Fear - An Aureliashipping and Lonashipping Story

-28-

Before we begin this chapter, I would first like to apologize for the lack of updates. I set a goal to finish this book by the end of 2021, and unfortunately, I have not been able to meet it.

Writer's block and having other commitments has made it very difficult to plan the chapters ahead of time. However, I do want to emphasize that this book has not been abandoned and will be finished.

Simply put, we are winding down to the last few chapters. I can't say how many are left because it's better to have a natural flow to each chapter rather than set a word count, but the final pieces are getting put together.

I am pushing the deadline to the end of January of 2022. Thank you for your patience, and enjoy the chapter.

——

"Which one do you like better: red, or white?"

Ash didn't have an answer left in him, and Pikachu had an annoyed look on his face. They were feeling a really bad case of déjà vu, because they could have sworn that they already went through this at some point. Lana was incredibly good at making seconds seem like hours.

"Red, or whiiiiite?" the girl persisted.

"I don't know, they're the same dress apart from the colors," Ash reasoned. "Just pick one."

"Hmm..." Lana fake-wondered. "I'll go with white, I'm so jealous of girls that can pull off this color."

Pikachu was holding back the urge to shock Lana in public. It already figured out what Lana was up to, and in its humble opinion, was a dumb plan. Ash didn't have the critical thinking skills to be pushed into noticing Lillie just because of her favorite color. You had to be direct with him, but so far only one girl in all of his travels had the nerve to be so bold. Lillie was not that girl.

Lana turned away from the pair and softly sulked in frustration. Her reputation as greatest friend of all time was at stake, and all because of some idiot from Kanto. She turned back around. "Ash, random question: are you straight?"

"Huh-"

Rotom burst out from Ash's backpack. "Urgent call from Profezzzor Kukui!"

Ash and Pikachu silently celebrated as Kukui's face appeared on the screen. "Ash, do you know where Lana is?"

Rotom turned its screen to face Lana. "Right here, professor...?"

"Good, please come to the Pokémon School at once. We have an emergency!" the professor said before hanging up. Ash looked at Pikachu determinedly. "Let's go buddy?!"

"Pika!"

The two began running in the direction of the school. Rotom stayed behind for a second, leaning over to Lana. "You're not very good at thizzz."

Lana puffed out her cheeks in anger, and took a swing at the Rotom-Dex before hurrying after Ash.

——

Ash and Lana arrived at the Pokémon School. Reconstruction was still underway, but it was looking in better shape by the day. The two students noticed this friends and Officer Jenny huddled around something against the wall. Kukui waved them over. "You're just in time. You need to hear this."