The Curse of Espeon and Umbreon (Amourshipping G/T) ||Complete||

Chapter 18: Shining Truth

Hi everyone!  SylveonKwami here.

I hope you're all excited for this update... it sure took a while, but it's here, finally!!  There should be another update coming in a few days, so be prepared for that.

Anyways, let's get started!!  

As always, enjoy :D

Serena

"Are... you blushing?" Serena asked timidly, because she knew she was being awkward.

"N-NO!" Ash hollered, turning in the other direction.  What is this about?  Serena wondered.  Before she could ask anything, though, he turned around, a confident smile placed back on his face.

"A-Anyways, what do you want to do now?" Ash asked her.  "We can-"

"Wanna just sit and talk?" she asked, because she was still a little tired from their water "fight".  

"Yeah, sure," he replied, taking her hand and leading her back to the spot in the tree they'd found.  Serena looked back at their Pokemon (and Espeon), and saw Sylveon giving her a thumbs-up with her ribbons.  Blushing, Serena turned away, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder...

Was Ash into her?

"Here we are," he said, laying down on the ground.   She did the same; a soft breeze swished in her hair when she did so.  "What do you wanna talk about?" he asked, smiling at her.

"I dunno," Serena said truthfully.  "How's your training going?" Something easy to talk about.

"I think it's going okay," Ash replied.  "I mean, I thought it was.  I trained my strongest Pokemon, and I thought I could even win that tournament," Ash thought wistfully.  "I've tried for years, and I've come so close to winning leagues... but I just can't.  Even in Kalos, I was ONE POKEMON away from winning against Alain.  Greninja... he was my best chance, but even with our bond we couldn't beat him.  We're just not strong enough- that's just the plain truth.  And... I'm not sure if we ever will be."

Serena gaped at him.  "What are you talking about!?  You're Ash Ketchum, the strongest trainer I know."

Ash bit back a smile.  "Yeah?  That means you don't know a lot of trainers then."

"Come on, Ash, don't think like that," she said, not wanting him to be upset.  "You're just hitting a hurdle.  All you have to do is train harder.  Get more experience.  Revisit some old friends.  Get some new tips.  Battle some new people.  Eventually, you'll get better at what you love."

Ash looked at her.  "You make it sound so easy."

"Believe me, I've been there," Serena said.  "When I was performing on our journey.  My first performance... I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, it sucked.  Like, hard.  But I got up, dusted myself off, and focused harder.  I met Aria, and I had so many good friends who were competing for the same goal as I was." Some more than others, she thought, thinking of Miette.

"In the end, I faced off against Aria.  I lost.  But I went to Hoenn, to get another viewpoint.  And, I haven't told anyone yet, but..." Serena trailed off.  What would he say?

"What is it?" Ash asked, curious.

"I'm not going back to Hoenn after this," Serena said.  "I think I'm ready to try performing again.  In Kalos.  I'm ready to try achieving my dreams again."

"That's great, Serena!" Ash exclaimed.  "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Ash," she said sincerely.  "That really means a lot."

"Well, I haven't told anyone this either," Ash confessed.  "But I'm going to be staying in Kalos for a while.  I want to try getting farther in that tournament, when it starts again next year, and I feel like the best place to gain experience is Kalos.  Besides... wouldn't mind facing Alain again." he added, a little shy.  

"That's amazing, Ash!" Serena exclaimed.  "We can..."

"Stay together?" Both of them asked in unison.  Each looked at the other, and laughed.

"Well, I guess that's decided then," Ash said, still laughing a little.  

"Y-Yeah," Serena said, secretly extremely happy that she'd get to spend more time with Ash.

"We can train together!" Ash said.  "I mean, you'll have to train for your performances, but it wouldn't hurt to try battles, right?"

"Yeah," Serena said.  "I'd love that.  Maybe if you watched us practice for our performances, you could get arrangements for your battles... I don't know, it sounds stupid-"

"No, it sounds like a good idea," he told her, trying to be encouraging.  "We can help each other!"

Serena giggled.  Serena didn't know how long they were there like that, just laying there talking, but when she finally looked up, the sky had turned into a pinky-orange colour.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed.  "How long were we talking for!?" 

"A couple hours, at least," Ash said.  "Do you want to go back?  I get it if you don't want to stay out late."

He didn't have to say it, but she knew what he was talking about.  Umbreons loved to come out at night.  Despite this, she shook her head.  This day was going so well for it to end so soon.  "We can stay, you know, providing we have food," she added, and Ash nodded.

Ash was about to call one of the Pokemon, but Pikachu was already walking towards them holding the bag in his paws.  Ash thanked him, and got out some food for them.  They started eating, watching the sun go down as they ate.  It was quite beautiful actually, apart from the sound of Ash's gulping chomps on his food.  Deep down, Serena didn't mind- she knew that this was the real him, and he wouldn't share that with people he didn't trust.

At last, the sun disappeared below the horizon.  And when Serena looked, the first star was starting to appear in the sky.  "Make a wish, Ash!" she exclaimed excitedly.  He smiled at her, and looked at the star.

"Well, I wish we can be together forever.  We can travel together, and become the best of friends." She heard him mumble something else under his breath, but she didn't catch it.  She wanted to tell him that the wish wouldn't come true, because he'd said it out loud, but....

"You make a wish now," he told her.  

"I wish.... well, my wish is what you said."  Ash gave her a funny look, and she felt the need to defend herself.  "WHAT!?  My wish was that before you said yours."  Add the fact that I wish we could be in a relationship one day, Serena mentally added.

"Well, it's a pretty good wish," he said truthfully.  

Yes, yes it is.

Well, that's the end of this chapter.  I'm sorry it was so short, but I hurt my hand so I can barely type.  I'm also working on another chapter for this book, a chapter for my other book, and some asks and dares for my new Ask/Dare the Eeveelutions (which you should totally check out btw!).  BUT- I'm telling you, the next chapter will be a very special chapter.  It should probably come out soon, so keep watching for that!

Anyways, I'm gonna start writing it now.  I hope you still enjoyed this chapter, despite it's shortness.

Stay tuned ;)