Chapter 3

Ash and Serena walked over to the dinner table, where a person who appeared to be a chef was standing.

Turning to Ash, he said, in what sounded like a vaguely Kalosian accent, "I'm Chef Blumiere, and I cook for the Courtland family. Only the best ingredients for Dominick, Debbie, and their children!"

"Yes" Serena said. "His dishes really are divine. He's the best cook in the whole world, in my honest opinion".

Serena's mother, Debbie, looked at her with a slightly angry expression, so the girl looked back down at her feet.

"In any case", said a voice from the end of the table, "it is time to eat".

Ash looked and saw a burly man with dark, thinning hair and glasses. He must have been slightly taller than Ash, although not by much. There was no denying who this man was.

"Mr. Courtland?" Ash said aloud.

"Please, call me Dominick. Or Dom, I don't really care. But Chef Blumiere has cooked such a wonderful meal for us, and we should not delay-".

"Yes, Dom, we should delay". That was Debbie talking.

Dominick turned to face his wife. "Yes, Debbie?"

"We need to say our nightly prayers to Arceus for this meal. We need to thank him that we are all alive and well to enjoy it".

"Ah, yes" the captain said. "Well...to Arceus, this meal is for you".

Serena, who was sitting next to Ash, grasped his hand in hers. Sam, on the other side, did the same.

Ash hadn't come from a particularly religious household, so he had never gotten used to saying prayers at mealtimes. He'd only done it while eating at his grandmother's house; she was far more pious than either of his parents.

As for Ash himself, he thought that it made more sense to thank Chef Blumiere, who had actually cooked the feast he saw in front of him, than a deity. Then again…as he looked in Serena's eyes, maybe there was a deity.

Normally, Ash only said prayers before Thanksgiving dinner. If this was going to become a normal thing for him…

Well, I'm fine with that, he told himself. Really, it's going to be all right. I'm going to get used to it eventually. Just like everything else here. Sooner or later, I have to get used to it.

Once the prayer was over, Dominick placed his napkin on his lap, and everyone else did the same. "You may all dig in" he said.

Dinner looked like something out of a fairy tale with a lot of kings and queens. There were green beans and salad, pieces of chicken and steak, sausages, and slices of bread that, judging by the smell and steam, freshly baked.

As Ash helped himself to a few pieces of steak and some bread, he couldn't help but notice that the rain had started outside once again.

I bet Coyopa is going to want in, he thought. Of course, who wouldn't?

Sure enough, a few seconds later, just as Ash had placed the steak and bread on his plate and was about to take a bite, a Pikachu was standing at the door, banging on it. It appeared that Coyopa was having a hard time resisting using an electric attack on the door.

"I'll get it" Ash said. "He's my Pikachu".

"Go get your Pokeball first, Ash" Dominick told the young man. "We don't want him tracking mud all over the house".

Ash nodded and went into his bedroom. That was where he had kept his Pokeball this whole time. He went back to the door and opened it up. Before Coyopa could run inside, he captured him in the Pokeball.

"Thanks, Ash" Debbie said.

After Ash put his Pokeball back in the room, he returned to the table, and to his not-yet-touched plate of steak and bread. He started cutting the steak, paying attention to the various conversations around him.

"Well", said Serena, "Ash and I are enrolling in Greater Pastoria University tomorrow. That's when we'll find out what classes we are taking, and what our schedules are".

"Nice" Lucas replied. "Dawn and myself as well. I'm assuming that all of us have all our textbooks by now?"

After everyone around the table nodded, Ash started digging into his steak.

There was something special about this steak. It didn't seem as though it had come from a five-star restaurant, but he would still have given the taste five stars out of five had he been a food critic. The meat tasted slightly sweet, and he figured that might have been due to the sauce it was cooked in.

But he would have given anything for even a two-star steak at this point; he had been so hungry that he would have settled for anything.

On the other side of the table, Lucas and Dawn were dicussing their battling strategies.

"I mean, Orkun is quite skilled with Aura Spheres. I've known him since I was...what, three? Four? Whatever the case, I was pretty little when I first met him".

Ash's eyes lit up. "You've known your Lucario since you were that young?"

"Yep" Lucas replied. "And he's been quite the companion, sticking by my side through everything".

"Where does that name come from?" Serena asked him. "I mean, Orkun? How did you come up with that".

"Funny story, actually", the boy in the beret said, tearing a bite of meat off with his teeth. "My parents noticed that I was thanking him a lot for everything. For a while, he was just a Lucario, but they looked on the Internet, and apparently Orkun means thank you in some other language. And that's how he got that name".

"Sweet" Ash replied. "Is he here with us? Or back at your house?"

"He's back at my place" Lucas replied. "And Dawn, you have a Pokemon too".

"Yeah" Dawn said. "I have a Vulpix named Vinaka".

"Ironically", Lucas said, "Vinaka means thank you as well, in yet another language. I like to say that that's how we got attracted to each other, because both of our Pokemons' names meant the same thing, only in different languages".

"So you two are dating?" Ash asked.

Almost immediately, he realized his mistake. He had just said something that was probably the wrong thing to say. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he swallowed his bite of steak as quickly as he could.

"Uh...yeah, we are" Dawn replied, looking slightly embarrassed. "Lucas and I are boyfriend/girlfriend. We've been official for about a month".

"Next time, let us be the ones to say it" Lucas said coldly, digging back into a slice of bread.

"Okay" Ash replied. "Sorry".

"How's school going for you guys?" Dawn asked Sam and Bella. Patrick and Corinne were having some conversation with each other about a video game; at least, that was what it sounded like to Ash.

"Well, it starts on the same day as your college" Sam replied. "We don't have our books yet; we're going to go into town and get them, though".

"Good idea" Dominick said. "Do you want to drive, or should your mother take you?"

"I'm not quite confident on the highway" Sam replied. Turning to Ash, he explained, "I only have my learner's permit, not my license".

Ash nodded. "I'm in the same boat as you".

"It's no big deal. You can practice here; there are plenty of roads in the small towns near here" Dominick replied. "Just know that I won't be able to be with you very often, just because my job is so demanding".

Right on cue, his phone started ringing, and he stood up from the table.

"Sorry, guys. I have to take this call" he said, and he did sound genuinely sorry at the meal getting interrupted.

"It's no problem, Dom" Debbie said to her husband, and her tone of voice said that she was saying what she honestly believed. "I get it".

Judging by the tone she was using, Ash could assume that this was a very regular occurrence in the Courtland household. Dominick would be eating dinner with his family, and then he would have a work obligation, and he'd have to step aside. All members of the family seemed to accept it, and they continued eating their food as if nothing had happened.

"So", Serena said, "do you guys want to go to the battling club tomorrow? After we've registered for all of our classes?"

"Why not?" Dawn replied. "We've got four days left to kill. If we hang out at the battling club a bit, then that's just fine with me".

Lucas nodded. "I agree with Dawn".

Dawn grasped her boyfriend's hand in her own. "Are you just saying that to agree with me, or do you really agree with me?"

"I really agree with you" Lucas said. "I want to go to the battling club just as much as you do. I'm pretty sure Orkun would really love it".

"There's no denying that" Serena replied. "Lucario really do love battling".

"Wait," Ash said, "there's a battling club here?"

"Yeah" Dawn replied. "Membership is super expensive, but Serena can bring up to three guests each time she goes. Those guests will be you, me, and Lucas".

Ash thought of Coyopa, currently in his Pokeball, and made a mental note to bring him when they went to register for their classes tomorrow. If he didn't, he was going to miss out on a great chance to bond with these new people.

For the next several minutes, there was very little sound besides that of forks against food. Ash finally tasted some of the freshly baked bread, and he decided that it was just about the best he'd ever had. Chef Blumiere really was amazing at his job.

"So...does this family have any customs that I should be aware of?" Ash asked. "I notice that all of you are wearing green tunics".

"That's one custom" Debbie said. "Ash, one of these days, I will take you to a tailor. He'll make one of those tunics for you, because it's very important that you have one to wear at every meal".

"Wait...what is the purpose of the tunics?" Ash asked. "I notice that even Luke and Dawn are wearing them".

The boy in the beret looked at Ash, appearing quite a bit peeved. "It is Lucas, thank you very much. I really don't like the name Luke".

Ash raised both of his hands in the air, much like a crime suspect about to be arrested. "Sorry, Lucas".

"It's fine", the other boy replied. "Just, please, don't do it again".

"And, to answer your question, Ash", Sam said, "the reason we wear these is because green represents money. We're supposed to all remember that we are rich, and to be proud of it".

Ash didn't see any problem with being proud of being wealthy, but, somehow, he felt as though something was wrong here.

It's just me, he told himself. There's really not anything to worry much about here, nothing at all.

"But yeah", Debbie said, "I'll take you to a tailor the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, I have a lot of e-mails to go through, and I also have to deal with taxes".

Serena turned to Ash and whispered in his ear, "That's what happens when you're rich and own a lot of property. You have to pay a lot of taxes".

Ash nodded. "What other properties do you guys have?"

"Well", she said, clearly trying to sound humble, "we have a summer home on the islands. And we have a timeshare in Mount Coronet's Great Lucario Lodge".

"Great Lucario Lodge?"

"It's this large hotel in the Coronet area" Bella said. "We go there whenever we ski up there, every Christmas. The rooms are more like apartments".

"Wait...you guys ski in the Coronet Range? Every Christmas?"

"Uh...yeah" Sam said, brushing it off as though it were simply a fact of life. "We do".

Unbelievable, Ash thought. They ski in the Coronet Range every winter. Do they have any idea how unaffordable that is for almost everybody else?

"Well, that certainly sounds awesome" Ash said, taking a bite of lettuce. "I can't wait to head there for Christmas. Unless you want me to go back home?"

"No, you can come with us" Debbie replied. "They do allow guests, and you are our guest. That's the way it is".

The way Debbie said, That's the way it is, the blunt manner she used, made Ash feel a bit creeped out.

I don't think I want to get on this lady's bad side, he thought. I mean, I already didn't, because I just don't like to piss people off in general. But now I really don't.

There were a few more minutes of quiet eating before Dawn said, "Lucas and I should probably head back soon. Our parents didn't want us to be out too late".

"Okay" Debbie said. "Are you guys going to leave now?"

"Yeah" said Lucas. "I hope that you are okay with that".

"I'm not a huge fan of you guys leaving - I do enjoy these dinners. But I get it. We'll see you guys here tomorrow, I am assuming?"

"Yeah" Dawn replied. "We'll come here and take everyone to the battling club, once we have gotten registered for classes, that is".

"All right" Debbie said. "We'll see you two tomorrow".

"Bye, guys" Serena said. "Was nice dining with you".

"You too" Lucas replied. "But Dawn and I must leave now. See you tomorrow".

After Lucas and Dawn waved good-bye to the others, they headed out the front door as well. This left Ash, Debbie, and the Courtland children sitting around the table.

Debbie shook her head. "Dom's always on work calls during meals, it feels like. But it's no matter. You know that it's his job that allows us to live like this".

"Sure is" Serena replied. "We should all be grateful for it".

In Ash's opinion, the Courtland family was living in complete and total decadence, at least from what he had seen. The other children did seem fairly snobbish to him, even if Serena wasn't.

And I have to live with these people for the next nine months…, he thought. Arceus help me.

Responses to reviews:

xXx Digital xXx: Yes, you were the first person to review! I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. As for grammar mistakes, I will do my best. I like to think that I have a powerful grip on the English language.

Guest: Thank you for your review. Yeah, the first chapter is pretty short, and, to be honest, so is this one. But they will get longer; I'm writing from a specific outline, and some of the scenes will demand short chapters, while some will demand longer ones.

Thank you all, and have a great day.

Sincerely, SnowLucario