Love in the Time of Tribulations

Chapter 3: An Encounter

So, you may notice my lovely new profile picture. I want to give a big shout out and thanks to the amazingly talented and wonderful Captain Luky Greace (on this site) for it! Also, love how everyone picked up on the SlurpuffShipping last chapter (thanks Omegaz for the name!). But now it's Chapter 3!

Chapter 3

An Encounter

Serena had to admit to herself that she was incredibly nervous; nervous enough that she was unable to sleep that night. Following the rules stated for the tournament, Kalas had then taken the time, one by one, to give mini-dossiers on almost every competitor. She was so mortified at the time that she was actually going to be deliberately focused on outside of a Showcase setting that she missed most of the interview/dossier coverage. Not that she was the only one as Ash seemed somewhat embarrassed and Clemont outright froze up, to Bonnie's later admonishment. Still, none of those three had the same problem she had and were able to sleep like logs. In the case of Ash, he was literally sawing them with Pikachu plastered on his trainer's face.

For just a second that night, Serena watched the two best friends sleep, Ash subconsciously scratching at his stomach. Smiling softly, the restless Serena headed for the balcony that was attached to their room. Silently opening the door and closing it, she stepped out into the cool night breeze. It helped to calm her, especially when combined with the sound of the waterfalls crashing around them. From where she was, Serena could see the source of the noise, the empty stadium and even into the room next door, which it turned out was where Alain was rooming with Mairin, Astrid, and Dawn of all people. They were all sleeping soundly, or so it appeared. Alain looked to be fidgeting a little.

"Maybe I'm not the only nervous one..." she breathed out. Though, she had little doubt that they were nervous for entirely different reasons. She couldn't speak to what Alain could be nervous about, but she certainly knew what was on her mind. Tomorrow she'd be squaring off against someone in a one-on-one battle. The last time she'd done that to conclusion, she'd failed horribly. And while she certainly felt she'd grown and improved since then, a certain sense of terror at the thought of falling flat on her face for the umpteenth time in front of millions of people flooded through her. Realizing the fresh air was doing nothing for her now, Serena returned into the suite.

Checking to see that the others were still asleep, Serena retreated over to a TV that was in the room for their usage, flicking it on and lowering the volume so that she could hear it, but others couldn't. From just the first few seconds, Serena could tell there was practically twenty-four-hour coverage of the Peace Tournament.

"Some interesting competitors taking place in this tournament, isn't there?" Serena blinked at the sight of Kalas on the screen. As she drew her knees in to her chest, she had to wonder if the man ever slept. Next to him was the vice president, Michael. Watching him a moment, she noted his kind face and comforting blue eyes as he nodded at Kalas' comment. "Who do you think will make it to the top three from this selection of participants?"

"Well, I can certainly place a wager on two of them: Alain and Ash Ketchum should at least be able to make the final rounds," Michael said with a stroke of his blond beard. "Their participation in the Lumiose Conference and the Kalos Crisis isn't to be discounted. Yourself?"

"I'm quite partial to those who took part in the Kalos Team Tournament!" Kalas admitted. "Dawn and Serena were quite impressive battlers on the final day of the tournament. I'd put my money on Sawyer, though. That boy's Sceptile is a force to be reckoned with!"

"Aha, yes, I forgot that you were there for that tournament," Michael chuckled out on the screen. "But this is keeping the talk on known trainers that have made a name for themselves in the last few months. Any screened participants catch your eye?"