Together To The Top

Chapter 8: Always running out of time.

The next day, the final one the two would spend together before Ash went back to Kanto to prepare for the big finals and the two of them split, began.

Ash woke up after Serena, but earlier than usual for him, at around 8:30 am, partly due to all of the emotions he felt about both the final trial day, the last day he had with Serena, and the upcoming finals.

He went to the restroom to get ready, and this time when he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he said to himself "I am good enough, and so are my Pokémon, so watch out Leon, here I come!" and exited the restroom.

He went to the kitchen, where he found Serena, who was sitting at the table where they ate.

At the table, there were three plates, an empty one, another with food, and a smaller one that had Pokémon food in it.

Serena saw Ash and said "Hey Ash!

I've been awake for a while, woke up, and got a little hungry, so I ate before, but I made some food for you and Pikachu."

"Oh, alright, thanks for the food Serena, you really are the best!" Ash said and smiled a little Serena wouldn't have blushed under normal circumstances, especially after spending the past few days with Ash, but with their ambiguous and undefined relationship, she didn't know how to react.

"T-thanks Ash." Serena said, again strangely stuttering.

Ash sat, then realized he had forgotten to wake up Pikachu, so he stood up and went for him.

Serena looked at Ash, feeling a weird sad sensation, as while she knew he felt the same way she did and that he not just liked her but also felt that sense of love that she did, they still hadn't figured out what they were and worst of all, the two of them would go their separate ways, occupied with fulfilling their dreams, since even if they would be together a while for the finals and the show, after that their dreams would likely be in opposite directions, fate pulling them apart... as it always seemed to do.

Ash returned, with a happily squealing Pikachu in his hands, the two went to the table and sat down to eat.

The feeling of sadness Serena felt kept going, this time mixed with a little nostalgia from seeing the boy eat as he used to do back in Kalos.

She looked at Ash and saw him staring at Pikachu, smiling and laughing as he ate.

This reminded Serena of how when faced with odds so stacked against him, the boy never seemed to give up, and besides the few moments of doubt, he remained optimistic about it all.

If fate was testing her, she would have to have faith and hope that they'll cross again and be together, no matter how much it felt as if they were being pulled apart.

After Ash finished eating, the two put on their "disguises" and went outside.

"Ash, if we want to get the most training done, I looked up a faster route on my tablet that we can take to get there."

Ash wasn't expecting that.

He had to stop Serena, as he wanted to do something for her before he left, and this route would directly go against that.

"Uhhhhh." was the only thing Ash was capable to say as he thought of any excuse not to take that route

"Is there something wrong Ash?" Serena asked

Ash didn't know what to reply until he smelled a faint scone scent.

Something in his mind clicked right away as he said "Yeah!" in an extremely loud tone, which led Serena to make a puzzled face.