AUTHOR'S NOTE

I think Pokemon has reached a very critical crossroads, and I'm just going to come right out and say it - how in the world did four companies get together and go, "gee, Pokemon Sleep sounds like a great idea"? How did this, and the Pokemon Go Plus Plus get enough approval from four executive teams to actually air on live television?

Sorry. Rant over - for now. Let's hope the news we're getting about Sword & Shield is better than that!

CHAPTER 7
Kept Under Wraps!

"Those are cool and all..." Todd told Clemont, looking around at the wide variety of inventions he had been showing him. "But how do any of these relate to Pokemon?"

The 'interview', if one could even call it that, had been going on for about an hour, and all Todd had learned was that Clemont was a nerd. And not just a slightly nerdy electronics geek, but quite possibly the nerdiest nerd he had ever met, one who could rattle off hardware specifications in his sleep and who spoke to computers with more affection than he had probably ever addressed another human. His social skills were decent, most likely from all the time he had spent as a Gym Leader, but they were certainly lacking when compared with those of Serena and Ash. And most importantly, he had not taken a break in his explanation of his inventions. Todd had opened with a fairly generic greeting, and stuttering and trembling with nerves, Clemont had simply proceeded to show off his inventions - fourteen of them so far.

"Pokemon?" Clemont asked blankly, staring around at the inventions he had left. "Oh!" He pulled out another one, a box with a screen on it that seemed to almost have a microphone of sorts attached to it. "The future is now thanks to science! This is the Pokemon Language Translator. It can translate what any Pokemon is saying into our language!"

"What?" Bonnie exclaimed, leaning forward and taking it away from him. "Didn't this explode?"

"Bonnie, give that back!" Clemont exclaimed, reaching for it, but Bonnie yanked it out of range.

"And besides exploding. Wasn't this invention a failure?" Bonnie asked. "Like all of them?" Clemont's expression soured, and with a shrug, Bonnie handed back the invention.

"You all only thought it was a failure," Clemont said smugly. "It turns out it worked after all. So I rebuilt it, thank you very much."

"Does it really work on every Pokemon?" Todd asked with interest, scribbling down some things in his notebook.

"Well..." Clemont said sheepishly. "It's supposed to, but there are certainly a lot of Pokemon, and I haven't tested it out with all of them. There seems to be a problem when it comes to Electric types, as well. It doesn't work for Pikachu or Dedenne, or for Luxray. I think it must be something to do about their electronic charge, they just short it out if they try to use it. But it has worked for our other Pokemon!"

Todd nodded approvingly. "The magazine will love this! This is some really groundbreaking work!" Clemont blushed, pleased with the compliment. "I guess as an Electric type trainer you won't really be able to show me this in action, huh?" He sounded a little disappointed.

"Oh!" Clemont said, not having realized that Todd would assume all his Pokemon were Electric type. "I have other Pokemon that would be more than happy to help out. Chespin, Bunnelby, come on out!"

They both burst out of their Pokeballs, looking expectantly at Clemont. Bunnelby seemed very calm, and was quietly surveying Chespin, who appeared to be much more high-strung. He was jumping from side to side, waving his paws in the air as he waited for orders from Clemont. Every third bounce was accompanied by a loud smack as his tail hit the ground, and Bunnelby shook his head in chagrin.

"We have company," Clemont warned his friends, gesturing at Todd. Both Pokemon turned around and stared at him. "Say hello!" He turned the microphone on, holding it in front of their faces.

Chespin, naturally was the first to speak. "Chespin!" he called out. "Chespin, ches!" The screen in Clemont's hand printed out Hello! Nice to meet you!, and he turned it towards Todd, who smiled widely.

"It's nice to meet you too, Chespin!" he said brightly. "And you too, Bunnelby," he said to the quieter Pokemon.

"Bunnelby," the Pokemon responded solemnly, and the screen printed out, Greetings.

"Amazing," Todd said, looking over the device. "I would be using this all the time if I had one! Do you talk to them often this way?"

"Not really," Clemont admitted. "To be honest, I don't need this much to communicate with my own Pokemon. I understand them just fine." He smiled fondly at them, and Chespin bounced back towards him excitedly.

"Chespin!" he cried out, looking towards the kitchen.

"That," Clemont said proudly, adjusting his glasses, "is Chespin's way of telling me he wants food."

"Close!" Todd said, looking at the screen. "He said, 'I smell macarons.'"

"And you want one, right, Chespin?" Clemont smiled at him, patting him on the head.

"Ches!" Chespin agreed, as the screen printed out, Yes!

"Okay," he said. "We can go to the kitchen and get one after the interview, okay?"

"Chespin…" he said miserably, looking towards the kitchen.

"Uh, Clemont, I think he wants one now…" Todd said, still reading the translator.

"Bunnel," Bunnelby said sternly, standing in front of Chespin. "Bunnel, bunnelby." Stop being greedy, the translator printed out. You can wait.

"Ches!" Chespin yelled at him. "Ches, pin pin!" I'm not being greedy, I'm just hungry!

"Bunnelby!" he said firmly. You just ate!

"Oh no," Clemont said, sensing trouble. "You two, don't…" But it was too late. Chespin and Bunnelby were yelling back and forth at each other now, each talking over each other. Sadly, it wasn't that uncommon for them to be arguing, but it was uncommon for a machine to be translating their words as they did so, and in an effort to keep up, it beeped and started printing out things faster.

"Clemont..." Todd said warningly, watching the words jumble together until they fizzled out altogether, the machine shaking dangerously. But Clemont, still trying to break apart the argument, didn't hear him or notice the machine.

"Run for cover!" Bonnie yelled. "It's going to to explode!"

The warning came too late. With a final shudder, the machine begin smoking, before shaking dangerously and releasing a small explosion that covered both Todd and Clemont with soot, while Bonnie, who had dived out of the way just in time, laughed at them from a distance.

"You should have listened to me!" she crowed triumphantly, pointing at them.

Clemont sighed deeply, looking at his invention with a mix of sorrow and irritation. "Obviously it still needs some work..." He moved the now-damaged invention out of the way, catching sight of Chespin and Bunnelby's nervous expressions as they surveyed the aftermath of the explosion. "Don't worry," he assured them. "It isn't your fault, it's mine...again...Chespin, Bunnelby, return." They both disappeared inside their Pokeballs, and Clemont stared down at the floor, obviously disappointed.

Brought out of her room by the sound of the explosion, Serena suddenly appeared in the living room, gasping as she saw the smoke. "Oh no!" she cried out. "Is everyone okay?" Small explosions coming from Clemont's workshop happened every other week, but they were rare in the living room.

"I'm just fine," Bonnie said with a smirk. "These two, on the other hand..." she gestured towards Todd and Clemont, who were both coughing now.

"Oh," Serena said, glancing at the pair. "Todd, I didn't know you were here! Do you need anything?" she asked, concerned since he was most likely not used to electronics blowing up around him.

"Maybe some water," he said. His throat felt dry, and he was surprised his voice still worked after the amount of smoke he had inhaled.

"Of course!" she said, rushing off to the kitchen to get him a water bottle.

"Aren't you going to ask Clemont if he needs anything?" Bonnie asked slyly, trailing her out to the kitchen.

Serena stiffened, getting a second water bottle out of the fridge and handing it to her. "I suppose he might need one of these too."

Bonnie darted back to the living room, water bottle in hand, but to Serena's surprise she handed the water bottle she was holding to Todd, forcing Serena to give hers to Clemont. He accepted with a somewhat surprised thank you, but the tension between them didn't go unnoticed by Todd, who exchanged a look with Bonnie. This must have been what she was referring to earlier.

"If you don't mind, I'm going back upstairs," Serena said, brushing off her clothing as if worried that soot had gotten on them just by her being near the now broken invention. "It was nice to see you, Todd," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared up the staircase.

"Everything okay between you two?" Todd asked casually, taking a sip of the water.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Clemont said, though it was obvious the question had made him uncomfortable. "We'll be fine," he said as Todd continued to stare at him. "Really! We just had a misunderstanding."

Todd nodded, seeing that he wasn't going to get any more information out of him on the subject. "Well, then I guess it's time to move onto the other part of the interview."

"What other part?" Clemont asked. "I thought you just wanted to know about my inventions!"

"And about you," Todd explained. "Who is the man behind these amazing inventions? And is he really the greatest scientific mind of our time?"

"I-I wouldn't say that..." Clemont said, blushing. He had never been that good at accepting compliments, though it was always nice to hear them, especially from someone like Todd who knew him almost exclusively by reputation.

"Nonsense!" Todd told him, smiling broadly at him. "Why don't you tell me how you got into being an inventor in the first place?"

And so Clemont told him all about his childhood; how he had always been drawn to his dad's workshop, which was now an appliance repair store that was run out of their garage. He explained how he had been taught about a lot of different aspects of electronics from his dad, and how he would often sneak into the garage late at night to practice what he had learned that day. He would always be taking things apart and putting them back together again, sometimes incorrectly, which resulted in more of the explosions like the one that had just happened.

"I struggled a lot with my confidence," he admitted, feeling rather ashamed. "It was difficult to live up to my parents expectations. Mom was the Gym Leader at the time, and she always wanted me to take over for her. Dad always wanted me to work with him in the family business. But I wasn't good with Pokemon back then, and I wasn't good with the business side of things either. All I was good at was making things - and even that didn't go so well. So eventually I decided I had to go to school."

School had not been the easiest for Clemont, either. He was smarter than most of the students, and was frequently the teacher's pet, which made it difficult for him to make friends. So he poured himself into his studies, staying up late to work on brand new inventions. It was only four years before he graduated at the top of his class, with honors awarded for inventing the Clemontic Showers, which were installed near the university and were still being used to this day.

"I always had wanted to go back for my graduate studies," he said with only the slightest hint of regret. "But it just didn't work out for me."

"Really?" Todd asked in surprise. "I thought you had an advanced degree. Don't you work along scientists and engineers?"

"Yes," Clemont said. "But it's only because of the Gym that I'm so well-known. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten those opportunities. Not that it ended up helping that much, really. I had to come back here and run the Gym," he said in response to Todd's unspoken question. "The city was going to shut it down, and I just...I couldn't let that happen," he mumbled.

"So would you say being a Gym Leader is your true calling, then?" Todd asked him curiously.

"Hardly. Actually I was terrible at it when I first started. I didn't have any of my own Pokemon, just Mom's Pokemon...I lasted for about a year before we closed the Gym again, and then spent the next year training really hard, to be the kind of Gym Leader that Lumiose City deserves...that Mom would be proud of," he said sadly. "We finally reopened, and I did better that time, but eventually I just couldn't do it anymore. I invented Clembot, and put him in charge of the Gym. Shortly after that, I met Ash." He paused, a peaceful smile coming over his face. "And now I'm back. I only have to be a Gym Leader sometimes. The rest of the time I can just work on my inventions."

"So you're happy with how everything turned out, then?" Todd questioned him, grinning internally. He was so close to being able to get to his own set of questions, the answers to which he didn't intend to make it into the magazine.

"I guess," Clemont said. "I mean, I wish I was known more for my inventions than for being a Gym Leader...but I still have time to make that happen. Maybe it would have happened earlier if things went differently, but..." His eyes clouded over slightly as he ran through the scenarios that might have occurred should he have stayed in school longer, but he shook his head. None of those scenarios would have resulted in him meeting Ash, and feelings aside, he had to admit that one of the reasons he was doing so well now was because Ash had restored his faith in himself. "Yes, I am happy."

"I'm glad to hear that," Todd said, relieved. He had seen interviews turn disastrous quickly when questions brought up too much heartbreak and regret from the past, and definitely hadn't wanted to see that happen here. "But, what's life without someone to share it with? Is there anyone...special, in your life right now, Clemont?"

"Special?" he said, confused. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"You know," Todd said, leaning in close. "A partner. A romantic partner," he clarified.

"He means a girlfriend!" Bonnie called, and Todd shook his head, sighing.

"Oh." Clemont laughed nervously. "No, and..." he suddenly turned to Bonnie. "That was why you wanted to bring Todd up here! Bonnie! I've told you a million times, I don't need help!"

"And I've told you a million and one, yes you do! Come on big brother, the girl of your dreams might read this article!"

"I highly doubt that," Clemont muttered, then turned back to Todd, determined to ignore Bonnie for the rest of the interview. "No, I don't have a girlfriend and no, I'm not looking for one. If any of this makes its way to your article..."

"It won't, I promise!" Todd put his hand over his heart, as if making a pledge. "But, it's interesting..." he mused, checking Clemont's expression out of the corner of his eye. "Ash said the same thing in his interview."

"What?" Clemont asked. "Ash had an interview with you? He didn't tell me that!"

"Oh, I can't imagine he would have." Todd chuckled. "Has he been okay these past couple days, by the way? Not acting strange, is he?" He grinned almost evilly, sure that Ash would not thank him for enlightening Clemont about their discussion - yet.

"Actually, he has been a bit off...I think he's getting sick," Clemont said, in a serious tone. "He just...sits around, not doing anything. And he was up late one night, which is strange for him. But he seems alright otherwise...why? Did he say something to you?"

"Oh, you could say that." Todd laughed, unable to help himself. "Well, I think I have everything I need." He tapped his notebook smartly with his knuckles, before slipping it back into his bag. "It's just like I told Serena for her interview," he explained. "Could be weeks, could be months. I'll let you know what happens."

"Thanks," Clemont said. "Do you want me to -"

"Nope!" Todd cut him off with a nonchalant wave. "I'm sure Bonnie would like to accompany me. Isn't that right?" he asked her, and her eyes lit up.

"You bet!" She turned to her brother with a sweet smile. "May I?"

"Yes," Clemont told her, wondering what she could possibly want to talk to him about now. "But only if you don't discuss my love life!"

"We won't," Todd promised, fingers crossed behind his back with a wink directed at Bonnie. "Thanks for the interview, Clemont," he said, walking towards the elevator, Bonnie trailing behind him.

"You're very welcome," he said, shaking his head as he watched the two of them. They were up to something - both of them. He just wasn't sure what.

"That wasn't helpful at all!" Bonnie burst out with, as soon as they were safely on the elevator. "And you." She poked his chest with an accusatory finger, glaring at him. "How dumb can you be? You asked exactly what I wanted, and you could have been 100 dollars richer for it!"

Todd smirked at her. "It just happened that we wanted to ask about the same thing - but by not taking your money, I did it for me. Not you." He hummed in satisfaction, then looked at her closely. "And so you know, Clemont's answers were very helpful. Choosing not to answer is an answer in itself - and sometimes you learn a bit more from those."

"They weren't helpful! He said he wasn't looking for a girlfriend," she pouted. "I just want him to find happiness with someone! Sometimes I think he'll never find a keeper."

"On the contrary," Todd corrected her. "I think he's already decided on someone. Otherwise he wouldn't be so insistent on not finding this...'keeper', you keep mentioning."

"But Clemont's always been that defensive about it!" Bonnie whined. "He's turned down every keeper I found for him with the same stupid reason!"

"Exactly." Todd winked at her, and Bonnie's eyes grew wide as what he was saying sunk in. "He must have had this someone in mind for a while..."

"What!?" Bonnie practically leaped at him. "Do you think that's true? I mean if he's already picked someone, I should at least make sure they're good for him, but that would be so much better if he was already on board with the idea! Who is it?"

"I have a theory," Todd told her, winking. "But I'm afraid I can't share it with you. Give it some thought and perhaps you'll come to a similar conclusion. Here," He produced a business card as the elevator deposited them on the ground floor, flourishing it in her direction, and Bonnie took it, staring at it curiously. It was very plain, and contained only Todd's name and a phone number, but flipping it over she saw that the back was designed to look like a camera. "That's my personal line," Todd explained. "Give me a call if you ever want to discuss this again." And with a mock salute, he stepped off the elevator backwards, turning back around as the doors closed, leaving Bonnie still staring in shock at the place he had just been standing.

It was an uncomfortable dinner that night at their shared apartment in Prism Tower. Serena was trying her best not to speak to Clemont, Clemont was refusing to make eye contact with anyone, and Bonnie was trying to engage them all in a conversation with no success.

"Uh, did something happen while I was out?" Ash asked, mumbling around a mouthful of food. Though he normally didn't pay much attention to their home dynamic, even he had noticed that something seemed off. He was used to eating with a constant chatter going on around him with Clemont prattling on about his inventions, Bonnie giving feedback on each one of them, and Serena trying to keep them from arguing when Bonnie called one of his invention's names stupid.

"No." Serena and Clemont answered at the same time, glaring at each other across the table as they did so. Serena eventually turned away with a slight noise of dissatisfaction, while Clemont stared down at his plate.

"Yes!" Bonnie exclaimed loudly, looking back and forth from her friend to her brother in irritation. "Todd stopped by today for Clemont's interview!"

"Aw man, and I missed him?" Ash asked, sounding disappointed. "That's too bad! What did he ask you about, Clemont? Did you get a chance to show off all your inventions?"

Clemont begin to answer, but Bonnie cut him off. "He told us that you had an interview with him too!"

"Of course he did," Ash said sourly, but his comment was drowned out by Serena rejoining the conversation.

"Really, Ash?" she practically squealed with delight. "That's great! When will yours be out?"

"We, uh, didn't discuss that part," Ash said with a nervous laugh, remembering how their interview had come to an abrupt end when Todd had insinuated he had feelings for his best friend. "I'm sure it will be out soon enough, though!" A sudden thought crossed his mind, and he looked at Clemont with alarm. "Did he say anything else about my interview?"

"I don't think so," Clemont said haltingly. He did feel a bit bad lying to Ash - but if he hadn't mentioned the interview to any of them in the first, he doubted Ash would want to continue talking about it now. Unfortunately, Bonnie did not have the same thought process.

"He said you don't want a girlfriend!" She quickly glanced at Serena to see how she was handling that news. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides, but her expression remained calm, so she continued with her next question. "Is that true?"

Ash laughed, flashing them all a rather shaky grin. "You know Todd, always joking around about things!"

"And he wanted to know if you've been acting strange," Bonnie said, raising her eyebrows. His avoidance of the question had not gone unnoticed, and she decided that most definitely qualified as strange.

"Gee, that's sure nice of him to worry about me," Ash said, abruptly standing up. "I hope you told him I'm always strange, and proud of it!" He gave them a thumbs up, but everyone at the table just stared silently at him, and he eventually just picked his baseball cap up off the table, placing it back on his head. "Thanks for dinner, Clemont, it was really great! I think I'm going to head upstairs." With a last worried glance at his friends, he exited the room, trying his best to not run out of the room altogether. Those questions seemed like a close call, and he wasn't prepared to deal with any sort of confession yet.

"I'm done too!" Bonnie announced after he left, pushing her plate away from her. "Can I go play with Dedenne until bedtime, pleasssee Clemont?" She gave him her most charming smile, and he smiled back.

"Sure, Bonnie," he said, and she jumped up gleefully, running into the living room.

Clemont glanced around, feeling rather awkward as he realized this now meant he was alone in the kitchen with Serena. She had been polite but distant with him all day, and seemed no happier to be alone with him than she had been to find out he was harboring secret feelings towards her crush.

"Serena -" he begin, wanting to patch things between them, but she cut him off, her voice soft and yet full of cynicism that was not normally there.

"Why don't you go too," she suggested. "I'll clean up here."

He slowly got up from his chair, as she did from hers. She grabbed a couple of the plates and headed towards the dishwasher, Clemont watching her silently. They couldn't go on like this, not when they lived in the same house. He had to say something.

"We need to talk." The authoritative tone felt all wrong; it was the one he used when reprimanding Bonnie or reigning in an overly competitive challenger.

"I'm sure you can see I'm a little busy right now," Serena replied, a forced smile on her face. She turned her back on him, pretending to fiddle with settings on their dishwasher. With several swift steps, Clemont walked up behind her and placed a hand on her wrist.

"No," he said firmly, and let go, allowing her to turn around and face him. "Serena. You're my friend. It hurts me to see you in pain. And I feel awful knowing I've caused it."

"There's nothing to talk about," she told him. "I don't hate you or judge you, okay? I just...don't want to talk about it." She couldn't really put to words why she was so upset with him. After all, she hadn't been brave enough to ask Ash out, either - nor could she blame Clemont for having those feelings in the first place, not when she could see just how wonderful and amazing Ash truly was.

Clemont sighed, shifting uncomfortably. "That...wasn't how I intended for you to find out. Really, that's not how I would intend for anyone to find out."

Serena pondered this, tilting her head to the side as she thought about it. She really didn't have much to lose from their exchange. Almost everyone knew about her crush on Ash already - she had not done a good job hiding it, and Ash was so oblivious to the emotions of those around him that she hadn't really felt the need to. But Clemont had a lot to lose. Not only had he managed to keep his feelings for Ash hidden the entire time they were traveling together, he also had been hiding that he was gay from everyone, even his family. The realization made her feel instantly sympathetic, and she gave him a sad, but genuine, smile. "Does anyone else know?" she asked, and Clemont shook his head. "I mean...about...you know..."

"No." He took a deep, rattling breath. "I'm...too scared to tell anyone. Besides, can you imagine Bonnie's reaction?"

"Oh, my." Serena thought of the whole new range of 'keepers' Bonnie might find, and stifled a giggle. "I see where that could be a problem!"

They had been so focused on their conversation that they failed to notice Ash doubling back towards the kitchen. He had been so determined to leave that he had completely forgotten the macarons Serena had offered him before dinner, and he was starting to feel like he had been cheated out of dessert. He approached the kitchen with Pikachu bounding after him, but stopped in the doorway, finding Serena and Clemont deep in conversation. Neither had noticed him yet, and bringing a finger to his lips as he exchanged a glance with Pikachu, he positioned himself along the side of the door, just out of view. He knew that eavesdropping was a bad habit, but he couldn't help it - he always learned such interesting things when he did it.

"There was one more thing," Clemont was saying. "I'm not sure if you really meant this, but...I wanted you to know, I don't want you to move out." Behind the door, Ash stifled a gasp. Was Serena thinking of leaving?

"I didn't mean to say that." She blushed, hanging her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I just...I was surprised, that's all. I..." She fell silent, and her next words came out in a quavering voice. "I never expected you to feel that way."

Now it was Clemont's turn to blush. "It came as a surprise to me too, believe me. But...we're okay, right? I mean. We can work past this. For what it's worth, I think Ash enjoys having you here. And Bonnie looks up to you - she thinks of you as her role model, like the big sister she always wanted. We're a team, the four of us. Right?" He shifted his glasses up a bit, looking at her nervously as he waited for a response.

"Of course!" she sang out, pleased with the compliment. "Still friends?" She held out her arms for a hug, her way of apologizing for her behavior over the past couple hours.

"Always," Clemont said. He leaned forwards, intending to give her a small hug, one that said only that he was glad she had forgiven him. But she apparently had other ideas, pulling him in close and leaning in towards his ear.

"May the best person win," she whispered with a surprisingly competitive edge.

And Ash, still watching them silently from his hiding place, could not help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had the smallest of crushes on Clemont after all, and if he had just watched his chance to be with him slip away before he even had the opportunity to really come to term with those feelings.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I definitely think that was my longest chapter so far, and to continue with some good news - we're finally getting closer to the parts you've all been waiting for! In the next chapter, I promise there will be a big Diodeshipping moment. The main event, as you will, is still a bit away - but I will be trying to make the chapters as entertaining as I can while you wait! I do want to thank you all so much for your patience, and your support - it means so much to me.

Also, completely random, but does anyone know where to buy a large wall decal of Chespin? I've been looking but can only find small ones. His presence is required in my kitchen (which was actually painted and designed specifically with Chespin and his love of macarons in mind), and the plushie I have of him just isn't working out great in there.

Stay tuned for Chapter 9, and thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!