Hidden In Plain Sight

Chapter 10

Blame writers' block for the massive delay, I'll be trying to update more regularly from now on :)

The two sat out on the balcony cuddling as the gentle breeze rolled over the top of them.

"What's up with you?" He asked, sensing her tenseness.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I want us to be able to show our love to everyone, and not in secret."

"But you said that you need to hide yourself for another round," he said. "I want it as much as you, but your safety is my top priority."

"Ash, it hurts to keep it secret. I want to live it to the full," she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"Serena," Ash said.

"I don't care if Lysandre comes after me or you, anyone for that matter. I want to be Serena again, not Selene anymore!"

"Announce it to everyone tomorrow then!"

"Fine, I will then!" She shouted at him. She collapsed into him and cried. He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"Come on. You're shattered. Let's go sleep." He lifted her up and carried her into the bed of his suite. They cuddled back up and fell back asleep together.

At the same time, Lysandre was thumping his fist against the worktop. He was still confused on how she, the weakest one, had one of Kanto's legendary birds. He picked up the phone and dialled the number.

"Hello there Flare," the deep grisly voice grumbled.

"Giovanni," Lysandre cackled. "They're both here."

"Good. Make sure to get the girl this time," Giovanni scratched the back of Persian's head, who gently purred.

"Wouldn't you want the boy first though?"

"No. She is the danger. Eliminate her."

"Yes sir. Goodbye," Lysandre cut the line off.

Little did they know they were being phone tapped. Phone tapped by the mischievous trio that had been chasing him and his friends for the six years before she left him.

However, they had a change of heart after seeing his state after she left. He became comedic all again, like he was in Unova, but this comedic trait was even worse. He was stupid enough to pull the weirdest faces and even though he won the Alola League and had graduated school during that time, he was still not his total self.

It was like his heart had crumpled and broke in two: the normal part and the part left with her and the Lumiose siblings in Kalos. He didn't say it to the others faces but he preferred them over Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn and Cilan, not to leave out Iris although no one hardly heard from her anymore.

So that's when Jessie, James and Mewoth stopped being part of Team Rocket. They became friends with them all and began to change their ways. They even got engaged for crying out loud!

However, to help for the change of good, they started to secretly, with the financial and government backing they needed, to turn Team Rocket on itself from the inside out.

They had already fooled many burglaries and some major attacks too, as well as helping to jail Executive Adriana for the abuse of Mareep at a sophisticated power plant they built to power a FOB.

It was all fitting into place now. Giovanni and Lysandre were collaborating on something big. They were using the cover of the tournament to make sure they had their targets, which were Ash and Serena, but they didn't know what it involved, nor when or where.

"So the twerps are getting targeted by the boss for some reason and we don't know why," Meowth hypothesised. "Therefore, we send a message to the Prof and then wes try to data mine those guys even more."

"Yes. And now thanks to science, we will succeed!" James agreed.

"Because we're Team Intel, in ya face!" The trio did their old poses before laughing and getting back on task.

The next morning, there was a big commotion in the hotel reception. Females were seemingly excited as they squeaked with delight, while others were nervous and dreading this.

It was the day of the tournament dance. The dance where couples were formed and where people got unexpected dates.

It was a chance for them to dress up, while men got to look at so called 'fit birds' and try to land one in the bed.

It was also a cause for a free day of shopping and no battling, as it was the first rest day for competitors.

The group rendezvoused there at set out their plan. The dates for the evening would the people that are bunking in the same rooms.

Apart from Leaf chose Red as hers, so Misty got left with Brock. She didn't really mind this. The two had a lot of mutual respect for each other so they honestly didn't mind. There were also rumours that had peaked in the Kanto newspapers that they had a secret romance. They were both denying that with the most of their might, but they had looked incredibly closer in recent times so the others were expecting something to happen. 

They each had a colour coordination going on. Ash and Serena chose orange, Gary and Dawn blue, which allowed Gary to be even more of a tease, but risked losing a lay. Leaf and Red chose red for obvious reasons, May and Clemont green, Bonnie and Max pink and finally Brock and Misty grey.

It was all set. The boys would go out and get their suits, while the girls went and got dresses, before they met up and got ready.

Gary sighed as he put down another suit jacket and placed his tie down. He was in an internal battle about his feelings towards someone.

Over the week of the tournament so far, his perspective of her had changed a lot. Originally, he thought that she would be bratty and annoy him the whole time.

But after she was knocked out, she seemed to have changed. She looked upset more often then not, and when he tried to speak to Dawn about it, she shut him out.  The only time they had a proper conversation was when Dawn explained what happened with Serena and Lysandre.  All the other times, she spoke to someone over the phone or to one of the girls.

From the first time he saw her in Sinnoh with Ash and Brock, he liked it when she called him 'Professor Poet's Grandson'. He felt important. And all be it was she was good looking to him. Her hair was one of his favourite colours, and he was neither gonna lie about her fashion, as well as body. It all called out perfection to him.

He was slightly angry with Ash for not giving her a chance even after they reunited in Unova. He remembered Ash showering her in praise and glory, and he was jealous.

He was jealous that he got to travel with 3 stunning girls (even if Iris didn't make the cut). He was jealous they were all really close. He wanted to have a girl like that.  That was partly why he envied Ash a little more then he should have.

That didn't help either when Ash went through Kalos with Serena, as he vividly remembered Ash calling him from Coumarine City after the festival and Serena was there too. He was already jealous about her and Ash from the summer camp all those years before, and it didn't help where she had developed in the right places as well.

He couldn't help either that he was training to become a professor. He guessed that's why he never had a chance: people saw him as a nerd and not a flirt like his younger self was.

But this was the night the old Gary Muthafucking Oak was gonna be reborn...

Just needed to get this filler done tonight so that I haven't wasted the momentum I built up. The dance and revelations will be next, so stay tuned.