Chapter Twenty-One: The Next Challenge
When Serena came back into the main hall, Ash and Pikachu were already waiting for her.
"Serena! Congratulations!" Ash said with a grin. He held out his fist and Serena happily returned the fist bump.
("I can't believe you managed to show up that guy so well,") Pikachu said.
"It worked out really well," Serena said with a smile. "But the judges did have a point that we were more focused on breaking his focus than on putting on our own performance, so we still have a lot to work on."
"Already looking forward then, huh?" Ash said, looking like he thoroughly approved.
"Of course! There's still a lot of time until the Grand Expo, and I want to win more medals before we get there," Serena said.
Chatting animatedly about the finals, they made their way back to the Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy — the niece of the Nurse Joy judging the Exposition — came up to them and said, "Excuse me, you're Serena, right?"
Serena nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Why?"
"Someone called for you and asked if you could call her back at the Pokémon Center of Saffron City," Nurse Joy said.
"Of course. I'll call there right away," Serena said. She looked at Ash. "Didn't Dawn say she was going to Saffron City?" she asked.
"She did. I bet she watched the Exposition on TV," Ash replied.
They made their way over to one of the phones in the corner, and Serena called the Saffron City Pokémon Center.
Moments later, Dawn picked up. "Hey!" she said. "Congratulations on your victory! That was such a cool performance to see, and with a new Pokémon, too!"
Dawn spotted Misdreavus floating next to Serena and said, "You really fit in well with Serena's team already! Really great job!"
Misdreavus smiled proudly and Serena said, "Thanks, Dawn! Did you watch the whole Exposition?"
Dawn nodded. "Of course I did! After our match in Cerulean City I wanted to know how you'd do here, and you didn't disappoint one bit." She grinned. "Of course…everyone is going to be gunning for you now. You're the first one to have made it into the Grand Expo. Everyone going to the Vermilion City Exposition is going to study all your appeals and Showoff Rounds. You'd better prepare well, because there's going to be fireworks there."
Serena hadn't considered that yet. Of course, Dawn had already warned her that many experienced Coordinators would be coming to Vermilion City, but she hadn't considered that she might be everyone's primary target there. It made sense, of course, but that did raise the pressure to come up with something good. Part of her was nervous at that thought, but a far larger part just felt excited, and not for the first time she was grateful to Palermo for suggesting the Expositions to begin with.
"I'll be ready," she said.
"That's what I like to hear! Now, tell me about that final! It was the same guy who beat Ash, right?"
"Yeah, Robert," Serena said with a nod.
("He was a creep, but his Houndoom was nice,") Misdreavus said.
("His Houndoom was nice?") Pancham repeated suspiciously, and Misdreavus looked at him speculatively.
("Why the sudden fear?") Her eyes widened and then she smiled. ("Oh! I didn't even know you felt that way…")
("I feel nothing at all,") Pancham denied, though Serena could see he was blushing a bit. Misdreavus just giggled.
"Are we witnessing a tender conversation here?" Dawn asked with a smirk.
Pancham looked away and Misdreavus smiled. ("Maybe,") she said.
"How'd you end up with Serena, anyway?" Dawn asked, and Misdreavus happily told her the story, occasionally aided by Serena to provide some additional translation. It kept surprising Serena how well Dawn was able to understand what Misdreavus was saying despite never having met her before.
"So how's Saffron City?" Ash asked.
"It's great! There's a lot to do here, but I'm going to start heading for Vermilion City soon. I guess you'll be traveling south soon, as well?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, we'll be following the coast. I'll swap out my team here, too, so we can get enough training in before we face the Vermilion City Gym," Ash said.
"You won that one for real, right?" Serena asked.
("You better believe we did,") Pikachu said firmly.
Ash laughed. "We did, yeah. I'm sure he won't mind giving me a rematch, though."
Dawn smiled. "Well, then I'm looking forward to see you again there! Have a good trip!" she said. "Oh, and Serena, I'm looking forward to the rematch!"
Serena smiled at her. "So am I! See you in Vermilion City!"
The phone's screen switched off and Serena and Ash went to get some dinner with their Pokémon.
"So Ash, who are you going to be switching into your team, anyway?" Serena asked.
"I want to get Krookodile and Bayleef in. I think I'll swap Bayleef for Sceptile, but I'm still trying to think of who to switch for Krookodile. I do have a bit of a plan, though, so now I just need to make sure everyone's okay with it."
He beckoned his Pokémon to come a bit closer. "Alright, everyone. The Gym in Vermilion City is Electric-type. Pikachu will fight, and the others will be Krookodile and Bayleef. Sceptile, you've fought the previous two Gyms, so I want to give Bayleef a chance now. As for Krookodile…well, I was thinking of switching him in for Talonflame, and then getting Talonflame back for the Celadon Gym along with Swellow and Unfezant."
("You'd better get me back in for Saffron, too,") Talonflame said. ("I've been sitting out far too much lately.")
"I'm still considering the team for Sabrina, honestly," Ash said. "But I'll keep it in mind. I want to give you a good chance to fight as well."
("I'm staying on the team, then?") Charizard asked.
Ash nodded. "You are. You're also going to be on the Indigo League team. I mean, you do want to erase that last time, right?"
Charizard looked away slightly awkwardly. ("Yeah, I do,") he said.
"Well, then that's settled for now. Tomorrow morning we'll get everything sorted." He stretched. "But for now, I think it's time for some rest. I'm beat."
Serena couldn't sleep. It wasn't that she wasn't tired, of course. She was, but the thrill of her first victory and the anticipation for the next Exposition kept her awake. She got up and went outside onto the balcony, where to her surprise she wasn't alone. Misdreavus was there as well, simply looking out over the town.
"You're up late," Serena said. "Though I guess you're nocturnal."
("I like being outside at night, yeah,") Misdreavus said. ("I can sleep in my Poké Ball while we travel tomorrow anyway.")
They were silent for a moment. Serena watched the stars and was glad that the rain of the past few days had finally moved on, leaving the temperature pleasantly cool. Then she recalled the small moment between Misdreavus and Pancham when they were on the phone with Dawn and said, "So what was that with Pancham this afternoon? What did you feel?"
Misdreavus giggled in the same way she'd done that afternoon. ("He was a bit jealous of Houndoom,") she said, ("because I said he was nice.")
"You said he was afraid, though, didn't you?" Serena asked.
Misdreavus nodded. ("Yeah, but jealousy is fear. Usually mixed with anger, but mostly a lot of fear. Not the tastiest kind of fear, to be honest, but I once met a Haunter who loved it,") she said.
"Have you ever been jealous?" Serena asked.
("Of someone I liked? No, but I've never actually liked anyone before. Well, before now, anyway.") Misdreavus was silent for a moment before asking, ("Have you?")
Serena nodded. "Yeah. But Ash told me I really didn't need to be. I just…don't really know what to make of what he said back then," she said. "If…if Pancham would keep getting jealous of other Pokémon, what would you do?"
("Talk to him, I guess,") Misdreavus said. ("I mean, I don't know. I never liked anyone before. I only realized Pancham likes me too because he got jealous, and it's not like we're…together now, or anything. I like that he likes me, though.")
She looked at Serena. ("So? I can feel that you're afraid of something, but I don't know of what. Too many flavors at once.")
Serena shrugged. "I don't know. I had a conversation with Ash a while ago and now I…I don't really know what I want anymore, or what I'm expecting. I don't know what Ash wants, either."
("But you're…afraid to lose him, I think?") Misdreavus asked, seemingly focusing on the fear she could feel from Serena.
"I guess," Serena said. "But it doesn't make sense, because Ash did tell me he liked me too. It's just that he has such a different way of looking at things that I have no idea where to go from here. I've been trying to think about it, about what I want, but I haven't gotten any closer at all."
("Well…I think you should just give it time. I mean, I've fed on a lot of fear related to love, both from humans and Pokémon, so even though I've never really felt it, I do know that a lot of the fear I fed on had to do with timing, worrying about being too early or too late to do…whatever it was they wanted to do.")
"So how do you know I need more time? How do you know I shouldn't do something…sooner?" Serena asked.
("I don't, but maybe neither of us are ready to make any decisions right now, so carrying on like we have been is the best choice,") Misdreavus said. She shrugged. ("That's what I plan on doing, anyway. I mean, Pancham doesn't want to admit he likes me, and I…think I like him, but before I do anything I want to be sure, so for now I just want to have fun training and performing with him and we'll see where it goes. We've got time. Okay, I have more time, but we all have plenty of it to just have fun and not worry too much, I think.")
"Maybe that is the best approach," Serena said reluctantly. Still, it felt like waiting would just lead to nothing happening, especially since Ash seemed to be entirely fine with the current dynamic. But until she could figure out what she actually wanted from a possible relationship, there was really nothing she could do to move it forward. But she probably wasn't going to find out tonight, regardless. She stayed outside with Misdreavus for a while longer before going back inside, but though she did manage to fall asleep this time, her conflicted feelings didn't leave her head.
Bit shorter again this time, but I think that's fine. This story updates often enough that I don't feel like a short chapter's a waste. See you in the next one!