Miette paced across the lobby of the Pokemon center with her teeth sinking into her thumb. How long had it been? How close a call had it been? And more importantly, where the hell were Ash and Serena?
She hadn't been given much of a choice. In a split second, she had the options of protecting the Pokemon, or fighting against opponents she knew for a solid fact she was weaker than, and would not be able to win while outnumbered three to one, and with overwhelming odds.
She had chosen to protect the Pokemon.
And she hated herself for it.
How could she have just run like that? Where were Ash and Serena? Why hadn't she heard from them yet? She had seen the fall... And she had still run. If they were hurt, that was her fault...
And she'd never, ever forgive herself for that.
The very second she had gotten into town, she had reported the incident to the police officers, and taken the Pokemon to the Pokemon center for treatment. Many of them were battered and beaten from the battle she had been engaged in. Others were just totally exhausted, depleted of their energy in their totality.
"Urgh..." She muttered to herself. She felt physically sick to her stomach. Sick with her own actions. She had done what she thought was the right thing in the moment... But now that the moment had passed... She regretted it so much. She was sick with worry for her friends. She wanted to go back out there right now, to look for the two of them. Standing here was driving her insane.
Really... How dare she even call herself their friend?
"Oh. You're here too?"
For a brief moment, Miette thought she heard Ash's voice. Turning quickly, she found out that she had been a bit too excited for her own good.
In actuality, it was Paul. The purple haired Sinnoh native that she had found herself partnered with only a few days ago in the Castle tournament.
"Paul?" Miette asked in disbelief. Blinking hard twice, she made sure she wasn't in some sort of panic-induced hallucination. She hadn't expected to see him again, and definitely not so soon. Under any other circumstance, she would probably have been happy.
Paul seemed to scan the room around the two of them. They were the only two in the lobby, Paul having been on his way to leave. The two of them must have spent a day or two under the same roof, completely unaware of the others presence there.
"Where are Ash and that blonde girl? Did they leave you? Or are they somewhere else?" He asked callously.
Miette found herself explaining the situation to the purple haired trainer. He seemed awfully relaxed regarding everything that he had been told. Then again, Ash had mentioned that Paul probably didn't consider him a friend. The chances were far more likely that he just didn't care for what had happened at all. His emotions didn't seem to change no matter what Miette told him, and the blue haired girl really wanted him to show some sort of compassion, some sort of emotion. Could he help? It was better than just sitting here for hours on end...
"You did the right thing." Paul told her once she had explained. He patted her shoulder twice and walked towards the exit. "If I know that pathetic moron like I think I do, he'd probably do the same thing in that situation."
Confused by his words, Miette followed him, noticing him grabbing a Pokeball from his belt, and enlarging it as the sliding doors opened for him. Once outside, he tossed the spherical capsule into the air, releasing a speedy bug type Pokemon, Ninjask, from it's container home.
The fact that Serena was even able to walk next to Ash right now was amazing in itself. She felt like her head would have exploded thanks to the heat her cheeks felt right now.
They had confessed love for one another. Mutual love.
And it was so freaking awkward right now.
Their confession had not even slightly been typical. Didn't a typical confession end in a kiss, or a hug, or something?
Then again, they had more critical priorities.
But wouldn't they at least discuss it more than they had?
But he had said he wanted to date her...
"Uwaaa..." Serena sighed. she had no idea what she was thinking at this point. Her mind was all over the place.
"You okay, Serena?" Ash asked, turning around from up ahead of her. His brown eyes conveyed a silent, but gentle worry and concern for the Kalosian girl.
Serena went a crimson color and tried to cover her face with her hands. "I-I'm fine! I'm just... I don't know - I'm sort of a bit anxious about things is all!" Technically, she wasn't even lying.
Ash nodded in his understanding. How he was so calm completely baffled Serena. Part of her wondered if he even understood basic social etiquette. Or was he really so dense he couldn't even register embarrassment? One part of her was amazed, the other infuriated.
He was just focused on making sure his Pokemon, his friends, were okay.
That was what Serena's rational part was telling her. And she knew that it was correct. Ash was just that sort of person. The kind to push his own emotions to the side when it came for the safety of his friends. He'd put aside his own anxiety, fears or anger if it would help his friends. It was just one more thing Serena admired about the Kantoean.
Serena wasn't as good at doing that as Ash was. She'd let herself worry for hours on end over simple, trivial stuff that didn't really matter, like how her hair looked that particular day. And right now, her mind could only really focus on their confessions to one another...
"Hah!" Ash suddenly chuckled to himself from up ahead. "I wonder how Miette is gonna react to what happened with us."
'Oh God, Miette.' Serena though, blushing again. She was going to never let this drop was she? Oh the embarrassment that baker would cause. The teasing. "Oh noooooooo..."
"Huh? What's up?" Ash asked, stopping in his tracks for a second to allow Serena to catch up.
"Sorry!" She replied. "I just... Hadn't thought about that."
"Don't you want to tell her?"
"I do... But... I don't know. I still don't think I've processed it..." Serena confessed. She felt embarrassed even talking to him... She wanted to scream out her frustrations. "I think... Everything that happened in that cave was just so... Unusual. So unexpected... So... Unlike anything I though confessing to you would be like..."
Ash understood. He was also the same with the blonde Kalosian, somewhat disbelieving it had happened.
He wasn't sure what it was that made him do what he did. Maybe he just wanted to assure Serena that this was, in fact, reality. Or maybe he actually wanted that assurance himself. Either way, he reached for her hand, and wrapped his hand around hers. Her skin was smooth, warm. Just that simple gesture, and everything suddenly felt like it fell into place around them.
"Does that help?" Ash asked with a smile, and his trademark toothy grin came out. "It helped me."
Surprised at first, Serena found herself smiling quickly. She looked at their holding hands, and allowed her hand to mirror the action Ash's hand, holding onto his as he had hers. His glove blocked most of the fleshy part of his hand, but just being like this reassured her, comforted her. Just what she needed. "It... Does help."
"I know things are weird right now." Ash said to her. "I get it. Everything really is weird. It's just so... I don't even really know how to explain it, Serena, but I feel the same way you do. But... I think..." she could see, in his chocolate brown eyes, he was choosing his words carefully. "I think... Things will get clearer for us. I'm certain they will."
When he wanted to, he really had a good way with his words. Serena nodded and smiled. "Yeah."
In that moment, the two of them heard a rustling. for a second, they feared that Synthcorp had shown up once again, ready to strike them out of the blue.
Instead, they found it was a Ninjask, shooting from the shrubbery. It seemed to focus on Ash and Serena, inspecting them over and over again, quickly darting from place to place at impressive speeds.
"Is that?..." Ash wondered aloud. "Are you..."
"Ash! Serena!"
Both of the young trainers turned, to see Miette and Paul running towards them, Miette with tears of relief in her eyes. She threw herself into a hug with Serena as soon as she reached the two of them, totally ignoring their hands being held.
I felt you guys had been waiting a bit longer than you should have been with this story. Sorry ^_^'
This is something I threw together for you all. While it's more of a filler-y chapter, it does have significance to the story for those of you who have a keen eye and imagination.
So... How well is Ash doing in the Kalos league guys? Being ever the pessimist, I still think he won't win. : / Alain works for Flare, so here's whats gonna happen for our favorite Raven haired trainer.
A - He wins, or
B - He loses, defeats Alain and team Flare in the upcoming episodes, but turns down the Championship due to losing the official match.
That aside, I'm AMAZED how accurate One Day Off was in hindsight. Holy Christ '-' Sorry guys, If I'd known I could make things happen just by writing about them, I'd have given us all superpowers, My Hero Academia style, years ago.
At any rate, I do hope you guys have enjoyed this little chapter I put together for you. you can find more on my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, where I have a slightly sooner uploading shedual for you guys.
You can also follow my YouTube, where I mock anything and everything that dares exist.
My Tumblr, GamingEmpire, is also open for you guys to follow. I'm taking suggestions and ideas from you guys regarding my works.
The links to everything are in the description of my profile. If you need help finding something, don't hesitate to PM me. and I will see you guys in whatever it is, I do indeed, decide to write next. See ya ^_^
