"I'm really feeling something weird..."
"It's not because of the championship..."
"I've only felt this on this journey..."
"I'm so stupid for me to not know this..."
"Maybe..."
Hi again, TheEnigmatic97 here. Sorry for interrupting the mood but before we move on to the next chapter, I'll reply to the very first review of the story since it is quite interesting.
[reviewer] Moderator: "Oh the moderator guy seems really I hope to see more of him"
[reply] The funny thing is that I only placed a "moderator" to the press conference scene, as to facilitate the questions given by the media to Ash and co. I'm actually thanking you for that. I just thought of a whole chapter involving a press conference (so you'll see more of him, hopefully though, he will be named). I'm quite enlightened already on what will happen soon. Again, my thanks.
So that's for the reply, and we'll move on to the next chapter. This chapter is mostly about Ash and his thoughts. Not much dialogue is included here.
P.S. Short Chapter is Short
'Deep Thoughts'
Maybe what? This was what was going on through his mind. He has never felt such warm sensation, in fact, he liked it. A warm sensation has built up inside him whenever he was beside that girl.
-Pokémon Center, 02:52-
Ash still cannot sleep. His mind was going through a lot of thoughts. First was what has transpired the day before (A/N: it's almost 3 AM, so technically, the win was the "day before"), second was what was next for him, and the last one, the one thought that kept him awake, Serena.
Ash admired this girl for most of the things she did with him. They often complement each other, in other words, when one needs support, the other acts. This was just one of the things he liked about her.
He looked at her face, it was calm, and there was a smile on her face. He then realized that a lot of people have been changed in his presence, his friends, Pokémon, family-he treats every person with him as his family. He thought about that just when he saw her face, it was a representation of what he has done - making them happy throughout, despite the hard times in their journeys.
Ash kept on looking at Serena's face, as he noticed a faint shade of pink on her cheeks being illuminated by the moonlight. "You look cute with that." He thought. His mind was still looking for answers, he wanted to know what made him feel this weird, not because that he did not want it, but he wanted himself to settle down.
In his search for answers, he looked back into the past, during the time they first met in the forest, then to their reunion in Santalune City, and until this very moment. He did see some things interesting, from the ways they act whenever they were together, or when one was gone and one was just that worried. Things were starting to get clear.
Then there were his achievements. He did have a share of his quirks and failures, but he had friends to let him settle down, move on and be stronger. There were also times when he was victorious, and he did not just take the credit to himself, but tells that everyone has helped. People have known him for being humble, probably it was just part of his nature.
During this phase of his thoughts, he found one thing during his time in Kalos, he had all the motivation to be successful, but something else had him go further. His first gym battle against Viola didn't go well, but this certain someone knocked him back to his senses by having a taste of his own medicine.
Then there was Cyllage City, despite being fully attentive to the battle, he knew that somebody was really concerned for him, and was elated on his victory. Moving on to Shalour City with the rhythm strategy, and the rest of his most important battles, she was there for him.
On the other side of the spectrum, he found himself beside her when she needed him, from the time when she was already wondering on what should she do on her journey, her first loss in her Showcase debut, until to this time that she was one step away from fully achieving her dream. He knew that if it were not because of their relationship as a group, they would not reach this point.
Being almost near to his answer, he then looked at her face as the sun now starts to rise, quite earlier than he expected, but coincidentally, was timed to his sudden enlightenment - he just stated in his thoughts "I like you, Serena."
He was satisfied at that point, but what was just in his mind was does she also feel the same for him? Well, he just blamed his density, even thinking that he is denser than Osmium, practically one of the densest naturally occurring elements in the world.
Moments after, he saw Serena stir up and stare at him for a moment. What they did not notice was their hands, which were holding each other, upon noticing, they both blushed lightly. Silence ensued until Serena asked "Why are you still awake?"
"I guess I can't calm myself down." Ash slightly chuckling from not taking his own advice "I was just diving into some deep thoughts."
"Well, I guess you should go to sleep, at least for a few hours." Serena stating with a slightly concerned tone.
"Okay, Serena, I'll hop onto bed this instant." Ash replying as he walked to his bed.
"And, oh, yes, umm... Thank you for spending the night with me." Serena said as a slight blush built up on her cheeks
"D-Don't mention it." Ash replied
"Good night, Ash." Serena said
"Good morning, Serena." Ash replied as he closed his eyes and drifted off to dreamland
Upon seeing this, Serena pecked Ash on his lips and left the room to make some breakfast. Ash unconsciously had a smile on his face, probably, answering his own question.
FINALLY, I got something written. I got this chapter written in my notebook for weeks now and it's about time that I should type it. Well, I was quite unsatisfied with my write-up and I decided to do some minor changes before posting this. To have you informed, I have the next five chapters already written, but are currently being proofed for mistakes, and being tweaked a little bit. Please bear with my uploading speed since maintaining a ridiculously high grade in my degree is way too hard with all of these professors pushing you to strive hard more. (Well, it's better that way than nothing)
I'll try to answer some questions probably on my next upload, so there we go, TheEnigmatic97 here, peace!
(Teacher: So what is the definite integral of x^2 from 1 to 1?
Me: Umm, 1
Teacher: Oh, really...
Me: WAIT, WAIT! Oh how stupid of me, it's ZERO, there's a property of it I SWEAR.
Teacher: You don't need to shout out the correct answer.
Me: Ughhh...
and the whole class laughs at my antics)