Hey everyone!
It seems like last chapter didn't have the reception I was hoping for… Well it doesn't matter, I guess it was my fault for posting on Monday.
Anyway, there seems to be a slight confusion that I'll point now.
1. - Pikachu is Ash's, Pika is Red's Pikachu, and Ampere is Dawn's Pikachu.
Also Red has a Charizard too, that's the main reason Serena named her Charmander 'Burst', I'll be nicknaming some Pokémon to avoid confusion later on the story, not all of them though.
Now onto the story!
I'm amazed at how a lot of you don't see my evil plans coming to be.
Damn I'm nervous about my first battle scene.
Crushed Crush – Reunion.
It had been six days since the group had started their journey, Tierno and Trevor and decided to stay at Santalune's Forest two days before to gather data on the Pokémon living there. Shauna and Calem had stayed in the day before Santalune for Calem's first Gym battle.
Ash and Serena needed to get going to Lumiose City as Brook would be arriving the next day, they had made a good time traveling through route 4 and were now just two hours from Lumiose entrance.
"Hey Ash, do you think we should take a break? I'm not used to walking for so long"
Ash looked at his girlfriend "Yeah but we need to keep moving in an bit if we want to reach Lumiose before it gets dark"
Serena agreed and took out a package of bread, ham and a tomato berry sauce starting to make some sandwiches for them.
The young trainer let his Pokémon out to stretch and Serena did the same, Fletchling went to Serena to perch on her shoulder while Fennekin went to find some twigs to chew on, Burst was looking around when suddenly a wild Fletchling crashed against him.
("Hey what is your problem!?") Asked an angry Burst.
The wild Fletchling used Peck and then answered ("You are my problem, this is my territory!")
Ash and Serena heard the commotion and went to check what was happening, the black haired trainer noticed the Fletchling "What happened?"
"I think this Fletchling is angry because we are on its territory" said Serena.
Burst looked at Serena and was about to tell her that he wanted to fight the little nuisance when Ash stepped up with Pikachu "I'll catch him, let's fight buddy!"
Just as he was about to send an attack, his Pokedex started vibrating, he took it off and immediately two pieces of the device shoot to the ground a few meters from one another, suddenly an strange hologram appeared signaling Pikachu's and the wild Fletchling health in some kind of bar, on the side were the moves that his Pikachu learned, and there were two of them with a "?" mark.
Ash remembered something about this new feature from an e-mail sent to him by the Pokémon League "Alright Pikachu use Volt Tackle!"
The skill started glowing in the hologram while Pikachu proceeded to make his attack, Fletchling tried to evade it but he was too slow, the Electric Type had effectively struck his target and the hologram showed Ash that the bar went from green to a blinking red and a tag besides it that said Paralyzed.
He took a pokéball from his belt and threw it, Fletchling went inside and the ball moved once… twice… thrice and then a light signaled that it was caught.
"Yes! I caught a Fletchling!" celebrated Ash.
Serena walked to him and gave him a peck on the cheek "Congratulations… but I didn't know that battles were like that"
"They weren't like that before, but something happened in the last Lily of Valley conference while I was in Unova, there was a trainer who sent his Electivire to battle on the third round against a Rhyperior, and although Rhyperior was beating Electivire senseless neither Electivire's trainer or Rhyperior's stopped or called them back…"
Serena's eyes widened while using one hand to cover her mouth "What about the Referee, why didn't he stop the match!?"
"Apparently he had placed a bet for Electivire, so he just didn't signaled the battle to end, Electivire did stand up, and managed to land a critical hit on Rhyperior, but then everything went from bad to worse, Rhyperior used Horn Drill on the already exhausted Electivire… it was overkill… literally."
Surely Ash was kidding, there was no way that the Referee would have just stood by and watch a Pokémon…
"It was on the News Serena, a purple haired boy who got his Electivire killed on an Official League Match, they wanted to keep going with the battles but trainers and spectators joined and demanded the League for some kind of punishment, in the end everything got out of hands and the conference was suspended."
Ash then explained that they wanted to suspend not only the Valley Conference but all others too to investigate on more illegal bets and foul play from the referees, Mr. Goodshow had managed to avoid this from happening banning the two trainers from participating on the League ever again and making a compromise to have at least two auxiliary referee in each battle for each league.
It was accepted but people was still very aware of battling and risking another incident like what happened, it wasn't until a few weeks ago that a foreign company called Lysandre Labs offered its help, building an add on for the Pokedex that would allow battling trainers see something called Health Points, which were calculated by a Pokedex based on information gathered about the Pokémon caught around the regions and shared to trainers, allowing them to stop a battle when once a 'Fainted' status was shown.
The system itself was kind of complex to say the least, but it was very helpful and realistic on the calculation of Pokémon stats and showing all the moves the Pokémon knew, it also could sync with the Pokedex to show the ones a trainer had already.
"The system seems very complex, but it was made to stop something like in the Valley conference so it seems ok… do you think they would implement it on everything?" asked Serena not seeing how it could be applied to all the events that involved Pokémon.
"I don't think so, this was made with Pokémon battles in mind although it doesn't activate when I'm training, I don't really know how it works exactly but it doesn't get in the way so is ok"
After a few minutes they packed their stuff and continued towards Lumiose City.
Meanwhile in Lumiose City:
"I can't believe we got here so quick, after that stop in Vermilion City I really thought we wouldn't be here in a week's time" thought Dawn to herself, the trip had been considerably more quick than she expected, it turned out that the cruise had a direct route after Vermilion City so it didn't make any other stop.
Upon reaching Coumarine City she tried to participate on her first event, but she needed to get her Pokedex first and had promised her mother to reach Lumiose in a week time, so staying three days in Coumarine wouldn't do.
She was planning on walking all the way to the city, but a bus ride seemed more appealing once she discovered that Route 13 was actually a desert. At least the bus had A.C so it was a thousand times better than walking.
Once in the Pokémon Center in the south avenue the coordinator asked Nurse Joy for a room "Gladly, your room is number 506, this card gives you access to the room" said the nurse giving the blue haired girl an Id card.
"Thank you Nurse Joy, have a good evening!" The coordinator went to her room to get settled, once inside she saw a phone near the T.V, "I think I better call mom to let her known I'm fine"
Dialing the number she waited for her mother to answer, after a few moments a familiar figure appeared on screen "Oh Dawn! Good morning sweetie, how was your trip?"
"Hello mom! It was good and I enjoyed it a lot… you seem tired"
"Yeah well… is six in the morning here"
The coordinator gave her mother an apologetic smile "Sorry about that, I didn't remember the time difference"
"No problem, I'm glad that you called me right away, so you are in Lumiose yet?"
"Yeah, I'm actually calling from South Avenue Pokémon Center right now, I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine, I'll be calling you later but for now you should rest more, take care mom! Love ya!"
"Me too sweetie!"
And with that the call ended "I guess I'll take a shower but first, let's get you guys checked at with Nurse Joy"
Ampere and Piplup agreed and followed their trainer, once in the reception she went to the nurse who was giving a trainer his Pokémon.
"Hello again Nurse Joy, I would like to have my Pokémon checked please" she put three Poke balls in a tray and Piplup and Ampere got in the Desk.
"Of course, they will be ready in fifteen minutes"
"Thank you!" with that the girl went back to her room to take her bath.
Back with Ash and Serena:
"So this is Lumiose City… is amazing!" said Ash with awe at the sheer size of the city, it was by far the biggest city he had visited.
Serena just giggled at her boyfriend's antics and took his hand, pulling him along to the Pokémon Center in South Avenue.
After ten minutes they had reached their destination, asking Nurse Joy for a room, Ash then remembered that his Fletchling still needed attention "Nurse Joy, would you mind taking care of my Fletchling?"
"It would be my pleasure, you can retrieve it in a few minutes"
"Thank you!" he looked at his girlfriend "I'll set our bags in our room"
Serena agreed and took Pikachu from his shoulder "I'll get us some food then" Ash agreed and let Aron and Squirtle out too.
"You guys stay with Serena, make sure nothing bad happens to her got it?"
Serena just rolled her eyes and giggled "Like something would happen to me inside the Pokémon Center"
The black haired trainer just gave her a smirk and a peck on the lips "Well yeah, I don't want other guys hitting on my girl"
Serena blushed slightly and slapped his arm lightly with a small smile "Just get going young man, I'll be waiting for you" getting an affirmative nod from her boyfriend she turned around with his Pokémon on tow following her to the dining area, she let her Pokémon out too.
"We are in a Pokémon Center, don't be rude and try to stay close to me got it?" she instructed her Pokémon.
While Ash was walking into his room, a few doors from his a girl with blue hair was going out and walking to the reception.
"Hello Nurse Joy, are my Pokémon ready?"
"Of course! Here they are" She gave back Ampere and Piplup along her three other Pokéball which had Pachirisu Quilava and Lopunny.
Dawn asked then if she could register for the Pokémon Showcase there, but the Nurse informed her that those where done in another place, while she gave the girl instructions Lopunny had gone out of her Poke ball.
("Hey Lopunny! Do you think this place got something interesting to do?")
Lopunny was about to answer when something caught her eye, in the dining area, most specifically on the third table near the window there was a male Pikachu, he seemed quite familiar.
("Is he… no he can't be here…? I'm just getting ahead of myself") thought the bunny-like Pokémon.
Ampere noticed her friend looking at something, she turned around and saw the same Pikachu ("Hey Lops, do you think that Pikachu is the same one you always talk about?")
Piplup was way too entertained with his own reflection on a near crystal to ask him, she was about to answer when a girl walked to the table and sat down with a lot of food, and giving some to the Pokémon.
("I don't think so… He is not with Ash")
Ampere saw the guy getting along with his friends, even sharing some food with Aron who seemed to want to taste the electric type's food ("Then you wouldn't mind if I went and said hi?")
("Of course not, be my guest")
Ampere walked to the group followed by Lopunny, they reached the group and greeted them ("Hey there guys!")
Pikachu turned around and found another Pikachu, he always got excited finding more of his kind along the way ("Hello there! Want to join us?")
Ampere accepted right away but Lopunny seemed reluctant to do so, she stared at the male Pikachu for a moment before asking ("Have we meet before? I can't shake this funny feeling that I know you")
Pikachu thought for a moment and shook his head ("Sorry but I can't say I've meet you before")
Although her essence seemed familiar, he couldn't remember meeting this particular Lopunny before.
Lopunny let a sad sigh escape her lips, just as she was about to ask something her trainer's voice took her attention "Hey guys, don't wander alone like that"
Dawn turned to the girl, whom had been watching everything from the beginning "I'm sorry if they bothered you"
"Oh no, there is nothing to be sorry about, I'm Serena" said the girl with a smile.
"Serena? My older brother is in love with a girl with the same name…" the blue haired girl mumbled to herself and then giggled "…but I digress, my name is Dawn"
At hearing the name, Pikachu turned back to the table watching the girl, just as he was about to go to her, Pachirisu jumped from her shoulder and send a small spark at Pikachu, whom recognized the electric signal right away
("No way! Hey there Pachirisu, long time no see you!")
("Hey there big bro!") The two of them shared a high paw, Piplup noticed for the first time the group of Pokémon and immediately recognized Pikachu.
Jumping from her trainer's lap he joined the other two, sharing a high paw with the Electric Type too.
Pikachu then jumped to Dawn's shoulders and rubbed his cheek against hers.
"Your Pikachu is quite affectionate huh?" said the coordinator patting the male Pikachu.
"Is not mine, he is my boyfriend's Pikachu, actually Aron and Squirtle are too, he should be getting here in no time"
Dawn tilted her head in confusion and asked "Might I ask what your boyfriend's name is?"
"His name is Ash Ketchum"
Dawn's eyes widened and almost slammed her hands on the table "No way! You ARE that Serena!"
"You know him?"
"Know him? Oh boy if I do! And is time to fulfill my duty as a younger sister… telling you embarrassing stories about him!"
Dawn had started to tell Serena about the silly things Ash had done during their travels.
Meanwhile on the stairs Ash couldn't help but feel a shiver up his spine.
Walking to the dining area he was surprised to find Serena talking with another girl… a very familiar girl.
"Hey Serena, everything is settled now"
Serena turned to him and rewarded him with a sly smile "Why thank you my dear Ashley… your food is ready"
Now that had gotten the experienced trainer on edge… that was not a name he wanted to remember "Who told you that?"
Dawn stood up and turned to him "Who else silly? Your dear young sister!"
Ash's eyes widened "Dawn!? Holy Miltank is been so long!"
Both of them shared a quick hug, which made Serena slightly jealous, but she had no right to interfere with two friends who had found each other again after too long… Ash wasn't trying to kiss Dawn after all.
The trainer and coordinator broke the hug, Dawn took her seat again while Ash sat down next to his girlfriend.
While the trainers conversed about their travels, the Pokémon were catching up too.
Lopunny turned to Pikachu with her ears down ("So we do know each other after all")
Pikachu looked confused ("We do?") thinking for a few moments he realized something, it was in the moment Lopunny put her arms on her face and her fur covered it ("You are Buneary! Damn I didn't recognize you at all, you look so different")
Lopunny smiled shyly ("Different in a good way?")
("Well yeah, you are not clinging to me at first sight")
Lopunny smile dropped along with her ears but Pikachu didn't seem to notice, Ampere on the other hand saw this and tried to warn the male Pikachu ("Pikachu") but he didn't seemed to take the hint.
("It used to be quite uncomfortable")
Oh… so she made him uncomfortable…
("Pikachu stop…") Warned Ampere once more.
("Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you saved my ass back there when Jenny was about to squash me, but you sure were very hyperactive whenever I was around…") he turned to Ampere ("… could you believe that she froze my trainer when he was trying to catch her? But in the end you went with Dawn… good old days") just then he noticed the disapproving look on Ampere, turning back he saw Lopunny's saddened face and some tears were threatening to fall.
The bunny-like Pokémon just turned around and sat beside her trainer, Pikachu tilted his head while Ampere just shook hers ("She said you were a kind and pretty cool guy, but I think you are just an asshole")
Pikachu turned around and saw the disapproving look on his friend's faces, he just sighed feeling bad after realizing he had said too much.
Dawn noticed her Pokémon crestfallen expression and turned to her, which made Ash and Serena look at her too.
"Hey what's the matter with Lopunny?"
Ampere stared at her trainer and tried to tell her what Pikachu had said, the coordinator understood just enough to know that it was Pikachu's fault.
"What did you said to Lopunny, Pikachu?"
Ash turned to his Pikachu and saw him looking at the ground in shame "Hey buddy, if you did something wrong you should apologize"
Pikachu understood this and went to Lopunny who turned the other way to avoid looking at him ("Hey Lopunny… I said some pretty mean things there, I didn't realize you felt so strongly about it… you are a great Pokémon and even better friend, I'm sorry for hurting your feelings")
Lopunny opened one eye and saw Pikachu's sincerity, she just let another sigh escape and turned to him ("What bothers me is the fact that I seemed to be like such a nuisance to you, I've liked you for so long but you've never shown any interest… I think it was my fault too, I was too pushy")
Pikachu extended his paw with a little smile, not answering at her honest and direct confession ("Are we ok then? Friends?)
Lopunny seemed to notice that once again Pikachu was avoiding the topic but decided to not pursue it anymore for now, so she just shook paws with him ("Friends")
The trainers saw that the two friends were on good terms once again and smiled, Serena then remembered something and turned to her boyfriend "Hey Ash, is your Fletchling alright?"
Ash stood up and started walking "Thanks for remembering me, I need to pick him up"
Once he was out of hearing range she turned to Dawn, not knowing how to ask the next question.
"You seem troubled by something" stated Dawn noticing Serena's distress.
"I wanted to ask… well… if you…"
"If I liked Ash more like a friend?"
Serena blushed slightly, she didn't want to seem the possessive type…
Dawn just giggled a bit "To be honest I used to like him like that…"
Serena's eyes widened a bit and was about to say something but was interrupted by Dawn "… You can't really blame me, he is a nice guy, and very kind with humans and Pokémon alike but… I lost to you before even trying to compete"
The sky rider in training sat silently waiting for the info to sink, Dawn let a few seconds pass and continued "Don't get me wrong, I don't like him like that anymore, but he gave me something that I'll treasure for the rest of my life, something you won't ever be able to take from me… and that is the fact that I love him like a big brother, and he loves me like a younger sister, and I'll never break that bond nor try to get more of it, he deserves to be happy and I know that you are the one he choose, so I've moved on"
Serena appreciated the girl's honesty "I'm fine with it actually, I'm glad to know that he has friends he can rely on if anything happens… and I won't ever try to break your bond with Ash, I might be his girlfriend but he is not a possession, and I know that he would never do anything to hurt me, so I'll trust in you too"
The two girls smiled at each other and Serena noticed Ash coming back "By the way Ash, both of us have a Fletchling, don't you think it will be confusing?"
"I thought of that too, that's why I'm naming mine…" Ash's Fletchling, who was out of his ball at the time, flew to his trainer's shoulder "…What do you think of 'Brave Bird'?"
Dawn and Serena shook their head "Is a long name… and I feel like there is people that is not going to appreciate it" said Dawn with an awkward smile.
"How about… Arrow? You know, fletching is the name of the back of an arrow…" said Serena.
Fletchling seemed to like the nickname and chirped happily.
Ash smiled and rubbed his fingers under Arrow's peck "Then Arrow is it… I'm just bad with names"
The tiny robing Pokémon flew to the group to get acquainted, with Pikachu and Lopunny joining them too.
Dawn then remembered something and asked the pair "So how did you guys meet again?"
Ash started retelling how he went back from Unova and about his family moving to Vaniville Town, Serena then told her about how she was in the forest and tripped after being startled by a Poliwag.
Dawn heard everything with a dreamy expression until the kiss part "You really did it!?"
Serena looked a bit embarrassed even though it was her favorite part, Ash just laughed it out "Well it was your idea remember?"
This got the honey-blond girl confused "What do you mean Ash?"
"When I was in Sinnoh I told Dawn about you, I was thinking on how I should confess my feelings, and Dawn was the one who told me that I could always just go straight to you and kiss you to see your reaction"
Dawn let her tongue out and scratched the back of her head nervously "I wasn't expecting you to be that bold"
Serena smiled slightly "So is thanks to you that Ash and I are together now… thank you Dawn"
"Aww it was my pleasure"
Ash was happy that his girlfriend and his little sister where getting along that well "By the way Dawn, have you used the new battle system?"
The coordinator gave him a nod "They will be used in the Battle round for contests too, every trainer must get a new Pokedex or at least a device compatible with the new add on"
"I see, I had a battle with Fletchling a few hours ago and when I was about to start my Pokedex went crazy"
"Apparently it starts whenever the owner yells 'Let's Fight' or something similar, otherwise it will be on standby"
Serena then remembered something Dawn said before "You said that it would be either a Pokedex or a device compatible with it?"
"Yeah, there are trainers that don't hold Pokedex, there are other options for them like rings, wristbands, Holocasts, PokéNav Plus and more" answered Dawn with a smile, just for it to drop after a few moments "What happened in the Valley Conference should never happen again, it really shook the world to see such a heartless pair of trainers, but the Pokémon League also suffered a fatal blow, it showed they weren't really prepared for an event like this"
Silence reigned the table, the Pokémon didn't said anything either, choosing to just finish eating.
After a while they were done, Ash got up and stretched a bit, just to be scolded by Serena "Don't do that Ash, you might hurt yourself"
"Sorry honey…" the black haired trainer was cheering inside, he had been trying to call Serena like that for a few days but shyness always got the better of him.
Serena for her part was blushing intensely, Dawn was enjoying their interactions too "I have to say, I'm surprised that you managed to drill some manners on that thick head of his, Serena… if this were Old Ash we are talking about, he would have devoured our hands if they had gone near his food"
The girls laughed at this while Ash scratched his cheek "Very funny Dawn, why don't we all go take a walk along the city? We need to find the airport too"
Dawn tilted her head at this "Airport? Are you guys leaving to another region?"
Serena smiled at her and replied "No… actually we will wait for one of Ash's friends from Kanto, his name is Brock and he is arriving tomorrow morning"
"No way! Brock is going to travel with you?"
Ash grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up "Of course, you should join us too, it will be fun to have the team together again!"
"But won't I be bothering you two?"
Serena took Dawn's hand "Don't be silly, we might be a couple but we keep our stuff for when we are alone, besides it would be cool to have another girl in the team, is going to be weird if I'm the only girl traveling with them"
The coordinator just smiled at her "Okay then, I'll gladly go with you guys!"
The group gathered their Pokémon leaving only Ampere, Piplup, Pikachu and Fennekin out, Dawn was impressed that the little vixen had managed to climb to Serena's shoulder and stay there without falling.
Ampere went to Dawn's left shoulder which left her next to Pikachu, it was time to ask the male about his behavior when it concerned Lopunny ("Hey Pikachu, why do you avoid Lopunny's feelings?")
Pikachu seemed troubled, he didn't feel the same for the female bunny-like Pokémon ("Well… I don't think I should tell you this…")
("Aww come on, I won't tell her, I just want to understand you guys better")
At Ampere's insistence he decided to give up ("Because I don't know how to tell her…")
("That you feel the same? It shouldn't be a problem")
Pikachu shook his head and finished his previous sentence ("I don't know how to tell her that I don't feel the same… she is a great friend, and I like her the same way I like all my friends, but I…")
Ampere's face changed to one of sadness, she really wanted her friend to be happy, but no one could force Pikachu to feel the same for Lopunny.
("I'll tell her eventually… but I don't know how") finished Pikachu.
Ampere understood and decided to just enjoy the views along her trainer, Pikachu might have been an asshole back in the PokéCenter, but he wasn't that bad once you got to know him, actually that seemed like the first time it happened so she decided to get to know him first before judging him.
Only time would tell what the future would hold for them, for now the best was to enjoy the moment.
Later that night they had gone back to the PokéCenter, Dawn's room was just a few doors from the couple.
"Which room are you staying at Serena?" Asked Dawn.
Serena suddenly got nervous but tried to hide it "Well… I'm in room 510"
The coordinator then turned to Ash "And you?"
"My room? Well is the… room 510" answered and equally nervous Ash
"510… you guys got a two bed room, that is nice"
Serena smiled still nervous "Y-yeah! Is a double bedroom… well see you tomorrow Dawn, sleep well!"
Dawn waved a hand watching the pair go inside their room, at that moment Nurse Joy was passing by, having heard everything she turned to Dawn with a sly grin and said "Funny thing is… we just have single bedrooms"
While the nurse retired Dawn processed the new information, and after a few seconds she gave a loud "eehh!?"
The next morning:
Dawn had finished her mourning ritual and was now going out of her room, finding Serena and Ash already awake and dressed too standing outside her door "Morning guys"
"Morning Dawn, did you sleep well?" asked Serena, whom got a grin from Dawn.
"Not as good as you two"
Serena tilted her head in confusion and Dawn decided to clarify "Your bed must have been too comfy, I'm surprised you decided to get out of bed so early"
This made the honey-blond girl and the black haired boy blush hard "W-Well… yeah it… it was very comfortable"
"I bet… did you sleep on top? Or perhaps… on the bottom?" Serena was now very flustered and trying to think what to answer, did her friend know? No that couldn't be… or could it?
"O-on top?"
"Oh my! How bold of you Serena, he was a very good pillow eh?" teased the coordinator some more.
At this time Serena's brain had just collapsed and was trying to reboot "Y-yes he was! I- I mean It was! I-I mean…!"
Ash was pretty flustered too but decided to stay quiet, Dawn just giggled and stopped teasing them "Don't worry guys, Joy told me that there weren't rooms with more than one bed, this is payback for trying to fool me, we will talk about this later Serena" she winked at her friends and turned around hoping all the way to the stars and humming a song.
Serena had recovered by now but was still flustered "That girl is going to be my end, I just know it"
"Nah… she was just having fun" he chuckled a bit earning himself a soft slap on the arm.
"Very funny Ketchum, come on we have to pick Brock up from the airport" she took her hand and pulled him along to the exit.
The group got in a cab and asked the driver to take them to the airport, apparently it was in the north avenue so it was quite far. Once there they noticed that the Kanto flight had just arrived, Ash extended a big sign that said 'Brock' in bold letters.
A few minutes passed and the Pokémon Doctor found them, walking to them he spotted Dawn with him, and a blonde-haired girl who he guessed was Grace's daughter.
"Hey Ash long time no see you! And you too Dawn, is good to see that you are doing ok" he then turned to the new girl who waved a hand at him "Hello there, my name is Brock Harrison" He stretched his hand for her to shake.
"Hello to you too my name is Serena Yvonne, I'm Ash's girlfriend" she took his hand.
Brock shook it slightly while his mouth dropped to the ground "Ash got a girlfriend!?" he turned to his friend who was grinning and rubbing a finger under his nose "You have to tell me your secret Ash!"
Dawn just shook her head and smiled at her old friend "Maybe if you stop being so pushy and try to decide for just one girl, you will have more luck"
Brock grinned at her "Actually I was kidding, I have a girlfriend too"
"What!?" this caught Ash and Dawn by surprise.
Brock just laughed at their expression "Yeah! Her name is Lucy, I think Ash remember her"
Ash thought about it and remembered the Pike Queen "The Queen of the Battle Pike!? Wow Brock you certainly outdid yourself" He told Dawn and Serena who was Lucy and both of them were quite impressed.
Serena took Ash's hand and looked at her two new companions "Let's move back to the PokéCenter on the South Avenue, Brock must be tired"
The Pokémon Doctor agreed and followed them, they took another cab and went back to the South Avenue, during the ride Brock was taking a look at Pikachu and Ampere, and expressed how impressed he was about their health despite him being away for so long.
Once they arrived their destination they didn't lost time in getting Brock settled.
"So what is the plan?" Asked Brock.
"Rest today and we will be on the move tomorrow morning, we need to get to Santalune City for my first Gym battle" answered Ash.
Serena took a sip of water from her glass "I'm training Fletchling to compete in the Sky Prix, but I need to catch two more flying type Pokémon"
Dawn was coming back from calling her mom "I just transferred Pachirisu and brought my Rufflet and Togekiss, I need to train for my first Pokémon Showcase and get my Pokedex from someone called Sycamore just a few streets from here"
Serena smiled at her and seemed anxious "That's great! I can't wait to see your Pokepuff!"
Dawn seemed confused "Pokepuff? What is that?"
"They are similar to small cakes made from berries, I can show you some recipes if you want" offered Serena.
The coordinator seemed relieved and thanked her friend, then Ash said "At least it will be interesting to see you dance"
Once again Dawn seemed to panic "Dance!?"
Serena gave her a slight nod "Pokémon Showcases have a variety of events that might vary from place to place, from baking to dancing and styling Pokémon, but unlike contests where just the Pokémon needs to appeal to the judge, A trainer and her Pokémon must appeal to the whole public as everyone will vote for the winner and reward her efforts with a Princess Key"
Ash looked at Dawn "Don't tell me you didn't know about all of this already?"
"No, I thought it would be the same as a Pokémon Contest, I wasn't expecting for this to be so different… Now I'm glad I didn't participate in the Coumarine Showcase" Dawn seemed depressed as she didn't know what to do, sure she could dance, but making a whole routine to match her Pokémon would be hard.
Serena put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled "Don't worry about it Dawn I'll help you practice, and I´m sure we can think of something along the way"
Dawn smiled at her "You are right Serena! No need to worry!"
Brock and Ash looked at each other and laughed "And that's when we worry the most!"
The girl gave them a pout and started punching them lightly, Serena just laughed at their antics before looking out the window… this was going to be a great journey.
There you have it guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly did!
Some of you are probably mad at me for Pikachu not liking Lopunny… oh well, I'll start walking to the fire.
Let a review in the box bellow!
See you guys next weekend!