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Clemont looked at the time: 3:35 AM. He wondered who could be calling him at this time, the thought of an emergency flashed through his mind, but he dismissed it as soon as he saw his sister in the bed next to his, and heard his father snoring outside the room.
“Hello?”
“Clemont, I need your help” A friend pleaded at the other side of the line
“Ash” the inventor groaned “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“4:35 PM” His friend replied
“Where are you?”
“In Professor Sakuragi’s Lab, at Kanto”
“And I still live in Kalos. Remember when we had that conversation about time zones all those years back?”
“Kinda” Ash admitted, until he realized something “Oops, sorry for waking you up”
Clemont let out a heartfelt laugh
“No problem. I’ll be there in the morning”
“Err…”
“YOUR morning, Ash” Clemont completed
“Oh, right, right. Thank you.”
Clemont hung up, wondering what his friend might need help with.
“So you´re not travelling. That’s a shocker” Clemont admitted as soon as Ash started talking about his job at the Lab
“I think I need a new perspective in life. So, maybe this will help, I’m not still sure if I made the right choice”
“Maybe that is related to your problem somehow” Clemont hypothesized, examining his friend’s ear “No. Nothing wrong at all”
“Nurse Joy said the same”
“There’s nothing wrong with you Ash, but I’m a scientist, I’m not sure why you call me instead of Brock. He has more experience in these matters”
“I don’t know, I guess I feel more comfortable with you around. I thought ‘who’s the smartest person I know?’ And BOOM! I thought of you”
“Thanks for the confidence” Clemont said pulling out a Rorschach Test from his backpack “Let’s try another thing. I’ll show you some pictures and you’ll tell me what you see in them ok?”
“Those are just ink blots” Ash replied
Clemont deadpanned
“Use your imagination. Just tell me what you see”
“Ok. Pikachu with a berry. Pikachu using electroweb. A Lucario jumping. A Snom rolling around. Greninja using water shuriken. Charizard flying. Xatu Teleporting. Gyarados towering over me. Rampaging Tyranitar. Snorlax sleeping. Gou laughing. A thousand Beedrills. Lugia’s head.”
Clemont stopped.
“Your mind associates these images with Pokemon. Nothing wrong with that. Although I never heard of a Gou”
“Gou is not a Pokemon” Ash explained “He’s my research fellow. He’s been outside for a few days now, investigating a clue about Mew. He’s always looking for Mew.”
“And there’s your answer” A girly voice behind Ash said, surprising him
“Bonnie! Where did you come from?”
“Sorry, Pikachu was really excited to see me” The girl said, brushing her hair with her hand “Besides that little Yamper is so cute!”
Bonnie approached her old friend with a smile:
“I know what’s happening to you Ash”
“Really?” He and Clemont asked in unison
“It’s simple. My big brother asked you what a Gou was. You could have only said that he was a human, but no. You said he was your research fellow. You called Clemont yesterday because you knew Gou wasn’t going to be here today. And you said Gou is always looking for Mew, which means you’re very interested in what he does”
“He’s kind with all of his friends, Bonnie” Clemont commented “Including us”
“This is more than just kindness” She said, narrowing her eyes “You have a crush on Gou”
Ash almost fell out of his chair.
Five minutes passed since Bonnie uttered those words, and Ash was still quiet and unmoving.
“I think you broke him, sis” Clemont whispers
“I’m fine” Ash confirms “It’s just… It’s so sudden… I don’t know what to say… Or how to say it…”
So he just gets up and hugs both of his friends. Tightly.
“I never felt this way guys” He confesses “I’m scared”
“Of what?” Clemont questions
“That maybe Gou doesn’t feel the same way” Bonnie murmurs
“How… do you know?” Ash wonders
“I’ve seen this story before. With you and…” She bites her lip, unsure to continue “Never mind”
“You are the fearless person I met in my life” Clemont adds “It must be hard, I know, but you can’t expect Gou to take the first step, Ash”
The trainer from Pallet Town smiles, and hugs his friends once again. Clemont shoots a look at his sister and chuckles when she pats his friend’s head.
“There there” She teases “I’m sure you prefer to do this with Gou and not us. Now if you excuse me…” She gets up, and that mischievous look flashes through her eyes once again “I have to… play with my electric boys for a little while”
Ash smiles. ‘Great’ she thinks ‘He doesn’t suspect a thing’
She’s not lying though. She plays with the two Pokemon (and of course, Dedenne) for a little while, thinking who she should call first and give the news of Ash’s recent discovery.
She gets up, and her heart breaks a little when she realizes who should be
“You are going to call Serena aren’t you?” Ash says behind her, and she freezes. She turns around. He’s smiling, holding a phone.
“I’ll call her. You can watch and glee all you want but say something and you are out, Ok?” He proposes
She nods. And Ash makes the call.
“Ash! What a nice surprise!” Serena exclaims with a smile
And he tells her everything, or at least everything a boy as oblivious as him can know about his first crush. Ash thinks she cries a few tears at one point, but the smile never abandons her face.
“I’m sorry” Ash says, once he finishes his story
“What for?”
“I think I know how you feel about me now” He confesses, and blames himself. How could he be so stupid, how he never noticed it before? “I’m sorry I chose him and not you”
Serena smiles once again
“Are you happy with him?”
“I hope I can be”
“Then I’m really happy for you, Ash”
She sounds so sincere, that the raven haired boy simply smiles, and finishes the call right there.
“That was so hard” Ash admits, he selects a few contacts and hangs his phone to Bonnie “Except those four, call the rest. Tell them whatever you want.”
She doesn’t even thank him; she just rushes out of the room and shouts, squeals and laughs for hours.
“Why would you do that?” Clemont questions
“She’s better at this than me” Ash says. He asks for Clemont’s phone, and makes another call.
Delia had to know, so his first choice was rather obvious.
His mother thanks for his call and he explains some of his latest activities and investigations. She smiles, nods and listens attentively, until she interrupts him.
“I know you didn’t just call me to check on me” She says, and Ash hates how his mother can see right through him “I appreciate the gesture sweetie, but I’m sure there’s something else on your mind”
He doesn’t say anything
“What is it, Ashy?” She questions, with a mixture of concern and anticipation
“It’s not something… It’s someone” He cryptically answers, and Delia knows in that exact moment that his little boy is not so little anymore. He tells her, in great detail, about the boy who stole his heart. And Delia explodes with happiness, but she doesn’t say a thing.
“Are you… happy with my choice?” Ash questions a few seconds later
“Happy?” Delia repeats
“Would you prefer a girlfriend and not a boyfriend?”
“Listen to me Mister Ash Ketchum” Delia says with a different tone of voice “Love is love. Don’t question it, don’t run from it, and don’t deny it. Just accept it, and do your best to make it grow. You love someone, and I really hope you can be happy with him”
“Mom…” Ash complains, feeling embarrassed
“And come home for Christmas with him, honey!” She happily exclaims
Ash finishes the call as quickly as he can. Clemont chuckles, but remains silent.
Misty laughs at first. She thinks it’s some kind of joke. Ash Ketchum, falling in love, ha!. So she asks for proof.
So he tells her, and one sentence escapes his lips:
“I think he looks cute when he blushes”
And Misty realizes it’s serious
“Oh boy, you’ve fallen hard” she says and Ash laughs
“I think so…”
“I’m sure he loves you too Ash” She says with conviction “So go ahead and make that boy happy”
Ash starts to notice a pattern, but maybe is too quick to jump to conclusions…
Dawn picks up really fast. And is not only her who appears on the screen. May is also there, because of course she has to be there, competing in the same contest. She was going to be his fourth call, but Ash thinks this will save some time and a lot of awkward explanations.
So he begins, and they listen, but they don’t seem to fully understand.
“So, you like this boy Gou” Dawn comments
“Yes, yes I do”
“So what?” May replies “You like everyone you have met”
“Yes, but this time is different”
“Different how?” Dawn demands
“I want to be with him, like all the time. And I’m happy if he succeeds at something, and sad if he fails. I want to cheer him, and support him, and tell him how much he means to me”
“Like everyone else you have met” May insists
“And I think he’s really cute” Ash says, recalling his conversation with Misty
“You’ve told me before than I’m cute” Dawn comments casually
“To me too” May adds “Countless times”
They are lying, and Ash knows it
“He’s cuter than both of you. Combined.”
‘That’s a mistake’ Clemont thinks and knows he’s right when May shouts back:
“First of all, how dare you.”
“Second of all” Dawn intervenes “He’s cute so what?”
“I wasn’t planning to say this” Ash says, completely convinced that his two friends don’t understand him “But I also want to hug him, and kiss him. A lot.”
Both girls smile, and Ash realizes he just fell into their trap.
“Now that it’s a confession” Dawn says “Did you notice how we didn’t understand you”
“Yes…”
“How did that make you feel?” May asks
“Annoyed”
“Good for you!” Dawn replies “Now you know how it feels to being around someone as dense as Ash Ketchum used to be!”
“Oh…” So that was the word. He used to be dense. He wonders how all of their friends tolerated him for so long if he was always like that, and the answer comes from May:
“Now go out there, kiss that boy, and be happy with him, Ash Ketchum!”
“Because you deserve it!” Dawn adds, finishing the call
“Happy” Ash murmurs “You all want me to be happy”
“Of course we do” Clemont comments and trips when Ash hugs him again
The two siblings from Lumiose City get back home and Ash, who knows that an important day in the calendar is coming very soon, ask a question to Professor Sakuragi:
“Of course” he replies “You can invite as many friends as you want. It won’t be a problem, I can assure you”
Ash runs back to his room and the Professor wonders what it is on his researcher’s mind. He has a theory, but doesn’t say a thing.
That same night, Ash creates a chat group and sends a message:
‘You want to come to the Lab for Christmas?’
‘Of course!’ All of the 16 members reply
‘Are you going to confess to Gou on Christmas Eve? How romantic!’ Bonnie writes
A waterfall of comments, emojis and hearts floods the screen, and Ash wants to hide under the covers and disappear.
But, he has to admit, Bonnie’s right.
That’s exactly the plan.