Chapter 8: "The Bug Badge"

Disclaimer: I can never own Pokemon :'(

"What's that for Ash" Clemont asked him while pointing out the band aid on his face.

"A bug bite maybe" he answered sheepishly, while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well that's what happen when you sleep without a tent in the middle of a forest." Bonnie scolded him while poking him on his chest mockingly a bit to make her point noted, to which Ash let out a nervous chuckle. She had Dedenne on her head, which was starting to be his usual place.

"So shall we move out?" Clemont suggested and both of them nodded in agreement. Bonnie was leading the group as always, looking ever so content. Both Clemont and Ash smiled to see her practically skipping her way down the track.

Clemont however broke his gaze from her to look at the boy walking beside him who was still looking at her fondly. He didn't know why but something in him felt not so normal. He was having a hard time figuring him out. Being so calm and composed at most of the times but even doing something crazy at the other moment. He was still amazed by what he saw at the Pokémon Centre on the other day. Someone had already registered him and even dropped off a Golden membership card. There's nothing normal in that. He couldn't help but wonder who the person really was and he felt that Ash was hiding something from them. So he decided to give it another try.

"Ash? I was wondering about something." He mustered the courage to ask him and tried to sound as casual as he could. He didn't want him to think that he had no faith in him.

"What is it Clemont?" he turned to look at him while still wearing the usual, calm expression to which he sighed in relief.

"I was wondering if you laid any thought about who that person could be." Ash's calm expression was swapped with a cold one.

"I did Clemont but still I have no Idea who it was." He retorted almost immediately. Clemont knew what the answer would be but he got what he wanted to see, a change in his expression. He had no Idea why but he had realized that whenever that person was addressed, a frown crawled up to his face and his tone would turn cold and it was shady enough for him.

Ash noticed the stare and decided to avert his attention from the topic. The last thing he wanted was for them to know about her. "How long till we reach Santalune City?" he asked in an impatient manner which didn't go unnoticed by the young blonde.

"We're almost there. It's situated just outside the forest." He informed him while adjusting his backpack. Ash nodded to that before dashing towards the younger blonde, leading the group.

"He knows who the person is. I wonder why he doesn't want us to know it." He didn't realize but he had halted to his ground while trying to figure it out. He remained in the same position until he was called by Bonnie.

"So, this is Santalune City" he was standing at the edge of a cliff and was enthralled by what he was witnessing. The city was just beautiful and was bursting with people and their Pokémon.

"This is it Buddy. This is where it starts." He announced while never averting his gaze from the scene in front of him. Pikachu nodded from his usual place and gave a resolute cry to which Ash couldn't help but smile. He was so like him. They had everything common, the same heart, same passion, same spirit. It was hard for him to comprehend what they had among them, maybe it was some kind of connection but he knew that he wouldn't be able to be without him anymore.

Smiling to think how it all started, he caressed him behind his ears to which Pikachu squealed adoringly. This was when they heard a sound of a camera and it didn't take them long to spot the person who possessed it. The person was a girl, maybe 2 or 3 years older than him. She had sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. Sensing that she was spotted, she showed herself while giving a sheepish smile.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her coldly. The tone sent chills down the spine of the girl and she was really surprised to see the mood swing, one second ago he seemed to be the most sweet smiled person and now, well quite the contrary.

"Umm… Hi I'm sorry if I interrupted you two but you see I'm a professional photographer and I never let a single smile escape my focus and believe me I couldn't just let the one which I think was the 'deepest of them all' slip away." She tried to sound like the most innocent she possibly could.

"It's alright but try not to startle the others next time" he said while relaxing a bit, to which she sighed in relief. She then observed the figure in front of her and she didn't know why but she felt like she had seen him before. She was about to ask his name when she heard someone coming. They turned out to be Clemont and Bonnie. They were both trying to catch their breath and the former one seemed to be too weak to stand and felt like was about to collapse.

"You sure run fast Ash"

"You could've at least warned us about it." They complained while still huffing their lungs. He let out a nervous chuckle in response with an apologetic smile.

"Who's that girl anyway?" Bonnie piled up her breath to look at the older girl intently. She was about to introduce herself when Ash informed them what had happened.

"Oh, so you're a photographer." Clemont said while adjusting his glasses to which she nodded happily. Ash turned his gaze to look at Bonnie who had held her head down, not showing her face. Ash was about to ask her what the problem was when she erupted with a squeal.

"You're a keeper. Please take care of my brother." Bonnie was on her knees and had held her hands out in a proposing manner to which both Ash and the girl sweat dropped. "Bonnie~" Clemont moaned as he grabbed her with the help of the Mechanical arm. "I've told you a million times not to do this"

"You'll think about it right?" Bonnie asked her with a wink to which she gave a nervous chuckle.

"So they are your friends?" she asked while leaning to him a bit, which Ash confirmed with a nod while looking at Clemont scolding Bonnie and the latter pouting in response with a small smile. She couldn't help but blush to see him smile like that. She thought he was cute after all.

"Anyways, do you happen to know the location of the Santalune Gym?" Ash turned his attention towards the young photographer who was staring at him intently and was startled at being addressed.

"Uh what? Oh… yeah I sure do." She affirmed while scramming with her words, to which he sweat dropped.

"Could you please lead us to it?" he asked with a genuine smile, to which she blushed again.

"Yeah sure, I could do that" she agreed while giving him an assuring nod.

"Great thanks."

The girl guided them to the Gym which didn't take too long. The moment they made it to the gym, a lizard Pokémon rushed towards our heroes, tackling Ash fondly and thus surprising everyone, even Ash himself. Sure he knew who it was but he had no idea that he'll meet them here.

"Hey Helioptile, great to see you too." He kneeled down to his level to stroke his head to which he cried in joy. "Wait does that mean…" He was about to deduce the situation when he heard the same person he was about to refer.

"Hey Ash, glad to meet you again." She stretched her hand out which he took gladly, shaking it firmly.

"Alexa, but what are you doing here?"

"Well ummm… I wanted to see you battle." She paused a bit to look at the other girl and it seemed that she bit her tongue.

"So you are 'the' Ash Ketchum." Now the other girl joined the conversation. She shoved Alexa from her place to stand in front of him and staring him contently, to which everybody sweat dropped.

"Well she wasn't exaggerating when she told me you were cute. No wonder why she decided to rob a cradle" She exclaimed playfully with a wink receiving an indignant "Hey~" from her now furiously blushing elder sister.

"Hehehe is that so?" he said bashfully while scratching his chin with his finger.

"Wait would someone mind tell us what's going on and Ash how do you know that girl?" Bonnie shrieked thus gaining the latter's attention.

"Oh Sorry I guess I forgot to introduce her to you. She's Alexa and she's a journalist. And about how I know her, I met her in Unova some time ago, where she informed me about the Kalos region. In other words, she's the reason I'm here. And Alexa, they're my new friends." They introduced themselves to each other.

"Wait does that mean you're Viola?" he asked the younger of the two sisters who nodded in affirmation rather gladly.

"Great I would like to challenge you for a gym battle."

"That would be my pleasure. After all, I've heard a lot about you that I can't wait to see for myself." She then invited them to follow her to the arena which they all gladly accepted. There were pictures everywhere, but they all were Pokémon's, not a single trainer. Ash looked the figure who was guiding them and could tell from her pace that she was more than excited about this. She was practically skipping her way.

Both the trainer's took their respective places at the either side of the arena. The arena was surrounded by trees all over which gave him slight idea about her speciality. Meanwhile Clemont, Bonnie and Alexa made their way to the side lines. They were all really excited to see Ash battle and Alexa promised them that it's going to be great as she had already seen him battle. It was the first time for the latter to see him do so but from what they had witnessed him doing, there was no doubt that he was insanely strong. Bonnie cheered for Ash to which he smiled and nodded to her. Although Clemont stood there tensed as if he was the one who was about to battle. The thing was, he was really excited. From what he had seen, he had deduced him to be his Idol. He always wanted to wield that courage of his caliber. Now was the time for him to prove that he was right about it.

"So this is Santalune City" Serena stood at the exact same point where Ash had been to observe the city as wind blew her golden hair.

"This is where I'm going to meet him, after all this time." She closed her eyes as a smile crept over her lips. "I wonder how he will react." She thought to herself as she blushed a bit. "Now all I have to do is to find him." She took out a tablet from her bag to try and locate the Gym, which she supposed would be the best place to find him. "There"

"So how does a 3 on 3 Battle sounds?"

"Works with me" Viola nodded to the referee who took his place between both the sides of the arena with flags in his hands.

"This will be a 3 on 3 Battle between the Challenger Ash Ketchum and the Gym leader Viola. The match is over if any of the trainer lose all of their Pokémon. Moreover only challenger gets to substitute his Pokémon." Both Ash and Viola nodded to each other both looking quite confident. Ash had an excited smile while Viola had a smirk on her face.

"So shall we begin Ash" Viola asked while taking out her first Pokeball and thrusting it forward.

"Wait first I have a favour to ask"

"Anything for you" she said rather coyly to which everybody sweat dropped and Ash chuckled nervously.

"Well I want you to fight at your full strength" he stated while punching his fist forward.

"Of course I will, I always do." She countered confidently.

"Alright let's give it all we've got." He unclipped his own Pokeball from his belt and propelled his hand in the same manner. "Froakie, I choose you" he yelled as he released the frog ninja Pokémon.

"Froakie~" he cried the moment he made contact with the field, sounding totally pumped up.

"Yay go Froakie" Bonnie and Dedenne both cheered from their place at the side lines while Clemont adjusted his glasses.

"So a Froakie huh? Alright let's go Surskit." As both the Pokémon had been revealed the referee signalled for the match to commence.

"Alright Froakie, let's start with the Quick attack." Froakie croaked while dashing forward to his opponent. He proved to be too fast for Surskit or her trainer to counter as he collided with the water/bug type Pokémon head on.

"He sure is fast" Viola complimented as Surskit stumbled back a little off the collision.

"Let's see if he can move now though" she pushed her hand forward to which the water/bug Pokémon nodded knowing what her trainer wanted her to do. Ash gritted his teeth to see her using an Ice beam on the arena and thus creating a thick sheet of Ice making it hard for Froakie to even stand as Viola smirked.

"Defeating my sister isn't that easy" stated Alexa from the side lines as Bonnie turned her gaze to look at her off the abrupt declaration. Just when she was about to tell her that Ash could beat her no sweat, she noticed someone entering the arena. It was Serena. She froze the moment she saw Ash fighting against Viola. She was too excited to notice that he was in the middle of a match and started to make her way towards him when she was called by Alexa.

"Excuse me, may I help you with something?" she asked her in sweetest way but was surprised to see the other girl jump at her place. Probably she wasn't expecting someone to call her.

"Umm well I was wondering if it would be fine if I watch the match" she answered rather hesitantly while fondling her fingers nervously.

"Why sure, you may join us here." She motioned her to come to where they were standing which she agreed happily. She noticed that the sound of commands had been stopped and she turned her attention towards the battlefield to see that Froakie was struggling to stand still on the frozen surface. She reached to the group where they introduced each other.

However she wasted no time in turning her attention towards the field the moment they had finished their gabbing. She tensed up to see the frog Pokémon stumbling back off a head on quick attack. She then turned to look at Ash who now seemed to be calming down and the next moment his frown was replaced by a confident smirk.

"Froakie use your frubbles on your feet." Froakie didn't hesitate for a second and did just what he was told to and it did work he was able to stand but no longer able to move and everyone in the stadium seemed to realise that as they all threw him some confused glances, unable to process his action.

"Well, you do know he won't be able to move anymore right?" Viola did the favor to all the spectators and asked the raven haired trainer herself to which his smirk widened. She didn't seem impressed though as the excitement on her face was taken over by a frown.

Serena was just as confused as the others. What was he thinking? How could he win the match if he can't even move? She closed her eyes as Viola asked Surskit to finish the battle.

Surskit skated his way to the immobile frog Pokémon to try and finish the battle but Ash had other plans. He asked Froakie to use his frubbles to try and stop Surskit to her tracks but was having a hard time to do it as she was too fast and dodged every single one of them.

Viola turned to look Ash with a look of disappointment on her face but was surprised to see that he looked rather too calm, as if he was the one having the upper hand. She had no time to think about that though as Surskit was eventually caught by a frubble which had been there on the field. And that moment she realised what his plan was and cursed herself for not figuring it out any sooner.

She was relieved though as Froakie was still unable to move and they had a good distance but still she had to find a way to get rid of that sticky obstacle.

"Now Froakie use Water Pulse on the ice" Froakie pulled his right arm behind as it was soon engulfed with a blue energy. The energy soon concentrated to his palm as it took a shape of a sphere. With a nod from his trainer he slammed the ball of energy towards the ground and thus breaking the sheet of ice around him. "Alright" Bonnie and Serena cried in unison as the frog Pokémon was now free to land an attack.

"Now Froakie skate your way towards Surskit and prepare a water pulse." Froakie did just the thing. Though he initially struggled to maintain his balance but soon he got the hang of it. As Froakie was about to make contact with the bug type, Viola tried to deliver a desperate blow and asked Surskit to use an Ice beam. There was a large explosion as both the attacks collided. Everybody leaned towards the field to try and figure out the winner but were surprised to see both the Pokémon lying on the Field with swirls in their eyes.

"Both Surskit and Froakie are unable to battle. Which means both the trainer and gym leader lose their first Pokémon."

Ash recalled Froakie to his pokeball while praising him for the great job he had done. Viola recalled her Pokémon too but she wasn't too happy about something as she wore a visible frown which didn't go unnoticed by Ash.

"What is it Viola?" he tried to ask her what the matter was to which she looked straight into his eyes to answer.

"Oh it's nothing. From what I've heard of you, I had thought that…" she paused a bit to look at her sister in the stands. "It's just I'm a little disappointed." She finished off with a sigh. Ash however gave out a soft chuckle at the announcement.

"Well, he did a great job keeping in mind that it was his first ever battle and I've been training him for only a few days." He said while staring at his Pokeball. Everyone in the gym let out some surprised yelps except the siblings.

"It was his first battle?" Viola asked while finding it hard to believe as Ash nodded to reassure her. Soon the frown was whipped off her face as she showed her second Pokeball with all the excitement of the world.

"So how about we start the second round? Go Vivillon" Bonnie squealed to the charm of the butterfly Pokémon from the side lines and Clemont had to practically drag her to prevent her from tackling her. All it took for Ash was a simple look at his faithful mouse Pokémon, as he took a leap to stand before his trainer with a defensive stance, surprising everyone.

"So finally it's the 'Legendary Slayer'" she exclaimed with excitement as Ash chuckled to the expression.

"Hey Viola, why don't you remove the limiter?"

"What? How do you know about that?" she was too confused to deduce anything. She had no idea in the world to any possible explanation for Ash knowing about the limiters.

"I think you know that very well." He retorted confidently and she seemed to realize what he meant.

"Still Ash you know that I can't remove the limiter in an official gym battle. It's against the rules."

"What is a limiter anyway?" Bonnie asked from her place in the stands.

"Limiters are special devices that every gym leader have to place in their Pokeball so that they can limit their Pokémon's strength to a particular level. It is to provide the trainers a fair chance against them as most of the gym leaders are extremely strong." Clemont explained to Bonnie, who was finding it hard to believe it.

"Exactly, the same" Ash confirmed while wearing a confident character.

"I have no problem with it personally but you know that I can't do that." She sounded rather disappointed but she knew it wasn't fair no matter how strong the challenger is.

"You think we won't be able to handle you?" Ash closed his eyes to try and figure something out and it seemed like he did as he had a grin when he opened them.

"How about this. I'll do whatever you want me to if I lose this match" Viola wide eyed to the proposal as soon her frown was taken over by a smirk.

"You've got a deal. If you lose, we're going on a date." She announced the term with a wink to which he sweat dropped while everyone in the arena did a comical fall.

"Viola? Seriously?" Alexa exclaimed from her place while pulling herself up, to which she bit her tongue playfully. Serena however couldn't believe it. An older woman asking him for a date and not just any girl but a gym leader. She just hopped that he wouldn't agree, but as if to tease her, he agreed. Viola recalled her Vivillon to her Pokeball and then removed what seemed to be a transparent cover from it before releasing her again. The referee signaled for the match to commence and both the trainers didn't waste another second.

"Pikachu Iron tail to the ground." With one mighty slam the ice was cleared off the field completely, surprising everyone including Viola herself as she watched the strength of the cute mouse Pokémon awestruck. Large pieces of the ice flew towards the sky and before anyone could notice, Pikachu was climbing them to make his way towards the Butterfly Pokémon.

Viola did notice what was going on, but it was when she heard the "Chupi~" and she was too late as Pikachu had scored a direct hit on Vivillon's head with an Iron tail and the next second Vivillon was on the ground, down and out while Pikachu took his former place in front of his trainer gracefully not even breathing heavy.

"Sh... She's down." Clemont had to take off his glasses to check if he was hallucinating, but no he had done it with a single blow with even the Limiter off.

"Pikachu's too fast" Bonnie had that same disbelief in her eyes as she found it hard for her to comprehend what she had just witnessed. Viola was finding it hard to believe herself. Her Vivillon was not the one to be taken out with a single hit, not to mention that she had the limiter off. She turned her gaze towards her sister who had that 'I told you' look on her face. She then recalled her fallen Pokémon before holding her head down. Ash watched as her lips curved into a smile as she raised her gaze to stare him right into the eyes.

"So it was true." She muttered to herself. It didn't take long for Ash to win the match after that as Pikachu took out her next Pokémon just in the same manner, with one blow.

Bonnie rushed to the raven haired trainer as soon as he was declared the winner. She squealed about Ash being the coolest of them all to which he laughed bashfully. She then picked Pikachu up and nuzzled him with her life but unlike the last time, she wasn't awarded with a shock to which he sighed in relief.

The others took a few moments to assess what had happened as it all seemed too fast for them to comprehend, before joining the young blonde in congratulating them. Everyone but Serena. She was too stunned to see him like this. Viola approached Ash with a defeated expression but it seemed to be too much.

"Hey Viola? What is it?" Alexa asked her while placing her hand over her shoulder. "You know it's not bad to lose right?" she tried to comfort her as she knew she had taken a real bad loss.

"About the battle? I'm sad true but about the date? I'm devastated." She cried in disappointment with river of tears flowing down her face. Everyone mimicked their previous reactions while she giggled playfully.

"Here Ash, it's the Bug Badge. It's the proof of your victory over me" She presented Ash the badge which he took proudly and staring it for a few moments. Before letting out his usual victory cry. With that the group was about to leave the gym when Viola called Ash.

"Ash, I was wondering if I could join you on your journey." Everyone froze to their place to hear that especially Serena. She couldn't believe her luck. She had come all this way to be with him and now he was asked by an older woman who happened to be a gym leader. Ash was about to say something when he was interrupted by her.

"I know you're thinking about the gym but believe me, by being with you I'm sure I could be a better gym leader. With you I can be stronger, so please."

"I'm sorry Viola, but I'm afraid I'm no good around girls. And about getting stronger, you can only get stronger with your Pokémon and having a strong bond with them. Because someone once told me that it's where the real strength comes from. Following me will do you no good." He said with an apologetic look and the sweetest voice. She closed her eyes with a smile and nodded before turning to head towards her sister.

"Hey Viola!" she turned back instantly at her mention to see Ash stretching his arm towards her, which she took the next moment.

"Let we both get stronger together and battle again when we meet next time." Her fake smile turned into a genuine one as she nodded in assurance. Alexa smiled at the scene knowing that it was the typical Ash she had heard about.

"Hey where did that girl go?" Bonnie exclaimed while looking for her in all the directions. Serena was there just a moment ago but now she was nowhere to be found.

"What girl?" Ash asked while turning his attention towards her.

"Well that girl. She was watching your match with us, she told me that her name was Serena. She was cute too, I was going to ask her to take care of Clemont" "Hey~!"

"Serena… huh?" he muttered to himself. Somehow the name felt like being familiar but then he shrugged it off.

The group then bid their farewell to the sisters who wished them luck for their journey before leaving towards the Pokémon Centre to spend the night.

"Fen~?" the fox Pokémon barked in confusion as she was pulled into a hug.

"He was there Fennekin, I saw him. But I couldn't muster the courage to talk to him." She whispered, sounding if she was about to cry. She had left the others the moment Ash had rejected Viola's request. She was now at the edge of the forest located at the bank of the city and it was starting to get dark.

"He's gone too far for me to even follow his trail." This time a tear falling from her cheek.

"Fennekin~" she cooed to try and comfort her trainer and seemed to be successful as she whipped her eyes and took her in her hands to take a good look at her.

"I'm sorry Fennekin but I think we have to start this alone. Just you and me." she said in the sweetest way she possibly could've with a huge grin. To which the fox Pokémon barked happily, letting her know that she would always be with her no matter what. Serena smiled and thanked her for being with her before returning her to her Pokeball.

She hadn't notice but it was pretty late now and there was no one around. The moment she realized she was in a forest alone in the dark. Consciousness struck her and she was petrified. She took out her tablet to try and find her way out but then she heard a crazy shriek and dropped her tablet in horror. She could hear something approaching her and whatever it was, she could tell that it was big. Soon the bush behind her started shuddering, scaring her life out of her. She tried to release Fennekin from her Pokeball when she tripped her foot to fall under a tree trunk. She soon realized that she had lost her Pokeball off tripping and panicked to find it but was frightened to her wits of another and this time a louder shriek.

She stumbled back to the tree, now tears wildly falling off her cheeks. She tried to stand but couldn't since she had twisted her ankle off the fall. All she could do now was to sit and see what fate had in store for her.

"Somebody please help me" she screamed with her might but she knew there was no one around. Her call was answered though but with another shriek.

"Ash please help me"

Author's Notes: Well probably not my best work but I hope you would still like it. Let me know how you felt about the chapter anyways thanks for all your support till now. Sorry for the cliffhanger though (I know am cruel). Buts its because I've planned something great for the Amourshippers and some of you might have got the hint xD. Dont hate me for what I did with Viola though, it was well :P for the plot Yes! for the sake of the plot xD Till the next chapter Peace Out.

P.S.

Guys am so frustrated. Why dont they just give Ash a break. He was so close and they made it look like he had done this time with Greninja's final attack (It was soo cool xD). I had almost given up the anime but someone assured me that things are going to get better with the team flare's arc. SO, for all the shippers who have given up anime; JUST DONT GIVE UP TILL IT'S OVER. 3