Amourshipping : One Day Off

Chapter 11

Clemont simply scratched his head while quizzically tilting his head. 

Ash gave an embarrassed sigh. Serena giggled as she grabbed ahold of Ash's hand from underneath the table, and intertwined their fingers. This was the first time they had done this as a couple, and like before, Serena noticed it felt warm. She then took Ash's hand and brought them out from under the table, making it visible to their group. Serena had a large, happy grin on her face, with a red tint of blush on her face, but really, she was just so happy right now. She felt untouchable, and was so happy that she was holding Ash's hand. 

Ash was unusually shy, yet still revealed his trademark toothy grin. With his free hand, he was scratching his cheek, showing he was slightly nervous, more than Serena, not out of worry as to what everyone would think, but because he was way out of his comfort zone with this sort of thing. 

The group stared at this for a few seconds, before it clicked what it actually meant. Bonnie related first, by yelling you loud, "No way! This is way too cute! Awwee!", before running over to Serena and hugging her, seemingly to congratulate her. 

"I had a feeling this was coming." Clemont said, with a partial sigh of relief for both of them, and happy for the two of them as well. Both Ash and Serena nodded at him, as they both assumed he was talking to them. 

Clemont smiled at the both of them again. He had to admit, they looked good together. He had thought as much when he saw how the two of them interacted. He was honestly glad they had made it official. He was happy for them. Not to mention the emotional stress it took off of him. 

Pikachu seemed very happy as well. Not only had he taken a liking to Serena, he was, above all, relieved to know that Ash's odd behavior as of late was all due to this, and not some major issue. Not to mention that he was incredibly happy for his trainer, a sentiment which was shared with the rest of the Pokèmon.  

Soon, the conversation turned away from the two of them, and went over to their next route, and where they were traveling to next. The group of friends crowded around a map laid out on the table, showing all the routes and pathways in the Kalos region. 

"If we want to get to Lumious City as soon as possible, we could cut through this forest here, but it has a reputation of being... Mysterious." Clemont explained, trailing his finger along the route. 

"What do you mean by mysterious?" Ash asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow. 

"Strange sightings, noises, and people disappearing for days at a time, and when they show up again, they say their either were held prisoner for days, by what they don't know, or they simply don't remember any of it. " Clemont explained, a look of seriousness in his eyes. "It's more than likely to be more Trevenant, or other Ghost type Pokémon. In fact, there have been reports of Ghost types showing up more frequently in the first, so the majority think that's it, but still..." 

Serena and Bonnie both shivered. This didn't sound like a place either of them wanted to go. 

Ash noticed this, and asked Clemont, "Okay, is there any way around it?" 

Clemont studied the map closely for a few seconds. "We could follow the main road, or go through the mountains. Going through the mountains might be dangerous though, and following the roads that are next to the forest could take us maybe a week longer, if we're lucky." 

Ash sighed and bit the inside of his cheek while he thought about it. Normally he would have suggested carting right through the forest, and just let whatever happened happen, but for whatever reason, he felt like that was a bad idea, especially seeing how Serena was clearly nervous about the forest idea. Knowing her, she'd be more happy going along the roadways, which made Ash impartial to it.