~Ash's POV~

"Pika..."

My eyes slowly opened once I heard Pikachu's voice. He was sitting on my chest, sparking his cheeks. I realized what he was about to do and jumped out of bed.

"Agh! Alright Pikachu! I'm up!"

He stopped his thunderbolt. "Pika!"

I sighed of relief. I was so thankful I woke up before he shocked me. Pikachu's thunderbolts were the worst.

"Pika pikachu!" He pointed to the door.

"Yeah, alright. I'll be down soon."

Pikachu nodded and ran out the door. He just asked me if he could go downstairs and help with breakfast again. I just let him go, because why not? Just keeping my fingers crossed I don't end up with a pancake covered in ketchup again.

There were many things I didn't want repeated again, besides the ketchup. What happened yesterday with Serena was way too much for me to handle. Throughout the whole day, my heart felt like it was going to explode. It's hard to explain. I kind of didn't want to be around her because of how weirdly I acted, but then at the same time I did, because I liked it.

Anyways, I should stop going over what happened yesterday. What matters now is today. I knew I would definitely act weird around her nowadays, so I'd have to try my best to keep calm.

I made my way downstairs to the kitchen to see how Pikachu was doing. He was sitting on the counter, happily watching Serena cook the food.

Pikachu saw me and waved. "Pika!"

"Oh, hi Ash!"

"H-hello. Pikachu's helping again, huh. Is he doing a good job?"

Alright that was good. If I just talk normally to her, everything will be fine.

"He's amazing! He should start helping me every morning!" She replied.

Waking up to Serena and Pikachu cooking every morning? Now that was something I wouldn't mind seeing.

"Haha, he should." I chuckled.

She began to walk over to me. I thought she was going to stop once she was at a good enough distance from me, but I was wrong. She walked closer, until our faces were just inches apart. My cheeks flushed red.

"S-serena...? W-what are you doing?" I gulped, unable to take my eyes off her.

She leaned over my shoulder and spoke softly into my ear. "You don't have to worry about the ketchup for today, I told Pikachu to use syrup. I know you hate the ketchup, just don't tell him." She took a step back and smiled.

"Y-yeah. T-thanks..."

I sighed of relief. Not because of the ketchup thing, but because she finally backed away from me. My heart beated in a way I haven't seen before. Not only that, but if she did do what I thought she was going to do, I would've fainted in my spot.

"A-anyways..." I looked away from her as I spoke. "I am going to wait in the dining room with the others."

"Alright. I'll finish up and bring the food in soon." She replied.

I nodded and walked out. I wiped the sweat off my forehead that has formed while Serena was talking to me. That was one of the many reasons why being around her was so hard. I tended to sweat due to nervousness.

The dining room door was open, and I could hear chatter from inside. I guess everyone was waiting for breakfast in there. Then I heard a guy's voice. And some giggling. What the hell was going on in there?

I poked my head into the door. Misty, Iris, May and Dawn sat around the table, along with Gary.

"Gary?!" I shouted. "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, Ashy! Good morning!" He waved, acting like nothing was happening.

"You haven't answered my question! Why are you here?!"

"I was invited over for breakfast!" He replied.

Another boy spoke from behind me. "More like invited yourself." The boy smirked.

I turned around to see Paul. He was here too? Great. He walked past me and sat beside Dawn.

"Gary invited himself?" I repeated.

"Yup. He knocked on our door and just walked in saying he was going to eat breakfast here." May sweat dropped.

What joy. Gary and Paul were here. If those two ended up fighting again, I wouldn't hesitate to throw them both out the window.

Serena walked through the doorway holding a few plates in her hands. She placed them on the table. "It's ready!"

Pikachu followed her holding one plate over his head. He handed it to me, indicating this one was for me.

"Thanks, buddy!" I took the plate and pet his head.

Gary placed a piece of the pancake into his mouth. "This is good! Serena, you are a great cook! You'll make an amazing wife! I should consider having you as my wi-"

Before Gary can finish, Paul smacked him on the head. "Shut up. We did not come here to freak these girls out." He sighed.

Gary rubbed the top of his head. "Ow, that hurt..."

"Uh...thanks?" Serena sweat dropped.

Misty crossed her arms and mumbled to herself. "Perv."

For some reason, I felt like wacking Gary with Misty's deadly broom. Whenever he'd talk to Serena like that, I'd start to feel...well, I don't know. Jealous? I guess that was the right word. Did he like Serena too?

Gary finished the last of his pancake. He wiped the syrup from his mouth. "Ah, that was the best breakfast I had in ages."

"Clemont's cooking is great too, Gary. I am pretty sure you have tasted good food way before these pancakes." Paul said.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess so." Gary got up from his seat and walked out.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The living room!"

Paul followed Gary, leaving me with the rest of the girls. Iris shrugged and continued to eat her pancakes.

Serena removed her apron. "Anyways, I need to get ready. I have a performance later today."

Dawn nodded. "Alright! Have fun!"

"Uh, g-good luck." I said.

"Thanks Ash!" She smiled, and left the room.

May placed her plate in the sink. "Well, we might as well join Gary and Paul in the living room."

I thought they were only staying for breakfast, but I guess I was wrong. Looked like they were going to be staying a little while longer.

"Yo, Ashy!" Gary called me over. "Come sit, I have been meaning to ask you about something."

I took a seat beside him. "Sure, what's up?"

"One question..." He said as he held his phone in front of me. "It this true?"

I looked at the screen. It was an article. The heading read 'Kalos Queen, Serena Yvonne with new boyfriend?'

I yanked Gary's phone from his hand and stared at the screen. "New boyfriend?!" I shouted.

"I don't think you are getting the idea here. Look at the picture." Gary pointed to the bottom of the article.

I scrolled down, to get a better look. The picture was of me and Serena, when we were running away from her fans yesterday. On the bottom of the picture, it read 'Possibly new boyfriend protecting Serena from fans?'

"Ashy, are you dating Serena?" Gary asked.

I started blushing. "S-since when was I her b-boyfriend?!"

"I don't know, Ashy. That picture kind of says everything..."

"No! I am not her...boyfriend! T-that picture was from yesterday, I was only helping her get away from a few fans, that's it!"

It was the papparazi. Those stupid papparazis were probably following Serena and took the picture once they found out I was with her. Well, shit.

"So you aren't dating her..." Paul said.

"No!" I shouted. "Of course not!"

"Alright, calm down. No need to yell, dude."

I clenched my fists. "I am going to find these papparazis and beat them to a pulp."

"Woah, Ashy. No need to get violent."

"What's going on here?" Misty asked as she walked in with the rest of the girls. "What's with all the shouting?"

I threw Gary's phone back at him. "N-nothing! Just talking...ehehe..."

If Misty found out about this, she'd kill me. She already thinks I'm a pervert, and I could only imagine how she'd react when she finds out about the misleading news article. And it wasn't going to be good.

Misty did not believe me and stole Gary's phone. She read the article. Oh crap. Well, this was it. This was how I was going to die.

She threw Gary's phone on the floor. "Ash Ketchum! Is this true?! A perv like you is dating Serena?! No, I do not approve! I won't allow a good friend to fall into the hands of a pervert!" She grabbed my collar.

"I-I'm sorry! It's all a misunderstanding! The article isn't true! I'm not dating her! Please don't kill me! I still have so much I want to do in life!" I cried.

Meanwhile, Gary was crying about something else. "My phone! Why did you drop my phone!?" He cried.

"Misty, calm down. Put Ash down." May tugged her arm.

Misty sighed and dropped me onto the floor. She placed her hands on her hips and did some thinking. She finally spoke. "Ash, is this true?"

I shook my head. "N-no! We were out buying groceries, and I just helped her get away from a few fans! That's all that happened, I swear! The person who wrote this article just overreacted everything!"

"Oh no...this is bad." Dawn said.

"W-why...?" I gulped.

"I don't know if Serena saw this article yet, but this is really going to get her into some trouble with him..."

Iris gasped. "Oma, you're right! He's going to see the article and can get into a fight with Serena or even worse, he could break-"

"Crap! We have to tell Serena before he does anything!" Misty ran out of the room, along with Iris and Dawn.

Wait...what? What the hell just happened? What did they mean Serena getting into a fight with...him? Who's this 'him' supposed to be? The way they ran out like that, it looked pretty important.

"May, what happened?" I asked.

"Oh, n-nothing, don't worry about it."

"O-okay..." I replied, still a little confused at what was going on.

She looked me in the eye. "But, I think you should be a little more careful starting today. Now that that article is spreading like crazy, you could get into some trouble."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, with the guy Misty and the others went all crazy about. You could get into some serious trouble with him."

"What...? Why? Who is he?"

May tilted her head. "You don't know...?"

I shaked my head. "N-no."

"Well, let's just say Serena is very important to this guy. Just make sure you stay clear of him, and be sure to explain everything to him if you do meet him. Anyways, I am going to join Misty and the others. See ya later." She waved, and left.

I looked over at Gary, who was still on the floor, crying. He held his phone tightly in his hands. "She dropped my phone...my poor phone..."

I sweat dropped. It wasn't even cracked, so I don't know what he was crying about.

Anyways, I couldn't explain how lost I was right now. The girls made me feel worried about who this guy might be, and why I had to look out for him.

"Ash, who's this dude supposed to be?" Paul asked. "Is he like her dad, or somethin? Or is he...maybe.." Paul stopped talking once he realized who the guy might be.

I sighed. "That's what I want to know."