Chapter 35: A double date
The following morning Ash awoke next to Serena. He saw she was still asleep and carefully got out of the bed. As he got up Pikachu, who was asleep at the foot of the bed, was awoken and saw Ash getting up. He leapt onto Ash's shoulder as Ash got out of the bed.
Ash was about to head over to the shower when he noticed that Korrina had fallen asleep next to Red.
"They're already sharing a bed?" Ash said. Ash was about to head into the bathroom when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over and opened it to see Serena's father standing there.
"Major Achille" Ash said.
"Ash, may I have a word with you" Achille said.
"Uh sure" Ash said nervously. As they walked out into the hallway, Ash thanked Reduka that Achille didn't notice that two of the four beds were made. Ash didn't see anything wrong with sharing a bed with Serena, it's not like they did anything inappropriate. But he wasn't sure her father would be so understanding.
"So what do you want?" Ash said.
"I think you know what I want to talk about young man. You're in a relationship with my daughter".
"Oh right? Well I can promise you that I care for her deeply, and that I wouldn't do anything to hurt her or".
"Stop talking and listen. I don't know you son, I don't. I've spent a total of 2 hours with you in my entire life, now I find out that my daughter's practically in love with you. You have to appreciate that's a lot to take in for father , especially when she's my only child".
Ash could understand how Achille was feeling. He wasn't a father, but he knew that hadn't spent much time with Achille and thus Achille barley knew him.
"Not only that but you keep putting my daughter in danger".
"What?" Ash said.
"The day after I met you she was kidnapped by team rocket".
"Well , that wasn't directly my fault" Ash said.
"She told me about the other things, like the battle Chateau, the caves, and of course the power plant" Achille said.
"Well I wasn't responsible for those things happening" Ash said sweat dropping.
"Pika" Pikachu said sweat dropping. Achille came closer and nearly pushed Ash into the wall when he put his hand on his shoulder.
"Just know that if anything happens to my daughter because of you. There will be consequences" Achille said. Ash now felt very nervous as Achille walked away.
When Achille got to another hallway , he was stopped by Felix.
"Hello Major" Felix said.
"You? What do you want?" Achille said.
"I want to know what you talked about with Ash" Felix said.
"What I said to him regards my daughter , and thus it's none of your concern". Felix gave and angry expression and moved closer.
"If it concerns my... Student, it is a concern of mine" Felix said.
"Your student has been getting my daughter into a lot of dangerous situations and I told him that if he gets her hurt , that he'd regret it".
"You listen to me, if you have a problem with my... Student, then you come to me. Believe it or not , but your daughter is very happy with my ... S-Stundent. Have you seen your daughter happy in much of your life?".
"What are you talking about?" Achille said.
"I can see people's true natures, I've seen your daughter's and I can see yours. I know that you know the truth" Felix said. Achille took a look at his daughter's life and started to think more deeply about it. When she was a little girl, all she did was move from place to place , never being able to keep friends because of his position in the army.
Even when she and her mother decided to live off base, he knew that Grace continued to train her to be a Ryhorn rider. Every time he came home to see his wife and daughter, he could see how unhappy Serena was with Ryhorn racing. He wanted to tell Grace to stop it, but he knew she sacrificed so much for him whenever they had to move, that he didn't have the strength to do it. The only time he had ever really seen his daughter really happy is when she came back from the summer camp in Kanto, and that was because she said she met the most amazing person there.
When he saw he daughter again yesterday , he could tell that going on her journey and being with Ash had made Serena happier than he had ever seen her.
"Maybe you're right".
"I can understand you're concerned for her safety Achille, I really can. I am always concerned for my ss.. Students safety. But I know I have to let them live too. Besides if anything, Ash as done a lot to protect Serena and keep her safe on their journey. Would you rather she travel alone?".
"I guess your have a point, alright but you're always watching them right?" Achille said.
"Yes".
"Are they doing anything? Inappropriate with each other? I know I raised Serena right , and I'm sure your student isn't like that. But I've been that age, and you've been that age. You understand right".
"Of course, trust me they're not doing anything like that" Felix said.
"Alright, I guess maybe I was a little , overzealous with Ash".
"It's behind us" Felix said.
"I suppose, well I" Achille said before he looked up again and Felix was gone.
"What? Felix?" Achille said looking around. Felix was in another room smiling.
"I love doing that". After everyone else got up they met in the lobby for some breakfast.
"So how long will it take us to get to Lumoise city from here?" Clemont said.
"About a 3 hour walk, but my dad said they could drive us" Serena said.
"That'll be nice" Korrina said.
"Say Red, if we're going back to Lumoise we should stop by the apartment and see mom" Ash said.
"That's a good idea, plus we should probably show her our girlfriends" Red said.
"I would love to meet your mom" Korrina said.
"We should see papa too Clemont" Bonnie said.
"Don't worry we will" Clemont said.
"Say Red, if you and Ash are going for the gym here, doesn't that mean you'll have to face Clemont?" Korrina said.
"That's right" Red said giving Clemont a confident look.
"Don't be so sure of yourself Red. I've been a trainer much longer than you have , and I've gotten just as much experience as you. Why I'd say I'm an ace gym leader who" Clemont started.
"Oh don't kid yourself brother, sit down" Bonnie said shaking her head. Clemont sweat dropped and sat back down.
"I'm just kidding Clemont, I'm really excited for our gym battle" Red said. Felix walked over to the group as they ate.
"Alright seeing as you can get to Lumoise from here safely I'm afraid we're going to part ways for some time" Felix said.
"For how long?" Ash said.
"Once you're out the city, we'll resume your training. I will be in Lumoise meeting with another Aura guardian".
"Who?" Korrina said.
"He asked me to keep it to myself" Felix said.
"Alright thanks for all the help Felix, I can't wait until we resume training. I just wish you could meet our mom" Ash said.
"Your mother" Felix said with some discomfort.
"Yeah we'll be sure to tell her about you" Red said.
"I'd rather you didn't" Felix said.
"Huh? Why not?" Ash said.
"I'd just rather you didn't. That's all I'll say about it" Felix said.
"But Felix" Red said as he turned back towards him. However, Felix was gone.
"Huh? Where did he go?" Serena said.
"Aura guardians are masters of disappearing" Korrina said.
"What? But how does that work" Serena said as she looked back at Korrina's chair only to find she was gone.
"Huh?" She said just before Korrina put her hands on Serena's shoulder.
"Like that" She said as Serena nearly jumped from fright. The others got some laughs out of this until they heard some shouting in another room. After a moment , they realized it was Serena's father.
"I have over 40 days of leave accumulated and now they're telling me that I can't spend one day with my daughter!" Achille shouted.
"I'm sorry sir, but the Colonel said you're the only officer he trusts in handling this" Another soldier said.
"Dam it! Alright Sgt tell the Colonel I'll be there but I will spend a day with my daughter dam it! I'm tired of him calling my in like this to solve his problems. I don't care if he outranks me, if he tries this again I'll report him to General Chairon. He's good man he'll help me" Achille said.
Achille walked into the lobby with a disappointed look.
"Serena , I'm afraid we won't be able to spend the day together today. I've been called in for something... Important".
"But you just freed the power plant, they won't even let you use a day of leave" Serena said.
"We can still spend a day together , it will just have to wait until the day after tomorrow" Achille said.
"Alright I understand" Serena said disappointed.
"We can still give you a ride to Lumoise city, we're leaving in twenty four minutes" Achille said before he walked off with the sgt. Ash could see and feel how disappointed Serena was. He knew she hardly got to see her dad, and now that she finally met up with him again she had to wait even longer because someone else was being selfish.
"Well you'll still get to spend a day with him Serena , you just have to wait a little longer" Red said.
"I know, it's just. When we met up with him yesterday, I could tell that he has been missing me just as much if not more than I've been missing him" Serena said. Ash put his hand on her shoulder.
"Well, if you can't spend the day with your dad today, why don't you and I go on a date tonight" Ash said.
"Really!" Serena said with more optimism.
"Yeah we could go out and get dinner, see a show" Ash said.
"Speaking of which, we should probably go on our first date tonight Korrina" Red said.
"Hey why don't we go on a double date!" Korrina said.
"You mean the four of us together?" Serena said.
"Yeah" Korrina said.
"That actually does sound like fun. I think we should do it Ash" Serena said.
"Alright , what do you think Red?".
"Sounds good" Red said.
"If the four of you are all going out tonight , that means Clemont and I can go out and find him a wife!" Bonnie said.
"No! We'll go and see father" Clemont said.
"You know the first thing we should do is see mom, I'm sure she'd like to meet you two" Ash said.
"It will be nice to see her again" Serena said. After finishing breakfast , the group followed the Sgt to a group of humvees.
"Alright three of you in one humvee, three of you in another" The Sgt said. Ash, Red, and Clemont got into the back of one while the girls got into the back of another. Achille got in the passenger front seat of the Humvee the girls were in while a Cpl got in the driver's seat.
In the other Humvee, the Sgt got in the drivers seat while a private got in the passenger seat.
"It will take us about 35 minutes go get to Lumoise" The sgt said. The convoy began driving forward through the desert as the sun continued to rise. After 33 minutes they reached the edge of the city. They drove a few miles in before the convoy stopped.
"Alright we're here, however , I'm afraid you'll have to walk the rest of the way. The base is in another part of the city" The Sgt said. Ash and the others got out of the Humvee as Serena , Korrina, and Bonnie got out of the other humvee.
"I'll see you in two days" Achille said before the convoy drove off.
"We aren't far from our house , Bonnie and I are going to head home. We'll see you guys later" Clemont said as he and Bonnie walked down another street.
"We should head home too, it isn't far from here" Red said. The four of them walked down the streets of Lumoise city as they got closer to the apartment.
"So Serena , I here you finally mega evolved your Absol" Korrina said.
"I did back at the power plant, you should have seen him he was amazing!" Serena said excited.
"It was amazing Mega evolving Lucario for the first time, I still remember when it happened" Korrina said.
"Yeah I do too, Electric Earl tried to kill our pokemon" Ash said.
"Right" Korrina said sweat dropping. As they continued walking they noticed that two young men looked very excited as they walked by them.
"I can't believe we actually got tickets man!".
"I know this is gonna be the best day of our lives!" The other one said.
"I wonder what that was about?" Ash said. As they continued walking they saw another group of people walking towards them with just as much excitement.
"It was a long wait but it was worth it too see this match" One of them said.
"I know this is once in a lifetime opportunity!" Another one said.
"Ok something big is clearly going on" Ash said. Red stopped one of the boys.
"Hey what's going on that's so big?" Red asked.
"What? How can you not know man! Just look!" The boy said as he pointed to a large television screen on a building.
The screen showed a woman with a microphone.
"You heard it right folks, after 2 years of keeping himself secluded from the rest of the world, Daniel Rian is making an official appearance in two days in Lumoise city for an exhibition match against Cynthia, the champion of the Sinnoh Region.
"Daniel Rian!" Ash and Red screamed.
"Excuse me but who is Daniel Rian?" Serena said. Ash, Red, Korrina, and everyone in the group turned to her and nearly shouted.
"What?"
"Serena Daniel Rian is the greatest pokemon trainer in the world" Ash said.
"Huh?" Serena said.
"When Daniel was only ten years old he competed in the Indigo pokemon league and won. He then continued on traveling the world competing and eventually winning every pokemon league from every region. By the time he was 18 he had beaten each region's elite four and battle frontier brains. By the time he turned 22 he had beaten the champion from every region and was declared the greatest trainer in the world" Red said.
"Woah! He sounds amazing" Serena said.
"For some reason he stopped making any appearances or accepting challenges 2 years ago and seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth" Ash said.
"Now he's going to have a battle here, tonight at 9:30 at the Lumoise battle castle!" One of the boys said.
"We have to see this!" Red shouted.
"Uh Red" Ash said hinting at Korrina.
"Of course if you want to see the match Korrina" Red said sweat dropping.
"Duh, I'd love to see Daniel Rian!" Korrina said.
"I want to see him too!" Serena said.
"If you want to see him you better hurry, the tickets are selling out fast" One of the boys said.
"Where can we buy them?" Ash asked.
" A vendor is selling them just down the road there" One of the boys said. The four rushed down the road to the selling station and saw a line of people in front of a station set up.
"That line doesn't seem too long" Ash said. They stood in line for twenty minutes before they reached the front.
"Excuse me , we'd like four tickets to the match" Ash said.
"Sorry young man but we just ran out of tickets" The vendor said.
"What!?" all four of them shouted.
"These things have been selling like crazy" The vendor said.
"Aww come on , you can't be all out" Red said.
"Well" The vendor said taking out a small box.
"A man did pre-order 4 tickets , but he hasn't shown up, and our policy clearly states if you don't show up within 3 hours of the pickup time , they become available to others. It has been 3 hours since the pickup time started, so I guess I can sell you guys the tickets" The vendor said.
"Sweet" Ash said as he and Red handed him the money.
"You guys lucked out, since these were pre-ordered tickets, they're front row" The vendor said.
"Front row!" They all shouted.
"Congratulations, have fun" The vendor said.
"I can't believe we get to see Daniel Rian in a battle!" Red shouted.
"So what do you guys want to do tonight" Ash said.
"You know I had a restaurant in mind. It's a revolving restaurant called Havieros, I went there once with my parents when we lived here".
"Sounds good, I've never been to a revolving restaurant before" Ash said. It took them another 20 minutes before they reached Ash and Red's apartment building.
"Here we are" Ash said.
"Wow you guys live in a nice place" Korrina said as she looked at the apartment.
"Wait until you see the inside" Red said. As they walked inside and got in the elevator Ash and Red were thinking more and more about what Felix said.
"Hey Red, maybe we shouldn't tell mom about us being Aura guardians in training yet".
"What?" All three of the others said as Pikachu gave an equally surprised expression.
"Why?" Red said.
"Well Felix seemed very serious about us not telling mom about him. I mean if we are going to tell her about our training, we should at least tell her about the man training us. So until we get Felix to budge maybe it would be best if we didn't" Ash said.
"Well, you may have a point" Red said.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, I mean this is going to be a big part of your lives" Korrina said.
"I just don't feel comfortable telling her we're being trained and not being able to tell her who's training us" Red said.
"I suppose you have a point, but you two will need to tell her at some point" Serena said.
"As soon as we can get Felix to allow us to tell her about him we will" Ash said. A few minutes later, they were just outside the apartment. Ash knocked on the door and waited for a response.
"Is she home?" Serena said.
"It's sunday, she usually has sunday off" Red said. A few moments later, the door opened and revealed Delia standing on the other side.
"Ash, Red!".
"Hey mom" Ash said. Delia quickly came forward and hugged both her sons at once.
"Oh it's so good to see you both again. You've been away for so long. Oh I can't wait to hear about all you've done, the pokemon you've probably caught and" Delia stopped when she noticed Serena and Korrina standing behind her sons.
"Oh where are my manners, hello you two. Serena it's nice to see you again, and I'm afraid we haven't met yet young lady" Delia said.
"My name's Korrina, I'm the Shalour city gym leader" Korrina said.
"Well very nice to meet you, come on in" Delia said as the four teenagers entered the apartment.
"So did you boys make friends with Korrina in Shalour city?".
"Well, actually before we got there. Uh mom, there's something pretty important we need to tell you" Red said nervously.
"What is it? Is everything alright?".
"Yes, in fact it's good news. You see mom, Korrina and I are , well sort of ... Dating" Red said sweat dropping.
"What!? You're dating her! How long have you known her, what do you know about her. Do you really want to rush into something like this!" Delia nearly shouted.
"Uh I'm standing right here" Korrina said.
"Look mom I know this is a lot to take in at once, but Korrina and I have spent plenty of time together and we get along great. I really like her and want to be with her" Red said.
"Uh mom, this may not be the best time , but I think you should know that Serena and I are also dating" Ash said sweat dropping.
Delia's face turned white and she stopped moving.
"Uh mom?" Red said. She didn't speak or make any movement.
"I think her mind snapped" Ash said as he, Pikachu, and the other 3 all sweat dropped. Mr. Mime , who was sweeping the kitchen , heard all the commotion and ran over to Delia.
"A Mr. Mime?" Korrina said.
"Oh yeah it's out mom's, hey Mr. Mime" Ash said.
"Mime" the pokemon said waving to Ash and Red. He then went in front of Delia and snapped his fingers twice in her face. Delia's face turned back to normal as she came to.
"Thank you Mr. Mime" Delia took a deep breath.
"I apologize for the way I reacted, it's just a lot to take in at once. Finding out your son's are dating is big enough, but when you hardly know the people they're dating" Delia said.
Ash and Serena both sweat dropped remembering what Achille had said earlier.
"Well I suppose I raised my boys with good judgement and if they are happy with you , then I'm happy" Delia said.
"Thank you" Serena and Korrina said relieved.
"So what are you all doing back here in Lumoise city?" Delia said.
"We're here to challenge the gym leader" Ash said.
"The one who shocked you!" Delia said.
"Shocked you?" Korrina said.
"No, the person that shocked us is, well. They're gone, we're facing the real gym leader. Do you remember our friend Clemont?"Red said.
"He's the gym leader" Delia said surprised.
"Really".
"Yup, and one of us will be facing him tomorrow" Ash said.
"Well good luck to both of you. But how long will you be staying in the city?".
"About 3 days counting today" Red said.
"Ohh 3 days, wonderful. So what's your plan for tonight?" Delia said.
"Well the four or us we're planning on going on a double date together " Ash said.
"Where will you go?".
"Havieros" Serena said.
"The revolving restaurant, nice choice. What are you going to do until dinner?".
" We still have to think of something to do before then" Ash said.
"It is around noon, why don't we have some lunch".
"Lunch sounds good , thanks mom" Ash said. Twenty minutes later, the 5 were sitting at the table as their pokemon ate their food a few feet away.
Delia was amazed when she saw all of the new pokemon her son's had.
"You boys have caught so many new pokemon" Delia said.
"It's been a long and fun journey so far. We've seen so many amazing things" Red said.
"I can imagine. So you have four gym badges now right?".
"That's right" Ash said.
"So what are you perusing Serena?" Delia asked.
"I've been competing in battle chateaus. I've made it to the rank of countess" Serena said.
"How exciting".
"So mom , how has your work been going?" Ash asked.
"Well just the other day Alexa and I heard rumors that team rocket had attacked the plant and the army was sent to stop them" Delia said.
"Oh , uh yeah we heard about that" Ash said as he, Pikachu, and the others started sweat-dropping.
"Plus we 're going to see Daniel Rian's match in two days".
"You're going too, we got tickets for the match" Red said.
"Well you're lucky you came when you did. Alexa and I have backstage passes to speak with the champions. We'd be more the happy to let you come with us".
"We get to meet Daniel Rian!" Ash and Red nearly shouted.
"Hopefully, professor Sycamore is coming with us too".
"The professor! I almost forgot , we should see him while we're here" Ash said. After finishing lunch and leaving the apartment , the group started walking down the streets.
"So what do you guys want to do before dinner?" Ash said.
"Well I've been looking through my info pad and found some places we could go to. There's a few cafe's we could stop at, or there's the movie theater downtown. Or there's a roller skating rink nearby and".
"What!" Korrina shouted as she ran over to Serena and looked at her info pad.
"We have to go there! You guys will love it!" Korrina shouted.
"Uh I don't know , I've never roller skated before" Red said sweat dropping.
"Yes you have" Ash said with a smile as he looked at his brother, who now looked nervous.
"Roller skating actually does sound kind off fun. I could give it a try" Serena said.
"Well if you girls want to do it I guess I'm in. What about you Red?" Ash said.
"Well, I , I , I guess I could try it" Red said.
"Don't you mean try it again" Ash said through an Aura message. It took them a few minutes before they reached the place. It was called "Skater's world".
"We're here!" Korrina said full of excitement.
"Great" Red said unenthusiastically. When they got inside they saw how amazing it was. It looked similar to Korrina's gym, only the rink paths were bigger and stretched farther across the building. Some of the paths intersected with each other. Each path was made of colored fiber glass and had metal railings across the edges. In the center of the rink was a terrain park with grind rails, some half pipes, and pool like drops.
"This place is amazing!" Korrina said.
"It looks so fun!" Serena said.
"We're going to have a good time" Ash said.
"Most of us" Red said.
"Alright now we just need to rent some skates, helmets , and pads" Ash said.
"I don't" Korrina said as she pressed a button on the bottom of her shoes. Wheels instantly came out from the bottom, as Korrina took her pads and helmets out of her backpack.
"I always keep these with me".
"Alright we'll go rent some" Serena said sweat dropping. After getting their skates and pads, Ash , Serena, and Red met Korrina at the first rink path.
"Here we go" Serena said as she slowly skated out onto the path. She was slow and wobbly at first but started to move faster and more steady.
"I think I'm getting the hang of it" Serena said.
"Here I go" Ash said as he skated out onto the rink. Unlike Serena, Ash seemed much more experienced at skating. He was able to move faster and more elegantly than her. When Ash reached Serena , he took her hand and they started moving together.
"Time for the master to work" Korrina said as she skated out onto the rink with incredible speed and precision. She easily skated past Ash and Serena before leaping into the terrain park.
"Wow that girl is good" Another skater said as she saw Korrina. When Korrina got to the terrain park she quickly leapt onto a rail and grinded it before jumped off it into the empty pool and skating around and doing several tricks. After jumping out of the pool she made her way back to the rink path as almost everyone in the terrain park stared at her.
"Man she's awesome!" Another skater said. Ash and Serena were watching her as she skated beautifully across the rink towards Red.
"Come on Red, get in here!" She shouted as Red looked at the rink nervously.
"Is Red ok?" Serena said as she noticed this.
"Well, the thing is Red had kind of a traumatic experience with skating when he was younger" Ash said. Back in Pallet town when Ash and Red were 8 years old, the two brothers were at the top of a hill wearing roller skates.
"I don't know about this Red" Ash said nervously.
"Come on Ash, it'll be fun! Rushing down the hill , the wind in your face. Being able to see the whole town. Just let me show you" Red said as he tried to skate forward. As soon as he did, he lost balance and fell over.
"Are you ok?" Ash asked.
"I'm fine, just a mistake. Let me try again" Red got up and tried to skate forward but kept falling over. After his 8th try he had moved so close to the edge of the hill, that he fell down while going over the edge and began crashing his way down. At the same time Ash slowly moved forward and skated down the hill not noticing his brother.
"Wow Red you were right this is fun!".
It was then Ash noticed his brother crashing down the hill.
"Uh oh". At the bottom of the hill, a Nidorino was resting , as Red reached the bottom of the hill he smashed into him. Red slowly got up and saw the now angry Nidorino staring at him.
"Heh heh, sorry Nidorino I just".
"Graaa!" The pokemon roared. Red tried to get up and run, but as soon as he did he slipped on the wheels and fell over. Red tried to get up again but the Nidorino was not on him, biting, kicking, and smashing his head into the 8 year old.
"Red!" Ash shouted. After a minute , the Nidorino got up and walked away leaving Red on the ground with swirly eyes and covered in dirt and bruises.
"Ouch".
"Ever since then Red has never roller skated again".
"That's so sad" Serena said. Red nervously moved forward onto the skating rink , keeping his movement slow.
"Come on Red, it's really simple. Just move yourself forward" Korrina said as she skated by him. Red moved slightly faster before he lost his balance and face planted onto the ground.
"Ouch".
"That's not good" Ash said as he , Serena, and Pikachu sweat dropped. Korrina noticed this and skated over to him.
"It's alright Red, everyone falls over sometime" She said as she helped him get up. As soon as Red started skating forward he quickly fell over again, and again, and again, and again. Korrina sweat dropped as she saw her boyfriend repeatedly smash into the ground.
"Korrina, now may be a good time to tell you I'm not a good roller skater".
"I sort of figured that one out on my own" Korrina said. Red explained his traumatic experience when he was 8 to Korrina, who gave a sympathetic look.
"That's why I never wanted to skate again" Red said.
"Alright so you had a bad experience, but that doesn't mean you should hate skating forever. Do you know why I love skating so much" Korrina said.
"Because it gives you a feeling of freedom and adrenaline that is on par with how you feel when you battle with your pokemon".
"No, well that is part of it , but wow that was actually a really good answer. Anyway I love it because it was something me and my dad use to do a lot before he died".
Red remembered Korrina's sad story of how she lost her parents.
"When I first tried it I broke my leg in two places and I never wanted to do it again. But my dad explained to me that sometimes things just don't go the way you want them to, and if you let one bad experience define how you look at something then you could really miss out. As soon as my leg was better, I started skating with him again and I actually started to have fun. After my parents died, I held onto skating because it was full of good memories I had with my dad. Memories I never would have had if I just gave up after that one bad experience".
Red was touched by Korrina's story and realized she was right. He had let that bad experience keep him from skating all those years. He remembered how Ash and some of their friends would go skating and have lots of fun, but he refused to go because of the one time.
"I'm going to move past that experience and I'm going to have fun!" Red said as he got up and tried to skate, before loosing balance and face planting again.
"Maybe I should help you learn how to skate" Korrina said.
"I'd appreciate that" Red said. Red got up and went to the sideline with Korrina.
"Alright let's start with some basic movements. Try moving forward slowly ad concentrate on keeping your legs balanced. Just balanced" Korrina said as she demonstrated.
Red took a deep breath and slowly moved forward. He was still a bit wobbly, but managed to keep himself from falling down.
"Alright good, now to pick up speed move your legs forward not as if you're walking, but just moving your knees and foot forward. And remember to keep your legs balanced and steady" Korrina said as she demonstrated.
Red did this and started to move faster.
"There you go" Korrina said. She continued giving him more instructions as he slowly made more progress. Elsewhere, Ash and Serena were still skating together across a higher up rink path. Pikachu was having a fun time as he rode on Ash's shoulder with the wind in his face.
"This is so much fun! I'm glad Korrina convinced us to come here!" Serena said.
"Speaking of which, have you seen her and Red?" Ash said.
"There they are!" Serena said pointing down to a lower section. They could see Korrina helping Red learn how to skate, and Red managing to stay on his feet.
"Aww she's teaching him how to skate. Bonnie was right they are a cute couple" Serena said.
"Maybe, but not as cute as us" Ash said as he sweat Serena off her feet and kissed her, leaving Serena with a very pinkish red face.
Meanwhile , Red was gradually increasing his speed and movement across the rink floor.
"Hey, I'm doing it!" Red said moments before he began to loose balance and slip.
"Woah gouache!" Korrina said as she quickly skated over and caught him in her arms.
"Thanks" Korrina said.
"You've made good progress, but I can only teach you so much in one day".
"Right" Red said.
"Why don't you just stay with me" Korrina said as she took Red's hand and they began skating across the rink together.
"Are you sure, i'll probably just slow you down".
"I don't care, I'd rather be with you and going slower" Korrina said. The two stayed together as they skated across the rink path to one further up. When they got there they met up with Ash and Serena.
"Hey Ash, Serena!" Korrina shouted as she and Red skated up to them.
"There you two are. Red I see your second experience with skating is being much more pleasant than your first" Ash said.
"You could say that" Red said as he held Korrina's hand. The group continued to skate for another two hours before they met up at the terrain park.
"So we've been here a while, you guys feel like heading out?" Ash said.
"I'm ready to leave if you guys are" Serena said.
"I've had plenty of fun" Red said.
"Alright I guess I'm ready to leave too" Korrina said. The four were about to head out when they heard what sounded like a battle.
"Electabuzz use Thunderpunch!" A young man shouted.
"Hitmonchan use Mach punch!" Another young man shouted.
"Did someone just call out moves?" Ash said. The four investigated and found 4 skaters having a pokemon battle in the center of the empty pool section. An Electabuzz and Hitmonchan charged forward before slamming their fists into a Graveler and a Fletchinder, knocking them out.
"Fletchinder and Graveler are unable to battle , the winners are Mike and Tom" a fifth skater who was refereeing the match said.
"Yeah man we're unstoppable!" one of the boys said as he high fived his partner.
"They were having a battle" Red said.
"Serena , I bet we could take them" Ash said. Serena pulled Ash to the side.
"Ash as much as I would love to have a tag battle with you, I think we should let Red and Korrina do it".
"What?".
"We did it on our first date and it was amazing, but this is their first date so we should give them the opportunity".
"I suppose you have a point".
"Hey Red, why don't you and Korrina have a tag battle with them" Ash said.
"Really" Korrina said.
"Yeah , Ash and I had one on our first date. I think you two would do fine in a tag battle" Serena said.
"That does sound like fun, want to do it Korrina?" Red said. Not a moment later , Korrina grabbed his arm and began dragging him towards them shouting.
"Are you kidding!". Tom and Mike turned around to see Red and Korrina standing there.
"Hey we saw you two battle and we were wondering if you wanted to go another round with us" Korrina said.
"Hell yeah, we're always up for a battle" Tom said. Ash and Serena skated over to the edge of the pool area as over a dozen other skaters gathered to see the battle.
"Alright we will be having another two on two battle. Our defending champions Tom and Mike against the challengers Red and Korrina" The ref said.
"Let's show these guys Electrabuzz" Tom said as he sent out his Electabuzz.
"Yeah " Mike said as he sent out his Hitmonchan.
"I choose you , Charizard!" Red shouted as he Charizard came out and roared.
"Lucario time to battle" Korrina said as he let her Lucario out.
"Electrabuzz use Thunderpunch on that Charizard".
"Hitmonchan follow right behind Electabuzz Machpunch on the Charizard, aim high!".
"Charizard use Dragon claws and knock his first out of the way, pick up some momentum to back up your attack".
"Lucario extreme-speed into a low sweep".
"Provide him some cover" Red said. Charizard roared as he flew forward with his claws glowing violet. As Lucario sprinted under Charizard, he breathed fire just in front of him hard enough so that it would slit to the side and not hit Lucario. Once Charizard saw they were close enough he stopped the Flamethrower and allowed Lucario to sprint ahead of him. Lucario swept low and smashed into Electabuzz's and Hitmonchan's legs, knocking them off balance.
As soon as Lucario was past them, Charizard swooped down and slashed Electabuzz and Hitmonchan with Dragon claw, hurling them back towards their trainers.
"Woah" Some of the spectators said as they saw how Red and Korrina battled.
"Geeze these guys are hardcore Mike".
"We can still beat em. Hitmonchan keep the pressure on him with Bulletpunch".
"Electabuzz use double team with Thunder".
"Charizard shield yourself and Lucario, then come in close with a a shield bash".
"Lucario show him how fast your fists are, the give him some Aura".
Charizard quickly flew over to Lucario and landed right behind him as his wings turned metal. Charizard then put his wings in front of himself and Lucario , but left enough room for Lucario to put his arms outside.
"What?" Tom said as his Electabuzz looked equally surprised. Electabuzz still unleashed a powerful Thunder towards Charizard, however, his metal wings managed to absorb all of the electricity. This still did a little damage to Charizard, but his endurance and defense stats were high enough that he didn't mind the pain. Lucario ,however, was shielded completely from the electricity.
When the Hitmonchan came in to try and knock the wings away with Bullet punch, Lucario quickly used his paws to block each of Hitmonchan's strikes. Eventually Lucario caught Hitmonchan's fists in his palms and held them in place.
"Chan!" Hitmonchan said sweatdropping as Lucario gave a confident grin.
"Uh oh" Mike said. Lucario's palms began to glow blue with Aura. Lucario thrusted his palms forward and blasted Hitmonchan with Aura sphere at extremely close range.
"Charizard Steel wing!".
"Give him a boost Lucario". As Charizard got up and flew towards Electabuzz , Lucario had push his hands on Charizard's stomach and pushed him forward. Charizard was now moving faster and smashed his metal wings into Electabuzz, hurling him back towards Hitmonchan.
"Tom these guys are insane" Mike said.
"Charizard fly up high and paint the air".
"Lucario get onto his back". Lucario sprinted over and jumped onto Charizard's back as he flew into the air.
"Electabuzz shoot them down, Thunder!" Tom shouted. Electabuzz got up and prepared to use Thunder, when Charizard unleashed a thick jet of fire that covered the air.
Electabuzz began to sweat as he couldn't see where Charizard was.
"Charizard use Flare Blitz!".
"Lucario Aura body with Close combat!". Lucario soared down covered in fire as Lucario covered himself in aura. Electabuzz and Hitmonchan were so shocked they couldn't even hope to move away in time. Charizard slammed into both of them and picked them up in his arms. Lucario leapt over Charizard's head and slammed his palms into their heads, knocking them out of Charizard's grasp.
When Electabuzz and Hitmonchan landed, they were both knocked out.
"Electabuzz and Hitmonchan are both unable to battle. The challengers are the winners".
"Alright ! That was awesome!" Red shouted.
"We battled so well together!" Korrina said.
"Aww man we lost" Tom said as he and Mike returned their pokemon.
"Wow, that was quite a battle" Serena said.
"I know, those two battle well together" Ash said. Charizard and Lucario touched knuckles , both very proud of themselves and their trainers.
Later that night, the four were at Havieros. They were at a booth together as the waiter came to them.
"Welcome to Havieros, may I take your order?".
"H'mm let me see, I think I'll have the chicken soup with some salad" Serena said.
"Excuse me, I thought this restaurant revolves" Korrina said noticing the building wasn't revolving.
"I'm sorry, the restaurant only revolves on Friday from noon to 1:00" The waiter said. The four sweatdropped realizing how misleading the restaurant was considering they used the revolving idea in their advertising a lot. Luckily for them , the food easily made for it.
"Wow , this food is amazing" Red said.
"That was an impressive battle you guys had today" Ash said.
"Thanks Ash, you know this has been a really good day. We got to introduce mom to our girlfriends, and I finally moved past my childhood trauma" Red said.
"I've had a great day too" Serena said.
"This was quite a first date" Korrina said taking Red's hand. After finishing dinner the four were just outside the restaurant entrance.
"Well I think we should call it a night, I'm pretty tired" Serena said.
"We should head back to the apartment" Ash said.
"Uh you guys go ahead, we'll meet up with you later" Red said.
"Alright see you at home" Ash said as he and Serena walked off.
"The two of us alone, what do you have planned" Korrina said.
"Well, I was thinking we could do some parkour now that Serena's gone" Red said.
" That sounds fun" Korrina said. The two quickly scaled the side of a building. Once they got to the top, they quickly ran across the building tops and leapt from place to place elegantly. Red lead Korrina across the rooftops.
"Where are we going?" Korrina said.
"You'll see".
He continued to lead her across the rooftops to a ledge higher up than any other.
"Check out the view" Red said.
"Woah!" Korrina said as she looked at the view. They could practically see the entire city from where they were.
"Red this view is amazing!".
"I knew you'd like it" Red said as he sat down next to Korrina.
"I got you something from one of the ledges" Red said as he handed Korrina a white rose.
"A rose, it's beautiful" Korrina said taking it.
"Not just a rose, a white rose. It represent the joy and remembrance in a new beginning, like a marriage. Or in our case , the beginning of our official relationship" Red said as he took Korrina's hand.
Korrina blushed when she remembered something important.
"I almost forgot, I have something for you too" Korrina said as she took out a Mega evolution component. The stone was light violet with a dark violet center.
"Woah what kind is it?".
"Aerodactylite , for your Aerodactyle" Korrina said.
"Thanks Korrina, Aero will love it" Red said. He looked back at her and blushed a little.
"I envy Ash and Serena, they get to be together every day. Until the pokemon league is over, we'll only get to see each other occasionally" Red said.
"Well , there is something we can do that will ensure we are never truly apart from each other" Korrina said. She took him by the shoulders and passionately kissed him. At the same time she opened up an aura connection between them, the same way Ash had with Serena at the tower of Mastery.
Elsewhere in the city, Felix was parkouring across the rooftops until he reached a ledge, where another aura guardian was waiting.
"There you are Nair, I got your message" Felix said. Nair didn't respond. Felix walked over and sat next to him.
"Are you ok?".
"I'm not sure my old friend. By the way how has training your new students been going?".
"Spectacular, they're learning at an amazing pace. They'll be guardians in no time".
"I also hear you had something to do with team rocket being forced out of the power plant. Though the mentor did send for Korrina to assess the situation".
"She was very helpful to me, she's a good guardian, just like her grandfather".
"Do you have it?".
Felix took out the tear of Reduka and handed it to Nair.
"The mentor will be happy to know this is safe. Though those criminals still posses one" Nair said.
" The one in the caves that Korrina found has been secured, that leaves only one left".
"Why did our ancestors have to hide them so well".
"I hear that Daniel Rian is making an appearance in a few days" Felix said smiling.
Nair sighed.
"He's been away for too long".
"Did the mentor decide this?".
"No he did".
"Why did you join the air force? You always loved being a pokemon trainer more".
"You know why".
"Your late father, air force general. Died in a jet accident".
"He always wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I had to get into the academy after he died".
"Is that what you wanted. It certainly hasn't made it easier to be an aura guardian".
"I'm not the only Aura guardian who is a military officer".
"That's true , even the Mentor is a general. I suppose you guardians who are also soldiers , can get lots of special help when we need it".
"Airmen" Nair said.
"What?".
"I'm not a soldier I'm an airmen, you see a soldier refers to a member of the army where as I am a member of the air". Felix gave an annoyed look.
"Ok, but you're right. My tour of duty is almost over, I won't be signing on for more time. The I'll be able to return to my true life".
"And you'll get all the notoriety and fame you could ever dream of again".
"Trust me it's not as good as it seems. By the way , when are you going to tell your student's the truth? Delia's here too you know" Nair said.
Felix sighed.
"When the time is right".
"You love saying that. When will the time be right?".
"When they become guardians".
Author's note
Anyway I've been keeping up with the anime online and I've seen episode 39, nothing against Shauna, Teirno, or Trevor but personally I just don't think they deserve the all mighty Kanto starters, they just don't, seriously.
But this brings me to my 3 biggest fears of what will happen, or really what won't happen by the end of the X and Y anime.
number 3: Ash won't catch Lucario and Mega evolve it, after the Korrina arc I feel this fear came true"Sob, sob, sob"
number 2: Ash and Serena won't end up together and Ash will leave with Serena saying to herself something like "I wish I had told him how I felt. "Why! Why! Why! Sob, sob, sob".
And number 1: NONE OF ASH'S POKEMON WILL MEGA EVOLVE, if this honestly happens I guarantee an army of pokemon fans will be formed and invade the pokemon company, they will then hold the writers and head officials hostage until they redo X and Y. Unless they don't plan on including Mega evolution in the next region, which would be incredibly idiotic, then they have no feasible argument for not letting any of Ash's pokemon mega evolve.
I can't be the only one with these fears