Dust and Jewels | A Pokémon XYZ Fanfic

1 》After the Master Class

"Meowrr" Sylveon said, prodding Serena's boots.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts out of her mind. "What?"
Then she felt her head hit a hard metal surface and she staggered backwards onto the ground.
Ash and the others quickly ran over.
"I think that's the fifth time you've walked into a lamppost," Ash said, helping her up.
"The sixth, I think," Serena groaned, embarrassment clearly showing on her face. She quickly dusted herself off, then continued walking.

As they made their way to the end of the street, Ash fell into step next to Serena, who was staring at the ground. She looked up and made a small squeaking sound.
"Sorry," her face flushed, "I, um, didn't notice you,"
"That's okay," Ash grinned in his usual positive mood, "But you seem a little down."
"'Little down' is an understatement," Serena huffed, "'Overly depressed' would be more appropriate."
"Hey, is this about your match against Aria?" Ash said.
"No, it's about my earrings that fell off while I was performing - of course it's the final match," Serena snapped.
Ash looked taken aback, and Serena immediately regretted her words.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just-"
"Hey, don't worry, I know how it feels to get to the very last stage of a competition, and then lose," Ash said, "I think a good night's sleep will help get you over that."
Serena only sighed and nodded a yes.

~<>•••••<>•••••<>~

After a few hours of walking, night had fallen and the group had arrived in the woods. After a few minutes of looking around, they found a clearing in the forest next to a long stream of water and decided to camp out for the night in their new pods, made by Clemont.

A few weeks ago, he had used his inventing skills to pull together a few Camping Pods, and the team had been sleeping in those on their way to Serena's master class. The pods were a hi-tech white color, with black wheels and opaque blue windows and blue scanners on the front and back.
It was also apparently 'fully customizable', quoting Clemont, as you could put stickers on the surface or use a special pen to draw anything you wanted in any color.

Ash's pod had a few pokeballs drawn at the side with an addition of a messily coloured Pikachu and Greninja at the front.
Clemont's pod was completely blank with no drawings, but had a pair of purple grabber arms, which he used to grab himself a breakfast in bed.
Bonnie's pod was an array of colors with a bright yellow sun drawn in a corner, a rainbow drawn a few centimeters away, and Dedenne and Squishy sitting on a rock at the bottom.
And Serena's Pod...well, her's was the easiest to distinguish out of the four of them, as she had a giant dark pink bow on top of her pod that she'd sewn herself, dotted with three or four creamy white pearls.

After eating a quick dinner, made by Clemont's cooking machine, she climbed into her pod with Sylveon and Braixen trailing closely behind.
She flopped onto her bed and blankly stared up at the ceiling for five minutes, until Sylveon nudged her hair with a high-pitched 'Meowr'.
"You're right, Sylveon, we should get some sleep," Serena patted her on the head.
After putting Sylveon and Braixen inside the pod cubbyholes where they slept, Serena got into bed and closed her eyes.
Tomorrow's going to be better, I just know it.
Then, she quietly drifted off to sleep.

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|| Word Count ~ 607 ||
||Chapter ~ 1 ||

A/N - First chapter finished! Sorry it's a bit short. Hope you peeps enjoyed :)
And to all Amourshipping shippers - there will be some Ash and Serena moments, just be patient and don't fangirl rage at me if I get stuff wrong.

~Glitch out✌🏼