No Surprises
Title: No Surprises
Fandom: Pokémon XY (Anime)
Genre: General/Friendship
Summary: Extended scene that takes place around and about the end of Episode 9. Even after a day full of revelations and personal growth, there is still time for Clemont to worry, Ash to reminisce, and for both of them to be amazed at what lies behind closed doors. Fluff, friendship, oneshot.
Length: ~3600 words
Rating: G
Warnings: Dub names and the tiniest hint of Diodeshipping
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10637710/1/No-Surprises
Author's Note: Besides being an excuse to write about Ash and Clemont being adorably adorable together, this fic actually started out as an attempt to explain what I saw as the peculiar sleeping arrangement presented at the end of Episode 9, "Clemont's Got a Secret." While Serena and Bonnie were clearly sleeping in Bonnie's room, Ash was sleeping on a couch and Clemont was on the floor of a room that... didn't look very much like a bedroom, to be honest (maybe it was the living room, or a study?). And then I had to throw in some Indigo League nostalgia and attempts at character development because that's how I do. Some footnotes added to explain references to to past/future events. Hope you enjoy!
"All right, so for now it's time to celebrate Clemont and Bonnie's new journey!"
It was quite a party, what with five people, a robot, and more than a dozen Pokémon crowded into one tiny living room, but nobody seemed to mind in the least. For Clemont, it was not only the first time in several months he had elected to spend an evening at home with his family, but the first time he could ever recall having what his father affectionately referred to as "real friends" over to spend the night, and he was determined to make the most of it. Long after ClemBot and his electric-types had gone back to Prism Tower, long after Serena and Bonnie had disappeared in the direction of the kitchen, and long after Clemont's father had excused himself and gone up to bed, Clemont was happy to stay up listening to Ash tell stories about his various adventures as the two of them tended to their remaining Pokémon. The blond-haired boy was entertained and more than a little impressed by everything Ash had already experienced during his time as a trainer, and hearing him describe just a fraction of the things he'd seen and done, Clemont knew more than ever that his decision to accompany Ash and Pikachu on the remainder of their journey through Kalos had been the right one.
By the time they finally agreed to call it a night it was already way past late. Ash and Pikachu were both yawning widely, and even though Clemont's eyes were itching with tiredness, his head was positively spinning with ideas for dozens of new inventions. A Primeape Personal Possession Retrieval System could certainly come in handy, he reasoned, as could a few pairs of Jigglypuff-Proof Sleep-Attack-Canceling Earmuffs [1]. He was so absorbed in thought as he led Ash into the darkened hallway that he almost ran into Bonnie, who had come bouncing out of the kitchen from the opposite direction, Dedenne perched on her head and Serena and Fennekin trailing in her wake.
"Having fun?" Clemont asked, managing a last-minute swerve and smiling down at his sister.
Bonnie performed a graceful little twirl and ran a quick lap around him for good measure. "Oh Clemont, of course we are! Ash and Serena are going to spend the night, Serena and Dedenne get to sleep in my room, and Daddy even said he's going to make crêpes for breakfast- so basically, this is the best sleepover ever!"
"Ne, ne!" Dedenne chirped in agreement.
Clemont laughed, and it was only then that he caught the faint scent of something warm and sweet wafting in from the kitchen. "What've you two been making in there?" he asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, 'cuz whatever it is, it smells delicious," added Ash, craning his neck to see past the two girls while Pikachu sniffed the air dreamily.
"Hey now, that's a secret," Serena said, moving her head to block Ash's view and giving him a playful wink. "It's a surprise for tomorrow, once we're back on the road [2]!"
"Yeah, and until then, no peeking!" Bonnie said, turning to face her brother. "So anyway, where were you, Ash, and Pikachu planning on sleeping tonight, Clemont?"
"Oh, well, I figured I would let Ash and Pikachu have my room, and I would just sleep on the couch," he shrugged.
Bonnie sighed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him as if he were the most hopeless person in the world. "Big brother, are you serious?" she asked. "Do you even remember what's IN your room?"
"Huh?" The lenses of Clemont's glasses caught the light streaming down from the nearby stairwell and flashed briefly opaque as he fumbled for a response. "Uh, well, no, I suppose I..."
"Well, if you can't remember, I'm not going to tell you. You're just going to have to find out for yourself," she said, sticking her tongue out at him and grabbing Serena by the hand. "C'mon, Serena, let's go! I want you to meet my stuffed animals!"
"Um, good night, guys," Serena called faintly, allowing herself to be led around the corner and out of sight by an overenthusiastic Bonnie.
"Well, I'm... not really sure what that was about," Clemont confessed, smiling apologetically as he turned to face Ash and Pikachu. "But anyway, I can show you the room, the upstairs bathroom, and where we keep the spare sheets and towels so you can start getting settled."
"Sure," Ash said agreeably, and followed Clemont up the staircase that led to the second floor.
As they climbed, Clemont tried to recall what he could have done to make Bonnie react like that, but for the life of him couldn't imagine what it might have been. He was still racking his brain as they walked down the narrow upstairs hallway and approached the plain wooden door to his room. Clemont placed his hand on the knob and turned it carefully, and with a sense of increasingly morbid curiosity. It was only after the door was half-open and he felt the loud rattling "thunk" of it colliding with something large and heavy did he finally remember what was inside, and his heart sank immediately.
"Oh no, I can't believe this," he groaned, throwing his shoulder into the door and pushing with all his might.
"What's the matter?" Ash asked in concern, but he didn't have to wait for a reply. The force Clemont was applying had been enough to sweep the object aside, and with nothing else blocking its path, the door was allowed to swing fully open at last.
The young gym leader stumbled inside, gazing in dismay at the darkened shapes looming at him from every angle. "Um, well, I guess you could say… I guess you could say the past is... now," he said, not looking Ash in the eye. "Thanks to some really, really old science."
Clemont had no idea how he had managed to forget about something like this; his room was something akin to a disaster. Boxes of every size and shape cluttered the floor, only some of them neatly closed and taped shut, most with labels missing and contents spilling out the top. Blueprints and schematics were everywhere, rolled up and stacked against the walls, piled on top of his desk and bed, and pinned to the walls in several haphazard layers. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he started to recognize some of the odder-shaped piles of junk: a rusty and dented old toolbox, his spare plasma cutter, countless metal rods, ties, springs, gears, belts, and batteries, a veritable Raticate's nest of tangled wires and, most apparently, the hulking metal bodies and collapsed skeletal remains of dozens of old, broken, and half-disassembled inventions.
"Pika..." came a voice from Ash's shoulder that sounded, in Clemont's opinion, somewhere between uncertain and incredulous. He chanced a furtive look at Ash. The dark-haired boy was staring at the mess, transfixed and apparently speechless. Clemont could feel his face starting to grow hot.
"Whooooa," Ash said at last, gaping open-mouthed as his eyes moved across the room. "Clemont... this stuff is so... unbelievably... COOL!"
Clemont looked up in surprise. Ash was grinning from ear-to-ear as he bounded forward, examining everything with a fervent interest that was usually only seen on the faces of kids in candy stores.
"What's this?" he asked, crouching down to inspect a knee-high cylindrical contraption outfitted with wheels, rubber bumpers, a brush, and several lengths of long flexible hose.
"That's an Automated Electric-Pokémon-Powered Shop Vac," Clemont said automatically. "I built it to help my dad, but uh... it didn't work very well."
"How about that one?" Ash pointed to a square, vaguely humanoid head that bore obvious signs of smoke damage.
"Oh, that's an early prototype for ClemBot."
"It's incredible," Ash said, eyes shining brightly. "Your room is just like a museum!"
Clemont would have liked to protest at this, but realized how ungrateful that would sound. Instead, he smiled back and managed an embarrassed laugh. "When I started spending more and more time at the gym, this room just sort of ended up becoming a place to store my old projects and extra components," he explained. "I told my dad he could throw most of it out a long time ago, but I guess he decided to keep it."
"Well, I'm really glad he did," Ash said. "This stuff is amaaaazing! Hey, tell me about this one!"
It was strange, Clemont thought, as he answered Ash's questions and watched him wander through the maze of boxes and dusty machinery. He thought it would feel a lot more invasive, having anyone who wasn't an immediate family member find out he had amassed such a large and unruly collection of junk. But to his amazement, it wasn't really like that at all- having Ash here felt almost natural, as if his old room and his old life had just been waiting for this behatted, spiky-haired boy to walk in and start making himself at home. In a way, it was actually… rather nice.
That is, until he noticed Pikachu. The little Pokémon was trying its best not to nod off, but its eyelids were drooping and it kept wobbling sleepily on Ash's shoulder. Clemont suddenly recalled what time it was and why they had all come up here in the first place, and he flushed guiltily.
"Ah, Ash, I'm so sorry! It's really late and you and Pikachu must be exhausted, plus now we need to find a another place for you to sleep," Clemont said, giving his friend a flustered bow and thinking hard. "So um, let's see... what's the best way to solve this problem?"
Ash waved away the apology with a smile. "Hey, no big deal. If it's all the same to you, Pikachu and I can just lay out some camping gear and sleep on the floor."
"What? No, I couldn't let you-"
"I'm serious! We're both used to sleeping in a tent, and at least tonight there's a real roof over our heads. Besides, this way you and I get to keep talking and hangin' out, and that really will make it just like a sleepover!"
Once again, Clemont couldn't help but be surprised at such a genuinely enthusiastic response. He knew from both experience and observation that most journeying trainers wouldn't be this excited to learn they wouldn't be sleeping in a proper bed after all. But then again, this was Ash, and Clemont knew he really was going to have to stop being surprised by all the things Ash said and did that made him different from most trainers.
"Well... all right," he conceded. "But I insist that you and Pikachu take the couch. I'll sleep on the floor."
Ash blinked uncertainly. "Gee, Clemont, are you sure?"
"Of course! I don't have any problems falling asleep- just as Bonnie how many times I've tried to pull an all-nighter at the gym and she's found me passed out in my workshop." Clemont laughed. "The fifth or sixth time you're woken up with your face pressed against the wrong side of a circuit board, you know you can sleep through anything. Besides," he said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Necessity is the mother of invention. I can always improvise something."
"All right, well, what can I do to help?"
Clemont thought for a moment then smiled, placing his hands on his hips with renewed confidence. "Well, if you want to help me pull out some raw materials from the linen closet across the hall, I think I know how we can get started."
And so, the two boys went to work. Once they were downstairs, they set aside enough blankets and pillows for Ash and Pikachu, then threw together a makeshift mattress for Clemont out of the rest, adding in a few chair cushions and sleeping pads from their camping supplies for good measure. By the time they had changed into their nightclothes and settled into bed they were already back in full discussion mode, reliving the day's events and speculating about all the battles yet to come, making the promise to each other that when it was time for Ash to earn his Voltage Badge, both of them would give it their all to make sure it was a battle neither of them would ever forget.
It was a little while before either of them spoke again.
"By the way," Ash said as he settled himself under the covers. "I never actually got the chance to thank you for today."
Clemont rolled over to look at him. "Thank me?" he asked. "What for?"
"Well, for letting me learn so much about you," Ash said simply. "Seeing the bond between you, ClemBot, and all your electric Pokémon, watching that incredible battle, getting to meet your dad and stay in the house you grew up in- they're all things I'm really grateful for."
Clemont sat up again, somewhat taken aback. "You're not still mad that I didn't tell you about ClemBot and being a gym leader right from the beginning?"
Ash shook his head. "Nah. You had your reasons. But since you'd never really talked about yourself before, I didn't feel like I knew you all that well. But it's different now- after all we've been though today, I'd like to think that I know you better as a friend, a trainer, an inventor, and a gym leader, and that's just really cool, y'know?"
Clemont hugged the back of his knees under the blankets, feeling a fresh pang of guilt at these words. He had been thinking about something, turning a few disjointed thoughts over in his mind as he attempted to pin down exactly what he had been feeling ever since he opened the door to his bedroom.
"Hey Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"Are there things that you wish certain people didn't know about you, because you're afraid it would just disappoint them?"
Clemont could hear the couch springs creak as Ash changed positions. "Hmm, I dunno. Maybe. Why do you ask?"
"I guess… I guess because I end up feeling that way a lot," Clemont admitted. "I mean, I think that's why I kept putting off telling you the truth for so long, why I didn't even come to visit my dad after ClemBot locked Bonnie and me out, and why there was a part of me that was ashamed you had to see all of those old inventions upstairs."
He sighed into the darkness. "Knowing that I feel that way about mistakes I've made in the past makes me wonder if I can ever really grow into the person I want to be, if I can ever become the sort of friend and brother and son and gym leader that the people I care about really deserve. I know everyone was nothing but encouraging and supportive today, but if I'm not comfortable owning up to my mistakes, I wonder if anything I do is really worth the kind of trust others seem to have in me."
"Hey," Ash said, propping himself up on his elbow, the fire back in his eyes. "Don't think you're not worthy to have other people trust and support you, even for a minute! Although," he added, a little sheepishly, "I think I know what you mean about feeling ashamed of mistakes you've made in the past."
Clemont blinked. "You do?"
Ash nodded. He had rolled onto his back again, one arm behind his head, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Telling you all those stories about the first few months of my journey really reminded me of the type of trainer I used to be. Sometimes I would try to make Pikachu battle when it really didn't want to, and more than once, I was willing to take jobs that would have forced hundreds of Pokémon out of their homes in exchange for a few free meals [3]." He reached over to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. The little electric mouse pressed its head into Ash's open palm and cooed appreciatively. "I'd like to think that I've changed a lot since then, but at the same time, I still really regret what I did."
Clemont was stunned. "I had no idea," he said.
"But I think it's OK to make mistakes. Sometimes it's the best way to learn somethin', and trust me when I say I have a lot of experience with that." He laughed. "Besides, you can't just dwell on the bad things that happened in the past, you have to remember all the good stuff, too. Think about how we met! If everything hadn't happened exactly as it did- if ClemBot hadn't locked you out and he hadn't turned me away for not having enough badges- I might've been just another challenger to you, and you might've been just another gym leader to me. It's hard for me to want to change anything about the way things worked out, because I don't even want to imagine the two of us not becoming friends!"
Clemont felt himself flush again, not with embarrassment this time, but with gratitude. "Me neither. I guess… I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way before." His mind traveled back to all of the tools and inventions shuttered up in his room, to the past he didn't always like acknowledge, but a part of him nonetheless. That old toolbox had been his first, handed down to him by his father almost as soon as he could walk. When he had learned how to use the plasma cutter, it had really crystallized his fascination with electricity, even if he had accidentally set the cuffs of his pants on fire in the process [4]. And the vacuum, ClemBot's older brother, everything he had ever designed and built with his own two hands- while very few of them had ever worked exactly as planned, they were all stepping stones to bigger, better, more successful projects, and that included ones he hadn't even conceived of yet. Maybe they were nothing to be ashamed of after all. "Maybe it's something we can keep working on together."
"Well, I really meant what I said back at the gym," Ash said, his voice growing softer as he stretched and smiled through another huge yawn. "I really do want to keep learning and looking into the future with you- but I don't want to forget all the good times we've had, either. You know… like today."
"Like today," Clemont said, feeling a warm, happy something flutter around his body and settle down somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. "Thanks Ash. It really means a lot that you're willing to talk through this stuff with me. It's one of the things I like about you, actually. You really are so..."
He heard an odd sort of whistling coming from the couch and looked over. Ash's eyes were closed, his mouth slack, his face relaxed and impassive. Pikachu was curled into a ball next to him, and the pair of them were snoring lightly. Clemont shook his head and smiled. "...full of surprises," he finished. "Good night, Ash."
And, still wearing a smile, he lay down, rolled over, and drifted off into his own contented sleep.
~Fin.
FOOTNOTES
[1] See the Indigo League episodes "Primeape Goes Bananas" and several that take place after "The Song of Jigglypuff."
[2] I hope it's obvious that Serena's surprise is the batch of macarons that features so prominently in the next episode ("Mega-Mega Meowth Madness"). I know that episode implies it was a surprise to Bonnie as well, but I can't really imagine Serena not telling her beforehand, or Bonnie not being interested in helping!
[3] References to a few early Indigo episodes here, including "Tentacool and Tentacruel" and "Dig Those Diglett!"
[4] Based on author experience. Do not attempt at home.
Fandom: Pokémon XY (Anime)
Genre: General/Friendship
Summary: Extended scene that takes place around and about the end of Episode 9. Even after a day full of revelations and personal growth, there is still time for Clemont to worry, Ash to reminisce, and for both of them to be amazed at what lies behind closed doors. Fluff, friendship, oneshot.
Length: ~3600 words
Rating: G
Warnings: Dub names and the tiniest hint of Diodeshipping
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10637710/1/No-Surprises
Author's Note: Besides being an excuse to write about Ash and Clemont being adorably adorable together, this fic actually started out as an attempt to explain what I saw as the peculiar sleeping arrangement presented at the end of Episode 9, "Clemont's Got a Secret." While Serena and Bonnie were clearly sleeping in Bonnie's room, Ash was sleeping on a couch and Clemont was on the floor of a room that... didn't look very much like a bedroom, to be honest (maybe it was the living room, or a study?). And then I had to throw in some Indigo League nostalgia and attempts at character development because that's how I do. Some footnotes added to explain references to to past/future events. Hope you enjoy!
"All right, so for now it's time to celebrate Clemont and Bonnie's new journey!"
It was quite a party, what with five people, a robot, and more than a dozen Pokémon crowded into one tiny living room, but nobody seemed to mind in the least. For Clemont, it was not only the first time in several months he had elected to spend an evening at home with his family, but the first time he could ever recall having what his father affectionately referred to as "real friends" over to spend the night, and he was determined to make the most of it. Long after ClemBot and his electric-types had gone back to Prism Tower, long after Serena and Bonnie had disappeared in the direction of the kitchen, and long after Clemont's father had excused himself and gone up to bed, Clemont was happy to stay up listening to Ash tell stories about his various adventures as the two of them tended to their remaining Pokémon. The blond-haired boy was entertained and more than a little impressed by everything Ash had already experienced during his time as a trainer, and hearing him describe just a fraction of the things he'd seen and done, Clemont knew more than ever that his decision to accompany Ash and Pikachu on the remainder of their journey through Kalos had been the right one.
By the time they finally agreed to call it a night it was already way past late. Ash and Pikachu were both yawning widely, and even though Clemont's eyes were itching with tiredness, his head was positively spinning with ideas for dozens of new inventions. A Primeape Personal Possession Retrieval System could certainly come in handy, he reasoned, as could a few pairs of Jigglypuff-Proof Sleep-Attack-Canceling Earmuffs [1]. He was so absorbed in thought as he led Ash into the darkened hallway that he almost ran into Bonnie, who had come bouncing out of the kitchen from the opposite direction, Dedenne perched on her head and Serena and Fennekin trailing in her wake.
"Having fun?" Clemont asked, managing a last-minute swerve and smiling down at his sister.
Bonnie performed a graceful little twirl and ran a quick lap around him for good measure. "Oh Clemont, of course we are! Ash and Serena are going to spend the night, Serena and Dedenne get to sleep in my room, and Daddy even said he's going to make crêpes for breakfast- so basically, this is the best sleepover ever!"
"Ne, ne!" Dedenne chirped in agreement.
Clemont laughed, and it was only then that he caught the faint scent of something warm and sweet wafting in from the kitchen. "What've you two been making in there?" he asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, 'cuz whatever it is, it smells delicious," added Ash, craning his neck to see past the two girls while Pikachu sniffed the air dreamily.
"Hey now, that's a secret," Serena said, moving her head to block Ash's view and giving him a playful wink. "It's a surprise for tomorrow, once we're back on the road [2]!"
"Yeah, and until then, no peeking!" Bonnie said, turning to face her brother. "So anyway, where were you, Ash, and Pikachu planning on sleeping tonight, Clemont?"
"Oh, well, I figured I would let Ash and Pikachu have my room, and I would just sleep on the couch," he shrugged.
Bonnie sighed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him as if he were the most hopeless person in the world. "Big brother, are you serious?" she asked. "Do you even remember what's IN your room?"
"Huh?" The lenses of Clemont's glasses caught the light streaming down from the nearby stairwell and flashed briefly opaque as he fumbled for a response. "Uh, well, no, I suppose I..."
"Well, if you can't remember, I'm not going to tell you. You're just going to have to find out for yourself," she said, sticking her tongue out at him and grabbing Serena by the hand. "C'mon, Serena, let's go! I want you to meet my stuffed animals!"
"Um, good night, guys," Serena called faintly, allowing herself to be led around the corner and out of sight by an overenthusiastic Bonnie.
"Well, I'm... not really sure what that was about," Clemont confessed, smiling apologetically as he turned to face Ash and Pikachu. "But anyway, I can show you the room, the upstairs bathroom, and where we keep the spare sheets and towels so you can start getting settled."
"Sure," Ash said agreeably, and followed Clemont up the staircase that led to the second floor.
As they climbed, Clemont tried to recall what he could have done to make Bonnie react like that, but for the life of him couldn't imagine what it might have been. He was still racking his brain as they walked down the narrow upstairs hallway and approached the plain wooden door to his room. Clemont placed his hand on the knob and turned it carefully, and with a sense of increasingly morbid curiosity. It was only after the door was half-open and he felt the loud rattling "thunk" of it colliding with something large and heavy did he finally remember what was inside, and his heart sank immediately.
"Oh no, I can't believe this," he groaned, throwing his shoulder into the door and pushing with all his might.
"What's the matter?" Ash asked in concern, but he didn't have to wait for a reply. The force Clemont was applying had been enough to sweep the object aside, and with nothing else blocking its path, the door was allowed to swing fully open at last.
The young gym leader stumbled inside, gazing in dismay at the darkened shapes looming at him from every angle. "Um, well, I guess you could say… I guess you could say the past is... now," he said, not looking Ash in the eye. "Thanks to some really, really old science."
Clemont had no idea how he had managed to forget about something like this; his room was something akin to a disaster. Boxes of every size and shape cluttered the floor, only some of them neatly closed and taped shut, most with labels missing and contents spilling out the top. Blueprints and schematics were everywhere, rolled up and stacked against the walls, piled on top of his desk and bed, and pinned to the walls in several haphazard layers. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he started to recognize some of the odder-shaped piles of junk: a rusty and dented old toolbox, his spare plasma cutter, countless metal rods, ties, springs, gears, belts, and batteries, a veritable Raticate's nest of tangled wires and, most apparently, the hulking metal bodies and collapsed skeletal remains of dozens of old, broken, and half-disassembled inventions.
"Pika..." came a voice from Ash's shoulder that sounded, in Clemont's opinion, somewhere between uncertain and incredulous. He chanced a furtive look at Ash. The dark-haired boy was staring at the mess, transfixed and apparently speechless. Clemont could feel his face starting to grow hot.
"Whooooa," Ash said at last, gaping open-mouthed as his eyes moved across the room. "Clemont... this stuff is so... unbelievably... COOL!"
Clemont looked up in surprise. Ash was grinning from ear-to-ear as he bounded forward, examining everything with a fervent interest that was usually only seen on the faces of kids in candy stores.
"What's this?" he asked, crouching down to inspect a knee-high cylindrical contraption outfitted with wheels, rubber bumpers, a brush, and several lengths of long flexible hose.
"That's an Automated Electric-Pokémon-Powered Shop Vac," Clemont said automatically. "I built it to help my dad, but uh... it didn't work very well."
"How about that one?" Ash pointed to a square, vaguely humanoid head that bore obvious signs of smoke damage.
"Oh, that's an early prototype for ClemBot."
"It's incredible," Ash said, eyes shining brightly. "Your room is just like a museum!"
Clemont would have liked to protest at this, but realized how ungrateful that would sound. Instead, he smiled back and managed an embarrassed laugh. "When I started spending more and more time at the gym, this room just sort of ended up becoming a place to store my old projects and extra components," he explained. "I told my dad he could throw most of it out a long time ago, but I guess he decided to keep it."
"Well, I'm really glad he did," Ash said. "This stuff is amaaaazing! Hey, tell me about this one!"
It was strange, Clemont thought, as he answered Ash's questions and watched him wander through the maze of boxes and dusty machinery. He thought it would feel a lot more invasive, having anyone who wasn't an immediate family member find out he had amassed such a large and unruly collection of junk. But to his amazement, it wasn't really like that at all- having Ash here felt almost natural, as if his old room and his old life had just been waiting for this behatted, spiky-haired boy to walk in and start making himself at home. In a way, it was actually… rather nice.
That is, until he noticed Pikachu. The little Pokémon was trying its best not to nod off, but its eyelids were drooping and it kept wobbling sleepily on Ash's shoulder. Clemont suddenly recalled what time it was and why they had all come up here in the first place, and he flushed guiltily.
"Ah, Ash, I'm so sorry! It's really late and you and Pikachu must be exhausted, plus now we need to find a another place for you to sleep," Clemont said, giving his friend a flustered bow and thinking hard. "So um, let's see... what's the best way to solve this problem?"
Ash waved away the apology with a smile. "Hey, no big deal. If it's all the same to you, Pikachu and I can just lay out some camping gear and sleep on the floor."
"What? No, I couldn't let you-"
"I'm serious! We're both used to sleeping in a tent, and at least tonight there's a real roof over our heads. Besides, this way you and I get to keep talking and hangin' out, and that really will make it just like a sleepover!"
Once again, Clemont couldn't help but be surprised at such a genuinely enthusiastic response. He knew from both experience and observation that most journeying trainers wouldn't be this excited to learn they wouldn't be sleeping in a proper bed after all. But then again, this was Ash, and Clemont knew he really was going to have to stop being surprised by all the things Ash said and did that made him different from most trainers.
"Well... all right," he conceded. "But I insist that you and Pikachu take the couch. I'll sleep on the floor."
Ash blinked uncertainly. "Gee, Clemont, are you sure?"
"Of course! I don't have any problems falling asleep- just as Bonnie how many times I've tried to pull an all-nighter at the gym and she's found me passed out in my workshop." Clemont laughed. "The fifth or sixth time you're woken up with your face pressed against the wrong side of a circuit board, you know you can sleep through anything. Besides," he said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Necessity is the mother of invention. I can always improvise something."
"All right, well, what can I do to help?"
Clemont thought for a moment then smiled, placing his hands on his hips with renewed confidence. "Well, if you want to help me pull out some raw materials from the linen closet across the hall, I think I know how we can get started."
And so, the two boys went to work. Once they were downstairs, they set aside enough blankets and pillows for Ash and Pikachu, then threw together a makeshift mattress for Clemont out of the rest, adding in a few chair cushions and sleeping pads from their camping supplies for good measure. By the time they had changed into their nightclothes and settled into bed they were already back in full discussion mode, reliving the day's events and speculating about all the battles yet to come, making the promise to each other that when it was time for Ash to earn his Voltage Badge, both of them would give it their all to make sure it was a battle neither of them would ever forget.
It was a little while before either of them spoke again.
"By the way," Ash said as he settled himself under the covers. "I never actually got the chance to thank you for today."
Clemont rolled over to look at him. "Thank me?" he asked. "What for?"
"Well, for letting me learn so much about you," Ash said simply. "Seeing the bond between you, ClemBot, and all your electric Pokémon, watching that incredible battle, getting to meet your dad and stay in the house you grew up in- they're all things I'm really grateful for."
Clemont sat up again, somewhat taken aback. "You're not still mad that I didn't tell you about ClemBot and being a gym leader right from the beginning?"
Ash shook his head. "Nah. You had your reasons. But since you'd never really talked about yourself before, I didn't feel like I knew you all that well. But it's different now- after all we've been though today, I'd like to think that I know you better as a friend, a trainer, an inventor, and a gym leader, and that's just really cool, y'know?"
Clemont hugged the back of his knees under the blankets, feeling a fresh pang of guilt at these words. He had been thinking about something, turning a few disjointed thoughts over in his mind as he attempted to pin down exactly what he had been feeling ever since he opened the door to his bedroom.
"Hey Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"Are there things that you wish certain people didn't know about you, because you're afraid it would just disappoint them?"
Clemont could hear the couch springs creak as Ash changed positions. "Hmm, I dunno. Maybe. Why do you ask?"
"I guess… I guess because I end up feeling that way a lot," Clemont admitted. "I mean, I think that's why I kept putting off telling you the truth for so long, why I didn't even come to visit my dad after ClemBot locked Bonnie and me out, and why there was a part of me that was ashamed you had to see all of those old inventions upstairs."
He sighed into the darkness. "Knowing that I feel that way about mistakes I've made in the past makes me wonder if I can ever really grow into the person I want to be, if I can ever become the sort of friend and brother and son and gym leader that the people I care about really deserve. I know everyone was nothing but encouraging and supportive today, but if I'm not comfortable owning up to my mistakes, I wonder if anything I do is really worth the kind of trust others seem to have in me."
"Hey," Ash said, propping himself up on his elbow, the fire back in his eyes. "Don't think you're not worthy to have other people trust and support you, even for a minute! Although," he added, a little sheepishly, "I think I know what you mean about feeling ashamed of mistakes you've made in the past."
Clemont blinked. "You do?"
Ash nodded. He had rolled onto his back again, one arm behind his head, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Telling you all those stories about the first few months of my journey really reminded me of the type of trainer I used to be. Sometimes I would try to make Pikachu battle when it really didn't want to, and more than once, I was willing to take jobs that would have forced hundreds of Pokémon out of their homes in exchange for a few free meals [3]." He reached over to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. The little electric mouse pressed its head into Ash's open palm and cooed appreciatively. "I'd like to think that I've changed a lot since then, but at the same time, I still really regret what I did."
Clemont was stunned. "I had no idea," he said.
"But I think it's OK to make mistakes. Sometimes it's the best way to learn somethin', and trust me when I say I have a lot of experience with that." He laughed. "Besides, you can't just dwell on the bad things that happened in the past, you have to remember all the good stuff, too. Think about how we met! If everything hadn't happened exactly as it did- if ClemBot hadn't locked you out and he hadn't turned me away for not having enough badges- I might've been just another challenger to you, and you might've been just another gym leader to me. It's hard for me to want to change anything about the way things worked out, because I don't even want to imagine the two of us not becoming friends!"
Clemont felt himself flush again, not with embarrassment this time, but with gratitude. "Me neither. I guess… I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way before." His mind traveled back to all of the tools and inventions shuttered up in his room, to the past he didn't always like acknowledge, but a part of him nonetheless. That old toolbox had been his first, handed down to him by his father almost as soon as he could walk. When he had learned how to use the plasma cutter, it had really crystallized his fascination with electricity, even if he had accidentally set the cuffs of his pants on fire in the process [4]. And the vacuum, ClemBot's older brother, everything he had ever designed and built with his own two hands- while very few of them had ever worked exactly as planned, they were all stepping stones to bigger, better, more successful projects, and that included ones he hadn't even conceived of yet. Maybe they were nothing to be ashamed of after all. "Maybe it's something we can keep working on together."
"Well, I really meant what I said back at the gym," Ash said, his voice growing softer as he stretched and smiled through another huge yawn. "I really do want to keep learning and looking into the future with you- but I don't want to forget all the good times we've had, either. You know… like today."
"Like today," Clemont said, feeling a warm, happy something flutter around his body and settle down somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. "Thanks Ash. It really means a lot that you're willing to talk through this stuff with me. It's one of the things I like about you, actually. You really are so..."
He heard an odd sort of whistling coming from the couch and looked over. Ash's eyes were closed, his mouth slack, his face relaxed and impassive. Pikachu was curled into a ball next to him, and the pair of them were snoring lightly. Clemont shook his head and smiled. "...full of surprises," he finished. "Good night, Ash."
And, still wearing a smile, he lay down, rolled over, and drifted off into his own contented sleep.
~Fin.
FOOTNOTES
[1] See the Indigo League episodes "Primeape Goes Bananas" and several that take place after "The Song of Jigglypuff."
[2] I hope it's obvious that Serena's surprise is the batch of macarons that features so prominently in the next episode ("Mega-Mega Meowth Madness"). I know that episode implies it was a surprise to Bonnie as well, but I can't really imagine Serena not telling her beforehand, or Bonnie not being interested in helping!
[3] References to a few early Indigo episodes here, including "Tentacool and Tentacruel" and "Dig Those Diglett!"
[4] Based on author experience. Do not attempt at home.