All for You

Chapter 37

"Ash!" Ash turned around to see Serena running towards him. She tackled him in a large hug.

Ash hugged her back tightly. He quickly realised he had never appreciated the full extent of her hugs before; he felt so comfortable in her embrace, and he didn't want to let go.

Eventually they did part, but not after hugging each other for quite a noticable amount time. They looked each other in the eye, smiling, until Gary interupted.

"Sorry to break up you two lovebirds, but I need to finish my research. So if you're not going to stay here making goo-goo eyes at each other, I'll be in Glimwood Tangle."

And with that, the Oakster walked away.

Ash and Serena looked at the ground, blushing and embarrased.

Luckly, a convient topic changer came in the form of the anouncer, "As a result of this battle, there has been a change in the World Corronation Series rankings!" An announcer shouted loudly.

Ash turned his attention to the jumbotron, where a picture of him sat under quickly scrolling numbers.

"Nice! I'm 12!" He shouted happily. 

"That's great!" Serena grinned.

"Who do you think I'll battle next?" Ash wondered.

"What if it's someone you know?" Serena replied.

" Maybe. It would have to be someone pretty powerful." He noted. "I can't wait!"

They walked out of the stadium, chatting about who Ash might battle, when suddenly they were swarmed by the press.

"Ash! Ash! Are you going to try and battle Leon?!" One reporter said.

"Uh, Ye-"

"What's your motivation for battling?" Another woman interupted.

"Well, I-"

"Is this your girlfriend?" A third interjected.

Ash blushed brightly. "Er-"

Multiple more reporters hounded Ash with questions of the sort. He tried to answer them for a few moments, but soon they started surounding Serena.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"What's your relation to Ash?"

Ash was fine trying to handle the press, but he didn't want them verbally attacking Serena.

"Come on, Serena!" Ash grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her away from the press.

They followed, trying to get answers from Ash about his love life, but Ash quickly called out Dragonite and had her ferry himself and Serena away from the nosy press.

"Whoo, that was close." Ash said. He was fine with jumping off cliffs or takeing attacks from pokemon, but the press was terrifying.

"Yeah. They were hounding you. That Bede trainer must be pretty strong if they were that interested in you after you beat him." Serena noted.

"That just means I'm even closer to battling Leon!" Ash said excitedly.

"Where should we go now?" Serena wondered aloud.

"Gary said he'd be in Glimwood Tangle, but I think I've seen enough fairy and psychic type pokemon for one week." Ash noted.

"Are we going to stay here tonight, or are the tickets back booked for tomorrow?" Serena asked.

Ash pulled out his phone. "Tomorrow," He said. "And this time, I'll ask that we do take a flying taxi to the airport." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.