No POV

At the precise time of midnight. Ash and his family were traveling inside a black stretched limo, sitting in the backseat by resting their backs. Heading to Lumiose hotel, which is a place filled with lots of rich citizens and money come into one party, even awards ceremony take place in each year.

Ash slouched in his passenger seat and slowly turned his head over his shoulder as he stares out at the clear window watching streets go past before his cola eyes. He didn't feel like going to it, but he rather wanted to see Serena there.

When they finally arrived. The black, stretched limo carefully parked its way between each limos without any crash. When it did, Ash and his family step out of the transport and head towards the hotel entrance with other aged people entering.

Ash POV

Despite the fact that dad was so eager to be the first person to arrive, when we entered the Lumiose hotel foyer, there was already a large crowd of invited guests milling around, chatting to one another. I wondered whether all these early birds were being honoured too, or if they just liked to arrive at events half an hour before start time.

Once we got to the grand ballroom and were ushered to our table for five by an overeager employee, who obviously wanted a tip by the end of the night, dad was swept up by a group of expensively dressed business men and was taken to the nearest bar. A few seconds later, Hope, after entrusting Leaf to my care, took off with a bunch of housewives to stand in a corner and talk about people's outfits. I'm sure I was the main point of conversation, but I didn't give a crap. I was wearing Nike sneakers, after all.

Friends of my father kept coming up to 'chat' with me and Leaf, thinking that it would get them into dad's good books. They had no way of knowing that I was persona non grata right now.

"What time Serena gonna be here, Ash?" Leaf asked me, inquisitively looking up into my tanned straight face. I leaned forward just to hear her squeak voice since the whole room is louder than her making it harder for me to listen.

"I don't know, princess. Probably soon," I told her, smoothing back her brown hair from her crease forehead.

She smiled at me. "Are you excited, Ash?" she wanted to know.

Nodding honestly, I grinned down at her. I was excited, even though I still wasn't quite sure why. "I sure am."

"Me too." Leaf twirled again on same spot and her pink dress fluttered around her legs. "Do you think she'll like my dress?"

I tugged playfully on a ringlet of her hair. "Course she will," I assured her. "Anyone normal would love your dress, princess."

Leaf beamed. "I need to go bathroom," she whispered furtively without getting anyone's attention, looking around to make sure that no one was listening. "Can you come with me? Please?"

"I'll come with you, but I'm not going in with you," I joked, waving my finger in her face as she giggled. "Can you imagine what the ladies would say?" I questioned with a grin.

A grave expression on her face, Leaf nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's not a good idea. You can just wait for me outside."

She slipped her small hand into mine and I let her lead me to the bathrooms, dodging past each people In our way. As Leaf reached up to open the heavy door leading to the Ladies Room, it manually opened from the inside and Misty and Miette stepped out, chatting rapidly.

Miette's eyes sparkled as she saw me. "Ash! Hi!" she exclaimed as she walks towards me, throwing her arms around my neck and enveloping me in her expensive strong perfume.

The fabric of her black dress scratched against my shirt as I hugged her back and whispered, "You look good enough to eat," in her ear. She giggled as she ran her hands up and down my back. I hoped her boyfriend wasn't anywhere near, or I was dead.

Over Miette's free shoulder, Misty shot me a cool look. "Girls bathroom, Ash? Really?" Raising an eyebrow at me. At background behind her, a suited employee was serving wine glasses to each citezen on table.

I childishly stuck my tongue out at her as Miette stepped back away from me in some distance, giving me a perfect view of her sexy little black dress. A lot of effort had evidently gone into her look and I appreciated it. She looked hot.

"I'm babysitting Leaf, Ginger," I told Misty, who snorted and rolled her eyes at the same time.

Miette knelt awkwardly till she was face to face with Leaf, who gave her a level look.

For some odd reason, Leaf had never really liked Miette, who had even stooped to bribing her with candy when we started dating. Sure, Leaf had eaten the candy greedily, but she still didn't like Miette, no matter what tactics she tried. Leaf was weird like that. Some people she took a shine to immediately and instinctively adored; other people she couldn't care less about. Misty and Miette fell into the second category. Misty didn't care coz she couldn't care less about Leaf too, but Miette was always on a mission to get Leaf to be her BFF.

"Hi sweetie, you look so adorable in your pretty pink dress! Did you pick it out yourself?" Miette gushed with a smile.

Leaf nodded mutely at Miette's question, which was worded in baby talk. 'R's turned into 'w's like she had a speech impediment. It was painful yet hilarious to listen to. I always suspected the real reason Leaf disliked Miette is because she insisted on treating her like a baby. Leaf was one of the most adult six-year-olds that I knew, not that I knew many six-year-olds, thank Arceus. Miette and her insufferable baby talk were just insults to Leaf's intelligence.

"Wow, you have style, sweetie! What do you want to be when you grow up? A fashion designer?"

Leaf shot me an 'is she serious' look that made me snicker quietly. "No," she replied, shaking her head. "I wanna be a princess."

"That's a big word, you smart girl! Isn't that adorable, Misty?" Miette asked, looking at Misty for support. Yeah right.

Yawning, a bored looking Misty said, "I could take it or leave it."

Miette still wasn't done sucking up to Leaf. I always got the feeling that she was doing it for my benefit, maybe thinking that if she finally hit it off with Leaf. Which was about as likely to happen as the Doctor giving me good news about my aneurysm. It would win her points with me. Sometimes I swear she forgot that she was the one who dumped me.

I could see her racking her brains to find something else to interest Leaf in.

"What did Santa bring you for Christmas last year?" she cooed, her hands on Leaf's free shoulders to presumably steady herself.

I bit back a smile as Misty heaved an exasperated sigh.

Politely, Leaf replied, "Santa isn't real. I'm six, not ignorant. I have to go bathroom now." With that zinger, Leaf tripped into the bathroom as Miette got up to her feet, her knees popping.

"She's such a sweetheart," she enthused.

Misty snorted rudely. "The kid hates you!"

Miette turned to her, taken aback. "She does not!"

Shaking the head, Misty said, "Whatever, Miette." She turned to me, her hands on her slim hips. "Ash, I have to ask you something."

"Shoot," I said agreeably. I didn't know at first what she was going to questions me until she did.

"Serena Yvonne over my cousin melody? What the hell, dude?" She questioned which caught me off guard.

Miette shot us a confused look. Hell, I was confused. How the hell had Misty found out?

"What are you talking about?" Miette wanted to know. "What does Serena have to do with anything?"

Sneering down her nose at me, Misty said, "I'll tell you. Ash invited Serena Yvonne to the gala as his date."

And that's when the proverbial hit the fan.

Miette turned on me, her lips compressed into a thin line. "I seriously hope she's joking. Did you really?" she asked by narrowing her eyes brows at me.

Before I could open my mouth to answer her, Misty did. "Why the hell would I be joking?" she asked, lips twisted in a vicious smile. Misty lived to make trouble. "Calem told me. He heard it straight from the horse's mouth, and yes, I'm talking about Serena."

Eyes wide, Miette shot stared at me. "Is it true?" she asked.

Without hesitation. I nodded slowly. No use in lying about it, they would have found out anyway. I just wished I didn't have to deal with the unpleasant questions that I was sure were coming. Nobody could out Miette and Misty, once they got started.

Misty punched the air triumphantly. "I knew it!" she crowed.

"Wait, how does Calem know about this?" I asked her, trying to get to the bottom of this perplexing situation. Sere and Calem barely spoke. I couldn't imagine her telling him her business.

"Pfft, ask the someone who goes on Facebook," Misty said breezily, leaning closer to me. She nudged me in the stomach. "So spill. Why her? Is it a prank? A bet? What?"

Running a hand through my raven hair, I groaned out, "No prank or bet, Misty!" Did she really think I had nothing better to do with my life than plot and scheme against innocent girls?

Pouting, Misty responds, "I'm just trying to figure out why you would ask her to the gala! She's not one of us!"

Miette nodded with a frown creasing her forehead. "Yeah, why would you ask her over me?"

With a sign. "Mai, I told you why I couldn't ask you," I reminded her patiently as her scowl deepened.

"You didn't tell me why you couldn't ask Melody, who waited for your call," Misty said accusingly.

I debated on whether to reply 'because Melody was as boring as **** and I'd rather have my aneurysm implode than spend an evening with her' but decided against it and muttered, "I'll send her an apology text."

Miette shook out her blue hair. "What's the appeal then, if you're not planning anything?" she asked coldly.

"I just- I wanted to do something nice for her," I explained, tugging on my ear.

"Why? You don't even know her!" Misty gave a surprised laugh at my answer, staring right at me.

"She's helping me with my extra credit work in Science, okay?" I lied.

"Like you care!" Miette spat bitterly. "Since when has Ash Ketchum cared about anyone but himself?"

Since he looked in the mirror and saw a jerky, egotistical son of a ***** staring back at him. In essence, since he realised that if he didn't change, he would turn into his father.

Shrugging myself in disbelief, I stared into Miette's cold brown eyes, glaring at my face in front of me. "Maybe I've changed."

She snorted scornfully. "Yeah right. You'll never change. You want to nail her, don't you?"

At this. I burst out of laughter, more from surprise than anything else. Me nailing Sere? Hell no! The thought never crossed my mind before, but now it was, and in a big way. Crap.

"Mia-," I started, putting a hand on her bare shoulder until she shook it off.

"No! Don't 'Mia' me! You say you invited a total nobody to one of Lumiose most elite events just because she's helping you in class?" Her eyes flashed angrily and I took a step back. "So thank her with flowers! Take her out for ice cream! Don't bring her to a place like this and not expect me to think you're trying to get her into bed!"

Why the sudden obsession with my sex life? Even if I did want to get Sere into my bed (oh, damn), it was none of Miette's business.

Misty nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I couldn't have said it better myself," she agreed in a smug tone as I glared with a menacing look. "She's an outsider, Ash. She won't fit in with the rich and famous." She smirked. "You should have thought of that before you started feeling all charitable."

Taking a quick deep breath, I looked down at my sneakers. "She'll fit in," I said firmly, more for my benefit than for Misty's.

"How? She's from Vanville, remember?" Snickering, Misty continued. "Your dad's gonna hate her! This is gonna be some classic."

When she that. My heart sank down like a dropped stone. Uh oh. I hadn't thought about the dad factor. Giovanni Ketchum was, without doubt, the biggest snob out there. When he found out that Sere was from Vanville, he would go off on her big time. I wished I could say I was lying, but I had seen it happen enough times to know that it wouldn't be pretty. Why hadn't I warned Sere about it when I had the chance? Simple case of not thinking things through.

Still, I couldn't let the girls see that Misty had raised a very valid point- what would my dad do when Sere walked into the ballroom?

A smile formed on my tanned face like nothing has happened. I said, "Don't worry yourselves. I got this."

Misty snickered, a sound I was starting to get pissed off. "Please," she said in a lack of respect. "All you've got is a hot mess on your hands."

"Speaking of hot messes, what the hell is she gonna wear?" Miette asked snottily.

I shrugged casually. "Uh, clothes, maybe?"

Miette glared at me angrily, her nostrils flaring slightly. "I mean she's poor," she started.

Until I swung my arm, raising a full hand to stop her. "Quit bringing that up!" So what if Sere was poor? When we were together, it didn't matter.

"I'm not lying, am I, Misty?" Miette once again looked to Misty for backup. This time, Misty got the hint, took it and ran with it.

"She's as poor as a mouse," she said by shaking her head.

"So how's she going to pay for her dress?" Miette smiled vindictively. "Bet you didn't think of that! Didn't you."

Misty nodded in agreement. "You're gonna bankrupt her," she said in a mock tone. "There's no way in hell she'll be able to afford a nice dress, unless she sticks up primark's dress."

Miette responds, "Prepare to be stood up."

"Serena Yvonne." Misty shook her head, giving me a pitying look. "I can't believe you would stoop so low. You're getting weird, Ketchum." She inclined her head in Miette's direction. "Let's go, Miette. Leave him with Leaf. She's probably the only date he'll hang with tonight."

Miette smirked, the expression looking unbelievably ugly on her face. "Have fun." She extends the word 'fun' longer and walks off with Misty.

They sashayed away from me in the direction of the ballroom in to a large crowd leaving me feeling pissed off, confused and just a little bit tense. What the fricken had that been about?

As soon as they were out of earshot, the bathroom door cracked open and Leaf peered out.

"Are they gone?" she whispered, looking around behind the heavy door.

I nodded. "Yup, all gone."

She sighed with relief, pushing the door wider and stepping out to stand next to me. "Good. Miette treats me like I'm two. I'm six. I don't like it."

Smiling ruefully, I took her small hand, sliding it into mine. "Neither do I," I admitted.

Hand in hand, we walked back to the ballroom as we approached our table and joined Hope, who was sipping on some red cherry wine in a wine glass which there was a little liquid left. I quickly picked up her glass and snuck a quick gulp, winking at her.

Thanks to the girls, all thoughts of me nailing Sere had been pushed to the back of my mind because now I was sure that I was going to be stood up. And there would be no way to defend myself from dad if I didn't have a date for the night because I was the one who had messed up by inviting Sere when I knew full well that she was poor. Just thinking that she had to buy a dress because I had invited her to the gala made me feel like a slime ball. I was a jerk and I knew it.

Hope shook her head disapprovingly as I set her wine glass down on table in front of her.

"If your dad saw you-," she started, a warning note in her voice.

I spread my arms wide. "What? He's doing the same thing!" I grinned.

"Still, you're a minor. You can't drink."

I winked at her again, patting her warm hand. "That doesn't stop me," I joked.

She smiled affectionately at me. "I know," she said in a resentful manner. "You're impossible."

"But he looks good, right mommy?" Leaf spoke up, swinging her little legs against the side of the table.

Hope smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes, he looks very handsome. Your dates a very lucky girl." She looked around the ballroom where people were meandering to their seats as the chairman of the event took to the small elevated stage at the front of the room. "Speaking of which-."

"She's not here yet. Maybe she won't even show." I slumped dejectedly in my seat, drumming my sneaker clad feet on the hard ground making each a thud noise. I should have just called giggling Melody like Misty had told me to. I was such a jackass.

"Nobody normal would stand you up," Hope said, pinching my z-mark cheek gently. "And since I know you wouldn't date a not-normal person, you have nothing to worry about."

I gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks for your belief in me."

Leaf looked at me. "What?" she asked, having heard her original name.

"Not you, princess," I told her and she giggled.

"Oh, sorry!"

Soon. I felt my phone vibrated in my tight pocket. I fished my hand in my pocket as I slipped it out in ease and flipped it open to see the full screen. And to my eyes. It was a text from Sere. Apprehensively, I opened it, sure that she was just texting me to let me know that she was over it and was going to watch May's fashion show debut instead.

I'm outside the hotel.

A short, simple, to the point message that made my heart soar with relief. She didn't bail on me! I could take that as a win.

"Mommy, look at Ash's face," Leaf giggled as I put my phone back in my pants pocket with a wide smile crawled up on my face.

"Must be a message from his date because he sure looks happy," Hope agreed, an interested look on her face.

"He lit up like a jack 'o' lantern," Leaf continued with a cheeky smile on her face.

I growled mischievously at her. "Did you just compare me to a jack 'o' lantern?"

"I'm sorry!" Leaf collapsed in a fit of giggles while in her seat.

"Is your date here?" Hope asked.

I nodded, getting up to my feet. "Yeah, she's outside. I'll be right back," I told them and walked off.

Feeling like I was walking on air, I quickly exited the ballroom as the night sky dawdled above and soon spotted Dawn and her boyfriend approaching me in my sight.

"Hey, Dawn. Hey, man," I greeted, waving at the duo.

"Hey, Ash, what's up?" Dawn's date replied, beaming at me.

"Hi Ash! Your dates in the foyer, go get her!" A smug look on her pretty face, Dawn added, "I'm sure you'll find that she looks beautiful tonight."

Grinning back at her and already beginning to move away, I said, "I think she always looks beautiful." The amazed look on Dawn's face was classic. "Have fun, guys."

I left Dawn looking bewildered and walked to the foyer. People (probably guests of the hotel) were hanging around, but until I saw Sere immediately and for almost 5 seconds, I forgot to breathe for air. I was breathless in my sight.

Sere spotted me and slowly walked towards me, one hand playing nervously with the skirt of her shockingly pink dress. She had a nervous smile on her cute face which faded as our eyes met. A warm feeling coursed through my body and my heart started thumping irrationally as a spark of chemistry passed between us. Hell, not even a spark. A huge, lightning bolt of electricity that had my mind going round in circles. Oh damn Pikachu.

'I'm just happy to see her, that's all,' I thought to myself, but somehow, that theory wasn't washing. Sure, I was over the moon to see her, but there was something else underlying, something more.

Dawn was right. She did look very beautiful. My cola eyes roamed over her sexy body, noting now the pink dress offset her vanilla skin perfectly and clung to her in all the right places, how her golden locket was lying against her skin and how her rich honey blond hair straightened up to her shoulders.

For a second, even though the foyer wasn't empty, it was just me and her as I moved closer to her by taking small steps, unable to take my eyes off her as I finally stopped in front. Before I could tell her how beautiful she looked, how beautiful she was, she caught sight of my outfit.

"OMG, I'm overdressed, aren't I?" she burst out, actually wringing her hands as I drew up to her. I opened then closed my mouth in a second, not sure what to say. "Ash, why didn't you tell me this was a casual event? Then I would have worn one of May's old dresses instead of buying this hugely expensive dress!"

She pulled at the pink dress, a pensive look on her face as she bit her full bottom glossed lip. Didn't she know that I couldn't think straight right now?

I settled for giving her a blank look and saying, "Huh?"

I didn't, in all honesty, understand what she was on about. Hell, with her looking this amazing, could you blame me?

She gestured at me. "You're wearing sneakers! And I'm wearing 4 inch heels!"

I finally found my voice and some modicum of control against my raging hormones. "No wonder you look so tall. Sere, what-."

"You could have told me not to get all dressed up, Ash!" Her forehead was creased with worried lines as she looked at me. "I feel so stupid! I mean, you're not even wearing a tie!"

I scratched my bare neck. "That's because ties are uncomfortable. And I'd rather be dead than wear pointy dress shoes." I cringed as Sere gave me a blank look, still looking upset.

"Ash-," she started.

I slowly took her smooth hands into mine which made me more complex, squeezing her hand softly. "Sere. You're not overdressed," I assured her, looking deep into her sky-blue eyes, giving me my reflection. "If anything, I'm underdressed."

She still looked uncertain, her pink glossed lips parting. "You mean- I'm okay?" she asked hesitantly.

I stared at her. Why did she not realize how beautiful she was? "You're more than okay. You- you're pretty much perfect."

Her eyes lit up in surprise, even as she said "Y-you mean it."

I gave her a crooked smile. " of course I mean it," I said honestly. "You look amazingly beautiful."

I swear I saw tears in her gorgeous blue eyes as she smiled gratefully at me with a red blush engulfed on her cheeks. "Thank you Ash." Clearing her throat, she continued shyly. "You look very handsome."

"Thanks," I said, breathing in her scent. Strawberries and cream. Delicious. "Shall we?"

Sere nodded, looking uneasy as I took her hand and led her to the ballroom.

"I'm scared. Nervous. All those things," she whispered to me.

I squeezed her hand again, marveling how it seemed to fit perfectly in mine. "Just don't look directly into anyone's eyes," I joked.

"Not funny." But she was smiling, so I assumed that it had been a little funny.

"At least Leaf'll be happy you're in pink, just like her," I said reflectively.

As We entered into the ballroom and immediately, it seemed all eyes were on us. Or rather, on Sere. Obviously. A beauty in a vibrant pink dress, who wouldn't look? I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off her myself!

"Now I know what Cinderella felt like when she arrived at the ball," Sere whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

I grinned at her, my eyes on her vanilla-coloured face. "Tonight, you're my Cinderella," I told her.

She smiled back, probably liking of what I just said. "Lucky me."

And we simply walked to our table ignoring other people's stares, neither of us knowing what the night would bring.