Hi everyone!  SK here.  We are now at the second chapter of this book.  WELLLLL technically the third part, but second chapter.  If that's not confusing.

But anyway, let's start.  Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked it!!

Enjoy ^w^

Ash

"Come on, Clemont, almost there," I encourage, looking back at my tired friend behind me.  We have been walking for quite some time, and I know well that Clemont gets tired easily. 

"Y-Yeah.. I know," he huffs.  "C-Can we just take a small break?"  He gives me a look that I can't say no to.

"Of course," I reply.  "We can eat something, too."  My stomach grumbles as soon as I say that... though, to be quite honest, I'm not really surprised.

"Oh, okay!  Thanks, Ash," Clemont says, looking grateful.  I tell him that it's no problem, and we then venture off to find somewhere we can rest and eat for a little while.  Being in the countryside, that isn't too hard to find.  We quickly come across a nice grassy spot with lots of sweet-smelling flowers, and Pokemon that are native to the region.  When we sit down, I take in a deep breath and smell the nature around us.

Sweet-smelling flowers... ah, they remind me of Serena so much.  I spot some bunches of blue wildflowers growing in the nearby field, ones that have the same shade of Serena's eyes.

Clemont, meanwhile, is observing the Pokemon in the field with an interested expression.  I guess it's because they're Pokemon that he wouldn't have seen before, and the Clemont I know is always studying and analyzing everything he can get his hands on.  

"Interesting Pokemon, eh?" I ask, hoping to spark a conversation with him.  During our journey we have definitely gotten closer, but there is now this invisible barricade between us that I'm trying to break through.  I don't know any other way to explain it- there is just this underline of tension in every moment of our lives... well, since we lost Serena and the others at least.

I still can't believe that out of the five of us that started this quest, only two of us are left.

"Oh!  Well, yes actually.  I've never seen some of them before," Clemont confesses, looking a little shy.

I give him a patient smile, knowing that being his old self would be hard without Bonnie here next to him.  "I can tell you about some of them, if you want," I tell him.  I'm always happy to talk about Pokemon after all!  I hear Pikachu scampering away from us, and I watch him begin to play with a wild Eevee.

"Really?" Clemont checks, and I nod.  "Well.. in that case, what's that one over there?  It's a Vulpix, yes?" he questions, pointing to an orangish-coloured Pokemon with a very big tail.

"Oh yeah, that's a Vulpix alright," I tell him.  I'm pretty sure that he's seen a Vulpix before, but maybe he's also trying to make an effort to break that barricade as well?  Either way, I'm just happy to talk with him.  "It's a fire-type, and it evolves into Ninetales." I love this, I can see my friend's eyes lighting up the more I speak.  I take out some sandwiches from my backpack and give one to Clemont.  He thanks me, and I continued talking about Vulpix while we begin to eat.

"Well, it evolves using a fire-stone.  It's actually pretty common to find them in grassy fields, like now," I tell him.  "I once had a friend who owned a Vulpix," I add, thinking back to the time when I first started travelling with Brock and Misty.

Brock and Misty... now two more people that I've lost from my life.

"Oh really?  Was it nice?" Clemont asks, sounding genuinely interested.

"Oh, well... uh..." I cut off, wondering whether or not to tell Clemont that it nearly burned Misty's face off at one point.  "Well, it wasn't very nice if it didn't trust you, but it sure did trust Brock, for the time that he had it," I answer slowly, deciding to go with that.

"Well, I don't blame it," Clemont replies.  "I mean, I'm not really touchy-feely with people that I don't trust either."

"Neither am I," I agree, laughing a little.  Well, I used to be nice with everyone.  That was before Serena was taken from me.  That was before Bonnie was taken from him.  

We both share a small bout of laughter then go silent for a couple minutes, just slowly munching on our food.  When we finish we pack up, and then we head off again.  I call out for Pikachu, and he comes bounding towards me, leaping onto my shoulder.  Once we're all set, we start walking towards Pallet Town. We're almost there, I'm so excited to see home again!

"Hey, Ash... what's the plan this time?" Clemont asks slowly, sounding sullen.  I can't blame him, what we are talking about is pretty serious stuff.

"Well, to be really honest with you, I don't really have a clue.  I mean, we would just do what we did in the previous regions, right?" I propose, but Clemont doesn't seem satisfied.  In fact, his sunken smile just seems to droop further.

"Ash... you gotta promise me something," he says suddenly, whispering at first, then slowly raises his voice.  "You c-can't die t-too, okay?  I-I can't lose you t-too..."

"Woah, hold up," I say quickly, trying to be sincere.  "I have absolutely no intentions of dying today, tomorrow, or any day after that.  Not until our mission is complete.  Okay?" I tell him, stopping to give him a hug.  He accepts it, and we remain there for a moment.  Eventually, he lets go and takes a deep breath.  

"You're sure that we'll find everyone right?" Clemont's voice sounds as anxious as the expression on his face.  "Because now I'm starting to doubt the fact that they're even alive.  We've been searching for literal years and we've found no traces of them anywhere-"

I put a finger to his lips.  "Hush," I tell him firmly.  "Never give up 'til it's over.  Remember that."  Even though these days I have to remind myself about it...

My travelling companion gives me a little nod and I remove my finger.  "Well, we should probably get going now.  We don't want to make your mom worry," Clemont reasons after a small pause, starting to pack up our stuff.  Once we've got everything, we begin to trek ahead and continue our journey to Pallet Town.

"Oh... well, here's the thing... I kinda forgot to tell her we were coming, oops," I say sheepishly, while Clemont's jaw almost drops from shock.

"Ash!  You're supposed to tell her these kind of things!" he yells, even though, deep down inside, he knows I won't listen.

"It's okay, I do this a lot.  She'll understand," I tell him, trying to calm him down.

"Whatever you say," Clemont says, still looking a little uneasy.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Here we are!  Pallet Town!" I announce, excited because we were finally here.  Clemont glances around, and actually gives me a genuine smile.

"Wow, you grew up here?" he asks in amazement, following me to my house.

"Yup- that's the Professor's place over there," I add, pointing to his lab in the distance.  "Once we get settled, I can show you all my old Pokemon."

"Oh wow, that'd be awesome!" Clemont exclaims.  "Do you think... the Professor would be interested in talking to me?  About science and my inventions?"

"Clemont, considering science is as amazing as you, I know he'd love to," I tell him kindly, watching his face light up when I say that.  We approach my front door step, and without knocking, throw the door right open.

"MOM!  We're here," I say as loud as I could possibly muster.

That's when I hear what sounds like ten plates breaking in the kitchen.

???

"I can't believe it!  He arrived in Pallet Town!?" I check, and Brock nods.  My wings lift me up and I do a little twirl in the sky.  I'm so happy I could burst!

"This is amazing!" I exclaim, landing back on the ground.  

"What's amazing?" Heliux questions, entering the room.

"Her one true love is coming to join us soon," Brock says with a smirk, rolling his eyes.

"N-No... it's not l-like that!" I protest, trying to hide the blush on my face.  "Besides, I've heard plenty of tales from Misty how you tried to serenade every Nurse Joy you came across-"

"THAT WAS YEARS AGO," Brock argues, a slight red hue appearing on his face.

"Ahem, but one of the fairies requests your attention," Heliux announces suddenly, turning to me.  "If you're not busy..."

"No, it's fine, I'm on my way!  Thanks for the information, Brock," I add to him on my way out, and he gives me a nod in response.  Turning to Heliux, I ask "A patrol found some things I'm guessing?"

"Oh- yes," he confirms, sounding a little impatient.  "Now, if you'll follow me, Your Lightness-"

"I swear to Lita if you call me that again, I-"

"Fine," he says, pinching his brow and sighing at the same time.  "Follow me..."

"...Serena."

(.w.I||) 

But let's be real you all probably knew that already.  Since this is AMOUR and all, of course I'd make Serena an important character!

But yeah, that's it for this chapter.  I hope you enjoyed it, I really am enjoying writing this story.  I just wanted to say that after the first couple chapters, I'll be moving this story to a biweekly update period (a long time I know!) like my other stories. I'll let you know when.. but I just wanted to let you know that it will happen... eventually.

Thanks for reading!  Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Stay tuned ;)