The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 72

By the time Ash's Pokemon are healed up, and he makes the switches with Professor Oak that he planned to do, Clemont is half done with creating the inventions Ash requested. So, Ash finds an open area to begin basic training until his friend competes his inventions. The two of them find a place further from the Pokemon Center where they can work on Ash's plan in secret. With the inventions Clemont created, Ash gives Primeape and Pikachu special training for the big day. Clemont doesn't understand the purpose of what Ash and his Pokemon are doing with his inventions, but upon Ash's request, he decides to trust his raven-haired friend and agree to keep it a secret from everyone else.

Unfortunately, like many of Clemont's inventions, it was only a matter of time before Clemont's inventions start to malfunction and eventually blow up. Clemont is devastated that his newest inventions are destroyed, and Ash is bummed that his Pokemon can't continue their special training.

Regardless, Ash decides to keep a positive attitude, believing that Primeape and Pikachu are ready to do what he has planned for his match against Timothy. So after cheering up Clemont, the raven-haired boy continues training with all six of his Pokemon until they are worn out from training. Luckily, by the time the two trainers come back to the Pokemon Center to put Ash's Pokemon in Nurse Joy's care, the rest of the group have started eating dinner. Ash doesn't hesitate to start gorging himself with food much to everyone else's expectations. After everyone was done, Serena gives everyone the cookies she made with Bonnie and Dawn.

But while she keeps a smile on her face as she serve the treats to her friends, a part of her is still feeling down about what happens after the league. As happy as she is that Ash has made it to the finals once again, the fact that the league will be over in less than a day fills her heart with dread. Even though she plans to express how she feels about Ash before going their separate ways, she still wishes she can stay by his side. Ash is once again the only person who notices the sadness in her eyes and tries to cheer her up by praising her constantly for the sweets she made. But despite his caring efforts, his compliments only do so much to make the honey blonde girl happy while still feeling sad. Knowing this, Ash comes back to the conclusion that the only way he makes her truly happy is by winning the league.

But as he thinks about it, an idea comes into his mind. He starts to consider what Alain said about cheering Mairin up by winning the Kalos League, and it occurs to Ash that as touching as Alain's efforts were, he never implied that he told Mairin that he won the league for her specifically. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he can't just win the league as his best attempt to make Serena truly happy with her unaware. Serena herself has to know that he's doing it all for her; that he wants to cheer her up and express his gratitude for everything she has done to give him the most heartening support he's ever had from any of his friends. In the end, he knows exactly what he has to do to really make an impact on what his friend is going to witness during his battle against Timothy.

The next day, Ash picks up his Pokemon and does some additional training to refresh everything he has planned against his rival. After a couple of hours, everyone starts making their way to Indigo Stadium to make sure Ash is there before the battle begins promptly at noon.

"I can't wait to watch the final battle!" Bonnie says cheerfully.

"De ne ne," Dedenne says.

"Neither can I," Max agrees.

"To tell you the truth, I feel both excited and nervous," Iris says. "Ash has grown to be so strong since our journey in Unova, but Timothy's pretty powerful too."

"Indeed, but that's what's going to make this battle so exciting," Cilan says. "Two strong trainers giving everything they've got is a real treat to enjoy."