Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon all rights go to The Pokémon Company Inc.
Chapter 7: Finally
Ash's POV
I woke up feeling sluggish. I held my head as it felt hot. I looked around. I wasn't on the stage celebrating Serena's victory and seeing her getting her first Princess Key firsthand. I was left alone, in a bed probably in a Pokémon Center, but then something caught my eye. In a room adjacent to mine I saw Greninja through a window, resting. He looked so peaceful, but worn out. We overdid it at the Showcase. I got up and immediately felt a little woozy, so I took it slow. I walked slowly opening up the door and walked out into the hallway and entering the room Greninja was in. The door was cracked. I opened it as it made a tiny creaking noise and Greninja slowly woke to me walking in.
"Hey Greninja." I said with a nervous voice. He instantly sat up, but went right back down.
"Grenin?" He asked to see if I was okay.
"I'm still a little woozy, but I'm doing ok. How about you?" I asked. I really wanted to know so we can fix this exhaustion problem later.
"I'm doing ok. Just a little sore and still a little tired." I suddenly heard him say. I instantly stopped walking. But wait. How did I understand him? He is not a legendary Pokémon so he can't use telepathy. Wait. The aura. It's the aura. I'm developing the ability to understand Pokémon. I had to let Greninja know and everyone else.
"Wait. I just understood what you said Greninja. I think my aura is starting to manifest." I said. His eyes widened in shock.
"Wait. Really?!" He asked in shock and excitement. I can even tell what type of tone he's using. I wonder if it's just between me and Greninja. I mean our bond is probably like one of the strongest of the past few centuries, well that could be an over exaggeration, but that could be it. But it makes sense that it could be my aura. I've been hearing things that were normally out of earshot, I can hear Pokémon's voices. I can also sense presences much easier like I did in Terminus Cave with those Team Flare grunts. I nodded to answer his question. If I can hear my other Pokémon like Noivern or Hawlucha then I know it's my aura.
"We'll have to wait though. Maybe it's just our strong bond. If I can hear my other Pokémon then I know it's my aura. Come on let's go find the others." I say grabbing my bag and heading downstairs to the lobby. I take it slow as to not faint again. Greninja helps me and I help him. Just before I entered the lobby I heard Serena talking through all of the commotion. Maybe my aura increased my hearing range also. I decided to stay back and listen in.
Serena's POV
I was worried beyond belief and I couldn't sit still without knowing if Ash was alright. They shouldn't have used the form. I could have gotten my Princess Keys from a different Showcase. But I did get two this time due to Ash being a non-participant. Anyway Ash has been knocked out for nearly 3 and a half hours now and the formal Freestyle dance will happen in about an hour and I would like to at least have a chance to dance with him. I just wish he would've taken it easy I know he was trying to help me win, but I really thought we could've won without the form he has. My feelings overcame me. I HAD to see if he was ok.
"You guys stay here ok. I need to see if Ash is doing alright." I say impatiently. I went to Nurse Joy and asked if he was ok.
"He'll be just fine. He suffered from exhaustion. His Greninja has it less severe. Might I ask what happened?" She said. How do I tell her this delicately?
"Well he was battling with me against Monsieur Pierre and Kalos Queen Aria." I said. Her eyes lit up when I mentioned Aria.
"Wow really?! Who won?!" She asked excitedly.
"I did. And I got two Princess Keys in the process. Anyway he was battling using his Greninja." I said.
"Huh. Did he overdo it or something?" She asked. I nodded.
"A little. You see they were using this sort of Mega Evolution where a torrent of water surrounds Greninja and his body looks a lot like Ash's attire. That's all I know. Also it requires no Mega Stone or Keystone." I said.
"Hmm that sounds peculiar. I've never heard of that phenomenon before. Do you have like a video footage of it?" She asked.
"Well it was recorded by Clemont. I can ask him to bring up the footage." I say.
"Ok." She said and I went over to Clemont and Bonnie. They had worried looks on their faces.
"So... anything?" Clemont asked nervously.
"He's ok. He just suffered from exhaustion that's all. So did Greninja, but his was less severe." I say.
"When is he coming out? I want to see him in person." Bonnie pouted. I smiled. She really did care about Ash.
"I don't know, but soon. Hey Clemont can I see your tablet where you recorded the battle?" I asked.
"Sure let me bring it up." He said while digging around in his backpack and he pulled out his tablet which was a little bigger than the screen you would use to sign up for a league. He unlocked it and pulled up the video and gave it to me.
"Thank you." I said.
"No problem." He said back. I headed over to Nurse Joy and showed her the video. When she saw it her jaw dropped and a look of shock, astonishment and amazement appeared on her face.
"Wow that is amazing." She said.
"It sure is. But if they use it too long it can cause them to become tired physically and mentally. And that is exactly why they fainted at the exact same time." I said.
"Well he should master it first before using it in battle." She said. I nodded in agreement.
"Well thanks a lot for taking care of him." I say.
"No problem anytime." She says with a smile and I walk back to Bonnie and Clemont. I give Clemont his tablet back. Bonnie was smirking and I knew what it was about and I didn't like it.
"Wellllll Serena. Are you going to ask Ash to the dance?" Bonnie asked. My cheeks immediately turned red. How I know was because of the heat I was feeling. I know that was out of the blue, but I was expecting it.
"Serena what is she talking about?" Clemont asked confused.
"Ok I'll tell you, but you have to promise me to not tell Ash ok," I ask pleading almost. He nodded and I summoned up the courage to admit this out loud. "I have a massive crush on Ash." I say. He immediately tensed.
"Wow. How long?" He asked me.
"Ever since he saved me that day back at camp 11 years ago." I said.
"Man that is a long time." He said relaxing a bit.
"And I was going to help her get him." Bonnie said matter-of-factly. I blushed even harder. Then what I heard next caused me to freeze on the spot.
"You could have told me Serena." It was Ash's voice. He found out the behind the back way. This isn't good. I slowly turn toward the direction of Ash's voice. And when I made eye contact with him my cheeks turned redder than his Pikachu's cheeks, afraid he was going to reject me. I brace for the worst. Looks like I will live my life with my heart crushed.
Ash's POV
I can't believe she feels about me in that way. So what if I started developing a crush on her, she has had hers for me for years. I had to let her know how I feel.
"You could have told me Serena." I say walking out with Greninja behind me. Pikachu came and jumped onto my shoulder.
"Hey Pikachu. Glad to see you buddy." I said.
"Glad to see you are safe." Pikachu said. Again I perfectly understood him. It really was my aura. But I had to put that aside. I had to focus on Serena.
"Ash." She said quietly. She thought at that moment that our friendship could be over, but no. That's not the case. My aura is really manifesting if I can sense what people are feeling and thinking. We would be more than friends. She was about to say something else, but I wanted to let her know how I feel.
"It's ok Serena. I feel the same way about you." I said. She stopped shocked and then a smile appeared on her face. Behind her Bonnie had a massive grin. Clemont was also smiling.
"You do?" She asked blushing and twiddling her thumbs.
"Yes. I knew that these feelings of mine were true. And now that I do I have a very important question. Will you go out with me?" I ask. She was crying with joy.
"Yes I would love to Ash." She said crying. I went up to her and hugged her. Man this feels close to asking her to marry me. Everyone in the room clapped even Nurse Joy. It felt weird, but I didn't care. After everything settled down it was if it were back to the good old days. Except I was holding Serena's hand. So warm and soft.
"So, how are you doing?" Clemont asked me.
"I feel a lot better than before. I still feel a tiny bit sluggish, but otherwise I feel normal." I said. Greninja tapped me on the shoulder.
"You should tell them." He said. I am still amazed how perfectly clear that sounded.
"You're right. But to really test it Pikachu say something." I said and Pikachu said something in his language, but I know I can perfectly understand.
"I'm saying something." Is what he said in I guess Pika language, but I could understand him.
"What's going on Ash?" Serena asked.
"My aura has activated. I can understand what Pokémon are saying. I can use telepathy to find out," I said. All of their eyes were open wide with shock. "Pikachu, did you say "I'm saying something"?" I asked Pikachu.
"Yes." He said while nodding his head.
"That's amazing Ash. You'll turn into Sir Aaron." Bonnie said excitedly.
"Yeah. Maybe. If I can further train I can see objects with my eyes closed and see other people's auras. And do advanced things like moving objects with my mind and creating barriers and attacks," I said. I don't even know how I know that. It just came naturally.
"Anyway we should head out. The dance starts in about a half an hour. We should get ready." I said. I returned Greninja and the rest of my Pokémon, besides Pikachu back to their balls.
"Yeah you're right. All of us meet by the stage in 20?" Serena asks. We all nod in agreement. I hugged Serena which lasted for about 5 seconds and then headed to a changing room. Now I actually carry dress pants and a dress shirt for special occasions like this one. I change out of my old clothes and while I was doing that I just couldn't stop thinking about Serena. She is so amazing. And we get each other and help each other. She has always been on my side and I've been on hers. And she literally went out of her way to see me. I know for a fact she went out on her journey because of me. And I never knew she lived here let alone existed until she reminded me of the summer camp. That felt like a lifetime ago. Anyway I finished dressing into my dress clothes and I also put on my Poké belt just in case if I really needed it. I then put on some dress shoes and I headed out. I kept my hat off and let my raven hair fly loose. I headed out and for some reason there were some girls that were about my age, 18 and 19, that were giving me looks that were saying 'man he is cute'. I ignore them as I think of heading to the stage and I see it up ahead. When I got there I saw Bonnie who was dressed in a flower sun dress and some slip ons. Clemont was looking sharp. He was wearing a gray suit and tie with black dress shoes. His hair was slick back. Serena has yet to show. I saw them waving at me and I headed toward them speed walking.
"Man Clemont and Bonnie you guys are looking sharp." I said. Bonnie blushed and Clemont chuckled.
"Thank you Ash. You look sharp yourself. This suit and tie along with the shoes were hand made by my dad." He said.
"Thank you Clemont. Yeah my mom did the same thing with these along with my other clothes." I said. I looked down at Bonnie. She was twiddling her thumbs and smirking. Was she ok? I don't know. I didn't want to use my aura to find out. Now is not the time.
"Ash I think you should turn around." Clemont said with a smirk I have never seen before. I did slowly and what I saw not only made me make a double take, but my jaw dropped and take my breath away. Serena. She was dressed in a knee length pink dress with a black bow and same pink colored stockings. Her beautiful honey blond hair was put up into a bun and she wore pink slip ons. She looked absolutely amazing.
"Wow." I say speechless.
"I take it that's a good thing." She said and I chuckled.
"You look absolutely amazing." I say as I walk slowly to her.
"You don't look half bad yourself." She says back. I just smile. The microphone interrupted our moment as Kalos Queen Aria herself spoke on the stage.
"Welcome everyone to the Freestyle dance. This is specially dedicated to everyone who participated in the Showcase who worked hard to get where they are now. Complimentary beverages and food will be lined up below the stage so help yourself. Enjoy the dance!" She says as upbeat music began to play. This was going to be a great night. I went over to Serena and Clemont stuck with Bonnie.
"You not going to bust some moves?" She asks as she steps to the beat of the music.
"Eh. I really don't know how to dance that is the thing." I said sheepishly.
"You don't have to know how to dance to dance. Just do it." She said. I smiled.
"You're on." I said smirking as we both began having a sort of dance off. People started to make way and make a circle around us. She then stepped it up when she did a back handspring walk out and it was perfect too. I was surprised and some of the people cheered. I never knew she could do stuff like that. It was like she read my mind cause she said something.
"I took a few years of gymnastics back then. Didn't think I could still do that." She said in a little bit of a bragging tone. I just smiled. I could do something a little better than that.
"Well it looks like Serena pulled of an impressive back handspring. How will Ash counter that?" Monsieur Pierre said jokingly.
"Alright Serena you asked for it." I said smirking.
"Show me what you got." She said. I stood up straight and put my hands in front of me. Then in a quick swift I jumped backwards and did a flip in the air while extending one foot. I landed it with no problem. The flash kick. Thank you Iris!
"Wow Ash just pulled off an amazing backflip with a kick." Pierre said with shock. Everyone cheered as Serena looked on in shock and amazement.
"I may have done some martial arts back then." I said in the same kind of tone she did. She smiled and laughed.
"That was amazing Ash." She said as she came and gave me a hug. The music stopped and as if on queue with me and Serena hugging some slow music came on.
"Alright things are going to get a little slow." Said Pierre. Everyone knew what this meant. And I did too. I went over to Serena and held out my hand.
"May I have this dance my lady?" I said with a formal tone. She just chuckled.
"You may." She said as she put her hands on her shoulder and I put my hands around her waist. Gotta put those slow dance lessons I did with my mom to use somehow. She smelled so good. If coconut and strawberries got together this would be the smell they create. I then remembered something. I smiled at the thought.
"You should let Delphox and Greninja dance with each other. I know those two have feelings for each other." I said. Her eyes lit up as she smiled.
"That's a good idea." She said as she reached for a Pokéball and tossed out Delphox. I let out Greninja. He looked around confused. Delphox looked confused also.
"What's happening?" They ask at the same time.
"Go get her." I say to Greninja.
"Go get him." Serena says to Delphox. They turn around blushing as they slowly walk to each other. They put themselves in the same position as me and Serena are in. We both smile at them. We both look at each other. I take time to look at her facial features. She was truly a beautiful person.
"Has anyone told you that you are astoundingly beautiful?" I ask. She blushes.
"Has anyone told you you're astoundingly handsome?" She asked. I just smiled. We both continue to look at each other and our faces began to inch closer and closer. We were literally inches from each other when I heard a big explosion. A lot of the people panicked and ran away. But there were a lot who stayed to see what caused the explosion. We both look over to the stage to see fire and smoke. Out of the smoke comes the familiar people with red and white suits with F's on their belts. Team Flare. They had to to interrupt our moment.
"We want that Z-1 cell so whoever has it bring it up!" Said a blue haired girl. Celosia and Bryony were behind her.
"Oh no not again." I say face palming. Clemont and Bonnie come to our side. Greninja came to my side and Delphox went to Serena's both ready to engage in combat. Squishy immediately went to hiding into Bonnie's bag. I was not going to let them kidnap Squishy.
