Amourshipping : Love, Loss & Loyalty

Brutality

How are you not nervous?" 

Serena found herself worried, concerned about the upcoming tag team battles. Not for herself. For Ash. Battling was not her forte, she knew that about herself. It had been two years, and while she had improved in all areas of Pokemon training, her battling was nowhere near the skill of Ash's. She doubted that her skills would ever be that good. That in itself didn't bother her. What did upset her was that her partner was Ash, and her skills could... No, would hinder him. She had utmost confidence in his abilities, but not her own. 

She had no doubt that Ash could take on the entire tag team tournament by himself. He had the training, the skill, and the knowledge to do so. There was no doubt in her mind that he could conquer this entire competition himself if he wanted to. 

And he had just gotten Serena as his battle partner. 

She felt bad, like she was holding him back, hindering him. It didn't seem fair. He was someone who cared about battling. It was his passion, and yet he was forced the partner up with someone who was only in this entire festival so she wouldn't go insane from boredom. Her bringing him here was supposed to have been a surprise for him. Now she felt like she had ruined it. His current casual attitude and demeanor completely bewildered her. 

Looking at her, Ash shrugged. "Why would I be? It seems sort of dumb to enter something like this if you don't have the confidence you can win it." 

Serena knew those words weren't aimed at her, but all the same, it felt like they slashed at her heart. He made logical sense. Entering a tournament like this without the confidence to succeed did seem like a flawed, and failing premise. A lack of confidence could lead her to make a failing move that could cost her the march, but that wasn't the important thing here. She didn't want Ash to lose, and more over, not because of her own battling ineptitude. 

"Besides, I've got you as my partner, why would I be concerned?" Ash added after a brief pause, with a smile on his face. He smiled warmly, and spoke with genuine lightness. He brown eyes were focused on the blonde Kalosian. 

Serena looked at him, completely dumbfounded. "I - I'm not a battler! I'm a performer!" 

Ash grinned at her. "I seem to recall you did a pretty good battle that time I was delirious a couple years back." 

"You know for a fact that was just luck." Serena sighed. She also lightly blushed in embarrassment. She remembered that day rather well. 

Ash sighed as well. "Okay Serena, whats wrong? A lack of confidence... It doesn't suit you." She felt her heart increase for a second when he sympathetically put his hand on Serena's shoulder. He knew her too well. 

Serena looked at him, sadly. "I feel bad..." She explained her thinking to him. Her concerns. What she felt about this whole battling situation, how she didn't want to burden him. All her concerns spilled out to him. He didn't interrupt the girl as she spoke, simply allowing her to vent her repressed emotions to him without pause or resentment. He didn't break eye contact with her for a second during it. Only to blink. 

Once she finished, Ash smiled at her. For a moment, Serena thought he was going to start laughing at her, but he wasn't so callous. "Serena, I don't... Where did you get the idea you were a poor battler?" He asked her, having to clearly keep himself from letting out a huge grin. His smile seemed to go towards one side, puffing his right cheek out, showing his teeth lightly. "Serena, you don't have to be a competitive battler to be a decent battler. You know how to battle enough to make me confident with you as my partner." 

"But why?" Serena asked, quietly. "Why are you confident with me as your partner?" 

Ash smiled again, this time, more invitingly. "Serena, your not focused on battling. That's true. I won't deny that. Your specialty is focused on the show, the extravagance, but that doesn't mean you cant use those very techniques into battle. You can use your combinations to confuse opponents. I knew people who did that all the time in Sinnoh and Hoenn..." For a second, as closed his eyes, and bit his lower lip, his front white teeth showing. "Look, i guess what I'm saying is, you don't need to worry about this so much. If we lose, its not a big deal. I'm here for fun, and to see sights. This was your idea, so you should have some fun too. Besides..." Ash smiled. "This would all be a lot less fun without you here."