It had been three months since Ash had propossed to Serena. Ash had won his final two badges. The group had just arrived at the Indigo Plateau, the home of the Kalos League. The sky was turning a deep orange in the evening light. Red was waiting at the entrance with his Charizard next to him. He was standing in front of the gates to the imprssive Arena. A giant battlefield surrounded by tiers of seats for spectators. However most of the battling takes place on the battlefields dotted around the area. Only the semi-finals, final, and champion challenge take place in the arena. Although it is always open to tourists, seeing as most of the Arena is a museum. Holding the prestigious hall of fame, an are where only champions and winners are allowed. Ash dreamt of being part of being in a hall of fame since he first knew what they were. Although in reality it wasn't that much different from the rest of the museum, which held photos of previous winners and played videos of challenges on repeat. It was mainly the exclusivity and prestige that came with being a hall of famer that drew most people to the competiton, Ash included.
"Red, what are you doing here?" He asked.
"Well, I came here to cheer you on and to make sure you know how the competition works." Red told them.
"Why wouldn't I?" Ash asked.
"Well I'll explain as soon as we've got you registered in the competition." Red ushered his son into the building and led him to the desk.
"Welcome to the Kalos league, are you here to register?" The receptionist, a tall thin woman with long dark brown hair, asked.
"Yes." Ash told her.
"May I see your badge case and your identification?" She asked. Ash pulled the case, which also held his trainer identification card, out of his pocket and opened it. The receptionist looked at them all. Then typed something into her computer then said "Thank you. Now you're entered into the league, Ash." She then handed the case back to him.
"Thank you." Ash told her.
"The league starts in three days. See you then."
The group then walked out of the building and then Ash turned to his father. "So how does the Kalos league work?"
"The league has fourty-eight participents, there are two qualifying rounds where the participents are randomly drawn against each other. Each battle is two vs two. When twelve contestants are left the Elite Four are entered into the draw and then the last sixteen face off. Any battle involving a member of the Elite Four is four vs four otherwise they are still two vs two. The winner of the competition will then face Diantha in a full six on six battle."
"It seems very complicated." Ash complained.
"Maybe, but when you think about it it's quite clever." Red replied. Ash was about to ask Red his advice on stratergies when he saw someone approaching the building.
"Excuse me." Ash said to no one inparticular. He walked over to the person and as he got closer his suspicions were confirmed. The boy was taller than he had been the last time Ash had seen him but he wore the same glasses and had the same black hair. "Max?" He asked.
"Hey Ash." Max replied.
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked.
"I came here to observe the Kalos league. I'm a trainer now. Are you competing"
"I sure am."
"Great I'll be watching you closly as always." Although he rarely admitted it Max had learnt a lot from travelling with Ash in the Hoenn region and he knew that Ash's unpredictability was one of his biggest strenghts.
"I would expect nothing less." By the time Ash had spoken the rest of the group had walked over. "Oh. Everyone this is Max. Max this is Clemont, his sister Bonnie. My fiance Serena and Red, my father."
"No way, your dad's Red." Max knew a lot about Red, the most interesting part was the fact he managed to beat his rival Blue almost immeadiately after Blue became the Kanto champion. However Red wanted to travel more than he wanted the fame of being a champion so he gave the title back to Blue.
"Pleased to meet you Max." Red was always happy when he met someone who had heard of him. The rest of the group then introduced themselves then went to find rooms in the Pokemon centre and left Ash and Max to catch up.
"May's arriving tomorrow." Max told Ash.
"Great, I haven't seen her in ages."
"It took her longer than me because she was on holiday in a resort in Sinnoh and so she wanted to stay for another day."
"Not surprising. You said you were a trainer now. How's it going?"
"Great, as soon as you had completed the battle frontier I went back to see Professor Birch and he gave me my first Pokemon." Max took a Pokeball out of his pocket and threw it up in the air. A large green pokemon formed infront of them.
"Sceptile." It shouted.
"Cool, you have a Sceptile just like me. Have you battled May?"
"No, she refuses to battle me. She just scared of losing to her little brother."
"I'm sure she is." Ash noted that Max was as head-strong as he had been the day that they met. The two of them spent the next hour discussing their adventures since they last spoke. Ash told Max about all his adventure. Max had been busy as well, he had collected 23 badges completing the Johto league first and then Kanto. He only needed one more badge from Unova. He was saving Hoenn till he was sure he could prove to his dad, Norman that he was capable of being his successor at the Petalburg Gym.
"Do you think that you can win?" Max asked
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, however I'm confident in my Pokemon and my abilities as a trainer." Max noticed that Ash hadn't actually answered if he thought that he could win the competition.
"I'd better check into the Pokemon centre."
"Yeah I'd better see what Serena's up to." The two of them walked to the Pokemon centre that was next to the Plateau. It was twice the size of a normal one to cope with huge crowds that gathered when the league was taking place. Serena and Red were sitting in the lobby chatting.
"Serena, what lies are you telling my dad." He was joking, yet it was still weird for Ash to call Red his dad.
"Have faith in your fiance Ash, I was just getting to know my future daughter-in-law."
"Okay I believe you."
"Red." Max was hesitant to speak with someone who had such an impact on the way that trainers battled.
"What is is Max?"
"I was hoping that I could talk to you about your adventures."
"Of course Max, however I think it would be best to wait untill tomorrow. I'm going to retreat to my room." Red got up and walked upstairs to his room.
"Speaking of rooms I should probably go and get one." Max walked over to the desk and spoke to nurse Joy.
"Well, did you have fun catching up with your old friend?" Serena asked.
"Yeah it's been a while since I've seen him."
Serena and Ash then went up to their room and the size of the task the fell before Ash over the next week dawned on him.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Serena asked him
"Yeah I'm just thinking about what this week has install for me."
"Well, I think that you are going to do fine." As Serena said this she ran her hands up Ash's back. She pressed her lips against his.
"Thank you, although I think I need a little more reasurance."
"Really? I thought you were always confident before a battle?" Serena said
"You're really gonna make me work for this aren't you?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I intend to." Serena admitted bluntly.
"Well then, I'd better get started." Ash started to run his hands along the body of the woman he was going to marry when she suddenly broke away and ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. "Serena are you okay?" Ash was concerned, mostly for her but at the back of his mind a voice told him to avoid her in case what she had was contagious. The last thing Ash wanted was to get ill before the championship. Ash dismissed the voice, it was the voice of his ten year old self. The one that only wanted to be the best trainer. However Ash wasn't this person anymore, he loved Serena and even when sick she was still the most beautiful person in the world to him.
Ash needn't had worried, what Serena had was anyhing but contagious. She had known for almost a week now. The only other person that knew was Clemont. He had seen her throw up three days ago, the only way to get him not to find Ash was to tell him the whole truth. She did the best she could to hide it from Ash. He had enough on plate at the moment the last thing he need was the news that his fiance was carrying his unborn, unplanned child. Serena trusted Clemont to keep her secret. Clemont understood why Serena wanted to wait to tell Ash. He also knew that no matter what Serena should be the one to tell him. Since their engagment Serena and Ash had talked about their future, they talked about what they would do. Mainly the talks involved discussions about how long they would keep travelling. Serena had convinced Ash that they couldn't spend their entire lives wandering the globe. That one day they would have to find a place where they could spend the rest of their lives. It appeared that that day may be forced upon them sooner than either of them imagined.
"Ash, I'm fine." She shouted so he could hear through the door. "I'm just not feeling great." After she was sure she wasn't going to throw up anymore she flushed the toilet, rinsed her mouth and unlocked the door. The look on Ash's face made her want to cry, he looked about six, so scared and frightened. "I think it was something I ate." Serena lied.
"Are you sure? I could ask nurse joy, I know she treats pokemon but it can't be that different." Ash spoke quickly and sounded desperate.
"I'm fine. Stop worrying. I think I'm going to go to sleep though."
"Good idea, some say sleep's the best medicine anyway." Ash was trying to sound relaxed but even he could tell that his tone was far from convincing.
Serena got her pyjamas out of her bag and went to change in the bathroom. While in there she heard Ash say something through the door that she couldn't understand. She heard the door open and close. Serena looked at herself in the mirror. She studied herself and thought what the next nine months had install for her. She thought about how her body would change, about how Ash would react when she told him. She started to panic when she thought that he may not be happy about this. What if this was a deal breaker. What if Ash no longer wanted to get married. Serena took a deep breath and forced that thought out of her mind. Ash loved her and the fact that he grew up without a father would mean that he would want to ensure that this boy or girl had one. Wouldn't it?
Ash returned with a bowl, a large bottle of water and some anti-nausia tablets. Serena was still in the bathroom. Ash was worried that she had passed out while getting changed so he knocked on the door. "Serena, are you okay?" As he finished his sentence Serena unlocked the door and came out of the bathroom.
"Ash, I'm fine. Stop worrying."
"Okay. But just incase you start to feel bad I got some water and these tablets from nurse Joy."
"Thank you, and the bowl?"
"The bowl is in case you don't think you can make it to the bathroom."
"Thank you Ash, but I do feel okay, I'm just going to go to bed."
"Okay I believe you. But please at least have some water."
Serena looked at Ash, the look on his face told her that he wouldn't stop worrying unless she did drink some water, which probably wasn't the worst idea anyway. "Okay Ash." He handed her the bottle and she took three long gulps. "Thanks. Now I'm going to sleep." Serena placed the bottle of water on the small table next to the bed and crawled under the covers. Ash placed the tablets and the bowl on the table as well. He then went to the bathroom to get changed. Afterwards he got into bed with Serena and he was about to wrap his arms around her when he thought better of it. If she was sick in the night the last thing he wanted was to stop her from getting to the bathroom. So for the first time in a long while Ash fell asleep without the woman he loved in his arms.
Just as the morning light was overcoming the darkness of the night Serena was woken by a pain in her stomach and a swaying sensation in her head. She rushed out of bed and into the bathroom and just managed to reach it in time. She heard Ash get up, in her haste to get to the bathrrom she hadn't given any thought to subtlety. She looked up to see Ash standing in the doorway, bottle of water in his hands. He walked in and sat down next to her. Serena couldn't look at him. "You shouldn't have to see me like this."
"Why? Serena, I love you. That won't change because you've got some stomach bug."
This put a smile on Serena's face, she wanted more than anything to tell Ash. He deserved to know. However she knew what a tournament like this ment to Ash. How he had dreamt of participating in compettions like this ever since he knew what they were. It would be selfish of her to deny him that opertunity.
Ash handed her the water bottle and she drank from it. The cool water felt comforting as it slid down her throat. She slid over to Ash and rested her head on his shoulder. Ash started to stroke her hair with one hand and held her hand with the other. Serena and Ash spent the next few minutes in silence. Ash then got up.
"Where are you going?" Serena asked.
"To get you those tablets." Ash said trying to reasure her, although Serena doubted they would work. Ash came back and sat down he placed two small white tablets into Serena's hand. Serena placed them in her mouth and took a swig of water. The tablets were easier to swallow than she would have thought. After she had opened her mouth wide to prove to Ash that she had swallowed them Ash helped her up then led her back to bed.
"Ash, I'm okay it was just something I ate. I'm going to be fine. I don't need to spend the day in bed."
Ash was not happy with this, and so he thought of a way to keep her in bed. "Okay, you don't have to spend the day in bed. Just, if you feel up to it, let me bring you breakfast in bed."
"Ash I would love that. Just as long as it isn't anything too heavy."
Ash was glad that his plan worked. "Okay. Now stay there and let me take care of everything." Ash then went downstairs to see what he could find.
As soon as he left Serena began to think she should tell him. It would be easier, she wouldn't have to lie to him anymore. She was sure that Ash would be happy at the news. However it still came back to Ash and the tournament. She decided that she would seek Clemont's advice on this. Part of her knew that he would tell her to tell Ash but the other part thought he may have changed his mind. Serena changed out of her pyjamas and went to find him. When she left the room however she saw Red leaving his and decided maybe she should ask him. The baby was his grandchild afterall.
"Red." She called out.
He turned his head and answered. "Oh, good morning Serena."
"Good morning. I was hoping to speak to you about something."
"Of course, shall we do it downstairs?"
"Actually, I was hoping we could talk in my room. It's quite a private issue."
Red was puzzled by this, however he could see that whatever it was it was causing Serena some distress. He followed her back into the room she and his son shared and sat down next to her on the bed. He saw the bowl and the tablets and asked "Are you okay?"
Serena paused for a moment and then said. "I really wish I knew."
"What's wrong." Serena didn't know why she trusted Red so much. Why she felt so at ease with him. She told him everything. How she was pregnant. How she was split about whether to tell Ash or to keep it from him untill after the competition. How Ash believed it was nothing more than a stomach bug or food poisoning, yet he was taking care of her so well.
Once she had finished Red took a moment to process what she had told him. He only said two words. "Tell him."
"Do you think so?"
"Serena, I'm not going to force you to do anything. However I'm guessing you told me all this because you want my advice." Serena gave a nod of agreement. "I think that Ash loves you with all his heart and he will be thrilled to hear about this. All delaying telling him will do is make him angrier when he finds out."
Serena thought about what he had said. "Okay."
Just as she had said that Ash returned with a tray full of all sorts of things for Serena to eat. "I didn't know what you'd be in the mood for, so I just grabbed a bit of everything." When he saw Red sitting next to Serena a confused look apeared on his face. "What's going on?"
Red and Serena looked at each other for a second then she said "Ash, I think it would be best if you sat down."
"Thank you, but I think I'll stand." Ash was unsure what was happening and he didn't like it one bit."
Seeing as how Ash wouldn't sit Serena stood up and walked over to Ash. She took the tray out of his hands and placed it on the bed. She then took his hands in hers took a deep breath and said the words she had been dreading to say to him. "Ash, I'm pregnant."
Nothing happened for a few seconds, Ash just stared at her. Serena started to think that Ash hadn't heard her but just as she was about to repeat it, he spoke a single word. "Oh."
