Sparks Fly (reupload)

And Then It Happened

"Thanks, Bonnie," said Meyer as his daughter held the door open for him.

"It's no problem," she said, letting the others follow Meyer into the house. She and Clemont briefly made eye contact, and Bonnie winked. Clemont waved at her nervously.

After the group made their way into the house, Bonnie didn't hesitate to put her own plan into action. "Hey, Serena! You wanna take a tour of my room?"

"A tour?" she asked. "Well, uh, I was planning on talking to Ash about something-"

"You can talk to him later! You gotta know where you're sleeping now, or else... uh..." Bonnie paused to think. "It wouldn't be good hospitality if I don't show you. Right now."

Serena stared at Bonnie blankly. "I- okay," she replied. "Let's go, then."

Bonnie grinned and led Serena away, leaving behind Clemont, Ash, Pikachu, and Meyer.

"You guys can hang out in Clemont's room," said Meyer. "I have to call Professor Sycamore."

"Okay," Ash replied. "Hopefully nothing bad's gonna happen this time."

Clemont gritted his teeth.

'I really hope not.'

With Pikachu on Ash's shoulders, Clemont led them to his room. He noticed on their way there that the door to Bonnie's room was closed.

"So," Ash prompted when they entered the room, "what do you wanna do now?"

"Well, definitely not something that would end with me in the Pokémon Center again," Clemont joked. Ash laughed, thinking the joke was a way for Clemont to show that there were no hard feelings between them for the incident. And, while those feelings weren't there, it wasn't why he made the joke.

'Okay, Clemont, no more stalling,' he told himself. 'Besides, that's the only joke you got right now.'

The blonde's smile faded. "Ash, I need to tell you something," he said.

"Yeah?" he replied. "Wait, you weren't joking about the hospital thing? I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's n-not that," Clemont stammered. "I mean, it has to do with you, but i-it's not about what you said. You didn't do anything wrong at all, r-really-" he looked at Ash, who stared back at him in confusion.

Clemont sighed. "This is hard for me to say."

Ash nodded. "Take your time."

Pikachu hopped from Ash's shoulders and onto Clemont's lap. "Pika!" he said.

"I think he's okay with you petting him to calm you down," Ash suggested.

"Really?" Clemont asked, looking down at the Pokémon. Pikachu smiled back. The blonde boy began petting Pikachu, and felt his body relax. "Do you remember the day Serena left to go to Hoenn?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, when she kissed you, I remember the blood rushing towards my face out of shock. But back then I thought it was out of some sort of shock."

"It did come out of nowhere," Ash agreed.

Clemont gently stroked the top of Pikachu's head. "But, after a while of thinking about it, and everything that we've been through, I've realized what I felt then. Why I was shocked, and why there was this pain in my body that didn't seem to go away. And why you're the only one that makes that pain go away, even just for a bit. Even if I get burned," he said, gesturing towards his chest for emphasis, "there's something that m-makes me feel better. Something that can't compare to any medicine or medical treatment."