AUTHOR'S NOTE

Dear readers, I apologize for being away so long. Life has been very busy, and between moving into a new house, getting engaged, and taking over extra responsibilities at work as well as freelancing, I simple haven't had time to write for...well, years.

That being said, this story has NOT been abandoned. I've been writing for it off and on, though it's been all random out of order scenes. Finally, I've managed to create a couple chapters out of that mess, so without further ado, here is the long overdue third chapter!

CHAPTER 3
Blast From The Past!

"He looks so young," Clemont commented, holding a picture of Ash up to his face. Young, and still somehow just as adorable as he is today. His hand started to shake, and he put down the photograph before the nervous action was noticed by the others in the room.

"We all were! This was...let me think…" Todd tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table as he tried to remember how many years ago he had taken the photograph. It had to have been at least five years. Could it have been as many as ten? No, probably not. Somewhere in between those two was more likely. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we were just kids then."

"Do you think Ash would really appreciate you showing us pictures of him at that age?" Serena asked, holding onto a couple photos herself. She couldn't stop evaluating his expressions in every photo she saw, especially in ones where he was interacting with a girl with orange hair and blueish-green eyes.

"Probably not," Todd grinned, looking rather proud of himself. "But we all need a trip down memory lane sometimes - even if it is someone else's memory." He chuckled, adjusting the camera strap that rested on his neck. "Where is he, anyway?" he asked curiously, looking towards the door.

"Running late," Clemont murmured, staring longingly at some of the newer photos that were spread out on the tables, ones where Ash appeared to be at least a teenager, rather than a child. At least it didn't feel quite so wrong to admire those - though he still felt guilty about doing so in the first place.

"Some things never change." Todd shook his head, finally taking a seat at the table with the others. He twisted his chair around to face the door, taking hold of his camera with both hands once his chair was positioned properly. His fingers ran over the side of the device, fiddling with the settings so he could take the perfect photograph with the way the light was in the room.

"What are you looking at, Todd?" Bonnie asked, tearing her gaze away from a stack of photographs he had brought just for her. She was much more interested in the adorable Pokemon he had snapped pictures of over the years than old pictures of Ash, and had been thrilled when he told her the photos were hers to keep.

"The door," he said deviously. "You see, I'm waiting for Pikachu. Did you see any of those pictures of Ash yet?" He pointed to a mostly untouched stack of pictures that was sitting on the side of the table.

Bonnie picked them up and started flipping through them, holding them up in the air so that Serena and Clemont could also look at them. "I don't get it," she said, perplexed. "They're all just images of him making funny faces, or they're just of his hands or shoes. And some of them are really blurry."

"Exactly," Todd said grimly. "Would you believe me if I told you all of those pictures were failed attempts to get the perfect photo of Pikachu?" His hands shook ever so slightly as he remembered his frustration when trying to capture the image. "See, Pikachu is really camera-shy. If I want a picture of him, I'll have to take it before either he or Ash realize I'm around."

Almost as soon as he finished his explanation, they all heard to unmistakable ding of the elevator. "Showtime," Todd whispered. He held his camera up, poised and ready, door fully visible through the view screen. If he took the picture a second too early, Pikachu might be alerted to his camera and hide before he had fully come into view. If he took the picture a second too late, Pikachu would most likely bound out of sight before he could snap more than a blurry photo. Timing was everything when it came to this electric mouse.

The whole room was quiet with anticipation of his brand new photograph. Serena looked shyly at the floor, hoping Ash and Pikachu wouldn't be upset with her for inviting Todd over. Clemont sat down on the couch, his head in his hands as he tried to stop his mind from running through the various ways this photographic attempt could turn out a disaster. Todd was holding his camera, focusing on nothing but the door. Only Bonnie remained unburdened by his decision, looking around the room with a mischievous grin.

"Is anyone home?" Ash asked, stepping off the elevator and into the hallway. He wasn't used to it being so quiet in Prism Tower. Even if there weren't challengers calling out moves for their Pokemon or filling the air around them with the sound of electricity, it was very difficult for 3 people and 7 Pokemon to restrict the volume of their playing, fighting, eating, and even sleeping. Silence was rare, and had him feeling a bit uneasy.

"We're in here!" Bonnie called out, giggling gleefully. She clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound. It wouldn't be any good to have Ash hear her laughter and grow suspicious. Not that Ash was the kind of person that gave into suspicion, anyway. Even when people had failed him in the past, he still always insisted on seeing their best side and giving them another chance.

The door creaked open, and Todd's finger itched to press the button on his camera. Not yet, he told himself, his muscles tensing as he saw Ash's sneaker enter the room, and then the brim of his hat. A little more...a little more…

Click.

Ash was standing fully inside the room, just beyond the door, when he heard the sound of the camera. He didn't quite recognize the noise, but he threw himself on the floor, hands over his head, in an attempt to avoid the thundershock that was certain to be Pikachu's reaction. Unfortunately, he hadn't quite thrown himself out of the Pokemon's reach. "Chuu!" Pikachu yelled in fright, shocking Ash and the area around him. If Ash hadn't already been on the floor, he almost certainly would have fallen, his muscles twitching just enough to make him unstable after the large jolt of electricity.

"Oops," Todd said quietly, peering at Ash through the view screen of his camera. "I forgot about that." It wasn't the first time he had seen Pikachu let out a surprisingly powerful attack in response to his camera, but in all the excitement about seeing Ash after so many years apart, he had forgotten about it.

"Ash!" Clemont was already halfway across the room by the time anyone else had realized what had happened, falling to his knees next to the injured boy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ash said, smiling weakly. "Thanks, Clemont." Clemont got to his feet, offering his hand to Ash to help him get up.

Click.

Todd had taken a picture of Ash's hand making contact with Clemont's, their grip on each other so tight that the skin appeared completely taut where they touched.

Click.

Ash was on his feet again, smiling at Clemont. There was an evident sparkle in his eye as he looked at the older boy, the expression on his face so sweet and genuine that one couldn't help but be moved by the amount of respect he clearly had for his friend.

Click.

Clemont blushed a bright, vibrant red, his eyes staring at Ash's lips rather than at his eyes. His shyness at the thought of eye contact was how he kept missing the emotion so obvious on Ash's face, the admiration and the respect. Even the love he had for him. But the exchange didn't go unnoticed by Todd, who was determined to capture every moment of it.

Click.

"Where does that noise keep coming from?" Ash asked, grateful that Pikachu hadn't shocked him for any except the first one. Oblivious as always, he had somehow missed seeing Todd when he walked into the room. A guilty-sounding cough finally made Ash look up and take notice of the photographer.

"Todd?" He stared in confusion at his old friend, taking in the slight changes in his appearance since he had last seen him. He had expected Todd to still be wandering around Johto, in search of legendary Pokemon. What could he possibly be doing in Kalos?

"Hey, Ash." Todd waved in greeting, before removing the camera from around his neck and setting it down in the center of the table. He was done taking pictures - for now. "I see Pikachu still doesn't like cameras."

"Just yours," Ash replied with a grin. "I can't believe it's really you!" The ache he felt from being thundershocked was forgotten as he ran across the room, catching a surprised Todd in an embrace. "Hey, you brought pictures!" He let go of Todd, pushing him slightly to the side as he grabbed a stack of photos. "Augh!" he exclaimed as he flipped through the pile. "Why'd you have to bring that one?" He hung his head in shame, letting Todd gently take back the photo he was holding up.

"Oh, yeah!" Todd said, laughing at the memory that Ash wished wasn't immortalized in film. "Come on, Ash. You have to admit, it's pretty funny, what with you being the Kalos League Champion now."

"I guess it is kind of funny, come to think of it." Ash picked up his head, replacing his distressed expression with a smile. "And those questions were pretty hard." The picture he had been so distraught about was one of his failing score on the Kanto League Entrance Exams, being in the bottom three along with Jessie and James.

"Let me see!" said Bonnie, jumping up and down with excitement as she stretched her hands forward for the photograph. Ash nodded, and Todd passed over the photograph wordlessly. "Wait a second…" she said, examining the picture. "Isn't that Team Rocket?"

"Where?" Serena asked, suddenly looking frightened. She clutched at the blue ribbon on her outfit; a gift Ash had given her nearly two years ago. She had faced off against Team Rocket many times in the past, and they always seemed like more of an annoyance than a real threat, but they still gave her chills.

"Serena! In the photo." Bonnie tugged at her friend's wrist, drawing her in closer to see the photograph.

"Oh, right," Serena said sheepishly, hanging her head in embarrassment. "Silly me. Of course they wouldn't be here for real!"

Little did Serena know, Team Rocket was only a few short blocks away, tucked into a small, run-down warehouse they had adopted as their hideout shortly after the League.

"So you are finally in a position to acquire something of value," Giovanni mused to himself audibly. "Perhaps it would be worth leaving you stationed in Kalos for just a while longer." He had watched Jessie, James, and Meowth rise and fall over the years, never presenting him with anything more than an example of how not to succeed. Still, if they could take over Prism Tower as a base for the expansion of Team Rocket to Kalos as they were promising now, well, that would make all their antics worth the trouble they had caused.

"But of course!" Jessie exclaimed, twirling around. "How could you think we would present you with anything less? You underestimate our great skills." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder, looking proud of herself.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Giovanni growled, his tone of voice making all three of them quake in their boots. "You three have been nothing more than a pain in my side since the day you signed up for Team Rocket. Don't make me regret this decision."

"Y-yes sir," all three of the team members stammered, dropping to their knees and lowering their heads as a sign of respect. It was only once the video stream had ended with an audible tone that they dared raise them again.

"We'll show him," James muttered, rocking back onto his heels. "We're better than he thinks!"

"Not really," Meowth said critically. "I mean, we ain't been too successful in capturin' Pikachu, an'…" he continued listing out their failures over the years, oblivious to the scowls appearing on both of his friends' faces, until finally he felt himself being lifted up into the air and tossed across the room almost comically, landing and cartwheeling along the floor.

"How dare you!" cried Jessie, her face twisted into rage. "If you two would just agree to do things my way instead, we wouldn't have gotten into even half those messes!"

"The two of us!?" James looked shocked. "Leave me out of this! I'm just the sidekick! Meowth is the one who comes up with all the plans!" He waved his hands in front of his face, trying to prevent Jessie from unleashing her fury at him.

Unfortunately, once Jessie got mad, she usually stayed that way for a while, and it didn't take long for the bickering to become a full-blown argument between the two teammates. Meowth looked back and forth between them, wondering when and if he should step in. It was a position he found himself in quite often, and while he could and usually did tune them out, it still made him uncomfortable sometimes.

"Enough!" he finally called out, tired of listening to them. "While you two bozos have been arguin', I've come up with a plan!" He buffed his claws against his chest, grinning in a way only he could.

"A plan?" James asked, pausing mid-sentence to make sure he heard Meowth right.

"Well come on, cat, out with it!" Jessie demanded, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"Alright," Meowth said, approaching them and lowering his voice to a whisper, even though no one else was around to hear them. "This is what we're goin' to do…"

"Wow, I never realized Pokemon Performances required so much effort." Todd was getting near the end of Serena's interview, and had been surprised to learn that some of her best moves had been created only a day before the performance, resulting in hours of repetitive training for her, Braixen, and Pancham.

"It requires a ton of effort!" Ash stepped in. "She works just as hard as I do before a match!"

"And just as hard as I do on new inventions," Clemont added.

"Yeah! Serena is the best!" Bonnie chimed in.

Todd shook his head slightly, ignoring the extra comments from his friends. It had been a mistake to let them all watch the interview, he realized, as he received three of four answers to every question he asked. It was Ash's fault, really. He liked to talk, and he just couldn't help himself from trying to answer questions for Serena when she faltered in her own response. But once he had said something, Clemont or Bonnie usually felt the need to respond as well, and so the interview had taken much longer than he had originally anticipated.

Serena, whose blushes had gone from a light pink to a rosy red over the course of the interview as she kept receiving compliments, also had decided ignoring them was the best course of action.

"Sometimes I think I make it more difficult than it should be," she admitted. "Aria...the Kalos Queen...she makes it all look so easy. But a girl's work is never done," she said with a determined smile. "No matter what it takes, I have to do my very best. For myself, to prove that I can, and for Braixen and Pancham, because their talents deserve to be seen. But mostly, I do it for my fans. They don't have to support me, but they do, and I couldn't be more grateful. Putting on the best performance I can is the only way I know of to thank them."

"And I think that's a wrap," Todd nodded in approval, putting down his pen and closing his notebook. "That was some interview, Serena. I'm sure my editor will love it!"

For most of the interview, Serena had sat perched on the edge of her seat, her back straight and her hands placed gently on her lap. Now, though, she finally allowed herself to breathe a huge sigh of relief, and leaned back against her chair. "I'm so glad to hear that," she told him. "When will it be published, do you know?"

"These things take a while," Todd mused, packing away his notebook and the photos he had brought with him, most of which were still scattered on the table in the living room. "Depends on a lot of different factors, like if they'll be putting out an issue specifically on Pokemon Performances, and if anyone has submitted an interview before me - they only like putting in one interview per issue, you see. So, it could be in a couple weeks, or it could be in a couple months."

"Months?" Serena asked, surprised. "But that's…"

"Months away, I know," Todd told her, chuckling. "Everyone says that. But my job is just to write things. Whether they use them right away, or even at all, isn't my call. But don't worry - you seem very popular, judging by the crowd's reaction yesterday! I'm sure my editor is going to want this out right away."

Serena nodded, understanding. She hoped that the article would be out soon - she couldn't wait to show it to her mom! - but she wasn't going to try and rush the process. "Can you let me know when it's out?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Todd laughed. "You'll be the first to have a copy, actually, free of charge. It's just a service Pokemon Time provides, to thank people for making their magazine so great."

"A free magazine?" Clemont asked, sounding interested. His mind went to the process of printing and production, and how information was stored on their database. Why, in order to get everyone a magazine, they must have a separate data table containing the names of those who contributed to each issue, and send those out first. Then, they would have to run that table against their main database, and...he stopped himself before he could get too lost in thought. "Does everyone who helps with the magazine get one, or just people who interview?"

"Why so curious, Clemont?" Todd asked, figuring out quickly after meeting Clemont that he wouldn't have any interest in reading magazines, except for perhaps Science Weekly. "Were you interested in being interviewed, too?"

"N-no," Clemont stammered, taking a step backwards. "I was just wondering how their database works, that's all, you don't want an interview from me anyway…"

"Why not?" Ash swung his arm around Clemont's shoulders, leaning in close and grinning at the blush spreading across his friend's face. "I think that sounds like a great idea!"

"Yeah!" Bonnie exclaimed. "You should do it, big brother!"

"It's not a bad idea at all." Todd looked thoughtful, eyeing Clemont. "Prism Tower is an iconic building throughout Kalos, and the Lumiose Gym is well-known. I bet if you did an interview, you would get even more challengers!"

Clemont looked at him, eyes wide. He didn't really need to advertise - people came to see him and his gym all on their own. Right now, he had a very nice balance between his Gym Leader duties and his inventions, something that he didn't really want to change right now.

"Lumiose Gym is already really busy," Serena told Todd, catching the look on Clemont's face. "I don't think it really needs any more challengers right now."

"Oh." Todd's face fell, and Clemont felt a bit relieved. "The interview wouldn't need to focus on the gym, though. What about your inventions? I bet people would love to hear more about them."

At the word inventions, Clemont picked his head up, wondering if maybe this was a good idea after all. He could talk about those all day - and he had always wanted the chance to inspire a young inventor like himself.

"They have to relate to Pokemon," Todd warned him, seeing the gears turning in his head. "This is for Pokemon Time, after all."

"Oh, don't worry," Clemont told him, grinning. "I have plenty of inventions about Pokemon. Just you wait!"

SNAPSHOTS
Pokemon the Series: XY
XY015: An Appetite For Battle!

"If we don't hurry, we won't get to the Pokemon Center before the sun sets." Serena looked up at the sky worriedly, taking note of the fading daylight. Her words stopped her friends in their tracks, and they slowly turned around to face her.

"Then we can just camp out, no big deal." Ash always sounded so relaxed, no matter the situation. But while Serena would normally find his attitude comforting, in this case it didn't ease her worry.

"We'll camp out?" She repeated fearfully, taking a small step backwards.

"What's wrong?" Ash inquired, sounding confused.

"Don't you have your gear?" Clemont chimed in.

"Well, actually..." This was a little embarrassing for Serena to admit. But these were her friends. They would understand, right? "My mom told me this might happen, but...I never really considered that I'd end up having to sleep outside for real."

"I brought an extra sleeping bag with me, so you're welcome to use it if you'd like!" Clemont was always prepared for anything.

"And you can sleep with me in my tent!" Bonnie's face shone with happiness and excitement at the prospect of having a real sleepover.

"Pikachu!" Ash's Pokemon partner affirmed.

"Uh, that's so nice!" Serena blushed as she realized how lucky she was to have friends like Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont. As they begin searching for a campsite, she was so lost in thought about how she would repay them for their kindness that she didn't even hear the conversation between Clemont and Bonnie.

"I think you might have forgotten something, Bonnie," Clemont told her.

"What's that, big brother?" Bonnie was skipping instead of walking, overjoyed still at being able to solve Serena's problem.

"Where am I going to sleep, now?" Rather than looking upset, he was smiling at her. Since they had begun traveling with Ash, Clemont had loaned Ash his tent and had slept in Bonnie's instead, so that she wouldn't be alone in the middle of the night should there be scary noises outside. But sharing a tent with his sister was one thing - sharing one with Serena was another.

"Oh, yeah..." Bonnie's steps only faltered for a moment before she thought of something. "I know! You can just move back into your tent!"

"Hey, Ash," Clemont called out to his friend, who was walking in front of him. "Would you be alright with that?"

"Sure, no prob," Ash said, turning around with a smile. "I don't mind sleeping outside."

"Don't be silly! You can continue to sleep there, too. There's enough room for both of us."

"You really mean it?" Ash said with surprise. They slept in the same room during their Pokemon Center stays, of course, but that was different. Pokemon Center rooms had a lot more space than a tent.

"Absolutely! I'm sure of it." Clemont's voice rang out with optimism in the otherwise silent forest.

"Wow, Clemont. Thanks!" He fell back a couple steps to wrap an arm around his friend, a wide smile appearing on his face. He couldn't ask for a better friend than Clemont.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I've always wondered why Ash and Clemont are shown to share a tent so early in the series, so there's my take on why. To be honest, I'm still a little curious on why Ash didn't have his own tent to begin with, and what happened to his tent provided he ever had one in the first place.

For more Diodeshipping fun to tide you over until the next chapter, head over to my Youtube channel, Vortexia, for a couple videos. They're fairly old at this point, but if I ever get a new computer with more processing power, I'll try making some new ones.

Stay tuned for Chapter 4, and thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!