It's come down to this: the final Oneshot Tuesday! For now, at least…That said, this fic is a bit different, but I hope you'll enjoy it all the same. While it is shipping-based, the main focus is something else, though ultimately redundant. Ah, you didn't come here to listen to me blather on. Just enjoy. Oh, and it's set after XYZ 21 in the Ancienverse.

Author: Epicocity

Rating: K

Pairings: Amourshipping. Laserbladeshipping.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon…at all.

A Starlit Sibling Session About Scientific Sweethearts

A Pokémon Story

Clemont sighed, putting all of his rather meager muscle strength into turning the wrench on his machine. He just couldn't understand why this one wasn't working when all of its prototypes had. Was it the exhaust system? Or maybe the wiring was faulty? Adjusting the glasses on his face, Clemont turned to look at his blueprints, catching sight of their campsite in the evening light. Bonnie, Dedenne and even Squishy were helping to put the plates away from dinner, bringing a smile to the blond's face; Bonnie had really matured on this journey. Back in Lumiose, he'd be lucky to get her to clean her plate, much less have her help out in actually doing the dishes.

As he turned back to his blueprints he also saw his two travel companions at a more open space of their campsite. Serena was holding Ash's hands, like they were dancing, though the raven-haired trainer hardly looked enthused. Probably because they had been at it ever since they finished dinner.

"Can't we take a break, Serena? My feet hurt…" Ash was whining. Serena smiled at him and finally let go of his hands, allowing Ash to sit on the ground. Although, instead of sitting, he flung himself backwards to stare up at the sky that was painted in orange and red. Clemont watched a moment longer as Serena smiled at her boyfriend.

The very thought of that made Clemont rub the back of his head. It was so strange to be looking at Ash and Serena as boyfriend and girlfriend. Just a little over a month ago, he hadn't even had a clue that Serena liked Ash in that way; now it seemed so obvious…All that was just accentuated by moments like these, where the two of them would do something together at the campsite, like a date. Not that their first date had gone extraordinarily well…Clemont still had the unfortunate memories of being roped into that fiasco. He'd had to ground Bonnie for a couple days following it.

"Pikachu, would you like to continue?" Serena was asking, splitting Clemont's attention between the date and his blueprints once more.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, earning another smile from Clemont.

"Great! Hawlucha, you keep up, too, okay?"

"Lucha!" It soon became almost impossible for Clemont to focus on his work as Hawlucha did some impressive footwork through the air and flipped around. Pikachu and Pancham were close behind him, flying through Braixen's rings of fire before Sylveon's Fairy Wind propelled them upward. Then Greninja and Braixen appeared to send a Water Shuriken and a Fire Blast that illuminated the still darkening sky beautifully as the three lightweights made perfect landings.

"That was perfect, guys! Did you have fun?"

"Pika! Pikapi, chu chu pika?" Pikachu asked of his trainer, running over to him and onto his chest.

"You looked awesome, buddy. You, too, Serena, though your performances always look great. I probably just screw them up." Serena appeared to giggle and Clemont saw her throw herself at Ash's side, the two so close to each other that their noses were touching. The sight made Clemont just a little uncomfortable.

"You're fine, Ash. Just a little clumsy," she admitted. Clemont could see the radiant smile on her face even from here. In the corner of his eye, Bonnie was turning on some lamps at their campsite to see by and stoking the fire a little, which Talonflame and Luxray appeared to be resting next to. "And that sounds like an excuse to not want to perform with me…"

"It's not an excuse!" Ash argued. "Okay…maybe it is. You know I'm no good at all that dancing stuff, no matter how good a teacher you and Aria are."

"Well, one day you'll have to learn how to really dance properly. You can just think of it all as special training."

"Man…if I knew my mom was right when she'd said I had to learn how to do stuff like that someday, I wouldn't have listened to Gary and just taken some classes," Ash groaned out, but Clemont didn't miss the hardly subtle linking of his hand with Serena's. "I get why you need to know this stuff, and I get why you enjoy it…it is kind of fun…but with what I do, I just don't get why I need to dance."

"Well, one day you'll have to learn how to dance for your wedding," Serena pointed out casually. Clemont nearly dropped his wrench upon hearing the word "wedding". Ash didn't seem to take it extremely well either judging from the spluttering he was making. "I don't mean…you know, now. I mean, in the future."

"I-I knew that!" Ash insisted, but the couple didn't talk anymore after that. Clearly said topic was far too sensitive for the fledgling couple. It was even sensitive for Clemont's ears as he blushed a little and his ears felt like they were burning bright red. Usually just hearing anything associated with marriage made him shut down, probably from Bonnie's millions of attempts at hooking him up with anybody that was female and slightly older than him.

The inventor shook his head, trying to clear that mess of thoughts from it, and without consulting his blueprints, he took his wrench back to his machine and cranked it.

He cranked it too hard, resulting in an explosion. That resulted in another sigh. Back to the drawing board.

"What's wrong, Clemont?" rang Bonnie's voice from next to him. Clemont coughed, and pushed his now junked machine aside to look at his sister who was staring up at him while laying on her stomach. Dedenne and Squishy had left her to rest by the fire. The stars were now coming out, highlighted by the embers floating upward. "That's the third machine you've had go boom since we set up camp. Ash and Serena may be in dreamland and didn't notice, but I sure did."

"It's nothing, Bonnie," Clemont assured her, patting her on the head a little. "Just a few miscalculations."

"Your face says otherwise, brother," Bonnie commented. Clemont blinked and finally realized that his lips had been twisted into a scowl. He had hardly noticed this. Bonnie rolled onto her back and then sat up to face him with a smile. "Something on your mind?"

"I'm just frustrated," he admitted. "Ever since the Aipom Arm broke down I just can't seem to get in the right groove for fixing things or building working inventions."

"You rarely build working inventions…" Bonnie commented dryly, but Clemont didn't rise to the bait his sister was tossing at him. So, in order to avoid that, he allowed his gaze to slip back over to the couple, watching them in their own little contented world, or "dreamland". For a couple that a month ago was never even thought of being close to happening, thanks to Serena being unable to spit it out (according to Bonnie) and Ash being a rock, it looked like they were truly happy. A sigh rose to Clemont's lips.

"I think it's time for you to get to bed, Bonnie," Clemont said quietly, careful not to disturb the couple as he turned back to his sister. In the firelight, he could see her staring back at him with solemn eyes, a definite departure from how Bonnie usually looked. All too often he'd see that mischievous glint in her eyes, but right now, she looked far older than her years.

"Are you jealous, Clemont?" Had she asked it in any other tone of voice, Clemont would have mistaken it for teasing. But Bonnie was unusually serious as she asked it. "Of Ash and Serena?"

"Absolutely not," Clemont answered quickly…maybe a little too quickly. Bonnie appeared to catch on to his haste, because she frowned. "I'm not jealous of them, Bonnie."

"You look jealous," she commented. Clemont's eyes flicked over to his sister as she kicked her legs up and down in the air. She wasn't wearing that little grin she liked to wear when finding "keepers" so he wasn't entirely sure if she was joking or not. His little sister was such an anomaly that even he couldn't figure her out.

"Well, I'm not. I'm very happy for Ash and Serena," he admitted. Mostly, he was really happy that the two of them dating hadn't changed the status quo of relationships within the group at all. They were all like a little family to this day, and he figured nothing major would happen to change that. Bonnie appeared to quiet down and Clemont took the opportunity to clean his stuff up. When he finally collected his stuff, Bonnie posed another strange question and he almost dropped his stuff once again.

"Did you ever like Serena?" she asked bluntly. The bag started slipping, but Clemont gripped it tighter and opted for sitting down so that no mishaps could occur or disturb what appeared to be a now resting couple and their Pokémon.

"What?" he spluttered out. Where did his sister even get that idea? "Why would you even think that…?"

"Hard not to like her," Bonnie answered honestly. For an eight-year old, he wondered just where his sister had learned all this stuff. Maybe he would have to have a talk with dad whenever they got back home. "She's nice, pretty, does lots of baking, is pretty, energetic, and I'm sure she's really pretty."

"I get it, Bonnie," Clemont sighed out. Bonnie was certainly grinning now, though it wasn't of the teasing variety. She looked genuinely happy to be praising Serena the way she did. It was really no surprise to the lemon-blond; since Serena had joined them, she'd been like an older sister to Bonnie, which was part of why he trusted her so much when he'd gone off to prepare for his battle against Ash in Lumiose City. However, never had the thought of liking Serena ever crossed his mind…not in that way.

Sure, he was a guy with marginally better skills at handling the opposite sex than the boy who was now arguably his best friend. Or at least, that used to be the case. Regardless, Clemont mused to himself, realizing that he was having this conversation with himself in his head. He had certainly noticed how pretty Serena was as it was very hard not to, but he never thought of her in a sense that he'd want to date her. Maybe it had been the way he met her in Santalune City, or maybe it was the way she stuck to Ash like glue…or it could have been him just realizing they were two incompatible personalities: they were both too similar and too different at the same time.

"No, I never liked Serena," he admitted to her. Bonnie's grin dropped a little. "She's my friend, and I agree that she's very pretty, but I really don't think any kind of relationship would last between us."

"Clemont, you don't even know what it's like to be in a relationship," his sister replied, only she wasn't teasing or scolding. She just sounded sad, which made Clemont look at her. Bonnie was frowning. Something was on his little sister's mind, and it seemed to be eating her up. Smiling a little, Clemont scooted over and took his sister to hug her.

"No, I don't, and that's okay," he said. "Right now, I'm just happy tinkering away on my inventions. After all, just the other day, it almost got me close, right?"

"Do you mean…Lillia?" Bonnie asked, her voice muffled against Clemont's chest. She wasn't looking at him, which meant that she missed the nod he gave to indicate what he was talking about. "I'm sorry. You must have really liked her, and I just pushed her away because I was jealous of the attention she was getting from you."

"Bonnie, you're my sister. No matter what girl comes by, I'll always be there for you."

"Like you were when I was stuck in a pit," Bonnie teased, her tongue sticking out as she removed her head to look at him. Clemont just laughed, his glasses shining a little in the firelight.

"You've been taking climbing lessons from Ash. I knew you'd be fine," he said with a chuckle, squeezing his sister just a little tighter. Her joking smile dropped again. Once more, he felt the need to reassure her. "It wasn't your fault that Lillia and I didn't work out. Long term, I think it would have been disaster, and I'm not one to think about these sorts of things."

"Why do you think it wouldn't have worked out?" Now, she sounded genuinely curious. And Clemont, being as scientifically inclined as he was, had a perfectly thought out answer.

"Well, we were too similar," he said. "It's like two magnets. The positive sides just continually repel each other. Sure, we may have been attracted by our similar passions…but in the end, those same passions could, statistically speaking, lead to arguments all over the place about every little thing. And I'm not sure we'd be able to grow together."

"Ugh…I'm sorry I asked. Love isn't science, Clemont!" Bonnie scolded him. The older sibling just rubbed the back of his head. Maybe his sister was right, but Clemont looked at the world in scientifically proven concepts. Love wasn't particularly provable, so all he had to go off of was statistics. Like, Ash and Serena, he saw as being a very statistically compatible match: they had the similar quality of gutsiness, but Serena reined in his enthusiasm, while he pushed her boundaries. "Okay, fine, you didn't want to be with Lillia for that reason, but then why don't you like all my other keepers?"

"Because I'm not looking for love, Bonnie," was the simplest answer. The little girl looked a little crestfallen at his answer, so Clemont decided to explain himself a little further. "I'm still young, and I want to spend this time improving myself as both a Gym Leader and a person."

"I think you're fine the way you are. You just need a girlfriend. Look how happy Ash and Serena are!" Clemont glanced over at the still stargazing couple. Well, maybe they had fallen asleep. He couldn't be quite sure from their distance. They did look quite happy; even after their disastrous first date, there was a glow about them that no amount of science could replicate. Maybe there was some merit to what Bonnie was saying after all…

"I'll admit, I've seen the two of them very happy over the last month," he started to say, adjusting his glasses a little, "and I've definitely reconsidered the possibilities of what love can hold for a person. I'd want to find it on my own, though."

"I can help! Just tell me what you're looking for!" Bonnie cheered, hopping up to her feet now so she was practically looking at him eye-to-eye. "All my experience of looking for keepers makes me a natural."

"That's the point, Bonnie," Clemont sighed out. "I'm not interested in most of the girls you choose to be keepers. It's like I gushed about Miss Eclarisse one day and you decided my definition of a perfect girl was the older, pretty, teacher type, for some reason."

"Okay, so it's not that," Bonnie said, nodding like she'd made a mental check. Though she did appear to mutter something along the lines of, "though you still need someone older to take care of you". Clemont chose to ignore that. "What do you like in girls?"

"Never really thought about it," Clemont admitted. He tipped his head back, looking up at the stars and he remembered a night a few months ago so similar to this when he sat on a rock face with a girl. That made his cheeks light up, but the firelight concealed it. Still, he decided to give some thought to Bonnie's question, and was quickly able to come up with a coherent form of response. "Let's see…I'd want a girl who makes me better. Someone who pushes me in different directions than I'd usually take. I wouldn't want her to be too fast, but someone who would help me to move a little faster. A complement to my studious personality, I suppose. We'd be different enough that our differences would unite us because our similarities would be strong."

"Yeah…you realize you're describing Ash, right?" Bonnie asked in a deadpan. Now that Clemont thought of it, he realized that he pretty much was describing a female version of Ash. Said description also sounded familiar to his ears and the implication was filtering his brain, though for the present he was trying to ignore it. "Whatever. I don't get it anyway, so I'll just look for what I've been looking for."

"So…we're back to where we started?" he asked bemusedly, as if he was panicking a little inside.

"Pretty much!" Bonnie chirped gaily. Clemont just shook his head when Serena was suddenly standing near them. Ash appeared to have gotten up as well, and was packing away the rest of the campsite for them all to go to sleep.

"Let's get ready for bed, Bonnie," Serena said sweetly. Bonnie saluted and joined Serena in their nightly preparations. Clemont stood now, himself, and decided that he could help Ash, ignoring the two girls heading for their tent. It didn't take long for either of the boys to pack away what remained and recall their Pokémon. Before long, both genders were snug inside their tents.

"Hey…Ash," Clemont said tentatively. Usually, neither of the boys cared for pillow talk, preferring for sleep, but the inventor felt the need to say something.

"What's up?" Ash asked as Pikachu curled into a ball on his chest.

"I'm happy for you and Serena," he said. Ash turned his head, like he was a little confused, but then he smiled. "I never told you before, so I just…"

"No problem," Ash assured him. "Really, I can't believe it myself, but I really can't see life without Serena at this point."

"Yeah…Serena's good for you," Clemont said. Then silence fell, reminding them both of why they couldn't stand pillow talk. Not that it mattered to Ash, because he fell asleep right away, even if said sleep was a little restless, like something was on his mind. Clemont knew there was plenty on his mind. His description of the "perfect" girl was weighing on him, and it was only as he was putting his glasses to the side that he realized just who he was describing.

Sitting up like a shot, Clemont stared around the tent, wondering if his realization was just his mind playing tricks on him. Had he really just thought Korrina was the perfect girl for him?

The very thought was absurd. Sure, they'd spent a month or so together, and they were both Gym Leaders, but she was wildly different from him. He wasn't sure he could keep up with her, let alone stay with her. The whole idea was beyond ludicrous the more he thought of it. Then he once more remembered that night on the rocks where he spoke with her and they seemed to have some kind of connection, just the two of them.

Clemont shook his head. He couldn't think like this. The notion of him and Korrina being like Ash and Serena was…well, it was impossible, to say the least. Not to mention plainly unscientific. Yet, as he went to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. Maybe he'd call her when they reached the next town…

…which was the exact thought on his brain when he woke up the next morning. So it went that he was distracted the whole time during breakfast (he almost burned it), and walking to the next town (he almost tripped over about five branches), and even when he reached the Pokémon Center there (he pretty much handed over his inventions to Nurse Joy instead of his pokeballs). Only when Serena asked him if there was something wrong did he realize what he needed to do. There was only one way to dispel these unscientific notions and feelings. He'd have to call her and see her again. That would take care of it quickly.

"Sorry, guys, I have to make a quick phone call to the Gym," he said to all of them. Thankfully, Bonnie was occupied with brushing Dedenne and didn't ask to join him or call him on his bluff. That made things easier….Not that he was lying, technically.

Confident that his feelings were unfounded, Clemont left the room they were staying in for the phones. He never thought he'd be calling her, but there was nothing wrong with two Gym Leaders the same age catching up, right? Besides, he figured that he'd probably see her again at some point, anyway. Was there any harm in doing it sooner than later and getting rid of the thoughts that he tried to deny were twisting his stomach in knots.

His hand started dialing the number, becoming faster as he did so. This was going to be easy, because his conclusion was unscientific…and unjustified…

And it meant nothing the second she actually answered the phone.

"Clemont! Hey, it's been so long! How are you? Are Ash, Serena and your sister there? Let's catch up! We should meet up sometime soon! Where are you guys?"

Nope, Clemont realized to himself, I was completely wrong.

He had already been sucked way too deep into Hurricane Korrina…and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to get out.

Fín

Author's Note: Well, we've now reached the end of this different oneshot, as in, obviously, it was more of a fledgling Laserbladeshipping fic combined with some Lumiose sibling moments. That said, it was mostly setting up some little things for the upcoming sequel fic, mainly the inclusion of this particular pairing, while also showing that Ash is still struggling a little in his relationship with Serena. As for how, you'll have to read the sequel to find out!

That said, I'm taking a two-ish week break. You may think, "Gasp, two weeks! Why, you've never taken that long off!" No, I haven't but I need XYZ 29 to air (though we all have a guess of what will happen there) in order to write my sequel "Love in the Time of Turbulence", as it's set after that. I hope to see everyone come on out and enjoy it. For that point, I will post the summary below:

Ancienverse Sequel. Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie arrive in Nova Town to an unanticipated reunion. However, Ash finds himself contemplating both his new relationship with Serena and the depths to which a new foe will go…even if it puts the entire world at risk. Amourshipping.

So, that's that. I'd imagine it will probably be up around the 14th. Maybe a little earlier, but we'll see about my writing pace. That said, I hope you enjoyed this little fic and if you did, you know what to do. Leave me a Review, and, as always,

Dare to Be Silly,

Epicocity