Late at night, at a spot roughly in the middle of Kalos Route 13, two tents had been pitched around an extinguished campfire. One of the tents was taken up by a ten-year-old boy and his Pokémon partner, Pikachu, while two young girls were sharing the other. One of them, a young blonde girl, was lying back in her sleeping bag, watching as the other, older girl sat up and tied a pink ribbon into her honey blonde hair, with a wide bow.

"You look so pretty when you tie your hair up like that, Serena," the younger girl offered candidly.

"Thank you, Bonnie," the older girl replied with a bright, wide smile, before finishing her task and turning toward her companion. "But I'm not nearly as cute as you and your Tyrunt pajamas."

Bonnie grinned wide in response; she held Serena in very high esteem, and hearing compliments from her made Bonnie feel bright and sunny inside. She rolled over onto her side as Serena lay down, sliding into her sleeping bag. She could feel Dedenne, her mouse-like Pokémon companion, crawling onto her pillow and curling up beside her.

"Do you think Clemont is back home by now?" Bonnie asked. Her older brother had been traveling with her for months, but had departed for their home in Lumiose City earlier that day, in order to prepare for an important Pokémon battle.

"Probably," Serena answered. "He was traveling by helicopter, and Lumiose City isn't too far away. I bet he'll be training hard tomorrow morning."

"He better," the younger girl replied. "If Ash beats Clemont hands down, I'm going to be real mad at him for leaving."

Serena grinned wide. "You miss him already, huh?"

Bonnie rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling of their tent. She did miss him, a lot more than she expected, but she didn't want to say it out loud, and she had to rack her brain for something she felt like she could admit. "Clemont… he would always tuck me into bed before I went to sleep, that's all…"

"Yes, I remember."

"He does it at home, too, when Daddy can't," she continued. "Daddy's real busy, especially at night, so Clemont has to tuck me in a lot."

Serena sat up. "Do you want me to tuck you in while he's not here?"

"…No," Bonnie eventually answered, after thinking it over. "I should be tucking myself in. I'm almost six. I'm a big girl now."

Serena smiled, finding this response to be adorable. "You're definitely a big girl now, with all the traveling you've been doing with us."

Bonnie beamed, looking back toward Serena. "You think so?"

"Mhmm, I do." Serena sank back into her sleeping bag. "But if you ever change your mind, let me know."

"I will." Bonnie rolled onto her side again, curling up, trying to zip up her sleeping bag completely while covering herself with it. She could feel Serena's eyes on her as she tried to tuck herself in, feeling self-conscious as she failed to get herself snug in the way that she was used to. Eventually, she settled in and closed her eyes, leaving the job unfinished. "Goodnight, Serena."

"Goodnight, Bonnie." She could hear Serena curling up as well, lying on her side facing Bonnie, the way they always fell asleep. She wasn't as comfortable as she wanted to be; she usually had her whole body covered up to her neck, making her feel safe and secure in her sleeping bag, and right now she felt exposed. She tried her best to put it out of her mind. Being a big girl meant that you were uncomfortable sometimes.

As Bonnie started to drift off, she could feel a pair of gentle hands folding the rest of the sleeping bag over her, zipping it up slowly and quietly. Warm and snug, she quickly fell asleep.

The following night, Bonnie was sitting up with her legs tucked into her sleeping bag, with the orange-and-black Dedenne seated on her lap. She was carefully brushing the Pokémon's fur with a brush she had borrowed from Serena, who was watching out of the corner of her eye as she put up her hair. Bonnie had to briefly giggle every time that sparks flew out of the brush, which was a constant occurrence.

"That happens when I brush Fennekin, too," Serena spoke with a grin. "Though there aren't that many sparks when I do it."

"That's 'cause Dedenne's an Electric-type," Bonnie answered, giving her Pokémon one last pass with the brush; he had been properly brushed five minutes ago, but she had continued on regardless, having too much fun to stop. "I bet Pikachu would spark like this if I brushed him too."

"You want to brush every Pokémon in Kalos, don't you?"

Bonnie grinned wide, setting the brush aside and playfully scratching Dedenne's belly, undoing some of her hard work. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with that." Serena beamed as she watched Bonnie play with her companion. "You're good at taking care of Pokémon. You would make a great Pokémon sitter, I bet."

"A Pokémon sitter?" Bonnie mulled this over for a moment, never having considered this.

"Sure! I bet you'd love it. You'd get to take care of lots of people's Pokémon, and you'd get paid for it." She watched as an excited grin slowly spread across Bonnie's face, as she imagined the possibilities of such a profession.

"Maybe…" Bonnie spoke, trying to act as if this was a tough decision for her, though in reality she was minutes away from rearranging all of her future plans. "I always thought I would be a Pokémon trainer, like my big brother."

"Oh yeah?" Serena rolled onto her stomach, resting her arms on her pillow and her head on her arms. "You think you might be a Gym Leader too, someday?"

"I don't know." Bonnie rubbed the top of Dedenne's head gently with her thumb. "Clemont's really, really good. I'd have to work real hard to be as good a trainer as him."

Serena smiled warmly. "You have a lot of respect for him, it sounds like."

"Well…" Bonnie adopted a lopsided frown. "He's a good trainer… and an okay inventor, when his inventions don't explode…"

"How is he as a big brother?" Serena asked, with a hint of a grin.

"He's…" Bonnie's mind quickly jumped to countless memories of Clemont taking care of her, looking after her, feeding and comforting her when their father was away for late-night work. Serena's grin fell away as she watched the young girl's expression grow sadder and sadder, realizing that she had made a big mistake by reminding Bonnie of how much she missed her older brother.

"Well, we'll be seeing him again soon," she offered. "And you can show him how much growing up you've done while he was away."

"Mm." Bonnie slid down into her sleeping bag, still holding Dedenne lightly in her hands; the Pokémon crawled closer and tucked itself under her chin, sensing her sadness. She didn't bother pulling the sleeping bag into position as she closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't do as good a job of it as Clemont would.

Serena kept her eyes on Bonnie as she did her best to get comfortable, not wanting to loosen her grip on Dedenne. After half a minute of lying still, her eyes opened again, large and sad and pleading. "Can you tuck me in, Serena…?"

Serena sat up, grinning from ear to ear. "Of course I will." She slid out of her sleeping bag and leaned over Bonnie's, zipping up her sleeping bag all the way and smoothing it out, so that the young girl was tucked in nice and tight up to her neck. "How's that?"

A smile managed to break through Bonnie's sad expression. "Good. Thanks, Serena." She kept smiling as Serena lay back down, resting her head on her pillow. Her friend was pretty good at tucking her in, she realized, maybe even as good as her older brother.

The two of them said their goodnights and closed their eyes, falling into a mostly comfortable sleep.

Serena's eyes shot open instinctively, a sudden adrenaline rushing through her, as she was awakened from a deep sleep by the sound of crying. She sat up quickly, not knowing or caring what time it was, her eyes zeroing in on the source of the noise. Through the darkness, she could see Bonnie clutching her pillow tightly, her face buried in it, trying and failing to suppress sobs.

"Bonnie!" she exclaimed, half-whispering, not wanting to wake up their companion in the other tent if she could help it. "Bonnie, what's wrong?!"

"Serena…" Bonnie sniffled, choking back tears. "I'm sor-sorry I woke you up…"

"Bonnie, what's the matter?" Serena held her shoulder in her hand, trying to coax her gently into sitting up.

"I just…" The young girl sobbed again as she sat up, following Serena's lead. "I'm real worried about Clemont…"

Serena lightly wrapped one arm around Bonnie and pulled her closer, until her tentmate was resting against her frame. "What are you worried about?"

Bonnie wrapped both her arms around Serena's torso, hugging her tightly as she tried to stop herself from crying. "Do you think… he's taking care of himself? What if he's not?"

Serena slid the fingers of her left hand into Bonnie's hair, holding her head gently. "I'm sure he's just fine, Bonnie. He's back home now. He's got everything he needs."

"But… but…" Bonnie buried her face into Serena's collar. "What if he's not eating right? Or… what if he's not taking baths, or brushing his teeth, or, or…"

The older girl had to work hard to stifle a laugh. "I bet he's taking baths, Bonnie. He knows you'll be real upset if he doesn't."

Bonnie was not consoled. "You know he can't take care of himself," she replied, trying her best to hold back more tears. "That's… that's why I have to find someone who can take care of him…"

Serena gently rubbed Bonnie's back with her right hand, immediately recalling all the times her companion had asked a random girl to be Clemont's girlfriend, wanting her to "take care of" him. "You really care about your brother a lot, don't you, Bonnie…"

Bonnie didn't respond, as she continued to cry softly into her tentmate's shirt. Serena sighed lightly, continuing to rub the young girl's back, trying to get her to relax. She started to hum a simple melody, her voice low and quiet, the way that her mother used to do when she was young and couldn't get to sleep. As she hummed, she could feel Bonnie starting to settle down, her grip on Serena loosening, her sobs turning to sniffles. Bonnie was slowly relaxing, lulled toward sleep by Serena's humming and gentle caresses. Her breathing gradually became more slow and steady, as she was comforted by the gentle softness of Serena's frame, and a light, flowery scent that reminded her of her mother.

Serena continued to lull Bonnie to sleep for several more minutes, until she could feel the youngster going lax in her arms, her breathing slow and deep as she drifted off. She gave a tired and gentle smile as she carefully lowered both of them into a lying position, pulling Bonnie's sleeping bag next to her own. She closed her eyes as she tucked Bonnie's sleepy head underneath her chin, not wanting to disturb her and wake her again. Both of them were soon fast asleep, still wrapped up in each other's arms.

"As he slowly walked out of the mansion, the man couldn't shake the feeling that he was being… watched."

Several nights later, Serena was relating a tale of terror to an enraptured Bonnie, as they kneeled in front of each other in their tent. Bonnie was surprisingly difficult to scare, as it turned out, but she was finding the story exciting all the same, her heart pounding. Serena was delighted by the reaction she was receiving, getting gradually more wrapped up as she told the tale, holding a flashlight under her chin to make her features look menacing.

"Every few steps, he would pause and turn around, certain that someone, or something, was watching him. There wasn't anyone there, but the statues that lined the hallway seemed like they were following him with their eyes, their gaze shifting every time he turned around." Serena leaned in closer, her voice getting quieter and harsher. "He started walking faster and faster, as he could feel something strange in the air around him. He could hear harsh, ragged breathing from close by, that seemed to follow him as he moved."

Bonnie grinned wider, gripping her legs, feeling as if she could hear the ragged breathing herself, from somewhere close by. "Did he get out? Did he make it to the door?"

"Yes, he did," Serena answered. "The man was running down the hall, trying to escape, and before long he was at the front door." Her grin turned to a devious smirk. "But… just as he reached out to grasp the door handle… he could feel a hand grabbing his shoulder, pulling him back and-"

Immediately, the wall of the tent reached out toward the two girls, forming two hands that grabbed each one firmly by the arm. Serena and Bonnie both let out a prolonged shriek, scrambling backwards and wrapping their arms around each other tightly, the flashlight flying through the air and landing on the ground in front of them. They both caught their breath, hearts pounding, as the hands retracted and the tent wall regained its normal form, and as they came back to their senses they could hear uproarious laughter from outside.

"Ash!" Serena growled, letting go of Bonnie and whirling around to unzip the door to their tent. She stepped outside and marched around to the back of the tent, quickly finding a black-haired, ten-year-old boy catching his breath, hands on his knees, looking up at her with a mischievous grin. This was the boy she had been traveling with since she began her journey in Kalos, who had quickly become one of her closest friends. He was an extremely skilled Pokémon trainer, a boy whom she had a deep respect and admiration for, a boy whom she had been harboring a not-so-subtle crush on for the past few weeks - and right now, a boy whom she wanted to grab by the legs and hurl into the nearby river.

His eyes met hers, able to see how much trouble he was in and not caring. She moved forward to grab at him, but he whirled around and started racing away, scrambling back toward his tent as she gave chase.

"You get back here, Ash Ketchum!" she hollered, practically spewing flame. Despite running as fast as she could, she had no chance of catching up to him over such a short distance, and he was soon diving into his tent. He immediately turned himself around and closed it up, causing her to screech to a halt. As angry as she was, she had no choice but to respect the sanctuary of the tent, as any self-respecting ten-year-old would.

"Sorry, too slow!" he taunted.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock on Ash!" she called to the Pokemon inside, cupping her hands to her mouth.

"No way!" Ash replied. "Pikachu's loyal to me! He'd never turn on me like that!" Serena stood outside, fists clenched, hearing Pikachu's tired and confused murmuring from inside, without the telltale sound of zapping. She grumbled as she turned and marched back to her tent, climbing inside and zipping up the tent as angrily as she could manage.

"Ooh, that Ash!" she seethed, partly to Bonnie, partly to herself. "Why do boys have to be such boys?!"

"Boys are just jerks sometimes," Bonnie commiserated. "And he ruined a great ghost story, too."

"Ugh." She held her clenched fist over her pounding heart, adrenaline still coursing through her. "I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep now."

"Me either." Bonnie adopted a dastardly smirk. "Since we can't sleep anyway, what do you say we pay him back?"

Serena grinned, leaning in closer, curious as to what Bonnie was planning. "I'm listening."

Back in his tent, Ash was grinning a self-satisfied grin as he slid into his sleeping bag; his Pikachu walked over and curled up next to him, ready for a good night's sleep. He had done good work tonight, he thought to himself, and if there were any consequences for his actions, he wasn't worried about them right now. He gently rubbed Pikachu's head between the ears as he closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake him, not noticing the sound of soft footsteps from all around his tent.

Just as Ash was nodding off, he felt his whole world being turned upside-down - or, more specifically, his tent. The bottom corner of his tent was suddenly thrown upward, and as the tent was upturned he fell downward onto the curved ceiling, a panicked Pikachu in his arms.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He scrambled to get out of his sleeping bag as the tent rolled across its ceiling and landed on its bottom once again, starting to slide downhill. Once he had extricated himself from his bedding, he reached for the door of the tent and managed to get it open, diving outside, keeping a firm grip on his Pokémon.

As he regained his bearings, he could hear a chorus of laughter from further up the slope, where his tent had initially been parked. Glancing upward, he could see Serena and Bonnie doubled over with laughter, with Serena's Pancham by their feet, all of them standing next to four uprooted tent stakes. As Serena caught her breath, her eyes opened and met his, not showing a shred of remorse. Ash couldn't tell if he was more impressed or infuriated, but it didn't matter either way. This had escalated into an open war, and it was up to him to fire the next salvo.

All three children paused their laughing and scheming as they heard a gentle splashing sound, turning back to look at the river. They watched as Ash's tent bobbed about, rocked gently by the current, water starting to fill it slowly.

Thirty minutes later, the tent had been hung up to dry from a nearby tree branch, along with Ash's sopping wet sleeping bag. All three children were now crammed into Serena's tent, sharing the limited space to the best of their ability, having called a truce as they were fishing Ash's tent out of the river. Ash was snoozing away in Serena's sleeping bag, Pikachu curled up by his head, while Bonnie's had been zipped open and converted to a blanket, which was covering the two girls. Bonnie was sleeping partly on top of Serena, her head resting on the older girl's collar, with Serena's arms wrapped gently around her. Both of them were smiling as they slept, in agreement that their cramped sleeping situation had been completely worth it.

For the first time since Clemont departed, Bonnie wasn't upset that he was gone.

Three nights later, the three children were all getting ready for bed, their standard sleeping arrangements restored. Bonnie was lying in her sleeping bag, looking up at the ceiling of the tent as Serena tied her ribbon up as she always did.

"Only two days now until we make it to Lumiose City," Serena spoke, eyes moving toward her tentmate. "Are you excited to see Clemont again?"

"Mhmm." Bonnie nodded, smiling wide. "I want him to see what a big girl I am now." She glanced over. "Do you think he'll be proud of me for traveling without him?"

"I know he'll be proud of you," Serena answered without hesitation. "You've been such a good traveler. I'll make sure to tell him all about it."

Bonnie smiled appreciatively as Serena leaned over to tuck her in, as she had done every night for the past week. As she was tucked securely into her sleeping bag, her eyes moved back upward, gazing at the ceiling as her mind wandered.

Serena noticed the girl's smile starting to fade. "What is it? Thinking about Clemont again?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No… I was thinking about my daddy."

Serena nodded. "You miss him too, huh?"

"He always tucks me in at night, when he's not working. Sometimes he reads me a bedtime story, sometimes we'll play a game before bed…" Bonnie's eyes fell. "He always kissed me goodnight, every night. He hasn't been able to do that since I left."

Serena smiled sweetly down at the young girl. "Is that what you want?"

Bonnie nodded lightly, looking up as Serena scooted closer to her. Without hesitation, the older girl leaned down and sweetly pressed her lips against Bonnie's forehead, lingering for a moment before pulling away. Bonnie was beaming up at her, her heart leaping.

"Like that?" Serena asked.

Bonnie nodded again, more vigorously this time. "Could you tuck me into bed every night from now on?"

"Of course I will." Both girls were smiling as Serena slipped into her sleeping bag, zipping it up and resting her head on her pillow, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Serena," Bonnie spoke quietly. "I love you."

Serena's smile widened, her heart swelling. "Love you too, Bonnie. Sweet dreams."

Bonnie curled up inside her sleeping bag, feeling safe and comfortable as she drifted off, sleeping better than she had in weeks.