Clemont had always had a nervous mumbling habit. In fact all of us, Bonnie, Clemont and I, had our own special nervous habits. Bonnie's seemed to change more the older she got. At one point she was able to just run and escape to her room. But she got older and would need to leave the house more. She enjoyed pokemon grooming whenever she had the chance and would practice on her dolls. But being out of the house more sometimes meant she couldn't style a plush's fur. So she'd fidget and fiddle with her own hair, sometimes to a rather great degree. Once, her nerves had gotten to her so badly that her hair fidgeting had gotten to a new all time high. And unfortunately, while trying to deal with those nerves, she managed to get a hold of someone's scissors. The result? She wore a hat for several months whenever she left the house.

My nervous habit didn't change much as I got older I was told. It mostly involved writing, which helped me release stress, which quickly devolved into doodling on myself, which my mother didn't approve of. The doodles to her seemed "unladylike", and I understood where she was coming from. Whenever I had finished I would look at the arm I had coated in blacks, blues, and reds from my pens and grimace at the sight. I never really did it because I liked the look. Tattoos weren't something I ever really wanted to get. I did it because for some reason afterwards my mind would feel so much clearer and lighter.

Clemont, even though he really was the quirkiest of the three of us, had the most normal nervous habit: Nervous mumbling. He would speedily mumble and mutter under his breath, almost like he was trying to keep pace with his raging thoughts. Though, he didn't just do it when he was nervous. When he was angry, excited, even when he was sad (though those mumbles weren't as quick), the trait seemed to shine through.

He stared at the ground as we both walked back, the only sound besides his quiet mumbles being the heels of our shoes click clacking across the pavement. I took slower deeper breaths because the thick atmosphere of was getting to be a bit much for me.

I felt like I needed to say something. Anything to get rid of this tense feeling and suffocating silence.

I open my mouth to speak hoping my brain some kind of words tumbling out that make a little cohesive sense but before I could Clemont quickly asked, "He's going tonight?"

I could ask which he Clemont was talking about and where he was insinuating this "he" was going but he knew I was smarter than that. I nodded slowly.

"He asked you to come with him, didn't he?" Clemont asked, the question sounding less like a question and more like he was reaffirming a fact.

"Well um- n-not exactly..."

In all honesty I was the one who shouted about wanting to go with him. He might've brought it up but he hadn't really outright asked me, so it wasn't a lie.

Unfortunately, thinking of the situation made a pink blush start reappearing on my cheeks, and gave my adoptive blond brother the wrong idea.

He gripped the straps of his bag tighter as his voice got lower and more sinister. Or maybe not sinister. Protective? Concerned even?

"He's using you Serena"

Those four words were enough to make me stop in my tracks.

Apparently Clemont noticed the absence of my shoes clicking on the pavement along with his since he stopped and turned to me, his expression riddled with hate, though not toward me, and undeniable worry.

"I know you don't like to think of him like that, but..." Clemont sighed pausing to close his eyes tightly and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Think about this. He left you with a false sense of hope years ago when you really needed him. Now he's suddenly back having not even attempted to apologize in that amount of time and you're just...fine with that?!"

"...yes. I am."

I start briskly walking past Clemont, gripping the straps of my school bag a little tighter. Ash had apologized eventually and that counted for something. He was here now and that counted for something. He was lighting up my life and I refused to believe that didn't count for something. I refused to let any doubts about him seep into my mind. And if I were to let them, it would not be on tonight of all nights, that much was certain.

I was about to go out with someone more special to me than my adoptive brother realized.

This was not the time to let conspiracies and grudges stop me from having potentially the best night of the year.

~~~

Standing outside the door to Barry's dorm made everything start feeling more real. It wasn't that I didn't believe I would be going to a party, but instead I hadn't realized how new and different of an experience this would be.

But instead of being excited like how a new and different challenge, or new and different opponent made me feel, I found myself fidgeting with Pikachu's empty pokeball. I would glance around every so often, for some reason my feet not letting me walk up  to the door. My chest felt strangely tight and the feeling of my heart battering against my ribcage was nearly enough to make me decide to head back to my self proclaimed park bench and make up an excuse for the questions I'd be sure to get on Monday.

I took a deep breath, deciding to focus on Serena instead of the party, and how we'd started talking more like old times. I smiled a bit, feeling a sense of calm wash over me...for about five seconds before remembering she said she'd be coming. My eyes flew open and I couldn't understand why, but somehow that thought made the tightness in my chest and the uncontrollable fidgeting worse.

In the middle of my confused, panicked fidgeting, I felt a finger lightly tap me twice on the shoulder. I stopped, finally taking in a breath, whipping my head around to see Dawn, in a simple dark brown dress with a pink jacket, pink boots, and a magenta scarf wrapped around her neck, standing there with a perplexed grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Everything okay Ash?"

"Yup," I started, hearing my voice crack slightly. I cleared my throat and took a breath before repeating myself, "Yep. All good."

Dawn tried not to laugh at my first speaking attempt and made it obvious she had to try. I scowled at her, before noticing she had worn her white beanie. She had worn it constantly when both of us were still journeying with Brock. And its age showed with the several subtle smudges and burn marks from battles with fire pokemon gone wrong most likely.

"You still have it?"

She blinked a few times silently, not sure what it was she "still had", until she saw where my eyes were directed.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "My hat? Yeah I kept it. It was one of my favorites before I even started my journey!"

She reached up, gingerly taking the soft knitted cap between her fingers, a warm smile spreading across her face as her eyes sparkled, nostalgia sinking in. All the contests she was part of, all the battles we faced, each experience for her, bitter and sweet, were summed up somewhat in a simple piece of headwear. She tilted her head to the head slightly, just barely whispering, "Those were good times huh..."

I scratched the back of my neck staring down at the beanie myself "Yeah...they sure were..."

Our sentimental walk down memory lane was interupted by the light cheery and familiar call of a certain pokemon, "Pip-Piplup!"

I looked down to see the familiar blue penguin pokemon looking up at me and I felt my jaw drop slightly before my mouth formed a wide grin "Piplup!"

I crouched down and immediately placed my hand on his head, ruffling his short fur "Good to see ya buddy! It's been a while"

Piplup let out a happy cry at the attention while Dawn softly chuckled, all three of us absorbing the still calmness of the moment, a feeling we'd really missed.

~~~

I know I'm loud person, but I didn't expect the party to be this loud. The space was dark and cramped, with red lighting, red plastic cups of blood red punch. Barry, Dawn, May belted out lyrics to random pop songs I struggled to recognize, holding fake microphones up to their mouths while the tunes flowed out from a karaoke machine Barry probably rented. Though it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume he had owned it already. The guy was so spontaneous and nonsensical I could see him buying one on a whim and never using it till today. Misty was dancing off to the side, talking with Angie, while Conway, not to far off, was staring for an uncomfortably long time at Dawn. I felt my body stiffen up a bit and felt a hand on my shoulder startling me out of my anger driven thoughts, and looked to whoever the hand belonged to, already expecting, hoping, for a certain someone. I got Zoey instead.

"Don't worry about Conway. He's pretty harmless," she explained with lax posture and cool, calm smile. "Trust me, I've watched him interact with Dawn for a while now. He's creepy, don't get me wrong, but he wouldn't hurt a fly...probably"

I had been about to relax before that "probably" was added.

Zoey chuckled and held out a hand, "Either way, don't think I've officially introduced myself! I'm Zoey, good friend of Dawn's! We met while she was traveling through Sinnoh"

I unconsiously raised an eyebrow while taking Zoey's hand firmly in mine. I don't remember seeing her when Dawn, Brock, and I traveled through Sinnoh. Did Dawn backtrack when we all split up? Or maybe my memory was just coming back to bite me in the butt as usual.

I shook her hand up and down, briefly introducing myself. "I'm Ash Ketchum. Dawn and I met when we were kids in Kanto.

Zoey's smile widened and gained a bit more warmth to it. "Whoa, you guys have known each other a while then!"

I slowly nod my head, my gaze traveling behind Zoey when I hear a slow creaking of the dorm's door, and a head of honey blond hair peeking inside.

When Serena steps in suddenly all the noise from the party becomes muffled. She's wearing no hat tonight, but has a blue banndanna wrapped around her head, acting as a headband. As she steps into the room I see she's wearing a flowey pink dress, with layers of ruffles that make her look adorable yet elegant. She wore a small knit jacket with it, a shade of darker pink that matched the lipstick I noticed she put on. Her pair of heeled, hightop black boots gave her some extra height and my curiosity made me want to stand up and see just how much height they gave. 

Her cerulean blue eyes, sparkling in the little light the dorm provided, eventually rested on mine. I felt my heart skip a beat and my face get a little warm. How long had I been staring? 

My oncoming train of panicked thoughts, though I didn't understand the panic behind them, came to a halt when Zoey snapped her fingers in front of me. "Hey? You there Ketchem?"

I tore my eyes away from Serena to look at Zoey and nod my head, before quickly standing up. "I'm just gonna get something to drink I'll be right back" I uttered hurriedly, mentally screaming at myself for the several voice cracks that laced that sentence. 

I ventured to the table of refreshments and felt my stomach clench when I noticed the snacks and goodies beside the punch bowl. I could've devoured all of them in seconds but that probably wouldn't be ideal to do in the presence of people who already didn't like me or didn't have an opinion on me yet. I looked around and when no one was watching I snatched several snack baggies and types of candies, and stuffed my pockets full, before going back to what I was originally planning to do: get a drink.

I felt a tap on my right shoulder, and assumed the worst, already beginning to think of an excuse for my snack snatching. But instead of an accusatory glare I was met with those soft cerulean blue eyes, and somehow every thought, every excuse, and every worry were drowned away in those two pools of ocean waters. I felt the world drift away, like I was sinking in a pile of shifting sand, with no where to go but down. Her honey blond locks of hair looked incredibly soft, and my fingers itched to feel just how soft they were. My eyes fell upon the bandana in her hair and I nearly instantly recognized it. Because it used to be mine.

I could see her opening her mouth to speak but I wasn't sure I'd even here what she'd say, before hearing Barry's voice bounce off the walls of the dorm and probably reach far outside it, saying "HEY GUYS, LET'S PLAY TRUTH OR DARE!"

~~~

I don't know how we got in this situation, but one second I'm trying to start a conversation with Ash without breaking into a blushing, stuttering mess, and the next second I'm sitting in a circle with my lunch mates with a glass bottle sitting menacingly in the center of us, ready to decide each of our individual fates. 

I glance at Ash beside me, and see him staring at the bottle with his big brown curious eyes and a slight tilt to his head. Then my gaze turns to Barry who reaches out for the bottle instantly and spins it without hesitation. Round and round it goes, in hypnotizing circles until it begins to slow, selecting its first victim.

This can only end well....

This is taking longer than I thought it would originally. I was going to use the party for some fluff and a tiny bit of plot development originally but I underestimated how many chapters would need to be dedicated to keep putting out chapters with digestible chunks of story. So this will probably be a longer arch than anticipated. Thanks for all of your patience though y'all! I greatly appreciate it

QotD: Which books should I put the most focus on and what fandoms would you like to see me write fanfiction for? Would anyone be interested in original stories with ocs from me? Let me know!

Thanks for getting this far, and I'll see y'all next read!