I Wanna Be The Very Best

Chapter 91: The Final Countdown.

The night sky rises over the Alola region, beginning the night shift for two aura wielding Pokémon.

However, tonight the atmosphere around the camp seems a little different as Lucario sits on a log in the forest, licking his wounds so to speak as he holds an ice pack over his elbow while grimacing in pain.

The young aura pokemon not only seems hurt, but his aura seems to be all over the place as he sits in denial of what just happened.

How after so much training, could he still be so weak?

How could he still not hold his own against those dam vines?

By this point he can now sense them, but fighting them alone is still a task he can't complete. He can fight them for a while for sure, but eventually the numbers game always seems to catch up to him.

After a few minutes of watching his pupil sit in denial about the situation, Greninja wanders over and leans against the tree next to him. He takes a small sigh before he exclaims "This is why I told you not to go out alone. You're strong but you're not ready to fight alone."

Lucario shakes his head as he protests "But sensei, I sensed them close and I knew I couldn't let them get out of control."

Greninja folds his arms across his chest and states in an authoritative tone "I respect your need to help others, but I need you to think straight. I've warned you before that if you sense something you communicate it with the rest of the team. You need to let us know and let us help you deal with it. Simply put this work is too dangerous for you to deal alone."

Lucario begins to feel even more frustrated by the second that Greninja isn't understanding him. It's not easy to struggle, it's not easy to be defeated and not be good enough.

The aura pokemon soon shakes his head as he exclaims "With all due respect Sensei, I've had enough of not being strong enough. You don't know what it's like, to lose, to not be good enough. You have everything so easy. You don't struggle. You have a perfect bond with master and everything is always so easy for you in a battle. Not everyone can have it so easy and be naturally perfect like you are. Struggle is not a thing you need to deal with."

Greninja hears Lucario's words and nearly lashes out at the young Pokemon for making such claims. He struggles every day, and he has been for a very long time now.

However, before he lashes out he takes a deep breath to compose himself. He sees this as an opportunity to teach his pupil, not scold him.

The ninja frog pokemon looks up into the night sky as he simply states "Then you do not know me."

Lucario's interest is peaked by Greninja's words as he questions "What do you mean by that sensei?"

Greninja reaches his hand out towards his pupil and focuses his aura as he states "Let me show you my past."

Lucario hesitates for a second before he reaches out and takes Greninja's hand while focusing his own aura. All of a sudden his vision changes as he begins to see flashes into his mentor's past.

Play the AMV for a little sneak peek at what Lucario's seeing.

The vision soon ends as Lucario stands with a face full of shock. His eyes widen a little as he questions "Sensei, that was really you?

Greninja nods as he explains "Yes, so now you know my struggles. From being an outcast by my family, to trying for years to find the right trainer for me. To losing my connection with that trainer and struggling to get it all back. My point is, we all go through struggles and I know how you feel. It's the worst feeling in the world, to not feel powerful enough. But we can still fix that. As Ash would say, it's important to get back on your feet and never give up until it's over. Just because you lost today doesn't mean you'll lose tomorrow. It's never a loss if you learn from it."

Lucario takes in Greninja's words and quickly realises that this setback is just another step in his journey. His struggles now are what are going to make him the pokemon he wants to be one day.

Greninja sees the change in Lucario's aura and knows that he is starting to understand more about where he is coming from. He soon steps towards the aura pokemon and offers him a hand up as he questions "Are you ready to get back on patrol?"

Lucario nods and takes that hand up as he replies "Of course sensei."

Greninja helps Lucario up as the two of them share a look of understanding. They soon both dash off like two blue lighting bolts through the night, ready to get back on with the night shift.

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The sound of Pidgey's chirping fills the air as the sun rises up over the Indigo plateau. A morning breeze flows through the air that makes the usually busy plateau seem so peaceful.

The usual crowd flocking to the stadium is non existent today, with it being a rest day for both trainers and supporters. After all the action over the last few days has been nothing short of thrilling and has taken quite a lot out of everyone involved.

Speaking of those involved, The amour couple sleep soundly in their bedroom with them cuddling in their usual position. It isn't long before Ash's eyes begin to flutter before he wakes up from his well deserved slumber.

As he wakes up, he stretches out a little while letting his eyes adjust to the morning light. He soon lets off a small satisfied sigh as he lets the blissful feeling of waking up refreshed wash over him.

You see last night was not the time for celebrations, despite Gary's obvious want to go out on the town and get drunk. No quite simply put Ash's job is not done yet and there's no need for celebration. He didn't come here to beat the elite 4 or just compete, he's only here because he wants to win that championship title.

Even if he wanted to celebrate though, there was no way he could have. The exhaustion from 4 straight battles was simply too much and he was completely out of it. Honestly speaking he felt completely sick afterwards and iller than he's ever felt since the flu he had in Kalos.

Luckily for Ash, that's where Serena came in. She was pretty strong willed as usual and adamant about what Ash needed. A good rest and some love from her.

Using her Kalos queen connections she managed to cancel every single piece of media Ash was meant to do. Sure part of that deal was that she'd need to do more in the future, but she doesn't mind suffering at all for all her boyfriend's needs.

As soon as she could she got him home she practically dragged him up to bed, despite him obviously weighing more than her. After tucking him in she played the role of nurse, without changing her outfit this time because she didn't want to tempt herself or Ash into doing anything strenuous, even if she personally would have been okay with that considering it has been nearly a week now since their last night of fun. But that wasn't something she could think about, not appropriate with how Ash was feeling.

Moving away from that she noticed he had a bit of a temperature and he was obviously low on energy. In turn she made him a nice stew to eat and placed an ice cold towel on his forehead. Soon after Ash did start to feel a little better, before they both got into their nightwear. After that they cuddled in close and drifted off to sleep with Serena making sure she had a somewhat protective hold on him to keep her ill boyfriend safe through the night.

Ash lays in bed while letting the moment pass over him. Right now the opportunity to think about the last few days and how far he's come is just too tempting.

Over a year ago he was laying in bed at home while completely depressed. Now he's laying here as the Alola champion with a battle to come to decide another two championship titles.

Not only that, he's discovered his true feelings and has found his life partner, one who sticks by his side and helps him through all of those tough times.

Speaking of that life partner, Ash looks down towards his chest to see the usual site of the Kalos queen sleeping on top of him. She snuggles into his chest while letting off light snores, completely overcome by her own exhaustion.

Ash can't help but watch over his sleeping angel as a smile pops onto his face. Waking up next to her is one of the best feelings in the world, and one he's missed over the last few days. Her cute little snores, her angelic face and her soft body resting on his all combine to make the perfect thing to wake up to.

It's no surprise to Ash that Serena is still sleeping, considering over the last few days she's been getting up so early to make him breakfast and sort out everything for the day, before waking him up at the last minute so he can get all the sleep he needs before an important battle. Not to mention all the cheering and the emotions she goes through in the crowd, she's probably exhausted just as much as he is.

Ash does consider getting up to return the favour and make Serena some breakfast in bed. However, he knows better than anyone that she loves to cuddle in morning and lay in as long as possible. She would be pretty annoyed if he got up first and she didn't get to wake up to his smile on their day off.

In general lately it's been her tending to his needs more than the other way round. Serena hasn't really complained about it but it would be nice to wake up how she likes to wake up for a change, or how it was before the league started. As far as the Alola champion is concerned, he wants to do more nice things for her.

As such, Ash just lays there for another half hour or so while just gently smoothing the honey blonde girl's hair. Eventually after all that time she does begin to stir, before her cerulean blue eyes flash awake.

Almost instantly she smiles up at her boyfriend as he smiles back. Internally Serena feels her heart flutter from getting to wake up the way she loves to for the first time in a while now.

Ash moves a strand of her hair behind her ear as he casually greets "Good morning my angel."

Serena giggles before she replies "Good morning my champion."

The two of them soon naturally lean in before sharing a quick good morning kiss. Their lips stay together for around 10 seconds or so before they naturally part and gaze into each other's eyes.

Serena moves a hand through Ash's bed head before she comments "I've missed this you know"

Ash nods in agreement before he replies in a satisfied tone "Yeah me too, don't get me wrong I've enjoyed your breakfasts and all, but this is by far my favourite way of waking up. With you doing those cute little snores and looking so peaceful. Although you weren't sleep talking about your dreams this time."

Serena blushes slightly about the fact Ash hears about some of her dreams. All she can hope is that she's discreet about what she's dreaming about as on occasions, yeah let's not go into that.

She instead just giggles a little as she remarks in a flirtatious tone "Well you're the only one who can make those dreams come true Ashy. But they are all my little secrets."

Ash blushes back and feels his own temperature rise as he replies "I'll leave those to you then I guess."

Serena giggles at Ash's awkwardness, loving that she can get such feelings out of him with a simple comment. She decides to show him some mercy as she exclaims "Well, maybe I'll show you one day. Anyway enough about me before we both lose control. How are you feeling after last night? You were so sick that you had me so worried."

Ash breaths a sigh of relief before he smiles and replies "Yeah I feel great actually. Thanks to you for doing such a great job of taking care of me."

Serena smiles at her boyfriend lovingly as she exclaims "It's my job to take care of you Ash, as your girlfriend and as your unofficial wife. Besides you're really sweet and take care of me when I'm feeling down and sick. You know the times I'm on about."

Ash nods in acknowledgment as he replies "Of course I do beautiful, and I'll always take care of you no matter what."

The amour couple soon fall into silence as they cuddle back in together to just enjoy the blissful feeling of spending their morning cuddled up together. The slightly cold breeze makes the situation even better, forcing them to huddle even closer together.

Soon the Alola champion breaks that silence as he questions "So, what is it you want to do today. I don't mind having a lazy day if that's what you want. Or we could just kind of fool around in bed for a while and see where the day takes us. As long as we're together I'll be okay. We've been doing what I want to do a lot lately with the indigo league so I'll leave it up to you."

Serena places a thinking face on as she takes in Ash's proposal. As much as she would love to just kind of fool around for a while, especially is it leads to her and Ash getting a little more intimate, the option isn't really there.

She gives her boyfriend the bad news as she shakes her head and explains "As much as I would love to, it's not the smartest choice yet. We've only got a few days until the championship battle and we both have so much to do still. For instance, I've got to submit my final design for this online fashion course. Plus Aria and I are meeting again later. Also, you need to make sure you're all trained for the big battle. That can all be done over the next 3 days before the battle of course, but we should probably be prepared for any unscheduled interruptions and get things done now. Also I have some bad news. Tonight we've both been scheduled to go an a mandatory late night talk show to discuss the battle coming up. I'm really sorry but we can't get out of it."

Ash takes in Serena's words and is honestly okay with most of that. He can tell that Serena would rather do something else, but he can't help but admire her self control so to speak. Her perfect day would probably be a date or something very similar but it's still not the right time for that yet.

Of course he still needs to get himself prepared for Lance as early as possible, considering he's done no research on him yet or even figured out what his own team is going to be. As for Serena's meeting and her online fashion course that's cool too. She's following her little dreams and hobbies too so of course that's not an issue.

The only problem he has with any of this is the dam talk show.

Ash has never been the most natural in front of the cameras and interviews are not his strong suit. They always ask the same boring questions or try their best to try and stir up some controversy. He's always so nervous about saying the wrong thing that it makes these things not fun.

Sure Serena is a lot more natural with the media and she'll be there to help him through it, but that doesn't exactly make this activity sound anymore exciting.

He soon takes a small sigh before an idea pops into his head. He places his best sad look on his face as he pleads "Do we really have to do the interview Serena? I just want to stay in bed with you."

Serena nearly falls for Ash's puppy dog eyes but holds firm against her natural instincts. She giggles a little before she exclaims "Now Ashy, I invented that trick, the one with the cute little sad eyes. It's not going to work on me. This talk show is mandatory and there's no getting away from it. It's one of the most prestigious shows in the world too so that means you need to dress up nice. Don't worry, let me sort everything out okay? I promise I'll make it up to you later."

Ash sighs in defeat as he submits to the media and replies "Okay I guess we'll do it. Does that mean you're going to be dressing up all nice too?"

Serena smiles as she exclaims with a hint of excitement in her voice "I already have the perfect dress in mind. In fact it's one from a really high end fashion brand that are now sponsoring me. They need me to wear their stuff to promote them so it's a win win. More money for us to put into savings."

Ash takes some pleasure from knowing that Serena is going to be wearing something cute as he remarks "Well at least this talk show has its perks. I can't wait to see how it looks."

Serena smirks a little as she pokes her boyfriend in his bare chest and exclaims "Good, because I can't wait to show you it. Now, you need to take a shower because you're still smelly from that battle yesterday. You do that and I'll cook us all breakfast. I bet Pikachu and the others will be starving."

Ash places his hands in a defensive position as he exclaims "Well, you're the boss."

Serena smirks a little at Ash's nickname for her before she reluctantly gets off of him. Ash soon heads for the shower while Serena puts on some clothes and heads down the stairs, ready to start the day off.
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A couple hours later, Ash and Serena have both showered and have changed into their usual clothes. The Kalos queen has made breakfast and fed her hungry boyfriend as well as their Pokemon.

After that, Serena headed up to the computer to do some work on her design course while Ash swapped out a few of his Pokemon before beginning a training session out the garden.

That's what the Alola champion is still doing as he attempts to get his Pokemon ready for the battle to come against Lance.

Due to the nature of the battle and the difficulty that comes with fighting dragon type Pokémon, training is intense but with the underlying theme of staying careful to make sure no major injuries occur.

Currently facing off are Ash's Charizard and his Annhilape in a bit of a grudge match. Ash smirks a little while watching the intense back and forth as he commands "Okay let's turn this battle up a few notches. Annhilape use stone edge!" Annhilape nods as he punches a fist into the ground, sending sharp shards of rocks sprouting up towards his opponent.

Ash turns towards his other pokemon and orders "Charizard use your speed to dodge." Charizard roars as he flaps his wing and takes off into the sky. He soon soars around the battlefield as he begins to dodge the incoming rocks with great speed and skill that you would expect from an Ash Ketchum flying type.

The Alola champ punches a fist forward as he shouts "Now, Charizard use dragon claw and Annhilape use rage fist!" Charizard roars once again as he extends a set of sharp green claws before swooping in towards his opponent. Meanwhile, Annihilape clocks back a fist that glows in a ghostly purple aura before slamming it towards his opponent.

The two clash and push against one and other for a second before both Pokémon shoot back through the air and land on opposite sides of the makeshift battlefield. The two of them share a small competive grin as they nod in respect of each other's power.

Ash grins too, feeling fired up by watching two of his Kanto powerhouses clash. Watching these two spar like this reminds him of the power his Pokemon have, and that they share the same competitive nature as him.

However, he can't dwell on that for too long as he hears the bedrooom window open before Serena shouts down "Ash, I hate to be a pain but can you keep it down a little? I'm about to go into my meeting that's all."

Ash smiles up at his girlfriend's request as he replies "Of course princess, I'll stay quiet for a bit."

The Kalos queen smiles down at Ash's understanding as she exclaims "Thanks Ashy, I'll she you in a bit!"

With that Serena closes the window and looks into the mirror, making the final adjusts on her hair and make up before joining this meeting. In her opinion she looks a little rough, with her finding herself in a very lazy can't be asked mood this morning. However, she's ultimately not too stressed about it considering that Palermo is not joining this meeting.

She soon places a pair of AirPods in her ears before she sits down at the computer. She clicks the link on screen to join the meeting, before a few seconds later the familiar face of Aria pops up onto the screen.

Serena smiles at her mentor as she greets "Hey Aria!"

Aria smiles back at her protege as she examines the state of the Kalos queen. An interested look coats her face as she exclaims "Hey Serena. Dam I thought you were going to look hella rough this morning but you look as fresh as usual. I would have guessed you'd have been out celebrating with Ash last night, or even celebrating in a more freaky way if you know what I mean."

Serena blushes slightly at what Aria is implying, caught off guard a little by her mentor's sudden question. She soon shakes her head a little as she replies "Ash was actually pretty sick last night so we didn't celebrate at all. He was completely exhausted from all the battles in the last week so I was just helping him rest up. Luckily he's back to normal this morning and is back to training. As far as we're concerned there's nothing to celebrate quite yet, not until after his battle with Lance."

Aria shrugs her shoulders as she exclaims "Well I guess that makes sense. After all he was been working hard these last few weeks. Still I guess that's a bit of a bummer for you. It means you've probably gone without any action for a little while."

Serena now full body blushes at Aria's question as she stammers "What has gotten into you Aria? I thought this was a business meeting not a council meeting about my love life. It's a little unprofessional and kind of inappropriate don't you think?"

Aria places her hands in a defensive position as she explains "You don't have to get so embarrassed you know. We'll get to business eventually, but what's the fun in that? This is like the only meeting we get in months without Palermo being all serious. As a single woman I'm just living precariously through you for a second. You know trying to see what you young lovers get up to these days."

Serena sighs a little as she takes in Aria's words. There's nothing wrong with curiosity and she doesn't mind having these sorts of conversations with her friends even if she does find them awkward. Hell every time Miette or May call her it's always them wanting to know the gossip about her relationship.

She soon gives in a little as she exclaims "Well I guess curiosity never hurt no one. It's been about a week now since we last went at it. But it was so good that I honestly don't mind."

Aria chuckles a little before she replies "A week is nothing to wait when it's good. Try being me and spending 25 years searching for your Prince Charming. You know you're so lucky that you just happened to meet the one for you so young."

Serena smiles as she admits "I know how lucky I am and I don't ever intend on wasting that opportunity. But I know you'll find someone soon. You're too good not to."

The former Kalos queen shrugs before she exclaims "I'm sure we'll see someday, but enough about girl stuff. I'm glad I've got some of your less politically correct talk out the way before the interview later. So I just need to go over a few things with you about tonight. First things first, that outfit we sent you ready?"

Serena smiles with excitement at the mention of clothes as she replies "It's all hung up and ready to put on. I'm super excited to see what it'll look like when I put it on."

Aria smirks a little as she casually remarks "Good, and since Palermo isn't here we don't have to explain to her why your dress is a certain length or why it's got no straps. You know the score."

Serena giggles a little before she continues "Yeah that's Palermo for you alright. She loves her tradition and her rants about how good things were when she was Kalos queen."

Aria chuckles a little as she adds "She certainly does, but speaking of fashion that leads me perfectly onto my other big thing I wanted to discuss with you. Do you remember in our last meeting that point you raised about a fashion provider for the rookie class showcases?"

Serena nods as a hopeful smile comes onto her face at the prospect of this wish coming true. In their last meeting she raised a point close to her own heart about fashion for the upcoming rookie class showcases.

Serena knows that a lot of young girls aspire to get into Pokémon showcases like she once did. However, it's not exactly the cheapest thing to get yourself involved in. Unlike Pokemon battles where competing is free, apart from the obvious costs of travel, Pokemon showcases most definitely aren't.

Sure entry itself into the competitions is free, but the props that come with competing aren't. Dresses, shoes, makeup, accessories, outfit for your Pokémon and much more are all things that the performer herself needs to buy. That's not to mention the costs of travelling to and from each showcase.

Not until you reach the masterclass level do you actually get a lot of this stuff for free when you begin to get prize money and sponsorship deals. Now Serena has no problems financially, with her being the Kalos queen and all, but back when she was first starting out she remembers it being a bit of a struggle at times to afford everything she needed.

That's the main reason why she only really had one specific performance dress across her whole Kalos journey. She was actually pretty lucky that Valerie gave her that one she modelled for free to have a second option to use at one point.

With the costs of hair and makeup products on top of that it was definitely a struggle at times. She vividly remembers calling her mom up on a few occasions, begging her to help out financially, being too scared to ask her friends for any help with money. Obviously Ash would have used his trainer earnings to help, but there's no way she could have asked that of him at that point.

So Serena's pitch for this year's rookie class showcases is for each individual entry to be offered the chance to borrow a dress from a selection of them to compete in as well as a selection of beauty products, accessories and pokemon outfits too.

While she's not so sure that all of that is possible, one day she would love that to be a thing. Nobody should be forced to give up on chasing their dreams through a lack of wealth, and Serena is determined to make sure that never happens moving forward.

Aria takes Serena's nod as a yes before she exclaims "Well you're in luck, I've managed to find a partner who will provide a variety of options of clothing in our price range we set. Due to the good nature of our cause they have given us a decent level of discount."

Serena smiles brightly at the great news as she replies "That's perfect Aria, and all those outfits will be available for free to lend on the day of the showcase? Also what brand have you patterned up with?"

Aria checks her notes as she explains "Of course they will Serena, you've made that pretty clear to us to say the least. The clothing brand is not a household name, but they are an up and comer by the looks of things. They've even got a high end store in Lumiose city. I believe their name was something along the lines of AG designs."

Serena shrugs her shoulders a little as she replies "I've never heard of them, but I was never expecting some major brand to partner up with us over this. I'll take a look at some of their designs later though. I want to do a little research and quality control before we sign this off."

Aria smiles a little as she exclaims "Like I said they're an up and comer and they want to use this opportunity to get their names out there. Speaking of which that brings me onto the one thing I had to throw in to sweeten the potential deal. You doing a photoshoot for them to promote not only their brand, but this new free clothing policy to anyone looking to start up with showcases this season."

Serena takes in that stipulation and is honestly okay with the terms. While she's sure this brand is not up to her usual standard of wear, she's fine with doing something like this to get a good cause over the line. Plus she can't lie, she does love showing off with a good photoshoot. These days Ash is basically her personal cameraman when it comes to these things, but doing another professionally shot shoot sounds like fun. Although one day, she definitely would love to do one of these shoots with Ash!

She soon shakes that thought off as she nods her head yes and replies "Sure, that's okay with me. So when is all this scheduled?"

Aria checks Serena's schedule as she exclaims "Well, not until after the Indigo league obviously, and not during the time you've booked out to be in Galar. So probably in between there sometime. I'll give you a few days to rest up after the league so, how about a few days before the first rookie class showcase? You and Ash can spend a few days in Kalos before heading straight over to Galar from there."

Serena takes in Aria's words and looking at the schedule that makes the most sense. She's already scheduled to spend a day in Kalos for the first showcase of the year so she may as well spend a few days there instead. Ash should be able to come with her too which is a bonus, and she's sure he'll find something to do while she's in shoots or putting on performances at the opening rookie class showcases.

The Kalos queen smiles as she finally replies "That sounds good to me, so is there anything else we need to talk about?"

Aria nods as she explains "Yeah one more major thing, the Galar league performance schedule. I need you to send over your final list of performers so I can start arranging things like accommodation. You'll be surprised at how busy it can get in Galar at that time of year. With all the celebrities and the announcement of you and Ash being there, it's caused quite the stir."

Serena places a small smile on her face as she remarks "Don't worry, all my performers are in place and ready to go. I just need to get confirmation from one final participant. As for accommodation, me and Ash still need to find out where we're going to base ourselves."

Aria places a small frown on her face as she replies "You know that's kind of my job to sort out Serena."

Serena nods as she explains "I know it is, but me and Ash have sort of enjoyed this house sharing thing enough to the point where we'd want to do it again in Galar. However we can't really find anyplace appropriate. We want somewhere that's comfortable enough, but also big enough that we can find private time away from Chloe and Goh. Since they are our responsibility it's probably best we stay under the same roof so we can keep an eye on them. One of our friends has mentioned an option but we're still waiting on confirmation from him."

Aria takes in Serena's words and can see why she would want such a place, while chuckling slightly at the mention of private time. She soon decides to move the conversation along as she replies "That makes sense, but be careful not to scar those kids if you know what I mean. I'll keep a look out for you and let you know if anything else comes up."

Serena smiles at her agent as she remarks "Thanks Aria, and don't worry we'll be careful. We have a thing called self control you know. So, is that everything or is there still more to discuss?"

Aria smirks a little as she playfully exclaims "That's it for business Serena, so now we get to talk as friends and have a little girl talk. You know I need you to give me the gossip from around the plateau."

Serena giggles a little at Aria's playfulness, and how nice it is to have a friend as a manager. She soon starts up the conversation again, as the two girls begin their conversation.
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Serena and Aria spend the next two hours on the meeting to each other, talking about everything there is to talk about. Relationships, drama, rumours, you get the picture.

After they finish talking rubbish for lack of a better word, Aria gives Serena a few final warnings about tonight's talk show before she finally lets the Kalos queen go.

By that point it's about mid afternoon, and Serena is pretty hungry. However, that all soon changes as she heads down the stairs to see that Ash has cooked them up a big lunch to fill them up before tonight's talk show appearance.

Obviously Ash's considerate nature makes Serena's heart leap with happiness as she can't help but feel blessed by how sweet her boyfriend is.

The two of them soon sit down and share a sort of quiet romantic lunch together with Serena explaining to Ash all the details from her meeting.

For the most part Ash is pretty happy with all the details he's been given, with him obviously okay with them spending a few days in Kalos before the Galar trip. At the end of the day Kalos is Serena's home nation, even if she is originally from Kanto. He's got no problem spending time at her home, even if the reason for this trip is work related.

However, he is a little upset by the fact he never considered the cost of showcases on Serena when she was first starting out. Sure he was a dense head back then, but that still doesn't make things right. Had he had known he would have definitely gone out and bought her a few things to help with the cost that's for sure.

After lunch, they both do the dishes before they spend some time doing various chores around the house. After that Ash sits down to play a few games on his console, with Serena obviously happy to sit and watch.

However, that doesn't last too long as the time comes to get ready for tonight's talk show.

Serena starts by taking a shower to freshen up before ordering Ash to do the same after of course he got himself pretty sweaty during his training session.

Once she is showered, Serena puts on her bath robe before sitting at her desk to do her hair and make up. Ash soon finishes up to as he dries himself off before putting on the outfit that Serena has asked him to wear.

Ash soon stands in front of the mirror as he takes in his look for tonight. He is wearing a light grey suit with a white shirt underneath. His feet are covered by a pair of black smart shoes and a grey tie sits on his neck. His raven hair still flows pretty freely with Serena herself asking him to keep it that way because she likes the messy look as much as he does. His usual accessories such as his mega watch, Dynamax band and black Z ring still sit on his wrists.

Knowing that Serena is going to take her time to get ready, Ash retreats down to the living room to chill out with the pokemon for a bit. Serena's Aerodactyl, Pikachu, Sylveon and Delphox are all out of their pokeballs with the older two being on babysitting duty for tonight.

As for Ash's team, Bulbasaur and Pikachu are out of their pokeballs with those two being in charge of watching over the house for tonight. Ash and Serena have only decided to take one Pokemon each with them tonight, Charizard and Absol, just in case they run into any trouble. Of course there are security teams around such venues, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

A further hour goes by until Ash suddenly hears a usual angelic voice echo "Okay Ash, I'm coming down now!"

Suddenly, the stairs in the house creak as Serena starts to make her way down them. She soon arrives in the living room as she flashes her boyfriend a bright smile. She does a small twirl as she winks and questions "So, how do I look Ashy?"

Ash stares at his girlfriend as he takes in the creation sent down by Arceus in front of him. Her face is completely made up with light touches of makeup, while her hair is styled with small curls to look as alluring as it can. It's obvious to Ash why Serena refuses to use a personal stylist for such occasions as today. She simply doesn't need one!

The dress she is wearing is silver, with many sequins that make it glisten against her pale complexion. The dress itself is strapless and it's pretty long with it reaching down to the floor. However, the small rip down the leg makes it so much more captivating, with her current stance giving Ash a nice view of her toned milky white legs. Not mention how perfectly fitting everything is, faintly showing off a few of her many beautiful curves.

A pair of silver heels sit on her feet to match the dress, looking a little less than comfortable to walk in. Her grandmother's diamond earrings sit comfortably in her ears, and the necklace Ash bought her sits between the space left from her face and chest. Her pink Z ring sits on one wrist while her lucky blue ribbon is tied to the other for good luck.

The words to describe her finally leave Ash's mouth as he exclaims "You look gorgeous princess. I absolutely love it!"

Serena smiles at her boyfriend, taking in his own look. She knew that suit would look good on him, the only problem it might look too good. She'd never say it in front of the younger Pokemon, but she kind of wishes she could cancel this event right now and have Ash all to herself! If she could, she'd rip that shirt off him and give some of his faintly showing muscles a rub!

She soon shakes off some of those more steamy thoughts as she replies "Ah thanks Ashy, and you look really handsome yourself. We're matching too with the silver and grey. You know everyone is going to love that."

Ash nods in agreement as he exclaims "Yeah I'm sure they will, and that's good for the social media reach I suppose."

Serena giggles a little as she replies "I'd say it's called couple goals. You know I think it's pretty cute."

Ash chuckles a little as the two move closer to each other. Ash wraps his arms around Serena's waist while she moves her's around his neck. The Alola champion smirks a little as he exclaims "Your also cute my angel."

The two of them lean in and share a quick kiss, knowing that there probably won't be too much kissing going on once they actually manage to get inside the venue for tonight.

The two of them soon break apart, hearing a car horn sound outside the house. Serena sighs a little, wanting to kiss Ash for a little longer as she remarks "Well, it looks like the limo is here."

Ash chuckles a little as he exclaims "We're seriously taking your limo to a studio? Man Palermo loves this whole high standards for the Kalos queen thing."

Serena giggles at Ash's point as she replies "You don't even know half of it. I'm just glad my driver is still willing to pick us up after he picked me up drunk last time. He didn't even report the incident to Palermo which is a relief."

Ash nods as he explains awkwardly "Well, I may have told him that if he reported you that I'll be asking Pikachu to shock him."

Serena sighs at Ash's point as she questions "Are you being serious?"

Ash shakes his head and casually remarks "I'm joking baby, now let's go."

Serena rolls her eyes and playfully hits Ash's arm as they break up their embrace. They both say goodbye to the pokemon with Serena giving them a warning to be good or there'll be no pokepuffs. The Pokemon promise to be on their best behaviour before the amour couple take their leave.

They both head to the limo and greet Serena's driver, sharing a few laughs about the incident a few weeks ago. Soon the amour couple climb in the back as the driver takes off and begins to drive them towards the studio.
______________________________

About half hour later, Ash and Serena arrive at the TV studio with the driver pulling up around a barried entrance. Almost instantly, the pair of them are ambushed by screaming fans from all directions as they make the their way towards the entrance to the building. They both smile and wave politely to the many fans before they make their way inside.

Once inside, a producer welcomes them both and takes them off towards their very own comfort room. This room is essentially like a dressing room, with the extras of buffets worth of food, drinks, a tv set and even an old fashioned arcade machine.

Naturally, Ash hits the buffet with him grabbing a plate with mountains worth of food stacked to the ceiling.

Serena finds herself sighing at her boyfriend's appetite while folding up some napkins to put over his shirt so he doesn't get any crumbs or stains on his new suit right before the start of the show.

As for the Kalos queen she only eats a little, with her conscious of looking bloated in this dress before going in front of the cameras. Of course she looks immaculate no matter what, but that's just what her insecurities make her do sometimes.

After eating, the two of them take a seat at this old school arcade machine to see what it's all about. Soon their competitive nature takes over as they find themselves try harding in a bunch of old school arcade games such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

Naturally they place little playful bets on these matches and Serena wins the majority of matches as usual to leave Ash a little frustrated. She does calm him down pretty quickly though with sweet words and her secret puppy dog eyes.

Before they know it it's their turn to appear on the show as the producer informs them. They both stop acting like children and regain control of themselves as they get ready to go on.

They are soon lead to a waiting area right before the set as they wait for them both to be introduced. As they wait Ash can't help but notice a tv set with a familiar face front and centre.

Lance is on the show they are about to be on, in the interview segment before them. He sits on a sofa with one male and female presenter opposite him. Despite this being a formal show, he's dressed in his usual street attire with a bored expression on his face.

Ash soon raises an eyebrow as he turns towards Serena and exclaims "I didn't know Lance was would be on the show before us."

Serena giggles a little at her boyfriend's innocence before she exclaims "Of course he is Ash. This battle coming up is one of the biggest in  the history of the Indigo league. Everybody is trying to snag an interview with either one of you so it's no surprise that he's on this show as well."

Ash smiles a little sheepishly as he admits "Oh sorry, I sort of forget how big these battles are these days. I don't realise that loads of people are watching me."

Serena feels her heart melt at how cute Ash can be as she replies "That's a good thing Ash, it makes you stay humble and focus on the battle itself. Me personally I find it quite a cute way of looking at things."

In the studio, Lance continues his interview as the female presenter questions "So Lance, what are your thoughts on your upcoming opponent?"

Lance folds his arms over as he exclaims "Ash is an exceptional young trainer with the skill to match his enthusiasm. His resume speaks for itself and I'm extremely impressed by his efforts thus far. Me and my dragons are expecting a tough match."

The male presenter raises an eyebrow as he continues on "That does surprise me Lance, to hear you talk about your opponent with so much respect. Usually this time of year you seem a little bored of the Pokémon league. But this year is different and you almost seem excited to be going into your title defence."

Lance shrugs his shoulders as he exclaims "It's simple, I'm going up against an opponent who has earned my respect with his achievements. He's a champion and I don't take that lightly."

The female presenter smirks a little as she remarks "Well that brings me on perfectly to my final question. What do you plan on doing to stop Ash's momentum and take the victory?"

Lance smirks a little himself as he explains "I'm not going to give away any secrets. Ash is a tough battler but I'm not so bad myself. We'll both have plenty of tricks up our sleeves and I know we'll be at our best. I know for a fact that if he wins, he's going to have to earn it."

The female presenter looks down the camera as she announces "Well there you have it folks, Lance is 100% ready for his upcoming battle with Ash and is quite complimentary of his young opponent. But we all know him, the moment him and his team of dragons step onto the battlefield there are bound to be fire works. Speaking of his opponent, the Alola champion Ash Ketchum will be joining us on set after the break. But not just him, his girlfriend and the youngest Kalos queen in history Serena Yvonne will also be joining us too. So don't go anywhere folks!"

The show cuts to a break as Lance gets off his seat. He shakes a few hands before he walks away from the set as fast as he possibly can while getting a round of applause from the studio audience.

He makes his way backstage through the curtain, before spotting a pair a of familiar faces. He instantly shakes his head a little as he exclaims "You know I do this talk show every year and it's never a big deal, but you two have certainly changed that. I mean it's to the point where the actual champion isn't even on last anymore.

Ash scratches the back of his head nervously as she replies "I'm sorry I guess, we don't try and be popular it just sort of happened. If it was up to me we'd have been able to skip this and spend the next few days relaxing before our battle."

Lance snickers a little at the young champion's point before exclaims "It's not your fault, it's just what happens when the media find their target. Still I must congratulate you. I challenged you to beat my elite 4 and you did. Each and every one of them were impressed by your skill. I was personally pretty impressed by your abilities on the battlefield, and your willingness to do what you needed to do to win."

Ash takes the compliment from the champion of two regions and smirks a little as he replies in a competitive tone "I appreciate the kind words, but I can't take your praise yet. I set out to take your titles and that's exactly what I plan on doing. I know it's going to be tough but I believe in myself and my Pokémon. You better bring your A game because in 3 days time you're going to be in a battle for your life."

Lance chuckles a little at Ash's words before he exclaims "That's good, because I won't accept anything less than you being at your best. I have been an elite 4 member and a champion for a long time but I have never been this excited for a battle. Not since a certain someone you know came into my dragons chamber all those years ago. You and Agatha spoke so I know you know what I'm talking about."

Ash's eyes widen in shock for a second before he catches his surprise. It's obvious that the person Lance is referring to is Red. Ash knew they battled before but he had no idea that Lance knew he's his son. But then again, Professor Oak did warn him that there was a good chance that stuff like this may happen. After all they knew his father well, and unfortunately Ash knows himself that they do share some very similar features in terms of how they look.

Serena clocks onto what Lance is referring to as well and quickly grabs Ash's hand for comfort as she warns "Mr Lance, Ash doesn't like talking about this stuff or being compared to that man. Please can you not talk about him or reveal anything about him and Ash to anyone else."

Lance places his hands in a defensive position as he replies "Relax Ms Yvonne, I've known for a long time now and I don't intend to tell anyone. Professor Oak has already briefed me on the situation. All I wanted to say to Ash was this. Don't worry about the past, because you are your own man. Make your own path and stride to be better."

Ash takes in Lance's words and actually feels a little reassured by them. The advice is actually really good advice, and does make sense in a lot of ways. A small smile soon grows onto Ash's face as he remarks "Thanks Lance, I'll keep it in mind."

Suddenly, the three of them are snapped out of their thoughts as the male presenter announces "Now ladies and gentlemen it is time to welcome our final guests for tonight's show. Please welcome to the set the Kalos queen Ms Serena Yvonne, and the Alola champion Ash Ketchum from Pallet town!"

The studio audience put their hands together and begin to cheer as they await the arrival of the amour couple.

Lance smirks a little as he exclaims "Looks like you guys are up, now if you want my advice just say what you need to say and get out of there. Those journalists love to cause a stir."

Ash and Serena both look at each other and smile before they walk out of backstage area and onto set with their hands intertwined.

Almost instantly the cheers get louder as every camera points towards the two of them. They both smile and wave with their other hand as they make their way towards the presenters. They both shake hands with them before they take a seat on the sofa opposite them with their hands still intertwined.

As they do Ash takes a second to inspect the tv set. There are so many bright lights and cameras around that it honestly speaking makes it a little hard to count just how many there are. Out of sight of the cameras there is a live studio audience with as many people packed into the stands as possible.

The only strange thing to Ash is a bunch of journalists sat to the side out the way, all preparing to write tomorrow's headlines based on what he says now. That thought does kind of make him a little nervous, but Serena squeezing his hand a little tighter brings him back to reality and provides him with some form of comfort of knowing he's not alone.

With the amour couple situated and comfortable, the female presenter kicks things off as she exclaims "Well first things first, it's lovely to finally have you both on the show. You guys are the talk of the town when it comes to everything and I can't wait to pick your brains. But I want to start with you first Ash. How are you feeling after winning the elite 4 challenge?"

Ash shrugs as he honestly answers "Honestly a little tired after the battle itself. I mean you guys would have saw I nearly fell over trying to get back to the tunnel. I was just lucky that Serena was there to help me. But now after I feel pretty good, but my no means am I finished or in the mood to celebrate just yet. I came to this league with a clear goal to take home the championship title and that's exactly what I intend to do."

The studio audience applaud Ash's answer, finding what he says pretty relatable." The male presenter places a small smile on his face as he continues "Over the last two years you've had somewhat of a meteoric rise as a trainer. From the Kalos league final, to winning your first Pokémon league to now taking on your first champion in an official battle. Just how do you sum up such a busy period in your life?"

Ash thinks about his answer for a second before he exclaims "I don't really think about it if I'm being honest. I'm sure one day when I'm older I'll reflect on my entire journey but right now I just like to live in the moment. But yeah it's been pretty wild and it's matured me into a better person. There have been tough times for sure, especially when the Alola region was under attack. But it's also probably been the best period of my life. I've won battles, achieved some of my goals, met all kinds of cool people and Pokemon. I've even got to connect with some of my old friends and Pokemon too. But the biggest thing that's happened over that time has been Serena. Learning about love and establishing our relationship has been the best part of it all. Sure I've made mistakes but I wouldn't change learning about all this stuff because it's made us who we are."

The audience let off little"awwww," sounds at Ash's sweet talk. It's not often they get to see some of his more softer side, considering he's always on the battlefield constantly. But in this interview people get to see a little more of the man off the battlefield and in his more relaxed state of mind.

The female presenter smiles as she exclaims "Moving onto you Serena. Your life has been quite the rollercoaster I'd imagine over the last 2 years as well. From relatively unknown performer to the Kalos queen. How do you sum it all up?"

Serena smiles brightly as she replies "It's been the best time of my life for sure! I mean I found my dream and accomplished it. Now I'm doing my dream job and supporting the boy of my dreams too. If you'd have told me two years ago that I would have been in this position I wouldn't have believed you for even a second. But now I'm here and I wouldn't change a thing. Each day is a new adventure and I'm still learning so much. Whether that be about performing, my role as Kalos queen or about being the best girlfriend I can be. I'm treasuring each moment and I'm looking forward to what the future has to offer."

The male presenter smiles at the Kalos queen's humble response before he continues "Well I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing how you both continue to grow as time passes. Speaking of which, recently you dabbled your fingers into something a little different by releasing your own album. It's quickly become a best seller and is already getting shouts to included in the nominations for this year's best debut album. Can you tell us all a little about why you decided to make music?"

Serena nods as she explains "Well, I've always enjoyed music since I was a little girl. I'm one of those people who can just put on a good album and sit back to listen to the lyrics for hours. I personally probably annoy Ash quite a bit by how much music I play around the house. I sing while cooking, while I'm in the shower or even while doing house work. I started writing my own songs when I was bored one night during my Hoenn journey. They were a way to express my feelings and let out some of the emotions I had built up inside. I never really considered actually making any tracks though until Ash heard me singing away in the shower one night. After that he convinced me to give it a try and that's when I made the song I did for my masterclass showcase performance. Once I became Kalos queen Aria gave me the platform I needed to make an album but I still needed the equipment. Ash being the amazing boyfriend he is got me that equipment for Christmas and the rest is history."

The audience cheer at the story about Serena's album, always finding the current Kalos queen so human with how she answers questions. She not some PR robot like a lot of celebrities tend to be but genuinely pretty fun to listen to.

The female host smiles at how well this interview is going as she continues "You briefly mentioned there that you tend to sing around the house, well we have got word that you guys have actually been living together during the indigo league tournament. Care to comment on that?"

Ash decides to answer first as he exclaims "From my perspective it's been great to have our own little place to go to relax after all the stress of such important battles. Living together has been fun and we've been pretty seem less I'd say. I can't think of any issues we've had so far."

Serena nods her head in agreement as she adds "I'd say the exact same thing. Living together has been great and we've really enjoyed the space to ourselves. Don't get us wrong, we love staying at our mom's homes but we are getting a little older and we are used to being away from them with us being on the road all the time. So yeah it's been pretty natural I'd say."

The male presenter raises an eyebrow as he questions "Is that something you'd be looking to make permanent in the near future?"

Ash shrugs his shoulders as he exclaims "We've discussed it once or twice, but we're still only 18 and there's no rush. Besides with us constantly travelling around as much as we do we'd never have the opportunity to even use our own house."

Serena takes a grasp of her blue ribbon as she adds "Ash's thoughts are exactly my own, but I'd love to eventually move in together when we decide to settle down one day. But we're not planning on doing that anytime soon so I won't be giving away anymore than that."

The audience all let off little mummers about the couple's relationship, sort of taking the hint that those two already are having discussions about settling down in the future.

The female presenter smiles as she continues on "Let's talk about the Indigo league. Most people only really focus on what it's like out on the battlefield. But as someone who is in a relationship with one of the competitors, what is it like behind the scenes Serena?"

Serena takes a small sigh as she explains "I'm not going to lie it's been super stressful, but the elation I get from seeing Ash do well is so worth it. I love watching him battle, especially with how happy he is doing it. But those more intense battles where the result is up in the air are certainly tough to watch. My heart beats so fast sometimes that I feel like it's about to burst out of my chest. But behind the scenes I just try my best to make sure Ash is relaxed, and as mentally prepared as he can possibly be. I'm not sure if I actually do anything to help but I always try."

Ash shakes his head a little as he adds "Serena's totally being modest because she hates taking credit, she totally helps behind the scenes and makes things so much easier for me. She's honestly my secret weapon and I know how important she is to my success in this tournament. If it wasn't for her I can almost guaranteed I would have never have made it past the elite 4 challenge. I appreciate what she does for me so much and I'm not going to let her down play herself."

The studio audience smile at Ash's clear appreciation of his girlfriend's support while Serena blushes slightly about Ash saying such nice things about her in public.

The male announcer smiles as he continues "So with the battle fast approaching, everyone is dying to know what you are going to do to defeat Lance and take both his championship titles. Over this tournament you have used a variety of different pokemon. So who in this match up will you be using?"

Ash smirks a little as he replies "Well, I can't really say too much about who I'll be using. All I know is that all my pokemon will be ready if they are called upon. I'll be bringing a strong team that I know will be able to compete at the highest level and show Lance exactly what we're all about."

The female presenter smirks a little and tries to edge him in the direction of revealing something as she exclaims "Come on Ash, we know you know exactly who you're going to bring. But the fans would love to know. With your powerful Charizard having been rested throughout this elite 4 challenge, surely he's a candidate. Not to mention your starter pokemon Pikachu has been left on the bench as of late. Then there's the duo of Sceptile and Infernape who have both had impressive showings in this tournament. Heracross too has had some really strong performances against Harrison and Karen. There's also Lycanroc and Krookadile who haven't seen any time on the battlefield yet, despite their powerful past performances. Finally, your ace Pokemon the all powerful and mysterious Greninja has still not made a single appearance at this tournament. One of these at least has to be coming right?"

Ash just chuckles a little as he gives in and replies "I guess I'll give you an obvious one. Pikachu will be with me for the battle, but whether he competes or not I'll let you debate about. He's my first Pokémon so obviously he's going to be with me at least for such a big match. He's my best friend and we started this journey together so I want him with me for all the big moments. Sorry Gary by the way but Pikachu is my best friend not you. No hard feelings."

The audience lets off small chuckles at Ash's point, clearly knowing who the young champion is referring to.

The presenters let the audience have their little chuckle for a second before the female presenter steps in and questions "Your Pikachu is actually something I wanted to talk to you about. He's so strong that it's actually a little unnatural for his species. How did you train him to get this strong? Is there some sort of secret to training Pikachus that we as a society don't know about."

Ash scratches the back of his head nervously as he exclaims "I wouldn't really say there's a secret as such. We've just both worked hard and gotten stronger over the years. Pikachu is the most determined little guy I've ever met and he has gotten me out of so many sticky situations. He's a loyal friend who will go beyond his limits to help me out in a tough battle. But if he does have a secret as to why he's so strong, then it's probably his love for ketchup. He loves ketchup more than any other food I've ever tried to give him. Ketchup isn't even food and I'm saying that!"

The male presenter raises an eyebrow in confusion as he questions "I'm sorry, but your Pikachu loves ketchup?"

Serena decides to step in and answer the question as she explains "It's true, Pikachu loves his ketchup. It's a little strange we know but there's no evidence to suggest that him having such a thing is bad for him. In fact it might even be a good thing for him judging by some of his results in battle. Although I think my Sylveon would probably disagree with that statement. Between Pikachu and his daughter the two of them go through like 10 bottles a week. I'm only hoping that if Sylveon and Pikachu decide to have another child that they won't completely be obsessed with ketchup too. Otherwise I'm going to need to get a bigger bag!"

The audience slightly chuckle at Serena's words, finding her and Ash's struggle against Pikachu's love for ketchup a little comedic.

The female presenter scratches her head for a second before she exclaims "That was a little odd to hear about but I guess we can put that one under the theory column. Anyway moving onto your battle Ash. I want to ask your opinion on your opponent. Lance seemed to be pretty complimentary of you earlier, so I wanted to get your thoughts on him."

Ash takes a second to think before he exclaims "Well, I've only ever really spoken to Lance on a few occasions but he seems pretty cool. Sure he's a little intimidating with that whole army of dragons thing but he seems like a good guy. But even before I met him I used to look up to him. I can still remember back to when I was a kid and he first became champion. As someone who was aspiring to be a pokemon trainer, I thought him and his Dragonite were the coolest things ever. I always wanted to grow up to be as strong as him, so I could get to the point where I could beat him and become champion of both Kanto and Johto myself."

Serena steps in as she adds "I can attribute to that. I remember when me and Ash were just 8 years old, watching Lance's first televised battle after he was announced the new champion. That day is a whole other story in itself that lead to us both getting grounded but that's besides the point. I was never really into pokemon battles but I can remember watching Ash's cute little 8 year old face light up every time he saw him on screen. I can tell he was a little inspired by him and wanted to be like him. He was really hyper watching that battle and I knew right then that Pokémon battles would always be his thing."

Ash scratches the back of his head a little as he replies "Yeah you're totally right. I was kind of a fan boy to put it bluntly. Do you remember what we said to each other after the battle though Serena?"

Serena smiles as she exclaims "Of course I do Ash, you're the forgetful one. I made a comment about Lance's Dragonite being strong and in response you shouted something along the lines of how one day you were going to beat Lance and become the champion. I felt inspired by your positive attitude and told you that I know you will and that I believed in you. I think after that you mentioned travelling together too, before things went to hell and we got caught. But I still mean what I said back then, about believing that you can do this."

The audience members applaud Serena's support as Ash turns towards his girlfriend and mouths "Thank you."

The two soon lean in and share a quick kiss, causing those in the audience to clap even louder in support of the young celebrity couple who have captured the hearts of the world with their story.

The applause soon dies down as the camera zooms in on the female presenter. A bright smile coats her face as she exclaims "Such a beautiful story about a brewing young love that has now sparked into a wonderful relationship. Listening to you two talk has been a privilege but I'm afraid that we're unfortunately running out of time.  The battle between Ash and Lance has been years in the making and it is now only a few days away from finally taking place. The young champion will clash with the experienced dragon type master in a battle that is sure to be special. The best part is it's fast approaching. Tune in live at the indigo...."

All of a sudden, the presenter stops talking as she hears her ear piece ringing. She places a small frown on her face as she sighs at the interruption.  She soon recovers as professionally as you would expect as she smiles down the camera and explains "Excuse me ladies and gentleman but I'm getting an urgent alert through my ear piece from the higher ups."

She clicks a button on said ear piece as she begins a conversation with someone backstage.

"What is it?"

"This news better be urgent, I was about to finish the outro"

"What do you mean don't let Ash or Serena go anywhere, it's the end of our scheduled time with them?"

"Wait are you serious!?"

"No there's no way that can be true!?"

"You say we've been provided with evidence."

"It's all over the news?"

"And you want me to ask them right now?"

"This seems a little too personal. Can't we just leave them be. They're just kids?"

"Okay fine I'll ask."

The presenter clicks the button to turn off her ear piece as the audience look over at her and raise eyebrows.

The journalists all begin to take phone calls before small gasps are heard as they frantically write down details on their notepads.

Ash and Serena both feel their hearts beat faster as they face each other with worried looks on their faces. They both lock their hands tighter and intertwine their fingers, knowing whatever happens they aren't letting each other go and be without the other one. No matter what this is, they're sticking together!

The female presenter faces the audience as she exclaims "We've just had some breaking news through that we've been asked to reveal to you all. Our studio as well as many other news outlets have received undeniable evidence of Ash's original birth certificate and parental status. There's no easy way of saying this but, Ash Ketchum is the son of the disgraced former champion. Red Ketchum!"

The studio audience instantly gasp in surprise as murmurs go around the studio.

The journalists all instantly stand up begin to ask questions rapidly while telling their camera crews to begin filming such an historic moment right here right now.

Ash feels himself sinking into his chair as he feels himself shake with nerves and emotion. The world has just found out that his dad was a monster. They've just found out while he's live in the studio.

He's not naive, he knows what this means. The ghost of his legacy that already follows him now becomes reality. His life has just been flipped on his head, and now when people look at him they're not going to see him for who he is. Everybody is going to see him for who his father was. The monster who gave into darkness and abandoned his family, abandoned the entire region right when he was seen as the hero.

The questions from the reporters begin to get even more complicated as Ash slowly but surely becomes more uncomfortable by the second.

"Ash, why did you hide who your father was?"

"Why did he abandon his pokemon and take such a tragic heel turn?"

"Have you ever spoken to Red, do you know where he is?"

"Who tampered with your birth certificate, the police are surely going to want answers?"

"Ash, are you just like your father? Do you treat your Pokémon with the same harshness he did?"

"Were you the reason he went insane, why did he even take such a drastic turn?"

"Your father is one of the most despicable men on this earth. If history has taught us anything the apple usually doesn't fall far from the tree. Do you have the same violent tendencies as he did?"

Ash just sits there sinking into his chair, shaking more and more by the second. He never wanted this to happen, he never could prepare for this to happen. Now that it's here he doesn't know what do. He feels completely frozen, with no sense of feeling at all in his body.

Seeing as though Ash is clearly not going to answer any questions, the vulture like journalists turn their attention towards the Kalos queen and begin to bombard her with questions.

"Serena, how do you feel about this shocking revelation?"

"Ms Yvonne, did you have any clue who Ash's father was. Does this affect your relationship moving forward?"

"Serena, how does it feel to be dating the son of a man who abandoned his family?"

"Is Ash just like his father with his pokemon, or is this all an act?"

"Serena, we've all heard about Red's aggressive tendencies in the past. Is Ash the same behind the scenes. Are you safe in your relationship? He doesn't hurt you does he?"

"Serena, does it not concern you that you are dating a man whose father abandoned his new born child. What's there to stop his son doing the same thing?"

At this point Serena has heard about enough. Sure she tries to stay respectful in front of the press but when you disrespect her and her man then you take things too far.

Her heart completely melts looking at Ash. His smile completely wiped off his face as he shivers with fear of what will happen to him next, no idea what will happen to them after this. If the press wants to act like such vultures then she's not afraid to unleash her inner demon as well.

She stands up off her seat and folds her arms out as she bellows "Will you all stop asking such stupid questions!? Can't you see what you're doing to Ash!? You're upsetting him by asking so many questions about a subject he's clearly not comfortable with! Can't you be human for a second?"

The audience are a little shocked by Serena's aggressive response, but also somewhat proud of her for standing up for her man in the way she is. It shows them all that this was no secret between the two, and that clearly she doesn't think he's the same as Red.

One of the journalists shakes his head as he exclaims "We're the media and we can ask what we dam well please! This is an historic moment and your boyfriend needs to answer for his crimes!"

Oh you messed up.

Serena can't hold back her emotions as she shakes her head and scolds "Well I'm the Kalos queen and he's the Alola champion, so if you want to make this a game of who's got the bigger titles then guess what, you going to lose. Pay for his crimes, what the crime of being the son of man he's never fucking met!? How stuck up and self entitled are you? Just look at the poor boy! He's his own man and is not like his dad was! By your logic I'm a Ryhorn racer, or a businesswoman with no sense or kindness? Ash is not like that man and I know he won't do any of those things to me. He's the sweetest, most beautiful man on this planet and I won't have that questioned by someone trying to make headlines! You just want to cause drama and try to put a divide in a healthy relationship. Well guess what? You're out of luck, because I'm sticking by Ash and he's going to stick by me forever! Write that as your headline you son of a bitch!"

The studio audience stand in shock for a second at Serena's sudden defensive attitude, as well as some of her language, before they all stand up and applaud her for defending her boyfriend in such a way. It's obvious to those watching that the media were taking things too far, and Serena simply had to step in to defend the one she loves.

Serena scowls for a second at the reporters, warning them not to test her patience. If they do anymore she's definitely grabbing Charizard's pokeball and giving him full permission to seismic toss anyone he wants, She soon turns around to face her boyfriend as her expression softens, looking at his concerned face. She takes him by the hand and exclaims "We'll be taking no more questions during this time. I'd appreciate that you give us some privacy during a very emotional time."

The Kalos queen smiles down at her boyfriend and softly remarks "Ash, let's take you home okay."

Ash just nods while looking directly at the floor, not ready to face the audience or even Serena with every thought running through his mind.

Serena takes him by the hand and practically drags Ash out of the studio. She soon makes it to her limo where she puts Ash in the back seat before joining him.

The driver knows exactly what's happened and doesn't hesitate to drive off, trying to get the amour couple away from that whirlwind as fast as possible.
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The drive back to the amour couple's house is an awkward one, with Ash just sitting still and frozen as he contemplates what has just happened. He still hasn't said a word since the announcement, not really knowing what to say.

While Serena wants to just sit and comfort him as much as possible, she really can't at the moment with all the other things she's juggling.

First things first, she's obviously had Delia on the phone asking about how her son is. In this situation Serena would want Ash to have his mom with him to help him through such a thing, but unfortunately that's not really an option.

The press have figured out where her, professor Oak and the rest of Ash's friends are staying and have practically barricaded them into one of the rooms while trying to ask as many questions as possible. To add to the stress of the situation, the police have also arrived to restrict the reporters and question the legality of how Professor Oak kept this a secret for so long.

While Serena knows they'll be okay, she is a little worried about what Delia must be going through. All she can really do is reassure her and promise her that she'll take care of Ash.

To add to that, Palermo and Aria have been calling non stop about the situation. Initially Serena thought she was in for a scolding for how she handled the media, but she actually got a lot of praise from the two about how she handled the rude journalists.

All the two really are trying to do is run PR behind the scenes and get certain journalists band from ever entering one of Serena's shows again. Unfortunately for a lot of these moves they need Serena's approval which is why she constantly finds herself being bombarded.

Soon the driver pulls up outside the house, with no reporter thankfully insight due to the security around their house.

Serena quickly gets out the limo before taking Ash out with her. She mouths a thank you to the driver who tips his hat before driving off as quick as possible to give the couple the privacy they need.

The Kalos queen soon opens the front door and steps inside the house, taking Ash to the living room before sitting him down on the sofa.

As she does she looks around the living room and notices all their pokemon sat around, nonchalantly watching the news as the headlines about the reveal of Ash's father play over and over again.

Serena folds her arms and shakes her head at the lack of understanding their pokemon seem to have as she orders "Right, turn that off this instance. Now listen carefully, Ash needs some space so I want you all to either go upstairs to your room or go back in your pokeballs."

Every Pokemon nods their heads in understanding of what Serena is saying, knowing that the lady who gives them pokepuffs is always in charge when it comes to these situations. They all scamper off upstairs or into their pokeballs to give Ash and Serena some space.

Serena takes a small sigh as they all leave, still trying to process and understand this situation herself. It's like being stuck on the world's worst rollercoaster ride at the moment and she has no idea how she is going to make this all stop.

She soon decides to focus on what's imprortant as she turns towards her boyfriend. Watching him shake and shiver with fear as his lips quiver makes her heart melt in pain for him.

The Kalos queen decides she needs to focus on what's important as she takes a seat next to him on the sofa. She places her hands on his and flashes him a reassuring smile as she whispers "Ash, it's going to okay. I'm here and I'm not leaving your side until you're okay. I can tell you're holding everything inside still. We're alone now and you can let those emotions out."

Hearing Serena's soft, gentle voice reassure him that he's in a safe place to let out his emotions. She's not going to judge him, she'll just let him get everything off his chest and make him feel better.

With that, Ash lets his emotion out as he sniffles before he begins to let off a few tears. He shakes a little as he does, having so much pent up emotion after being called so many different things so quickly. Being accused of being someone that he totally despises.

Serena doesn't hesitate to do her part as she wraps up her boyfriend in a tight embrace. She buries his head in her shoulder as he cries non stop.

She feels her heart breaking, wanting to cry herself for him. However, she knows her crying too isn't going to make this situation any easier. Instead she just holds him in her embrace, rubbing his back with her hand as she whispers "It's okay Ash, I know it hurts so just let it all out. We can speak when you're ready and only when you're ready."

With Serena's comfort Ash finds himself slowly but surley letting all his emotions go. He cries for a few moments longer before he finally stops.

He pulls out from Serena's embrace as he looks her dead in the eye. His eyes are completely bloodshot from crying as a single tear drops down his cheek. He still sniffles a little, while lightly shaking with emotion.

Those red stained eyes make Serena want to cry even more as she feels her heart break for the man she loves. Nevertheless, she stays strong as she takes both of Ash's hands into her own, before leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

That kiss seems to calm something inside of Ash as he stops shaking and looks at his girlfriend with a dejected but more reassured look.

Serena places a small smile on her own face as she exclaims sweetly "There that's better, now take your time before you're ready to say anything about it."

Ash just sighs a little, finally working the cogs in his brain as he tries to come up with actual words to say. He soon manages to string a sentence together as he looks down and mutters in a broken voice "I'm sorry Serena."

Serena frowns a little as she questions "What are you sorry about?"

Ash sighs again before he explains "For shutting down like that. I was just so shocked that anyone found out that I didn't know what to do. I was scared about what they were going to do that I just went into shutdown. I made you look bad in front of all those people didn't I? I'm sorry."

Serena takes in Ash's response and can feel her heart melt at how innocently cute he can be. After all of that the first thing he thinks about is how his actions affected her. That just sums up to her the type of man he is, one that always puts others above himself.

She soon shake off those thoughts as she smiles brightly at him and exclaims "Don't say such things Ash. There's no reason for you to apologise for shutting down the way you did. I can't even imagine how you must have felt. You never make me look bad or negatively affect me in any possible way. As for those journalists, they deserved the earful they got. I'll never ever put my reputation over my relationship with you. They could hate me and I wouldn't care, as long as you and I are still the same."

Ash hears Serena's words and does feel reassured by them. She's clearly laid out that despite the complications with Ash's family situation, she has no intent of doing anything in her professional or personal life to distance herself from the situation. No if he's been put in such an awkward spot, then she's got no problem putting herself in that same scenario and riding out with him.

Ash lets his thoughts drift over him for a second before he remarks in a tone full of frustration "Thanks Serena. It just gets me so upset that's all. I mean I've done nothing wrong and neither have you. Yet people are going to say such horrible things about everyone because of something Red did. I don't know him, I don't care about him. Yet the ghost of his past and his legacy seems to follow me everywhere. Now when people look at me, they're going to see that monster and nothing else."

Serena hates to admit it but he is right. A lot of people are always going to compare Ash to Red now that they know who he is. That doesn't just go for what they do on the battlefield, but off it too. Ash is the sweetest, most innocent guy in the world. Yet he's always going to be judged like he could turn at any moment because of what his father did.

She takes a deep breath before she looks deep into her boyfriend's eyes. She flashes him a bright smile as she exclaims in an encouraging tone "I can't sugar coat things Ash, that's going to be tough for a little while. However, that doesn't always have to be the case. People who support you right now do so because of your personality, who you are and not who he was. I know we can turn things around and make people see you for who you are."

Ash's eyes widen in shock for a second before he questions "Do you really think that's possible Serena? How do we even go about doing that?"

Serena sees a small spark in Ash's eyes and knows she must be at least getting through to him somewhat. She soon gives him a loving look as she replies "Easy, by being yourself. Okay easy may not the best way of putting it but that's the way you'll show everyone that you're not him. As long as you keep to who you are and act like the champion you are, the champion I fell in love with even as a kid. The champion who is determined, loves to battle, is kind to both humans and pokemon and never gives up until the very end! If you do that then people will start to see you for who you are. When you show them how much better you are then what he was they'll have to accept you for who you are. Your own man, one that is so full of good that it's practically bursting out of you. It won't be easy and it'll take time, but I know you can win people over again!"

Ash takes some encouragement from Serena's words, while not really knowing if she's actually right or not. However, if she believes he can do it then that's enough for him, knowing she doesn't just say things this important to him without meaning it.

He soon looks her in the eyes again as he asks truthfully "If you think I can do it then I'll try. But the crowd and the fans reaction in general isn't really the problem. I can block out the noise of them all and focus on what's important. Sure the abuse will be tough to deal with, but I can take it. What really makes me worry, is how my friends are going to see me. You, Gary, mom and Professor Oak are the only ones that know about this. Are they going to look at me differently as well? Are they going to see me like I'm him?"

Serena shakes her head as she replies sweetly "Ash, you already know the answer to that question. Your friends know the real you, and your real friends would never look at you differently after finding out who your father is. They know the Ash they know because of all the adventures you've been on together. They know how amazing you are just like me. In fact I bet if you check your messages right now there will be a few dozen messages from people you call friends and family."

Ash thinks for a second before he decides to take Serena up on her bet. He takes his Rotom phone out of his pocket with one hand, while keeping his other intertwined with Serena's for comfort. He soon opens his messages, finding himself gasping in surprise at what he sees.

Messages from all his travelling companions line up his phone from Kanto all the way to Galar. Each message is a message about how they are thinking of him, or a message of support of some kind.

The messages don't stop at his travelling companions though. Messages from his family too litter the screen, from his mom, Grace and Professor Oak. But it's not just those two. No Ash's Aunt Green and Blue Oak have also reached out to offer their support. Even Professor Burnett and Kukui have left a message to ask if he's okay.

Friends and family are one thing, but it's not just those. No Ash has messages pending from each individual champion and gym leader too, all asking him if he's okay and offering some form of support. In fact some of them have even gone out of their way to post online about the situation and publicly back Ash. Cynthia's post alone already has over 1 million likes and is gathering support at an outstandingly fast rate.

With all those messages coming through, it makes Ash realise that the response isn't all going to be bad. Sure it's going to be tough, but there are people who will stick with him. There are people who will respect who he is and see him for that. If anything, there are people who will respect him more after this.

It's not ideal, but who says that he needs to be down over this. It's time to follow his own advice, to keep moving forward no matter what happens.

With all this in mind, the raven haired champion looks his girlfriend in her big blue cerulean eyes. He lets off a small chuckle before he admits "I guess you're right. I guess I do have friends that will stick by me no matter what. I guess you won that little bet."

Serena feels her heart warm at hearing Ash actually chuckle while a small smile creeps up onto his lips. Usually when she puts a bet on something like this with Ash it's playful and she'll be asking him to do something in return for losing. But in this case she can't help but feel as though the biggest reward is seeing her boyfriend smile again despite the adversity.

A tear almost escapes her eyes as she replies in an emotional tone "I know I'm right Ash, and I know you can beat the odds once again. I'm going to be here with you every single step of the way and I'm not letting you forget the support you have. We'll all get through this together and we'll be stronger for it as always."

Looking at the emotion on Serena's face makes Ash a little mad with himself that he's made Serena look so upset in the first place. But then again, she doesn't really sound upset with him, more with the world itself. If anything, she seems quite proud and supportive of him.

He soon takes her hands again as he looks deep into her eyes and whispers "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Serena giggles a little at the sudden question as she replies "Maybe once or twice?"

Ash's eyes shine with love for the girl in front of him as he simply remarks "Well in that case it's about time I said it a little more. I love you Serena, and thank you for being you."

The Kalos queen's heart is quite literally on fire with love as she whispers "I love you too Ash, more than I could ever put into words."

The couple continue to smile away at each other until they both lean forward in unison. Soon their lips graze on another before they fully meet, starting a passionate kiss of love.

The kiss is one full of love and passion, but also soft and gentle at the same time. It's a kiss to seal a promise, to stick with each other through this tough period and come out of it even stronger. To not let what others say about them affect what they, or who they are and what they represent.

What their love for each other represents.

After a few minutes of making out and smooching each other's faces off, they both pull away and look at each other with beaming smiles.

Serena's voice is full of joy as she exclaims "Now there's the smile I love, none of this frowning and crying anymore."

Ash smiles back at his girlfriend as he simply replies "Well, that's because of my beautiful Kalos queen. She knows exactly what to say and makes everything better. You're so amazing and I appreciate you so much."

Serena can't help but feel loved by her boyfriend's reaction as she dives towards him, locking him in a powerful hug. The Alola champion smiles at the sudden hug before he adjusts his body to allow Serena to lie across his chest.

The two cuddle in for a few minutes, letting all their worries disappear as they both enjoy the peace of their own temporary home.

After a few minutes, Serena breaks that silence as she questions "After all of that, how do you feel now?"

Ash sighs a little as he explains "I'm okay. Just a little frustrated that's all. It's just so annoying that we have to deal with Red's shit. Why should what he did affect what we do now? It's honestly gets me a little angry."

Serena can tell by Ash's voice that he still does have some pent up anger and frustration at the situation at play. Lucky for him she knows a great way to let out some of that anger and frustration, as well as get rid of some of his tension he clearly has.

Warning: Steam!!!

The Kalos queen makes a bold move as she brushes her hand low and whispers "Well, maybe I can do something to help with that. You know, let you do something that can put that anger and frustration to good use."

Ash gasps a little in shock as he looks up at Serena's face, seeing a naughty little smirk plastered all over it. All of a sudden his own eyes steam over with desire, only wanting one thing and one thing only.

Almost instantly, Ash scoops his girlfriend up bridal style, causing her to squeal and giggle furiously with excitement.

He carries her up the stairs before tossing her gently onto their bed. He checks to make sure all their Pokemon are in their Pokeballs or asleep in their room before he locks their bedroom door, so happy this house has sound proof walls.

He strides towards his girlfriend once again as she giggles and exclaims "Do what you need to do to get rid of all that frustration Ashy. Love me until those bad thoughts are out of your head."

Ash looks down at his beautiful girlfriend, her make up still flawless while wearing that same dress and accessories as earlier. He leans down and whispers in her ear "That's exactly what I'm going to do my queen. Remember what you once said to me, make up and then make out."

Without a seconds notice Ash's lips hit Serena's again as the two go on their own journey.

While the news earlier today will always be hard to take, Ash still has all the support he needs with her.

Things will be tough, but he knows they can always get through it together.

No matter how hard things get and no matter what anyone else says

They won't let Red define who Ash is.

They'll never give up until it's over.
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And cut!

Word count: 17033

Well that's it for another chapter.

A shorter one but one full of emotion as you can tell.

The secret is now out in the world, and the amour couple have come closer together to support one another through this tough period.

Obviously the news getting out is going to change how they are looked at moving forward in general, but at least it's not all bad.

There was also some cool teases for the future and was heavily amour based which I know everyone will enjoy given the more battle focused chapters recently.

Speaking of which in the next chapter.

Ash and Lance begin their long awaited battle for the Johto and Kanto titles.

How will Ash start off against his fellow champion?

What Pokémon will he use?

How will he deal with the increased pressure from the crowd now his family status is confirmed?

Well I guess you'll have to find out in the next one.

So on that note. Make sure to vote and comment down below as always.

Have a nice day and I'll see you all soon.

Bye bye :)