Hidden In Plain Sight

Chapter 6

"That last Psybeam was quite lucky to be fair Red, especially through the smoke of Blaziken's Flamethrower, but congrats." May stuffed even more food into her mouth at Cilan's, while Red smiled.

"Yes it was, I will say that myself. But a win is still a win and in this competition, that's what matters. But good battle anyway." He smiled as he clinked a beer with her in respect.

The group was in a good mood after the battles of the day had finished and they now were in Cilan's, namely named and owned by their friend and Striaton Gym Leader, Cilan, the connoisseur marvel. After he had met Clemont once the Kalos gang had spilt up, he decided to stay in Lumiose City and start up a restaurant due to his foodie mind and ideas. It had got a lot of good reviews from famous critics around the world, and it even had recipes from Clemont, Brock and his brothers Cress and Chilli on his menu, due to his brothers being the main chefs of his restaurant, and his past meetings and the friendships he had made with the other two.

He, Brock and Clemont were talking about their respective gyms, as well as new recipes and Pokémon they'd encountered, as Simisage, the evolution of Cilan's original Pansage, swung about from the rafters, holding plates as Stunfisk continued to power the generators as Cress and Chilli cooked on in the kitchen with Simisear and Simipour washing the cooking instruments and Crustle bringing ingredients in and out of the storeroom, showing the skills and expertise of the world's only restaurant to use both humans and Pokémon. Meanwhile, Ash and Serena continued to talk to each other, enjoying the company and laughing, while Red, Gary and Leaf caught up, and Dawn, Misty and May talked about random things that came to mind. They all rambled on late into the night as the moon glowed gently, lighting the ground below as the group left at around 1am. Leaf and Dawn were being carried back to their rooms by their respective roommates while Brock was okay but just a bit hyper due to a lot of caffeine flowing through his system, ahead of their battles the next day.

"Misty, give me Leaf here." Red said politely as the Cerulean City Gym leader handed him her friend over, who was quite drunk and was tottering all over the place. "Come on Greeny, let's get you to a room." He said as he got her on his back.

"Reeeeeeddddd," She hiccuped, the smell of heavy alcohol penetrating the air. "Let me go, I'm fineeeeeee." She laughed, which caused a smirk to be placed on his face.

"Come on let's go." He started sprinting along in front of the others, Leaf laughing and swinging her hand around like a lasso, pretending she was in the Wild West of the Desert Resort of Unova with Red as her Zebstrika making her bounce up and down. She soon became worn out and slumped against him, gently breathing on the back of his neck as she drifted in and out of consciousness as gentle kisses landed on his neck as well when she was awake. Overall, it was enjoyment for the two.

As they all arrived back at the hotel, they all spilt off to their respective rooms, apart from Ash and Serena. They were still talking and Ash still wanted to clarify and see if it was her for sure. He had realised over the night that it was in fact her, but he wanted one more piece of intel to know for sure, either a bag, photo or letter would do him wonders. He decided to guide her to her door and then would wait to see. "So what are you doing tomorrow?" He asked as they meandered down the hallway.

"I'll probably stay in my room and maybe sleep. If not, I want to go out and buy a Razor Claw for a Sneasel I know." Serena smiled as she leaned against her door frame. "Apart from that, have a good night." She softy kissed him on the cheek before heading into her room, as she blushed and giggled, leaving the male at the door speechless. He placed his hand on the warm spot, before knocking before the door opened once more. Serena saw him there, and leaned her head to one side, confused to the meaning of his knocking. "Can I help you?"