Ash's Last Dance

The Only Chance

Serena's POV

I watched as Ash celebrated with his Pokémon after winning the Bug Badge. Now, suddenly, a wave of nervousness washed over me. I had no clue how I was going to talk to him or any assurance that he would actually remember me. With a sigh, I walked out of the Gym, disheartened after what was initially a promising turn of events.

I needed some other way to get to him, and I needed to do it before he left Santalune City.

Once I was out of the Gym, I wandered over to the Town Square, where stores and other amenities lined the streets. The park was nearby, bustling with trainers.

I spent some time walking around and exploring the area. Eventually, I spotted Ash and his friends. I didn't want to act like a stalker, but I couldn't really help it. I saw that the younger kid with a green shirt was pointing at something, and the group started to walk towards it, so I followed them.

When I realized where they were headed, I groaned internally. It was a Rhyhorn Riding competition. After a few minutes, they walked out with tickets in hand. Realizing that the competition might be my only chance to talk to Ash, I ran over and got a ticket myself.

While I hated Rhyhorn riding, I had gotten a lot of practice due to my mom, who was a professional Rhyhorn racer. Unfortunately, that meant that when I was a kid, my face constantly looked like it had gotten trampled by a Golem.

With a faint hope left, I walked back to my hotel to rest for the day. My journey had barely started, but it was already beginning to take a toll on me.

May's POV

After we left the gym, Dawn and I went shopping for outfits we needed for our Contests and Expos. We decided to wear a different outfit for each competition to keep things fresh. We looked around for a bit before selecting a few each.

Once we were done shopping, we went to find the rest of our gang. While looking around, we spotted Ash, Max, and Bonnie coming out of a place with Rhyhorns everywhere. Dawn and I made our way over, and I could see she was just as confused as I was.

"Finally," Max sighed as we walked over, "you actually managed to make it out of a store without me having to drag you out."

I rolled my eyes. "It was only 30 minutes, Max."

"You wish."

Ash chuckled. "What'd you guys go shopping for anyway?"

"We needed some outfits for our Contests and Expos," Dawn replied.

"Ooh... can I see?" Bonnie asked.

"Sure, but Ash and Max can't," I replied.

"What? Why me?" Ash asked with a pout.

I stuck my tongue out when I saw Drew walk over.

"Hey, May," he greeted.

I nodded in acknowledgment, but a part of me was slightly annoyed when Drew walked over. For some reason, every time he was around when Ash and Dawn were with me, it just felt really awkward with some weird tension.

Fortunately, Max piped up. "Hey, where's Clemont?"

"He went to look at some geeky stuff in a store called Greatest Poke-Innovations or something like that," Bonnie replied.

Max raised his eyebrows. "Where was it?"

"Somewhere down there," Bonnie answered, pointing in a general direction.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later," Max announced before running off.

I lightly chuckled as I watched the shrinking image of Max. I knew stuff like that was straight up his alley.