379 days.

It has been 379 days since Ash broke up with his ex-girlfriend Miette for cheating on him.

379 days since he dropped out of medical school and started a dead end career writing user manuals for dedicated purchasing software.

379 days since he started living with his older sister, Dawn and her son, Jeffrey.

379 days where his life has not felt the same.

This is what fills Ash's mind as he sits on the roof of Dawn's house. He likes to get on the roof through the window to his room around night time to think about his life. With his sad brown eyes and messy yet weak black hair, the 27-year old man glumly looks at the view of Lumiose City which is a half hour drive from Dawn's house in Vaniville Town. He takes out his phone and looks at his latest text message from his best friend since college, Brock.

Brock: Hey, Ash, are you planning to come to my party? I know you're still super down, but you gotta get out of your hole sometime, bro.

Ash frowns at the text. For over a year now, Brock has been trying to get him to move on from his depressed state and back into society since Ash only leaves the house to go to work or go to a movie with Dawn and Jeffrey or maybe go to a movie by himself. As much as Ash appreciates what his friend is trying to do, he has no confidence that what he's asking will help. Normally, if Ash ever goes to a social gathering without a girlfriend, he just stands around or sits somewhere quietly while he pathetically watches everyone drink and chat the night away and Brock makes out with two women at minimum. Everyone who knows Brock as a friend knows that he's an expert at hitting on and successfully make out with women and date at least one for a brief time before it ends badly.

Suddenly, Ash feels his phone vibrating in his pocket and he takes it out.

Brock: Look, buddy, you can't keep moping forever. Sooner or later you need to move on. Do you really want to stay in this state while everyone else including Miette are having better lives than you are?"

Ash winces at the message. The idea of his ex-girlfriend living a better life than him even after she knowingly wronged him stings him inside. He thinks about what Brock is saying until he goes to the voice message app and plays a voicemail that has been on his phone for exactly 379 days.

"Ashy, please talk to me," A frail and sad female voice says. "Whatever you saw, there's an explanation. I'm not saying it's a good explanation - obviously, it's not, but you don't know the full story. Look, Ash, no matter what happened I still love you. You are a sweet guy and you mean everything to me. Just call me back, please. I love you."

Ash frowns angrily at the woman's claim that she still loves him. He's heard this message at least a few hundred times now and each time is more unbearable than the last. But this time, he can't stand to head the desperation in Miette's voice. It's as if for the first time, the pain in hearing her voice is not as strong as before.

Without another word, he deletes the message and climbs down the roof.

************************************************************************************************

Ash walks down the street to Brock's house with a nervous look. As much as finally deleting Miette's message lifted a large weight on his chest, he's still unsure that he can stand interacting with a crowd of people again. He gulps nervously as he makes it to the driveway to Brock's house where he can see a bunch of people partying through the windows. Ash hesitates and takes a step back waiting to turn around and go back home until the front door bursts open to reveal a tall 29-year-old man with black hair and dark skin looking at Ash with a face of joy.

"Ash, little buddy! You made it!" Brock says happily as he walks over to Ash and pulls him into a tight hug.

"Hey, Brock," Ash groans in pain from the tight embrace before Brock lets him down.

"So does mean you're finally ready to move on?" Brock asks enthusiastically.

"Well...I finally deleted Miette's message so I guess so," Ash says quietly with a shrug.

"Wow, finally got rid of that skank's message. Look at you go!" Brock says with a grin as he takes Ash's hand. "Come on, It's time to join society again, buddy."

Ash whimpers as Brock leads him inside the house. Brock helps Ash take off his coat while Ash looks around to see the entire area crowded by people drinking and dancing.

"So, why did you throw a party again?" Ash asks.

"Ash, Ash, Ash, Ash," Brock says with a chuckle. "I don't need a reason to throw a party."

Ash's nervous face fades to give Brock a suspicious look. Brock chuckles again and scratches the back of his head.

"Okay, fine. I'm looking for a rebound or two after things went south with Florinda,"

"I thought you didn't get together with her," Ash says in confusion.

"Yeah, but it looked like we were gonna be a thing until that guy from her job stole her from me," Brock grumbles. "So I need someone to cheer me up and get me back on my feet after my loss."

Ash gives Brock a pitiful look which Brock ignores as he continues.

"Hey, look at it this way, together we're both going to be moving on," he says. "I'll be using this party to move on from Florida while you move on from Miette."

Ash frowns nervously at this idea.

"I don't know, Brock," he says. "Just because I'm trying to move on doesn't mean I want to start dating again. I'm fine with being just single."

Brock furrows his brow and says, "Ash, my brother, you disappoint me. You've been single and then some for over a year. It's past time that you try to find someone. Haven't you been alone with practically no one but me, Dawn and Jeffrey long enough?"

Ash hesitates and struggles to make a response. Before he can say a word, however, Brock pats him on the back.

"Come on, you never know what comes up until you try, little buddy," he says. "There's a ton of ladies here, most of which none of us have ever met. Maybe there will be someone who is ten times the lady for you Miette could ever have been."

"I don't know," Ash says. "I can't imagine any girl for me would go to a party like this. Not even Miette."

"Well, maybe they'll have a best friend that convinced them to come like me," Brock says nudging Ash's side with his arm playfully. "So go grab a beer and look around, check some girls out. At least pretend to enjoy yourself."

With that, Brock pats Ash on the back again and leaves to scout for lonely women. Ash groans, regretting that he came here before he reluctantly makes his way to the kitchen. He struggles his way down the halls with groups of people talking, drinking and pairs of people making out drunkenly before he makes it to the kitchen. Robotically, he takes out a beer from the fridge, takes out the cap and quietly takes a small sip. He begins to stare at the fridge and the word magnets covering its door until he gets an idea and starts putting together a sentence with a few of them.

Love is stupid monkeys dancing in a slapstick hurricane

He stares at his creation and a small smile enters his face satisfied with letting out his feelings. Suddenly, he hears a giggle behind him. He turns around to see a beautiful woman with short honey blonde hair give him a playfully mocking smirk that makes him feel nervous again.

"Y-yeah, that was...actually supposed to be an anonymous fridge magnet poem," he says bashfully.

"And here I am quietly judging you," the honey blonde woman teases.

"Oh, I can handle it," Ash says scratching the back of his head. "I have humiliated myself in much worse ways than this in front of people I actually know."

Ash grows uncomfortable, wondering why he said that to a complete stranger. His nervousness melts, however, when his reply is met with the woman raising her eyebrow and smirking at him in amusement.

"Indeed," she says as she raises her bottle to him. "Cheers."

"Uh...yeah, cheers," Ash says as he raises his bottle and they clink their bottles together before she leaves.

Ash lets out a sigh, feeling relieved to be done with that awkward moment. But then he finds himself turning around and watching the honey blonde woman leave to the next room. He feels his cheeks warm up a little as his mind drifts to how beautiful she is despite her mocking demeanor. He acts confused as he wonders why this woman is suddenly grabbing his attention even though her personality doesn't imply that she's the kind of woman he's interested in. He shrugs, guessing that his thoughts were just on the possibility of getting together with a girl like her, for the more he thought about it, the more he realized he has never seen a woman as beautiful as her. Eventually, he sighs and looks for a chair in the living room to quietly drink his beer.

After about ten minutes, Ash finishes his beer and goes back to the kitchen to get another one. But as he enters the kitchen, he sees the woman with the honey blonde hair standing in front of the fridge, moving some of the magnets around. He slowly walks over to her and she turns her head to notice him.

"Sorry, I moved your poem," she says pointing to where she moved his message. "I suddenly got fascinated with what you were doing and just felt this desire to try it."

"Oh...that's okay," Ash says shyly. "It can get a little addicting."

The honey blonde woman nods in agreement before she takes a step back and presents her own message.

We are nothing but dancing light in the restless dream of a roasted pig.

"What do you think?" she asks proudly. "A full-on masterpiece if I say so myself."

Ash chuckles lightly and says, "It's amusing."

"Hey, Serena!"

Ash and the honey blonde woman turn around to see Brock entering the kitchen, carrying a pile of empty beer bottle with both his hands before dumping all of them into the recycle bin.

"Glad you could make it," he says before noticing Ash. "Ah, you two just met."

"Yeah, I guess we sort of did," the honey blonde woman answers.

"Alright, then how about some introductions?" Brock suggests. "Ash, this my cousin, Serena, Serena, this is my old college roommate, Ash."

"Ah, so you're the famous Ash," Serena says giving Ash an amused look as they shake hands. "Brock has told me a lot about you."

"Oh, I certainly hope not," Ash says nervously.

"This is actually the first time Ash has been to a party in a while," Brock says, patting Ash's head as he speaks. "He's been hibernating like a bear for a year ever since his poor little heart was broken."

"Aw, Brock, could you please not tell that to people while patting my head?" Ash whines.

Serena giggles and says, "Well, I must say, this explains a lot. I thought you were anemic or partially albino."

"Well, it's technically both but -" Ash begins before a tall woman with auburn hair interrupts him.

"Excuse me," she says. "Do you guys know Autumn? She's tall, brown hair and she's always bragging about her eating disorder."

Ash and Serena shake their heads, but Brock stares at the woman awestruck as she spoke. He grins mischievously and steps toward her with a coquettish look.

"I'm Autumn," he says playfully. "It's been a long time."

The woman raises her eyebrow and smiles flirtatiously.

"Why yes, it has," she playfully says back.

"It's so good to see you," Brock says.

"That's just what she sounds like," the woman says sarcastically.

"Would you like a tour of the house?" Brock asks.

"Why yes, that would be delightful," the woman answers with a kittenish grin.

The two of them walk away, eying each other as they exit the kitchen, leaving Ash and Serena to silently judge their friend.

"I knew he was going to that with some woman eventually, and yet it's still unbelievable that he quickly acted like she's the only person in the house," Ash grumbles.

"It's the price people pay for knowing Brock whether as a friend or a relative," Serena agrees. "Although to be fair, I don't always like going to parties whether my cousin is here or not. Having awkward small talk is not my forte."

"Um...actually it's 'fort,'" Ash says.

Serena turns to the wimpy man with a skeptical look.

"Excuse me?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Ash stutters for a moment before he explains, "W-w-well, 'for-te' means forcefully, and 'fort' means strength."

Serena keeps her skeptical look, making Ash feel uncomfortable and desperate to get her to stop judging him.

"B-b-but I still say 'for-te' too, because if you say 'fort,' everyone thinks you're getting it wrong, even though it is the correct pronunciation."

Serena keeps her glare before she asks, "So is that basically your thing? Correcting people's pronunciations?"

"Um...yes?" Ash answers.

"And how is that working for you?" the honey blonde woman asks with her arms crossed.

"Uh...well...I have a dead-end job, I live in my sister's attic, and as we've established earlier, I never go out," Ash says scratching the back of his head before he realizes how much he blurted out. "Now that I think about it, I guess correcting pronunciation is my old thing and my new thing apparently is over-sharing."

Again, much to Ash's surprise, Serena giggles in amusement.

"S-s-sorry, I don't see how that's amusing," Ash admits.

Serena snorts out a laugh and says, "You're kinda funny. Do you want to find someplace to sit and talk?"

Ash stands there dumbfounded. He has no idea why he's amusing this woman so, but at the same time, it seems like an opportunity too good to pass up with an attractive woman like her after fully getting over Miette. He robotically nods yes and Serena smirks as she takes two bottles of beer out of the fridge and takes his hand. Ash blushes and feels goosebumps in his skin as she drags him across the house until she finds two empty chairs.

The two of them talk to each other for about a half an hour while the party goes on. As they talk, Ash learns that Serena is an animator and she works in a big animation company back in Lumiose City, has a younger sister named Lillie who also lives in Vaniville Town and has lived in Kalos her whole life. Ash goes on to share that he's lived in Kalos for five years since he moved from Kanto to go to medical school, he hates his job and his sister, Dawn and his nephew Jeffrey moved to Vaniville Town a couple years ago after Dawn's husband, Kenny died of an illness. They continue to chat until Serena says that she's going to the bathroom and Ash politely waits for her to come back.

After about forty minutes or so, however, he notices that she's taking a long time. He frowns as he begins to think that she might have left or gone to talk to someone else less pathetic than him. After a few more minutes, he decides to finish his beer and get ready for home. As he makes his way to the front entrance, he finds Brock fiercely making out with the auburn-haired woman with her legs and arms wrapped around him. Ash groans in annoyance at his best friend's success in wooing another girl as he makes his way to the front entrance and grabs his coat.

"About to leave?"

He turns around in surprise to find Serena walking toward him with another smirk.

"Uh...yeah," Ash admits uncomfortably. "I just decided to leave without saying goodbye like a big jerk."

"What a capital idea, so did I," Serena says proudly as she says as she grabs her own coat. "Although, in your defense, I don't think you count as a jerk when my cousin is the one sloppily exchanging saliva with some bimbo in front of everyone."

Ash finds himself snickering and says, "I think that sums up half of what he's commonly known for in a nutshell."

"Oh yeah? What's he also known for?" Serena asks curiously as the two of them exit the house.

"Drinking beer and the fact that he never cooks anything because he's obsessed with chimichangas," Ash says plainly.

Serena laughs loudly and says, "That sounds about right. I mean I'm his cousin, and yet you probably know about his eating habits more than I do."

Ash smiles, feeling comfortable again as they reach the sidewalk.

"Where are you going?" Serena asks. "I'm just a couple of blocks west."

"Oh, I am too," Ash says with a small smile. "Would you...uh... like to walk together?"

"I don't see why not or how we could not," Serena says rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm asking you to wait two minutes until I'm ahead of you and then go home."

"Uh...right," Ash says chuckling nervously as the two of them begin to walk down the street.

"Are you always acting this awkward or am I just lucky?" Serena asks with a frown. "And don't start your answer with another "uh' or "um.'"

Ash struggles not to start his sentence with 'uh' or 'um' before he answers, "I guess I'm always this awkward."

"Well, at least you're honest about it," Serena says. "There's nothing wrong with a man who can admit his faults."

Ash smiles again, feeling somewhat flattered by her words before he decides to start another conversation.

"So...how long have you wanted to become an animator?" he asks.

"Since I was about 7 or 8," Serena says plainly. "I was just one of those girls at school who wanted to draw whenever I wanted and didn't care what anyone thought or if I would get in trouble with my teachers because of it."

"How can you not care about getting in trouble just like that?" Ash asks in surprise.

"It's simple to do when they are trying to teach me things like math and science and stuff that I have absolutely no use for," Serena answers uncaringly. "When you know that you're not going to be there forever, it's better to treat your so-called higher ups like their words against you have no weight against you whatsoever."

"Oh gee, I could never do that," Ash says. "I would always be terrified to talk back to any of my teachers."

"I can't imagine why," Serena says sarcastically. "Seems like you needed someone like me to get you out of your awkward stage growing up."

"Uh... do you think younger you would have been willing to spend time trying to teach something like that to a guy like me?" Ash asks.

"Well, you seem like a nice enough guy to give it a shot," Serena says with a friendly smirk.

Ash smiles at her reply as the two of them make it to the front porch of Dawn's house.

"So this is your sister's place, eh?" Serena asks before pointing at the top window. "And I'm guessing that's where you're staying?"

"Yeah," Ash answers awkwardly.

"What's it like living in an attic?" she asks. "Is it just boxes of stuff and then someone you have a bed and a lamp and maybe a dresser or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," Ash says waving his hands with a nervous chuckle. "It's like a normal bedroom except you get in by climbing a ladder and I can climb to the roof through the window if I like to."

"Really?" Serena asks as she looks at the roof with an intrigued look. "That sounds neat."

"Yeah, it kind of is," Ash says. "I like to go up there and think and look at the city from afar."

"Cool," Serena says nodding her head.

The two of them stare at each other for a moment, making Ash uncomfortable again before he builds up the courage to say what's on his mind.

"Uh, listen," he says bashfully. "I had a really good time talking to you...so..um...maybe you would like to talk again sometime?"

Serena stares at Ash for a moment before she smirks again.

"You know what? I actually had a nice time talking to you too," she says making Ash let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "In fact, I'm gonna give you my number."

Ash smiles brightly at this as Serena takes out a small sheet of paper and a pen from her purse and begins writing.

"Now this is top secret information," she says with a playful glare making Ash smile. "I did not mean to stay up this late. My boyfriend will be worried about what happened to me if I don't call him and let him know I made it to my apartment safely.

...

Boyfriend.

Ash groans silently so that Serena does hear as his hopes are crushed like an ant against a boot. He keeps his smile, pretending he isn't hurt as Serena gives her the piece of paper.

"Alright, Mr. Ash, I expect you to call me," Serena says.

"Uh, yeah. Absolutely. Thank you very much," Ash says as he struggles to keep his cool. "N-nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Serena says with a friendly smirk as she begins strolling down the sidewalk to her home.

Ash watches her walk until she's too far away before he breaks his fake smile and groans sadly. Here he thought he had a chance to move on with really snarky but pretty woman and she turns out to have a boyfriend.

"Then again, why wouldn't she have a boyfriend?" he grumbles as he enters Dawn's house and makes his way up to his room. "She's only a super-hot woman with an attitude, so of course someone would be dating her long before she ever meets me."

After turning on his bedroom lights, he takes out the sheet of paper containing her phone number and crumbles it before throwing it into the trash bin next to his bed stand. Then he opens the window and climbs into his spot on the roof want looks at Lumiose City from afar with a mopey look.

"Ah, what's the use complaining?" he asks himself sadly. "What would someone like her see in a guy like me anyway?"