My Amour

Memory on Repeat

"I'm heading out Ash! You better get up soon if you want to beat me to school!"

Ash grumbled in response to the slam of the door, then rolled out of his bed. The night before, he'd trained with his Pokémon until the stars were high in the sky, and he was feeling the result of it now. Every muscle he had ached, and even as he descended the ladder of his loft and made some toast the sleep refused to leave his eyes. It was going to be a long day

Above him, the young trainer heard his best buddy rousing from his sleep. "Hey Pikachu, you want some toast?" He called up at the loft. Pikachu only grumbled in response. Ash chuckled to himself. It was good to know that he wasn't the only one already ready to sleep again.

Moments later, when Ash had just started to butter his toast, an urgent, "Pika pi!" Echoed around the small dwelling. Ash rubbed his eyes and looked up at the loft. Pikachu was urgently waving his arms around, trying to get his attention.

"What is it, Pikachu?" He asked, stifling a yawn. He really was too tired today.

"Pika!" The mouse pointed at the wall mounted clock, and Ash spent a few seconds too long trying to process what the mouse meant. A few long seconds later, his eyes widened.

"Oh no! We're gonna be late!" Ash yelled before breaking into a frenzy. In a flash he yanked his bag off its hanger, threw on his hat and grabbed a slice of toast for the road.

"Quick Pikachu!" He said, motioning to his shoulder. The mouse Pokémon leapt off the loft and onto Ash. Ash swore he heard three different parts of his aching back crack. Oh well, no time for that now!

They were out the door and down the street in moments. As Ash ran, he quietly thanked himself for keeping up with his own physical training alongside his Pokémon. Without it, he'd be even more late to school every day.

In minutes the duo reached the school and dashed up the steps. The moment the morning bell began to chime, Ash slammed open the classroom door, punctuating his arrival with a loud yell of "Made it!!"

From the front of the room, Kukui gave him a slightly disappointed stare and motion towards Ash's seat. Hanging his head slightly, the boy walked over and took it.

If there was one thing Ash hated more than losing when it mattered most, it was disappointing the professor. Due to the nature of their living arrangement, it made it all the more awkward to go home and hang out with his teacher after being a poor student all day.

Not that he didn't try!

Just recently, a lot of things had come up.

For starters, they had a TV at the house. If he wanted, he could watch and support his friends!

Which was the start of all his problems really. The only one of his friends who was doing anything public at the moment was Serena, and just a couple days ago, Serena had won the Hoenn Contest Spectacular.

And had given that interview. The one that had set a fire in him. Was she speaking to him? He still wasn't sure, but the words just rang so familiar. It was so similar to the last thing they said to each other.

"I hope I've reached high enough to be someone you're impressed by."

For about the hundredth time that week, Ash fell back into the memory of the last time they'd seen each other.

~~~

Serena smiled and winked. "Next time we meet, you're going to like the kind person I've grown into!"

Ash smiled in response. Knowing her, she would become someone incredible. He clenched his fist and nodded. "Awesome! I can't wait!"

Serena turned and began riding down the escalator, and Ash took an automatic step forward, as if to follow her. But they wouldn't be walking together anymore.

It felt strange to see her moving away, instead of walking beside or slightly behind him. From this angle, he could see just how slouched her shoulders were, causing her short wavy hair to tickle the back of her neck.

Ash was reminded of all the other times she'd had the same posture.

After a failed showcase, or in the days following the Kalos disaster. All those times, Ash had been able to talk to her. Heck, even when he had his own gym losses or hard night, they'd talk to share in whatever loss they'd both had. From now on though, they couldn't. This moment was the end of that.

A small feeling of melancholy took anchor in Ash's chest, and he knew at that moment that he'd be holding onto memories of this journey for a long time.

Suddenly, Serena's posture straightened and she turned her head. There was a bright fire in her eyes, and a small smile on her face. "Hey Ash, just one more thing!"

"Huh?" He said, stupidly.

She turned and began to run up the escalator. There was a determined look on her face, and the warm fire in her eyes never left him. She reached the last few steps of the escalator, and kept going. Ash barely had a moment to process her breath tickling his face before she crashed into him, grabbed a hold of his jacket and pulled him in.

And then she kissed him.

Behind him, he heard his companions gasp. Everywhere she touched him felt like fire. His chest was burning where she had grabbed his jacket and her lips! Her lips were so warm. He took a small step backwards, to better take both their weight, but he felt her start to move away. He continued to stand there, dumbstruck, as the escalator she was still standing on began to pull her away.

She released his jacket, placed her hands behind her back, and was pulled away from him.

Ash stood still in a state of shock. Every instinct he had told him to reach out and grab her, to get her to explain what just happened, what it meant, but his body was static.

His lips were cold.

Her face was probably as red as his was, and the fire in her eyes refused to die down. They were like warm oceans now, perfectly blue, retreating just like a wave and all Ash could think about was-

"Ash!" The Professor called, snapping him out of his daydream. The young boy blinked hard, and felt the entire class staring at him. His face burned, from his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears, and he mentally scolded himself for getting so lost in his memory.

The professor gave a stern look, and put his hands on his hips. "Do you have any idea what I was just talking about?"

Ash panicked and frantically searched the board. The symbol on it was familiar, and it took only a moment for him to register that he had plenty of experience with it. "Uh, mega evolution?"

The Professor sighed, and turned back to the board. "You're lucky you already know so much. Stay late after class today, we need to have a talk."

Ash sunk deep into his seat and dropped his head. He really needed to apologize to the Professor, and he silently vowed to try to be honest with him after school. It would suck to admit he'd basically gone behind Kukui's back to watch his friend on TV, but he owed as much to him for being such a poor student.

Ash tried even harder to focus and be an engaging student for the rest of the day, but no matter how hard he tried, there was just one thing he couldn't ignore.

His lips were still cold.