Hey it's me again! I finished chapter 7 as promised!
And again the chapter intro ritual: Thanks for 4.5k views! Guys I never even dreamed of it! Thanks to all of you especially the follower and favouriter?

Here is chapter 7, hope you'll enjoy it


"Ash, I lost the ribbon"

...

Last time, our little heroes and heroines got separated due to an unexpected meeting with Team Rocket. Ash and Serena fell down the cliff, and landed 'safely' in the forest below. While Bonnie and Clemont stayed on the cliff and defeated Team Rocket.
Clemont and Bonnie had no other choice than going to the next town and wait at the pokémon center for them. But Ash and Serena had to take care of their wounds first so they decided to visit a small lake near them.

"Huh?" was the only thing Ash could say. He looked at Serena as she began to cry. He knew that these weren't tears of joy nor tears caused by physical pain.
He knew that those were tears caused by sadness. And she was sad because she lost 'the' ribbon. That's all Ash knew, at that moment. But he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

'What should I do?' Ash thought, completely unaware of what to do. He was unaware of that but he slowly moved closer to Serena who covered her eyes with her hands and kneeled, completely devastated.
'Should I just tell her that i can just buy her a new one?' ' No I can't do that. I know how much it means to Serena. I can't just buy her a new one. It is like Braixen and her broken twig.'
With each step Ash took towards Serena, his mind became clearer and clearer. He began to comprehend the complete situation and he knew what to do, first.

He picked up his pace a bit so that he was standing in front of Serena within seconds. Serena didn't notice Ash's approach and continued staying in that state. Ash took off his gloves and, slowly, he reached out his right hand towards Serena's face. When Ash's cold hand made contact with Serena's by hot tears wetted cheek, Serena stopped her uncontrollable sobbing which turned into a light one but still covered her eyes with her hands.
Ash took that as a good sign and decided to just follow his instincts. he reached out his left hand and moved towards Serena's hand. He did with his right hand the same. He gently grabbed them around the fingers and slowly put them down. Serena cautiously opened her eyes and looked at Ash to see his expression. He smiled. Of course, he didn't smile because he was happy but knew that he had to do it for Serena. As much as he wanted to frown, he just couldn't do it. This was a really sensitive situation. A wrong move could make things worse. And he had to smile in order that Serena didn't think that he was angry or sad too.
He had to smile so that he could say "It's okay, Serena. Don't cry".

Serena looked into his hazel eyes and began to sob even more when she remembered the moment when she looked into his brown eyes as he gave her the ribbon, back in the old days in coumarine city, under the pledging tree.
"But Ash, I lost the ribbon you gave me. It's all my fault. It can't be ok. And you are probably mad because I lost it. Isn't it so?" Serena closed her eyes again, unable to bear the situation.
Ash let go of Serena's hands. Immediately, Serena noticed the loss feeling cold hands on her warm hands. In an instant she thought about the reasons of that. Serena expected to see an angry Ash, a mad face or worst case an angry and disappointed Ash who goes away from her, if she opens her eyes.

Her heart ached when she thought about that. Fearing it might happen, Serena just couldn't open her eyes. But at the same time she had faith in Ash.
So she opened her eyes. At first, she didn't understand a thing anymore. She was so shocked. What she saw was the complete opposite of her expectations. Even if she had some faith in Ash, she'd never expected him to do that. In front of her was standing an Ash Ketchum with a genuine smile who was reaching out his right arm to her. Slowly, Serena reached out to his hand with her left right hand. She grabbed it and Ash pulled. On purpose, Ash pulled strongly which caused Serena to end up leaning on him. Serena's right hand locked with Ash's right between their bodies, back of their hands touching each other's chest where their hearts lies beneath. Serena stared down at their intertwined fingers. She stopped sobbing and the last few tears rolled down her face. She looked up at Ash's face and she could feel the racing of her own heart which was caused by the big amount of stress, turning into a rhythmic steady but still strong heartbeat. But at the same time she could feel Ash's heartbeat. Ash's was strong, rhythmic and most of all calm. Somehow, Serena felt like as if their hearts were beating in sync. Normally, you can't just tell by feeling another's heartbeat if his or hers heart beats in sync with yours. But Serena could really feel it. It was like there was a special connection between them. Once knowing that, Serena didn't feel heavy-hearted anymore. She became calmer. Suddenly, a familiar feeling occurred. At first, she didn't know why this feeling, caused by this situation, felt so familiar but then, an image of a younger Ash appeared in her mind. The image lingered in her mind only for a second but that didn't prevent her from remembering. The image showed a younger version of Ash Ketchum. His hair was still the same dense raven black mess he's having right now. He wore an undershirt which was red and yellow. Both colors illustrated a pokeball altogether. His short jeans were rolled up above his knees and he wore orange-red shoes. The Ash on the picture reached out his hand towards the viewer with the same genuine smile he was wearing right now.
Serena lightly rested her head on Ash's shoulder.

"Still the same Ash" Serena mumbled, making it impossible for Ash to hear it.

Ash moved his left arm which was just hanging besides him, towards Serena's back. He started caressing her back again. He turned his head so that his mouth was just inches away from her left ear.
"It is okay, Serena. I'm not angry at you nor disappointed. And it is not your fault for losing the ribbon it is no one's fault. And besides that, there is no reason for me to be angry at you just because of the ribbon. I'm more glad that your heart is still beating. This is all what matters right now. I could get you anytime a new ribbon. I know that it can't replace the old one but it doesn't have to. All you need is your memory. The ribbon is the memento of our time in Coumarine city, right?", Serena nodded which Ash took as a sign to continue. "If it really is an important memory you won't need any memento. And aside of that, you are much more important that that ribbon. The ribbon is just a memento for a memory. But you're the person with whom I made the memory. Without the ribbon there would be still the memory of our time in Coumarine City but without you there wouldn't. We are responsible for our memories not some ribbon I gave you!", Ash lightly pushed her a bit back so that he could face her.
"So Serena, do you want to make a lot more good memories?"

Serena got glassy eyes again and she nodded while saying, "Yes!"

Ash let go of Serena and fist pumped the and said, "Then let's get to Lac... lac ummm... What was the name again?" His Air fist pumping changed into a cheek scratching

"The name was Lac d'Amour" Serena said while giggling. She felt so much better compared to her a few minutes ago. You could say that she was happy even though she lost her precious ribbon.

'It was just like when I was lost in a forest back in professor Oak's summer camp. He always makes me feel much better when I need it. I guess some things never change, no matter how much time has passed or how much happened. Let's create more precious memories!' Serena thought, feeling slightly nostalgic.

Having thought about that, Serena said, "Yeah let's go! The others are waiting for us".

And with that, the two of them decided to visit Lac d'amour.

Back to the other half of our favorite little heroes

Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu and Eevee were, of course, worried about their friends. But they believed in them. So they decided to stop by the next pokémon center and wait there for their separated friends.
So right now they were almost at the end of the path of the mountain. They walked a bit faster than usual, hoping that their friends would be waiting for them there.

"Hey Clemont, look! I can see the next town! Do you think that Ash and Serena are already waiting there?" Bonnie asked while admiring the view on the town. Yes that's right, she was able to see the town because of the height difference. They were still on the mountain. Of course, the mountain wasn't the biggest but the height difference was still noticeable

The answer to her question was really obvious but Clemont still had the feeling that Ash and Serena may be waiting there for them. But he had to tell his little sister what most likely will happen.
"Yeah the view onto the town is also nice but I don't think that Ash and Serena would be already there when we'll arrive there. Remember what Serena said it takes a lot more time to get to the next town by going through the forest. But don't worry they'll be sooner there. I mean didn't start at the front of the forest. So they'll most likely arrive tomorrow." Clemont explained

Even though he explained everything he still couldn't explain why he still had the feeling that they may be already there. That feeling is also the reason why they walked faster because they couldn't wait to see their friends even if they wouldn't be there in time.

Having heard the lemon haired siblings conversation, Pikachu found a new topic to talk about with Eevee. Honestly, Pikachu ran out of stuff to talk about with Eevee. Which caused things to get awkward between those two. Of course normally, he could speak with Eevee all day but now, the situation was different. He was nervous because he didn't want to talk about weird stuff while being in this delicate situation which could cause him to appear insensitive et cetera. And he didn't want that to happen. The same could be said about Eevee.

Having found something to kill the awkward silence, Pikachu and Eevee both said, "Do you think that Ash and Serena will be there waiting for us when we arrive there?" simultaneously.
That made things more awkward.
'I should have wait a moment before blurting it out. What should I do?' Pikachu thought, worrying about everything meanwhile Eevee decided to just watch him. Sure, the thing what happened some moments ago was awkward but that gave Eevee the hint that Pikachu was thinking the same like Eevee when they had to endure the awkward silence.
' Pikachu's probably losing sanity by searching for something to do after that. I guess I should help him a bit' Eevee thought while she watched Pikachu clasping his head and shaking it, probably to get some ideas.

Having decided to help him, Eevee called out to Pikachu,"Hey Pikachu"

"..." No response

Pikachu was walking a bit in front of her so that Eevee couldn't see his face. The missing response made Eevee wonder why he didn't answered. But she kind of already knew the answer. She picked up pace in order to see his face. What she saw made her ... laugh. She saw Pikachu weaving with dizzy eyes as if he was just hit by a confuse ray. He also kept mumbling, "What should i do?". Eevee tried to get him back to reality several times by calling him but that was futile. So after these attempts, Eevee couldn't decide on what method she should use on order to snap Pikachu out of his temporary mental chaos. She had several like just tackling him or using swift on him or ...
So Eevee had a lot of techniques to achieve that but one little thought didn't leave her mind even if it was as absurd as the move splash. Eevee just couldn't forget that. There was no way she could kiss him. Eevee also knew that fact. The fact that she lacked the amount of courage to do a move as bold as her idea.
'No I can't do that! There's no way I can do that! Even if i reached reached level 100! No ...' Eevee's inner discussion was so one-sided but while discussing that, Eevee looked subconsciously at Pikachu and glanced at his lips. His mouth was slightly open due to his mumbling. It was as tempting as a nap on her trainer's lap in the noon after practicing for a showcase. So the temptation was too irresistible for Eevee. Suddenly, Eevee felt adrenaline rushing through her whole body. Her heart began to pump in a much faster rhythm and her vision became blurry except for her view on Pikachu. She slowly leaned towards the dizzy almost fainting Pikachu in front of her. Her eyes fixed on his lips. Her eyelids almost covering her eyes, only leaving a small slit. Her cheeks, glowing completely red as if she and Pikachu switched cheeks.
She leaned into a kiss. Inch for inch, centimeter for centimeter, millimeter for millimeter, nanometer ... ok not that precise. Then ...

Pikachu who was lost in his mental chaos, didn't notice what was going on around him. Until he could feel something soft on his . . .

cheek. His cheeks released small arcs of electricity after feeling that. The something which touched his cheek was moist and soft but most of all warm. He didn't know how to describe nor identify what touched his cheek. But one thing he did know, for sure. He liked it. Even if he didn't know what it was. He kinda no he really liked the feeling. So after Eevee's light peck onto his cheek; at first she wanted to really kiss him on the lips but then her shyness took the better half of her and she directed her kiss at his cheek; Pikachu touched the spot where Eevee pecked him. Even if the cheek kiss lasted less than a second, Pikachu was still able to exactly locate the spot. So Pikachu stood there dumbfounded with his hand on his cheek and his jaw hanging.

After some moments of regathering his thoughts, Pikachu turned towards Eevee and just asked, "Was that you?" without knowing any reason for asking her. But still, he had a weird feeling which told him to ask Eevee. Eevee looked away from Pikachu and into the forest below. She had a massive blush on her face. Literally, she was blazing which made a Blaziken's Blast Burn look like a level 1 Torchic Ember. So with that blush not even Ash could overlook it. Having seen her blazing like that Pikachu questioned her again, "Eevee?". This time, Eevee slowly turned around to face Pikachu after hearing him calling her again with an obviously suspicious tone in his voice.

She fully faced and asked, "Yes Pikachu?" in a really really timid way. Pikachu could see her blush already from the side but seeing it from the front made him blush too. Her exaggerated blush made her totally suspicious. Which led Pikachu to ask her again, " Eevee what did you do?" but this time directly. Although his question was kinda demanding, Pikachu was really nervous. Pikachu had already thought about a kiss being the deed. But Pikachu wasn't a love expert like or better unlike Brock. But for him, it felt like a short kiss on his cheek. So her massive blush was really a sign for it but he really needed to hear it from Eevee.

Eevee couldn't look Pikachu straight into the eyes while searching for the right words, "Mm .. umm..." she looked from left to right, from the ground to the sky from any where to anywhere but not into Pikachu's eyes. Seeing Eevee so fidgety made Pikachu much more nervous but he really needed to know so he asked her again but this time direct and simple, "Eevee, umm.. did .. you umm.. kiss me?". Eevee knew that this question was inevitable and decided to answer, "Y-"
*munch* "OUCH!"

"Aww Bonnie! Why did you do that?!" Clemont asked

"Why did you held my mouth shut?!" Bonnie retorted

"I had to! I knew that if I hadn't done that, that you would have spoiled the moment, for sure!" Clemont explained rather angrily

"No I wouldn't have done something like that!"

"Ok if you wouldn't, then why did you do something immature like biting my hand!?" Clemont asked angrily again

"Because you were holding my mouth shut! I had to! I wanted to say something! I mean Eevee almost kissed Pikachu on the lips but then just pecked his cheek. Isn't this totally kawaii and romantic! " Bonnie answered again, beginning to fangirl

Clemont knew that this argument was pointless so he gave up. He looked away from Bonnie and put his hand on his forehead and sighed. While doing that, Clemont realized that two pairs of glowing red cheeks were looking at him.

"Oh hey Pikachu Eevee. Ehmm ... did you hear our conversation?"
*nod* *nod*
"Umm.. Sorry about tha-" Clemont tried to say but the moment he wanted to finish his sentence, Bonnie decided to take her fangirling to the next level and ask the 'couple' directly," Eevee, why didn't you kiss him on the cheeks? Why was the peck so short? And why did you that in the first place? ... " Bonnie bombarded Eevee with a tons of questions just like a journalist who found a top story.

Pikachu who listened to her questions, got quite surprised or better shocked when Bonnie asked her why she didn't kiss him on the lips. So Pikachu decided to ask her on his own. But the moment he turned around to face her, was the moment he felt a soft paw tugging at his own for a short moment. Then he saw Eevee running away from them. Pikachu had a giant question mark above his head because he didn't understand the situation right now. But then Eevee turned around and said, "Come on Pikachu! Hurry! Our trainers are waiting for us! Hurry up!" Despite her blush she looked really happy and lively. That was enough for Pikachu to comprehend the situation and to recharge his energy after the accident with Ash and Serena, and to make him happy too. So Pikachu began to chase after Eevee.

"Hey wait up! I still have tons of questions!" Bonnie shouted after them before starting to run as well

Clemont stood there smiling while mumbling to himself," I guess everybody here is now much happier even after the incident. Ash, Serena, I hope that things down there with you are as jolly as with us"

"Bro! Come on ! If you wait all day there, Ash and Serena will arrive there before we do!" Bonnie shouted maybe 100 meters in front of him

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming !" Clemont shouted back

And with that the other half of our groups of little heroes and heroines decided to continue the journey to the next town on order to meet up with Ash and Serena


So that was chapter 7 3.5k or so words. I didn't proofread it so there might be some mistakes. How was it? As always, tell me via pm or comment!

And to all authors, I am a beta-reader now! So if you need any help read my betareader profile and if everythings correct, just ask me!

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