Amourshipping : One Day Off

Chapter 1

Ash, whom had just woken up from a deep and, frankly one of the best sleeps he had had in a very long time, stared at the ceiling, contemplating his next few steps. 

His Kalos journey was going fantastic so far. Pikachu was as tough as ever, as always, putting in 110% into every battle he was in. He was sleeping to Ash's right, still snoring very lightly. "Pika... Pika..."

Ever since evolution, Frogadier was becoming more masterful at battling every day, showing off its exceptional battling skills, and steadily improving. 

Fletchinder was improving quickly as well. Confident and proud, that was Fletchinder down to the T. 

Hawlucha was... Well, Hawlucha, mastering his own battling style, and still finishing off opponents with his Flying Press attack. Still a complete powerhouse, and was one of Ash's toughest Kalos Pokèmon. 

And finally Skiddo, his newest friend, the shiny colored grass type was excitable and energetic, yet loyal and ready to fight when needed. He was fitting in well. 

Ash smiled as he thought about everyone, about how loyal they were to him, and how they tried their hardest for them in battle. He never considered them to be 'under his possession'. He considered them to be his friends, and his friends weren't a possession to him. His thoughts then redirected to his next major battle. 

His next gym battle wasn't too far away. He only needed a few more badges in order to enter the Kalos league. Normally he would be ecstatic about that, and have jumped out of bed, gotten dressed, wolfed down some breakfast and be training hard by this time. But today he felt different. For whatever reason, he just felt like taking a day off of hard, intensive training, just for today. 

He looked over towards Serena, still sound asleep. He smiled. He had developed a slight... Okay, more than he was willing to admit, infatuation with her.  

There was a hundred reasons why he had developed feelings for her. She was kind, she was supportive, she gave him confidence, she was... Cute. Ash felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of the word.  

Upon a closer inspection, Ash noticed that she must have been tossing and turning in her sleep. Her bed sheet covers were around her waist, casually tossed to the side slightly as well. He chuckled. 'I thought I was the restless sleeper?'  

Quietly he got out of his bed, careful not to wake her up. He heard a floorboard creak, but it wasn't too loud, thankfully.  

He stood by Serena's bed, and stopped, and looked at her for a while. She seemed so peaceful. She was sleeping on her left shoulder, on her side, her right hand tucked under her chin, and with a smile on her face. 

'How cute can you get?' Ash thought sub-consciously (to the point he didn't even realize he had thought it), while looking at her. She looked like a kid to Ash, the way she slept, her hand tucked under her chin, and her body trying to make itself as small as it could. That made Ash chuckle. It was easy to forget this was her first journey, so she still had a bit of that kid-like-vibe new trainers often had. He thought back to his first journey. He had been no exception. 

Ash grinned. He got a hold of the covers and pulled them back over Serena, up past her shoulders, making it so that only her head was visible. 'That should keep her warm.' 

Ash then looked at Serena's guide tablet, which she kept next to her bed every night. Without thinking too much about it, he picked it up. 

"Sorry, Serena," He spoke softly. He spoke as if she could hear him, but he kept his voice down so as not to wake her "but I need to know what time it is." 

He opened the tablet and hit a few buttons, making the screen come up. 9:21AM. He looked back at his bed and shrugged. "Been a long time since I had a real lie in." He said, quietly to himself, talking to no one in particular. "Sleep well, Serena. I won't be waking you up today." 

He climbed back into his bed and wrapped himself in his duvet once again, quickly falling asleep. 

"Ash. Ash, wake up."

Ash woke up to find his group of friends, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie standing around his bed and staring at him like he'd run into their respective houses, broke all the windows then ran off down the street. To put it simply, they were confused, and surprised. 

Ash sat up with a yawn. "Morning everyone. What's up?" 

"What's up? What's up with you? Do you know what time it is?!" Bonnie screeched. 

"No... How would I?" Ash asked. 

"It's nearly 11:00!" Clemont said, louder than normal. 

"Really? Huh." Ash commented with a yawn. 

"You'd have been up and training and waking us up hours ago!" Bonnie cried out again. 

"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena asked. Unlike Clemont or Bonnie, whose voices seemed to hold mostly shock, her voice was full of concern. Maybe she thought Ash was sick. Ash smiled warmly at her. 

"Of course I'm fine." He said. "I was just thinking... Well, all my Pokèmon have been working so hard lately... Thought I'd take a day off and just relax for a change." 

Three pairs of eyes fell on him. 

"Hey, I get tired and need a break too, y'know." Ash said with a sigh and a sweat-drop. He really came across as that much of a machine to them? 

Clemont seemed to recover the quickest. "It is true that people who work hard need to take a break everyone once in a while. Back in Lumious city, I needed to take breaks from battling and inventing too." 

"I kept telling you to use those bits of free time to work on your cardio! How am I supposed to find you a good wife when you run like a hardened Magmacargo?!" Bonnie said loudly. 

"Firstly, it's pronounced Magcargo, not Magmacargo. And secondly, I've told you to stop doing that!" Clemont yelled at his sister. The two entered one of their spats again which seemed to becoming more common. 

Ash and Serena sighed. Ash climbed out of bed, and faced Serena. "So, you sleep alright?" 

On cue, Serena stretched her arms upwards toward the ceiling. In doing so, the smallest amount of skin on her stomach showed. "Uh huh. That's the best I've slept in a long time." 

"Ah hah... Sorry about that. I keep waking you up every day, don't I?" Ash said, scratching his cheek. 

"Uh huh. It's fine though, really. You save us having to get an alarm clock." Serena giggled. 

Ash laughed lightly. Clemont and Bonnie were still having their argument. "You feel like getting some food, Serena?" Ash asked, casually. 

"Sure!" Serena smiled. She looked towards Bonnie and Clemont. "Aren't we gonna ask them?" 

Ash shrugged. "You know how they are. Leave 'em to it for a while, they'll come down." 

Serena nodded in agreement, before turning to Clemont and Bonnie. Clemont had gotten his Aipom arm invention and was using it to hold Bonnie in the air. They were still shouting at one another. Serena sighed. Once they started like this, they wouldn't stop until they got it out of their systems. Serena decided to leave them to it, and followed Ash.