I Can Do This!

Chapter 4

Without school the next day, Ash was staying out late on the beach to train even more. "Alright! Litten, use fire fang! Rockruff, Bite!" He shouted commands to his Pokemon. The two charged at each other, with Litten's fanged fired up, he attempted to hit the other. Rockruff dodged by jumping over the attack. Now behind he got Litten with a powerful bite. Taking a lot of damage, Ash called it out in exchange for Rowlet. "Now Rowlet, use Leafage! Rockruff counter it with rock throw!" The attacks went out and met each other in the middle. Causing sand to blast all over the battlefield. Using that as a cover, Rowlet quickly appeared behind Rockruff and before it could react, hit it with a power kick from its legs. The puppy Pokemon was knocked back several meters towards his trainer. "You did a good job" Ash picked him up, "Take a good rest."

"It seems like Rockruff isn't the only one that needs to rest. Professor Kukui came in with water for Ash and his Pokemon. "I know there isn't any school tomorrow, but you should still get some sleep." He tossed a bottle to him.

"I know, I'm just training to get some training in now so I don't have to in the morning."

"Really? That's strange, you normally make sure you're up early for training. Don't tell me you're getting lazy on me now."

"Of course not!" Ash replied. "I'm going to be with Lillie, she asked if we could go to a secret place, but she wouldn't tell me." This piqued Kukui's curiosity.

"A secret place huh? Sounds like the perfect place for you two lovebirds." He said in a teasing manner.

"Oh it's nothing like that. She told me that its a place that has a lot of Pokemon, maybe we might be able to help her get over her fear in touching them there."

"Really?" He had a devilish grin on his face. "Maybe she's just looking for an excuse to get the two of you alone."

"We won't be alone. I got Pikachu, and she has her Vulpix." Ash completely missed the point on what the professor meant.

He really is naive! He thought to himself. I feel bad for that Serena girl that traveled with him then. "Well I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun tomorrow, but if you oversleep you'll be late."

"Ok professor. Alright everyone, let's head in for the night." He walked with his Pokemon into the house to get changed and go to bed for the night. Rotom was already sleeping as he was watching tv with Kukui earlier. After getting changed, he laid down on the couch, being so exhausted he was out the moment his head hit the pillow. Elsewhere, Lillie was laying in bed, struggling to fall asleep.

It's already so late! She despaired, Why can't I just fall asleep? In truth, she knew exactly why she could fall asleep. Her Vulpix had already fallen asleep and no amount of tossing and turning from her would wake it. I don't know why it was so hard to ask him. I mean I invite him over here all the time. Lillie was lucky with how dense Ash could be sometime, when she asked him, after class, to hang out. If it had been any other person, they would've noticed the stress in her voice, the stuttering and unease of her body. His Pokemon certainly could tell when they gave her strange looks. Yet he did not seem to notice. Or maybe he simply did not want to embarrass her.

Oh why! Why am I acting so strange around him! Things were so normal before, when we first met. And that was when we were pretty much strangers. This was no lie. She always felt more comfortable with him, enjoying the company he provided. This is all Mallow's and the professor's fault. Their teasing is putting weird thoughts in my head. Yeah, that's why. I don't like Ash, we're just friends. While true that the two put more attention to what she was thinking. This was not something new to her. She thought back to when Ash stayed for dinner when he had stayed too long at her place. Remembering what she felt when had finally left for home.

No. No I'm just lying to myself now. I can't blame them for something that I've felt for a while now. That night, she had a dream. One that she would have rather forget. Hearing Ash tell her stories about his many adventures also showed her something that stayed rather consistent for him. When he was done, he also left his friends, to continue on his journey. And either never saw them again, or maybe once or twice thereafter. She dreamt of his time at the Pokemon school ending, and saying goodbye. Was that going to be the end for her too? Was she going to be another chapter in his journey, ending when he entered into a new one.

I don't want that. She thought. But what about if, no when I get over my fear. Does that mean less time together. She felt her eyes well up, her heart skipping a beat. I don't want that at all. She closed her eyes, calming herself. I don't think I like him like that. But I feel some things that I've never felt before. I need to know for sure about... She lulled herself to sleep before finishing her thought. When she opened her eyes, sunlight was filling the room. Hobbs was knocking on the door.

"Miss, are you awake? I don't want you to be late for your date with your friend."

"It's not a date!" She yelled, before realizing that Hobbs simply referred to these meetings as dates with no romantic implication. "Sorry, I mean I'll be right out." With all that teasing, I forgot that he doesn't mean anything by that. She got out of bed to take a shower and change into her dress. When she was ready to walk out the door, she remembered what she was thinking of last night. Right! Today I make sure I know what I really think of him!