Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did we'd find out just how these kids fit so much in their backpacks.
Some dialogue and plot elements from this chapter are taken from the anime episode A Battle By Any Other Name
"Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth." 1 Corinthians 13:6
Registering for the contest was a breeze, especially since Serena already had all her own ingredients and cookware. After being assigned a workstation, she bid her friends goodbye and got started setting everything up. The rest of the group meanwhile went off and found a comfortable spot to sit down and watch the competition.
As the contest got going, Brock, and to a lesser extent Clemont, provided a stream of commentary on the techniques of the various competitors, focusing of course on Serena and Miette. While Serena was doing well, it was equally clear that Miette was quite skilled, as were several of the other competitors. Bonnie and Ash asked questions occasionally, but Bonnie was still quite young and Ash was far more interested in how the Poke Puffs would taste than in the details of how they were prepared. Still, even a novice like him could see that Serena was definitely in her element.
As time wound down, Brock couldn't contain it any longer. It was either go now or risk missing the end of the competition. Getting up, he turned to his friends. "Hey guys, I've got to go find a restroom. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that he took off at lightning speed in what he hoped was the direction of the nearest toilet. Clemont took over the commentary on the contest and, before long, time had elapsed, with Brock still nowhere to be seen.
The emcee, having previously announced that time was up, now began directing the competitors on the logistics of submitting their entries and cleaning their workstations. Serena submitted hers and returned to her friends, Fennekin in tow. Much to her annoyance, Miette was right behind and chose to sit near her friends, almost as if she were one of them.
After a few minutes the last competitor had taken their seat and the emcee was back on the stage, this time introducing their celebrity judge for the day: a talented Poke Puff pâtissier named Gina. An attractive twenty-something woman in traditional chef's garb took the stage and began to make some perfunctory remarks.
As Gina was wrapping up her introduction, with a start Clemont noticed that Bonnie was missing. Glancing around hurriedly, he quickly spotted her…somehow she had made her way to the stage and was even now approaching Gina. "Please let her be doing anything but what I think she's doing," Clemont thought desperately. Yet experience had taught him that he was probably hoping in vain.
"Gina excuse me," Bonnie said, tugging on the judge's sleeve.
"Oh," Gina cried, turning down and looking at the young girl at her side.
"I need you to take care of my brother!" Bonnie beamed, on one knee in the manner that deliberately mirrored the marriage proposals she'd seen on television.
With shocking speed Clemont dashed up to this stage, screaming at Bonnie to stop embarrassing him. Extending the Aipom arm, he grabbed her with it and then dashed off madly, clearly eager to get as far away from another humiliating scene as quickly as possible.
As the tension of the situation faded into nervous laughter, Miette got up from her seat walked over. Taking the now vacant seat right next to Ash, she fixed her gaze at him quite deliberately. "Take care of her brother, huh," she mused aloud. "So Ash, do you already have someone to take care of you?"
Had he not spoken with Brock about romance and watching, the question would have gone right over Ash's head. Since that talk however he'd been on high alert to romance-related stuff in general and had been watching Serena in particular. Still, it took a few seconds for his mind, which normally didn't think along these lines, to realize precisely what Miette was getting at. Startled at this line of questioning, he shifted his glance to Serena. To his surprise, she was looking not at him, but at Miette. Even more shocking to Ash was the expression on her face. It was an expression he'd never really seen on her face before: intense anger. With another start, Ash realized that this wasn't quite true; he had seen that expression on her face once before…when he had been reminiscing about May. Suddenly it hit him like a Brick Break…Brock had been right. The thought sent his heart racing.
Turning back from Serena to Miette, he suddenly realized that she was waiting for some sort of response. "Uh," stuttered, "what are you talking about?" Smiling inwardly, he congratulated himself on somehow managing to choke out what he hoped was an acceptable response. Miette just smiled at him shyly and then turned her attention back to the stage. Relieved that she didn't press the point, he did the same.
Clemont and Bonnie returned from wherever they had dashed off to a few moments later. As Gina began evaluating the various entries, Ash felt his nervousness build. He tried to tell himself that it was due to the contest, but even as he repeated this to himself Ash knew the words rang hollow. Before long Gina was done with her judging and was back up at the microphone announcing the finalists. Ash's suspicion that his anxiety didn't really have much to do with the contest results was confirmed when, as Serena's name was finally called, his nervousness remained. As Serena strode up to the stage, Brock finally reappeared.
Noticing Brock approaching, Ash quickly got up and met him before he could sit down; he didn't want Bonnie or Clemont to overhear the conversation he was about to have.
Not realizing anything was off, Brock inquired about the results. "So I'm guessing Serena and Miette both made it," he said, motioning to the two girls standing on stage.
Nodding swiftly, Ash responded, "Yeah, but forget about all that! There's something much more important going on!" Panic and agitation were evident in Ash's voice. "Come on," he said, tugging Brock with one arm and scooping Pikachu off the ground with the other, "we need to talk right now!"
As Serena stood on stage and Gina explained the rules for Round Two, she felt a confusing jumble of emotions coursing through her. For one, she was happy that she'd managed to make it to the finals. She was also gratified that she'd managed prove herself to be every bit as good as Miette. Yet she was upset and angry as well. Even though she'd been only one of three contestants to make it this far, Miette's criticism still stung. Serena freely admitted that she had a lot to learn about a lot of things, especially training Pokémon. But baking was something that she was sure she was good at; who did Miette think she was, so casually dismissing Serena's skills without any evidence to back it up?
As if all this wasn't bad enough, Miette had made it clear that their rivalry went way beyond just baking…she was out for Ash as well. That really boiled her blood. "Ash and I go way back. She barely even knows him. What makes Miette think that he would ever prefer her to me?" Yet even in her own mind she could clearly feel that the root of this confident bluster was uncertainty and fear.
Gina's concluding remarks drew Serena back to reality. Shaking her head, she walked down from the stage and back towards where she had left her friends. As she approached she noticed that Ash and Brock were nowhere to be seen.
"Congratulations Serena," Clemont said.
"Yeah, you did super awesome," Bonnie exclaimed, joy on her face.
At the sight of her two friends' smiles Serena felt somewhat better. "But I'd feel much better if Ash was here to congratulate me." Aloud she said, "So where are Ash and Brock?"
"I'm not quite clear," Clemont said. "Brock was just coming back from the restroom when Ash got up and dashed over to him. After a brief word Ash dragged Brock off in that direction," Clemont indicated with his finger. "He looked a bit agitated."
"Really," Serena said, concern evident in her voice, "I hope nothing is wrong. Maybe we should try to go find them."
Clemont shook his head and the adjusted his glasses. "We should let Brock handle this. If it was something Ash wanted everyone to know about he wouldn't have gone off with Brock alone."
"I guess you're right," Serena said resignedly, "but I just wish there was something we could do."
"We don't even know if something is wrong," Clemont responded. "For all we know Ash was hungry and asked Brock to go with him to get something to eat." At this everyone smiled; it wouldn't be the first time Ash ran off from the group in search of food. "But if there is something wrong and we can do something, you can bet Ash will let us know."
"Clemont's right Serena," Bonnie said, a cheerful expression on her face. "We're all super good friends. And friends help each other out. So don't worry about anything!"
"So have you decided what kind of recipe you're going to use tomorrow," Clemont asked, changing the subject. "It has to be new and original."
"Well, I was thinking about that," Serena said, "and I have a few ideas. But we're going to need to find some berries. You were right, I used the last of ours for today's contest."
"Sounds good to me. Soon as Ash and Brock get back we can go shopping. You get some ingredients for tomorrow and I'll pick up some stuff for when we get back on the road."
Serena nodded at the wisdom of this. "Sounds good Clemont."
"So, please tell us how it went," Bonnie implored. "We were watching super close of course, but I want to hear how you were feeling Serena."
At this Serena began to describe the contest through her own eyes, though even as she described it all, at the back of her mind she was still wondering just where Ash was.
As Serena was finally rejoining her two friends, Ash and Brock finally came to an isolated corner of the park. After double checking that no one else was around, Ash turned to face Brock, worry and even a hint of panic evident on his face.
"So," Brock started nonchalantly, "what's up Ash?"
"What's up? What's up?! You were right is what's up!"
Pikachu hung his head dejectedly, embarrassed at his trainer's antics. Brock however chuckled and said, "Glad to hear it Ash. But I'm right about a lot of things…"
Ash growled. "This is no time for games! You know what I'm talking about!" Ash flailed his arms about wildly, trying to convey to his friend just how upset he was.
"Do I," Brock said, a hint of playfulness in his questioning tone. "I'm not sure that I understand. I think you'll need to spell it out." Brock was having the time of his life teasing Ash about his denseness. After all the pulled ears he'd received and jokes he'd been the butt of over the years, well, he was going to milk this moment for all it was worth.
Grabbing Brock's shoulders and shaking them, he exclaimed, "Serena, that's what! She likes me!"
Smiling and shaking his head, Brock gently removed Ash's arms from his shoulders, placing them back at Ash's side. "I see. What exactly brought about this sudden revelation?"
"It's…never mind, that's not important. What's important is she likes me! What am I going to do?"
"Ash, calm down. Relax. This is nothing to be worried about; in fact, it's perfectly natural." Smiling and wiping a fake tear from his eye, Brock continued, "I'm so proud that my boy is growing up."
Ash responded with a playful punch. Laughing, Brock continued. "But seriously Ash, you'd think the world was coming to an end with the way you are reacting."
"You're right," Ash said ruefully, scratching the back of his head. He was kind of overdoing it. "But what should I do?"
"Well Ash, that depends on whether you feel the same way about her or not. If you do, then you should ask her on a date. If you don't, well, then let her down gently."
Ash looked at Brock, more confused than ever. "Uh, what if I'm not sure?"
At this Brock mentally facepalmed. "How can you be 'not sure?' Either you like her or you don't." "Or maybe not," Brock thought. This is Ash after all."
Ash sighed. "I've never really given love much thought Brock. I mean, other than mom, Pokémon have always been the most important thing to me. Isn't that right buddy," Ash said, giving Pikachu a scratch on the head. At first Pikachu leaned in, enjoying the sensation. But he quickly backed away and scampered over to Brock.
"Pika!" Pikachu thundered, pointing one paw at his trainer. Pikachu didn't know much about "romance" but he did know when his trainer was being silly and this was one of those times. He then climbed up Brock, coming to a rest on Brock's shoulder.
"What was that for Pikachu," Ash asked, startled at his Pokémon's behavior.
"I think Pikachu's saying that it's time for you to grow up Ash. You're not ten years old anymore Ash." At this Pikachu nodded sagely.
"Yeah, I guess you're right" Ash said sheepishly.
Getting back to the topic, Brock asked, "So you're telling me that even after I told you Serena likes you, you didn't once think about your feelings?"
Ash chuckled nervously. "Yeah well, the thing is I didn't really take what you said that seriously. After all, you've hardly had a good track record when it comes to girls. I've seen you get rejected so many times I've lost count, and your 'love advice' usually backfires. So, while I watched her like you said, I never really thought you could be right about her liking me."
"And now?" Brock stared intently at the young trainer from Pallet.
"And now…I don't know Brock. What does love even feel like?"
"Well Ash, I've been 'in love' more times than I can count. No two experiences were exactly alike. So Ash, instead of me telling you how love feels, why don't you tell me how Serena makes you feel."
"I guess that makes sense," Ash said. "Well, she makes me feel special. You know, like I'm someone that really matters. She's always paying attention to me, asking me for opinions or advice. And I can tell she really cares about other people. Whenever I see her taking care of Fennekin or helping out Bonnie, it makes me feel really happy, proud even."
"I see Ash. Go on."
"She's so new to this journeying thing…sometimes I just want to stand in front of her and protect her from getting hurt. But then there's times that I want to do all I can to help her get stronger." At this Ash paused. "Man, feelings are confusing," he moaned.
"They sure are. But love is powerful Ash. You know that better than most people; the way you care about your Pokémon, how you strive to really get to know them and understand them…that's a form of love."
"Really? That's love huh?" Ash was surprised at this, but as he thought about it, it sounded right.
"Of course romantic love is different. For one thing, it's more intense but less stable. You can be soaring in the heavens one minute and plummeting back to Earth the next."
"So do I love Serena," Ash asked, his tone hopeful. If anyone could answer that question Brock could.
"Based on what you've said so far, I'm honestly not sure."
This time it was Ash that facepalmed. "After all that you still can't tell?"
"Well I can tell you care about her that's for sure. But whether that's love…it's not clear." Brock said, collecting his thoughts. "Alright, why don't you tell me exactly how you realized I was telling the truth about her liking you. That might help me a bit."
"Kay. Well, Bonnie went up to the lady who is judging the contest and asked her to 'take care' of Clemont. As usual, Clemont got all embarrassed and dragged Bonnie away with his robot arm. After that Miette looked at me funny and then asked if I had anyone to take care of me. It took me a few seconds to realize what she was asking."
"What does this have to do with Serena," Brock asked, curious.
"Well, I looked at Serena right after Miette said this and I could tell she was real upset, like how she was getting when I kept mentioning May the other night, only much worse."
"So that was intentional on your part! I'm impressed, I didn't think you were that subtle."
"Yeah well, like you said, it's like Pokémon battling. You got to try out different attacks and see how they work on your opponents. That one was definitely super effective. Though I do feel bad about getting her upset…"
Shaking his head in bemusement at Ash's metaphor, Brock nevertheless had to admit that it made sense. "Alright, so you picked up how these two girls feel about you. Now how did you react when it all finally hit you?"
"Uh well, Miette seems okay I guess…though she has been a bit mean to Serena. I don't really like that at all. But, I don't really know her and she doesn't really know me. How could I love her?"
"And Serena? When you realized that I was right about her?"
"Uh," said Ash, scratching the back his head and looking off into the distance, "I felt really nervous all the sudden. I can't explain it. I don't remember ever feeling that nervous. I was somehow worried I'd say or do the wrong thing, you know?"
Brock stroked his chin thoughtfully. Finally they were getting somewhere. "Okay Ash, I have one last question. But I need you to do something. I need you to stare straight at me while I ask you."
"Uh, okay Brock, whatever you say." Though he was confused, he trusted Brock and did as his friend requested.
"Okay Ash…" Brock hated to bring this up, but it was for a good cause. Staring intently at Ash, he said, "How would you feel if I told you Serena likes Clemont too? "
"What?! No way!" Ash shouted at the top of his lungs. Pausing for a second, he continued. "Are you serious?" While shock was clearly Ash's dominant emotion, Brock could detect some disappointment and hurt in Ash's voice.
"Whoa, slow down man. I didn't say she did, I said 'what if.'"
"Really?" Ash's mind and heart, which had gone into overdrive with Brock's question, were now slowing down, though he was still far from calm. "So, then why even bring it up if it isn't true?"
"Two reasons. One, I wanted to see how you'd react. After all, jealousy is a sign of actually loving someone."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, we already covered that."
Brock nodded. "True. I also bring it up because it could happen. You see, I have a bit of a confession to make. I actually knew for a fact she liked you; we've actually discussed it over the past few days. From those conversations I can tell you that she's worried that you don't like her that way, or even that you don't think romance is important. She's been throwing a lot of obvious hints your way ever since you started traveling together and you've missed them all. Ash, girls won't wait around forever. If it's not Clemont it could be someone else. And it's happened to you at least once before."
"What do you mean it's happened before?" At this Ash was both shocked and curious.
Brock sighed. He hadn't meant to bring that up, it had just slipped out. But maybe it was for the best that it had. "I'm not going to mention any names, but there's two girls that come to mind. One I know for a fact liked you a lot, but you never gave her any indication you liked her back, so eventually she gave up. The other...if she didn't like you, I think she would have if you showed some interest. Look Ash, I don't want you to focus on the past and I don't want to rush you into making a decision that you're not ready to make either. I'm just saying there are consequences."
For Ash, the shock was fading, replaced by a feeling of loss. Who were these girls? Had he hurt them badly? Was he bound to hurt Serena too? "Knowing how bad I am at this whole thing, probably."
"Well Brock," he said reluctantly, voice cracking "Bonnie's been searching for someone to take care of Clemont and Serena's looking for a boyfriend…maybe that would be for the best. After all, if I can't even tell if a girl likes me what kind of boyfriend would I make? According to you I've failed at least one girl, if not more, in the past. Maybe I should just forget the whole thing."
"Just like that you're giving up?" Brock was visibly upset. "Where's the Ash Ketchum that I know, the one that's faced League after League and still hasn't given up his quest to be a Pokémon Master?
"He's realizing that being in love is a lot more complicated and more difficult than becoming a Pokémon Master."
"Ash, you've grown so much as a trainer since we first met…but only because you decided to go on a journey and never give up. It's the same here man…there's only one way to gain experience."
"You're right Brock," Ash sighed reluctantly. "Not being experienced is no reason to give up."
"So Ash, after all that, how do you feel about Serena?"
At this question Ash grew very quiet. This was, of course, the key question. "Well, I know that the past few minutes it feels like feelings have been riding a roller coaster. When I realized what you said was true, I got really happy all the sudden…but I also then got really nervous. Talking about with you made me calm again, but then there was the thing about Clemont and it was like I was going down all over again. It kind of reminds me what you said before about romance…how you're flying in the sky at one moment and crashing into the ground the next."
Brock smiled. It seemed like Ash was finally putting the pieces together. "So," he continued, "what do you think that means?"
"I guess," he paused, hesitating to say it. Taking a deep breath, he resumed. "I guess maybe I do like her after all."
"Good," Brock said, "now go tell her how you feel."
"What?!" If possible, Ash's exclamation this time was louder than the last. "I said 'I guess' alright Brock? There's still a lot I need to figure out. You've thrown a lot at me at once. I kinda need some time to think everything over."
Brock nodded. "Yeah, I guess I have put a lot on your plate at once, and for that I apologize. But you needed to hear it Ash…all of it." Pausing for a moment to let his words sink in, Brock continued. "So what are you going to do now?"
Ash chuckled nervously. "No idea! But no need to worry Brock, I'll figure something out." He paused for a second. "So, let's go find the others, they're probably worried that we got lost or something."
Brock nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should get back. But," at this Brock pointed a finger at Ash "don't think you're getting out of it that easy. This conversation isn't over."
"'Course not Brock," Ash chuckled. "You got me into this so I'm not letting you off the hook that easy."
"Fine by me, just make sure you make me Best Man when you two get married."
"Whoa Brock, I haven't figured out I feel for sure and you're already talking marriage. Bonnie's been a bad influence I see."
They both laughed at this. After Brock returned Pikachu to Ash, they both began to walk back to the stage area, eager to find their friends. After a minute of walking they were back at the stage area. Spotting them, Serena dashed over, Bonnie and Clemont in tow.
"There you two are," Serena said, relief evident. "I was about to call you Brock. I…that is, we were worried."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Brock said. "So, if I heard correctly congratulations are in order."
"Yeah Serena, great job," said Ash, pumping his fist. "You'll win this no doubt!"
Heartened by Ash's encouragement, she smiled, pink coloring her cheeks. "Aww…thanks you guys." She paused, smoothing her skirt. "But now we have to get shopping. I need some more berries for tomorrow."
"Sure thing Serena," Brock said. "Lead the way."
"Okay!" She turned to go, and then stopped. Turning around, she looked at Ash and Brock. "By the way, where did you guys run off to in such a hurry? I was worried something had happened."
Both of them chuckled nervously. As Ash said "bathroom" Brock responded "food."
"Huh," Serena replied. "So which is it?"
"Well, Ash really had to go to the bathroom and I promised I would make sure he didn't get lost; it's a bit hard to find, that's why it took me so long to come back earlier. Plus, I was a bit hungry after watching the contest so I decided to grab a snack." The hurried nature of Brock's reply made Serena a bit suspicious, but she shrugged this off as paranoia.
Inwardly Ash was relieved at Brock's quick thinking. Aloud he said, "Yeah, when you gotta go you gotta go." Everyone chuckled at this.
"Well what are we waiting for," asked Bonnie, clearly impatient, "let's get going!"
At this the group headed off in the direction of Cyllage City's market district, with Serena and Bonnie, who had spent a good deal of time there in the days before Brock's arrival, leading the way. As they arrived, Serena insisted that they split up.
"There's a lot of different stalls, each with their own kinds of berries. I'm still not sure exactly what I want to make yet, so let's get a bit of everything."
Unfortunately, their plans for a shopping spree quickly went awry, as best laid plans often do. Meeting up somewhere near the center of the market after about ten minutes of fruitless effort, everyone had the same bad news to share: none of the stalls seemed to have any berries left. When Miette stumbled across the group a few moments later, she also reported running into the same difficulty. What's more, it wasn't limited to this open-air market; everywhere in town seemed to be sold out of berries.
While Ash and Brock quickly voiced their suspicions about the timing of this sudden scarcity, they had to concede that these suspicions did little to actually help solve their predicament. The group quickly decided that there was only one practical option: gathering berries from the forest. Much to Serena's annoyance, Miette decided to tag along, as if her traveling with them was the most natural thing in the world.
So this was a big chapter. I'll admit that striking the right balance was really hard to do and I made a number of rewrites. I originally considered having Brock actually lie (temporarily) to Ash and say Serena had started to like Clemont too just to provoke a jealous reaction, but as I thought about it more it was just too out of character and I wasn't happy with it. However Ash did need something extreme to bring him to realize his feelings. His misunderstanding of Brock's comment (plausible given the emotional tension of the moment) plus Brock's allusion to his previous missed opportunities got Ash where I needed him to be, letting angsty Ash, whom we've only seen rarely in the anime, make a brief appearance. It'll take Ash a bit to sort through everything but he's finally on the right path.
As for his missed opportunities, Brock's alluding to Misty and May. The more I think about AdvanceShipping, the more I am forced to swallow the bitter pill that, to some extent, Ash let May slip through his fingers. (spoilers for anime coming) It's confusing, towards the end of Hoenn and throughout the Battle Frontier we get some of the most intense Advance and ContestShipping moments, sometimes even in close proximity. Had Ash pursued May early (not that that would have ever happened) he would have gotten her no problem. His lack of action allowed Drew to come in and begin to win her over, especially when he started acting nice to her. In canon we're left ambiguous as to where May's heart ends up or whether Misty actually moves on, but in this fic at least the latter has found and the former never gave a clear sign of wanting Ash.
If there are any Miette fans out there, you probably won't like what is here or what is coming. Nothing I can do about that. I am not trying to bash her, I just think that the reactions of all the characters in this chapter and over the next few chapters are true to character. And, as you'll see, I'll be gradually building up to the détente Miette and Serena end up reaching at the end of the contest, allowing me to paint Miette in a less negative light.