Equanimity Chapter 22;

"I should get a crown!" Bonnie laughed while falling backwards onto her seat in the overly crowded space in the pizza parlor that Ash more than likely paid for. After the incident, where he disappeared for the last hour of the match—not that Bonnie noticed-he was attached to Misty's hip.

It was an eyesore for Serena who watched from a distance, never had to be right next to it. She was supposed to be okay, and successful in her own way—fight for Ash and prove how wrong Misty was for him.

...And for awhile, she shamefully thought, she was right. Ash and Misty, for whatever reason were not okay when she first arrived in Kalos—no, it started before that, when Ash was brooding around the pokemon center the last couple of days before the tournament. Now he seemed perfectly normal, all smiles and laughter—and jokes, and that inconsistent banter of sarcasm that Serena was still trying to get used to.

Ash wasn't the same Ash that she knew, but he was far from the person he was when they fell in love. She still treated him like a kid, someone who wasn't grown up—and while he was too blind to see it. Serena was not, she saw Misty for exactly what she was!

...She wasn't sure what that was yet, but she saw the woman for it. Her and her scornful, boyfriend-stealing ways.

Serena stopped herself, rubbed her face and rested her elbows on the table. She, alone, was the only person making a big deal about this! A big deal about something she was supposed to be over. She was supposed to stand on her own two feet again, it was the dawning point of her decision to travel on her own—to move on. Clemont, and Bonnie, they were more than supportive. She wasn't familiar enough with Max, who seemed to brood about the idea they were all separating so soon.

...It wasn't like he even knew them that well, anyways. He was practically still a stranger to the three of them! But it wasn't like Serena was trying to get to know him, either.

These last few months were just her barely trying to survive. Losing the one aspiration she had since she was seven was a lot more jarring and worrisome than she would have ever imagined it could be; and the feeling clung to her like a dwindling fire that wouldn't go out.

"You know Bonnie, if you keep bragging your gonna get knocked off your high horse." Misty's voice cut through her thoughts. The woman sat perpendicular to her, the only available space at the end of the table that still seated her close enough to Ash, and far enough away from Serena to be comfortable.

They literally had not spoken a single word to one another. Not like they had anything to talk about. Misty liked battling, Serena like grooming. Misty liked arguing, Serena hated confrontation—they were almost total opposites, and the only middle ground they shared were their affections for Ash.

"I think I'm doing just find. I did take runner-up in that tournament after all, and I had the disadvantage in every match!" She cheered for herself, shaking her closed fists above her head until Clemont swat her on the back of the legs and forced her to sit back onto the table—where she immediately stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're acting like an ass."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm no-"

Clemont grew close to his baby sister, a situation Serena was getting used to when Clemont would scold her; he never did it openly, never wanted to embarrass anyone. She respected him for that.

"Not all of us did so hot, Bonnie." He whispered in her ear, and the sudden realization of her actions made her mouth clam shut, and her blue eyes fall mercilessly over Max, who was gnawing mindlessly on a set of fries, looking less glum and more dissatisfied.

"I'm sorry." She mouthed and Max's back straightened.

"What?" he laughed bitterly. "Oh, don't apologize. You should be excited."

That was a very noble statement from him, but the tension had already nestled itself into the group once more, aside from May, who clipped the last of the Kalos sausage from her plate, and Misty who shared a look with Ash, they sat in silence for the better part of a minute. A look that made Serena's stomach flip inside out.

"So this is your guys' last day in town then." Ash spoke, clearing the air—only to make it more suffocating. Her chest felt like it was being bolted down and she fought the need to hurl. Serena had never left Kalos before, and a part of her wasn't ready, knowing that she wasn't going to follow her intended dreams, and would instead try to find a new one.

"Well, not mine." Clemont scoffed with a nerdy chuckle that had snickers float around the table.

Since no one else felt brave enough to chip in, Bonnie did, with a wide grin that reminded Serena so much of Ash when he was younger. "Yeah, and I'm going to Kanto next!"

Misty's eyebrows rose.

"Really?"

"Yes! Since that's where Ash started, and lost the first time—I thought it would be the best place to start—since the trainers must have been super powerful!"

Misty started choking on her laughter somewhere after 'super powerful trainers' and Ash's face deadpanned and the arm he had draped around her waist all night shifted into his lap and he looked away form the chuckling redhead. May shared a few rolling laughs with Misty—the sympathetic laughter that she offered to anyone, and Ash drummed his fingers against his arm.

"Yeah, super powerful." Misty wheezed, collecting herself while wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"I was ten Misty."

"You were a jerk." She hissed, containing her laughter by sliding her hand against her mouth. "But I'm sure you'll do great there even though Kanto has gotten a lot better in the recent years, so it'll be tough.."

Bonnie, who watched the scene confused shrugged. "Well I wouldn't know, Ash never really talked about it too much! I mean, up until the last week or so we traveled together, we didn't even know that you were a gym leader-So I don't know what to expect."

Misty tried not to let the comment get to her, deflect it with the best smile that she could, but both Ash and Serena saw the way the brimming light left her eyes at the realization.

"Bonnie, no talky." Clemont growled, this time with his fingers twitching.

"It's okay." Misty assured him immediately, still the better person regardless of the situation. "It's challenging, and our customs are a bit more... conservative than here in Kalos."

Bonnie paused. "What does that mean?"

"We put way more emphasis on the actual battle, and less on what you can learn from it."

Ash glanced at Misty, a possible jab at his new found precedence and support as 'teaching' trainers. Misty continued. "Gym leaders, for example, will tell you the lesson only after they've beaten you. Not during. I mean, Ash almost lost twice to Brock when-"

"Let's not talk about that!" Ash hissed, nudging her in the side. She didn't flinch.

"And if you use outside sources now, it's an automatic disqualification! Oh—and we can't just give badges away for good behavior any-" Ash's hand slapped over her mouth, even though no one else knew the events in question, his reaction brought a chuckle.

"Are you implying that Ash was given badges?" May stated holding her mouth. Misty slapped his hand away.

"All but two!" she crooned before he wrestled her down against the seat, still sitting up and covering her mouth with his hands and looking at his friends while Misty sat in a terminal of laughter.

"She's lying." Ash scoffed, with a necessary eye roll that made their lips purse. May pursued the disagreement.

"Well it makes sense why you would never talk about that region then. You hate people knowing your disadvantages!"

"I was ten!"

"You were a bad—mppffh!" Misty shouted, beneath his hand and he let up a grin with rosy cheeks that forced the rest of the table into a fit of laughter. He scowled, he didn't appreciate being the butt of their jokes! While he was distracted with his own scowl, she pushed his hands away and sat up, shoving him gently back into his section of the booth—causing him to bump arms with May.

"Moral of the story." She brushed off the saliva that pooled at the corner of her mouth after licking his hand to get it move. He wiped it off on his jeans. "-if it's harder than you thought it would be, don't be intimidated."

"Why would I be intimidated?" She asked and Misty folded her arms.

"Well it's always the overly boisterous ones that weasel out at the first struggle.

"Pfft, of course not!"

The laughter suddenly died away, as the threads of rivalry poured through the table. Misty clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and leaned forward with narrowed eyes.

"I mean if Ash was so bad, and he still got to the league then I'm sure I'll have no problem!"

"Hey" Ash muttered under his breath, equally as insulted as Misty, who was a gym leader there.

"So you think you can beat me in a match?"

"I know I can!"

She breathed, or growled—Serena wasn't so sure when she watched from the sidelines, this moment of a brutal stare down.

"Actually, I bet I can beat you right now!" Bonnie threw salt in the wound and watched while Misty slipped out of her seat, and pressed her palms flat against the table.

"Misty, she's eleven-" Ash tried to reason with the red head, but her jaw locked stubbornly.

"Then let's battle!" She hissed and like that, the small gathering for Bonnie's victory was broken.

XOX

Clemont and Serena were always going to vote for Bonnie—their reasons obvious; May and Max wanted to see Misty win—because they were both too good to say it, but Bonnie's pestering over confidence was getting on both of their nerves. Max's a lot longer than May's.

Ash was in the middle. He couldn't cheer for any one of them! He knew, at some level—or at least what he saw of her during the mishap on the boat where she was kidnapped, that Misty was no girl to be messed with—if her reputation spoke nothing of her at all.

Sure, it had been dragged through the mud the last couple of days...and because because of him no less... but, her battling skills, when put on display, spoke for themselves.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Ending the day like this..." May muttered quietly while they gathered around the only lit battleground outside of the parlor they were in. Ash shrugged but Serena used this as her moment to lean in.

"She has way more experience than Bonnie—why would she even suggest a battle?"

"Does age matter?" Ash mumbled, he hated being in the middle of this. "Besides, Bonnie was..."

"Was...?" Serena challenged.

"Acting like a sore winner." Clemont spoke quickly, rolling his shoulders. "And she has been for the last couple of weeks... I'm... I'm okay with this." He said and Serena was apparently the only one not going out of her mind!

"How are you okay-"

"Listen, Serena, I get it." He told her without mentioning what he understood—the fact that she didn't want to see Misty succeed so close to any of them. "But she needs to learn this before she leaves, while she still has friends around otherwise..."

"We all need to lose at some point." May added with a smile, and a twist of her head that brought a light to her face. Serena understood her the least. She was either super-intellectual and hid it beneath a mask of naivety, or she was really that innocent. Her words didn't make her feel any better. Of course Serena knew they needed to lose sometimes! She... She knew that better than anyone else! Her eyes fell on Misty, and she stilled her breath.

"Alright, it'll be a one on one battle. Since I'm the challenger, you can trade out your pokemon if you need to..."

"I won't need to!" Bonnie snapped, hands clenched at her sides. Misty offered her best smile in response.

"Right. We'll get right to it." Misty's lips twitched to hide her frustration. Each individual imagined another scenario—gyarados, starmie, politoed, seadra—which ever pokemon Misty used, they were levels higher than Bonnie—and while Bonnie was good for her age, she was still new.

"Alright, then I'll use the natural defense against water pokemon—dedenne!" Bonnie smirked, snapping her fingers while the small mouse bounced from her shoulder and to the battle, electricity sparking around it. Misty's face drew into a line.

"Alright, then I'll use..." She hesitated, grasping at her pokeball belt and then flinging a ball forward without the typical Misty flare. Ash's expression softened. Apparently she out-grew the stage of kissing her pokeballs before the start of a battle.

"Totodile let's go!"
"That's a johto pokemon!" May gasped, leaning forward to get a better look. Ash tried to hide his own concern at seeing the pokemon.

"Yeah, she probably...has a lot of those." He muttered in his best attempt to seem in the loop. Misty put her hands on her hip.

"He's actually the newest edition to my team, and needs some training."

"You think so little of me!" Bonnie whipped and Misty crossed her arms. However, the chance to rebut the confrontation lasted only so long before Bonnie followed her exclamation with an attack.

"Dedenne use nuzzle!"

"Totodile blast him away from you with a water gun!" Misty countered as the mouse rushed to the alligator, only to be sprayed backwards. He landed on his paws, soaked while totodile remained with the same composure it had prior. The total opposite of Ash's, which spent more of the battle dancing than standing!

"Lucky shot." Bonnie mumbled, then immediately recovered, as did dedenne. "Alright use thunder shock!"

Before the mouse could effectively charge the blast, Misty, with her arms still folded cracked a smile. "Totodile use scary face!" As dedenne charged his attack, totodile nudged forward with his jaw cranked open three sizes—twice the size of dedenne who flinched, and hopped away from the nearing pokemon.

"Dedenne, he's not going to eat you!" Bonnie barked, stomping her foot on the ground and watching as totodile snickered himself at Dedenne's reaction, holding his claws to his jaw while Misty tapped her heel.

"Fine, if you want to play dirty then we can, too! Dedenne use charm!"

"Totodile look away and thrash!"

"Don't look away!" Bonnie shouted, clearly not interested in the way Misty was cheating! She was supposed to battle tit-for-tat, not this baloney of reacting ahead of time! She was battling like...like! Before her inner complaints were made vocal, totodile rolled into dedenne, knocking the small mouse backwards, and into Bonnie's arms once again.

Not defeated, far from it, but...she got it.

"You win." She puckered her lips, biting down on her cheeks on the inside while Misty leaned forward, and sure her hearing was going out.

"You win, okay!" Bonnie added louder, "And I'm sorry."

"But the match-"

"I'm not gonna win." Bonnie hummed, then her disposition changed while letting dedenne up on her arm, and a confused totodile staring back at her.

"This is why I have to go to Kanto! To learn to react before I act! Ash battles the same way!"

A frustrated blush crossed Misty's cheek.

"I do not battle like Ash."

"I would argue all of you do-! May, and Dawn and...and...!" Bonnie hummed, fists balled in front of her chest. "You think before the attack has even landed and counter! I want to learn to do that, too! That's why I admire you guys so much!"

"Uhh." Misty's hair poked out in different directions when she rubbed the back of her neck, the compliment spreading across May and Ash's faces too while they wriggled and covered their faces.

After a short time, Ash was the first to stand up, adjusting his hat. "I think you can do it, Bonnie!"

"Yeah." They chimed in one after another and she put her hands on her hips while approaching Misty at the center of the field, and sharing a handshake. Serena sat quietly, still seated while they passed pleasantries. The notion of friendship over a battle was strange for her—and yet, everyone else was great at it.

"So...you're not mad at me for battling." Bonnie asked sheepishly.

"No way, I'm never upset at battling! Unless it's like battle or die...I don't like that very much."

Bonnie grinned. "I want to be the kind of trainer that can run into battle with everyone! So-" She looked at Clemont specifically. "So! I'm sorry if I'm brash and over confident! I have so much to live up to! And people to over come and things to see and-!" excitement over taking her body, she let out a cry of elation that would have rivaled a small, eleven year old Ash outside of Viridian City, following his match bringing him to the league.

"No one can stop me now!" She yelled, pumping her fists up and while Misty refrained from mentioning that she almost did, because for a fraction of a second, it felt like watching Ash again—when he was young, and stupid, and...

While Ash moved forward with May, who was equally the egoist that Ash was when given compliments, the rest of them remained seated. Misty's eyes fell on Ash, seeing the intense frustration and worry that painted him. No one seemed to notice, but he seethed it off to present Bonnie with advice for her next adventure before her emotions caused her to implode from the inside out.

Misty returned totodile without so much of a thank you, her mind racing elsewhere when she retreated back to the group—people she wasn't especially close with. Serena was the most shocked by her sitting beside her, where Ash had been moments ago, and fought the need to leap away.

But Misty said nothing—she only looked at her lap, and gnawed on her lips and Max sat quietly beside her, wrapped in his own thoughts.

Serena's blue eyes stared down the image before her. Bonnie, a classic optimist and amazing trainer, surrounded by her mentor, and possible friend who shared that image in one way or another. While they were all different, talented in new ways, it was their personalities that gave them the edge above everyone else.

Clemont was no hero, he only barely decided to run the gym after his systems going down. Max was hanging onto a thread in battling, barely considered himself a contender. Misty was—well even if her battling was top-notch, she wasn't well liked. Serena could relate to that, sort of. Everyone liked her, helped her—but she fell short in the pokemon world. What made them different than May, and Ash, and even Bonnie, was their inability to get up again time and again.

XOX

Goodbyes were hard, especially since they were being shared at a quarter to midnight. Bonnie was preparing to leave as soon as possible, at sunrise the next day, which meant she was heading south of the city to the airport, and would be staying at the local pokemon center nearest there. The gym was at the center of town, which during rush hour traffic meant Bonnie would be late if she didn't wake up a quarter to four, and at that point—what would be her reason for sleeping at all?

Clemont was the one who insisted that she find a pokemon center to sleep in.

"I'll go with her, since we're leaving early tomorrow, too." May muttered reassuringly to Clemont—who as he stated time again, was less worried about Bonnie than he was himself.

The brunette watched Ash expectantly—as did Bonnie who's bright blue eyes were difficult to say no to.

He shrugged apathetically. "I work in the morning guys, I'm sorry."

"It's okay! We know you have that bright new job to groom." May snorted gleefully—she herself being the only person who knew Ash's real feelings on the matter. He would stay if he could.

"Plus, it'll be fun to have a girl's night."

"I'm standing right here, May!" Max growled beside her who waved slightly with a chuckle.

"Oh, Max. You're like a girl." And her mock tone was reciprocated by a split second kick to the shin and May falling over.

"Oh my." Serena mumbled while May caught herself on the pavement and sent lethal eyes at her younger brother who started a shambled sprint to the pokemon center.

"You little-! Max! You get back here so I can pummel you!" She yelled while stumbling over her own feet to catch up with him.

"Guess that's our cue." Bonnie hummed, then spun around to look at Clemont with a wide grin, and collapsed her arms around him in a tight hug. In the last few months, she had grown past his waist, until her head rested at his sixteen-year old chest and she glowed beneath him.

"I'll miss you the most!" She sung delightfully. "Don't go finding a wife without me!"

Misty, having only heard Bonnie use the phrase a handful of times shared a concerned look with Ash who waved her question off with his hand. Clemont twitched, a red blush over his cheeks.

"I won't."

"And you! You two!" Bonnie gasped, her eyes falling on Ash and Misty.

A pause, leaving them hanging on the seats of her ambition when she walked near them to pat them both on the hands, and a hurried expression crossed her face.

"I don't want to see any small Ash Ketchum's for at least another year!" She sang dangerously, knocking the breath from Ash while he coughed and slammed his fist against his chest to kick start his heart, and Misty snapped her hand away from her.

"You are eleven, where did you learn-!"

"Byyyyeeee~" Bonnie hummed while waving at them and dragging an awestruck Serena with her. As their backs decent into the distance, Ash was still weeping with Pikachu at his side, completely embarrassed while Misty crossed her arms with a scowl and watched Clemont—if she couldn't scold Bonnie, then obviously the brother was at fault!

His glasses were fogged up, his lower lip was quivering, and tears clung to the corners of his eyes.

"Are you gonna cry?" Misty asked seconds before the waterworks commenced, and Clemont was in a fit full of tears and throwing himself at Misty for comfort.

"I'm going to miss her so much!" He whined, and Misty tried to pry his face away from her shoulder, where his tears immediately started to soak her vest.

"Ash-" She panicked, but he checked out and was still burying his face in his hands. "Ash!" She tried again, and looking down at Clemont she pat his yellow hair with a winded sigh.

This would be a long night.

XOX

When the group of four arrived at the pokemon center, they spared little time for talk—most of them would see each other in the morning. May and Serena were going to fly out early noon, whereas Bonnie would leave at the first plane tomorrow. They would have a few minutes to catch up, then say their goodbyes, and that was it.

A new adventure, a new journey, and the terrifying feeling that came decorated with that sensation.

"See you guys bright and early." Bonnie smiled to them while ducking into the dark room, the last room she would share with Serena and Max, the last time she would see May in months—maybe years...possibly ever.

When she decided she would leave, shortly after Serena announced her own adventures away from Kalos, she didn't think it would be so hard. The frustration in her chest that she might really mess up—or the terror of a new region. Ash made traveling look so easy. Every new place was his new home, his new life. Bonnie couldn't let go like that. It hadn't been an hour, and she already missed Clemont.

She missed Ash, too; and Serena, and their small family.

She was only eleven—why was she forced to grow up, just because they were moving ahead in their lives? She wasn't ready for their adventures to end, for them to move on.

In the kitchen below, she could still hear May and Serena talking beside the small bedroom; talking about what she could expect in the Hoenn region, and what the locals were like—and the food. May was absolutely sure to mention the many different kinds of cooking contests that Serena could participate in. May wasn't much of a cook herself, but she was a foodie—and a wonderful person.

She kept them together when she probably wanted to scream herself. Distracted Misty when she and Ash were clearly fighting. Helped Max—or tried to—when he was down on himself about the tournament, and was now spending time with Serena to cheer her up when she had clearly been distant since the redhead returned. Serena shut down when Misty was around, and they all embraced that knowledge.

They were getting through some rough times, the fact they could all still be friends afterwards was a blessing—even if they weren't close.

Now that they were all going their own ways, however, that blessing seemed unnecessary. Slowly, that same ignorant hatred she had for Ash's former traveling party and adventures reared its head, and she rolled over.

Sleep was not going to come tonight. But she wanted it too. After such an eventful day, her eyelids were beyond heavy, her muscles were sore, and dedenne snoring in her ear wasn't helping!

Forcing her eyes closed, she almost didn't hear the sound of frustration wheezing from the window to her left when she sat up with a start. A flash of lightning penetrated the dim curtains, and she crawled out of her covers to investigate.

From outside the window, behind the sheer curtains, she saw Max sitting backwards after what looked to be a mistake in planning, since part of the forest was on fire. Swearing followed next, and with the combined efforts of he and houndor, they pat the flames out with a loud sigh.

He was so peculiar. She wondered if everyone from the Hoenn region was as strange. Since he arrived, he was most oddly confident, and strangely inferior. He knew himself and his pokemon, and cared for them deeply, but made no real attempt to do more than that. She could see from the moment he followed them to the airport that he was more interested in understanding how pokemon worked, rather than how they battled.

It was a shame he didn't see that. She was only eleven and she could see it.

In fact, she saw everything. She saw the discomfort between Ash and Misty, the way her eyes never met his, and his longed after every touch and word. She saw the way that May lit up when Max did well, the way she brightened when her friends were smiling. She saw the way Serena distanced herself from her friends in attempt to be her own person. And she saw the way her brother loosened the reigns and let her go.

Because she wanted to see the world. Not because she was ready.

Turning from the window, Bonnie fumbled through the dark room to listen in on Serena and May's conversation.

"I thought you would stick around longer, you know, since you like to see the world."

"I do." May admitted quickly. "But I realized some things and... I kind of need to go to Johto as soon as possible now."

Stepping away from the light, Bonnie deduced that it would be better to leave the two alone, and instead, found her way to the window and cracked it open with her tiny hands, and crawled with great effort through the small crack. Landing wasn't gracefully, and she scrapped her knee on the stones below.

"They make doors for a reason." Max offered lightly, holding his pokemon in his lap while Bonnie dusted herself off and put her hands up.

"Doors are for squares."

Max laughed, but didn't offer a rebuttal. "You should get some sleep, you leave pretty early tomorrow."

"I know." Bonnie scoffed, dusting her hands off on her skort. "But how am I supposed to sleep with all that noise you're makin'?"

He looked up, worry behind his glasses and shuddered. "I'm sorry, I didn't."
"I'm kidding." She hissed, slapping him on the shoulder and taking a seat beside him on the grass.

"I'm too excited to sleep... and oddly terrified."
"Adventuring out on your own does that." Max grinned, recalling his first instance to leave his sister.

"You would know about that, huh? You traveled with May and ...Drew?"

Max nodded slowly.

"Must have been fun!"

"Are you kidding me? Traveling with my sister was a headache—and before they started dating it was a constant wheel of restrained emotions. Like those stupid soap operas on TV."

"Oh." Bonnie hummed and smiled. "That sounds-"

"And then after they started dating—oh man—they wouldn't stop touching each other. It was like being the third wheel, but it was my sister!"

Bonnie clamped her mouth shut. "I don't get that, I would love if Clemont could find someone."
"Pfft, that's because you're a girl. You're into all that romance-y stuff."
"I am not!" Bonnie puffed her cheeks out. "I just want my brother to find the perfect bride! He's the sentimental one, not me!"

"Really?" He was so gullible, believed her immediately. Bonnie chuckled. "Well... Sort of."

"He did seem kind of involved with..."

"Shh!" Bonnie screeched, holding her finger to her lips. "You can't say that! He'll hear you!"

"He's like on the other side of town!"

"Yeah, but he knows. I once tried to imply that he had special feelings for she-who-will-not-be-named and he didn't talk to me for a week!"

"Is that what that was about?"

"Yes!"

"...So, why does he care so much."

"Because her heart belongs to Ash." Bonnie muttered, staring down at her knees. "And...it sucks, because his belongs to Misty."

"Pfft, isn't that the truth."

"You know, if everyone could see things how we see them..."

"You would think they'd smarten up!" They both laughed at their friends misfortune. Every time they had to witness a moment that went otherwise unnoticed by everyone siting in the room but them.

"We're just smarter because we still have fresh eyes."
"Shut up, you're almost fourteen. That's like, ancient!"

"Yeah, in eight months." Max mumbled. "I'm still young enough to know more than them. I swear, once people become adults they lose their heads."

"Are we going to lose our heads?" Bonnie held onto her neck and Max rolled his eyes at her wit.

"Not so long as we remind ourselves not to overly complicate simple situations!" Max nodded confidently, expelling his mantra to another person for the first time. Not that he was the best at it in situations other than romance.

"I mean, how easy would it be if Misty walked up to Ash and said 'hey, you're kind of being a jerk'" He mouthed in a 'Misty' voice, which Bonnie followed with holding her fingers under her eyes to mimic Ash's lightning bolt birth marks.

"'well you were being a jerk first!'" She muttered in her best 'Ash' voice, trying to keep their snickers to a minimum.

"'Maybe we were both being jerks and we should apologize'"

"'but that would be too easy!'"

And before they could carry on their mock conversation, they both broke into an endless, tired laugh. Then the laughter died down into a pattered worry.

"I hope they don't kill each other." Bonnie winced and Max chuckled worriedly.

"I...I don't think they would. I mean, they've been friends for years, if May and Drew can have a relationship without killing each other, then I'm sure they'll be fine."
A pause.

"...Man, I'm glad I'm still too young to get into this kind of stuff. I wonder if there's a trigger that we hit when we reach a certain age that makes us insufferable to be around?"
A look of panic funneled through Max's face. "What if I'm hitting that age already? May has already started teasing me about-"

Bonnie gasped, kicking up to her feet. "We have to cleanse your soul!"

"What?!"

"Don't worry, I know how!" Bonnie whined, running from him to grab the hose from behind the pokemon center and Max bounced to his feet.

"Bonnie! That's not funny!"

She didn't spray him—but she thought about it while she grabbed her knees and buckled over in laughter.

"C'mon, it was great." The way he bolted from his seat, and he and his pokemon almost ran.

"No it's not! I don't need a shower!"

"I didn't actually do it! Gosh, you're so sensitive."

"I am..." he folded his arms. "not."

"Are so!" She laughed gleefully with a point. "I bet you even cried after that match"

"I did—I..." Max relaxed, shoulders falling. "Maybe I did."

She wasn't expecting that response, and her humor died instantaneously.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

Then Max grinned. "You should be! Because real men wear their emotions on their sleeve!"

Bonnie sprayed him with the water hose a second later, which resulted in a high pitched scream.

XOX

When they turned in for the night, Max had to do so after a hot shower to bring the feeling back to his toes, swearing off every known swear word he could think of while Bonnie pretended to be asleep in the bottom bunk.

"Max." Bonnie called to him, but he wasn't as appreciative when he answered, in fact, the grunt he made was laughable. "what are you going to do now?"
"I dunno, finish the Kalos league, I guess."

Bonnie paused for a very long, uncomfortable time. She was sure that Max might have even passed out before she answered next. "...do you think you'd want to see Kanto again?"

At first, she wasn't sure that he had heard her, and felt silly in her bunk until his blue hair became visible from the top bunk, leaning over the railing.

"What?"

"Well." She hummed, the darkness hiding the flush of her face—thank goodness. "I just mean that we're both really young, and traveling alone can kind of be boring, and hey, no more adult drama."

He stared at her, with his glasses off, she could see the glimmer in his brown eyes, and the strong hint of distrust.

"Why would you wanna do that? We're clearly rivals."

"Offt." Bonnie started, but then immediately kept her comments to herself. "Well, we can still be rivals—but we can also work together! And besides, I can't cook." Surely Max could cook, it was the perfect excuse.

"Neither can I."

Bonnie pursed her lips, and narrowed her eyes. "Listen, just accept the invitation, I know you don't want to travel alone!"

"So you're inviting me because you feel sorry for me?" Max snapped, and then flung himself back over the top.

"No, I'm inviting you because I don't want to travel alone, either!"

He stiffened as she continued. "I want my own group, like Ash did! People I can depend on and get into trouble with!"

When he didn't respond, she finally turned over in her bed and puffed out her cheeks, trying to pat away the tears in her eyes. Was it so bad that she wanted her own classical adventure—to meet new friends on her travels that would aspire to do great things? Funny enough, she had no idea Max did, too.

"Alright, I'll go." Max hummed. "But only if you don't tell my sister."

"You got it!" Bonnie cheered, though she did not question why May knowing about the situation meant anything. Probably something about his earlier comment about teasing. "It'll be a blast!"

"If you say so." He mumbled, sitting on top of the bed with his arms crossed and face messed up in a blush. I hope so. He added as another thought, and squeezed his eyes shut.

XOX

"And there's a lot more water in Hoenn." May told Serena while sharing another round of poke puffs. "and we take battles seriously, but we're way more laid back than, say, the indigo league. Plus, contests originated from there, so there's a lot to pick from—I'm sure that some of them will..."

Serena was distracted, watching the television where Ash's words repeated over and over again, claiming that Serena was his girlfriend.

"It makes me sick." Serena hummed finally, jarring May's attention. "And I wish I could do something about it."
"I know." May muttered. "But... they'll be alright."

"You know, sometimes I think leaving will help them. Staying off the grid for awhile, at least then no one can throw our faces around anymore."
"It sucks though, doesn't it?" May asked. "I'm glad Drew and I don't get that kind of attention."
"I don't know how he handles it."

"He doesn't." May said nonchalantly. "He ignores it. That's Ash's coping mechanism... if he ignores it long enough, maybe it'll go away—wasn't that what he tried with you?"
Serena scoffed. "I guess you're right."

"It's a shame they keep doing this though. It wasn't like they didn't spend the rest of the day together."

"Let's talk about something else." Visibly uncomfortable, Serena switched the conversation and muted the television.

"Okay." May piped up. "What made you want to do contests?"

"They're the closest thing to showcases other regions offer, and it will give me a chance to train with my pokemon."

"That's awesome." May hummed. "I'm going to be a judge."
"What?" Serena's eyes flared up to see May's dark blue ones while she stirred her drink with pursed lips. She let it slip so carelessly, Serena might have missed it if she wasn't listening. May, with her eyes brows knitted, continued.

"I'm sick of how they do things." May said, finding it easier to reveal her truths to Serena. "So I'm going to change it. I'm going to be a coordinator for contests."

"That's...really great." Confused as to why May would be telling her these things, she noticed the way her shoulders rose—May was testing the strength of her words with Serena, a guinea pig to her plans. Serena should have been insulted, but she felt an odd sense of comradeship instead.

"I know." May hummed. "I don't know how, but I'll get there. I think there's like classes or something I have to take, so I'll have to enroll in some kind of pokemon school—and hey, I can ask my parents for money for that right after I introduce them to Drew."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"It's fine." May hummed. "It just takes time. And a lot of effort and... You'll get there, too."
"I hope so." Serena smiled, honestly for the first time in months.

"...I know so." She corrected and May shared a grin with her and then grabbed some more poke puffs.

"I'm sorry Ash picked Misty." May mumbled abruptly, recalling the events at his celebration party—her own misfortunes, mistakes, and finally a smile reached her eyes as Serena shrugged. "I love them both dearly, but I'm so sorry you were hurt because of it."

What was Serena supposed to say? Me, too, Ash should have picked me? It wasn't true, Ash didn't love her, least not nearly as much as she loved him. No matter what happened to her, or them, she knew that now. It didn't make moving on any easier, or Ash and Misty's unbalanced relationship any simpler.

"Wanna watch Journey stories until we pass out?"

May cooed quietly, "Can we have a tub of ice cream?"

"Always." And their new friendship was sealed with a laugh.

Author's Note

Nooo, I don't ship Max/Bonnie, BUT I do ship their friendship. I think that since they're the 'new generation' they would get along better than their main-character protagonist, who can't see the bright line in front of them. I really wanted to show that they -had- a friendship admist all of this, and that my vision of Bonnie is like OS level Ash, but smart. She's confident, and happy, and has dreams of her own to be a great pokemon trainer.

I opened the chapter with Serena's POV, because I felt she needed a moment to get into her head, and what she was thinking, and wrapped it up with her POV again.

I've been holding off on May's POV, because she's def and exposition character in these chapters, less of the main lighting, but the things she's 'seen and learned' are mentioned slightly by Bonnie. I feel like the anime sent Serena off for the wrong reasons, and her journey she be able self improvement for herself, not for another person. So...i sort of fixed that in my own way -clears throat-.

Anyways, thank you all again for your reviews. Hope you're still enjoyign the story (even if it's a little dramatic atm?)

NINT