn't be a warm blanket to hide under during cold rainy days, and there certainly won't be time to kick back and watch the latest fashion shows on TV.

While she was prepared for a rough few days in her new adventure, she certainly didn't expect the first hurdle to hit so soon. Between the soft snores of Ash and Bonnie and the sounds of wild Pokémon running about, Serena couldn't find any peace in the dead of night.

She felt trapped in her small sleeping bed, with barely any space to spread her arms and legs like she usually did at home. Sometimes she felt herself burning up inside her warm little cocoon, but if she dared to poke an arm out the cold evening breeze would send a chill down her spine. She was miserable.

After what felt like hours of rolling back and forth on the ground she decided sleep was going to have to wait for tomorrow.

The only good that came out of her predicament was the starry sky twinkling above her. It wasn't something she got to see very often back at home where the streetlights drowned out their brilliance. She was content on spending the rest of the night stargazing until she caught the faint smell of roses.

At first she thought her fatigue was making her hallucinate, there were no flowers present anywhere near their campsite, but after a couple minutes she was certain it was real.

Serena gingerly sat herself up and winced at the white light invading her vision. She rubbed the sleep out of her heavy eyes and noted a dim light at the very edge of their camp site. It wasn't bright enough to disturb anyone from their sleep, but it acted almost as a beacon in the midst of darkness. Hunched over by the light source was Clemont, tinkering with something shiny.

'Is he actually working at a time like this?' She thought.

Curious, she tiptoed away from the rest of the sleeping crew and approached him, the scent of roses only seemed to strengthen as she drew closer.

She held back a groan when she could make out the incomplete structure of another one of his crazy machines. An electric lamp was set up at his makeshift workstation, she presumed the lamp was created by him. A steaming cup of tea sat beside the light source—for his sake she hoped the lamp wouldn't blow up while his scalding drink was still there.

'Couldn't he save his inventions for another day—preferably when everyone wasn't asleep?' She couldn't help but think.

Instead of voicing her grievances, she lightly tapped his shoulder. He visibly jumped at the touch, the screwdriver in his hand sent flying into the metal chunk. Serena bit her lip as an audible clang rang through the night.

She glanced back at the rest of the group. Ash simply groaned in his sleep while Bonnie remained motionless in her sleeping bag.

"S-Serena, you scared me."

She turned her attention back to Clemont. His gaze was directed at the grass as a deep red blush tinted his cheeks.

"It's my fault for sneaking up on you." She smiled apologetically and circled around to sit across from him.

"What are you doing up so late?" He asked, carefully picking up the screwdriver from the grass.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Oh."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, with only the tinkering of bolts to fill the void. She pretended to take special interest in the night sky while he continued working with a noticeable tension in his every move.

She wasn't sure why she bothered to come over here in the first place. Unlike Ash and Bonnie, Serena found it hard to maintain a conversation with Clemont when they were alone. She didn't have the knowledge to keep up with his scientific ramblings and he didn't seem too interested in fashion and the visual arts. Sometimes she wondered if he looked down at her for not being smart like him or strong like Ash.

Just as she was ready to escape the tense silence and crawl back to her clammy sleeping bag, a cool breeze tickled her back, prompting her to shiver.

"Umm...would you like some tea?"

Now it was her turn to jump. She didn't expect him to speak up and offer his cup to her.

"It's just Roserade Tea." He elaborated shyly, not quite meeting her eyes. "There's no proven benefits to drinking it, but it helps me relax when I'm working. Maybe it'll help with your insomnia as well."

'Ah that explains the smell.' She noted internally.

She'd heard of it before. It's a popular drink from Alola known for its extremely strong scent, hence its name.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." She took the cup and wrapped her hands around it. The tea's warmth rippled through her hands and up her arms, it was like a warm blanket shielding her from the night's chill.

She took a small sip of the beverage. The first thing she noticed was the bitterness that filled her mouth, but it soon faded with the aftertaste of fresh roses.

"I never took you for a tea person." She told him honestly. "You seem more like a coffee type of guy."

"Coffee's fine but I wouldn't want to get addicted to it. With the late nights I pull it wouldn't be that difficult." He responded without taking his eyes off his work.

Serena was glad he didn't include a lengthy scientific explanation behind his decision. It was always so easy to blank out when he went into details about theories and concepts she'd never even heard of.

"Still, I'm surprised you like Roserade Tea of all things. I heard it can be a hit or miss."

"It's all thanks to Bonnie." He explained with a fond smile. "She saw this particular tea in a commercial and insisted we buy it. Turns out she didn't really like it in the end but I actually quite enjoy it."

"I can't blame her. It's pretty strong even when it's super diluted."

He spared a glance at her," you've tried it before?"

"I've seen it mentioned in several magazines, but I never had the chance to try it until today."

"Oh. How do you like it?"

She took another sip, this time taking a bigger gulp now that she knew what to expect. "I'm not a huge fan of how bitter it is, but I really love that flowery aftertaste."

"Ah. Sorry about that. I don't usually like having my tea with sugar."

"It's fine. Nothing I can't get used to." As if to prove her point she took another big sip.

Another moment of silence fell between them, but this time she didn't feel the usual awkwardness that accompanied the downtime. Even Clemont himself was working visibly less tension in his movements.

Who knew talking about tea would be the thing to break the ice between them?

"How come you're up working so late?" Serena decided to ask after a lengthy pause.

"I don't really have time to put everything together when we're on the move. Besides, I'm used to working late." He answered without stopping his work. "What about you? What's keeping you up?"

"I guess I'm just trying to adjust to the whole travelling thing." She said honestly.

There was also the question of why she's tagging along that kept her mind awake, but she wasn't going to voice that out loud.

She looked over at their friends' sleeping forms and couldn't help but wonder if this was what Ash felt when he first left for his journey. Did he have just as much trouble adjusting or was she just...spoiled?

"I get it. I'm not used to so much walking and running." He spat out the last word with a shiver.

Serena laughed, remembering how out of breath he was from a couple minutes of running. It was nice to hear she wasn't the only one struggling to get used to the journey.

"Hopefully we'll both get used to this sooner rather than later." She replied.

"I doubt I'll ever be able to catch up with Ash."

"I don't think anyone can catch up to Ash when he's fired up." Serena felt her chest warm at the mention of his burning passion and determination. It was just one of the many things she admired about him.

"I just hope he doesn't leave me behind one day." Clemont groaned.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to pace myself to keep you company."

Clemont visibly flushed at her comment and quickly took a keen interest in one of the bolts laying on the grass. "Y-you're too nice."

"Hey, we're going to be travel companions now. It's only natural we should have each other's back."

She tilted the cup up and frowned as she was only met with a single cold drop of tea.

"Erm, sorry about drinking it all. I guess I got a bit carried away." She sheepishly slid the empty cup towards him.

"Don't worry about it. I packed a ton before leaving." He smiled and set the empty cup aside.

"Well, thank you for the tea. I think you were right about it helping you relax." She yawned. Suddenly crawling into that cramped sleeping bag didn't seem so daunting anymore.

"I think I'm going to head to bed now. You shouldn't stay up too late either, Clemont. It's going to be rough if you're super sleep deprived tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'm just about done here anyways. I-I hope you'll sleep well tonight."

She rose to her feet and stretched," thanks. You too."

Just as she was about to leave him to his own devices she heard him stutter her name. His voice was so quiet she nearly missed it.

"Did you say something?" She glanced back at him curiously.

He tensed up almost instantly in response. Even with his back facing her she had no doubts his was was flushed with embarrassment." Um...I-if you ever need something to help calm you down I'd be happy to provide you with more."

A nice warm cup of Roserade Tea on a restless night? Now that's an offer Serena couldn't turn down.

"Sounds like a plan to me!"