An Alola Surprise!

Ash Vs. Alain Part 2: The Heat Of Battle

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Serena's POV

Whether she was returning from dress rehearsal or a routine stop at the Pokémon Center in whichever city she was currently performing in, the trip back always tended to pass by more swiftly for Serena.

This time was an exception.

Endlessly towing herself along the handrail up the stairways of Wyndon to compensate for her injured leg was partly to blame, but the unshakeable gazes of nearly every spectator in each row she lumbered past felt like the main culprit.

Sure, maybe she had incidentally alerted half of the entire stadium to her celebrity status while delivering a prolonged pep-talk to Ash, but that hardly justified the relentless scrutiny of every pair of eyes in a fifty-seat radius! She began feeling like Arceus himself was passing Judgement upon her.

Despite the cool, twilight breeze that gently brushed her face and kept stray wisps of hair out of her eyes, her cheeks still radiated with the heat of embarrassment. Serena quickly ruled out concealing her features beneath her fedora again since negotiating the stadium's cluttered walkways with complete visibility was challenging enough already.

Even as she moved towards the stadium's upper reaches, she could still hear the rough outcries of Pokémon echoing regularly behind her with no regard to distance, yet she refrained from casting any form of a backward glance until she was reunited with her companions.

After what felt like hours of unilateral hiking, Serena awkwardly sidled along a brief stretch of the forty-ninth row before wearily reclaiming her place. This time, the rift between the audience's feet and the backs of the next row of seats had noticeably grown. She wondered if it was knowledge of her identity that compelled their regard or solely the expectation of her return. Either way, she didn't complain.

Serena was relieved to find Bonnie barely contained in her seat, bouncing up and down in triumphant anticipation of her return.

"See? I told you big brother, I told you!" she piped.

Clemont folded his arms, unamused. "You told me Serena was probably on her way to the bathrooms," he stated flatly.

"The details aren't important!" she fired back hastily. "The important thing was when I said she had something really important to do. Remember?"

"Fine, maybe you mentioned that," Clemont allowed. He lifted his gaze over to Serena, his demeanor hardening. "But regardless of what my sister's saying, what in the world were you thinking? You could have been thrown out or worse - arrested!"

"Brother, stop!" Bonnie interjected. "Serena did what she thought was right, and looked how it turned out." She motioned towards the Jumbotron.

Serena let out an audible gasp as she beheld the match score between Ash and Alain.

1-0. Ash: remaining Pokémon: 3. Alain: remaining Pokémon: 2.

Ash had actually taken the lead! She couldn't fathom how Pikachu could have subdued Chestnaught in such little time. Had Ash called a Z-move? At his current pace, he was on track to best Alain as swiftly as Leon had his opponent just the previous round. Serena could scarcely believe what she was seeing.

"Bonnie, you've got to understand that any second now, an official could have Serena tossed out of the stadium for interfering with a match!" Clemont stressed. He raked his hands through his hair before giving it a frustrated tug, pulling on matted clumps between his fingers. "If that happens, I don't know what I'd do..."