Embers danced across the sky as the sun began to fall, the scorching hot giant began it's set behind the crust only for another glowing white to soon takes its place above our heads. The day had been a long one, but had finally coming to a close allowing myself to relax. I was now sat at the table located right outside the kitchen. The house was in complete silence, as if no one was even living here. The light escaping the bulb on the ceiling was the only evidence of any form of life being active. 

I nudged at the food with my fork, not feeling all that hungry to begin with. My eyes shifted to the members gathered around the feast, both of them in their own world. The raven haired boy was sitting there, eyes closed while nibbling on the variety of pieces. Like the usual, my mother had gotten a cup of that disgusting liquid along her newspaper. My head dropped back to the table curtain, piled by countless dishes filled with goodies.

"I heard that there was an apparent tournament that was going to be held soon." The voice of my mother rang through out the entire house, ending the silence of a ghost town. I lifted my head at the unexpected conversation starter. Turning my head towards Ash, he hadn't reacted at all to the news. 'I thought he would be excited about this? Battles are his thing aren't they?' I stared at the boy with confusion. 

Not knowing what to say to continue the conversation, my head translated towards my mother to see if there was anything else to be said in regards to the tournament "I suppose you would like to know more, in particular you Ash? I had heard you were quite the battler from a certain someone." My cheeks shifted to the color of love. Once again, there was no reaction to the boy. He simply sat there with his eyes closed, arms crossed against his chest below. "Ash, did you hear what my mom said?" I spoke up, trying to get his attention. We failed again, this caused me to stand up and walk towards him.

Once I had reached him I slightly tapped him on the shoulder "Ash?" I let out with annoyed tone. 'The amount of times this happens is incredible...' I thought while pushing out a sigh getting worked up over these constant zone outs. I attempted again, and again. By now my patience began running lose. I raised my hand, and preparing to smack him across the face, however when I took a closer look I realized something. The reason he wasn't responding is because... he was asleep...

"Ash!" I snapped causing the boy to recoil and fall out of the chair in a complete panicking state. I gasped in shock at the outcome of my action, but still found it extremely funny "A-are y-you okay?" I made out, barely managing to hold in my laughter. A few giggles still managed to escape me. He recovered and stood up, rubbing the back of his head "Y-yeah, I guess... why did you have to scream directly in my ear in the first place?" He said asking in a grumpy tone "Well you didn't answer when we tried the peaceful route." I explained, returning the attitude. 

"Anyway, now that you are with us. I wanted to ask you, have you heard about the tournament that is being held in your school?" My mom intervened, breaking us up and cooling down the situation. "I have." He kept his answer stern, avoiding any eye contact. This had caught my senses. 'Why would he be coy about this?' I said to myself in my head. "What type of tournament is it?" I questioned, wanting to know more about it.

"According to what I've read and heard from professor Sycamore, the max amount of pokemon that will be allowed is three. First the number of students participating must be known, after I believe he mentioned that there will be multiple battles and trainers will be awarded points for their wins/draws/losses." I paid attention to her, thinking to myself of how many points Ash will be able to gain. "And what happens after that?" I asked, putting my full interests into this. "My, my isn't someone interested. I thought you weren't one for battles?" My mother replied "Although I'm not surprised at all." She said, looking at Ash which caused me to turn a deep shade of rose.

"J-just answer my question mom..." I shot back, attempting to sound sassy "Alright sweet pie." Her answer only caused the blush to further expand into all directions of my face "Mom!" I screeched out, earning myself a couple chuckles from her "After the points will be gathered, the top trainers will be announced. They will be qualified to compete against each other in a 1v1 with again three pokemon. Only the final battle which decides the victor will be a full battle containing all six pokemon from each side." I listened to the wonder, and then turned to Ash to see his reaction. My own face dropped when I saw his expression, it seemed like he didn't care and was slightly sad at hearing this.

"The victor of the tournament will be allowed to face off against the Kalos champion, Diantha herself." This caused Ash to lift his head at her, mouth slightly agape. "The winner gets to face off against Diantha?" He asked, in a depressed tone. My mother nodded, then turned to me. I shrugged my shoulders, showing that I didn't know what was with the tone. "I take it that you will be participating Ash?" She asked the raven haired boy, who glanced towards his Pikachu. "No." He put sternly, causing me to be completely incredulous. 'He won't be attending? I don't understand... and what's with the tone in his voice?' 

"Why not, I heard you had great battling expertise. Wouldn't it be a waste?" My mother asked, attempting to gain more information "I don't see the point in ruining a young trainers day by humiliating him." He replied back coldly "That didn't seem to be an issue with the gym leaders." She shot back, causing my jaw to drop. Tensions began rising as the two stared at each other.

"May I be excused?" I managed to say, standing up from my seat at the table. My mother nodded at me, and I left. The moment I turned the corner for the stairs, the door behind me slammed shut. Filled with confusion, I heard the floorboards creek beneath me while I was making my way up towards my room. 

After a while, the moment I had been waiting for arrived, the wooden piece from below opened and along with it a pair of footsteps set out towards my direction. I got off my bed, and raced towards the person who exited the dining room first, in hopes to meet them halfway through their journey. On my way down, I had nearly slipped from the rush I was in. By the time I had reached the near end of the incline, my legs stopped and my body froze.

At the corner of my eye I noticed Ash walking past me, towards the doorway. I ran back down the rest of the stairs and confronted him "Ash, where are you going?" He didn't reply, only stood there, his hat was covering those emotionless hazel eyes. His arm motioned towards the door, but I sprinted and blocked his way "I'm not letting you out of the house unless you tell me where you are going!" I shouted into his face, hoping for some kind of response. Nothing.

"I'm just going for a walk..." He said, before shoving me aside and leaving to go somewhere. I stared at the door with a mixture of shock and disbelief "Ash... I hope you'll be alright..." I said towards the door, even if I knew it wouldn't reach him. I picked myself up and walked upstairs to my original destination. Halfway down the hall towards my room, I felt my phone buzz. I picked it up, and noticed that I had received a text from Dawn.

"Hey Serena, are you busy tomorrow?" 

"No, I guess I'm not." I reply, not thinking much about it. 

"Alright then, well the group was wondering if we could all come over do some studying." I raised my eye brow at the proposal while laying down on my bed

"Why my house?"  I answered back to the blue haired girl

"I don't know, they just all seemed keen on going there. Especially Calem." I sighed at the text, but wasn't really in the mood to argue

"Whatever. You can come." 

"Thanks Serena, I'll see you later bestie!" The sudden change in mood caused me to smile

"See you tomorrow."

We were all currently sitting down stairs, countless textbooks, notebooks and papers scattered everywhere. There was a difficulty maintaining my attention on the phrases in the book, while ruckus had been constantly ongoing around. "Hey, pass it over here!" I heard the male voices reach my ear, seeing the group messing in my peripheral vision. I raised my book to deflect the distraction. "Look! Mine flew even further than yours!"

"Nuh, uh it didn't. The one that I threw went like two times further than yours!" The mahogany haired boy complained, as usually in his competitive tone "Gary, you either need glasses or another brain." The comment from Paul actually caused a giggle to escape me 'Stop it Serena! You accepted Dawn's request yesterday because you thought this would be productive.' I stated mentally, lowering my book and glancing around. The boys were darting around the room, throwing their basic origami constructions.

My attention shifted to the females seated beside, contradictory to the three boys messing around, they were actually paying attention and giving their best attempt at focusing on their work. I needed peace and quite to go any further. Tired of hearing the noise of multiple footsteps, crashing objects and their obnoxious voices, I let them know in a subtle way "Could you guys just maybe, please quite down or come back to join us? It's been barely any time and you are already goofing off..." 

It was to no avail, they were all trapped in a world of their own, oblivious to the outside. Although I can't really blame them, the amount of work being piled up was really beginning to get on my own nerve. A break would be nice... I shook my head 'No Serena. Study until they go, then you will be free to get back to routine practice.' Confirming with myself regarding the decision, I dived back into my book and began scanning over pages worth of information.

By now, the distractions of both the boys were noticeable on the faces of my female companions. I could tell they had trouble keeping their focus, and even I. One thing that was on my worries was that they would cause Ash to wake up, and that would be the last thing that I would want to happen. Letting them find out that the raven haired boy had been staying at my house would be utterly impossible to explain, not to mention I couldn't even tell the kids running around to quite down because of that reason.

I sighed with contempt. I gave countless other attempts to get those ruffians to calm down and get back to the original reason why they were here in the first place. Each time, they ignored me or came up with some excuse to let it pass. It really got me agitated, but staying the reserved person I am, I held it in me with a smile across my face. Eventually, one of the paper contraptions had hit me in my head, getting stuck in my dense honey blond hair. The smile cracked, while I slowly turned my head towards them.

"You all better get back to studying or else you aren't going to go home in a single piece!" I screeched with all my anger into it, letting it sip out as an ear piercing scream causing everyone to turn at me, with a mixture of fear or shock in their expressions. The moment I had ended the rage escaping me, there was a loud thud located above us. I shifted my head upwards, my mind in a complete state of panic. My eyes widened at the result of my scream, eventually reaching the rest of the group who shared the same expression as me.

"Serena, geez. You were so loud you managed to make something move and fall upstairs." Gary said in disbelief while staring into the ceiling. I shook my head and took this as an opportunity to let it slide "Y-yeah, I guess I must have." I responded in a incredulous tone, hoping to be able to convince the others "Sorry..." I apologized, glancing at the rest who seemed to take the bait and believe in the lie 'Oh crap, Ash is most likely going to come down stairs... I have to get them out of here...'

"Listen, it's clearly evident that we won't be able to study in this environment." I started with a sigh towards the group, who all held their attention towards me "What do you mean Serena?" The blue haired girl asked with a confused tone "I mean that it would probably be best if we just end the session. Personally, I think it wasn't that bad. I managed to go through an incredible amount today." I finished with a positive attitude. They all looked at each other and nodded "Alright then, I guess we will see you later Serena." I smiled at Shauna, giving her a hug.

"H-hey Serena." I heard Calems voice, sounding very hesitant "Yes?" I questioned the boy standing to my side "I wondering I could talk to you about that thing we agr.." His voice was cut off half way by a certain brown haired girl, pulling him out of my house in a swift motion "Time to go Mister, we all agreed that study session is no longer in order." The boy struggled, disappointed at the sudden interruption "B-but I need to talk to Serena about-" Once again he was cut off "No buts, let's go."

I sweat dropped at Shauna, and waved a good bye to both of them. Nearly everyone was now out of my home, except for the one who always seems to be trapped around me "You nearly ready to go Dawn?" I said eagerly, my eyes shifting between her and the stairway "Why are you in such a rush Serena, the day is still young. Do you really want me to go that badly?" She asked, faking a disappointed tone "Yes. Now get out." we chuckled at my joking attitude, yet still I was worried about the unwanted interaction.

My worst nightmares became a reality the moment I heard the wooden floor of the incline let out small thuds. I began pushing Dawn, getting her out faster "H-hey Serena what's the big deal, I'm getting ready and am nearly done aren't I?" She questioned my actions, with slight panic and wonderment at the same time "Yeah, I know but wouldn't it be better to do it outside in the lovely weather instead of inside this dreary place?" I tried convincing her, but I could tell I was only arousing her suspicious "Serena, you aren't acting the way you usually do... what are you hiding?"

The thuds were getting louder, I shot my head back in complete panic, sweat forming "I-I don't know what you're talking about Dawn. I really think you should get going!" I nearly screamed the last part at her, raising my voice. She finally put her coat over herself and was now outside the door staring back at me "Alright then Serena, I guess I'll see... you... tomorrow..." Her voice began dropping, I looked at her with confusion and turned half a circle only to come in eye contact with Ash standing at the bottom of the stairway.

He must have just come down the flight of stairs, I could see him adjusting his glove with his buddy, Pikachu situated on his back. Every fiber in my body froze as I felt the tapping of a single finger on my shoulder from behind. I began sweating like crazy, shifting around to meet the devil itself. The first thing I earned was a couple of glares from her, the deep blue eyes switching between me and the raven haired boy. 

Her jaw dropped, and soon a devious smile perked on her lips 'Oh no, please don't' I thought to myself. She leaned in close to my ear, the contact of her breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. 

"Ohohohoh, we will talk about this later."

With a single whisper, my cheeks flared and forced me to blush furiously at her teasing 'Great...' I mentally sighed. Dawn then raised her right hand and waved "Bye, Ash!" She shouted with a smile stretching from ear to ear. With a final devious look, she headed off down the side walk and back to where she had come from. A massive sigh escaped my mouth "I won't be hearing the end of this any time soon. Or ever..." 

I rotated towards Ash, and saw him putting on his coat catching me off guard "Where are you going?" I asked him in a polite tone. There were pairs of footsteps that set out towards my direction, and soon the boy passed me. I refused to let him walk out again without detail of his exact whereabouts. I grabbed for his wrist "Ash?" He turned around, staring me dead in the eye. I had another long look at his dead hazel eyes. Unlike before, they seemed... as if there had began a new life form inside, but death was still the majority.

"I'm going to the next gym." He replied quickly, and put his other hand over my own. Catching me completely off guard, I couldn't help but turn a dark crimson "You said you wanted to join me next time?" Ash asked in a sincere voice, waiting for an answer "W-well, I th-thought that t-today you would help me... with my performance..." I managed to push out of myself.

"Right..."