After that event, Serena ran towards her dorm room and so did Shauna. Calem went in search of Shauna throughout the whole school. Miette tried to calm herself down by walking around and Ash made his way back to his Pokemon.

We join Ash as he approaches his Pokemon.

No one's POV

Ash walked up to his Pokemon. Greninja had already reverted back to his normal form and was looking at Ash curiously along with Pikachu and Sceptile. It was almost as if they could tell something was wrong. Charizard, on the other hand, acted like he was ignoring Ash... which Ash found slightly puzzling.

"Alright guys, return. Get some rest before the match." said Ash lazily as he returned Greninja, Sceptile and Charizard.

Ash then sat there waiting for the match to start. This was still 40 minutes left before the start of the match.

While Ash was getting ready for the match, on the other side of the school, Calem was busy looking for Shauna. Over the past months, Shauna had opened up to Calem and told him about her past... and it wasn't a pretty one.

~ Shauna's Backstory~ (might get slightly dark)

Shauna was born in Dendemille Town. Her dad died when she was still very young and her mom, Eleanor, was left with the responsibility of raising her and her brother, Tierno, who was 3 years older than her.

That, however, turned out to be a very bog challenge for Eleanor. She was a single mom, trying to juggle between housework and a day job. This turned out to be very difficult for her. It was stressful and she couldn't support the family financially. At that point, she decided to remarry in order to increase the household income so that her children could live happily.

That, however, didn't go completely as planned. Their step-dad, Noland, wasn't too fond of Shauna and Tierno. In fact, he hated them. The reason? Well, his reason was they weren't his kids. He didn't see any profit in doing anything for Shauna and Tierno. However, their mom got him to agree and tolerate them.

It actually went quite smoothly for a while, however, as they two siblings grew older, their mom decided to enrol them into the best private school in the area. She wanted her children to have a bright future. She wanted them to do things and learn things she, herself, didn't have the opportunity to, however, it came at a cost. The fees were expensive. Very expensive. Again, however, Eleanor managed to convince Noland into spending the money on Shauna and Tierno. 

As they studied in that school, it got more and more difficult for Noland and Eleanor to pay their fees. They didn't have enough money to sustain themselves.

Eventually, Noland got very frustrated with the situation and started getting more and more stressed out. He started blaming this whole situation on Shauna and Tierno. Noland then resorted to drinking his sorrows and stresses away.

Often, after work, he would go to the bar/pub and drink lightly. He would come back home and have a talk about the situation with the family. The siblings would often say they would rather dropout, however, that never sat right with Eleanor. She would always insist that her children have the best education available. This resulted in Noland getting more and more frustrated. He then started drinking more and more heavily. He would return home and the talks they used to have would turn into him screaming and yelling at the three of them. That eventually turned into physical abuse and violence. Eleanor would often try to stop him, however, if often ended up in getting her hurt.

At this point, both Shauna and Tierno started feeling guilty. They decided to support their family in any way possible. They did so by using their Pokemon. Shauna started performing while Tierno started taking part in Gym battles.

No matter what they did though, their step-dad was never happy with them. He was beyond repair and had turned into a full-blown alcoholic. He would come home everyday and physically and mentally abuse the two kids. Domestic violence turned into an everyday routine in their house. They sort of got used to it.

This resulted in both Shauna and Tierno having cuts, bruises and scars. This was off-putting to many people in their school... including their friends. Slowly, Shauna and Tierno started losing their friends and they turned on them. People who used to be their friends started making fun of them and bullying them. Tierno, however, would stand up for Shauna and protect her. He never let anyone hurt his sister. Shauna really appreciated Tierno. After all, those two were the only ones who understood what they were going through. Shauna was glad that there was someone there for her during her time of need.

Tierno was protective of Shauna while at home too. He would often take hits for her. He would get between Noland and Shauna when ever Noland tried to beat her up. Tierno took countless punches and kicks for Shauna. Shauna really did appreciate it when Tierno did so, however, she had told him to stop doing so as she felt guilty about it. Tierno always declined.

This kept happening until one fateful day. That day, Noland had come hove especially drunk and very angry. He had work related stresses too and he always took it out on Eleanor, Shauna and Tierno. That day, Eleanor started abusing Shauna. He was going over the top and Tierno had decided that he had had enough and stood up to Noland. This didn't go down too well hith him though. Noland became even angrier. He was furious and too drunk to think straight. He didn't hold back. Noland took a Whiskey bottle and smashed it on Tierno's head before stabbing him in the stomach with the broken bottle.

Right there, right the, Eleanor and Shauna watched in horror as Tierno bled to his death.

That was the day life took a mysterious turn for Shauna and Eleanor.

Shauna lost her protective bubble. She lost someone who meant the would to her. She lost the one person who really cared about her and showed her love and compassion, other than her mom, of course.

Noland was arrested on the spot and was given a life sentence. 

Eventually, Tierno's death took a toll on Eleanor. She thought it was all her fault for marrying a man like Noland. This feeling of absolute guilt gave her an emotional wound that she couldn't recover from. It left as scar the slowly drove her insane. Eleanor was never herself again after that.

Shauna now felt guilty for the whole situation. Tierno stood up for her... and it ended up costing him his life. She felt like it was all her fault. Her mom, Eleanor, was in that state because of Tierno's death. This meant that Shauna felt guilty about her mom too.

Tierno wasn't there for her anymore, and her once kind and loving mom had changed completely into someone she couldn't recognise. She had lost everybody she had ever cared about. She felt like she had no one there for her. Loneliness and depression took over and the knife became her best friend.

Everyday she would feel the immense pain caused by the guilt she stored in herself. Each time she sliced her wrist, however, she felt the emotional pain subside a little. She kept this as a habit.

The one thing Shauna hadn't given up on yet, though, was performing. She loved doing it and as it turns out, she was quite good at it. So good in fact, that she had acquired quite a reputation as a performer and was invited to study at the KIT... and that's where everything started looking up for her. Because that's where she met him. Calem.

On the very first day, Calem showed her compassion and kindness. He extended an arm when no one would. He was so nice to her and his presence made her feel so happy and so safe. Something she hadn't felt since the loss of her brother. He made everything in her life colourful again.

The more she got to know Calem, the more attracted she got to him. Eventually, they got into a relationship. It was the best feeling Shauna had ever experienced. Shauna was ecstatic that she meant so much to him. SHe felt so loved by him. She got completely addicted to it. She didn't have to force herself to smile though her pain anymore. All her smiles and laughs were genuine now... and it was all thanks to Calem.

He protected her, like Tierno did. He taught her and guided her, like Tierno did. He played with her and grew with her, like Tierno did. He loved her, like Tierno did. Shauna was so grateful that Calem came into her life at the time she needed someone the most.

However, after seeing Calem with Serena earlier, all the pain and suffering returned... but this time, they hurt even more.Her whole world felt dull and colourless again. Calem was the only person who was ever there for her. Not having him anymore was the last straw for Shauna.

~End of Backstory~

She felt lonely and unloved again.She felt like an outcast. Too different from everybody else. She thought Calem understood her, however, she was wrong. She didn't see a point in her existence anymore. There was no one there for her. She had nothing to do, nothing to achieve.

So Shauna ran. Ran into her room and locked it. Shen then took out a knife. The knife that she hadn't used since they day she met Calem... and started using it again.

She remembered everything that had happened in her life so far, and with each painful memory, the cuts got deeper and deeper.

Calem was still looking for Shauna. He had scavenged the whole school and couldn't find her anywhere. With each passing second, he was getting more and more worried about her. He was afraid that she would end up doing something that they both would regret. Something would completely break him.

As he passed the Music building, something clicked in his mind.

"Her room..." he whispered to himself as he ran towards the dorms as fast as his legs could carry him.

In almost no time, he reached Shauna's room, and sure enough, he could hear silent sobs from inside the room. Calem decied to knock the door.

"Shauna?" he asked while knocking.

There was no response.

"Shauna?!" he asked again while knocking more violently.

"SHAUNA?!" he yelled as he started knocking more.

Shauna didn't open the door. Calem was worried sick and he knew he had to do something.

He took a couple of steps back and the sprinted into the door and barged it with his shoulder. It didn't open.

He tried again. This time, he heard a creak.

On last time, he put all his effort into it and that did it. It broke her lock and forced the door open.

The sight he was met with made his eyes well up with tears immediately.

The curtains were closed and the room was dark. The only source of light came from the corridors. 

Sitting next to her bed with a small knife in her had was a very startled Shauna looking up at Calem.

Calem immediately ran to Shauna, threw the knife away and embraced her in a tight hug as he broke down.

"You promised you would never do it again!" said Calem with a hoarse voice.

As soon as Calem hugged Shauna, she felt warmth. She felt protected and felt the love Calem holds for her.

As Calem hugged Shauna, he started apologising, repeating the word "Sorry." over and over again.

At that very moment, everything became crystal clear to Calem. He didn't want to hurt hur. He never meant to hurt her. He cares about her a lot. He now knew that what he felt for Serena wasn't love, it was flatulence. Whe he feels for Shauna is love.

Calem then set about explaining the whole situation to Shauna. How it was all a misunderstanding. How Miette had manipulated Ash into doing so. He knew that Miette was using psychic. He also knew that he had to do everything in his power no to get Ash and Serena back together.

Upon realising what was happening, Shauna immediately regretted her decision. She felt relieved, however, felt extremely upset for Ash and Serena. She shipped those two really hard.

"Calem, promise me one thing?" asked Shauna as she looked up at him.

"Anything!" replied Calem as he smiled at her.

"I might be second best to Serena, but I want you to be better than Ash. Promise me you'll beat him." said Shauna as she looked deep into Calem's eyes.

Calem didn't hesitate for a moment. If there was anything at all that he could do for Shauna to make it up to her, he would.

"Don't worry. I will!" exclaimed Calem determinedly.

Shauna finally broke out a smile and kissed Calem.

"Now, let's get there quickly. You've only got 20 minutes before the match starts." exclaimed Shauna as the two started making their way to the battlefield, but not before visiting the nurse first to get Shauna's cuts cleaned and bandaged.

Serena, while on the way to her dorm, met Dawn. We join her now to see what unfolds.

"Hey, Serena!" exclaimed Dawn.

Serena suddenly stopped wiped her eyes and turned around. Thankfully, she hadn't been crying for long so eyes eyes weren't red.

"Oh, h-hey Dawn."replied Serena as she gave her a quivering smile.

Dawn noticed that her eyes were slightly glossy. She got worried and decided to ask her about it.

"Were you crying?"

"W-what? N-no! I just got something in my eye." said Serena as she forced back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Oh, alright then!" replied Dawn with a smile.

"Do you want to hang out with the us for a while?" she continued.

Serena thought about it for a moment. It would definitely help her get her mind off of the recent events.

"Yeah, ok." replied Serena with a small smile.

Dawn cheered and dragged Serena... towards the battlefield.

Serena immediately gulped. She didn't want anybody to know what has happened between her and Ash, so she didn't retaliate. Instead, she let herself be dragged to the stadium.

Eventually, they made it inside the stadium 10 minutes before the start of the match.

Serena and Dawn found the rest of the gang and they decided to sit together. Everybody was extremely excited about the match. Everybody but Serena.

The scene of Miette and Ash kissing was still playing in her head. It was such a painful moment for her. What made it worse was the fact that she might have ended someone else's relationship because of her reckless actions.

As everybody conversed among themselves, Serena just sat there quietly and listened.

Ash, too, had been sitting in the room deep in thought. All he could think about was Serena kissing Calem and Serena ignoring him completely. It hurt him a lot.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a loud announcement.

"Champion Ash and Trainer Calem, please make your way to the battlefield."

As soon as Ash heard that, he got up and made his way to the battlefield. He exited the tunnel and walked onto the battlefield to be met with roars of the crowd.

On the other side stood Calem. He could see the broken expression on Ash's face and felt extremely guilty. However, he couldn't hold back, because, he had promised a special someone that he would win this battle no matter what.

Serena, from the stands, could see that something was different about Ash. The confident smile wasn't there anymore, instead, it was replaced by a fake one. The once energetic and vibrant eyes were replaced by dull and colourless ones. For some reason, it pained Serena to see Ash like that.

Soon, the referee spoke up.

"This will be a 6 on 6 battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Calem Xavier. The battle will be over when all 6 Pokemon on either side are unable to battle. Are both sides ready?" asked the referee.

"Ready." both trainers exclaimed at the first time.

"Then please send out your first Pokemon." yelled the referee.

Ash was reaching for a certain Pokeball, however, he broke a cold sweat when he realised that he forgot to swap out Cosmog and Wishiwashi...

He then decided to improvise quickly.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" yelled Ash.

Pikachu leaped onto the battlefield and faced Calem with a determined look on his face.

"Going with your starter eh? In that case, let's go Chesnaught!" yelled Calem.

Calem tossed a Pokeball and a humanoid Pokemon with a spiky armour materialised on the battlefield.

"Alright, this battle will be between Pikachu and Chesnaught. Battle begin!" yelled the referee.

End of Chapter 20.

I know that this chapter is slightly shorter than my other ones. Sorry about that.

This chapter mainly focused on Calem and Shauna.

As you can see, the next chapter will be the battle. There are some more interesting twists left, however, we are nearing the end.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know there weren't any amour moments in this chapter, but fret not!

Anyways, I'll see you in the next chapter!