TDBigJ's message: *Yawn* Another uneventful week. Oh well. I've been working on my job search for the past few days, making up my resume, whatever else. Nothing else going on, other than the fact that I've been trying to raise my Gamerscore. Yeah, not doing really well at that at this point. I've just been reading a lot of video game news for the past week. Let's just say I'm obsessed with the NES Classic Edition that's coming out on Veterans Day. Most of the video game news I've read in the last week has been about that alone. Other than that, I've been getting this done. This story is getting close to the finale, only two more chapters after this one. *Sniffle* This story has been going by pretty fast hasn't it? Hard to believe it's already been almost three months since I started this thing and only two weeks left. As I think about the many moments that have occurred in this story, let's get to the responding of reviews.

Oliverqueen01: Yeah, I'm glad I caught onto that Cena thing. Yeah, that draft was something wasn't it? Mick Foley being the GM for RAW surprised me as well, and I had the same thoughts as you did of who it would have been. Hard to believe my two favorites went to Smackdown, but I'll be cheering them on. I wish I could watch NXT but my cable provider doesn't have the WWE Network. I thought the Amourshipping moment from the last chapter had to have been the best one in this story. They're now in the semis in the Kalos League? Can't wait to watch them. Thanks for the review!

Bryce (Guest #1): I know he is. That was the request by one of the readers. Thanks for the review!

Espeon44: I have a plan for them later on, you'll see. Thanks for the review!

49ers (Guest #2): I don't know if we will, it's pretty late in the story. Yes, Red is kind of a moron. Thanks for the review!

Guest #3: The crossover chapters are coming well. I'm getting some ideas in them. Thanks for the review!

Wolves22 (Guest #3): This is an Amourshipping story so it probably won't happen. Thanks for the review!

Orioles13 (Guest #4): You'll just have to read to find out. Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not that either. Thanks for the review!

Broncos18 (Guest #5): If you want. This is an Amourshipping story so that probably won't happen. I think she is, I'm not sure. Yes, Red is nuts. No, he isn't that kind of character. Thanks for the review!

Shadic4566: It's great to know you liked it. That had to have been one of my top three chapters so far. Thanks for the review!

Klay (Guest #6): Yes he is. Probably not. She is, she's dating Dawn. Thanks for the review!

Brig nodrm2347: Oh, you actually reviewed last chapter? I'm sorry for what happened when you did. Yeah, your suggestions a couple chapters ago gave me an idea of what they were going to talk about. Glad you loved the chapter! Top 5? Wow! I personally think the Amourshipping moment in the last chapter was the best one so far in this story. The Tauros slap was a parody of the "Bull Slap" game in the movie Wild Hogs. Like I said last chapter, it was an idea that was floating around in my head and I really wanted to use it. It was originally going to be a one-shot but I thought it would fit in this story better, I didn't want to leave Red out of it. Thanks for the review!

Mad Ass Dragon: It's great to know that you think I'm making Red more of a major character than a minor one. Oh boy! I don't want to kill you again. Gee, it's actually been a while since you've said something like that. As a matter of fact, yes, I am doing an epilogue. I have planned it from the start. HAHAHA! That kind of thing involving Red would be pretty damn funny! You'll find out what happens to Ash as you read this chapter. In my opinion, I prefer having Ash remain the main protagonist in Pokemon. I wouldn't watch it otherwise. But at least you agree with me about him still being 10. That bugs the hell out of me. Thanks for the review!

Cubs49 (Guest #7): They most likely will by the end of the story. She's already dating Dawn. Maybe, I'll think about it. I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe, it could. Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or it's characters, they belong to Game Freak and Nintendo, and… whoever else.

She sat there, biting on her thumb, nervously waiting for the doctor to deliver some kind of news. All of her and Ash's friends were there, but none of them in the slightest were just as worrisome as she was. On the outside she was nervous, on the inside she was panicking. She had all the signs of nervousness: nail biting, sweating, jiggling leg; that was all happening. She was nervous to the extent were she was barely breathing but didn't really notice it. She tried to stop her leg from jiggling but it was no use. She let out a quiet moan that only she was able to hear, due to her mouth being closed.

Dawn, who was sitting right next to her, had made numerous peeks at her, checking to see if she was okay. She knew that Serena was anything but okay. Dawn was so close to Ash that she considered him a brother, but Serena was obviously the closest to him, despite not knowing him as long. Dawn put a comforting hand on Serena's right shoulder, hoping this would ease her pain a little.

"How you holding up?"

Serena took her thumb out from the tip of her lips and looked at Dawn. "I- I- I- I'm just really scared. What if Ash is in critical condition? What if he's paralyzed? I- I- just don't know right now."

"Come on, Serena, be strong. Ash would want you to be."

"I know he would want me to be."

Dawn looked Serena straight in the eye. "Serena, I want you to be strong for him. Have high hopes that he'll pull through. We all know Ash is a strong person. He's the strongest person I know, if anyone can pull through something like this, it's him."

"You're right, Dawn. I have to be strong, for Ash. I'm crossing my fingers for him." Serena commented.

"Cross more than your fingers, cross everything you've got." Dawn added.

Serena then crossed her index and middle fingers in both her hands. But for some reason, that didn't feel like enough. She needed something else to show hope for him. But what? She had a feeling that something was going to come along. She just knew it.

She worried for the worst, but she hoped for the best. Ash would pull through, just you wait.

14 hours earlier

Ash had just arrived at school and was sorting through his locker. Finals were coming up and he needed to work extra hard to ace them so he could graduate. And believe him, all of his friends were just as pressured as he was for this. He was currently looking through his locker for all the notes for the subjects the finals focused on, he had found one but was looking for the rest. He was just looking for four at the moment, as he just wanted the ones for the first four classes.

"Now where are those notes for science that I had?" He said to himself as he scrounged through his locker. The notes he had written for science just a couple days ago were somewhere in his locker but he was yet to find them. He found a set of notes, but those were for math, which was one of the final two classes he would need later that day. He found a set a few seconds later which turned out to be the science notes he needed. He placed the stapled pieces of paper into his binder and closed his locker. Clemont came running up to him, apparently excited for something.

"Hey Ash, ready to prepare for finals?"

Ash sighed. "Only you would be hyped up for finals, Clemont."

"Why not? Extends my knowledge. Who wouldn't be excited?"

Ash looked up into the corner. "That would be pretty much everybody."

Clemont rubbed the back of his head, knowing how most students felt about school. "Yeah, I guess I kind of walked into that one, didn't I?"

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, but it's no biggie."

"The way you could look at it is that finals are basically the last hurdle before you graduate." Clemont stated.

"Yep. That is one way you could look at it." Ash commented.

"Yeah, I know that most students hate school and don't look forward to finals because it's the last important thing you have to succeed at in order to graduate, but once you get past it there's pretty much nothing else you have to do until the final day." Clemont explained.

"That's true. Are you prepared?" Ash asked.

"More than ever. But a little more studying wouldn't hurt."

"You're right about that. I've got to get more in myself. Finals are in a week so I've got that long to get more studying in."

"Just to think, there are only a few weeks of school left. After that, we're going to be graduated and off doing our summer activities year round." Clemont stated.

"Yep. I will be off travelling another region trying to conquer a league and our friends will be off doing their own thing." Ash added.

"Yeah, I will be back in Kalos tending to the gym in Lumiose City. My dad for sure is going to put me through some tough training to become a better gym leader. He even considered moving over there so we don't have to worry about going back and forth between here and there." Clemont explained.

"Aw man, you're moving over there?" Ash asked.

"Well, it's not definite yet. My dad's thinking over it, but most likely it will be us staying here, although it isn't much more than going."

"I hope you stay here. Once I'm done with a journey, I could come back here and visit you before I take off on another one."

"Yeah, I want to stay here as well, even Bonnie wants to stay here. She's gotten so used to knowing you and the others that she'd hate to be separated from everybody." Clemont stated.

"I'm hoping high that you'll stay. You should convince your dad to stay here in Kanto."

"Well, Bonnie and I have been doing our best to convince him. Some things haven't worked, but some have. I guess it's a slight margin we'll stay here. He'll make the decision once I graduate, he told me that a few days ago." Clemont explained.

"Well, you can just hope for the best I guess."

"I would assume so."

The next few hours of the school day went by, unlike the rest of the year. Everybody was hoping the last few weeks went fast. The Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors envied the Seniors. Once the Seniors were done taking finals, they only had a few days left and they were pretty much going to do nothing in their final days. Why would they need to? If all their work was done, why would they do a little bit of unnecessary learning in their last two to three days? It would be pointless.

Lunchtime came around and that meant time for everyone to sit back and relax for forty minutes. Some did other things, like catch up on some schoolwork. Ash himself was going outside to study a little bit more for finals. He hadn't really been collecting all the vital information he needed in order to succeed the finals, so he thought he'd grab a quick snack and head out behind the lunchroom and at least get a few minutes of studying in.

Once he sat down at a table that was unoccupied, he opened his binder and flipped the pages to what he wanted to focus on first. He took off his gloves and hat just for the sake of it. He laid his eyes on what info he had written down over the last month and tried to get as much of it in his mind as he could.

"Man, school's even taking a toll on ME." He said to himself. He had considered going to the nursery to get Pikachu and get him out for this time, but he would basically be studying the whole time and Pikachu would be bored out of his mind. He wouldn't really be able to talk to the little guy because he had a feeling if he did, he would lose track of what he was studying and his train of thought and he wouldn't remember what he was trying to learn.

As a few minutes passed, Ash was starting to feel a little warm and took off his jacket to cool down. Luckily he didn't forget what information he was reading and continued where he left off. Meanwhile, one of the others had went to look for him as he wasn't at the table with them which was a rare occasion. Brock had been looking for him for a couple minutes as he himself wasn't that hungry. He had spotted Ash sitting all alone at the table and walked up to him. Ash heard his footsteps and knew that one of his friends was approaching him. He read over the line he was currently on a few more times so it wouldn't escape his mind when Brock started talking to him. Brock walked in front of him, catching his attention. Ash looked up to Brock there. Ash needed to study for a few more minutes but he didn't want Brock's search for him be a waste, so he scooted his binder to the side a little bit and looked up at Brock, placing his arms on top of each other.

"Hey Brock, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Actually, that's what I was wondering. Why are you out here?"

"I'm just studying for finals. I need to get some in. I don't want to end up failing finals and having to go through my Senior year again while all you guys are off during your own thing throughout the year." Ash explained.

"I see. How nervous are you about this?"

"Very. I'm pretty sure you guys are as well. But I'm beyond nervous. So much there isn't a word to describe it."

"Well, to be honest Ash, I'm just as nervous as you are." Brock stated.

"Why you? You're one of the smartest out of all of us."

"Even the smartest people get nervous for tests. Even when they are confident, they have the slightest amount of stress that something will go wrong." Brock explained, trying to tell Ash a point.

"That's definite. I'm pretty sure Clemont is even nervous."

"He probably is, but nowhere near the rest of us. Clemont in my opinion is the smartest one out of all of us, but even when he gets faced with a test, there's no doubt even he feels the littlest bit nervous. It happens to everybody, so don't feel like you're being left out." Brock explained.

"Thanks for the advice, Brock. I think I'm finished for now but I will do some more when I get home." Ash said.

"All right. Keep your word of it."

Meanwhile, Serena had been looking for Ash as well. He hadn't shown up at the table which wasn't something he did on a regular basis. It was strange. She had been searching for the past few minutes, but she hadn't checked out back in the courtyard yet so she looked there next. And wouldn't you know it, she found him there talking to Brock. She wondered why he was out here by himself, even though she probably had a good guess. She knew he hadn't been talking to Brock the whole time because Brock was with her and the others about ten minutes ago and went to search for the guy. She approached the two who were still conversing.

"What're you guys talking about?" She asked, making the two shiver in surprise to her calling out to them. When they saw her, they breathed a sigh of relief, as it was only her.

"Just talking about finals is all. How long have you been looking for us?" Ash asked.

"I was just looking for you, really. Nothing against you Brock." She answered. Brock held up his hand, showing her that he wasn't hurt by her only purpose to find Ash.

"You're talking about that, huh? I guess everybody who is a Senior is really talking about that. It doesn't surprise me that you guys are."

"I've heard you and some of the others talking about it recently, so I see why you said that." Brock remarked.

"I'm pretty sure that just like you guys that you're just itching to get them out of the way. It's just the last hurdle before graduation." She stated.

"That's exactly what Clemont said." Ash stated.

"I heard my name." Clemont said, walking up to the three of them.

"Yeah, just what you said to me earlier."

"I'm glad the year is almost over. Despite the fact that I like learning new things, it will be good to relax afterwards and that I will only have to focus on becoming a better gym leader." Clemont explained.

"Yeah, that's why everyone likes summer." Brock stated.

"It's just that time of year where you don't have to really worry about much. When we're in school, we don't have to worry about what goes on during the summer." Brock stated.

"Yeah. Whatever happens to us during the summer usually doesn't happen to us when school is going on. It's just a lucky break for us I guess." Ash added.

"Yep. Thankfully." Clemont said.

But all of a sudden, there was a loud explosion from outside, catching every student's attention. Everyone that was in the commons ran out to the back schoolyard. What was going on was nothing you'd expect in this kind of scenery: Two wild Pokemon were attacking each other a little ways at the end of the schoolyard. The two Pokemon were an Alakazam and a Electabuzz. Everyone was surprised. Why was this happening here?

"I stand corrected." Brock said.

"Well, we can't just sit here and let it happen. I'm going to get Pikachu." Ash said and ran off towards the school nursery, Brock, Clemont, and Dawn went and did the same. Within a couple minutes they had returned with their Pokemon. Brock, Clemont, and Dawn had released their Pokemon and had them start attacking the two Pokemon. Even others, including Trip and Paul, had gotten Pokemon to stop the charade. Some others stood back and watched. Seeing the attacks come towards them, the Alakazam and Electabuzz dodged out of the way and started firing at the Pokemon from the students.

"Come on, Pikachu, don't let up. Hit Alakazam with volt tackle." Ash commanded.

Pikachu started charging towards the Alakazam, lighting up with electricity as he ran. Alakazam attempted to get out of the way but Pikachu was too quick for him and Pikachu rammed into him with a big hit. Pikachu flew in the air and landed on all fours near Ash, ready to initiate another attack.

Alakazam was furious after the hit. Not wanting to get hit again, started charging a Psybeam. Ash thought this would be the perfect time to hit it with another attack.

"Okay Pikachu, use volt tackle again."

Pikachu once again ran at the Alakazam. Alakazam had already charged up it's psybeam and fired it at Pikachu. Pikachu leaped in the air as he got close, just in time to dodge the psybeam.

But then it went straight past Pikachu, right at Ash. And the beam was coming fast. Ash tried to jump out of the way…

But didn't do it in time. The psybeam hit him in the legs and he was propelled backwards quickly. Once he hit a wall and coming to an abrupt halt, many of his friends ran up to him, apparently freaked out by what just happened. The Alakazam and Electabuzz fled the scene, having seen what they caused. Serena went down on her knees in front of him, now scared. Ash's eyes were squinting and he was gritting his teeth, now that he was in excruciating pain.

"Ash, how… how bad is it?" She asked, now in a panicked state. Ash tried so bad to answer, but the pain was so bad, only mere grunts came out of his mouth. But he was able to emit something that was clear enough for Serena to understand.

"Get… get… get… help!" He said between grunts and then fell into a state of unconsciousness. Serena gasped and tried to shake him awake, to no avail. Brock had to pry her hands off of Ash.

"Serena, that's not going to help. We need to get Ash some help. Someone go get the nurse." Brock ordered and May went to get the nurse. Serena went down and hugged Ash, tears starting to form in her eyes. She was scared that the worst just happened to him.

But thing was, did it?

Back to present time

Serena had grabbed each of her arms with the other. Replaying that moment in her mind made her even more worried than she already was. She was afraid to no end. Delia had just made her way here, Dawn having called her half an hour earlier.

"How is he? Is he okay?"

"We don't know yet. But he hasn't been awake since he got hit." Serena responded.

"How bad did he get hit?"

"Pretty bad. The hit was dead on." Dawn stated.

"Oh, my baby boy. Why did this happen to him?" Delia said, sobbing into her hands. The doctor then came out, looking like he was going to give the news, catching everyone's attention. Delia lifted her head from her hands.

"So how is he doc?" She asked.

"Well, what I can say is, the hit wasn't bad enough to kill him, just to make him unconscious, so he should be fine. But I don't know exactly when he will be conscious again, it could be a day or two until he does." The doctor explained.

"A day or two? What do you mean?" Delia asked, panicking.

"It was a severe hit. We've got no response from him. But he might spring back awake over the weekend. That's the best I can say."

"Okay, thanks doc." Serena replied and the doctor went back to his office.

She went to sit back down in her seat. At least that part was out of the way. Ash would be fine. But the worst was that he probably wouldn't respond to any communications until late in the weekend or later. Delia still had tears in her eyes and sat down next to her. Serena began to tremble. This was terrible. Ash was unconscious and had no sign of waking up soon. The only thing she could do was hope.

"Ash, please wake up soon."

Author's note: That was definitely a devastating turn of events. I mean, we've seen Ash get into situations like this before and survive, but will he pull through this one? Oh boy I hope so. But it will take a miracle for him to do so. As the story winds down, what will occur in the final chapters? In the next? In the final? We'll see in the next two weeks. As you go through many thoughts of what could happen, let's get to the preview. And a little warning, this will pretty much be the final preview, as the final chapter will be the epilogue and we really don't need a preview for the epilogue in the next chapter. Here you go.

It was now 11:00 pm and everyone except Serena had fallen asleep. Ash had been out for two days now and had not even regained consciousness once. She felt that Ash was going to take ages to get out of this, but she would be by his side until he awoke, no matter how long it took. She wouldn't care if she missed school because of this. She wouldn't care if she missed finals. She wanted to be there when he opened his eyes. If he missed finals, she would too, because if he wouldn't pass Senior year, then she wouldn't. She didn't want to leave him out.

As soon as everyone had fallen asleep, she took the blanket off of herself and placed it on the seat as she stood up. She walked into his room and checked on him again. Still unconscious as she thought. As he lay there, in his current state, she rubbed the top of his head once again as she waited for the moment he'd respond to her words. She kissed the tips of her fingers and placed her hand on his forehead. His forehead felt warm. At least he wasn't suffering anything other than what he had now, at least she hoped.

She sat down in the chair next to his bed and grabbed his idle hand that was barely staying up on the bed. She then felt his wrist to check if his pulse was still beating. Luckily it was so he wasn't going to be leaving her anytime soon. She knew that but wanted to make sure. She wanted to feel like he was going to wake up soon, any moment now, but at the same time, a heartbeat could mean anything. Even the doctors couldn't determine when he would exactly wake up.

After spending a few minutes by his bedside, she went outside his room to the wide open space where the large window that had a view that would make you see the whole city. They were about halfway up the hospital so she had a pretty good view. But a view like this wouldn't cheer her up this time, but at least make her feel a little better, but not completely. She looked at the dark night sky and all the stars that occupied it. She really wanted a shooting star to come by at this time but what were the odds? There were still so many stars in the night. The hospital was very quiet as it was late and the visitors were either back home or here asleep, and the employees were home as well or catching up on some late night work.

She continued looking on into the night sky and all it's bright lights. She thought she would do this now rather than wait. She looked for the brightest star she could find and closed her eyes.

"I hope Ash is fine and that he will see the light of day again." She thought to herself.

After that, she opened her eyes and walked back to fetch her blanket and went back into Ash's room and covered herself with the blanket. She took one last glance at him before falling asleep.

Author's note: I'm with Serena on this one, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that Ash will wake up soon and see everybody once again, showing that he is all right. Okay, once again, I'm the writer, I already know what is going to happen. But I'm trying to build suspense and drama which is necessary for this particular moment. Everyone get your hopes up, but not too high. Prepare your tissues and wait for the next installment to come along. Until then…

TDBigJ out!

Nobody makes my brother enjoy bathing and gets away with it!

-Norbert, The Angry Beavers, Episode Lumberjacks Delight