Chapter Forty-Three: The Morning After
Serena woke up much closer to Ash than she was accustomed to, with her head on his shoulder. That in itself would have been fine, if it hadn't been for the fact she was looking straight into Pikachu's eyes, who was grinning at her from Ash's other side.
Her face immediately reached the sort of temperature that would make a Magmar sweat and she hastily backed up a bit, which only made Pikachu's grin bigger.
("Finally made your move then, huh? I figured as much when it took Ash so long to get back to us last night…") he said.
Serena gave him an embarrassed smile. "Yeah…" she said.
She and Ash had been careful not to show anything to the Pokémon yet for the remainder of the evening, not because they weren't allowed to know, but because they wanted to tell them all at once. But of course, Pikachu would be the first one to find out.
After they'd gone to bed, and they were reasonably sure Pikachu was asleep, Serena and Ash had, in fact, practiced kissing a bit more, as well as some hugging, but the intention had been to just sleep on either side on the tent as usual. Clearly, that part of the plan had failed.
Well, it didn't matter much. If it hadn't been for Pikachu, Serena would never have dared to make her move in the first place. She didn't think he'd have a problem with it now that she'd actually gone for it.
"Did the others figure it out as well?" Serena asked apprehensively.
("Meganium obviously did and Charizard knows the look, but the others are roughly as dense as Ash is, so they didn't. And Meganium and Charizard only suspect, they don't know for sure yet unless you told them,") Pikachu said.
"We planned on doing that during breakfast. I mean…I don't want to keep it a secret," Serena said. "I'm a bit worried about how Meganium will react, though."
Pikachu shrugged. ("She'll accept it. She won't like it, but she'll accept it. She does want Ash to be happy, and I don't think even she can deny that he is.")
"Was he…different during the rest of your training?" Serena asked.
("Fired up like we'd be fighting the champion that very evening,") Pikachu said with a nod.
Serena smiled at the thought. Despite her own excitement, she thought she'd been able to keep everything hidden from her own Pokémon, and she was eager to see their expressions when she told them in a few minutes.
Ash stirred and sat up now as well. "Morning," he said, rubbing his eyes.
("So…how was it?") Pikachu asked, grin back on his face like it had never left. He could give a Gengar a run for its money.
"How was…oh," Ash said when he realized what Pikachu meant. He, like Serena just a few moments before, went from zero to blushing like crazy in seconds. "I, um…it…we…"
Pikachu nodded sagely. ("I see. Very coherent, but then, what did I expect?")
Ash grinned sheepishly at Serena, who smiled back and got an idea.
"It was a bit like…this," she said, and she quickly gave Ash a kiss. Just like she'd hoped, now it was Pikachu's turn to look a bit flustered.
"Right?" she asked Ash, who nodded stupidly, and Serena giggled. "Well, I'm going to get started making breakfast. You get ready too, okay?"
She exited the tent, leaving Ash and Pikachu in their mild shock, and began looking through the bags for the ingredients she needed for breakfast, happily humming to herself. It wasn't any warmer or sunnier than it had been the day before, but somehow everything felt warmer and brighter. Today was going to be a great day, she just knew it.
Not much later, breakfast was ready and everyone was enjoying their food. Serena noticed that Ash was looking at her far more than he usually did, and she quickly decided she liked it. Every time their eyes met, she saw him blushing a bit, but he didn't look away, and Serena felt like she was floating on Sylveon's Fairy Wind.
"So…ready to tell everyone?" she asked.
Ash nodded. "Y-yeah. Let's do it," he said. He moved to stand up, but then he said, "You should do it, Serena. I mean, you're the one who…well, y'know…"
Serena smiled. "That's okay, I'll do it," she said, and she got up.
Her heartbeat sped up and she said, "Okay, everyone… There's something we want to tell you."
The Pokémon stopped eating and talking and turned to look at Serena. Serena briefly glanced at Pikachu, who nodded encouragingly, and then she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Ash and I…are together. As in…boyfriend and girlfriend."
She felt her face burning as she said it, and from the corner of her eye she saw the same happening to Ash, but she kept looking at the Pokémon to see their reactions.
("Ha! Told you, Pancham!") Misdreavus said with a smile. ("Pay up!")
She extended a tendril of 'hair' to Pancham like it was a hand.
("Yeah, you lose,") Delphox said, also holding out her paw.
Sylveon just smiled and held out a ribbon.
("Oh, come on! How could you possibly have known it would be today?!") Pancham said incredulously.
("Aside from me being able to feel emotions?") Misdreavus asked. ("Did you look at Serena at all after she came back yesterday? Her expression? It was so obvious.")
("Yeah, Pancham. It really wasn't that hard to see. That's why I was surprised you wanted to make that bet…") Sylveon said.
Serena smiled sheepishly. Apparently she hadn't been as good at keeping things hidden as she'd thought. And she hadn't even considered that Misdreavus could feel all emotions.
While Pancham unhappily handed over most of his Poké Puffs to his teammates, Serena looked over at Ash's Pokémon. Like Pikachu had said, Charizard just grinned and gave a thumbs-up, the three birds looked shocked, and Meganium looked at the same time murderous and resigned.
("Anyway…") Delphox said, taking a bite from the Poké Puff Pancham had just given her and giving him a sideways grin, ("I'm really happy for you both, Serena.")
("Me too!") Sylveon said happily.
("I'm glad you found your moment,") Misdreavus said with a small smile.
Serena smiled back, at the same trying to convey I hope you get yours too through a look alone, and Misdreavus seemed to pick up on the gist of it. Her smile widened a bit before looking at Pancham, who sighed and said, ("I'm happy for you too, you know. But did it really have to be now?! I was looking forward to those Poké Puffs…")
Serena laughed. "I'll make some more for you, okay? But maybe don't bet against all three of your teammates next time," she said.
("I knew you'd get together with Ash at some point, it's just…I thought you'd pick a cooler moment. You're a Performer!") Pancham said desperately.
("I…I'm happy for you,") Meganium said, in a tone of voice usually reserved for eulogies. ("I know I don't sound happy,") she said irritably at Pikachu's expression, who'd apparently been thinking along the same lines as Serena had, ("but I really am. But if either of you hurts the other…I'm going to get really angry, got it?")
She gave both Serena and Ash a piercing look, and Serena was legitimately touched that Meganium had actually included Ash in her warning.
("Did either of you know this was a thing?") Talonflame asked Noctowl and Swellow.
Both of them shook their heads and Talonflame breathed a sigh of relief. ("Good. I was beginning to think I was the only one out of the loop…")
("With how dense you three are it's a miracle you can still fly,") Charizard said with a grin.
("It also amazes me you can take off with the weight of your ego dragging you down, yet here we are,") Talonflame said disinterestedly, and Swellow and Noctowl laughed while Charizard's tail flame began to burn brighter.
Ash grinned as well and said, "You can fight it out in a minute, okay? Let's finish breakfast first."
As everyone returned to their food, Ash looked at Serena and said, "That went well. I guess we should…tell our moms as well, when we get to a Pokémon Center."
He shuddered at the thought. Serena nodded and realized she hadn't even thought about that yet. Several of the things Mom was likely to say went through her head, and she wasn't particularly eager to hear any of them. Oh well, at least it would be a good couple of days yet before they would arrive in Fuchsia City. That embarrassment could wait until later.
Pikachu picked up on their suddenly uneasy expressions and said, ("I've been around humans for so long, and still there are moments where I just don't understand you. I know Delia likes to say things that embarrass you, but how bad could this really be?")
Ash shook his head. "Trust me, buddy, by the time she's done talking you're going to wish you didn't have ears."
"And so will we," Serena added.
("But if you already know what they're going to say…why does it matter?") Pikachu asked.
"Think of the most embarrassing thing you can imagine. Something that just makes you want to drown out your own thoughts with anything else. And now picture that thing being said out loud to you by your mom and not being able to ignore it," Ash said.
("That would suck, yes, but…I just don't see what could be that bad,") Pikachu said.
("You'll probably learn things about human reproduction you never wanted to know,") Misdreavus, who'd floated over, said, grinning mischievously.
Serena gave her a horrified look. "You know?!" she said.
("Of course I do. I feed on fear, remember? And I just spent a good few days roaming the biggest city in Kanto. I've heard variations of this conversation quite a few times. It's a very particular kind of fear, really. I began to avoid it pretty quickly, but by then, I'd already learned the truth, which is that humans are worried about the weirdest things.")
Serena groaned and she felt her face burn in secondhand embarrassment.
Misdreavus gave her an amused look. ("Why are you feeling this way? There's nothing wrong with–")
"Nope! We are not going there! Time to get packing! Ash, could you clear the dishes, and then I'll pack the table! Let's get moving!" Serena said manically, and Ash hastily followed her, clearing away the plates with as much noise as he could.
("They're insane,") Serena heard Pikachu say despite, like Ash, making as much noise as she could to keep the thoughts away.
("You don't know the half of it,") Misdreavus agreed. ("Still, I guess that means I finally know how to scare Ash now…")
This breakfast wasn't meant to last this long, but I was having too much fun with it to cut it short. That's actually fine, because what was supposed to take up most of the chapter can now just be relegated to being the intro of the next chapter, which is better for the pacing than it otherwise would have been. You'll understand what I mean in the next chapter.
Anyway, a day late, sorry about that, but yesterday turned out a bit busier than I planned. Next chapter will likely be Friday, since my sports are starting up again one by one and my time to write dwindles. See you then!