Ash's Realization

by SuperPokeGal123

AU. After the Kalos League, Ash learns things about himself and his abilities after finding out he is linked with someone of his past. Strangely, he doesn't remember her and aspires to figure out what's wrong with his life. Over time, his power increases and... so does his problems. Deviates from anime as lore is revealed. Read and you'll understand. Amourshipping. Aura Ash.

13. Shop Or Will You Drop?

A/N: Hello my lovely readers. I'm back and (hopefully) better than ever. My deepest apologies for not uploading these last couple of months, but I have been working feverishly on both this story and school. Morale has remained high throughout the entire unintentional hiatus, which is why I managed to type out quite a few chapters in advance. Consistent uploads will begin once again. I'm so sorry for the wait, but here it is. My 'I'm sorry' present. This is my longest chapter to date and I hope this will cover for the two month lack of updates~

Last we left off, Bonnie suggested the gang should unwind a little while Charles began to scheme Aurora's downfall. What will happen in this chapter? Let's find out.

Happy New Year ^_^

Certain things to note:

"..."- This denotes regular speech or thoughts in flashbacks.

"..." This denotes thoughts, flashback or telepathy when stated directly.

"..." This denotes a Pokemon's speech or Pokemon thoughts in flashbacks.

"..." This denotes a Pokemon's thoughts, telepathy or Pokemon speech in flashbacks when stated directly.

"(...)" (This denotes a Pokemon speaking, but only select characters like Ash or Aurora can understand it.)

Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by Nintendo and... yeah, Game Freak. This story is, of course, mine, but Pokemon is Game Freak's. I'm just using the characters for your enjoyment :)

Onward to the story!

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"Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you've never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you." -Bob Marley

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Chapter 12: Shop Or Will You Drop?

Clemont used his Aipom arm to grab Bonnie's back and make her face him. He didn't look embarrassed like he normally did when he did this, but instead looked at her with an expression of exasperation, "Bonnie, why would you ask that in a time like this?"

"Why not? I don't like this tense air! Everyone's been stressed out this morning and I wanna do something fun! Besides, Serena and I never got to look at the cute outfits here! We weren't traveling together until after we started to leave Santalune City! Some of those boutiques won't shop themselves." Bonnie giggled. Serena nodded her head in agreement. She held onto Ash's arm and gave him a pleading look. Ash tried to look away, but Serena was too overbearing.

"Come on, Ashy. Come with us…please…?" Serena pleaded softly.

"Why? I don't like to shop." Ash replied simply.

"Aww, don't be like that. Besides… you don't have to shop…" Serena told him.

"I don't?" Ash asked, hopeful.

"No… you can carry our stuff for us!" Serena clasped her hands together. Ash sighed. He really wasn't that fond of shopping at all. He definitely wasn't that fond of carrying things that were bought. He didn't like to be a bag boy. It seemed every one of his female traveling companions loved to shop, except for Misty and Iris. However, even though they were more tomboyish, they still as forceful as the girls who loved to shop. And Ash was a sucker every time. He couldn't help that he was nice but, Arceus, he hated when they forced him to do what they wanted. It was even worse now that Serena was his girlfriend. Although he loved the honey blond teen with every fiber of his being, he also knew she loved fashion. He couldn't ignore her request, but at the same time, he was dreading the little shopping excursion.

"But…" Ash started.

"Come on, Ashy. Please…?" Serena held on to him tighter and looked up at him. She was giving him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Ash didn't think she needed to do much convincing, considering he thought of her as incredibly cute already. Still, her eyes were doing a number on him. He tried to look away, but they were too irresistible.

"Ugh. Fine. You win." Ash grumbled slightly in defeat.

"Thank you." Serena hugged and kissed him on the cheek. Ash blushed, then smiled. Bonnie, Clemont, and Pikachu were all snickering at him. Ash pouted slightly in response.

"Let's go then!" Serena tugged him on the arm to leave the Pokémon Center. Bonnie did the same thing to her brother. Aurora smiled, but did not move. She sighed sadly. Bonnie was the first to pick up on this and stopped tugging on her brother.

"Aren't you going to come with us, Aurora?" Bonnie tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Nope. I think this is a good time to go to some place in the Hokori region, actually. There is something I need to do." Aurora told her.

"Aww… I wanted you to shop with us, too…" Bonnie started to pout. Aurora lightly smiled, but had her mind made up.

"Normally, I'd love to go shopping, but something else is more pressing for now. I should do this as soon as possible. I'm sorry, Bonnie. I promise I'll be back here before dusk falls. Don't mind me. Enjoy being with your friends." Aurora told the child. Bonnie still looked disappointed, but decided not to ask any further. Aurora figured the young girl could still hang out with her friends. That's the thing that mattered to her the most. She knew they needed a break from the whole guardian thing.

"Alright. I guess we'll see you later," Bonnie said. Aurora nodded. Suddenly, one of Aurora's Poké Balls rumbled and the Pokémon released herself. Chi-Chi stretched her body slightly once she came out. Everyone but Aurora was surprised at the sudden appearance by the cat. She and Pikachu glared at each other, being natural enemies. Aurora had to hold Chi-Chi back from trying to eat Pikachu again and Ash had to hold Pikachu back from attacking. One look from both trainers made them feel guilty.

"I'll get you later, Pikachu. You're not the reason why I came out," Chi-Chi growled. Pikachu snarled and started to emit electricity from his cheeks. Chi-Chi started to emit electricity from her claws. Everyone could see the tension between the electric mouse and electric cat. Eventually, not wanting to start something, they both pointed their noses up and grunted. Ash and Aurora sighed. Pikachu never acted this hostile to anything without reason and Chi-Chi was the same way. It seemed even natural rivalries couldn't be contained too well. Chi-Chi continued, "I came out only to assist my trainer. Aurora, you wanna go to the Hokori region, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I need to see a couple of important people to me." Aurora nodded.

"Aurora, where will you be going?" Ash wondered.

"Shingetsu Town. My hometown. You'll go where I'm going to go in due time, young one. Before I go, Happy can you do me a favor?" Aurora answered. Chi-Chi stood on her hind legs. Before they could react, Chi-Chi started to make purplish energy from her claws, but Aurora stopped her. Happy tilted her head slightly.

"Aurora, what is it?" Happy asked.

"Can you be a dear and stay with Ash?" Aurora asked her sweetly. Ash was confused by the favor.

"What? Why?" Ash asked.

"Happy loves to move around and shop. She has an affinity for this kind of things. Besides, Happy doesn't really want to leave here, do you, girl?" Aurora smiled and rubbed behind Happy's ear. The fairy type had a whimsical look to her as she absentmindedly agreed with her trainer. Happy realized from Aurora's tone that there was something else she wanted her to do.

"Sure, Aurora. I like the Kalos Region, so I'll stay. It'd be good to have a nice walk." Happy rubbed her body against Aurora. Happy gestured Aurora to bring her head downward and the pixie-eyed Pokémon whispered in her ear. "What do you really want, Aurora?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Ash. If I'm gone, I imagine the Zurui is more likely to sense this and strike. You're smaller than everyone in the party, so you're perfect for the job. If the Zurui is in the area, please make sure they won't get to him. Can I trust you to do that?" Aurora expressed in a soft voice. Her eyes looked pleading.

Happy nodded her head intently. She thought it was a good idea. Happy was more than willing to abide by her trainer's wishes. She smiled and gave the ebony haired woman a lick on the cheek. Aurora giggled at Happy's confirmation and patted Happy's head in response. Soon, they both were laughing. Aurora stood up completely and regarded Happy properly.

"Can I talk with you in private, Happy?" Aurora asked. Happy was confused, but followed Aurora away from the teens.

"What's up, Mistress?" Happy asked.

"First off: don't call me that." Aurora sighed. Happy snickered in response. Aurora went into her bag and got a smaller bag with a small hole to tie a tiny string around. She put a couple of Oran Berries and another thing into said bag. She took out some ribbon, sealed it up and tied it around Happy's neck. The fairy type looked up at her trainer confused. She made a small smile, "Secondly, I want you to carry this small bag around your neck and give the contents to Ash when you need to."

"What's in this?" Happy said, looking down at the bag. Aurora chuckled a little bit.

"You'll know it when you sense his emotions. Consider it a little gift to Ash when he needs it. I have a feeling he'll need this later… especially since his girlfriend seems to love shopping. I'm sure he'll appreciate it… and I always wanted to do this at some point." Aurora smiled.

"Ah… Making up lost time, I see?" Happy chuckled.

"You know me like a book. I hope he enjoys his present and his time with his friends, but please… keep my young one safe. I'm taking quite a big risk heading back to the Hokori region like this and I hope it pays off... and that they will agree to help me train him." Aurora said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sure they will, Aurora. They love you. They wouldn't want to miss the rising of the newest Ketchum." Happy told her. Aurora nodded.

"True that. Make sure you to enjoy your time with Ash and his friends. Don't stray too far off unless you need to, alright?" Aurora gave Happy a huge hug. She held onto her and Happy could sense how nervous she was. It made her want to calm her down, but knew her nerves would get settled soon.

"I promise I will stay by them." Happy nodded and giggled in delight. The fairy type grew more serious. Happy knew there was a hidden message in Aurora's tone: 'Make sure you guard everyone in my absence.'

"Alright, Happy. Be the best Watchog you can be." Aurora smiled and walked back to the group with Happy. Happy smiled back. They noticed the little bag tied around her, but decided not to say anything.

"Ash, are you fine with Happy staying with you?" Aurora asked.

"I'm OK with this. Welcome to the team temporarily, Happy." Ash smiled warmly. Happy started to wag her tail vigorously in excitement. Aurora decided not to give Happy's Poké Ball to Ash. Although she knew he was trustworthy, she did that for a specific reason. Happy wasn't bound by her ball should a psychic be near her. Unlike aura guardians, psychics could force Pokémon into their capsules with a simple wave of their hands. They could interrupt the bond between the trainer and Pokémon by using the Poké Balls' technology to suck them inside. Psychics were master technicians and they knew exactly how to use that to their advantage.

Aurora and Happy glanced at each other, then gently nodded to each other. Happy knew what her mission was and she was going to follow it. Ash didn't notice that Aurora didn't give him Happy's Poké Ball, nor did the rest of his traveling companions. It didn't take Chi-Chi long to figure out why Happy decided to stay behind. She thought it was both smart and sweet, but decided not to dwell on it. Touching her trainer's head, Chi-Chi and Aurora both vanished instantly.

"What a peculiar woman…" Bonnie huffed in annoyance. Everyone else shrugged their shoulders.

"It doesn't matter. She said she'll be back by sunset, so we can shop until then." Serena decided. She started to tug on Ash once again. He had a hint on fear etched on his face. His face morphed into one of surprise. The sheer strength of his girlfriend was overwhelming as she began to pick up her pace. She led him out of the Pokémon Center, Serena excited and Ash dreading. Bonnie was ecstatic as she ran out of the center as well. Clemont sighed. He hated physical activity. He huffed out of the center, trying to keep pace with his other three traveling partners. Happy looked confused, but started to walk briskly to catch up with Ash.

Nurse Joy looked at the teens when they sped through the building a little confused, but waved them off when they left the main hub. She hoped they'd have a great day, despite the rocky beginning.

---

About a few minutes later, Ash and his friends arrived at the boutique. Serena and Bonnie excitedly entered the clothing store while Ash entered the same time as Clemont. He'd slow down his pace so he would be by Clemont. When they entered, they could see the clothing store were bustling with activity. Many women and little girls were looking at all the hats. There was a wide selection of hats to choose from on the table with different little accessories on them. One of the hats was a brown fedora with a large white prosthetic flower. Another was a red felt hat with a purple button accessory. The red felt hat looked akin to the hat Serena wore when she first started traveling, except it was slightly darker. Serena felt forlorn with memories. She picked up the hat to inspect it.

Ash wondered what she was looking at and caught up with her. Then, he saw the object of her sight. He remembered her wearing a very similar hat at the beginning of their adventure. Serena noticed Ash appearing right beside her, giggled and put the hat on her head. Serena winked at him.

"How do I look?" Serena asked him expectantly. Serena didn't look that much different, but she had a new air to her now that she wore a different hat with shortened hair. Granted, it looked familiar but since it was on a different outfit, it still managed to look fresh.

Ash widened his eyes, then smiled broadly. She looked good in anything she wore, hat, or not. He gave the most honest answer he could muster. "Stunning."

"Do you think I should wear this, or wear my current hat still?" Serena asked.

Ash placed a finger on his chin in thought. He didn't mind what she wore. Heck, if she decided not to wear a hat, he'd like it. Still, there was one he preferred over the other. He told her, "I like your current hat more, Serena. Don't change a thing. You're beautiful the way you are."

"I'll continue wearing it, then. Thanks, Ashy!" Serena gave a small peck on his cheek. Ash blushed in response. From a distance, Happy smiled warmly, but had her nose up in the air, sniffing. She didn't smell anything suspicious, so she just spent time lounging around, sitting right under a window. Ash was still in her sight and that was good. Truthfully, she was more into actual clothes than hats, but she didn't mind being in here. She just wanted the kids to have fun and for Aurora to be alright wherever she was. She chuckled to herself. If she was younger, she would be running around the store just for the heck of it. Oh, how things could change.

Serena noticed Happy sitting around, somewhat bored and decided to change that. She looked around and found a pale pink felt hat. Then, she put a white bow on it as an accessory. Afterward, she approached the lounging Sylveon. Then, she put on the little hat on Happy. The fairy type made her ears go down out of reflex and looked up at Serena, confused. She didn't realize that she looked incredibly cute with the hat on and her ears like that. It like she was giving Serena puppy dog eyes without trying to.

Serena scooped up Happy in her arms and put her in front of a mirror for her to see. Happy understood what Serena wanted to do and she liked it. She jumped off of her arms and used her feelers to adjust the hat slightly. She tilted the hat a bit to the right. Serena liked the look on her even more. Her right ear was down as a result and her left ear was perked up, but it looked adorable on Happy. Ash came over to her and said the same thing. Happy blushed slightly at the positive attention and put the hat back. She kept on the accessory. This let Serena know that she only wanted the accessory. As much as she liked the hat, she didn't want it to fall of her while she was battling. She knew the accessory wouldn't. If she was still a coordinator's Pokémon, she would want the hat, but she decided it wasn't worth it. Serena had a vague understanding of her reasoning and decided just to get the white bow. The color contrasted well with Happy's cream and pink body and she liked that. After that, Happy decided to go back to the window and sat down, watching them once again.

Meanwhile, Bonnie had tried on a multitude of hats in front of her brother. These included a zebra-striped hat with a small black bow attached, a snarky beige fedora and a polka-dotted baseball cap. Clemont didn't know that the boutique had so many hats. Bonnie pulled him in closer to the clothing selection and gave him a pale blue cap to try on in akin to his jumpsuit. Clemont looked somewhat nervous and surprised. He'd never needed to go into stores like these before. He was always in his gym fixing something, building something or battling something. If he thought about it, he never went out before meeting Ash. He was thankful that he'd met Ash, albeit from him getting kicked out of the gym, but still.

Bonnie pressured him into trying on the hat. He could tell that she wouldn't leave him alone until he tried on the hat, so he gingerly took it. Bonnie gave him an encouraging smile as he tried on the hat. Bonnie thought he looked kind of cute. However, Clemont thought he looked a little bit out of place. He felt like this especially since he was wearing an Aipom arm bag and his blue jumpsuit still. Ash and Serena looked over at the two. Bonnie was wearing a beige hat and Clemont had on the pale blue cap. Ash gave a thumbs-up while Serena giggled slightly. Bonnie was ecstatic at the slight change in her brother's attire. This made her want to see more hats on her brother.

Bonnie started to drag Clemont further into the store. Dedenne was sitting on Bonnie's shoulder. He wanted a try on a hat or two himself. Bonnie noticed this and wanted to accommodate for him. Since Dedenne was extremely small, finding a hat for him was especially challenging. Eventually, she decided she needed help.

"Clemont, can you help me to find a hat for Dedenne?" Bonnie pleaded.

"Me? Why won't you have Serena help you? She's the fashion expert." Clemont was slightly confused at the question and slightly uninterested. Don't get him wrong; he loved Bonnie, but clothes and shoes? He'd pass in an instant.

"But you're my big brother! Please…" Bonnie continued to plead. Clemont looked at her and sighed.

"Hmm… you know… maybe I can help you. Just give me a few minutes." Clemont had an idea in his idea. Bonnie eyed him suspiciously. She had a feeling she knew what her brother was going to do and didn't like it.

"Clemont… are you planning to build something?" Bonnie questionably asked her older brother.

"Well, yeah," Clemont replied honestly.

"Clemont! You know your machines always blow up!" Bonnie huffed up with annoyance.

"Hey… give it a chance! I know my machines usually fail, but sometimes they really do work! Trust me…" Clemont tried to assure his younger sibling, but it was fallen on deaf ears.

"I do trust you, Clemont… I just don't trust your inventions."

"I guess you don't want to find Dedenne a hat then…"

"I do!"

"Then, can you give me a chance?"

"Ugh… fine… The worse that can happen is a mini explosion." Bonnie finally relented. She didn't want a machine to explode in her face, but her brother wouldn't budge on the subject. She would give him this small victory. With a smile on his face, he eagerly began making a machine that Bonnie could use to find Dedenne a hat. Since Clemont was a skilled inventor, building such a device was no hassle to him. Within about ten minutes, he built something that would aid his sister.

"The future is now thanks to science! Clemontic Gear on!" Clemont's eyes became hidden behind his glasses as he had a proud smirk plastered on his features. He had a remote with a sole red button on one hand and a small robot around Dedenne's size on the other. In fact, it was built in Dedenne's likeness; it was very similar to the breathing electric type. The main differences were that Clemont's machine had a metallic color scheme and his machine's eyes were red instead of dark brown. Bonnie was astonished that he made a machine so complex so quickly.

"Presenting to you the Finding Small Hats for Pokémon Bot!" Clemont stated proudly.

"That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue well…" Bonnie noted in a tired voice. As always, Clemont ignored her in his excitement.

"This Dedenne bot is designed to find the perfect hat for anything that looks similar to it. Dedenne happens to fit that description beautifully." Clemont explained. He grinned eagerly as he pressed the red button on the controller. Bonnie had a bad feeling something was going to happen… and she wouldn't like it. The Dedenne's eyes started to glow a bloody red. It jumped off from Clemont's hand and started to run deeper in the store.

Bonnie and Clemont watched in anticipation of what the Dedenne clone would do. They saw it run around the store. It started to periodically check around different hats and blinked its red eyes each time. It shook its head when it rejected a hat and continued to check other ones. After fifteen minutes of searching, the robot checked its sixty-eighth hat. It nodded its head and placed the hat on its head. Then, it started to run back to its creator with its eyes blinking rapidly. The mouse clone jumped on Clemont's hand to present a hat it found.

The hat was incredibly small to be able to fit on Dedenne because he was so small. It was a fedora with some lightning shaped designs all over it. Dedenne jumped off Bonnie's shoulder and onto Clemont's other hand to inspect it further. Within a few moments, Dedenne squealed with delight and took it from the Dedenne bot. Dedenne put on the hat and loved it. Bonnie's face instantly perked up at the electric type's happiness. She was surprised to see the robot not explode. She was proud of her brother.

"Mission complete! Initiating self-destruct sequence!" The robot said.

"Wait… self-destruct sequence?" Clemont and Bonnie repeated nervously. They started to hear a timer go off. Clemont started to panic since it was in his hand.

Happy heard the commotion, immediately jumped from her spot and grabbed the Dedenne clone by the tail. She scurried outside and tossed it into the air. Promptly when she threw it into the sky, it exploded. People in the surrounding area were surprised to see an explosion at random. They wondered where it had come from. Happy sighed and shook her head. She sweat-dropped slightly at the robot Dedenne's explosion. Happy went back inside in the midst of the confused crowd.

Bonnie reunited with Happy and gave her a large hug. Happy blushed slightly at the attention. Dedenne also thanked her. Bonnie said, "Wow! You're amazing, Happy! Thank you!"

"Seriously, thank you. I didn't expect it to blow up on us like that." Clemont laughed nervously. Happy acknowledged the both of them by nodding.

"Clemont, why in the world did you install a self-destruct mode in that thing?" Bonnie pointed a finger at her brother.

"Why… not…? Heheheh…" Clemont responded weakly. He raised his hands up in defense. This made Bonnie grow even more annoyed.

"Sometimes I wonder how you can be a genius and still do dumb things like that." Bonnie sighed slightly. Clemont got a bit annoyed and countered that she did dumb things all the time. This resulted in them arguing at each other. Happy sweat-dropped seeing the two siblings bicker. She wished they didn't bicker, but that was the nature of siblings sometimes. Ash and Serena noticed the commotion and went to check up on the blond siblings.

"Are you guys alright?" Serena asked.

"Yeah… One of Clemont's inventions had a self-destruct sequence, but Happy managed to help us." Bonnie said, looking down at the fairy type. Clemont and Bonnie stopped fighting to talk to Serena. Happy started to wag her tail moderately at being mentioned and because the bickering stopped.

"A self-destruct sequence? Man, science is so amazing!" Ash had sparkles in his eyes.

"How is that amazing?" Bonnie asked somewhat incredulously.

"It's pretty cool to include a mode to destroy the invention if you are done with it. That has a lot of utility." Ash explained. Bonnie, Pikachu, and Serena looked confused at the reasoning, Happy tilted her head slightly and Clemont chuckled a little. It was always fun to see Ash as a fan of his inventions, even when they fail. Pikachu merely face-palmed. Ash wondered what he said wrong, but he really didn't care. He was just happy that everyone was OK.

"Utility? I'll never understand you, Ash." Bonnie sighed. Ash still looked clueless and remained blissfully oblivious. The explosion made Bonnie less keen to shopping in the hat store. She racked her head for an idea to do next. A thought formed in her head and she hid a devious smirk. She smiled bashfully, "Hey... Clemont?"

"Yeah, Bonnie?" Clemont asked.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. I shouldn't have been so harsh." Bonnie said.

"I'm sorry about that, too. I guess we both do stupid things from time to time." Clemont rubbed behind his head. Bonnie gave him a big hug. Clemont, although shocked of the gesture, accepted it nonetheless. Ash and Serena smiled at the sight.

Bonnie broke apart from the hug and asked, "Hey... Clemont?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go to the Trainer School here in Santalune together?"

"I don't mind, but I gotta wonder… why?"

"No particular reason." Bonnie stole a quick glance at Serena. Serena blinked her eyes in surprise, then in confusion. She could hear something else in her tone, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Ash and Clemont didn't notice Bonnie's sneaky glance. Bonnie continued, "I guess when I become a trainer, I want to make sure I know the bare essentials."

"That's cool that you want to know more about Pokémon. Knowledge is power, after all. The Lumiose Gym was a quiz gym at some point. I would think you know all about the Pokémon basics, especially since you loved to ask challengers questions when you were smaller." Clemont noted.

Bonnie nodded in agreement. "I may know the Pokémon basics, but the school might just teach me something new. Can you please come with me, big brother?"

"I don't see why not." Clemont agreed.

"Ash and Serena… why don't you hang out in the city? You're both trainers, so being in a trainer school would be boring for you. You already know everything about being trainers." Bonnie offered.

"It wouldn't be so boring, Bonnie. I've been to many different trainer schools in my travels." Ash told her. Bonnie gestured to Serena to intervene. Serena gasped slightly as she finally realized what the young child was planning.

"Oh, I see what she's doing. Thanks, Bonnie." Serena thought happily. Serena made an innocent toothless grin. "Ash, why don't we hang out in the city? There are other places we can go to."

"Like what?" Ash skeptically asked. He had a good feeling of what Serena's answer would be.

"More clothing boutiques, of course!" Serena chirped excitedly. Ash couldn't hide an audible groan. Serena seemed perceptive to his emotions and added with a small smile. "Then, maybe we can do some training together afterward. I know you're itching to do some battling… and we don't battle often."

"Really?" Ash said with surprise in his voice. That surprise was morphed into excitement.

"Sure. We might as well enjoy the day together." Serena said with a toothless grin.

Ash couldn't contain his excitement. He liked the compromise and he was curious to see how Serena battled when she was against him alone. The only other times he fought Serena was in the Mirror World, (he didn't count that as his Serena) and his tag battle against her in Antistar City. He can go through some clothing stores so he could have that chance.

"Well, it's settled, I guess," Bonnie said happily. She got on her knees and regarded Happy. "Happy, do you want to come with me?"

Happy shook her head and stood right beside Ash. Happy rubbed her body against Ash to prove her determination to stay by the dark haired teen. Bonnie looked slightly confused, but was persistent. She asked in a sweet voice, "Please?"

"Nice try. I know the trick you're trying to pull, but it won't work on me. I'm the mistress of manipulation." Bonnie gasped when she heard the Sylveon's voice in her head. Happy stopped rubbing her body against Ash and stared right into Bonnie's eyes. Bonnie thought she was hallucinating, but one look at the fairy type let her know it was real and that she was serious. She didn't expect to hear the Pokémon speak in a way that allowed her to understand. "I'm sorry about the intrusion of your emotions, Bonnie, but this is the only way I can properly communicate with other humans without Aurora here or speaking aloud so everyone can hear. I want to only speak with you. I won't impede upon whatever alone time the young master wishes to have with his mate, but I do have a responsibility to my Mistress to stay with Ash. Please respect that."

"I…" Bonnie didn't know how to respond. She was still processing hearing Happy and actually understanding her without Aurora's presence.

Happy sighed, but was not deterred. She knew how to get what she wanted. Happy got on her hind legs and leaned against the blond child with her front paws. She looked up at her large eyes and she was whimpering slightly. She was giving her large puppy-dog eyes. Bonnie wanted to look away, but found that the fairy type's eyes were too much to bear. When she looked down, Happy looked incredibly cute and was using her cute looks to great effect. Bonnie found that she couldn't resist the pixie-eyed Pokémon that much longer. Eventually, she relented.

"Fine… I'll stop asking you. You're just too cute." Bonnie started to rub the Sylveon's head. Happy's tail began to wag fiercely in ecstasy.

"(Thank you, Bonnie. That feels nice…)" Happy drawled absently. Bonnie got the message, but stopped rubbing her head. Happy regained her senses and sat right beside Ash again. Pikachu also stayed on Ash's shoulder and seemed reluctant to leave him as well. Bonnie noticed this and gave up.

"You seem to attract a lot of Pokémon, Ash." Bonnie sighed under her breath. Ash just shrugged his shoulders. Ash didn't know why Happy was so insistent on staying by him, but he was mostly apathetic. Still, she was his responsibility, so he didn't want her to get lost. He was glad that Pikachu decided to stay with him, though. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and stood beside Happy. They settled for a fist-pump and laughed. Ash smiled to see Happy and Pikachu get along well.

"Everyone settled?" Serena asked. Everyone nodded their heads.

"Ok, then." Serena clasped her hands together. "I guess we'll see you later, Clemont and Bonnie. Have a great time at the Trainer School!"

"I know we will. Come on, Clemont!" Bonnie began to drag her older brother out of the store and towards the school. Clemont found himself surprised at the strength of the younger blond and struggled to keep with her.

"So…?" Ash looked at Serena. He was going to ask which option she wanted, but the honey-blond teen immediately knew what she wanted.

"I just got to see you try on some clothes, Ashy. Let's go!" After paying for Happy's bow, Serena also dragged Ash out of the store. Unlike Clemont, Ash could easily keep up with his girlfriend. The problem was: could he survive the day? He wasn't sure. He knew he was going to find out very soon.

---

On their way to the Trainer School, Clemont quickly grew tired. He could barely keep with his energetic younger sister. He hated that he tired out so easily, despite traveling with Ash for about a year. He thought that by walking so much with him, that would help out his unhealthiness. He guessed wrong. Dedenne was secretly laughing at his trainer's fatigue. He could just watch in the comfort of Bonnie's bag. He was more used to Bonnie's spunk than Clemont himself.

Bonnie eventually made it to the Trainer School with sparkles in her eyes. By the time Clemont made it, Bonnie was tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. Clemont was panting and had his hands on his knees. Bonnie shook her head in annoyance. She sighed as she wrapped her hands around his arms and helped him inside.

When they entered the building, they noticed everyone was doing a bit of a self-study. Many trainers were sitting down on desks reading about different status ailments. In the back of the classroom, there were three letter abbreviations of six status ailments on the chalkboard. She recognized each one of the abbreviations and smiled inwardly. Being a Gym Leader's sibling did have its advantages.

Clemont tipped his glasses up and smiled. He wanted to test his little sister out, "OK, Bonnie. You dragged me here, so I expect you to know your stuff, Quiz Queen. Will I finally dethrone the Champion?"

"Not on your life. I'll still kick your butt with a good quiz. No one can beat me." Bonnie boasted and laughed.

"All right, then. Show me what you got." Clemont cleared his throat and closed his eyes. He placed a couple of fingers on his chin, trying to think of some questions to challenge his sister. He snapped as he finished thinking. "First question: What are the effects of paralysis? And I don't want the simple 'it lowers speed' answer. I want all the possible effects."

"Aww… really? That's so easy." Bonnie pouted.

"I'll make it easy… at first." Clemont gave a small smirk and gestured Bonnie to answer the question.

Bonnie took a few seconds, then stated, "Since you're an Electric Gym Leader, you'd probably kill me if I didn't get this right. Paralysis, like you said earlier, does lower a Pokémon's speed. It lowers the speed to about a quarter of what it was before. There's approximately a twenty-five percent chance that a Pokémon paralyzed will be unable to move, leaving it open to attack." Clemont raised an eyebrow when he heard his sister pause.

Bonnie didn't look like she was done yet. She looked like she barely started, "However… those are the normal effects. Depending on the Pokémon's ability, the effect of paralysis can change slightly. For example, if an Ursaring got paralyzed, its attack or speed will also be raised, depending on its ability. This is because it can have either Guts or Quick Feet. Guts would raise its attack by fifty percent. Quick Feet, instead of lowering speed, would raise its speed by fifty percent. Marvel Scale is very similar to these two abilities except it would raise a Pokémon's defense by fifty percent. Pokémon with any of those abilities still have a chance at being immobilized, but those are secondary effects of their abilities."

Clemont nodded his head and beamed proudly, "Excellent. You've answered my question and then some."

"Did you expect anything else?" Bonnie boasted.

"No." Clemont chuckled truthfully. "All right. That was a warm-up. Onward to the next question. This is more of an ability question. Tell me, what does Static do?"

"Seriously, bro? Ash's Pikachu has that ability." Bonnie whined.

"True, but not everyone knows about its other secondary effect. Tell me all that you know." Clemont gazed at his sister with a challenging glance.

"Alright, then. Static has a thirty percent chance at paralyzing a target; that's a given. However, not many people know that Static increases the chance of you encountering an Electric-type if the Pokémon with the ability is in the front of the party." She explained breathlessly.

"Great answer. That's the part many people don't know the answer to. It's very useful when you want to capture an electric type specifically." Clemont chuckled. "You still got it, Bonnie."

"Naturally." Bonnie puffed out her chest slightly arrogantly. She looked almost like a Piplup and it made Clemont smile. Clemont looked up and noticed a poster next to the chalkboard. He tapped Bonnie on the shoulder and pointed to the poster. Upon reading it, Bonnie grew very excited.

"A quiz competition today? That's great! It seems registration is still open and the competition will start once the teachers come back." Bonnie summarized.

"I'm tempted to enter the competition with you, but I'll just sit this one out," Clemont stated. Bonnie looked surprised.

"Why? You like quizzes almost as much as I do." Bonnie expressed her shock.

"True. At the same time, treat this as a test for when you start your Pokémon journey. I want to see if what you know will help you out and I don't want to be an obstacle to you." Clemont explained. Bonnie nodded her head in understanding.

She gave her older sibling another hug. Clemont chuckled slightly and patted her head. "Thanks, Clemont. I'll do you proud."

"You better," Clemont replied.

Bonnie registered herself to the quiz competition via a student teacher. The student teacher told her that the actual teacher was planning on coming in the next half hour or so and that she should just sit tight. Bonnie pouted when she first heard the news, but decided that she could wait a little while. In the meantime, Clemont spent time refreshing Bonnie's memories on certain things like Pokémon trivia and status ailments.

Clemont found himself impressed with Bonnie's scope of knowledge and was proud of her. However, there a few things he needed to remind her of such as EVs and IVs. Since he was the creator of the Super Training app in many trainers' gadgets, he knew all about them. He loved the use of wireless connections, which made it easier to install the feature into most trainers' updated Town Maps. Besides, not many trainers seem to know about Effort or Individual Values, so he didn't expect Bonnie to know that much about them either. He told her not to stress about them too much when she started her journey because trainers are known to obsess over the perfect Pokémon once they begin breeding for Individual Values.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, a woman and a man entered the school. All the kids settled down and provided the two with their undivided attention. Once looked like he was an old gentleman, wearing a brown suit and white tie. The other looked like a school teacher, but was wearing a much more professional attire. She was wearing a knee high gray skirt, white shirt, gray sweater vest, and a red tie. She also wore black stockings and Mary Janes for shoes. They both looked amicable and kind.

All the students moved the tables away from the chalkboard and began to set up the classroom for the competition. All the desks were removed except for three. One lone long table was in front of the chalkboard while two smaller high school desks were attached to buzzers a few feet away. There was a small light bulb on each desk indicating when someone rang the corresponding buzzer.

Once the rest of the kids finished setting up, the adult waited for them to quiet down. They all went outside the school to hear the announcements. The old man regarded all of them, "Welcome to our first annual Santalune Quiz Competition! I hope everyone enjoy themselves. Let's set a precedent to future students and Pokémon Trainers how important knowledge can be. I wish you all good luck in this friendly competition."

All the students cheered in excitement. Clemont beamed at his little sister. Upon closer inspection, he noticed she was beginning to get a little nervous. He could tell that she was still very excited, but at the same time nervous of how well she would do. Clemont gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and mouthed 'You got this'. Bonnie smiled with appreciation.

The old man continued and chuckled, "Remember to have fun out there and show us what you've got!"

The woman began to speak up now. She said in a soft voice, "Thank you, Mr. Smith. We have eight entrants this year, so we will conduct the competition in a knockout basis. We will call two people from a randomly generated list while the principal was out of the room and ask three questions in each group. The first child who answers two questions right out of three will head into the next round and we will repeat this process until there are only two kids left. Then, we will ask seven question. The first child to answer four questions correctly will win the whole thing."

"What's the prize?" A loud boy called out.

"I was getting to that, Kyle. The prizes for the winner will be these…" The lady opened two of her capsules and threw out two Pokémon. One Pokémon was an Umbreon with a set of bells tied around his neck while the other was a Cinccino with a different set of bells tied on her paws. All the children widened their eyes in amazement. "No, not the Pokémon." She could hear audible aww's from over half the children. She sighed as she had anticipated this sort of response. "The prizes will be these bells they're holding. A Soothe Bell on Umbreon and a Shell Bell on Cinccino. As a bit of a warm up, can one of you kids tell me what a Soothe Bell and a Shell Bell do?"

Bonnie's hand immediately shot up. The old man giggled at her enthusiasm. He pointed to the blond haired gal. Bonnie answered, "A Soothe Bell helps to make a Pokémon friendlier to you. True to its name, if you shake the bells, you can hear a really sweet sound all Pokémon adore. Eevee can evolve into Umbreon with the help of a Soothe Bell, actually. A Shell Bell will restore a Pokémon's health a little bit as long as they get an attack off on an opponent. I'm assuming you attached the Shell Bell on this Cinccino because its ability is Skill Link, a perfect ability for the item."

"Excellent response and good observation. That would have been my next question. Tell us…. What is your name?" The woman asked with a gentle voice.

"Bonnie Liscio, ma'am," Bonnie responded. She widened her eyes upon hearing her last name.

"Liscio? Of the Lumiose Liscios?" The lady asked.

"Yeah…" Bonnie wasn't sure how to respond to the preciseness of this teacher and was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I've heard of you, then. You used to help out your brother set up quizzes for trainers, right?" She pointed out. Bonnie replied by nodding her head. "I knew it. Mr. Liscio and later Clemont called you the Quiz Queen when they were gym leaders. In fact, is Clemont or Mr. Liscio with you now?"

Clemont waved to Bonnie from the crowd. The woman smiled as she grabbed Clemont's hand and presented him to her students. Clemont looked a bit uncomfortable at the sudden attention. Bonnie was a little confused herself. The lady regarded her class, "Class, I'd like to introduce a special guest. This is Clemont, one of the eight gym leaders of the Kalos region. When you start your journey, you will need to face him at some point."

"Woah!"

"Cool!"

"Awesome!"

"I've never met a gym leader before…" They all said different responses as they crowded around Clemont. Clemont sweat-dropped slightly. Bonnie got somewhat frustrated and pushed through everyone. She huffed in annoyance and hissed, "You're all making him uncomfortable! Give him some space!"

The old man stopped the children from crowding Clemont and Bonnie. He made a placating bow to the blond siblings, "My apologies, you two." The children began to shake anxiously when he turned to them, "That was mighty rude of the students to invade your personal space and for Ms. Snow to encourage that sort of behavior. Bonnie and Clemont are both here to enjoy the competition just as much as everyone else and we will treat them just as if they are regular students. Understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Smith…" Everyone responded.

"Good. Alicia, you will be responsible for asking the questions of the first round, alright?" Mr. Smith gestured to the student teacher Bonnie and Clemont saw earlier. She tentatively nodded her head as a response. "Great. Good luck everyone!" He said as he entered the school again. Ms. Snow followed her boss inside.

Alicia stayed outside to read the first set of names. "First up: Bonnie and Kyle! Please enter the school and sit down in any seat. The rest of you wait outside until each round is over."

"Yes, Alicia!" Everyone said. The loud boy from before, a kid with auburn hair, freckles, and green eyes glared at Bonnie competitively before entering the school. Bonnie stole one more glance at her brother before entering the school herself. She promised she would live up to her childhood nickname of 'Quiz Queen'.

---

Bonnie entered the classroom again somewhat nervous, but mostly confident. Kyle had already sat down at his seat with his hand hovering over the buzzer. Bonnie sat down herself and observed the room around her. The classroom looked relatively the same, except there were much fewer desks. Most of the desks were outside for students waiting to sit. There was a long desk right in front of the chalkboard with three chairs. Mr. Smith sat to the left, Ms. Smith sat to the right and Alicia sat in the middle with a list of different index cards. All the adults waited until they both were ready. When she saw that the children were ready, Alicia decided to start.

"Alright, you two. Round 1. May the better quizzer win." She said with a smile.

"Good luck, Kyle," Bonnie said kindly.

"I don't need any luck to kick a girl's butt." Kyle snorted with arrogance. Bonnie frowned slightly, then shook off his words. Her hand hovered above her buzzer and she looked at the teachers with an intensity they hadn't seen while she was outside. An urge to prove the red headed boy wrong surged within her. Alicia cleared her throat before beginning.

"This round will be mostly about statuses and abilities dealing with status. Here's the first question. What is the effect of burns?"

Bonnie pressed her buzzer so fast that Kyle had his mouth open. They all heard a buzzing sound and a red light flash from Bonnie's table. All of the teachers were impressed with the girl's speed. She answered, "A burn inflicts residual damage on a Pokémon… about one-eighth per turn and halves the user's attack."

"Correct. The first question goes to Bonnie." Mr. Smith pressed a button that made a 'ding' sound. The other two teachers clapped for her. Bonnie blushed slightly in response.

"Second question. What two abilities can prevent most forms of paralysis, provided the Pokémon isn't using the move Glare and name a non-electric type with one of these abilities." Alicia read off from another index card. Bonnie once again hit her buzzer incredibly fast. Kyle grew frustrated with this development.

Bonnie answered, "The two abilities are Volt Absorb and Lightning Rod. A Pokémon with Lightning Rod that isn't an electric type is Rhyhorn."

Mr. Smith once again rang the button, "That is correct! Congratulations, Bonnie! You get to move onto the semi-finals! Sorry, Kyle, you've just been eliminated…"

"Dang it! I can't believe I got my butt kicked by a girl!" Kyle frowned at how fast he was beaten. Bonnie frowned and shook her head.

"Next time, don't be so arrogant and I wouldn't have shown off just now." Bonnie berated the boy. "Just because I'm a girl, that doesn't mean I'm not smart or know a thing or two. Give everyone an equal chance and don't look down on others next time there's a competition. That way, everyone wins." She finished with a smile.

"Whatever." Kyle grumbled under his breath and looked away from the girl. Bonnie frowned and shook her head.

"That is some pretty sound advice. I'd suggest you take it, son." Mr. Smith came in their conversation. Kyle looked down and nodded his head. The old man turned to the blond haired child. "That was a strong showing, Bonnie. Keep it up and the prizes may be yours."

"Thank you, sir." Bonnie bowed with respect.

Ms. Snow gestured them both outside, "Alright, you two. Bring out Kaitlyn and Neil for the next round. I will be asking the questions next."

The two children nodded as they headed outside and got the next two people to enter the classroom. Kaitlyn had a long brown braid that reached up to her waist and a pink and blue school uniform on. Neil had short black hair and a blue and black school uniform on. Clemont rejoined Bonnie after going through a small sea of kids. He congratulated her when he heard the teachers announce that Bonnie had moved on. They both sweat-dropped at the amount of attention he was getting. Clemont wasn't used to it and Bonnie wasn't having it. As the rounds went by, Bonnie turned into a sort of pseudo bodyguard for Clemont, keeping kids away if he felt uncomfortable, but at the same time allowing him to track her progress.

A girl with medium length dirty blond hair approached Bonnie herself and bowed slightly, "I really am sorry about my classmates' behavior around your big brother. It's just it's rare to see gym leaders other than Viola come by here. He seems pretty cool."

Bonnie was surprised to hear a student apologize, but was appreciative. "My brother? Cool? Well, that's a first. Thank you, though. I don't mind that your classmates like my big bro, but Clemont isn't really one who craves that much attention. By the way, what's your name?"

"The name's Sarah." She winked.

"I'm-" Bonnie was about to respond, but Sarah cut her off.

"No need to say your name, Quiz Queen. I think we all heard it earlier." Sarah giggled and brought out her hand.

"That's true, I guess. Still, it's nice to meetcha!" Bonnie greeted and shook the girl's hand.

"Likewise." Sarah nodded her head. She commented. "You know; I really hope we'll meet each other in the final round. You seem like you would be a worthy opponent, Bonnie."

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll even get in, but I'll definitely try to!" Bonnie responded and rubbed behind her head.

"Well, we'll see. Good luck with the rest of the competition." Sarah beamed at her.

"Same to you, Sarah." Bonnie waved as Sarah went back to her friends. Bonnie went back to her unofficial job being Clemont's bodyguard, but at the same interacted with the students herself.

---

More and more kids got eliminated from the friendly competition. Some were sadder about losing than others, but overall, everyone was good sports about it. Eventually, there were only four kids left. There were Bonnie, Sarah, the girl she recognized as Kaitlyn, and a boy Bonnie didn't recognize at all. Bonnie went through the semi-finals with a little bit of a scare. She did run into trouble with Kaitlyn who had made it from the previous round. She was barely able to edge out a victory against her because she was just as fast as Bonnie with the buzzer. Kaitlyn had answered the first question correctly while Bonnie responded by answering the next two questions correctly. They shook hands and smiled respectively at each other when their round was over.

Bonnie once again went back outside when she was done and noticed that Clemont was showing the students one of his Pokémon, Luxray. Since Luxray was very docile, the fully evolved electric type allowed some of the children to ride on his back. Clemont entertained the other children by showing off some of his successful inventions and gadgets trainers do receive when they first started their journey. Bonnie was glad that the kids were no longer crowding Clemont and that he was amazing them. Seeing Clemont like this reminded her of how much she loved him, even if he could be a little annoying from time to time.

---

Eventually, there were two competitors remaining. There was Bonnie and there was another girl that she recognized. She had middle-length dirty blond spiky hair and brilliant blue eyes. She had the same exact uniform on as Kaitlyn. Upon hearing Bonnie's name being called, Clemont decided to allow Luxray to continue to let children ride him and followed his sister inside. Another woman with platinum blond hair and blue eyes entered with the other girl. She was wearing a large fur coat and multiple rings on her fingers. Mr. Smith, Ms. Snow and Alicia all stood up and regarded the two smaller youths.

Mr. Smith regarded them both. "Welcome to the final round! Sarah and Bonnie, you both did well to make it this far. You certainly know your Pokémon basics. You've both managed to impress us with your knowledge, accuracy and speed. Now, we will find out who knows more and who is quicker on the draw."

Bonnie brought out her hand for Sarah to shake. Sarah excepted it wholeheartedly. "Good luck, Sarah."

"You too, Bonnie. May the better quizzer win."

"Hahaha. Yep."

"Clemont Liscio?" The platinum blond lady turned to Clemont.

"Yes?" Clemont answered with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Charmed to meet you. I am Sarah's mother, Priscilla. Congratulations to your little sister making it into the final round." Priscilla greeted him and shook his hand. Clemont shook it back.

"Likewise about your daughter," Clemont replied while smiling.

"I'm actually kind of surprised to see you and your sister here in the city. I thought you two were always in Lumiose City together." Priscilla continued, trying to conduct small talk.

"We are, but for the past year, we've been traveling around to city to city with a couple of close friends. I'm actually about to head back to Lumiose City tomorrow." Clemont replied.

"Really now? When Sarah gets her first Pokémon, I hope you'll give her a shot." Priscilla winked at him. Clemont nodded.

"Of course! Though it may be a bit tough for a novice trainer to face me, I'll still accept any challenge. If she loses at first, then I suggest she gets four gym badges before challenging me again. She could even challenge Viola first." Clemont suggested to her.

"My daughter is a prodigy, son. I don't think she'll lose to anyone. She certainly has more aptitude than your sister." Priscilla snorted. It took Clemont a few moments to process what the lady said because of how shocked he was.

Clemont frowned immediately upon digesting the statement. He scrunched his eyebrows in anger and felt the need to defend his sister. He said in an annoyed voice, "You don't need to say that, you know, or compare your daughter to Bonnie. I can tell they're both really gifted."

"Please. My daughter is the smartest child on the planet. I spent thousands of Poké on her. Do you really think your rubbish home-school sister has a chance?" She laughed arrogantly.

Clemont felt his anger continuing to rise. He said in a very aggravated but controlled voice, "Excuse me, ma'am. You have no right to talk about Bonnie like that. She is my sister and I do not appreciate the pretentious tone. It doesn't matter if Bonnie was home-schooled, she can still kick anyone's butt at a quiz. After this is over, you need to apologize otherwise I will ask the principal to force you to leave. I don't care if you are a parent or that you are an adult; I will not allow some conceited shrew to disrespect my little sister. Now please do not speak with me for the rest of the competition." Clemont moved to the opposite side of the classroom with folded arms. Priscilla snorted and raised her nose up into the air.

Both the girls had heard their caretakers' conversation and sweat-dropped. Bonnie had a mix of emotions on her face while Sarah looked incredibly embarrassed. She gave a pleading, but apologetic look, "I'm super-duper sorry about my mom, Bonnie. She thinks because she's really wealthy, she gets to look down on other people. It's not cool and I don't like when she hypes me up more than I deserve." Sarah put her head on her hand in slight boredom and sighed. "Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so rich."

"Hey, you could be rich and still have a good heart. Tons of people have a lot of money, but use it for reasons other than for themselves. You have a good heart, Sarah." Bonnie complimented.

"Thanks, Bonnie. This isn't the first time my mom has done this, though. I just wished she stopped." Sarah said barely above a whisper.

"Hey… after one of use wins, why don't you just talk to your mom? I think that's how your relationship can get stronger in the long run. Even though Clemont can be annoying from time to time, we always make sure that we can talk to each other. You should try it, too. That's just a suggestion, though." Bonnie winked. Sarah looked thoughtful at the other blond. Then, she smiled.

"Thanks. Maybe when the opportunity presents itself, I'll try." Sarah replied, considering the notion. She wasn't sure if she could muster up the courage, but she could certainly try.

"Good. Now, we both need to get focused on this. Like you said before; may the better quizzer win." Bonnie smiled.

"Agreed." Sarah smiled back.

Mr. Smith noticed all the interactions and decided to wait for them all to play out. He smirked proudly at the two girls, but frowned disapprovingly at Sarah's mother. The frown didn't linger; in that exact same moment, be began to smile once again. He chuckled, "Things like this makes me proud as a former instructor, girls."

"Huh?" Both girls voiced their confusion.

"Kids can learn from your example, but I digress. It's time to start the final round. These questions will focus on statuses as it is essential to be able to know these effects on Pokémon when you start your journey. Be on the ready to answer, alright?" Mr. Smith cleared his throat and began to read from a set of index cards. Bonnie and Sarah both hovered their buzzers, anticipating the question. They were both eagerly eying the prize.

---

Serena and Ash took the time to explore the city together. Instead of heading to a clothing store immediately, Serena dragged Ash around to the different cafés in the area. Ash didn't notice the abundance of cafes when he first entered Santalune City earlier in the year. Although Serena loved to stop, she did want him to learn a little bit more about Kalosian culture, especially now that they were alone together. She wanted him to pay attention to his surroundings more. She noticed they really didn't stay in a city long enough to really appreciate the environment and city for what it is. They usually stayed for a special event, performance or a gym battle and the honey-blond girl was determined to change that.

On Ash's part, he felt that being with Serena was pretty nice. He liked seeing the different cafés for the good smelling food. He tried a variety of different Kalos native foods and found them all delicious. Serena giggled slightly at Ash's gluttony, Pikachu face-palmed and Happy looked a little uncomfortable. Although he ate a pretty sizable breakfast, he still found himself a little hungry, though not unbearable so. He was also pretty nervous. This was the first time they were somewhat alone in a city while they were dating. He was afraid of messing up.

Happy and Pikachu didn't mind walking around with the two humans. Both of them thought it was nice to stretch out their legs. Pikachu normally would have gone along with Bonnie to give his trainer some space, but when he noticed that Happy wanted to stay with him, he knew there had to be something off. Happy is very receptive to emotions, so she would know what Bonnie would want; it surprised him to see her so adamant about staying by Ash. He had a feeling Aurora told the fairy type to stick by Ash at all costs, but wanted to find out why from the Sylveon herself.

Eventually, Serena managed to show him all the popular Santalune café spots. She showed him different Kalos exclusive foods and goods such as a Lumiose Galette and a Lumiose Moss. Serena wondered if she was boring him with all the sight-seeing. Thankfully for her, that wasn't the case. Ash flashed a small smile to show her that he was enjoying himself. He really began to see Kalos in a slightly different light than before. He never really took the time to look at things more closely and he appreciated that. He never knew one person could tone him down enough to go through a city without thinking gym badges or battling. Serena was something special, all right.

Now that Serena got all the cultural stuff out of the way, she decided to start what she actually wanted to do: shopping!

Serena wrapped her hand around his hands with a new vigor and began to drag him to a clothing store. Ash kept pace with her, but internally, he was groaning in his head. Happy pranced excitedly behind the two of them while Pikachu was groaning himself. He wasn't that fond of shopping, just like his trainer.

Serena showed him to the largest clothing store in the city. Ash found himself impressed with the size of it. It was a multi-floor building with multiple racks for different, shirts, pants, skirts and outfits. He knew that Kalos was a global hub for shopping, but he never really saw it until now. He still was dreading being dragged around, though. Serena grabbed his hand and excitedly went by the male's clothing booth.

"Oh, Ashy, I just gotta see you in some new clothes." Serena clapped her hands in delight. Ash sweatdropped slightly. Normally, he would be carrying another girl's clothes, not trying clothes on. He actually felt a bit nervous. Serena gave him an encouraging smile. He sighed and decided to go for it; he wasn't sure how he would feel once he begin.

Serena had always wanted to do this during the journey, but never had to courage to ask. Now, she wasn't going to waste this opportunity. She quickly picked out an outfit that she thought would look amazing on Ash and gave it to him. Then, she quickly pushed Ash in inside a male changing room and closed the door. Pikachu and Happy found themselves laughing at Ash's expense, especially Pikachu. While Ash was changing into the outfit, Serena set her sights on the laughing Pokémon.

Pikachu stopped laughing abruptly. Pikachu began to sweat-drop himself, while Happy continued to giggle. She began to wag her tail rapidly. Serena picked out some clothes for the Electric Mouse and Intertwining Pokémon respectively. Pikachu was anxiously surprised at the store's variety while Happy was pleasantly surprised. Pikachu squeaked and struggled a little bit when Serena tried to put on the clothes. Unbeknownst to both of them, Pikachu's cheeks began to spark. Happy noticed this and began to step away in fear.

When Pikachu felt cramped up or uncomfortable, that spelled doom to the person involved. Pikachu released his electrical energy on Serena. Serena screamed as the electric type shocked her out of self-defense. Although the electricity didn't hurt her that much, Serena fell on the ground in a bit of a daze. Pikachu jumped off her arms and immediately felt bad for what he did. Once Serena recovered from her bearings, she sat up and petted Pikachu's head, letting him know it was alright. Serena and Pikachu wondered why the electricity didn't affect her that much. The mouse was known to pack a powerful punch.

It was in this time that Ash got out of the dressing room, concerned, but fully changed into the clothes Serena gave him. She looked up and got a proper look at him with a blush. Ash were wearing a black and red shirt with red strips running down along the sleeves. He wore a blue open vest from the middle up and the same fingerless gloves as before. He was wearing much darker skinnier jeans than he normally did, but he didn't seem to mind it. Ash had a hand out to help her up.

Serena was no longer stunned by Pikachu but by the boy standing in front of her. She thought he looked more handsome than ever before… and that's saying something to her eyes. Serena felt like she was the same little girl from the summer camp. She seemed frozen at her spot. Ash mistook this as Pikachu shocking her too hard and decided to help her up himself. He had a bit of a force behind his pull; he lifted her up and she ended up being pressed up against him. They both blushed at the contact and immediately moved away from each other in slight embarrassment.

It took a few moments for both of them to recover. Afterward, Ash noticed what Pikachu was wearing. He was wearing a suit similar to an archer. He had a small green fedora with a small white feather on the side. He also wore a predominately green with a white undershirt and brown pants. As Pikachu was a pretty small Pokémon, the pants made the appearance of being shorts. Trainer and Pokémon checked each other out before laughing at each other. Then, Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder. Together, the duo looked much different than before. Serena had sparkles in her eyes while Happy had a small smile.

"Wow… we both look different, huh, buddy?" Ash laughed. Pikachu nodded.

"(Yep.)" Pikachu agreed. He began to check himself out even more. "(Not gonna lie, this looks good on me. Never thought I'd look good in green.)"

"And I never thought I'd willingly try on clothes. I guess being around the right person helps." Ash said with a small smile. Serena blushed when she heard the indirect compliment, but wondered what Pikachu had said. Ash noticed her puzzled features and decided to translate. Serena bashfully smiled in response. Ash's thoughts began to wonder something else, "Pikachu… why did you shock her just now?"

"It was my fault. I didn't realize how uncomfortable I was making him until it was too late." Serena explained for the mouse. Pikachu still felt a little guilty. He felt proud that Serena was the only girl Ash traveled with that he didn't shock… at least up until today. It looked like the tradition of shocking girls would continue. The honey-blond girl turned to face the mouse and bowed her head, "I'm sorry if what I did made you feel awkward, Pikachu. I never wanted that."

"(It's OK, Serena.)" The electric mouse responded with an accepting smile. Serena understood the gist of what he said and was thankful.

Serena got on her knees and regarded the idle fairy type. "Happy, did I leave you out?"

Happy began to wag her tail, but shook her head. She picked up the white bow and presented it to the girl, "I like to keep it simple. This bow you got me is more than enough. Thank you."

Ash, Serena, and Pikachu all looked shocked that the fairy type spoke aloud. Happy realized what she had done and sweatdropped slightly. Ash was the first to point it out, "You can talk alone?"

"Technically, no. This is how any master guardian or psychic partner speaks without their trainer present. However, it does drain my energy as this isn't natural telepathy. I prefer not to speak this way, though. The energy loss does rack up." Happy explained. She put the bow back on her head and started to smile again.

"Huh. You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Ash noted. Happy giggled in response.

"Shall we continue to look around?" Serena suggested. This led to another groan by the male human and Pokémon. Happy giggled at their expense. Serena pouted, "Don't tell me you thought I was going to let you try on only one outfit. That simply wouldn't do a man like you some justice."

"I… well," Ash started to stammer.

"Or would you rather carry all the clothes I try on because I have a lot more ideas for myself..." Serena said with a hint of a devious smirk. Her words had the desired effect. Ash immediately shook his head, but had a feeling the same end result would happen anyway. He decided to go with the choice he thought would make Serena happier.

"I… guess we can continue to try on more things." Ash conceded.

"You do have the money to pay for all the clothes we're going to try on right?" Serena inquired.

"What?!" Ash's eyes grew wide. Serena seemed a little disappointed.

"It's alright if you don't since this is kind of short notice. It is unfair to you to ask so suddenly." Serena said with a lower, but notably sadder voice. She thought that because Ash was an experienced trainer, he would have a little bit of money with him. She felt bad for putting him on the spot like that.

"I…" Ash didn't know what to say or do. He didn't want her to feel sad, but at the same time, he didn't have that much money on him. He wasn't the kind of trainer to battle others for cash. He never really found the point of it. Happy bumped into him slightly.

"Say that you have the money…" Happy suggested in his mind. Ash was confused at hearing the pixie's voice in his head, but decided to go along with her without realizing it.

"I have the money…?" Ash said the words before he realized it.

"You do?" Serena said with brightened eyes.

"Uh…" Ash started to stutter again. Happy tried to help out by hiding her feelers into his clothes and thick hair and forcing him to nod. She forced him to bow politely. He was scowling internally at the assertive fairy type. Luckily for both of them, Serena didn't notice Happy's puppeteering. Serena giggled at Ash's gesture.

"What a gentleman. Thanks, Ashy." Serena gave him a small peck on his cheek before looking at more clothes. When Serena was far enough away, Ash looked angrily at Happy.

"Happy! Why did you make me lie to her like that?!" Ash roared. Happy flinched slightly to the sound of his voice. He reminded her of Aurora when she got mad at her meddling. Still, she stood her ground and looked at the teen directly into his eyes.

The fairy type decided to speak in her regular tongue since she knew that Ash would understand her. She winked, "(You didn't lie to her, Ash. You do have the money. Look into this bag the Mistress left.)"

Ash shrugged his shoulders and decided to humor her. He untied the small ribbon connecting Happy's neck with the contents of the bag. The bag was actually fairly large, so it surprised the young Ketchum that Happy was able to carry it without much difficulty. When he opened the bag, he looked at the gift with surprise. Aurora had left 100,000 Poké in the bag Ash assumed would be a hoard of berries. He was speechless. Ash had to feel the money to make sure it was real. He did notice two little Oran Berries at the very bottom.

"(Aurora had a feeling you would need some money because naturally, people want to spend money if they get clothes. So, she decided to let me stay just in case you needed it. It seems she was right on the money…)" Happy explained with a hint of a giggle. "(She figured if she could donate some of her money to the Pokémon Center, she could certainly give some to you.)"

"Wow… I really have to thank her for this." Ash said with appreciation. He didn't expect Aurora to think about him like that. He felt a little bit indebted to her and a little sad for Happy. He wondered if she missed her trainer. Happy didn't seem that somber, but he could still tell she would rather be with her trainer. He remarked, "Isn't it a hassle to stay with me like this?"

"(Not at all, young master.)" Happy replied with a smile. She jumped up on the right side of Ash's shoulder and petted Pikachu's head. The mouse smiled in response. "(I don't mind walking around, especially with Pikachu)."

"Pikachu, huh?" Ash glanced at the mouse resting on his shoulder. "Do you like Pikachu?"

Happy had a bit of a chuckle in her voice. She shook her head slightly, "(He feels more like a little brother to me. That's kinda weird to think about him like that.)"

Pikachu chimed with agreement, "(Yeah. She feels more like a quirky, but sweet older sister.)"

Ash noticed how familiar they seem with each other. He wondered how they knew each other from how they were acting. He decided to ask, "Happy, how do you know Pikachu?"

Happy put one of her feelers on her chin in thought. Pikachu looked at the fairy type and slightly shook his head. She felt his change in emotion and decided to accommodate slightly. She slightly altered her answer and spoke a little more nebulously than she had intended before, "(I've known the little guy ever since he was a Pichu. We grew close because we both were eggs born in Viridian Forest, but by the time I met Pikachu I was already evolved and with Aurora. I helped him grow stronger as a Pichu while he was traveling with us.)"

Ash looked at Pikachu and asked, "Were you one of Aurora's Pokémon before me?"

Pikachu immediately shook his head, "(She isn't one to release Pokémon unless she feels like they would be better in another place. Even still, she never owned me, but that's all you're getting for now. I don't want to talk to you about it yet.)"

Ash frowned at the answer. He didn't like how secretive he was being. He wondered why Pikachu was so hostile to humans when he first met him and wondered if it had to do with Aurora. Still, he would respect his friend's space until he felt willing to talk with about it more. He was going to continue to talk more, but then, Serena came back with a hoard of clothes that they both could look at and try on. Before he could properly protest, Ash was once again pushed into the changing room with another outfit in hand. Pikachu and Happy jumped off either side of his shoulder before they were dragged in there with him. The fairy and electric type once again fist-pumped and giggled at Ash's expense.

While Ash was changing, Serena decided to show Happy a sweater she had found for her. The honey-blond teen found it hard to find Happy a good sized sweater because of her big head and small body, but she found the perfect one after measuring the fairy type's head internally. It was a cotton carnation pink sweater with a red heart on the back. Happy instantly became excited about it and helped her put it on. Serena felt happy that there was one living thing not groaning at trying on clothes. It was a short sweater that reached up to the middle of her back. She picked her up and showed Happy how she looked. The fairy type was instantly in love with it.

"You said you liked it simple, so I figured this was a perfect fit for you," Serena told her. Happy gave her thanks by licking her on her face. Serena smiled and giggled in response. Happy and Pikachu seemed to enjoy being in their little outfits. Serena made a mental note to buy those clothes for them when they left.

Ash once again came out with another outfit. He walked slowly with a bit of a blush. Pikachu and Happy widened their eyes at the boy and gasped. He wore a high collar black shirt with a dark shirt underneath and leather fingerless gloves. The collar and shirt were ripped slightly at the edges and he wore loose dark jeans. He wasn't wearing his normal hat, either. He was wearing a Pangoro-esque hat. Ash seemed very uncomfortable while Serena seemed aware and slightly amused of how uncomfortable he was.

"Um… Serena? When can I change into my regular clothes again?" He asked in a small voice. She gave him a peck on his cheek. He blushed even more.

"You can change very soon. You look cute, but I would never imagine you in this sort of outfit. You aren't the bad boy type." Serena commented. She took a closer look at the boy. She really did think he looked good, but knew the outfit didn't fit his personality. She would never want to force him into getting something he didn't want, so she made a mental note to return those clothes when they were done. She made a dream-like sigh and murmured to herself, "I can't believe I actually got him to agree to wear this, even for a little bit. He looks way better than he did in my head…"

"What was that, Serena?" Ash asked somewhat curiously.

"N-Nothing, Ash." She stammered with a small blush. She made a conceding gesture towards the boy, "You… can change back into your regular clothes. It's alright if you don't want to continue to try on more stuff since I know this isn't your kind of thing. The first outfit fits your personality more, but the second was a bit an experiment. You look great in both. Besides, I want to start trying on things myself. Can you tell me what you think?"

"Sure. I definitely want to take a break from trying on stuff." Ash said with a relieving sigh. He was glad that he didn't have to wear anything else. Ash has always been a pretty simple kid and his clothes reflected that. They both took the opportunity to change into a different outfit in their respective dressing rooms. After a few moments, Ash came back out with his regular outfit. He put his cap on his head. It was almost as if it never left his head.

After a few minutes, Serena came out of her dressing room. She was wearing a white dressy low V-neck shirt with a low-button red vest. She also wore a knee high primarily red skirt with two white stripes on either side. The honey blond teen wore black leggings and open toed dark shoes. She finished off the outfit with a blue ribbon tied around the middle of the base of her collar. She had two hands together and bashfully regarded her boyfriend.

"How… do I look?" Serena asked with a nervous smile.

"You look really pretty and professional," Ash responded immediately. The raven haired teen didn't feel like she needed to try too hard because he thought that she was already beautiful, inside and out. Still, he liked her outfit and was somewhat curious how he would like the other outfits. He wasn't used to the feeling he was experiencing, but he knew one thing… he wanted to see more.

"Thanks. That's what I was going for." Serena rubbed behind her head nervously. Ash looked down slightly and noticed that she was wearing the same blue ribbon she normally wore on her regular outfit. He smirked proudly.

"Hey… you're wearing the ribbon I gave you." Ash pointed out verbally.

The honey blond teen looked down and thumbed the soft material. Then, she said with a small hint of embarrassment, "When you first gave this to me in Coumarine City, I can't tell you how happy I was when I received this gift from you. I've always treasured it since then."

Following that statement, Serena went back to her dressing room with a bit of a blush. Ash was speechless. He didn't realize the impact that ribbon had on Serena. He got her the gift as a nice gesture, but didn't think too much of it. He began to think deeply. He decided he was going to get her a better gift before the day was up, but he had no idea what to get her. He wasn't used to being anyone's boyfriend, let alone Serena's boyfriend. He wanted to make the gift extra special for her.

Pikachu noticed his trainer's thoughtful expression, while Happy had a mischievous glint in her eye. Pikachu wondered what Happy was thinking about. The fairy type whispered into the mouse's ear the emotion she picked up from Ash and decided to tell him what she was thinking. Pikachu smirked as he started to get the same mischievous glint in his eyes. Ash looked a bit puzzled at the scheming Pokémon, but decided not to pay it any attention. For the next several minutes, Serena changed into a slew of different outfits and that kept Ash busy. While the two trainers were distracted, Happy used her long feelers and stole Serena's bag. Pikachu and Happy went outside with the bag.

---

Happy took out all of Serena's Poké Balls and sent out Delphox, Sylveon, and Pancham. Sylveon was alarmed at seeing Happy and immediately hid behind Delphox timidly. Happy tilted her head to the side and then shrugged her shoulders. Serena's Pokemon all looked puzzled.

Delphox was the first to point out their confusion, "(Pikachu? Why are we out and who is this?)"

"(This is an old friend from before I met Ash. We want to help ol' Ash with a gift for Serena, but let him give it to her. Care to help a couple of Pokémon out?)" Pikachu asked.

Delphox and Pancham looked amused while Sylveon looked slightly intrigued. They all looked at each other, then at Pikachu. They all nodded with agreement. Pikachu perked his ears up in excitement.

"(Great.)" Happy chirped. "(Let's look all around the store for something Serena may like. The important part is to make sure neither Serena nor Ash sees us trying to find something. Sylveon, you know how to use your feelers well, right?)"

"(Um… I'm not that confident in my abilities.)" The younger fairy type looked down timidly. Happy tried to touch the other fairy type's feelers with her very own, but Sylveon immediately retracted hers back. Happy sighed with a sad smile.

"(It's all good. Can you think of something your trainer would like?)" Happy supplied.

"(Um…)" Sylveon backed up slightly anxiously. Happy was patient.

"(This is to make your trainer feel good. I'm not forcing you into doing something you don't want, but you need to tell us how you want to help.)" Happy told her. Sylveon seemed thoughtful and closed her eyes. Then, she opened them with an intensity none of them expected.

"(I think I have some idea. We will most likely have a small time frame to act, but if we're quick enough, I think we got this. Why don't we…?)" Sylveon whispered her idea into Pikachu's and Happy's ears. Pikachu immediately smiled. Happy's ears perked up with a surprised look. Then, her face grew to one of excitement. Pikachu grinned as he gestured everyone inside to find the item Sylveon spoke of.

---

For the next several minutes, Serena changed into an outfit that elicited the same response from Ash: amazement. He always thought she was really pretty, but she bypassed his expectations. As he hated to go clothing stores, he didn't show that much enthusiasm towards shopping. He was, however, excited at what Serena may wear. Serena experimented with different kinds of clothes. She was very fortunate at the variety of clothes that was in the store. Some outfits she liked herself, but other outfits she tried them just to see how he would react. Serena realized how easily she could get Ash under her fingers… and they both didn't seem to mind that.

A prime example would be when Serena decided to wear something a little bit more revealing than normal. She decided to wear a throwback to her Fennekin outfit from when she had long hair. However, it was modeled after her Pancham this time. She wore a short black skirt that barely went up to the middle of her knees with white fluff at the ends. She wore a small short-sleeved black top that exposed her midriff. She finished off the outfit by pinning her hair up in two short ponytails, tied with two white bows and a headband that had two Pancham ears.

"So… what do you think?" Serena asked upon presenting herself. She noticed that Ash was in a world of his own. She noticed he was looking down and wondered what was wrong. She tilted her head to the side in slight confusion, then realized what was transfixing her boyfriend. She giggled slightly to herself to have this effect on him, but decided to play it coy. "Uh... Ash?"

"Yeah…?" Ash said his response slightly late and still was dazed.

This was the first time he was experiencing the benefits of being a fortunate man. Ash has always been a kid at heart, very friendly, but also very dense. He'd always put his journey and Pokémon first; everything else was second. He never really looked into girls before Serena. Even presently, he still had a supporting, but child-like mentality. He started to feel more like a teen upon seeing this specific outfit Serena was wearing.

It stirred in him an emotion he never thought he'd have other than Pokémon battling: desire.

His eyes traveled from Serena's bright blue eyes down to her appealing shirt and skirt and began to really appreciate the beauty of a lovely teenage girl's body. He couldn't stop staring at her chest. He knew it was rude, but he never felt the way it felt before. It made him curious and intrigued that he would suddenly have these kinds of thoughts. It also made think about how Brock was to girls… specifically Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies. He found himself blushing subconsciously at her beauty. Serena noticed this and snapped him back into attention.

"You're staring…" Serena giggled. Ash immediately caught himself once she said that. He covered his eyes with his hat with a large blush, thinking that he upset her. He wasn't trying to be discourteous to her, but thankfully, Serena didn't seem to mind. She took off his hat and put it on her head with a bit of a seductive look. She gave him a small kiss on his cheek.

Ash laughed nervously and rubbed behind his head. "I'm sorry, Serena."

"Don't be, Ashy. I'm glad you like what you see." She winked.

To even respond was an understatement. He was still slightly dazed.

Pikachu and Happy looked relieved at something, but the couple didn't think too much of it. Serena asked the two Pokémon, "What do you guys think?"

"(I like your outfit, Serena, though it seems I'm not the only one…)" Happy answered candidly, slightly tickled at Ash.

"(You look really nice, Serena.)" Pikachu chirped happily. He looked at Ash and added with a mischievous grin, "(I think you are a very lucky man and I should have had a camera to capture your first response at noticing a girl in a different way. That was gold, Ashy.)" Ash grew even more embarrassed and slightly angry at his teasing first Pokémon. Serena wondered what Pikachu and Happy had said to cause that sort of response from Ash.

"They both said you looked nice. That's all." Ash stated dismissively. Serena shrugged happily and thanked the two of them. When she went back into the dressing room to change back into her regular attire, Pikachu and Happy asked Ash to look for another bow for Happy, saying she lost it. Ash groaned, but agreed to it and left them by the changing Serena. Unbeknownst to him, Pikachu had hidden it behind him. When he left, he placed the bow back on her head. They decided now was the time to enact their plan. Pikachu jumped up and whipped his tail back and forward slightly.

Fortunately for the Pokémon, Ash didn't notice Delphox, Sylveon or Pancham. They made sure they weren't seen by him. Delphox's eyes began to glow a deep blue. A small black gift box to slowly glide to them via Delphox's Psychic and into Pikachu's paws. Pikachu caught the empty box in his paws. Happy wriggled her feelers in the air for the second signal. This caused Pancham and the other Sylveon to move through the store as quickly as they could and come forth with a beautiful Poké Ball necklace. They placed it into the gift box and closed it.

Happy picked up Pikachu with her feelers and searched for a nearby place to put the small box while not looking out of place for Ash to see. Pikachu noticed that there was a shelf nearby full of various knickknacks. The box looked like it would fit in due to its material appearing glossy. Happy carried Pikachu to the shelf and placed the box right there. They hoped no one else would notice it in the next few minutes. After the gift was set, they all high-fived each other, except for Sylveon, who simply smiled with delight.

"(I'm so happy you pulled through, guys.)" Happy wagged her tail vigorously.

"(It was pretty easy to find it; the problem was getting through so many people without them trying to pick you up and say that you're cute. I get tired of that and we almost weren't able to get here fast enough because of it. Besides, Sylveon is the real MVP for thinking up this entire plan.)" Pancham acknowledged. Happy and Pikachu nodded in agreement. The fairy type in question blushed at the attention.

"(That's sweet of you, but you were a huge help in reaching it.)" Sylveon responded to the fighting type. Pancham grinned.

"(It was easy when we worked together, with your range and my swift paws. I hope Serena will like it)." Pancham folded his arms. It was in this time, Delphox rejoined them, looking somewhat frantic.

"(Ash is coming, guys. We gotta go. Now.)" She told them. All of them looked shocked, but Pikachu stayed calm.

"(Not surprised. Thank you so much for your help, guys! Let's hope Ash notices the present on his own and does what he needs to do.)" Pikachu sighed, but then smirked afterward. Happy returned each of Serena's Pokémon into their respective capsule, placed the Poké Balls back inside and returned her bag into its rightful place. Happy and Pikachu sat down near Serena's dressing room, trying to look as normal as possible. When Ash returned, he looked mildly annoyed at what he saw.

Pikachu and Happy looked up at him, somewhat lazily and bored. He noticed that Happy had her bow on and was slightly peeved about it. He actually did find another bow for her and quickly began to be suspicious. He narrowed his eyes at the two, "Why are you two acting so strange?"

"(What are you talking about?)" Happy asked in mock confusion. Ash shook his head.

"First, you leave the store then come back thinking I wasn't watching you while Serena was changing. Then, you both suddenly seem awfully bored and now you're looking at me like I'm crazy." Ash folded his arms. Happy and Pikachu gulped inwardly, but kept an uninterested expression on the outside. The boy looked at his electric type. "I know Pikachu well. I know when he's hiding something from me. What is it, buddy?"

Pikachu yawned and shrugged his shoulders, "(You tell me, Ash.)"

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. This isn't that serious, and although I am very respectful of your privacy, this is something I won't be so respectful towards. I definitely want to know what you and Happy did. I'll have to resort to more… persuasive methods to get you to talk." Ash said with a devious glint in his eyes. He had a small red gleam in his eyes. Pikachu suddenly became fearful of his trainer. He didn't know which Ash he was talking to.

"(You wouldn't dare.)" Pikachu knew exactly what he was talking about and paled.

"Oh, I wouldn't." Ash said, shaking his head. His eyes turned completely red and he grinned devilishly. "But I would. No ketchup for the next few days unless you spill the beans. Your shocks don't hurt me as much as they used to. Why have you been acting so weirdly?"

Pikachu sweatdropped slightly. He loved his precious ketchup and resisted his urge to just be a cop out and tell him the entire plan. Ashton's red eyes pierced into his very soul. Pikachu shuddered trying to look away. Happy decided she needed to intervene before Pikachu felt too pressured by Ashton. Happy moved Pikachu away from Ashton and stepped in his place. With a look unlike herself, she glared back at the boy. The glare seemed to say, 'Whatever you are, I'm worse'. Ashton, although slightly caught off guard, was not deterred and glared back at her.

While he was focused on her eyes, Happy elongated two of her feelers behind Ashton and to the shelf where the gift was hidden and placed it right beside Serena's bag. Pikachu gasped and shook his head slightly. Happy made a hidden smirk before conceding to the boy. She pointed her nose up into the air, grunted and walked beside Pikachu. Pikachu wondered where the fairy type's head was at. Ashton was slightly baffled at the sudden relenting attitude. He was mostly indifferent about it. His eyes turned back into their normal brown color.

"This is the backup plan in case Ash didn't find the gift himself. It'll still work out in his favor. Watch…" Happy said in Pikachu's head. Before Pikachu could wonder what 'backup' plan she was talking about, Serena came out looking refreshed. She had her regular clothes on and had a pile of clothes she was planning on buying. When she was about to put on her bag, she noticed the small box and held it curiously.

"What's this? It looks pretty nice." She inspected it more a little before asking, "Did you get this… for me?"

Ash scratched his head in confusion. He didn't remember seeing the box there a moment ago. Happy and Pikachu nodded feverishly and gestured Ash to play along. Pieces began to click together and Ash inwardly smiled at the two Pokémon. He said, "I guess I did. Open it and see what it is."

Serena opened it and her eyes sparked in awe. It was a Diancie diamond studded Poké Ball necklace. When Serena pressed the button in the middle of the ball, it opened and revealed a place to place a small picture. She touched her heart with glistening eyes. Ash himself was amazed by the detail of the diamonds and wondered if it was real. Serena suddenly gave him the biggest hug she could muster. Ash suffered slight recoil from the unexpected contact, but returned it nonetheless. Happy and Pikachu went behind Serena, winked, and gave him a thumb's up. Ash smiled in appreciation. He understood why they acted weird. He didn't anticipate Pokemon being awesome wingmen.

"Ash… this is amazing! Where did you find this?" Serena asked, still amazed.

Ash had a small smile and said, "It's a bit of a secret. I'm glad you love it."

"Are you sure you have the money to pay for this and all the clothes?" Serena asked, somewhat afraid. She did some quick calculations in her head with all the clothes they got in the store and the Pokémon outfits. "All of the clothes is about 45,000 Poké, give or take about 1,000 Poké. How much does the necklace cost?"

Ash inspected it himself and noticed the small price tag on the edge of it. "50,000 Poké. These are actual Diancie diamonds, which is why it cost so much."

"Do you have enough, Ash?"

"I have about 100,000 Poké." Serena widened her eyes upon hearing her boyfriend's response, but seemed slightly hesitant.

"I didn't know you were so rich, Ash."

"Neither did I…" The young Ketchum thought to himself.

"Are you sure you want to spend almost all of your money? It seems unfair to you." Serena looked down somewhat guiltily.

Ash shook his head, grabbed her hands and made an assuring smile. He forced her to look up at him. "I'm fine with this, Serena. As long as you're happy, I'm happy. Anything for you."

Serena kissed him on his cheek in response and he sighed happily. He appeared dazed and love-struck. Pikachu and Happy laughed at Ash once more.

Once their little moment was over, Ash helped Serena to carry all of the clothes she picked out. Happy and Pikachu took off their clothes and placed it in Ash's hands. Most of the outfits were Serena's, one was the outfit that fitted Ash's personality, and the others were outfits she planned to let her Pokémon use one day for future performances. Once he paid for all the clothes and necklace, he personally put the necklace around Serena's neck. She would treasure this gift forever. Afterward, Ash was forced to carry all the clothes by his girlfriend. He groaned, but did it anyway.

When Ash, Pikachu, and Serena was far enough away, Happy turned around suddenly and narrowed her eyes. She had a sinking feeling they were being watched. She decided to lie low, but keep a cautious head. Then, she quickened her pace to a light jog to catch up with Ash, Serena, and Pikachu.

---

Now, it was time for Ash's part of the bargain to commence. They went a little outside of town to an empty field. It was a perfect size for battling. Serena sighed when she noticed her boyfriend's excitement at the prospect of battling her. They stood at opposite sides. Happy was sitting by their stuff, wagging her tail. She wished them both the best of luck. Ash turned his cap around and gazed at Serena with a determined smirk. Pikachu was on his shoulder, raring to go. They silently agreed to have the mouse battle, but didn't know what Serena would choose.

Truth be told, Serena was nervous going up against Ash. She knew how strong he was; after all, she thought he was amazing throughout their journey. She never really focused on battling as much as he did, but that didn't mean she would bow down to him easily. She was determined to show the experienced trainer what she's made of. She flashed her Poké Ball with a serious expression.

Ash got into a battle stance and gestured Pikachu off his shoulder. Pikachu happily obliged and jumped in front of Ash with electric sparks forming from his cheeks. Trainer and Pokémon stood together in sync and in anticipation of what their opponent might bring. Serena threw her Poké Ball high into the air. A burst of light flashed on the battlefield and took shape. That shape morphed into a bipedal fire type with her stick ignited. She had a confident grin. Delphox looked pumped to battle.

Since they didn't have a formal referee, Ash decided to take the first attack. He brought out his hand, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu quickly paced himself by running in a zig-zag. Delphox had a hard time keeping track of Pikachu's movements and sweat-dropped at the electric type's speed. Before she could properly react to Pikachu, he rammed his body into her torso. Delphox stumbled slightly, but didn't take too much damage.

Ash kept up his offense. "Now use Thunderbolt!"

Serena now brought out her hand, "Use Psychic to take control of it!"

Pikachu's cheeks became electrified as he charged up this electrical attack. With a battle cry, he shot the bolt of energy at the Delphox. Delphox had a devious glint in her eyes. Her eyes began to glow blue and her stick glowed in tandem. She waved her stick around, just like a magician. She quickly took control of the Thunderbolt and it circled around her elegantly. Pikachu gasped in shock at the Delphox's expertise with her psychic powers. So did Ash.

Serena had a small smirk on her face, "Time to show them what our performances have done us. Combine the Thunderbolt with your Mystical Fire!"

Delphox waved her wand around and shot rings of fire from it. With her Psychic attack, she combined Pikachu's Thunderbolt with her Mystical Fire to create a blazing mixture of bolt and flame and shot it at Pikachu. Pikachu grunted as he took the hit. Serena smirked in satisfaction at the successful hit. Pikachu's cheeks were jolting with electricity as he looked at the Delphox, impressed.

Ash didn't seem the least bit worried. "Focus your electricity at your tail and go for it!"

"Use Psychic!" Serena countered once the initial shock was gone.

Pikachu smiled as his tail became completely electrified. Before Delphox could take control of Pikachu's body, he whipped his tail in the air and released a sonic burst of electrical energy. Delphox hissed as she was pushed back by the attack. Pikachu followed up his assault back knocking his tail onto her head. Delphox landed on the ground, but promptly got back up. Serena was once again amazed at Pikachu's reaction time. Pikachu stood to be in front of Ash, obediently waiting for his next command.

"Seems like Buizel inspired you, buddy. Nice one." Ash gripped his fist tightly and continued, "Get close with Iron Tail!"

"Keep them back with Fire Blast!" Serena concocted a quick plan. She hoped it worked.

Pikachu began to run along the battlefield with a steel tail, looking to land his mark. With the wave of her wand-like stick, she aimed a great line of fire at the mouse. Pikachu was about to move to his right to dodge, but was surprised when it expanded five different ways. Pikachu screamed in pain when he got knocked back. He shook any lingering embers. Delphox quickly approached the recovering Pikachu.

"Flame Charge!" Serena called out.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack and keep using it!" Ash countered. Serena seemed slightly confused by the order, but didn't show it visibly.

Delphox's body became cloaked in a weak layer of flames, seeking to slam her body into the electric type. Pikachu grinned as he gained a white streak of light behind him and flipped over the fully evolved fire type. Pikachu kept on dashing around and near the fully evolved fire type. Delphox had a hard time keeping track of the electric type's movements and sweat-dropped. He made the illusion that there were multiple Pikachus surrounding the Delphox in a circular motion.

Serena didn't know exactly what to do in this situation, so she went with her gut. "Use Psychic to stop him in his place!"

"Good luck trying to stop a target you can't pinpoint." Ash said with a smile. Serena widened her eyes when she realized he anticipated what she would want to do. Delphox tried to follow her trainer's order, but realized Ash was right. She couldn't stop the moving Pikachu because of his blistering speed. Serena wondered how this was so.

Ash explained, "A Psychic type often needs to connect themselves with whatever they want to control directly… specifically the brain… in order to use Confusion or Psychic. If you take away the connection part by making the brain move too fast, what can you do? You could leave yourself open to an attack. I noticed your reliance on Psychic, both with your moves and mine… and I think it's time to take advantage of it. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on yourself."

Pikachu made a battle cry as his body was illuminated with his own electrical energy. He started to make electrical circles around the battlefield. Ash continued, "Use Iron Tail to knock the ring into Delphox!"

Pikachu made his tail glow a steely light and smashed it into his own electrical ring. It moved at a high speed. Delphox's eyes widened as she was hit by the move directly. Serena was in awe. When she was younger, she saw Ash use this technique in a visual portion of a contest. Now, he was using it against her as a battle. She was frozen in place as she admired how strong he was. She quickly snapped herself out of it when she noticed that Delphox had squiggly marks for eyes. They both knew the battle was done.

She sprinted towards her fallen partner and helped her up. Delphox smiled and gave her a hug. Pikachu and Ash immediately felt bad and approached them. Serena assured them that everything was alright. Ash rubbed behind his head in slight shame, "I guess we took it a bit too far. Are you alright?"

Delphox gave him a thumbs up and nodded. Serena spoke for her partner, "Yeah, we're fine. That was actually pretty fun. It kinda stinks that I lost, but hey, we got to learn something from it."

"That's a good spirit to have. Thank you for having the battle with me. Now we need to heal up Pikachu and Delphox." Ash stated.

"I have that covered." Happy decided to speak up. Happy closed her eyes and placed her feelers over Delphox. A small star twinkled over Happy as Delphox's body began to glow white. Delphox immediately felt better and started to stand up on her own. She repeated this process for Pikachu. Then, Happy gave the two Oran berries Aurora left to Delphox and Pikachu. They both felt completely refreshed. All of them looked appreciative at the fairy type.

"Thank you so much." Serena thanked and returned Delphox into her Poké Ball.

"It's not a problem. Rio and I are the healers in my trainer's team. We do this all the time." Happy winked. Happy sniffed the air and suddenly got paler. Neither human seemed to notice, but Pikachu did. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Happy tugged on Ash's pants to get his attention and asked in an urgent voice, "Uh… Ash? May I explore the city a little more? There's something I need to look into."

"Happy, I'm supposed to watch you." Ash told her. Ash furrowed his eyes in confusion at the sudden question.

"Technically, it's the other way around, but that's beside the point. I really want to check on something. Please? I promise I won't stray too far." Happy pleaded.

"Are you sure…?" Ash asked with a hesitant voice. Pikachu decided to step in on the pixie's behalf.

"(If you're that unsure if you want Happy to be alone in the city, maybe I can tag along. I'll make sure she won't get into trouble.)" Pikachu snickered. Happy didn't look amused at all and ignored him. She widened her eyes and made them look as cute as possible. Ash could feel himself falling for those puppy-dog eyes, so he relinquished control to Ashton. Ashton did not look amused. Happy gasped slightly in shock.

"If you two need to check something out, Ash is alright with it. Just... don't try to trick him with your cute looks next time. It won't work on me." Ashton narrowed his eyes. The counterbalance had a point and the pixie-eyed Pokémon acknowledged it. He quickly changed his eyes back into brown. Serena thought about how Ashton could cover for Ash in certain situations and vice versa. That may prove useful to him in many ways, though how, she wasn't sure.

"(Besides, we know we've been impeding on your alone time with Serena. Go on. Enjoy your time as a couple. We'll meet up with you once we're done.)" Pikachu said with a smile. Ash rubbed Pikachu's head in response. Ash translated what Pikachu said to Serena and she nodded with agreement. Holding her hand, they walked back into the city looking at each other lovingly. Pikachu and Happy both sighed and shook their heads with a proud smile. Then, they reentered the city on a different path.

---

Pikachu didn't know what Happy sensed, but he knew it had to be serious. Happy had a new air of sternness on her features and it unnerved him. For the next several hours, Happy was walking slowly and hiding in various places, though why, he did not know. He copied her the best he could and noticed she was watching for something... or rather someone. When they were deep into one of the city's alleyways, Pikachu decided to voice his confusion. Happy nodded as if she expected this.

"(The real reason why I stayed behind was not to help the young master with his romantic advances, but rather, to protect him while Aurora is gone. He's a lot more vulnerable to capture since he's forgotten how to fight. Two men have been following us the entire day… specifically Ash. Since we were near large hub areas of people, he was relatively safe. Now look where he is.)" Happy gestured him to follow her. They peered through the edge of a building. They noticed that Ash and Serena had fallen asleep together while sitting on a bench. Ash was holding her comfortably. There were barely any people around them. They looked absolutely serene together. Pikachu thought of this as cute, but Happy looked grim.

"(All alone. Perfect time to strike and kidnap him. Look over there.)" Happy pointed to the alleyway several hundred feet away to her east. Two burly and shady guys appeared to be spying on the sleeping couple. One guy had messy ginger hair with green eyes and a small mustache. He was slightly chubbier than muscular, but still had a strong build. The other guy had dark blue hair that seemed to look black at first glance. He had a small beard and dark brown eyes. He was shorter, but a bit more muscular. They both were wearing civilian clothing, but they had a dark glint in their eyes.

Pikachu widened his eyes and began to emit sparks from his cheeks. The couple was in what appeared to be an empty lot that had just gotten some attention by the city recently. There were two paths towards them; one where Happy and Pikachu was and one where the two mysterious men were.

"(We have to do something.)" Pikachu said with anger. Happy nodded with agreement.

"(We will. I have a plan. Act inconspicuous and as if you are a wild Pikachu who wondered away from the Santalune Forest. Follow my lead and be prepared to battle them.)" Happy commanded. Pikachu nodded. He put on his best lost and confused face. Happy did the same thing. They both walked out into the open, seeming both lost and confused. They slowly approached the two men acting as if they really didn't know where they were going.

The two men were confused at the sudden appearance of the two Pokémon, but they did think they looked really cute. The ginger haired one decided to pick Happy up from the ground. Happy feigned confusion, then excitement. She licked the man's face and smiled. The man smiled back. He then rubbed his head against Happy's affectionately. Pikachu tilted his head and shrugged slightly. Then, he approached the same man and started to rub his body against him. He made sure not to shock him accidently. The dark blue haired man looked mildly annoyed at his partner.

"Carl, what the heck are you doing?" The brown eyed guy sighed with annoyance.

"I think these little ones likes me, Steve." The ginger haired man known as Carl responded. Happy laughed in response while Pikachu chirped.

"Who cares?" Steve face palmed and groaned.

"Well, I do." Carl said with a sad sigh. He told him. "I think we should add more variety on our team, dude. It'll make us that much stronger. A fairy and electric type looks pretty diverse. The boss will be even more impressed with us after we capture Ashton. Double rewards, baby!"

Steve appeared to contemplate on his partner's words. It made sense and he could always use some praise. Still, he had a nagging feeling something was off. He did notice Ash traveling with two small Pokémon earlier in the day, but he couldn't see how they looked because there were too many people covering them. He wondered if these were the same Pokémon. He eyed the two Pokémon suspiciously. Something didn't seem right seeing these two Pokémon appearing so suddenly and being so friendly. He decided to inspect them a little bit closer himself. Carl noticed the thoughtful look on Steve's face and decided to put the Sylveon down.

Happy continued to look as innocent as she could be possibly in front of the two. She cleared out her mind and thought as though she was a toddler again. Steve looked down at the Sylveon and peered into the Pokémon's mind. After a few scrutinizing minutes, Steve grunted in approval and dismissed the fairy type as a child. Steve then did the same to Pikachu. Pikachu noticed how absent minded Happy appeared and tried to follow her example. He tried to think about nothing. Once again, Steve grunted in approval.

"Seems like these two are legit. Never thought I'd see young Pokémon wondering out here of all places." Steve started to pet Pikachu himself. Pikachu inwardly sighed with relief when Steve didn't notice something off with them. Pikachu feigned enjoyment. He purred slightly.

"Now do you want to catch them?" Carl asked with sparkles in his eyes. His partner rolled his eyes.

"Jeesh… you need to learn to grow up." Steve glanced back at his comrade with a shake of his head. He decided to concede finally, "Still, you make a good point. Let's go for it."

Happy had a mischievous glint in her eyes, got into a battle stance and went over to be opposite to the two men. Her tail was wagging profusely and she looked at them competitively. Pikachu ran to be beside Happy and got into a more serious battling stance.

"Seems like these little ones are challenging us to a double battle," Carl observed.

"Makes sense for Pokémon to challenge us. Let's properly capture these two quickly, then. Go Polurk!" Steve threw out a ball.

"Come out and play, Grumpig!" Carl called out, somewhat excited.

When the two men threw out their Pokémon, they summoned a somewhat rotund purple psychic pig and a somewhat imposing ice and ghost type. He was white and purple in coloration. He had the illusion that he was constantly cold and chilly, with gas that resembled a torn winter coat. He had two arms and three fingers on each hand, but did not have any feet. They both looked menacing at first glance, but Happy and Pikachu didn't seem to be concerned.

Happy and Pikachu started out the battle with the first attack. Pikachu grunted as he released all of his pent up electrical energy at the Grumpig. Happy winked as she shot her Moonblast at the same target. Both attacks came out incredibly fast. Grumpig crossed his arms and took the Thunderbolt relatively well. However, when Moonblast landed, he immediately fainted. A second Moonblast was launched from the same Sylveon and knocked out Polurk instantly as well. Carl looked frantic while Steve simply narrowed his eyes.

"There is no Sylveon that can take out Carl's Grumpig or my Polurk like that unless it's extremely well trained." Steve hissed.

Happy's jovial expression instantly vanished and she grew hostile. So did Pikachu. His cheeks began to spark heavily. Carl looked alarmed while Steve didn't look surprised. "Smart Pokemon, clearing out your minds. I should have known Aurora wouldn't have left them alone completely. Why do we have to deal with the Champion's Sylveon and the boy's Pikachu of all Pokémon…"

The blue haired man reached behind him. Happy's reaction was quick, but not quick enough. She lunged at the shorter man. Steve threw out a high-tech cube with a glowing blue circle at the middle. Its energy expanded into the shape of a blue net. Happy squeaked as she and Pikachu were trapped. Happy looked at the two men with pure hatred. Pikachu looked very annoyed, though not as loathing as Happy. Steve and Carl stood triumphantly over them.

"Screw trying to capture these two. Let's just do this. Steve…" Carl grew very stoic and serious. His partner nodded with understanding.

"Yes. Take the boy. No one is here and there's no better opportunity." Steve took out a knife with a dastardly grin. He started to approach the sleeping couple. He crept towards Serena with a low sadistic laugh. Carl stood beside Happy and Pikachu, making sure they couldn't escape.

Pikachu and Happy were squirming even more furiously in the confined space. Pikachu was tempted to use Thunderbolt on the plasma net, but he didn't want to harm Happy in the process. Pikachu was at a loss at what to do. Happy was savagely biting the electrical net. She was hurting herself in the process, but she didn't care. She was seeing Ash's life slipping from her paws and vowed to herself never to let that happen again. She made a promise to her Mistress and she would not let her down. She felt an unknown energy stirring inside her.

Happy closed her eyes and concentrated. She created a protective field around herself and Pikachu and expanded it as much as she possibly could. The plasma net expanded and expanded. Happy gave Pikachu a reassuring look that let him know it was alright to shock her. Pikachu helped out the effort by using Thunderbolt to expand the Protect even more. They both looked to overload the contraption until it burst. Indeed, that's exactly what happened. The two trapped Pokémon were free. Carl was shocked at the sudden development and immediately sought to grab them. However, Happy retaliated by using Iron Tail on his torso and temporarily immobilized him.

Pikachu and Happy nodded at each other with mutual respect and agreement over what the other would do. Happy wrapped her feelers around Pikachu and threw him as hard as she could. Pikachu was launched through the air and onto Steve's back. Then, with a small grunt, he began to shock the human as hard as he could. Steve wailed in excruciating pain. Never had Pikachu intentionally tried to seriously injure a human with his electricity, but this man tried to harm his trainer and girlfriend. That's one line he won't allow anyone to cross. Although Steve was a psychic, he was not as experienced as other members of his team and it was costing him against Pikachu. He didn't have as much resistance to electricity.

Meanwhile, Carl tried to grab Happy, but Happy was much too fast. She showed off her jumping skills by jumping in a zig-zag. Happy head-butted into Carl and knocked him towards his partner. They both stumbled on the ground. Happy's body began to glow a light pink aura as she bared her teeth out. Pikachu suddenly grew slightly fearful of the fairy type.

"If I ever see you two near the young master again, I'll…" Happy felt the urge to release all of her pent up rage and anger. Her body began to shine incredibly bright pink. Instead of using her Moonblast attack, she called on her instincts. She screamed at the top of her lungs to the point where visible sound waves were unleashed. The force of the attack was so devastating that it sent the two men flying high into the air and off to a far distance. Pikachu was shocked at the power Happy possessed. By the looks of it, Happy was surprised at herself.

"(Hyper Voice?)" He echoed his surprise.

"(It would seem I learned a new move...)" Happy fell on the ground, panting slightly. She felt weird and tired, but oddly empowered, "(I felt my desire to save Ash and Serena come forth in an explosive way. I feel like I set off some sort of nuke.)"

Pikachu nodded, somewhat impressed. Then, he began to look at Ash and Serena again. Miraculously, they still were sleeping. The Pokémon wondered how in the world could this be, especially with how loud Happy was. They soon got their answer when they went towards them. When Happy and Pikachu got close enough, they were blocked off by a small barrier encircling the two. Pikachu looked confused. Happy smiled and chuckled.

Happy explained what she was sensing, "(They are blocking off us with a weak barrier. It seems like the combination of Ash and Serena's auras subconsciously created a barrier around them to protect themselves so they wouldn't be disturbed. It's weird, but their love saved them from waking up… literally.)"

"(How the hell does that work?)" Pikachu asked incredulously.

"(When two guardians' connection is strong enough and the both have the same desire, it's possible. They both wanted to be alone and not disturbed. It wouldn't have been strong enough to prevent those two thugs from capturing them, but it was enough to block all outside noises. Who knows? Maybe they're sharing the same dream. It's like they are beginning to feel each other out…)" Happy started, but Pikachu immediately became weirded out by the notion.

"(Woah... what? That's super weird to think about.)" Pikachu cringed slightly. At first, Happy was puzzled that Pikachu would say that. Then, she looked slightly weirded out at the Pikachu's implication.

"(Excuse my poor word choice. I meant their auras. It's totally romantic when you think about it…)" Happy smiled and created hearts with her feelers. She loved seeing how aura evolved and it made her curious of how Ash's and Serena's relationship would advance.

"(Now I'm reminded of how weird you are.)" Pikachu sighed. Happy merely shrugged her shoulders, but didn't deny it.

Now that the looming threat had passed, Happy and Pikachu began to catch up with each other. Happy talked about all what happened with her in the years she hadn't seen Pikachu and vice versa. It seemed like they had a lot to talk about. Happy mostly talked about how she learned how to perfect some combinations and ideas she had when Pikachu was young while Pikachu mostly talked about how he began to like humans again upon being Ash's partner. He talked passionately about the battles he and Ash shared. Happy felt delighted by the news.

"(Seems like you're much happier. Aurora was worried when you broke your old trainer's Poké Ball and ran off to the wild when she couldn't find you. I'm thankful that you're still alright, Little Chu.)" Happy smiled fondly at him.

"(I'm happy with how things turned out. One day, I'll tell him about Marcus… but not today.)" Pikachu said, looking back at his trainer with a sad smile. He made a long yawn and stretched himself out. He suddenly felt drowsy himself. He sat at Ash's feet, curled his tail around himself and fell asleep near his trainer. Happy smiled and shook her head.

Her ears suddenly perked up and she suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. She thought about the two men that had been following them all day. She immediately thought about Aurora's safety since the Zurui seemed to know that Ash would be alone. She suddenly became afraid for her trainer. She thought barely above a whisper, "Aurora…"

---

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed reading this marathon of a chapter. If you're reading this author's note, then you have pretty good endurance! Good on your eye muscles~

For Clemont and Bonnie, I decided to make a call back to the games. If you played Pokemon X and Y, then you should know that Prism Tower was a quiz theme gym with Bonnie asking the questions. It felt neat to incorporate this into the story through the Trainer School. I decided Bonnie should have just as much knowledge as her in-game self. Clemont is a nerd, so Bonnie is also a bit of a nerd. Also, I left the winner of the competition ambiguous on purpose. Imagine it as a dramatic end card at the end of an important episode~ Did Bonnie win or did Sarah win? You'll find out the next time you see Bonnie.

For Ash and Serena, it was very fun to write their interactions. 'Nuff said.

For Happy and Pikachu, I wanted to see how well they could be wingmen. It ended up working out nicely. They had a really good brother-sister relationship when Pikachu was younger and it's remained strong to this day. I'll properly tell you of Pikachu's origins and his connection to Happy in a much later chapter, but I did release some info :P

Here's some information on the Pokemon that appeared in this chapter: Polurk (It's a combination on polar and lurk before someone says I ripped it off from Golurk. I've had that type of comment before and it irritates me heavily when someone says something like that).

Type: Ice/Ghost

Pokedex entry: Polurk, the Snow Spirit Pokemon. Polurk is known to help out people who are trapped in blizzards, but eerily leaves before they are able to find out what saved them. They are gentle at heart, but they are timid to both people and Pokemon.

Next chapter, we'll see what Aurora wanted to do. Why does Happy feel like Aurora is in danger? You won't find out next chapter, but the one after that. The next update will be on Jan 16th and I will update once every two weeks, just like before. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter :P

Next Chapter: Rekindling Visit

Until then...

~SPG123~