"Alright Pansage! Keep using Bullet Seed!" The green haired pokemon connoisseur instructed his grass type pokemon for the fifth type.
"And Bunnelby, keep using Mud Shot!" Clemont followed behind Cilan as the two continued on with assisting Ash with his special training.
Ash locked his eyes on his two pokemon, proud to see how strong they have become. It wasn't too long ago when Noivern was still a Noibat that barely knew how to fly, and now it was flying around the area like a complete pro. And his Talonflame... he could remember when it was just a small Fletchling that was barely able to dodge a few attacks, and now it was dodging a bunch at once. "Talonflame and Noivern! Keep it up!" He encouraged his pokemon who were relentlessly dodging the mix of mud balls and bullet seeds.
Valerie walked over to the practice battlefield with a mysterious guest, surprised to see that the trio was up so early, "Good morning!" She interrupted their intense training session.
"Oh good morning Valerie!" Ash and Cilan greeted the elegant gym leader.
"I'm so sorry for interrupting." She said in her sweet tone, "But you guys are up early."
"Yeah." Ash made a fist, "Need to become stronger for the Kalos League!"
"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu held its two tiny paws up in the air, having a complete understanding of its trainers feelings.
"That's wonderful!" Valerie slightly tilted her head, giving the two boys a smile, "Monsieur Pierre will be making an announcement soon. Don't focus too hard on your training or you won't be able to enjoy the rest of your day."
Ash chuckled knowing that he would have ended up training till night time if Valerie didn't stop for the quick reminder, "We won't..."
"Pardon me, but who is she?" Cilan asked, pointing to the young lady who was standing next to Valerie. She had long, straight, brown hair that flowed down to her waist with straight bangs that stopped just above her square shaped glasses. She had vibrant violet colored eyes with a small nose that was barely able to keep her glasses up. She was just a little taller than Valerie with a thin built, and she wore a lab coat over her blue shirt, and tan capris.
"This is Gladis. She's a robot engineer and she will be helping me out with the futuristic clothing line."
"That's great! I'm Cilan." Cilan introduced himself to the girl, excited to work with another person for Valerie's clothing line, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"And I'm Ash!" Ash waved, garnering her attention, "And this is Pikachu."
"Pikachu!"
"You know my friend Clemont is an inventor himself. I think you guys would get along great! He's standing there next to-" Ash stopped after turning around to see that his blonde haired friend was no longer standing where he was, "He was just there a second ago..." Ash scratched his head confused by Clemont's sudden disappearance.
"Well I do love meeting new inventors... Too bad he left." Gladis sighed.
"Gladis will be spending most of her time in the girls dormitory. She is a very busy person. I'm glad she made the time to be apart of my clothing line." Valerie said before focusing on Cilan, "I enjoyed your inspiration book too Cilan. We should talk about it later."
"Of course Valerie!" Cilan replied in the most professional way he could, but even Ash could tell that was he was all giddy inside from Valerie's approval.
"I'll see you two later!" Valerie waved at the pair as Gladis followed behind her to the girls dormitory.
I wonder where Clemont went... He would have loved this... Ash thought to himself as he scratched his head in wonder, Oh well...
"Hey Ash!" Serena called out to the boy who was already standing by the cherry blossom tree, waiting for what Monsieur Pierre planned for the day, "How was your training?" She asked, running towards him with Bonnie lagging behind her.
"It was great!" He replied, biting his lip as Serena came to a halt in front of him. He was very much familiar with his heart skipping a beat, or his body temperature getting warmer whenever he saw Serena dressed in different clothing or whenever she did something nice for him, but now it was just happening every time he saw her and continued when she was near him.
"Sometimes I wish I could help you with your special training." She said meeting his eyes, "You're always training so hard... I wish I was apart of it."
"Me too..." Bonnie finally caught up, rubbing her eyes. She yawned before stretching her arms above her head. She looked like she still needed a couple more hours of sleep.
"I'm sure there's a lot of things you can help me out with..." He replied, feeling happy to know that his friends were so eager to help him.
"Good morning everyone!" Monsieur Pierre took his place beneath the cherry blossom tree, "I hope you all had a wonderful time yesterday!" He said as everyone nodded their heads or shouted out yes, "C'est bon! Today will be a nice rest and relaxation day. You will all find different signs around the gym that will lead you to the various activities my associates and I have to offer."
"That's sounds great!" Serena said with glee as Ash turned his head to admire the girl.
"And tonight we will have a wonderful traditional tea ceremony with our dinner." Monsieur Pierre finished off before bowing, "I hope you all have a wonderful time."
"Hey Pikachu, that gives us even more time to train. Isn't that great!?" Ash said, rubbing Pikachu's head.
"Cha~!"
Ash chewed on his lip as he watched Serena converse with Bonnie as they looked through the small brochure the coordinators were handing out. She just told him that she wanted to help him out with his training, and he didn't mind it at all if she could be there while he trained – if anything he preferred it. He opened his mouth ready to ask the girl for her help.
"Hey Serena!" Shauna bumped into Ash's shoulder, "Oh, I'm so sorry Ash.. I guess I'm just a bit excited." She apologized as Miette followed behind her, "Miette and I were thinking that we should have a girl's day!" Shauna said excitedly.
"A girl's day?" Serena asked, blinking her eyes.
"It's basically a pampering day for us performers..." Miette pointed out, "We can get our hair and nails done."
"That sounds like fun! I wanna join too!" Bonnie said, jumping up in excitement.
"Nenene!"
"That does sound like a lot of fun." Serena smiled, "Let's do it!"
"Great! I want to try out one of the yoga classes!" Shauna said grabbing Serena's wrist as she began dragging her in the direction of the temporary yoga studio.
"See you later Ash!" Serena said, giving Ash a smile.
"See you later..." Ash sighed. He was happy to see his friend enjoy her time, but he was also kind of sad because he wanted to spend the day with her.
"Pstt... Ash!"
Ash slightly shook his head before turning around to see who was calling out for him. Pikachu's ears perked up wondering the same thing. "It must be my imagination..." Ash laughed, returning his focus back to the brochure as Pikachu shrugged it's shoulders.
"Ash!" The voice grew louder.
Ash once again turned around, finally spotting Clemont hiding behind a cluster of bushes. He walked over to the blonde haired inventor who now had a bunch of leaves and twigs stuck in his hair, "What are you doing there?" Ash asked.
"I've been keeping a close watch on the girl's dorm..." Clemont replied in a quiet tone.
"Why?"
"Because... Gladis is one of my all time inspirations! I want to talk to her about her robot inventions!"
"You had a chance to introduce yourself this morning." Ash paused, rubbing his head, "But you suddenly disappeared."
"I wasn't ready to speak with her!"
"Well... she's spending her time where all the girl's sleep. You're just going to have to wait until she comes out for dinner or something..." Ash said, "In the meanwhile you can help me train!"
"I don't think she's ever coming out Ash!" Clemont popped out from his hiding spot in the bushes, "I've been watching all morning!"
"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Ash asked startled by his friends behavior, "We're not girls so-" Ash stopped himself from completing his sentence as he stared at his blonde haired friend who had a freaky grin plastered on his face. Ash blinked, before realizing what Clemont wanted to do. He wanted to dress up as a girl to get into the girl's dormitory, "You're not going to dress up as a girl are you?" Ash was almost too scared to ask.
"Precisely!" Clemont said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "And you're going to do it with me!"
"What!?" Ash said out loud in shock, "I am not going to dress up as a girl!" Ash protested. He's dressed up as a girl many times before, and everytime he did he always told himself afterwards that he was never going to do it again.
"I always help you train!" Clemont pointed out.
He was right. Clemont always woke up early with him to help with his special training, and in return Ash has done nothing to show his gratitude, "Fine..." Ash sighed. He was once again falling into the world of crossdressing.
"Clemontic Gear on!" Clemont pressed the green button on his 'Get Ready in Seconds: Fashion Makeover Style'; his latest invention that was inspired by Cilan and Serena who constantly talked about the latest trends along their journey.
The pair patiently stood beneath a metal hoop with a red shower curtain wrapped around it, standing beneath the invention as a bright, horizontal red light began to scan their faces.
"Faces detected." A robotic voice was heard as a bunch of robotic like arms started to come out from the sides of the invention with brushes and makeup attached to it.
"Wow!" Ash admired the amount of effort Clemont put into his own invention. He was getting so much better at putting things together, "Science is so amazing!" Ash said astonished, as one of the robotic arms began to apply blush onto his face.
Clemont reached down for a knob on his invention as soon as the robotic arms finished up with his makeup, "It will even choose some clothes for us!" He turned the knob to "dress up" mode.
Eeeeee Crrrrrrr! The machine began to react to the mode change.
"What's happening!?" Ash asked in surprise as the robotic arms began to spill a mix of powdered makeup and liquid eyeliner around the area.
Clemont tried to reach for the dial, once again trying to change the settings, but the robotic arms were flailing around making it quite difficult for Clemont to reach, "It's malfunctioning!" Clemont said in distress as the machine blew up in their faces.
"So much for your plan." Ash said with a slight headache. Him and Clemont were now covered in soot with disheveled hairstyles.
"Are you guys alright!?" Cilan rushed to their room, "I heard an explosion!" He leaned over, examining Ash's face before noticing a faint color of eyeshadow on his eyelids, "Are you putting on makeup Ash?" Cilan raised an eyebrow.
"It's Clemont's idea!" Ash held his hands out in front of him, "He want's to dress up as girls to talk to Gladis!"
"I'm in no position to judge..." Cilan said as he stroked his chin, "I can help you guys out! I've been watching Valerie and the makeup artists before the fashion shows, I can make you guys look like girls!"
Ash sighed. He was hoping that Cilan would point out that Clemont's plan was a bad idea.
"That's great! Let's get on it! It's almost noon!" Clemont stood up holding his fist out in determination.
Ash could feel his adrenaline rush through his veins as the sweat dripped down from his forehead. He exhaled as soon as they passed two of Valerie's followers who resided in the gym.
"I can't believe we're doing this..." Ash slouched down, his legs feeling constricted by the stockings he had to wear. Cilan dressed him up in a simple white shirt tucked beneath Serena's old red skirt, with stockings and a pair of black flats. He wore a long brunette wig that closely assembled Valerie's hairstyle. Clemont on the other hand was wearing a yellow sundress with floral print, and the same black flats. His wig was red and short with soft curls.
Pikachu and the rest of his other pokemon couldn't come along with him or else it would have become too obvious if Serena and the others spotted them. Instead his companions and Clemont's were lucky enough to spend the day with Cilan and his pokemon, probably off to one of the pokemon spa's.
"It won't be too bad! It's not like we'll get lost!" Clemont said trying to perfect his strut as a girl, "Hey girls!" Clemont's voice went up a couple pitches as a few girls passed by them.
"Hey! You should get a face mask! My face is so soft!" A girl pointed out as she began to rub her cheeks with the tips of her fingers.
"And the assistant is so dreamy!" One of her friends pointed out, "That performer Serena is so lucky! I think he just asked her out on a date." She giggled before the continued off in the opposite direction.
"They don't suspect a thing!" Clemont said amused by Cilan's skills as a costumer and make up artist.
Ash stood there not listening to a word that was coming out of Clemont's mouth. All he could think about was how Serena got yet another boys attention. Was there always this many boys taking interest in her? He's never noticed before. I hope she said no... Ash balled up his fists before looking up to see that Clemont was no longer standing beside him. Where did he go? It hasn't even been five minutes and he already lost him.
He continued walking, making a few turns. He even walked up and down a few set of stairs. He didn't realize that the gym was this big. He wish he had the help of his pokemon to find Clemont even faster.
"...Ash."
Ash stopped in his tracks hearing his name. He took a few steps back, peeking into the crack of one of the bedroom doors to see Serena, Bonnie, Shauna, and Miette sitting on the beds as they ate their lunch.
"I would have said yes." Shauna intercepted, "He's from the Johto region. I'd love to hear about the Johto region... and well you've had a crush on the same boy since forever Serena, maybe it's time to move on."
Same boy? Crush? What's a crush? Ash was eager to hear more about the conversation even with his lack of knowledge about love. He tucked his annoyingly long hair behind his ear.
"I don't know..." Miette teased, "Did you hear about the play? Serena kissed him on the cheek."
"That's a huge step for you!"
Serena gulped down the remainder of her sandwich, "It was just a play!" She insisted as Miette and Bonnie began to giggle. Bonnie had a lot to say about the situation, but she was contemplating whether or not she wanted to tell Serena about Ash's jealous moments.
What play? Ash thought to himself clearly dumbfounded by the fact that it was him that she kissed. He leaned in closer to the door, causing him to lose his footing. The door opened wide as he fell into the room.
The girls all turned their heads to see the unfamiliar face enter the room.
"Are you alright!?" Bonnie asked getting off the bed to help Ash out.
Ash stood up on his own, declining Bonnie's help, "I'm fine!" He panicked as he tried his best to put on a female voice, "I just lost my friend, and I heard a few voices and thought that she was in here!" He lied.
"Oh... well that's too bad. Why don't you stay with us? Maybe your friend will show up!" Bonnie suggested before introducing herself and Dedenne who was munching on some pokemon food beside the bed with the rest of their pokemon. Ash clearly thought his disguise was pretty good if Bonnie was able to get up close and not recognize him.
"What's your name?" Serena asked, being the last one to introduce herself.
"My name is... Ashley!" Ash chuckled, feeling flustered. He didn't think that he'd have to use that alias again.
"I really like your skirt Ashley." Serena complimented, "You know, I think I have the same one."
"Oh..." Ash flushed in embarrassment. The skirt he was wearing was Serena's old skirt, "Great minds think alike..."
"Why don't you join us for lunch? We have a ton of food left." Shauna offered, handing a sandwich to Ash.
"Oh I think I should look for my friend... She might be worried about me..."
Serena stood up from her bed walking over to Ash, "If you stay in one spot, there's a greater chance of your friend finding you!" She pointed out, "Besides it's always great to meet new ones, and even if you don't find her, I'm sure you're bound to during the dinner." She finished off with her sweet smile, causing Ash's heart to once again skip a beat.
"Okay." He agreed knowing that he just couldn't say no to her. He wanted to spend time with her, he just didn't expect it to be like this.
"Oh hi there." Gladis opened the door to see the newly disguised Clemont standing in front of her, "Is there something you need?" She eyed the girl, noticing that something looked oddly familiar.
"Hi there..." Clemont was trying his best to contain his excitement, "I'm a big fan of your work, and I just wanted to meet you."
"Ohh... That's very nice to hear. There's not many people my age that talk to me about my work."
"I'm actually an inventor myself." Clemont chewed on his lip. He seriously could not contain his need to fangirl over the girl that was standing in front of him,"...And I heard you were working with Valerie for her new futuristic line. I think that's awesome! Can I possibly see some of your work?"
"Sure! I could use help with designing a few things. I didn't think it would be this hard. It's always great to get another girl's point of view anyway!" She said, grabbing a hold of Clemont's hand and dragging him into Valerie's office, "So what's your name?"
"...Clementine." Clemont squealed not believing that one of his idols just touched him. He hoped that Ash was doing fine on his own.
The four girls plus 'Ashley' each took a seat in a chair as the workers around them began to massage their hands.
"So are you a performer?" Miette asked, turning her attention to 'Ashley'.
"No... my friend is." Ash lied - something he seemed to be doing for the last hour, "She's still pretty new to it, and has only been in a couple competitions.."
"Oh that's too bad. I hope she becomes a worthy opponent in the future!" Miette replied, "So what color do you want your nails to be painted."
"Err... Just clear?" Ash said, feeling the need to smack his face against the wall over and over again. It was his fault for suggesting to get their nails done.
"Well that's no fun." Bonnie pouted, disapproving Ash's choice.
"You again... It must be fate." A boy with short messy brown hair walked up to the honey blonde haired girl, "I'm just kidding..." The boy said noticing the scowl on Serena's face, "I'm just headed out to lunch. I hope you girls enjoy the rest of your day."
"Who is that boy?" Ash asked with curiosity.
"He claimed to be a huge fan of Serena when we went to get facials, and then he attempted to ask her out." Shauna answered.
"You seem to be quite popular with the boys Serena..." Ash said in a sad tone.
Miette giggled,"Apparently... I mean, Tierno was praising you yesterday, and Calem confessed his love to you too. I don't know if I should be feeling jealous."
"Too bad none of the attention is coming from you know who..." Shauna added, nudging Serena with her elbow. The two girls exchanged a look and Ash blinked trying to understand what was happening. During their few seconds of making eye contact he swore that there was some kind of meaning behind it, and Serena completely understood what Shauna was trying to say just by looking into her eyes. Ash turned his head to Miette and Bonnie who began to giggle. They clearly understood the look too. Aww man... girls are so confusing...
"He's just... much more focused on pokemon okay?" Serena pouted wanting to cross her arms over her chest, but the lady on her right started filing her nails.
An evil grin spread across the younger sibling from Lumiose City, "I think he sees you in a different light now..." Bonnie admitted as dedenne fell asleep on her lap.
"Stop joking around Bonnie." Serena began in a serious tone, "You're always saying things like..." Serena took a deep breath before trying to imitate Bonnie's voice, "Oh I saw him staring at you the whole time we were eating dinner or I saw him asking for advice from Clemont..." Serena said.
"I like watching you squirm... But I swear he's done a few things in the last while that proves it!"
Everyone averted their attention to Bonnie, interested in what she had to say. Ash sat there as the woman furiously scrubbed at his fingernails trying to get rid of all the dirt and grime that's been stuck there for who knows how long. All he could think about was who was this "he", and why was Serena so flustered everytime they mentioned him. And why did they keep teasing her about it? It was driving him crazy, "Who is this he?" Ash asked before Bonnie had the chance to continue on with what she wanted to say.
"Oh right..."Shauna apologized, "It kind of felt like we've been friends with you for awhile now that I completely forgot that we actually just met you and you don't know anything..."
"It's okay..." Miette added, "I don't think that Serena will mind anyways." She darted her eyes to Serena who was glaring at her, but she ignored it anyways before returning her attention to 'Ashley', "Serena has a crush on this boy."
"A crush on what boy?" Ash asked before clearing his throat. He felt like he was going to get a sore throat from trying to sound like a girl for too long. He was familiar with the term, but he didn't have a great understanding of it. He knew that it meant someone liking someone else as more than a friend, but what did that even entail? Did that mean that they thought of them like a sister or a brother? Still, there was this churning going on in his gut that was dying to know.
"She's had a crush on him for years..." Shauna said, "They're together a lot of the time, but Serena won't tell him how she feels for some reason."
Serena sighed. She was tired of them constantly talking about her love life, "I'm waiting for the right time..." She gritted through her teeth.
"What's his name?" Ash asked, intrigued to hear the answer.
Ash chewed on his bottom lip as he stood up straight, leaning forward with his butt resting upon the edge of his seat. He didn't exactly know what he wanted to hear. In the back of his mind he could hear a tiny voice just screaming out please let it be me, please say my name. He had no clue though as to why there was a part of him that wanted to hear his name though. He shifted his eyes to look at Serena who clearly just wanted Miette to get it over with. She was sitting there with a look of annoyance, but all he could see was a beautiful girl that he wanted to get to know. They've been travelling companions for awhile now and he already knew a lot of things about her, but there was this feeling that just made him want to know more. Even if he maybe already knew everything he just wanted more...
"His name is-" Ash returned his gaze to look at Miette who was about to reveal the name of the mysterious boy Serena had a crush on.
"ASH...ley!" Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the loud voice. Ash looked up to see Clemont standing at the doorway clearing his throat. He clearly was having a hard time keeping up with maintaining his female voice, "Ashley." He said once more, "I've been looking for you!" He continued as Ash saw Gladis standing behind him.
"Is that your friend?" Bonnie asked eying the suspicious looking character. The girl standing at the doorway looked oddly familiar to her.
"Yeah..." Ash replied in a monotone voice. He really wanted to hear about Serena's crush, but it just had to be ruined by Clemont's interruption.
"Are you done here?" Clemont asked.
Ash looked down to see that all his fingernails were painted a bright shade of pink. He didn't even notice when the woman began painting his nails, and it just made him want to scream. She could have at least chosen a more masculine color, "I guess I am..." Ash replied, standing up from his seat.
"Awee... I wish you could stay with us." Bonnie pouted.
"Sorry... My friend and I wanted to check out that facial place you guys were talking about." Ash lied, "I'll see you during dinner!"
"Okay. Bye!" Everyone waved off the pair as Ash, Clemont, and Gladis walked out of the room and down the hallway.
"I guess you found your friend!" Gladis said, "I'll see you tomorrow then Clementine." She finished off, "Thank you so much for helping me with designs for Valerie..."
"No problem!" Clemont said shaking Gladis' hand.
"And maybe tomorrow... you can be just Clemont... dressed like a boy." She winked.
"What!? Wh-What are you talking about?"
"I'm a robot engineer... I'm pretty smart you know..." She said before walking in the opposite direction, "You too Ash!"
"I'm glad to see that you managed to find her. Better yet, help her out." Ash said not even bothered by the fact that Gladis saw through their disguises. He was disappointed by Clemont interrupting his conversation with the others.
"How long did she know!?" Clemont panicked, "I thought it was full proof!"
"Cmon... Let's go get ready for dinner..." Ash said, dragging his friend down the hall.
"Big brother!" Bonnie called out as she ran across the field to unite with Clemont. This was one of the first times she's been apart from him for almost an entire day. Even during the tea ceremony, and dinner they were separated; sitting on opposite sides of the field.
Clemont turned his body in time to see Bonnie jumping up in the air, ready to give him a hug, "Hey Bonnie, how was your day?" He greeted his little sister, returning her embrace.
"It was great!" She said before looking up to Serena who followed behind her, "We should have girl's day more often!"
"It was really fun." Serena smiled before turning her attention towards Ash, Clemont, and Cilan, "We did meet this really nice girl named Ashley. We wanted her to join us during the dinner, but we couldn't find her..." Serena said in a sad tone.
"I'm sure she's here somewhere if you look hard enough..." Cilan laughed as Ash and Clemont's face turned bright red.
"I guess so..." Serena replied looking up in wonder, before returning her focus to the three boys standing in front of her, "Anyways, did you guys do anything interesting today?"
"It-It was great..." Ash stammered, "We ju-just trained..."
"Yeah trained..." Clemont agreed.
"Oh...kay..." Bonnie and Serena both blinked. They were confused as to why Clemont and Ash were acting so strange and jumpy.
"Good evening everyone!" Monsieur Pierre said, now standing up on a small stage that was set up below the cherry blossom tree, "To end off the night, would any of you lovely performers like to perform on the stage here just for fun?"
"You should do it Serena!" Bonnie suggested in glee.
"You know I think I will!" Serena replied as she ran over to the stage joining Miette, Shauna and a few other performers.
Serena released all of her pokemon from her pokeballs as she ran up the small plight of stairs ready to give an improvised performance. She danced away with her pokemon before letting Miette have her turn on the stage. She even danced along with Miette and her Slurpuff, and Shauna and her Ivysaur. Everyone enjoyed their time, giving off their last performance before the start of the next competition.
Ash stared at the honey blonde haired girl who was laughing with the other performers on the stage. Through all of the combinations of moves that were colliding beautifully into one another, Ash couldn't help but stare at her. When she danced along from one side to the other, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Even when he tried to focus on Aria who ran up the stage to join them, his eyes kept darting back to her. What's happening to me...?
"Alright Pikachu." Ash whispered to his pokemon before quietly closing the door to his room, "I said we were going to get some training time in, and we will!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said in a hushed tone. It enjoyed its day at the pokemon spa, and was ready to get back to business.
Ash walked out of the gym, taking a moment to grasp the beautiful sight of the garden in front of him. It was a shame that it was going to be teared down in the morning. It was only for the Performers event. He took a quick stroll around the area just to make sure that he actually got the chance to explore the entire place.
"It's a nice place isn't it Pikachu?" Ash said to his furry friend.
"Cha~!"
Ash took a few steps forward to admire the cherry blossom tree. He stared at the beautiful pink flowers before noticing Serena sitting below the tree, staring off into the night sky, "Serena?" He called out, garnering her attention.
She shook her head before turning to look at the boy who was walking towards her, "Ash." She said, smiling at him.
"What are you doing out? Shouldn't you be sleeping?
"I can ask you the same thing." She giggled, causing Ash to blush.
"I wanted to train..."
"Haven't you been training all day?" Her eyebrow quirked up in curiosity.
"You know me..." He hesitated as he bit his lip, "What are you thinking about?" He finally asked, noticing the distant look that was on Serena's face.
Serena looked down staring at the few petals that have fallen onto her lap, "Palermo once told me that I was missing something to beat Aria in the final competition..." She frowned, "After watching Aria perform tonight, I just wonder what I was missing."
"Serena...It was your very first competition since you've decided to become a Performer. You'll learn a lot more things as you keep going."
"I know..." Serena replied before turning her head to meet Ash's eyes, "Sometimes I feel kind of impatient."
Ash began to feel himself get lost in her blue eyes. He chewed on his bottom lip, suddenly having an urge to pull Serena close to him and hold her in his arms. His heart began to beat even faster just thinking about having her that close to him. His eyes moved to her lips suddenly tweaking his interest in what it would be like to kiss a girl. What am I thinking!? What's happening to me!?
"Are you wearing nail polish?" Serena asked, breaking Ash from his train of thoughts.
"Wh-What!?" Ash said with a red face, "It was all Cilan... He needed to improve his skills as Valerie's assistant!"
"You know... I feel like you're not telling me something..." Serena teased before she broke out into laughter.
"I'm not lying!"
And so, once again Ash got to remember what it felt like to be put in female clothing. As a girl, he got to learn what girl's were like when there were no boys around them. It was something he did not want to experience again, but he wouldn't mind reliving that conversation just so he could hear Miette's answer. Still, a feeling deep inside of him continues to grow the more he spends time with Serena. Will Ash finally understand his own feelings before it's too late? As the journey continues!
Next Chapter Summary:
Fete De L'Amour: The event has ended and the heroes decide to remain in Laverre City. Alexa stops by telling the others of a festival happening just outside of the city – Fete De L'Amour. Bonnie and Serena are dying to go, and so Ash, Clemont, and Cilan agree. They come across a boy named Andy who seems to have troubles in the field of romance. Everyone is determined to help out Andy, but Ash doesn't have the slightest understanding about the meaning of love. He goes around, asking everyone about the meaning of love and eventually realizes something about himself.