Off My Chest

Confession

AN: Okay I lied, there is still some angst-y stuff in here. I'm so sorry! But just a little!

...

It was the day after Charizard was introduced to the group and everyone could sense there was something stewing between it and Alain's Charizard. Maybe there was a growing battle ready to go on between the two, but Ash and Alain weren't too focused on taking each other on any time soon. As the Pokémon hung out in the lab, Ash and Alain were feeding them to help Professor Sycamore out. He was preoccupied with building the lab back from Lysandre's attack and could use the extra help.

Ash hummed a little as he fed a Psyduck, not noticing Alain's nervous stare behind him. He had asked Mairin for advice to ask out Ash, to which she responded by laughing in his face and calling him hopeless.

"Just go for it!" was her grand advice. Fine, he was going for it, but man he was going to let her have it if he freaks out and rejects him.

"Hey, Ash?" he called out, making sure his voice didn't show how nervous he was. The tanned boy turned to him and grinned.

"What's up?" he asked brightly, petting a Froakie. He was in such a good mood now that it gave Alain confidence.

"After we're done feeding everyone, would you like to walk with me around the city?" he asked politely. Ash grew excited.

"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" He tossed some more food out, thinking of places they could go to. Alain smiled good-naturedly, secretly thanking Mairin for her advice. In a high tree, Greninja narrowed its eyes and swooped over to where Charizard and Pikachu were. They shared some words, nodding to agree that they would follow them. Pikachu was the only one trying to shoot down the idea.

"Pika pika!" he shouted, trying to break up their thoughts. To his disdain, Charizard merely patted him on the head. He sighed. He had to go with them to make sure no one got hurt.

In a secluded corner, Alain's Charizard heard of their plans to break the two humans apart and it glared at them. Threatening its Trainer was unforgivable.

...

Ash and Alain started their walk, the streets busy again as if Lysandre's attack was a thing of the past. People looked happy now that the damage had been cleaned up and dealt with. The shopping areas were packed as usual and Ash caught a glimpse of Serena, Bonnie and Mairin hanging out at a trinket shop. They waved at them and Mairin gave Alain an excited thumbs up, mouthing 'good luck!' to him before he hurriedly walked away from the shop to avoid her laughing at him. It was pretty lively and many shops were celebrating the city being rebuilt.

"Excuse me, boys!" greeted a shop keeper as they walked by. They turned and saw an old woman smiling broadly from the doorway of her shop. "Do you two like ice cream?"

"Love it!" shouted Ash before Alain could, eyes sparkling. He had to smile at his enthusiasm. She grinned.

"Good! It's half off for couples today!" Ash cheered, quickly agreeing to buy some while Alain was thunderstruck. He agreed even though she said couples. Did that mean...?

He was silent as they took a seat at a bench with his vanilla ice cream in hand. Ash didn't pay any mind now that he had a double scoop chocolate ice cream bowl. He immediately dug into his ice cream while Alain picked at his. Yesterday, Ash was embarrassed at the thought of liking him, now he was acting as if it were completely normal. Or maybe he was too caught up in the idea of cheaper ice cream that he didn't pay attention. It had to be the latter.

But this was his chance now. He was going to tell him his feelings and if he gets rejected, at least he had the guts to try.

"Hey, Ash. There's something I wanted to tell you." The tanned Trainer turned to him, spoon in mouth as he tilted his head.