Shock and Awe...

Chapter 17 - Shock and Awe

Ash woke up in the morning and was about to shout in surprise, but stopped himself in time. His eyes had opened to a most peculiar scene; Dawn, Misty, May and Serena were fast asleep, in the bed with him. Two of the girls were on top of him, the other two cuddled against him, one on each side. At first he was confused, and then quickly remembered the previous night's events. He closed his eyes and couldn't believe the situation he was in currently, nor the agreement the five of them made together before falling asleep. He opened his eyes and glanced down at each girl and the corners of his lips curled up into a smile.

They're each so beautiful both inside and out. How did I become so lucky all of a sudden?

The raven haired guardian continued gazing at them and noticed something amusing. Each of them had their hair messed up, most likely because of moving around while sleeping and each of them had their face buried into his upper body. He then noticed that they were quite still and he felt fear engulf him for a quick second, thinking they weren't breathing. Luckily before he started to freak out, he then noticed their bodies slightly moving up and down as they breathed in and out quietly. Ash took a deep breath to calm himself and sighed quietly.

Relax man, geez. You're going to kill yourself by stressing out.

After taking a moment to calm down and relax, Ash looked at the girls again, alternating his view from each one every few seconds. He then looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, a large smile on his face.

I am one lucky ass guy. I can't believe I have another chance and there is no way in hell I'm going to mess this up too. Thank you Arceus.

He considered going back to sleep for a little while longer when he felt one of the girls move. He opened his eyes and looked down. The blunette stirred slowly and raised her head, her sleepy blue eyes connecting with Ash's own wide awake brown ones.

"Hey Dawn. Sleep well?"

Dawn's eyes widened in realization, as the previous night's memories came rushing back and she was about to let out a squeak when Ash covered her mouth hurriedly out of instinct.

"Ssshhh! They're still asleep." Ash whispered and lowered his hand. Dawn moved her eyes over the still sleeping girls. A smirk grew slowly on her face as she raised her eyes back up to meet with Ash's.

"They're not asleep. They're only pretending."

"How do you know?"

"Call it woman's intuition."

"Really?" Ash cocked one eyebrow.

"Oh alright, fine. They're playing with your belt buckle."

"WHAT?!" yelled Ash as he pulled the blanket off and looked down. He saw nothing amiss but his yell had woken up and startled the girls.

"Ash, why'd you scream in our ears?" asked Serena sleepily, rubbing her eyes, Misty and May doing the same as they sat up in bed.

"Dawn scared the crap out of me saying that you three were playing with my belt buckle!"

"HEY!" shouted the three girls together as they rounded on Dawn instantly.

Dawn jumped off the bed, frightened and moved away as the three girls followed her but then the blunette got an idea to quickly turn the tables.

"Wait a second. Why would you be scared of them playing with your belt buckle? I thought you said that you like us?"

The girls stopped moving forward, having heard Dawn's words and now it was Ash's turn to be afraid as his eyes widened in fear when he witnessed the girls turning slowly to face the raven haired trainer, their eyes narrowed.

"What's so scary about us doing that Ash?"questioned May in a low and dangerous voice as they moved closer to him.

"I…ah…well…." muttered Ash, unable to speak, his face paling quickly. Misty, May and Serena were getting closer and Dawn joined them, sporting an amused look on her; she was obviously very pleased with herself on setting him up. He began backing up on the bed and soon found himself pressed against the head board with no more room to move back and the girls were too close for him to try to move in a different direction. He was trapped and he knew he didn't have many options.

"I've never done anything like that before and I panicked!" confessed Ash finally, holding up his hands in front of him, turning his face to the side as he closed his eyes. "Plus I didn't want anyone walking in on us like that, especially Gary! I'd never hear the end of it!"

The girls stopped advancing and their angry looks were soon replaced with amused yet understanding ones. The four glanced at each other for a quick moment and then each of them climbed onto the bed, gathering around the young man. Misty grasped Ash's hands and gently lowered them. Ash cracked his eyes open a little, expecting a punch or a slap, but instead he saw the four of them smiling, sitting around him on the bed. He faced them fully and tilted his head, confused.

"Ah, why are you smiling at me like that? Did I do something funny?"

"No dummy. What you said was cute and adorable," said Misty.

"Yea, we haven't done anything either, so we're just messing with you," added Serena.

"What...oh I see. Heh. Well I guess that's a good thing then? The five of us can experience new things together huh?" The girls blushed madly after he said that. "Ah, are you guys okay? What did I say?"

"Ash, sometimes you really are dense," laughed Dawn as Ash scratched the back of his head.

"But its okay, we like it," said May.

"And here is a little something for you to occupy your thoughts for a bit," finished Misty as she leaned in closer.

Ash was dumbstruck as the beautiful red head gave him a quick kiss on the lips and pulled away shortly after. Before he could even understand what had happened, Dawn leaned in and gave him a quick kiss as well, his eyes widening. Before he could react to it, the blunette pulled away only for Serena to swoop in and catch him off guard when she laid a kiss on him, when he expected May to be next since she had made slight movements towards him, distracting him. After Serena pulled away, May leaned in with a slight grin on her face, happy with her successful distraction and gave the last kiss from the four girls. When she finished and pulled away, which was all too soon for Ash's like since he had finally begun to enjoy the kissing, the raven haired trainer was still stuck in a daze, not noticing the four girls' large smiles on their faces.

The girls were soon overcome with giggles at the sight of Ash lost in a trance at what just happened to him and they got up off the bed and left his room hurriedly, lost in their laughter. It took a couple minutes for Ash to gather himself before he got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. As he washed his face and brushed his teeth, he couldn't stop thinking about the four girls and it just made him smile as he went through his morning routine. He soon finished up and left his room, running into the others in the living room. He let them know he was going downstairs to get Gardevoir. As he was about to leave the suite, Misty caught up to him, saying she wants to go with him to get her and that the others were still getting ready. Ash was more than happy to go get his pokémon with Misty but he controlled himself. He didn't want to look like an idiot already. The duo took the elevator down to the ground floor, meeting Joy soon after at the counter.

"Hey, good morning Joy," they said together.

"Good morning. Looks like you're here to take Gardevoir back home."

"Yup. So can she go now?"

"Yes. I've just finished up some tests and everything looks good to me," beamed Joy. "Honestly, I'm pretty shocked that she was able to heal so quickly. Her wounds were very severe."

"Maybe Lucario used Heal Pulse on her? Either way, its good she can finally leave," said Ash.

"Hmm…Maybe you're right. I'm actually surprised I didn't think of that. Well, right this way." Joy led them to Gardevoir's room and they stepped inside.

"Pikapi! Pikachupi!" Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms, giving him a quick nuzzle against his chest and then leapt onto Misty's arms, nuzzling their cheeks together and then remained with her.

"Traitor," muttered Ash as the group laughed, Gardevoir being the last one to stop. "So we can finally get you out of here. No more nurses waiting on you. How's that feel?"

"Great! I can't wait to get out of here. I swear I'd probably die of boredom here if it wasn't for Lucario, Pikachu and Joy," revealed the fairy pokémon.

"Oh really? And what exactly did they do to entertain you so well?" The raven-haired trainer glanced at the three mentioned, as they avoided eye contact with him. He could tell, even without his aura powers, they must've done some crazy and embarrassing things.

"Pikapi, pi pi pika chu pikachu kachu pi pika!"

"Alright fine. I won't force it out of you three if you keep your mouth shut."

"OH!" Misty instantly knew it was regarding something embarrassing about Ash and she wanted to know and she caught Pikachu's attention. "You'll tell me later right?" Pikachu shook his head as he crossed his arms.

"He knows better Misty. He may hang with you more when you're around, but he won't betray me."

Misty sighed. He was right. Pikachu may not battle against her, may stick to her side more when she's around, but the yellow mouse would never betray Ash. She felt proud that Ash had such loyal pokémon. They would tease, joke and prank each other, but when it comes down to it, they had each other's backs no matter what and she knew it was because of his unique personality that helped him grow such strong bonds with his pokémon. It was this same thing that made the connections between him and most of his friends that strong as well. Misty knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would never betray him, nor would the other girls and he would never betray them or their other friends either.

"Master, do you know when your next match is? I'm itching for a battle."

"We'll check the board before we head back up. I promise you'll get a turn but I don't want to have you compete until the later rounds." Lucario dropped his head a bit. "But we'll go full blast on training together today. How's that buddy?" Lucario lifted his head with a big smirk on his face.

"I hope you're ready to get creamed Master!"

"We'll see Lucario."

"Ash, what do you and Lucario mean by that?" The way they spoke made Misty worry.

"Oh, Lucario and I spar together. It's no big deal. We've done it a lot." Ash waved his hand in the air as if what they did wasn't too weird. Misty and Joy stared at him.

"Are you crazy?! You can't spar with a pokémon, especially one as powerful as Lucario!" snapped Misty, absolutely certain that he would get hurt.

"Hey, it's okay. We've done it a million times before. I promise we won't get hurt. Hey I know, you can watch us spar then you'll see Misty."

"If you think I'm going to watch you let yourself get pulverized then you're a bigger dummy than I thought Ketchum!"

"Please, Mist. Just trust me." His pleading eyes pierced into her defiant eyes. Several seconds passed, before Misty felt her resolve wavering. She let out a sigh as she finally agreed.

"Fine. But if you get hurt, I'm going to mallet you into the ground Ketchum!"

Ash chuckled, hearing her bizarre threat but knew it was her way of saying how much she cares.

"It's a deal Mist."

He smiled at her and without thinking, gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She blushed, not expecting him to do that while the others stared at Ash. Suddenly aware of what he did and in front of whom, Ash hurriedly changed the subject.

"Let's go check the battle board."

They all left the room, with Ash a little red and Misty sporting a rather gleeful look on her face. Ash signed Gardevoir out at the main counter while said pokémon stretched out her arms, back and legs before walking gracefully beside her friend Misty and her trainer Ash. She was beaming from ear to ear as she was so relieved to be out of the stuffy room. Lucario seemed to be in a much happier mood as well, seeing his comrade and close friend back on her feet. Pikachu was standing on Misty's shoulder, cooing in delight as she scratched his head. They found the battle board easily enough as there were a few trainers scanning it for their match times. Ash moved in front as one of the trainers left, obviously satisfied with the information.

"Let's see…" He quickly scanned the information and found what he was looking for. "Looks like I'm the last match of the day, 5pm. My opponent's name is Jack Thompson. Richie's is at 4pm today. He's up against a Judy Smith." He faced his friends. "Time to go. Joy, we'll see you later and thanks for everything. You're welcome to come spend some time with us in our room anytime you wish."

"Thanks Ash. I'll probably drop by. See you later!" Joy returned back to continue her duties as the group went back up to their room. As they stepped inside, they saw that everyone was awake. Brock and Cilan were busy setting up breakfast.

"Gardevoir!"

They jumped at the sudden greeting. May, Serena, Dawn and Iris had shouted together and hopped to the fairy pokémon, taking turns hugging her as they welcomed her back.

"It's so good to see you out and about again!"

"Yea, we're so happy you're feeling better!"

"Now we can have more girl time together!"

"Wow, let her relax you kids!"

"Thank you. I truly appreciate your kind words." Gardevoir smiled at them.

"Breakfast is ready!" said Brock and Cilan together.

"Great, I'm starving!" Ash said as he shot to the table and sat down with May right at his heels. They grabbed a little bit of everything, filing up their plates quickly before they stuffed the food into their mouths at top speed. Somehow the two were able to continue chewing their food even thought their mouths were beyond full.

"I thought I've seen him eat like crazy before but this takes the cake and May is almost as bad. They look like a couple of Swalot at a buffet," remarked Gardevoir a little shocked at the lack of etiquette, with the others laughing at her comparison.

"This is nothing. Remember their little chicken wing contest? They've had bigger ones than that and those were scary. Talk about bottomless pits." Max crossed his arms and shook his head while the others agreed with some laughs. Lucario looked on in disgust but knew no matter what he said, Ash would just shrug it off but he had to try anyways.

"Master, you shouldn't eat so much and so fast if we're going to spar."

"Don'th worry about ith…oops…shorry Rishie…" Ash swallowed his food. "My bad Richie. Oh by the way, you're next match is at 4pm today, against a Judy Smith."

"It's alright Ash. Cool, thanks man."

"Ash, what did Lucario mean by you two sparring?" inquired Cilan.

"Just what it sounds like. He and I are going to spar later on today." He continued eating as everyone just stared at him as if he was crazy. He raised his head after noticing the silence and saw their confused and concerned faces. "What?"

"You do know how ridicules that sounds right?" asked Iris.

"I've done it before."

"This ought to be a very entertaining flavor. It will be a grand showing of strength and skill for sure!" remarked Cilan. His words earned himself an elbow from an annoyed Iris.

"Okay I have to see this. I'm going to enjoy watching you get your ass handed to you Ashy-boy! Damn, I wish I brought my video camera with me," commented Gary, pissed that there was yet another thing to record and keep for later taunts and jokes.

"If you guys want to come and watch that's alright just don't get in the way."

His friends agreed to come watch the sparring session. Each of them was very curious as to how their friend would fight against a pokémon as most of them had never heard or seen such a thing. Ash and Lucario shared a mental agreement to start off slow so they wouldn't scare them too much right off the bat. They finished their meal and cleaned up. After waiting around the suite for an agreed amount of time of at least half an hour, so that their food could settle in their stomachs, the sparring partners thought it was a good time to go. Gardevoir decided to stay in the suite and relax a bit since she didn't want to go down again so soon but wanted some company so Pikachu volunteered to stay with her as well who was delighted.

When they went downstairs, they invited Joy to come watch if she could. She was due for a break and decided it was the perfect time to take it as she was deciding on what to do when on it. They left the building and headed into the nearby woods, walking into it for a bit before finding a suitable clearing.

"Okay, this place looks good," commented Ash and Lucario agreed. "You guys may want to stay near the trees, as we tend to move around a lot when we spar and sometimes it could get a little chaotic. But don't worry; we won't scare you guys too badly."

Lucario chuckled as Ash got ready for their sparring session while their friends glanced at one another, getting psyched since they wanted to see just how Ash could spar against a powerful pokémon like Lucario. He took off his shoes, socks and shirt before stretching a bit to warm up for their fight. Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Serena and Joy went crimson seeing his toned but not too muscular body in the sun. The four girls who were in love with Ash were practically drooling over the sight of him so grown up and in shape and it made the others laugh a bit, which shook them out of their trance. They hurriedly composed themselves though they still had many erotic thoughts run across their minds, resulting in sheepish smiles spreading on their faces. Gary, Brock, Richie and Max smirked as they saw them get embarrassed and stare straight ahead. When Cilan noticed Iris's stare though, he covered Iris's eyes at first and would have continued doing so until he was elbowed hard by her.

"I'm not a kid!"

Iris's elbow and Cilan's jealousy made the others laugh as they observed the couple's actions. When they heard Ash say he was ready to go, they turned their attention back to the two. Lucario and Ash bowed to each other and took up battle stances.

"Are you ready Master?"

"I should be asking you the same question," replied Ash and they both grinned. "On the count of three then?" Lucario nodded. "One…two…three!"

Man and pokémon dashed forward at once with such speed that it amazed their spectators. They both launched punches at the same time that ended up with both fists colliding into each other, causing a small wave of energy to travel up through their arms between the two. Lucario immediately follow up with a right roundhouse kick to Ash's head but he blocked the attack with his free hand, automatically countering with a front kick to Lucario's chest though the aura pokémon blocked it with his free hand. The aura pokémon was about to deliver another punch to Ash's chest but it was deflected at the last second as Ash threw a punch straight at his head. Lucario ducked, evading the attack and attempted to deliver an uppercut to Ash's chin but the raven haired trainer took a step back, dodging it and aimed his own roundhouse kick to Lucario's side but that was blocked too. Both Lucario and Ash launched punches again that ended up striking each other once more. They both took a few steps back from that last attack, grins on both of their faces.

"Not bad Master. Let's kick things up a notch shall we?" asked Lucario.

"Now that's what I was waiting for buddy," replied Ash with a grin.

Before their viewers could ask them what they meant by that, both Ash and Lucario charged towards each other again but they were moving much faster this time. They began fighting again but at a much more frantic pace than before. They increased their speed to the point where everything just looked like a blur. Their friends watching from the sidelines were stunned at the sparring session in front of them, which looked more and more as a full on battle as time progressed.

"Wow." It was all that May could say. She knew Ash was tough, but this was something else.

"I'd never believe Ash would fight a pokémon himself, let alone keep up with it," said Brock.

"We learn something new every day, don't we?" Richie said as he glanced at Joy. Her jaw was dropped and was not moving. Richie half smiled and tapped her on the shoulder for a moment before finally getting through to her. She turned his way, mouth still open.

"Hey, so I'm guessing you want a bug to go in your mouth?" joked Richie. Joy shut her mouth instantly and playfully smacked his shoulder while Richie chuckled. Right after that, Lucario dodged Ash's kick and cart wheeled away a bit. He straightened out and called out to Ash.

"Warm up's over Master!"

"That was only a warm up?!"

Before anyone could answer Max, Lucario vanished from his spot. Ash settled himself into a defensive position, scanning the area around him, letting his senses detect the pokémon's movements. Ash threw a sudden punch to his right, causing Lucario's image to flicker there for a second and vanished. About five seconds later, Ash whirled around to deliver a side kick at another location. Lucario's image once again flickered before disappearing.

"Do any of you know what's going on?" asked a surprised Serena.

"It looks like Lucario is using Extreme Speed to attempt to land a sneak attack and Ashy-boy is preventing him from doing so," shrugged Gary.

Several more attempts were made by the pokémon and each time before he could land a strike from nowhere, Ash would counter each attempt. After the last attempt was stopped, both Lucario and Ash back flipped away from each other. They finished their acrobatic display by landing on their feet, a span of twenty feet in between them.

"Good Master. You have remembered our training well. Let us practice at our full strength now."

"Full strength?" murmured the friends to each other.

"You sure we should do that here?"

"Yes. Nobody else is around and your friends are trust worthy."

Ash nodded and turned to the others with a grin on his face.

"You guys are in for a treat."

"What do you mean Ash?" asked Dawn.

"You'll see soon enough."

Ash and Lucario gave a slight nod to one another and stood still a couple seconds. The others were confused but soon gasped at what they saw happening in front of them. Lucario and Ash had a blue outline appear around them and their eyes glowed blue as well. Next, both of them had their aura flare out like blue flames around their bodies. They had summoned their aura powers to the fight now.

"Even though they're just sparring, I can't help but wonder how majestic they look," whispered Joy while some of the others nodded in agreement. The four girls each were thinking different things.

Wow Ash, you've really developed your Aura powers since Rota, thought May.

I've crushed on you since the beginning because of your caring ways but damn Ash; you've become so strong and sexy too! Dawn was practically drooling over the sight of him.

I know you were special but this takes the cake! Serena was gazing at him as if he was a wonder.

You never cease to surprise me Ash, even after all these years. Misty smiled as she realized she could never predict what he'll do next.

"Let's see how much you can take Master," stated Lucario.

He immediately fired a large blue sphere of energy, an Aura Sphere, at Ash. Before anyone could even register how quickly the attack was launched, Ash brought up a blue dome around him, an Aura Shield, at the last second, the attack exploding on contact. Lucario fired another Aura Sphere and that too was blocked. The aura pokémon began rapidly launching the attacks at Ash who was blocking each one with his shield as he moved around the field, trying to get closer to Lucario as he did so. Once he drew close enough to Lucario, a small blue sphere was seen materializing in one of Ash's hands.

"I hope you're hungry Lucario!" jested Ash as he launched his own Aura Sphere at the pokémon from point blank range.

Lucario's eyes widened in shock at the close range attack that was aimed for his head and it almost struck him but the aura pokémon was able to barely put up a shield of his own, letting the ball of blue aura energy strike his shield, exploding on contact. Lucario vanished from sight as Ash was preparing another attack. Ash stopped and took up his defensive position again. He sensed where Lucario would be with his Aura Senses and readied another Aura Sphere. As soon as Lucario appeared, Ash spun to face him, launching the sphere without hesitation. The sudden attack made Lucario bring out his own Aura Shield again and blocked it. This continued for on for a bit until Ash blocked one final Aura Sphere from Lucario. After that, Lucario vanished from sight again and reappeared instantly about fifty feet away from Ash.

"Well done Master. You have mastered the basics and kept your skills sharp. Let us finish this sparring session with a bang. Let's try the new technique we've been working on for the past couple months."

"Those were only the basics?!" repeated Gary with absolute surprise.

"New technique?" asked Max to no one in particular.

They continued watching as Ash and Lucario got ready for their new technique. They both raised their arms and brought their hands together, palms open and the bottom of their wrists touching. They each put one leg a little back and concentrated, causing a ball of blue energy to appear in front of their palms and grow larger and larger. Once it reached the size of a small ball, they both launched their attacks, streams of energy trailing behind them. The beams of aura energy collided and a power struggle ensued soon after, neither giving up.

"They're even in power!" Serena shouted out as they viewed the power struggle for a moment, wondering who would prevail.

"You can do it Ash!" encouraged Misty suddenly.

Ash's aura flared out more for a split second, but that's all it took. His aura beam pushed Lucario's back a bit before causing an explosion, resulting in a small smoke cloud to hover around the sparring partners for a few seconds before clearing out. Ash and Lucario were taking deep breathes but quickly recovered.

"Good job Master."

"Thanks. Not too bad yourself Lucario. Let's go get cleaned up and relax."

Ash put his shoes and socks on first and then put on his shirt. He walked over to the rest and asked them what they thought. All he got was silence. He chuckled and then turned to face the red head.

"Oh, by the way, thanks Mist."

"For what?" asked Misty, tilting her head.

"Your words encouraged me, gave me a little boost."

"Oh, it was nothing." Pink circles appeared on her cheeks.

"Not necessarily, Lady Misty. An Aura Guardian can manipulate and use the Aura around him, but can also draw strength from those who believe in them. Your words did more than just encourage, just so you know."

"Okay, I understand. Thanks for explaining it to us Lucario."

"It is my pleasure. My Master's friends are his trust worthy allies and I know you will guard this information with utmost care."

They all agreed that they would not tell anyone anything about Ash's powers. The less people that knew about his aura the better.

"Hey, what was that last attack Ash?" asked May.

"That was an Aura Beam. It's one of the advanced techniques and one of the most powerful attacks an Aura Guardian can use. It's hard to use and requires using a lot of aura but the payoff is worth it when you can master it. Lucario and I have been working on it for the past few months now," explained Ash. The others understood and were impressed that Ash could use such an awesome move.

"Hey guys, I have to go back to work. But I'll catch up with you all later when I get off," said Joy as she took a few steps away from them.

"I'll walk you back if you'd like the company," offered Richie. Joy accepted, the two walking back to the hotel together.

"So, another couple in the works, eh?" Gary pointed at them behind his back with his thumb while grinning and raising his eyebrows a few times.

"Seriously Gary? You're such a kid." Iris shook her head and walked towards the hotel, Cilan beside her.

"Whatever short stuff," huffed Gary and he followed them.

Ash, Lucario, May, Misty, Serena, Dawn, Max and Brock followed after the pokémon researcher. Max was asking questions to Ash nonstop about how he became so strong, what else he learned, what pokémon he caught and many more. The guardian grinned and told the young boy that he'd tell him, but not yet, saying that he would let everyone know soon about a few things he's been up to when away.

They went back to their suite after saying bye to Joy and Ash excused himself from the others and hopped in the shower. Lucario and Gardevoir headed to the balcony together and talked. Pikachu jumped onto the couch and curled up, taking a nap. After Ash showered and dressed he left his room and found everyone in the living room, sitting on the couches and talking, while the TV was on. Ash caught the eyes of the four girls and he mouthed the word 'now'.

"Hey guys, there's something I need to tell you," said Ash as he picked up the TV remote and turned off it off.

"Sure thing big guy. What's on your mind?" asked Brock, as he gave his pseudo brother his attention.

"Well, I don't know exactly how to say this since its something that's so new to me…well," Ash scratched the back of his head, a clear sign that he was either confused or nervous, and in this case, it was both.

"Spit it out already." Iris smacked Gary for being so rude.

"Alright, geez. Well, it's something that's really important and doesn't involve only me, so I shouldn't be saying it alone since it regards a few others that you all know. So…" Ash glanced at the four girls who rose up from their seats and joined the raven haired trainer, facing the others still on the couch who gave them questioning looks.

"It's about the five of us. Basically, I like each of them and they each like me," said Ash bluntly.

The others replied with shocked expressions and the five had pink circles appear on their faces immediately. Ash took advantage of their silence and continued.

"We figured out about our feelings for each other when we talked last night together in my room. Since this is such an unusual circumstance, we decided the best way to figure out if each of us really wants this is to spend some time together."

"Wait a minute," said Brock as he was finally regaining his senses. "Are you saying you five are going to be in a relationship together?"

"No, not exactly. What Ash is trying to say is that he and one of us four girls will be in a relationship for a day to see if it's something we want," said Misty.

"Since he can't pick one of us and none of us want to let him go again, we decided he should take each of us out on a date and treat us as his girlfriend the whole day, on our turn," added Serena.

"So basically Ash is going to go on a date with each of you to see if he really does like you?" asked Iris.

"It will also to let us find out if we still want to be with him as well. We decided the only way to be fair and to see if what we want is really what we want, we need to try it out for a bit and see if it feels right," said May.

"So that's why we're telling you what we planned. We don't want you guys to get all surprised or confused and think Ash is cheating on one of us with another one of us. That made sense right? Yea it did," beamed Dawn.

The rest stared at them for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Suddenly Gary burst out laughing.

"HA HA HA HA! Ash you're way over your head! The girls are going to eat you alive! HA HA HA – GAH!" Misty had walloped Gary with her mallet, sending the researcher to the floor face first.

"You never know when to shut up, Oak," teased Iris. Gary groaned as he slowly picked himself up off the floor.

"Hey Gary, you were a nice throw rug. You matched with the furniture," joked Ash. Everyone laughed at the joke and Gary chuckled.

"Touché. I'll give you that one."

"So when does this dating boyfriend, girlfriend thing start?" asked Iris.

"Tomorrow. We wanted to let you know first. The girls will let me know by the end of tonight who's first so we are ready," answered Ash.

"Okay. Well thanks for letting us know what the situation is. Very mature of you five. I feel as if this will bring a very interesting and spicy flavor to the group," remarked Cilan. Iris elbowed him.

"Don't you ever stop that?" asked an annoyed Iris.

"I am a connoisseur, am I not?" responded Cilan, making Iris puff out her cheeks.

After talking amongst each other a little while longer, they soon separated, doing their own things. Ash went to his room to meditate for a bit before his second match with Lucario, Gardevoir and Pikachu joining him. The five girls headed to one of the rooms to talk and so Iris can find out more details about what really happened between the four girls and Ash from last night. Max and Richie began a game of Battleship, while Brock and Cilan shared some cooking tips. Gary went to the balcony to enjoy the view and view some information about the tournament on his tablet. An article about the tournament caught his eye about the favorites for the tournament. He scanned through the article, certain names popping out at him. He finished reading the article and looked out into the horizon from his seat in the balcony.

This is going to be one heck of a tournament, thought Gary. We got Paul, Trip, Tobias, Richie, Ash and a couple that I don't know about but the article said that they would be tough to beat. And we have Ash dating the four girls? Man, at least I know I won't be bored for the next couple of weeks.