When the cab arrived at Serena's apartment complex, she paid the driver before she and Fennekin got out of the car. She peaked through the front door window to the building to make sure Tierno wasn't in the hallway before she and Fennekin went in and took the stairs to the second floor. As soon as they entered their apartment, Serena took off her coat and hat and went into the kitchen. She filled a bowl of Pokemon food, put it on the floor for Fennekin, and then took out a container of leftover toast and fruit from a previous breakfast.
As Serena sat down at the table and ate a watermelon, she thought about the Christmas party with the Ketchums. She smiled as she thought of the fun she had with the family and looked down to look at her new sweater. She turned to Fennekin, who was still wearing its new sweater as well as it ate its food.
"Did you have fun last night, Fennekin?" Serena asked.
"Fennekin," Fennekin answered with a smile.
"I'm glad," Serena said, smiling back. "Calem's really lucky to have such a loving family."
After Serena finished her breakfast, she walked over to the bedroom and plopped onto her bed. She tried to think of something to do on her day off, but all she could think about was Calem's family. She imagined Calem waking up and falling in love with her, and then they get married, making her an official member of the family. Maybe she would help Calem get back in touch with his family since they hadn't heard from him in a while. Serena's cheeks turned red as she thought about her and Calem having children with their own family sweaters that Delia, Dawn, and Mimey made.
Serena rolled to her side, still lost in her little world, until she noticed the box containing Calem's stuff. She debated with herself before she stood up, picked up the box, dumped the contents onto her bed, and sat down in front of them. Serena first opened Calem's briefcase, finding only legal documents. She figured she wouldn't find anything special, but she liked how her crush was so well organized with his work stuff. She then looked at his wallet and saw a picture of Calem and Ash when they were little.
"Aw, that's adorable," Serena said.
She laid down on her back with her head on her pillow before looking through the other pictures. To her surprise, the rest of them were pictures of Calem himself. One was a picture of him on a yacht, another was him posing after playing tennis, and the last one was him on top of a boulder in hiking clothes, shaking his fists into the air.
"Looks like he likes looking at himself. I guess that's one thing we have in common," Serena said with a giggle. "And best of all, there are no pictures of any women that might be this Miette person…unless she's the one taking the pictures."
Serena frowned as the thought occurred to her that Calem might still be dating Miette. She sighed and dropped the wallet before sitting up to look at Calem's keys. She browsed through them just for the fun of it until she noticed a gold key that had an inscription: 481516 Garcia Drive Apt 2332.
"Wow, he lives in Garcia Drive? That must be expensive," Serena said.
Finally, Serena took the brown paper bag lying next to the briefcase and opened it to reveal a can of Pokemon food. She smiled as she took the can out of the bag and started wondering who is Calem's Pokemon partner before she gasped.
"Oh my gosh!" She shouted.
Serena stuffed the can back into the paper bag, grabbed Calem's keys, jumped out of her bed, and raced to the living room, where Fennekin was lying down on the couch after finishing its breakfast.
"Fennekin, I'm going out for a little bit," Serena said.
"Fen?" Fennekin asked.
"I just found out that Calem has his Pokemon partner left at his apartment," Serena explained while putting on her hat and coat. "It hasn't been fed for two days because of his coma."
"Fennekin," Fennekin said, standing up on the couch with a look of shock.
"I know. The poor thing must be starving," Serena said as she put the brown bag and keys in her coat pocket. "I'm going to head to his apartment to feed his Pokemon, and then I'll be right back. Okay?"
"Fennekin," Fennekin said, nodding.
Serena smiled at her Pokemon before she exited the apartment. She rushed downstairs and opened the front door only to stop halfway to find Tierno outside working on his truck with his Squirtle. The honey blonde woman groaned before she used her hand to hide her face and walked past the heavy-set man and his Pokemon. When she was at the end of the street, she looked back to make sure Tierno and Squirtle were still focused on the truck and made a run for it.
But as Tierno and Squirtle worked on the truck, a moving truck parked right behind them, and the car door opened to reveal Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder. Ash took out a piece of notepad paper from his jeans pocket and checked the address on it.
"Looks like this is the place," he said.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
"I know Mom and Dawn said that Serena is working right now, but this whole thing still sounds odd, Pikachu," Ash explained. "We didn't hear from Calem in months, and suddenly he has a fiancee? There's gotta be more to this, and I'm gonna find out what it is."
Pikachu looked at its partner skeptically before it sighed and shrugged as if to say, "Do what you gotta do." Ash smirked and looked around until he noticed Tierno and Squirtle. He tapped Tierno on the shoulder, and Tierno turned around and took off his headphones.
"Excuse me, do you live here?" Ash asked.
"Oh, yeah. I own this place, bro," Tierno replied with a grin.
"Okay, great. Then you must know the woman living in room 201," Ash said.
Tierno scoffed as though Ash said a lousy joke and said, "Know her? I'm dating her."
Ash and Pikachu looked at Tierno confused, and the former asked, "You're dating her?"
"Sure am," Tierno said proudly before giving Ash a glare. "And if you see her, tell her Tierno Walken asked why she ditched me on our date last night."
Without another word, Tierno went back to working on his truck with Squirtle. Ash furrowed his brow and said, "So, Serena is two-timing my brother? I better tell Mom right away."
But Pikachu turned Ash's head to face it and began saying a series of "Pika" and "Pikachu." Ash hummed and scratched his chin in thought before he nodded at his partner.
"You're right, buddy. We need proof to show that Serena's deceiving everybody," he said. "But how can we do that when Serena's at work?"
"Pika, Pika, Pikachu?" Pikachu suggested.
"Hmmm. I guess we can give it a try," Ash said before he smiled and turned his hands into fists. "Okay, let's pay a visit to Calem's apartment."
As soon as Serena entered the apartment complex on Garcia Drive, she went straight to the elevator and pressed the button to the twenty-third-floor. As soon as the doors to the elevator opened on the top floor, Serena looked around until she finally found the door with the correct number and unlocked it with Calem's keys. As soon as she entered the apartment, her eyes widened, and her mouth hung open.
The flat was twice the length of her apartment. The living room had a white carpet floor, a leather round sofa with a large, black, round coffee table standing in the middle. Paintings were hanging on the white walls in gold frames, a tall plant was standing at the corner, a set of window walls showing a great view of the city. The kitchen had a silver stove with a microwave hanging above it, a fancy-looking sink and dishwasher was next to it, and a large marble counter with six metal stools with leather cushions placed in front of it.
"Even better than I imagined," Serena said to herself, smiling before she shook her head to focus. "Now, where is Calem's Pokemon?"
She took the can of Pokemon food out of the paper bag, opened it, and held it out as she looked around the apartment.
"Calem's Skitty? Calem's Eevee? Calem's male Fennekin who would like to meet my Fennekin?" Serena asked in a singing voice. "Calem's Pokemon? Calem's Pokemon, where are you?"
Just then, Serena heard the sound of footsteps from the door in the kitchen and smiled, thinking that Calem's Pokemon was on the other side. She walked over to the door and pushed it only to feel the door slam against something about her height and hear a man let out a cry of pain.
Serena let out a high-pitched gasp and covered her mouth in shock with her free hand. She slowly opened the door further to reveal Ash groaning while rubbing his forehead, and Pikachu standing next to him.
"Oh, my gosh! Ash, I'm so sorry!" Serena said. "Let me get you some ice."
Serena put the can of Pokemon food on the counter, went to the fridge, and opened the freezer door to take out a cube of ice. She paused to realize that the freezer was full of Vanillite Swirl ice cream cartons and secretly smiled from learning that Calem has a sweet tooth. She walked back to Ash, who had entered the kitchen, still holding his forehead, and gently put the cube where the door hit him.
"Thanks," Ash said as he held the ice on his forehead.
"You're welcome," Serena said with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, Pikachu and I came to...water the plants," Ash lied. "What about you? I thought you were at work."
"Oh, uh, it turns out I misread this week's schedule and confused today for tomorrow," Serena fibbed.
"I see," Ash said. "How did you get here?"
"Oh, I have a key," Serena said. "I came to feed Calem's Pokemon."
Ash gave Serena a distrustful look and said, "Calem doesn't have a Pokemon."
Serena became uneasy, worried that she may have misinterpreted what the can of Pokemon food was for. Luckily, right at that moment, there was a purr coming from one of the bottom cupboards. Serena, Ash, and Pikachu looked at each other, confused before the honey blonde woman opened the cupboard to find a male Meowstic inside. Serena mentally thanked the Lord and picked up the Pokemon with a smile.
"There you are, Meowstic," Serena said, talking to the Pokemon like it's a pet. "Were you hiding in the cupboard again? You're so silly."
"Meowstic?" The constraint Pokemon asked, confused with the woman it never met.
Serena became nervous again until she remembered why she was there.
"You must be hungry," she said. "Would you like some food?"
Meowstic's eyes lit up, and it let out an excited, "Meow," instantly forgetting that Serena's a stranger. Serena thanked the Lord in her mind again and put Meowstic down on the counter, where it began eating its food out of the can vigorously. Serena pet Meowstic on the top of its head to keep up the act that they know each other.
Ash frowned as he watched Serena and Meowstic. Though the honey blonde woman tricked him, he still believed that she was cheating on Calem. Just then, the phone rang, and Ash raised his eyebrow as Serena kept petting Meowstic, pretending not to notice.
"Are you gonna get that?" He asked.
Serena turned her head to Ash and said, "Oh, no. I'll let the machine take it. It's always for Calem anyway."
Ash gave her another doubtful look and walked over to pick up the phone.
"Hello," he said.
"Is Ms. Serena Yvonne here?" Dr. Proctor asked.
Ash stood still for a moment before he held the phone to Serena and said, "It's for you."
Serena stopped petting Meowstic and looked at Ash, baffled. She took the phone from Ash and cleared her throat before holding the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Serena? This is Dr. Proctor," Dr. Proctor said.
"Oh, hi. How are you?" Serena asked.
"Good, thank you," Dr. Proctor replied. "I'm glad I managed to reach you. Delia gave me your number, but I got your machine, so I thought I'd try Calem's number, thinking you might be here since you're his fiancee."
"Oh, well, you were right," Serena said with a nervous chuckle. "I just happened to be off at work and came to feed Calem's Meowstic."
"Awesome," Dr. Proctor said. "Listen, I'm wondering if you can do me a favor. It's customary for friends and family members of our patients to donate blood. Would you be able to come over to do that? Everyone else in the family except for Ash is already here for that."
Serena hesitated before she answered, "Sure."
"Great. See you then," Dr. Proctor said.
"Goodbye," Serena said before she hung up and turned to Ash. "That was Dr. Proctor. He said it's customary for friends and family to donate blood, and he wants us to come over there. The rest of the family is already there."
Ash smirked as he hatched a plan in his mind and said, "Cool. Let's go together."
"Sure," Serena said. "Do you have a car?"
"I have my truck, but why don't we use Calem's car?" Ash suggested.
"Oh, no. I don't think we should do that when he's unconscious," Serena said. "Besides, I don't drive."
"No problem. Calem lets me drive his car sometimes. He won't mind," Ash said as he took Calem's keys.
Serena chuckled nervously before saying goodbye to Meowstic and followed Ash and Pikachu out of the apartment. Ash locked the door behind him, and they took the elevator to the parking garage underneath the building. The three of them walked a few feet inside the parking garage before Ash suddenly held Calem's keys in front of Serena.
"Here. You should remember where Calem's car is."
Serena stopped herself from looking worried in front of her crush's brother. She took the keys and held the car remote up as she pressed the unlock button. A black car beeped a few yards in front of them, surprising Ash. Serena mentally sighed in relief before handing the keys back to Ash, giving him a boastful look. The raven-haired man furrowed his brow while watching Serena walk over to the car and turned to Pikachu.
"Seems like she is engaged to Calem so far, but she has to slip up sometime," he whispered to his partner.
"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.
Ash drove the car to the hospital, where the woman at the front desk directed them to the floor where they were taking blood donations. A doctor led them to two beds where two nurses began drawing blood. As Ash's blood was drawn with Pikachu standing next to him on the bed, the raven-haired man turned to Serena and decided to strike a conversation.
"So, Serena, when did you fall in love with Calem?" He asked.
"April 26th, 2019," Serena said.
Ash smirked and said, "Really? Calem was still dating Miette back then. How could you be falling for him when he was seeing her?
Serena turned to Ash and noticed the way he was looking at her. It was at this moment that she finally realized that he was suspicious. She mentally panicked until she thought of a half-truth and looked at the ceiling with a dreamy look as though she were thinking of precious memories.
"Well, we didn't officially meet back then, but that was when I started to crush on him," she explained. "He started regularly taking the train from the station where I work, and it was love at first sight for me. He never spoke to me until much later, and, then…"
"Then you find yourself engaged before you know it?" Ash guessed.
Serena scoffed and said, "Yeah, you could say that."
Ash nodded, pretending to be invested before he said, "You know, my mom told me we need to get your picture for the family mantle."
"You mean a picture of just me?" Serena asked.
"No, of you and Calem," Ash said.
"Oh, well, I'm not very photogenic," Serena said, looking away from Ash.
"I doubt that," Ash said. "I saw the family picture Grandpa Ramos took last night. You looked plenty photogenic to me."
Ash and Pikachu smirked at each other, thinking that they caught Serena. The honey blonde woman became uneasy again until she thought of another half-truth.
"Well, I mean, I'm not very photogenic when it comes to pictures with Calem," she said.
Ash snickered and asked, "How is that possible?"
"Excuse you, mister, but have you not noticed how gorgeous your brother is?" Serena rebuked with a sassy look. "It's hard enough to believe we're engaged, but I can't stand the idea of a picture with him when I pale in comparison."
Ash's smug look disappeared, and he tilted his head, looking at Serena like she said something strange.
"I don't think that's true," he said without thinking. "I think you're very pretty."
Serena's eyes widened, and her pupils shrank in surprise. She looked down on her feet, hiding her blush with her honey blonde hair. It took a moment before Ash realized what he said, and he covered his mouth and looked away from her bashfully. The two of them were silent for several seconds until Serena cleared her throat.
"T-t-thank you," she said.
"You're welcome," Ash replied.
As they continued to bashfully look away from each other, the nurses took the needles out of their arms and rubbed them with cotton balls. One of the nurses poured some syrup medicine into small cups and handed them to Ash and Serena.
"Alright, now, I want you to stay seated for a moment and drink these, or you'll get woozy," she instructed.
"Okay, thank you," Serena said before she drank her medicine.
Ash took his cup robotically, not paying attention. He felt a tug on his shirt, and he turned to Pikachu, who said another series of "Pika" and "Pikachu" while pointing at Serena. Ash looked at his partner, confused until he remembered his investigation.
"Hey, Serena, when did Calem propose to you?" He asked.
"September 15th," Serena said right away.
"You've been engaged for four months without telling the family?" Ash questioned.
Serena realized that Ash was interrogating her again and said, "Well, we...wanted it to be a surprise."
"Well, you certainly accomplished that," Ash remarked. "How did he propose?"
"Sorry, but we promised to tell it together," Serena claimed.
"Aw, are you sure you can't at least give me a hint?" Ash asked.
"Sorry, but I'm not saying a thing until Calem is awake," Serena said. "Speaking of which, I'm gonna go see how he's doing."
Serena stood up and walked out of the room, pretending she didn't know what Ash was doing. The raven-haired man stood up to chase after her but took two steps before his body began to wobble. He tried to keep walking for a few more seconds before he fell to his side like a log. Serena secretly smirked as she walked toward the elevator, knowing that Ash didn't take his medicine before getting up.
The elevator took her up to the ICU, and she walked over to Calem's room. Sonia and Dawn were playing cards on the bed opposite from Calem's, with Piplup standing on the bed. Grandpa Ramos was resting on a chair on Calem's right side, while Delia sat on a chair from his left side, holding her son's hand with both hands as she stared at him. Mimey, standing behind its partner, noticed Serena coming in and said a cheerful, "Mr. Mine," that grabbed everyone's attention.
"Serena, sweetheart," Delia chirped as she stood up to hug Serena. "I thought you had work."
"Oh, it turned out that I misread the schedule, so I went home," Serena lied. "I just finished drawing blood with Ash downstairs. He and Pikachu should be along."
"Well, that's a bummer that you misread the schedule. You could have stayed for breakfast after all," Dawn said.
"Yeah, I could have," Serena admitted.
"Well, the important thing is that you're here," Delia said. "And with Ash and Pikachu coming, that makes the whole family here to visit Calem."
"That sure is a lovely thought," Grandpa Ramos said, "We can each take turns talking to Calem."
"That's a great idea."
Everyone turned to the entrance to find Ash and Pikachu coming in. Serena mentally groaned, wishing the effects of the blood drain lasted longer. The raven-haired man smirked as he stood in front of Serena and Delia like he figured out how to get a confession out of a criminal.
"Better yet, we could sing to Calem. I bet he'd like that," Ash said. "How about it, Serena? What's Calem's favorite Pokemon song?"
Serena hesitated, having no idea of how to answer. Sonia became worried for the honey blonde woman and decided to help her keep her secret.
"Let's see," Sonia said, pretending to remember something. "I think it was together…"
"Together Forever," Serena said before Sonia could finish.
Sonia smiled, glad that Serena figured it out right away. Ash and Pikachu, however, frowned, unwilling to back down.
"Who does Calem think is the weakest Pokemon in the world?" Ash asked.
"Magikarp," Serena said immediately.
"Magikarp? Ha!" Ash said triumphantly before he realized his mistake. "Everyone thinks it's the weakest."
"Well, I don't know about that," Sonia said with a shrug. "I think Shedinja is pretty lame."
"Yeah, me too," Dawn said.
"Piplup," Piplup chirped.
Ash cleared his throat and pretended that his blunder didn't happen as he continued his interrogation.
"What is Calem's favorite ice cream brand?" He asked.
"Vanillite Swirl," Serena answered, thankful that she saw the containers of Vanillite Swirl ice cream in Calem's fridge.
"Favorite baseball team?"
"Electabuzz."
"Kanto or Sinnoh?"
Delia looked at her son, confused, and asked, "Ash, what on Earth is with you asking these questions?"
"Don't ask me. Ask her boyfriend," Ash said.
The family looked at him disapprovingly, and Grandpa Ramos said, "That's not very funny, my boy. Calem is in a coma. You know that."
"Not Calem. Her other boyfriend," Ash said.
"My other boyfriend?" Serena asked.
"Yeah. Tierno Walken," Ash said, grinning. "He told me to tell you that he's wondering why you ditched him last night."
The family turned to Serena in shock while Ash and Pikachu crossed their arms and looked at Serena smugly. Serena stared at Ash in disbelief before she facepalmed and made a mental note to have a serious chat with Tierno.
"Tierno Walken is an immature dolt," she said. "He claimed that we had a date to the ice capades last night without even asking if I wanted to go. He's obsessed with trying to date me when I want nothing to do with him."
"I don't know, Serena," Ash said. "He was pretty sure of what's going on between you two when I talked to him."
Serena groaned, irritated with Ash's persistence. Just then, a low moan came from Grandpa Ramos as he clenched the arm of his chair on one hand and held his heart with the other.
"Ramos, are you okay?" Delia asked worryingly.
"I think I'm having another episode," Grandpa Ramos groaned.
Sonia and Dawn jumped from out of their seats and rushed to Grandpa Ramos' sides. They held his hands as he took deep breaths until the moment passed. Everyone sighed in relief before Delia turned to Ash and slapped him upside the head.
"Ow! What did I do?" Ash asked, rubbing his head.
"You're making everyone uneasy with your accusations against Serena," she rebuked.
"Can I help it if it looks like she's cheating on my big brother?" Ash protested. "Honestly, I'm still not sure she's really engaged to Calem at all."
"Ash, that's a serious claim," Sonia rebuked. "I think she made it quite clear that she knows plenty about Calem."
"Did she?" Ash challenged. "I don't think it's hard to figure out basic things like Calem's favorite song or baseball team."
Dawn frowned and said, "Now that you mention it, those are kinda easy things to know."
"Piplup," Piplup said with a concerned look.
"Then give her a chance to really prove it," Grandpa Ramos suggested. "Maybe she knows something we don't about Calem."
Serena's heart sank as all eyes turned to her. Delia, Mimey, and Grandpa Ramos gave optimistic looks, while Sonia, Dawn, and Piplup were worried that Serena couldn't prove herself. Ash and Pikachu smirked again, taking Serena's silence as a sign that they finally won.
Serena was mentally panicking and thought about running away before the family figured out the truth. But then, she remembered her conversation with Trevor and debated on whether or not to tell the family about it. For all she knew, Trevor gave her false information. Ultimately, she decided to roll the dice and bit her bottom lip before she spat it out.
"Calem has one testicle!"
The family gave Serena funny looks, taken aback by her strange claim.
"What? No way," Ash said.
"Way," Serena claimed. "About a month ago, there was an accident. Calem was playing basketball with his co-worker, Trevor, who had a pencil in his front pocket. The two of them bumped into each other while playing, and…"
The family winced and looked away, having figured out the rest of her story. Dawn had a disgusted look while Sonia wondered whether or not the story was part of the lie. Ash scratched the back of his head as he and Pikachu looked at each other before he spoke up.
"Maybe we could…?," he suggested.
"Don't look at me. I'm not doing it," Sonia said.
"Me neither," Dawn said.
Grandpa Ramos shook his head while Mimey looked away and waved its hands, sticking its tongue out. The silence continued until Delia sighed and put up a brave face.
"Okay, look, I'm his mother," she declared. "If anyone should look, it has to be me."
Dawn let out a disgusted, "Ew, mom," as everyone looked away from the bed before Delia lifted up Calem's blanket. Serena mentally prayed that what she said turned out to be accurate, but at the same time, she didn't want to know if it was. She waited in silence with her eyes shut, struggling to keep herself together during the suspense. Finally, the moment of truth was revealed when Grandpa Ramos made a comment that made Serena squirm.
"Well, on the bright side, he's got more room in his jockey shorts."