Hello you all, two things before we start.

1: I am sorry I take so long between updates. I do not think I have a satisfying answer just understand I do not plan on leaving this story unfinished.

2: I have been getting requests from people if they can do art for my fic. You do not need my permission to do artwork or comics of this fic, you are free to do whatever you want with it. Just let me know where I can see it is all I ask.

Now then, let us get on with the CH.

Ash and Zeraora were walking down the halls of the school. With the Unite match neering, people were getting into the spirit and preparing to cheer on the team. Ash was enjoying this, as no one was giving him any guff. The desire to see them win seemed to overshadow anyone's jealousy, something they both welcomed.

As he walked down the hall he noticed a now much happier-looking Mallow with her Pokemon jogging out the library. Lana was chasing after her with a smile on her face as well. Ash noticed over the past few days the two were starting to hang out and were starting to look more happy. He was glad to see his talks with them improved things. However he noticed Lilie was not changing any so that was still an issue.

"Hey, Ash!"

He turned to see Paul. "Paul? What's up?"

"Seeing how you are doing. The match will be coming up pretty soon and I want to make sure all is well."

"Yeah things are okay," he responded. "People are backing off a bit."

He nodded. "Good! I want you all at your best. By the way, the care treck is allowing free grooming. Maybe let Zeraora get grooming to help him feel better."

It was not a bad idea honestly. "Yeah! Good idea. I think I will."

His next class did not require his Pokemon so he went to drop off Zeraora. To his delight, he saw Angie present. He gave Bianca a call telling her to stop by to help. He waited in line hoping he would get to his turn before he had to leave for his classes. Thankfully he made it just in time. However, something familiar happened also.

"Ash! Have they started-" With a crash, he was on the floor with the two orange mounds he was familiar with in his face.

"Bianca, hello..." he responded.

"Sorry," she said as she pushed herself up.

"You got here in time," he said as Angie walked up to take Zeraora.

"Heh, enjoy the view?" asked Angie. Zeraora looked confused at the question.

"Just take care of him," Ash said flustered.

Angie nodded. "Let's go, buddy."

Zeraora followed her in as Ash went to class. He looked around taking in the sights of Pokemon being groomed. He had been burshed and cleaned by Ash but it looks like he will get a lot more attention this time. He liked being groomed so he was all for this. He also did not mind it was Angie helping. Though Bianca taking notes was strange.

"So what are you going to do?" Asked Bianca.

"Pretty simple. His fur has grown out a bit, so I will give him a trim. First, though, it will be a bath, " responded Angie.

Angie escorted them to an area with a fresh bath made. She put on rubber gloves and got him to get in. She started to carefully wash him, mostly to avoid triggering his shock. She got in deep hoping to get all the dirt out of him and maybe wild Joltiks if he got any. Bianca noted he seemed to be enjoying it.

"You're really good," Bianca said.

"Well, I hope I am! Be pretty bad if I wasn't. Especially since this one is so special." Angie said as she cleaned him up.

She got him off and started drying him off. "So what do you think of Ash?" she asked.

"He is a pretty good guy. I mean, look at his Pokemon. Well cared for." Bianca pointed out. "You can tell a lot from someone who cares well for a Pokemon."

Angie nodded as she continued to dry him. "Agree there. He used to live in the same apartment as me. I am hoping he comes back soon."

"Why did he leave?"

"The girls he was living with had a lot of problems. Right now one named Lilie is still having issues."

"I know her. She has not been doing well in classes." Bianca started to recall her.

Angie put on some rubber gloves and started to trim his fur. "I wish there was something to be done to help."

Bianca nodded. "I can talk to her."

"It is a start I guess."

She started brushing Zeraora off and then got to giving him a trim. She didn't do anything special just cut his fur a bit shorter. He didn't seem to find this at all. In fact, he looked to feel a lot better. She brushed out any extra fur and let him move around.

"He looked amazing!" Bianca said.

"Thanks!" Angie replied. "I made sure to put a lot more into him!"

Zeraora felt a lot better now. The grooming as they called it made him feel lighter and cleaner. His electricity was now flowing better through him. He now could not wait till his next fight. He just needed Ash to come get him after his class now.

Ash returned later looking like he had been in pain. He forgot how boring the class was. He hated that he needed such a class but he understood they had to prep him for in case things did not work out. Though he had no fear of that happening. He rounded the corner and entered the grooming station.

"Hey everyone, all go well?" he asked.

Angie nodded. "Zeraora was very well-behaved."

"And learned a lot about him," Bianca added.

"Glad to hear! You look good buddy!"

Zeraora nodded, clearly feeling pretty good also.

"Hey Ash, When will you be coming back to the apartments?" Angie asked.

Ash got a serious look. "The girls have improved but I want to make sure I won't be going back to what I was putting up with. Besides, you know Lilie is still bringing her problems home with her."

Angie had a feeling he would say that but she had kind of hoped.

"Anyway, we should go now. One more class!" he tried to sound happy but it was the one with the teacher he grew to dislike the most.

Ash made his way to the class. Giselle eyed him as he and his Pokemon walked in. It had become clear she did not like him and was making things harder on him. The only saving grace was she wasn't unfairly grading him or anything like that. Still, he had a feeling she was going to jump at any moment to fail him.

At first, the class seemed fine. She explained a few good battle strategies and nothing else seemed to happen. However, when it came close to the end she gave out the assignments. She tended to give him harder assignments but his friends would always help him. But she had a strange look on her face this time.

"Ash I feel like you are not getting the most out of my assignments," she said.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"People have been helping you, you won't always have help. Please see me after classes to do your homework here alone."

This was starting to feel very unfair. He wanted to say something but he did not know what to say. He just packed up and left for his last class. He however needed to think of something. This hate she had for him was getting going too far.

As he was making his way to class he ran into Bianca again, thankfully not the normal way.

"Ash! I was wondering, would you like to meet up after class?" she asked." I think it has been a while since we kind of just hung out."

Sorry, I can't." he responded.

"Awww, why not?"

"Giselle says I need to do my homework in the room after classes."

Bianca looked confused by this. "How come?"

"She says I need to learn to work more on my own," he responded before bidding her farewell.

Bianca watched him and Zeraora leave before walking off thinking about this Giselle teacher.

After classes, he went to her room. Right away things went south when she said Zeraora needed to be in a Pokeball or stay outside class. The Pokemon opted to stay outside not wanting the Pokeball. Once again she handed him the larger packet of homework but now set a timer. She told him she had things to do so if he failed to complete it in time she would take what he did and that would be that. Ash thankfully had been studying ahead and managed to get to the last question right when the timer went off.

"Well you got it done, but it took you longer than I thought it would. I expected more from you." she took the packet. "Still you got it done so at least you got that. you may go now."

He walked out with a sour look on his face. He lightened up when he saw his partner though. Sadly he knew he would have to study a lot more to be ready for whatever she threw at him now. He had missed the bus back to town so Ash opted to walk back now.

"We should just grab them now!" a woman with long red hair said.

"Don't you dare!" she Meowth said.

"The boss's orders were clear. We are to keep an eye on him, Jessy." James said.

Jessy had been assigned to him and Meowth and she was making things hard. She was quite ambitious and was a good battler. However, she was not patient and tended to want to do things her way. She had to be reminded many times of the boss's very clear orders. Something she begrudgingly obeyed.

"This is the worst! He is walking home alone and his Pokemon is right there! There is no one here!"

"You know why! This city should keep its squeaky clean image as best as we can. Also, there are still too many eyes on him! There will be a large investigation!" James scolded her.

Ash stopped and looked around. He was sure he heard someone. The three managed to hide before he could look so he shrugged and continued home. The three tailed him, much quieter now, the rest of the way. Jessy still grumbled, however.

Ash finally got back and walked in. As he took off his shoes he heard Sora and Kari in the living room. She must have been modeling clothes for her. From time to time Sora would send clothes for her to model and Kari would do it over a video call. The clothes she sent were normally pretty good and were pretty tough even though they looked like one shock should reduce them to dust. It sounded like she was giving instructions to show it off so he decided it was safe enough to walk in. However, when he entered the living room he was met with quite the shock.

Kari was in the living room with a nightgown on, though this was not a modest gown at all. The parts were covered but the rest was made from a mostly see-through material. it also fit her body very well making it look more tantalizing. Ash turned beet red as his brain started to reset. Zeraora just stared wondering what was so wrong with the sight before him. Kari turned to see Ash staring at her.

"Oh! Hello Ash." She grinned and struck a pose. "What do you think of the gown?"

"Ummm, it, ahhh, is nice." Ash managed to say.

She turned back to the video call. "Little tight around the rear but it's fine."

Ash headed to his room beat red while Zeraora followed.

"Arent we being bold now?"

Kari turned off the video call to see Chloe. "Hello, Chloe. Honestly, I did not plan that. Just good timing. I thought he had practice or something since he was out late."

She walked in. "So you say. Why was he late?"

She shrugged. "Dono, I think he needs some alone time."

"Well, I went to his old apartment."

"How are things?"

"Umm, some-what better?" Chloe said. "The atmosphere is a bit depressing when Lilie gets home."

"I like having Ash stay here," Kari said.

"I do also. But I know he wants to go back there. Let's face it, while this one is a bit bigger the old one checked off all his boxes."

"I guess. Maybe I am a bit worried he won't think of use any longer."

Chloe sighed. "I want him to stay also. But I think him going back there and his friends getting along would make him a lot happier." she smiled. "Besides, you know he will still think of us! It's why we like him so much!"

Kari nodded. "I guess that's true."

Kari got changed into something that wouldn't set Ash off and they got to work on dinner. Ash came out later and the three chatted about their days. They were both a bit concerned about his teacher's behavior and suggested he talk to Oak about it. It was pretty clear she was on some kind of Power trip. Later they all went to bed.

Later that night Ash woke up to his phone going off. He looked to see it was Lana. He was a tad confused by this but went to answer anyway. He fumbled around in his half-sleep state before knocking it to the floor. Zeraora, who had woken up to the noise, handed it to him.

"Thanks, buddy," he muttered before putting the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Ash, can we chat? Alone?" Lana's voice came.

"Huh? What for?" he asked.

"I want to talk alone is all."

Ash stopped to think a bit. "Alright, where?"

"Meet me at the park."

Ash hung up and forced himself out of bed. After waking himself up as much as he could he put on his clothes and dragged himself to the door. Zeraora helped him as he followed. She said alone but surely Zeraora would be fine right? He walked out into the night.

Soon he made it to the park where he took a seat on a bench. Zeraora stayed close walking around the area. Ash worked to wake himself up a bit more, he was not fond of waking up in the middle of the night. He was tempted to ask Zeraora to shock him but in the end, decided he wanted to get back to sleep after he was done. After waiting a bit longer Lana walked to him.

"Oh? Zeraora?" she asked surprised.

"Is that an issue? I didn't think alone meant no Pokemon."

She shook her head. "It is fine. In fact, since you two are so close he should be here." she sat next to him.

"So what's up Lana?" he asked.

"I wanted to say sorry again first of all. I should have put my foot down a long time ago."

"Yeah you should have," Ash said rather bluntly. "But I also do get why you didn't. You had to put up with so much and they were going through a lot."

She nodded. "Also, I have a bit of a confession. Ash... I like you."

Ash stared at her for a bit before what she said really hit him. "Wait, like, romanticly?"

She gave a nod. "Well you have been a good friend and it was you who finally got me to put my foot down on them both. When you left for us to deal with things I realized I liked you when I took it so hard. I felt like I could talk to you about what I was dealing with, something I mostly kept to myself. I like your ambition and how you do not let anyone keep you down. Ash, I want us to date!"

Ash had to stop to think about this, this was a lot to just drop on him right now. On one hand, this was sudden and he was trying to give them the space to work out their issues. But then again he couldn't help but to respect how forward she was being with him. He never liked when people played around and didn't just come out with their feelings. Also, he did find her pretty and liked her enough. He was not sure if he was ready to maybe date her with what was going on. He looked to his partner who seemed to sense his uncertainty. He shot him a smile and gave him a nod as if to say "You got this". Finally, he took a deep breath.

"Lana, I can not answer this right now. I need to at least get through the Unite match before I think I can give a proper response."

Lana nodded. "I understand. I will wait for a proper answer after that. Thank you for at least giving me this."

Meanwhile, close by Chloe had followed Ash. She was awoken by the phone and quietly followed him. She couldn't believe Lana made her move before her or Kari. She quickly ran back before he left. She needed to do something or she would lose to her she was thinking. She decided as soon as the match ended she would tell him right away. Perhaps a confession when he could think better would work out better. It was all she could think now, she wouldn't dare give him another thing to think about just before the match.