AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you all so much for your support last chapter! I'm starting to see a lot more names I recognize from when I first starting writing this, and it means a lot that you guys haven't given up on me.

For this chapter, I'm not sure if real life television is something that actually exists in the Pokemon world, but basing this on the televisions and game systems seen in the games, I'm going to just say it goes. Hope you all like sci-fi as much as I (and Clemont) do!

CHAPTER 10
Three's A Crowd!

Though Clemont had not doubted that Bonnie would tell Ash about his feelings if he failed to, the full extent of how far her threat carried was not evident to him until several nights later, when he and Ash were watching reruns of an old cartoon on television.

"No matter how many times I watch this, I'm always amazed by how much that character looks like you," Clemont told him, shaking his head. "I mean, he even has a Pikachu!"

"What?" Ash said. "You're crazy! He doesn't look anything like me! And I mean, I know the camera adds ten pounds, but..." he tilted his head to the side, squinting at the screen. "I'm pretty sure Pikachu never looked like that."

"Pika pika," Pikachu agreed, bounding forward to get a better look at the screen. As the Pikachu in the cartoon spun around like a ballerina, he did too, and both Ash and Clemont laughed.

"Are you two watching that dumb cartoon again?" Bonnie asked, walking into the room with a bowl of popcorn. She crossed in front of the screen and plopped down on the couch next to Ash.

"Bonnie! This isn't a dumb cartoon! Indigo League is the most respected animation from our childhood, and is incredibly inspirational to aspiring Pokemon Trainers!"

"Yeah, and it's based in my hometown!" Ash said. "How cool is that?"

"Not very," she replied, sticking her tongue out at the pair. "I hope I won't be a boring old person one day, trying to convince the younger generation that ancient cartoons are worth watching."

"We're not even 20!" Ash protested, but Bonnie ignored him, plucking the remote from his grasp and promptly changing the channel.

"Hey! We were watching that!" Clemont admonished.

"That's too bad," Bonnie said, sticking her nose up in the air. "I went to all the trouble to make this popcorn, so I want to watch a movie!"

"I would be cool with a movie," Ash said, stealing a handful of the popcorn. "What's on?"

"No idea," Bonnie admitted, flipping through channels. "These all look lame."

"You just changed the channel on both Star Trek and Quantum Leap," Clemont complained. "Those aren't lame!"

"They're also not movies," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, even if they were, we don't want to watch stuffy old science fiction, right, Ash?" She nudged him in the side with her elbow, and he frowned at her.

"I would watch a science fiction movie if that's what Clemont wanted," he replied loyally. While he had yet to watch any of the series Clemont occasionally talked about, he did read more science fiction than he let on, and figured there was a good chance he would actually enjoy it in a televised form.

"Thank you, Ash," Clemont said, pleasantly surprised. "You know, we have several choices of science fiction movies in our DVD collection." He got down on his knees, reaching for the DVD storage in their TV stand. "We have The Matrix...Back To The Future...oh, and here's Star Wars..."

At this point, Bonnie would have agreed to watch something, anything, just to make Clemont stop talking about science fiction, but she could not help but notice the way Ash's eyes flickered towards Clemont's backside, and she smiled as a sudden inspiration struck her.

"Hey, I know!" she said, her eyes narrowing. "Let's watch a horror film!"

"No way, Bonnie." Ash shook his head, laughing. "You know Clemont can't handle those." The last time they had decided to watch a horror film together, Clemont had spent the better parts of the movie with his hands over his eyes, asking Ash to let him know when it was safe to look again.

"That's not true!" Clemont had excused himself from the DVD case, and was now sitting back on the couch with them. "I can handle them just fine! I just don't like them very much."

"Yeah, sure, I believe you," Bonnie said with heavy sarcasm. "Tell you what. We'll pick something more your speed. Pikachu," she said sweetly to the Electric Pokemon who was still on the ground. "Can you find a good movie for us?"

"Come on, don't make Pikachu do your work for you!" Ash complained, but Pikachu did not seem to mind, pulling out the DVDs one at a time for Bonnie to review them.

"No...no...no...perfect!" she said, as Pikachu pulled out The Blob.

"You have got to be kidding me," Clemont said, shaking his head. "I'm not watching that!"

"Scared?" Bonnie asked, grinning, and Clemont glared at her.

"No, I most certainly am not!" he said indignantly, and as if to prove his point, he snatched the DVD up and popped it in, sitting back down rather angrily as the copyright warning came up on the screen.

Bonnie watched him for a second, and then leaned over and whispered loudly to Ash: "He'll do a lot better if someone holds his hand through the movie."

"I don't need anyone to hold my hand!" Clemont snapped at her, blushing.

"Oh, I think you do," Bonnie said, winking at him from across the couch. "But, if you don't agree, we can always switch movies. I would also be in the mood for a good romance tonight." She pointed first at Clemont and then at Ash, puckering her lips and blinking innocently.

"Uh…" Ash said blankly, turning to Bonnie just in time to miss her display. Clemont gaped at her from behind Ash's back. Her meaning was very clear to him, even if Ash had missed it. "Aren't you a little young for romance films?"

"No. Girls love romance," she explained to him slowly. "You know. We all have something that we looovveee...isn't that right, Clemont?" She laughed wickedly at his flaming red face, and turned back to the TV. "Oh, Ash?" she asked, handing him the popcorn bowl. "Can you put some more butter on this for me?"

"Sure," he said, taking the bowl and excusing himself to the kitchen. "Don't start the movie without me!"

"What are you doing?" Clemont hissed at her, as soon as Ash was out of sight. "This isn't funny!"

"It's not supposed to be," Bonnie told him, arching an eyebrow. "Do you know how many couples have gotten together because of scary scenes in a horror movie?"

"I don't care!" Clemont replied hotly. "If you keep this up, Ash is going to put the pieces together before we're even halfway through the movie!"

"That's the idea," Bonnie smirked, and Clemont glared at her.

"I thought you said you would give me some time!" he said angrily. "You agreed I could tell Ash myself, when the time was right!"

"Tell me what?" Ash said, and Clemont jumped up in surprise. He had not realized that Ash had come back from the kitchen already, and Bonnie, who was facing that direction, had not given him a heads up.

"Oh, nothing," Bonnie said with a giggle, and looking at her suspiciously, he sat down on the couch again. Next to him, Bonnie tapped her wrist like she was checking an imaginary watch and mouthed the word now at Clemont, who could do nothing more than scowl at her.

Despite her threat, she let them watch the first half of the movie in silence as she munched on her very buttery popcorn, mainly because she couldn't stand to let it get any colder than it already was. She was much more interested in watching Ash and Clemont than actually paying attention to The Blob. She noticed that Ash left his hand turned up at his side, presumably in case Clemont needed it, but she also noticed that every time Clemont's hand wandered in that direction, he would pull it back into his lap and look down with a small frown. Pathetic, she thought.

"I don't think I can watch anymore of this," she announced loudly, and both Ash and Clemont turned towards her.

"What?" Clemont exclaimed, as Ash stared confused at Bonnie. "But we're only watching this because of you!"

"Don't care," she sang, getting up quickly. As she stood up, she pretended to lose her balance, crashing back down on the couch and bumping hard into Ash as she did so. "Oops!" she cried. "Sorry!" She looked over, satisfied with her work. Ash had in turn fallen on Clemont, who was now pressed as close to the arm of the couch as he could be.

"Sorry, Clemont..." Ash righted himself, accidentally putting his hand on Clemont's leg in the process. Clemont gasped as he felt Ash's hand brush against his knee, and Ash looked at him in concern, misinterpreting the reason for it. "It's okay," he said comfortingly, though a quick look back at the screen told him that nothing particularly scary was happening on screen at the moment. "You know we wouldn't need to worry about anything like this in real life." With a deep breath, he reached over and took Clemont's hand in his own, smiling at him reassuringly as Clemont stared at him surprise.

"This isn't really that scary, you know," Clemont replied, but he did not let go of Ash's hand. "There's always a risk involved with science. Movies like this simply encourage people to always double-check that last algorithm." They both settled into comfier positions on the couch, flashing each other shy smiles at different intervals.

Pleased with the result of her accidental fall, Bonnie bounced back off the couch. "I'll just leave you two here," she said, before running off towards the top of the stairs, or as she preferred to call it, an excellent place to spy on the pair from. Unnoticed by anyone, Pikachu climbed on the couch from his place on the floor and took Bonnie's spot, looking sadly at the empty popcorn bowl.

The rest of the movie was uneventful, though neither Ash nor Clemont moved from their spot on the couch, continuing to hold hands even through the credits. To both their disappointments, Ash pulled his hand away as soon as the credits ended. "See?" he said, nervously tugging at his hair. "That wasn't so bad."

"You're right, Ash," Clemont said, nodding, reminding himself to keep breathing and to not look too depressed about the absence of Ash's hand. "In fact, I believe that movie inspired me! I'm going to work on my inventions for a bit."

"Aw, you don't want to go back to our Indigo League marathon?" Ash asked, looking only a little upset.

"Not tonight," Clemont lied, turning back to face the now-blank screen. He did not think he could sit next to Ash for any longer tonight, knowing that he would not have any more excuses to hold his hand, and having to pretend that the last 45 minutes of hand holding had meant nothing to him.

Slowly, he got up, dragging himself towards the stairs. As he looked up and saw that Bonnie had been sitting there, he grimaced, but headed up anyway. "Unbelievable," she hissed at him as he passed her at the first landing. "I gave you the perfect opportunity, and you blew it!"

He sighed, hearing the sound of her footsteps following him all the way upstairs to his workshop. "I told you Bonnie, it isn't the right time."

"And when, exactly, do you think the right time is?" she raised her voice slightly, knowing that they were safely out of earshot of the rest of the house.

"Probably never," Clemont mumbled, sounding upset. "Look, I understand what you're trying to do and I appreciate it...sort of," he amended, not wanting Bonnie to feel too pleased with herself. "But you forgot an important detail. Ash isn't gay. If I tell him how I feel, when he can never return those feelings, I'm probably going to lose him as a friend. I...I can't lose him. I would rather him in my life as only a friend than have to give him up forever. You'll understand when you're older." He smiled sadly at her, and turned on his computer, planning to immerse himself in programming for the rest of the evening.

"Clemont!" Bonnie tugged at his arm, and he shook his head. He wasn't in the mood for more conversation. "If I can prove you're wrong about Ash, will you tell him how you feel?" She had conveniently forgotten that if asked only a week ago, she would have told anyone that Ash was straight, and just hopeless in the romance department.

"Oh, no," Clemont said suspiciously. "Bonnie, I forbid you from asking him if he's gay! Do you have any idea how inappropriate that is?"

"I wasn't going to," she said sullenly. At Clemont's continued gaze, she finally mumbled: "Okay, fine, I won't." As soon as he turned back to his computer, she stuck his tongue out at him. "I have other means of finding out," she told him, and then ran back down the stairs before he could impose any more limitations on her methods.

"Ooh, isn't Aria pretty?" Bonnie asked Ash the next morning, watching the Pokevision channel on the television. It was showing a previous performance at a showcase, rebroadcast to the general public. Aria twirled and danced on the screen with her Delphox, waving to all her fans out in the audience. She looked over at Ash, sighing. "That was a question," she said impatiently.

"Sorry Bonnie, I didn't know you were talking to me." Ash peered at the screen briefly, and smiled. "She sure is! Wow. Serena is going to have to work really hard to win the crown from her, but I'm sure she can do it."

Bonnie pouted, sticking out her lower lip as low as it would go. She had not expected the answer to really tell her anything, but patience was not one of her strong suits. "If Aria asked you on a date, would you go?"

Ash stared at her blankly. "Why would Aria ask me on a date?"

"I don't know, we're only talking hyp...hypo..." she screwed up her face in concentration, trying to think of the word. She knew she heard Clemont use it a lot when he was rambling about his inventions, but she couldn't quite hear it in her head.

"Hypothetically?" Ash asked, and Bonnie nodded.

"Right! So hypothetically," she tested it out, "if Aria asked you out, would you want to go?"

Ash thought about it for a second. "Nope."

"Aha!" Bonnie exclaimed, and Ash looked at her suspiciously as she covered her mouth before she could say anything else that would abruptly end their conversation. "Why?" she asked, curious. Most people she knew would have said yes just for the fame and the spotlight that would undoubtedly come with the date, even if they had not been interested for the reasons one would typically would have for going on a date.

"She's Serena's biggest competition!" Ash explained. "I mean, I know they're friends too, but it just doesn't seem right. Maybe them being friends is one of the reasons it doesn't seem right."

"Hmm." Bonnie fell silent. She did not think they knew any girls that weren't trying out for the position of Kalos Queen, besides herself. But that was okay - there were plenty of other ways to do this.

"How about that guy?" she asked, pointing at the screen where Monsieur Pierre now stood, announcing the next contestant in the performance.

"What about him?" Ash scarcely glanced at the screen before returning to flipping through an issue of Pokemon Time he had picked up at the store the day before, so that next time he saw Todd he would at least be able to honestly say he was keeping up with his work.

"Do you think he's attractive?" Ash was glad he had not been eating or drinking anything, or he would have choked on it. As is, he almost ripped a page in the magazine as he jolted in surprise. Not deterred by his lack of a spoken response, Bonnie tried another question. "Would you go on a date with him?"

"I don't even know him," Ash replied with a trace of hostility, feeling rather like he was the butt end of a joke no one had any intention of letting him in on.

"Alright, alright." Bonnie held up her hands in defense. "I was just asking. Sheesh! No need to be so sensitive." She gave him a sidelong glance, grinning widely. "But...another hypothetical question. If a guy ever did ask you out...would you prefer that to a girl asking you out?"

There was no good way to answer such a question. He would find it strange no matter who asked him out, simply because he did not see himself as being particularly desirable to anyone, mostly because of his incapability of being an attentive boyfriend and his cluelessness when it came to most social cues. And so he chose to answer only with a question of his own. "Why are you asking me about this?"

"Reasons," Bonnie replied quickly, reminding herself of what Todd had told her: Choosing not to answer is an answer in itself - and sometimes you learn a bit more from those. Shame she still believed that any answer was better than no answer at all, even non-answers that provided information.

Her response had done little to impress Ash. Though he did not usually pay much attention to what was going on with others, it was hard to miss how strange Bonnie had acted last night - and now, she was showering him with questions that no one had ever asked him before; questions that she seemed to be looking for a very specific answer for.

"Hey, Bonnie," he said, coming up with a theory. "How old are you now?"

"Twelve!" she told him proudly. "Thirteen this winter.". The idea of her being a teenager seemed to scare both her father and brother quite a bit, and so she never missed an opportunity to mention her upcoming status.

Ash grimaced. He did not have much experience with teenage girls, but he remembered Misty at thirteen, and it had not been the most enjoyable of times for either of them. "Look," he said, feeling immensely uncomfortable. "It means a lot to me that you trust me, but...if you have questions about dating, maybe you should ask Clemont."

"Clemont's never dated anyone," Bonnie told him. "But I think he would like to." She winked, an action that Ash missed because he was looking somewhere, anywhere, other than at her.

"Neither have I," Ash pointed out. "If you feel uncomfortable talking to Clemont, maybe you could try Serena? Advice from another girl might be more fitting." He fidgeted uncomfortably, and was rather glad he did not have a sister of his own to have awkward conversations with.

"Oh!" Bonnie exclaimed, suddenly sounding pleased. "You think I'm asking you about this because I'm interested in dating." She found that somewhat flattering, though she was not entirely sure why.

"Aren't you?" Ash asked, suddenly confused.

Bonnie thought for a moment. "Maybe later. I have too many important things to do first!"

This elicited a laugh from Ash, who understood that feeling all too well. "But wait...if that isn't what this is about, why are you asking me about dates?"

"Uh..." Bonnie chuckled nervously, sliding out of her chair and wondering what escape route had the least likely chance of Ash following her. The logical choice would be one of the bathrooms, but Ash happened to be sitting in between her and the closest one - and there was always the terrifying prospect of him waiting for her to come out so they could finish their conversation. "You know...just asking if...you know."

Ash did not know, and he shook his head. "I work better with direct questions," he admitted, and Bonnie knew it was true. "If you want to know something, just ask. Okay? I promise I won't be mad. I can't promise I'll answer," he tacked on, recognizing her mischievous expression.

Clemont had told Bonnie that she was forbidden from asking Ash outright if he was gay - but he never mentioned anything about asking Ash if he was straight. So that was exactly what she was going to do. "Are you straight? You never seem to talk about girls, so, uh..." she faltered as she saw Ash's eyes grow wide as he processed her question.

Up until now, Ash had only been focused on one emotional question: whether or not his feelings towards Clemont were a fake sense of longing brought on by him being told he felt it; a real, but sudden crush; or deep feelings he had been keeping hidden from himself for some time. He had not given any thought to what those feelings might mean, especially when it came to the labels people so frequently gave themselves and those around them. But, he surmised, a straight man would probably not be having those thoughts in the first place, so he knew the right answer to give Bonnie.

"Do you promise to keep this between us?" Ash asked, not sure how he felt about other people knowing when he wasn't quite sure himself. Bonnie nodded. "Let me see your hands," he said, and with a sigh of irritation, she pulled her hands out from behind her back, revealing crossed fingers. "Bonnie..."

"Okay, okay!" She uncrossed her fingers, and gave him her sweetest smile, pleased that he had not asked to see her toes as well, which were also crossed. "I promise."

"Probably not," he said at last, and she resisted the urge to do a victory dance. "To be honest, I haven't given it a lot of thought," he told her, and she nodded seriously. "But if I were to ever label myself, I don't think that would be the one I choose."

SNAPSHOTS
Pokemon the Series: XY
XY041: Foggy Pokemon Orienteering!

It had started out as a beautiful day, really. The sun was shining, they were all out having fun, and they were so close to winning the championship. But no one had expected Bonnie to go missing halfway through the day, nor had they expected it would take this long to find her. So when Fletchinder flew across the ravine they had nearly walked into, circling overhead to signal something was there, they all knew they had to find out what it was.

"Uh oh," Trevor said, peering through the viewfinder of his camera. He had been wandering around in the woods with his friends, looking for Clemont's sister Bonnie who had gone missing in the fog, and he had a bad feeling he might have just found her. "Could that be..?"

"Trevor, may I look?" Clemont asked politely, coming over to stand next to him. Wordlessly, Trevor handed him the camera, but he only needed to glance at it briefly before drawing back, his whole body tensing as he recognized the form across the ravine. "There's no doubt about it - that's Bonnie!"

"But how did she end up over there?" Serena shrieked, not seeing any way for her or anyone else to make it across the huge gap between the cliffs.

"Don't know, but we've got to get over there too!" Though Tierno didn't know Bonnie quite as well, he did have a great deal of respect for Clemont, and he knew what his sister meant to him.

"But how do we get across this ravine?" Shauna asked, trying to keep her voice steady for the group. The first thing to do in any crisis situation was to keep a firm head and provide support to the others around you. "Clemont, why don't you use your Aipom Arm?"

"Too short, it won't reach..." Clemont was down on his knees, staring down at the ravine. There had to be something, anything to help them get across, and if he kept looking he knew he would find it.

"So now what are we going to do?" Serena was staring sadly across the way, wishing she could think of some way to help. She loved Bonnie just as much as the rest of them, maybe even more since she had come to think of her as the sister she never had.

"There's just gotta be a way," Shauna told her, though she was starting to lose hope as well.

"Look at this!" Trevor exclaimed suddenly, looking through the viewfinder on his camera. "See?" Everyone crowded around him, trying to get a look at the sight below.

"Drifblim," Ash said, recognizing the Balloon Pokemon.

"A bunch of Drifblim and Drifloom," Clemont commented, not even having gotten up to look. He could see them himself, resting all the way at the bottom of the ravine

"Maybe there's a way we can get all of them to help us out." To Trevor, it may have just been an offhand suggestion, but Clemont gasped as inspiration struck him.

"If we can figure out a way to startle them, maybe they'll all fly up at once!" It might have been a long shot, but it was the only way he could think of to rescue Bonnie. And they were running out of time - for all they knew, she could be in need of medical attention.

"Then what?" Ash was confused about Clemont's idea, but Trevor seemed to know exactly what he was saying.

"Of course! I see what you're thinking. Then we can get all of them to fill in the ravine!" He smiled, happy that he had been able to assist in coming up with a solution.

"We'll use them as a bridge!" Clemont exclaimed excitedly, getting up and staring confidently at the small form of his sister. "The future is now, thanks to science!"

"Uhh..." Typically full of admiration for his best friend, Ash could do nothing but stare at him blankly. He had no idea how they could turn Pokemon into a bridge, and even if it was possible, he didn't understand how science played a role in it.

Thankfully, Trevor understood exactly what Clemont was getting at. "In other words, first we'll get them to fly up. Then we'll hop across them while they're still in the ravine and rescue Bonnie!" He pointed across the way, hoping their imaginations would fill in the gap like his had.

"I get it," Ash said at last. It was a unique solution certainly, one that wasn't necessarily the kind of option he would have liked, but in the present situation, it was the best they could do.

"I'll handle this. She's my sister, after all." Clemont closed his eyes, trying not to let the panic show on his face as he shrugged his backpack off his shoulders. One wrong step on the way there, and he would die. But even more worrisome than that, one wrong step on the way back meant Bonnie would die, too.

"Hold on a minute. I'm better at this kind of stuff." Ash could hardly believe what he was saying. This was a dangerous risk to take, even for him. But he had to do it - he couldn't just let Bonnie remain on the other side of the cliff, separated from them and the care she most likely needed. She had become like a sister to him during their travels together, and he cared about her - and Clemont - too much to let either of them suffer for Clemont's lack of physical prowess. "Let me take care of it."

"But, Ash. Are you sure?" It was the truth, and they both knew it. But it was the first time one of them had addressed it out loud; Ash's daring nature and aptitude in athletics compared to Clemont's shy demeanor and lack of strength and stamina.

"You just get them to fly up." He wouldn't go back on his word, no matter how worried he felt. "If we all work together, then rescuing Bonnie's a cinch."

"It's a deal," Clemont agreed, standing to attention.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I think I'm going to run into a real issue with my timing from here on out. Theoretically, Bonnie's torment of Ash and Clemont can't go on for too long (even Ash will figure it out eventually!), but I have a set of events already laid out that happen before they get around to confessing, and not much to build up to those. So I'm afraid this story is either going to seem too slow, or super rushed...or both at the same time. But I'll see what I can do to mitigate that.

Stay tuned for Chapter 11, and thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!