Chapter Fifty-Nine: Unspoken Worries

"We'll probably arrive at the docks soon," Dawn said, nearly pressing her face up against the glass of the ferry to try and see something.

Though she wouldn't be participating in the Viridian City Exposition, she would actually travel there with Serena and Ash, saying that while she had seen some of the Expositions she hadn't competed in on TV, she wanted to get a feel of what one actually looked like from the audience's perspective, because they were the ones actually voting for the Artisans.

Serena had to admit it was a good point, even though she still fully intended to compete in the Exposition herself. If she was being honest with herself, she also just really wanted to win another gold medal before the Grand Expo. Though she'd still medaled at both the Fuchsia and Cinnabar Expositions, it didn't sit right with her that she'd been bested twice in a row, which hadn't happened since the first Expositions in Pewter and Cerulean.

Before they would make their way to Viridian City, however, they would first make a stop in Pallet Town. Dawn had never been there before, and Delia had been happy to invite her over as well. She'd even told Ash she had a surprise waiting for all of them once they got there, and he, Serena, Dawn, and the Pokémon had spent the first part of their ferry ride to Pallet Town speculating about what the surprise might be.

Though Serena enjoyed traveling with Ash alone, she had to admit it was fun to have Dawn along for a while as well, and Dawn had been tactful enough to give Serena and Ash some time on their own on the ferry as well, albeit with very obvious suggestive winks at both of them before heading out to explore the ferry — much smaller than the ferry between Fuchsia City and Cinnabar Island — on her own. Now, though, as they were nearing the harbor south of Pallet Town, all three of them were seated at a table in the small café, having just had some lunch.

"It feels like just yesterday we were in Pallet Town, but it's been a couple of months already," Ash said. "I'm glad we're visiting, though, since I want to swap some of my Pokémon around. I want to take Infernape and Torterra with me for a couple of fights."

At that statement, Meganium released herself from her ball and she said, ("You're not going to keep me benched for the entire League, are you?!")

Ash held up his hand to placate her and said, "Relax, Meganium. Of course you'll get to fight. But I want as many of you battle-ready as possible so we have the best possible chance of winning the League this time."

("You have the best chance of winning the League with me,") Meganium insisted.

"Meganium," Ash said, sounding a lot more serious than he'd done before and instantly getting her attention because of it. "I promise you you'll get to fight. But everyone deserves a chance, and Torterra and Infernape haven't fought yet at all. It wouldn't be fair to them to leave them behind, especially since I'm already leaving out so many of my Pokémon."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Honestly, sometimes I kind of feel like I'm turning into Paul, rotating my Pokémon and always fighting with the strongest…but I really want to win the Indigo League this time. It feels like I'm betraying them, almost. That's even why I usually travel to new regions with only Pikachu. Now…now I'm freely swapping around and nearly every single time, I pick Pokémon who are fully evolved."

He began counting on his fingers. "Bulbasaur, Buizel, Totodile, Quilava, Corphish, Gible, Oshawott, Snivy, Pignite, Scraggy, Palpitoad, Boldore… None of them have fought since I returned to Pallet Town. And that's just the ones who aren't fully evolved. If we include them there's also Snorlax, Kingler, Muk, Donphan, Heracross, Torkoal, Glalie, Unfezant, Leavanny, Gliscor, and my thirty Tauros."

He looked at Meganium and smiled wryly. "You were the only one aside from Pikachu who wasn't fully evolved when I swapped you in. So tell me, Meganium… Do you still think I'm selling you short?"

Meganium uneasily looked away. ("Well…when you put it that way…") she muttered.

Serena felt a bit uneasy as well. Ash had never given any signs of being troubled by which Pokémon he'd use at any given moment, but of course it made sense for someone with as many Pokémon as he had. Serena had never needed to think about swapping at all. Even now, she only had five Pokémon with her. Judging by Dawn's expression she wasn't really familiar with the problem either.

Serena wondered what she would do if she had such a vast number of Pokémon. Would she switch for every Showcase, Contest, or Exposition? Would she eventually have a team of favorites and ignore all the others? That didn't seem right, and clearly Ash thought so too. Even so, she understood his desire to win the League as well. Even though she knew Ash believed in all his Pokémon and would sooner die than give up on them, it didn't change that some of them were stronger than others, and thus more suited to a high-level competition.

"No need to worry, Ash," Dawn said with a small smile. "You're very different from Paul. Your Pokémon can accept waiting for you because they know you will call on them again one day. They believe in you no matter what."

Ash faintly returned the smile. "Thanks, Dawn. But it still bothers me."

He looked at Serena and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry I never told you about this, by the way. I'm used to just talking about this stuff to Pikachu. He's heard it all a million times already and he keeps telling me to tell you because 'Serena is your girlfriend and she wants to help you too'…but it still feels…"

He gave an embarrassed grin. "I still want to look cool for you," he said, turning a bit red, and Dawn giggled at the admission.

"That's both really romantic and really dorky," she said.

Serena, though, just smiled. It made her happy that Pikachu was still actively working to help Ash open up about his feelings to her. As for the other part of what Ash had said…

"You'd have to do a lot of stupid things before I'd stop thinking you're cool, you know," she said. She felt her face heating up a bit and saw that Ash turned a bit redder as well.

Dawn seemed to be bursting with enjoyment at the interaction between Ash and Serena and said, "You two are so adorable together!"

Serena and Ash both smiled, and Serena said, "Whatever it's about…you can always talk to me about it, okay?"

Ash nodded slowly. "I know," he said. "I'll try to keep it in mind, and I'm sure Pikachu will remind me when I forget."

("You better believe I will,") Pikachu said sternly, with a wink at Serena.

"And of course…you can talk to me, too," Ash said. "But, well, you already did, so…I guess I…didn't really need to tell you that," he said uneasily, and Dawn shook her head said, "Master of cool, right here…"

Serena laughed. "Thank you, Ash," she said quietly.

At that moment, a voice over the intercom announced that the ferry would soon be docking, requesting all passengers to collect their luggage and prepare to disembark, so Ash was saved from any further conversations about his feelings for the time being.

Still, while they were preparing to leave the ferry, Serena stood next to Dawn and asked, "Who is the Paul Ash just mentioned?"

Dawn gave a disdainful scoff. "A jerk who only cares about strength. He and Ash battled each other a couple of times when we traveled through Sinnoh together. Ash's Infernape originally belonged to Paul as a Chimchar, but Paul said he was too weak and basically threw him away. Ash took him in and he became one his strongest Pokémon. They settled their rivalry at the Lily of the Valley Conference, when Ash beat Paul six on six. The two of them are nothing alike, even if Ash is worried. Ash is competitive but always wants the best for his Pokémon, Paul was abusive and would release a Pokémon if they lost even a single battle if he believed they should have won."

"But because Ash now usually has his stronger Pokémon with him he's afraid he's doing the same thing?" Serena asked.

Dawn nodded slowly. "Yeah." She smiled uneasily. "You'll have a tough job getting it into that thick skull of his that he's not doing anything wrong by wanting to win. He's impulsive and reckless, but his sense of responsibility to his Pokémon is second to none."

Serena nodded slowly, recalling that Ash had told her that after his loss to Wulfric, he'd mostly been angry at himself for letting Greninja get badly hurt, rather than because of the loss itself.

She wondered if she'd be able to help him this time, and apparently that worry was visible on her face, because Dawn nudged her and said, "No need to worry. If anyone can get through to him, it'll be you."

She smiled brightly. "Or do you think Pikachu would be pestering Ash about talking to you if he didn't think you could help him? And trust me when I say that no one knows Ash as well as Pikachu does."

Dawn winked at Serena, and at that moment a shock went through the ferry as it docked, putting off any further conversation as the passengers began to gather near the doors.


It was already late in the afternoon when Serena, Ash, and Dawn reached Pallet Town, and even though she'd only been there once before, it already felt almost familiar to Serena.

"It reminds me of Twinleaf Town a bit," Dawn said as she looked around.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I can definitely see the resemblance as well. My house is a bit smaller than yours, though. It's that white one down the road," he said, pointing ahead.

"Size doesn't matter," Dawn said with a suggestive wink at Serena, who sighed, as did Piplup, while Pikachu chuckled. Ash, meanwhile, just looked puzzled, but apparently decided he didn't want to know.

A bit later they reached the house, but when Ash opened the door Delia wasn't the first person to greet them in the hallway.

"What took you guys so long?" May asked with a grin.

"May! What are you doing here?" Ash asked, smiling happily to see her.

"I'll be competing in the Viridian City Exposition," May said.

"And she came here two days ago, since she expected you to pass through Pallet Town on your way there," Delia added, now entering the hallway as well.

She pulled Ash into a hug and went on, "It's so great to have you here again for a bit!"

Then, to Serena's surprise, she was pulled into the same kind of hug. "And it's great to see you again too, Serena! Especially since you're Ash's girlfriend now! I'm so happy for you!"

Serena smiled at her. "Thank you, Delia. I'm really happy, too," she said, feeling her face heat up a bit at the enthusiastic reception.

Now Delia turned to Dawn and said, "And it's nice to finally meet you in person as well, Dawn! Welcome to Pallet Town. And you too, of course, Piplup."

"Thank you! It's great to be here," Dawn said, and Piplup added, ("Thanks!")

They went into the living room and sat down on the couch while Delia made them something to eat.

May looked at Ash and Serena and said, "Congratulations on getting together, you two. Delia told me when I got here. I'm a bit annoyed you didn't tell me yourself, though." She glared at Ash, who held up his hands in surrender.

"They didn't tell me either until I ran into them on Cinnabar Island," Dawn said with a shake of her head. "I knew Ash didn't have any manners, of course, but I'd expected more from Serena. I guess Ash is just a bad influence on her."

"Oh, come on!" Ash said, and Serena giggled at his indignation. "It's not like it's a secret, or anything, but it's not like we call each other every day to talk about these things!"

"Well, this is the sort of thing that warrants a call, I'd say," May said, clearly enjoying Ash's reaction immensely. "And I'm sure Misty will agree when she gets here."

"Gets here?" Ash repeated, exchanging a confused look with Serena and Dawn, both of whom shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"For the party, of course," Delia said. She put down a tray with food and drinks for everyone and sat down on a nearby chair. "When May came here and asked if she could stay until you came back, and you asked if Dawn could come here as well, I decided it would be fun to have a barbecue party with everyone. Gary is in Kanto as well at the moment, so he'll be there, as will Professor Oak and Tracey, of course, and I also invited Misty and Brock. Everyone should be arriving tomorrow afternoon, so you'll be able to catch up all you want. Now, why don't you all tell me how your travels have been?"

They filled the rest of the afternoon and evening with telling their stories, and Ash and Serena introduced their new team members to the others. Both Delia and May were very impressed by Suicune, who seemed to feel a bit uneasy being in someone's living room, but still looked regal and dignified in spite of it. Absol seemed similarly ill at ease, though Mismagius felt right at home, whispering to Serena that she could tell where Ash got his fearlessness from when she looked at Delia. Pangoro just showed off his new muscles, though Serena told him indoors wasn't the place to demonstrate a backflip anymore with his new size.

When it was getting late, Delia said, "Ash, you'll have to sleep in the guest room tonight. Your room is bigger, so the girls can share that. I hope you don't mind."

Ash shook his head. "Of course not, Mom. Thanks for letting everyone stay here."

"Your friends are always welcome here, Ash," Delia said fondly, and Serena, Dawn, and May thanked her as well.

When the three of them went upstairs, they saw that Delia had already prepared two futons on the floor of Ash's room, and Dawn said, "Well, I guess Serena gets the bed, since she's Ash's girlfriend, and we'll take the futons."

May nodded, but Serena uneasily said, "I really wouldn't mind having a futon, if either of you prefers the bed, you know."

Dawn waved her away. "Nothing wrong with using a privilege you have," she said. "If I were Ash's girlfriend I'd have called dibs on the bed before we even got up the stairs."

"Yeah, same here," May agreed.

"That's probably why he chose Serena, she's much nicer than we are," Dawn said with a sigh.

"Um," Serena said uncomfortably. She wasn't sure she liked where this conversation was heading. Even though she felt much more confident about being Ash's girlfriend now than she'd been before, she still realized that both Dawn and May were girls Ash had been interested at one point, and at least May had admitted to returning those feelings to some degree.

Dawn seemed to notice Serena's unease, because she said, "No need to worry, Serena. We're just joking around a bit."

"I know, it's just…" Serena began, though she didn't really know what she intended to say.

"We're really not jealous," May promised with a small smile. As if to prove the point, she lay down on one of the futons and stretched out, while Dawn did the same on the other one.

Serena just smiled and sat down on the bed, accepting that Dawn and May wouldn't budge on her taking the bed, and indeed, neither of them gave any sign of feeling jealous. She rummaged in her bag to find her pajamas.

"By the way, May… Isn't the Viridian City Exposition going to mess up your Contest schedule?" Dawn asked as she dug up a hairbrush from her bag to get ready for bed.

May shook her head, untying her bandanna as she did so. "Not really. I'm already qualified for the Johto Grand Festival, and I can only still qualify for the Grand Expo if I win in Viridian City. If that happens, I'll need to choose between the two, but I don't really know which one I'd choose."

"I'm going to try and win the Grand Expo, anyway," Dawn said. "I might be on vacation, but I can't throw away a chance like this one."

She looked up at Serena and grinned. "I'll be expecting you in the finals there, too, you know. I want a trilogy match with you."

Serena returned the grin and said, "If we do meet again in the Grand Expo, I'm going to win. My Pokémon and I have been training hard all season, so even though you beat us twice, we'll win when it really matters."

"That's the spirit," Dawn said approvingly.

"Man, now I really want to win the Viridian City Exposition," May said excitedly. "Just so I can compete with both of you at the Grand Expo."

"So I guess you've chosen after all, then, huh?" Dawn asked with a smirk.

May grinned at her. "Yeah, I guess I have," she said. She looked at the ceiling and clenched her fist. "Just wait. I'll show you what I can do in Viridian City."

She looked at Serena and winked. "You've got your work cut out for you, Serena."

"I'll be ready," Serena promised. Despite her confident words, though, her back-to-back semifinal losses were still in the back of her mind, and even when she fell asleep, she still hadn't pushed them away entirely.

I was going to have the party itself in this chapter as well, but since I'm already at 3k and my update schedule is shoddy enough as it is, I felt I might as well upload this as a separate chapter. Probably better pacing-wise, anyway, since I have some plans for the party. Anyway, as always, feel free to let me know what you think, and see you in the next one.