Barry was sleeping at his desk, Empoleon having come to me to ask me to wake him up. I stood next to him and called out, "Barry!"

That didn't work, so I started shaking him. "Barry, you alive? It's after school already."

He finally stirred and turned to face me. "Classes are over?"

"Yeah, about a hundred years ago," I answered.

"A hundred?" he asked. "Then you'd be dead."

"Yes. I'm a hologram," I responded, deciding to mess with him a little. Since he's stupid, he might believe it.

"Seriously?" he questioned, already sounding partially convinced.

"You've slept for a hundred years after being kicked by Leaf," I carried on, trying to keep a serious face. "This is a world one hundred years since then."

He looked shocked. "What? Then what happened to the world?!"

"It ended."

He nearly fell back in his seat. "Seriously?!"

I could hear Pikachu and Empoleon face-palming.

Barry started crying and clasped his hands together. "Father. Mother. I'm sorry I was an idiot to the very end. I'll live my best even if I'm alone."

"Wake up already," I sighed, kicking his side lightly.

He almost fell back in his seat again. "The hologram kicked me! You're real!"

"I'm actually a cyborg," I said as seriously as possible.

"What about our Pokémon over there?"

"Robots. Convincing, aren't they?"

He gritted his teeth together. "Then when you said the world has ended..."

"It's true."

"Seriously?!" he screamed. He started crying and put his hands together again. "Father. Mother. I'm sorry I was such an idiot. I'll live to my fullest with the robot Pokémon and Ash cyborg."

"I can't believe you can keep it going for so long," I sighed.

Barry stopped crying and looked at me in surprise. "You were lying?"

"You believed it?" Plus 1,000 idiocy points.

"I would since I was half-asleep!" he defended himself.

I stared out the window, seeing some sort of figure.

"Hey!" he screamed at me. "Are you listening?! Ash!"

_Pokemon Clannad_

I was now outside with Pikachu, Barry, and Empoleon, searching for whatever I'd saw out the window. I looked through all the plants we had lined up.

"Are you looking for something?" Barry asked in confusion.

I felt something suddenly start rubbing against my leg. "Spoink~! Spoink~!"

I looked down and saw a Spoink. It bounced happily beside me. The Spoink just kept rubbing against my leg, blushing.

"I-It;s way too cute," Barry breathed. Empoleon looked slightly jealous.

"Yeah," I agreed. "There's a charm you can't find in Glameow or Houndour."

"So, what is it?" Barry didn't know nearly as many Pokémon as me. He knew mostly ones from the Sinnoh region. Geez. He should pay attention in class more. Not that I really do either...

"Spoink," I responded.

He smirked and extended his arms, trying to grab it. Spoink immediately hid behind my leg and glared at Barry. "Spoink! Spoink!"

"Oh come on, don't run away," said Barry, sounding hurt. He bent down and scooped Spoink up, holding it in an uncomfortable way.

"Spoink! Spoink! Spoink!"

"It doesn't like it," I informed Barry, feeling bad for the little Pokémon.

"Hey!" a voice screamed from afar.

Before I could blink, a book was thrown at Barry's face and he dropped the Spoink immediately. Misty then came running forward, and kicked Barry right in the face, sending him skidding and bouncing across the pavement.

"Barry!" I called out to him. "Compared to Leaf's kick, which hurt more?"

"You've got other things to ask, don't you?!" he screeched. He propped himself up and got to his feet. "I think I saw something light blue along with the sole of the shoe..."

Misty started to blush. Then, she scowled and kicked Barry up into the air. "ERASE IT FROM YOUR MIND!"

Barry landed hard behind her. Spoink hopped into Misty's arms and Misty took a deep breath. Togepi popped out its head from Misty's school bag and waved at the Spoink.

Misty glared at us. "What do you think you're doing to my baby?"

I walked up to her. "That's your Pokémon? You've got the time to train two?"

"Yeah," she responded. "My cute little Spoink. It's just a baby."

"Did it come to get you?" I asked. Pikachu sniffed at it curiously and Spoink smiled and sniffed Pikachu too.

"I think so," she answered. "I nicknamed her Botan. It's a really pretty name, isn't it?"

"Sounds so delectable," I replied.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"Nothing," I responded, feeling Misty's negative aura. "But doesn't Togepi get a bit jealous of that one?"

"Not at all," Misty assured me. "Togepi is the Pokémon I study here with and Spoink is the baby I raise at home. And they're good friends." She started to pet the Spoink. "There Botan say hello. A new friend for you."

"Spoink! Spoink!" it called at me, then to Pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu called at it with a smile.

_Pokemon Clannad_

"Practice for the open house," I said, with May now. We were in an old room filled with books. "Yeah. I bet you're not the type who can handle things like that well, are you? So I thought we'd look for a walk through on how to do speeches and presentations."

We both turned to face one of the shelves.

"Would we find one here?" asked May.

"Welcome," an unfamiliar voice said to us. We turned around and caught sight of a girl in the doorway. She wore the usual school uniform and had her golden hair tied back in a ponytail, some of the hair from her bangs pushed behind her ears. A Fennekin yipped next to her.

She walked over to us. "Is there anything I can do for you today? Or would you like me to serve you something?"

"Then, I'll have a hot coffee," I replied.

"A-Ash!" May hissed at me, thinking I was being rude.

"I'll get it ready right away," the ponytail girl said with a smile. "Please have a seat and wait."

_Pokemon Clannad_

A few minutes later, May and I were sitting at the table while she started pouring the freshly-made coffee into cups. She'd already set out trays of poffins for our Pokemon, and Pikachu and Torchic chatted with Fennekin in their own language as they ate.

She set the cups down in front of us on small plates and smiled gently. "Enjoy."

"Thank you very much," May said to her.

I picked the cup up and took a sip. My eyes widened. "It's good."

"I'm glad to hear that," the girl responded. "My name is Serena."

_Pokemon Clannad_

A couple minutes later, Serena found us walk through books for what we needed and we had talked for a while.

"So you're Ash and May," she said. "This is your first time coming here, right?"

"Yes, nice to meet you," said May with a bow of her head.

"Are you in charge here?" I asked.

"That's how I think of myself," Serena replied honestly. "I really like this place."

"This place used to be a library, right?" questioned May.

"It still is," she answered. "All the books that do not get read often are gathered here. It's like the second library. There are old video tapes and records, too."

"Phew," I breathed. "I thought this place had turned into a cafe without notice."

Serena smiled. "I get various people visiting from time to time."

I raised my eyebrows and she asked, "Is something the matter?"

"No, just thinking that there are lots of unique people at this school."

Her mouth formed an O shape. I just kept talking. "Or, maybe it's this city."

_Pokemon Clannad_

May and I along with our Pokémon once again gathered in the abandoned club room. I sat on a cardboard box I had flattened out and May stood before me.

"Speak pretending I'm a visitor," I instructed her. "Calm down and speak loudly."

"Yes!" she called back. "Um, I'm May Maple from 3-B. Thank you very much for coming today." She bowed as she thanked me for coming. She then looked around, trying to think. "Uh...Uh..."

"Keep it up!" I called out. "What's next?"

She took a breath and continued. "The reason why I decided to bring the Pokémon Theater Club back is..."

She looked around nervously, not knowing what to say. I sighed. "I'm surprised you want to act when you're like that. Besides, do you have any experience in acting?"

"No," she said sadly. "I'm a complete amateur. I don't know any of the details behind it."

"And the president reveals the unfortunate truth," I breathed.

She looked down and I raised my hand. "Question! What kind of play will we be doing?"

"What kind of play..."

"There are lots of genres," I continued. "From musicals to plays for kids. Realistic modern ones to surreal ones."

"Really?" she smiled, looking intrigued.

I opened the door I tried to walk out. "I'm going home..."

She grabbed the back of my uniform and pulled on it. "Wait."

_Pokemon Clannad_

I had sat down again and I looked at her with a serious expression. "Alright, then you'd better answer my questions this time. You said there was a play you wanted to do. What's it like?"

She smiled brightly. "It's a really, really fun play."

"That's so vague," I complained. "Is it a comedy?"

"No, I didn't mean it as purely humorous," she responded.

"Then are there tear-jerking moments, too?" I asked.

"Yes and no..."

"Is it humorous or tear-jerking?" I sighed.

"S-Somewhere in the middle," she answered nervously.

I let out a big sigh, but smiled slightly. "Fine, you pass. Since you were at least trying to answer."

She clenched her fists and looked confident. "Next question, please!"

I raised my hand. "What was the picture on the flier about?"

"It's the Big Dango Family!" she responded quickly and with the hugest smile I'd ever seen.

"Answered without a moment of pause," I said in surprise.

She happily continued on. "The nationally renowned characters that any Japanese person would know. It's the Big Dango Family. I'm so jealous that there's a hundred of them. Sounds like it's always fun. I think it'd be trouble if they all went to an amusement park at once. But they're-"

"-STOP!" I interrupted. "Don't start talking so eloquently! It drives people away from your gap in enthusiasm!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's not a bad thing to have a positive attitude. But I'm not sure about being more passionate when explaining the Big Dango Family."

"You're right," she agreed. "That would make this an open house for the Big Dango Family.

"Looks like we have a lot of walls to break..."

"I think so, too."

I moved to the side as she walked over, allowing her to sit next to me on the cardboard.

"First and foremost, why do you want to act?" I asked. "You have zero experience, right?"

"Because I like it," she quickly answered, smiling again.

"What about it do you like?" I kept going, diving in deeper.

She looked up, thinking. "I felt it'd be fun to act with everyone. Ever since I was little, I couldn't get in school plays since I'd be sick on the day. I would be absent from school often, so I couldn't participate in practice, either. So I have an infatuation with acting alongside friends." She turned to me. "I had a clear desire to join the Pokémon Theater Club in high school. That I would give my best at acting for the three years. But I couldn't come to school often, even in high school..."

She stared down sadly at the floor. "I was absent for a long time my senior year, too...But I still want to give it a try. I don't know anything, and it might be really bad, but I want to give it my best as much as possible. To work on one thing as a group. I think that's a fabulous thing. Things like that, I just..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...I just plain love it."

"I think that does it," I said.

"What?"

"I think you should say that at the open house," I responded. "How should I say...I think you were able to say everything you had on your mind."

"Really?" May asked.

"I usually say exactly what I think."

"Yes, you do," she sighed. "It hurts sometimes."

"So believe in your own words," I told her.

"Yes..." She didn't sound convinced.

"Keep it up, May."

She nodded. "Yes!"

_Pokemon Clannad_

The two of us walked down the stairs together, carrying our Pokémon. After a little bit of silence, May spoke up.

"Will people come to the open house?"

"We'll never know until it happens," I answered honestly. "But we posted up so many fliers, so if two or three people show up-"

We arrived at one of the bulletin boards where we had hung a flier, but the spot where it was hung was bare. Pikachu and Torchic looked up at us in confusion.

"We put a flier here, right?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I'm sure we did."

Serena walked up behind us. "If it's the flier that was up there, I saw a student council member taking it down."

"Take down? Why?" May looked upset.

"Probably because you didn't get their permission," Serena responded. "You two put those up?"

I scowled. "Then all the others placed around the school got..."

"May Maple from 3-B," A voice said through the intercom. "Please come to the student council room immediately. I repeat. May Maple from 3-B. Please come to the student council room immediately."

"May..."

To Be Continued...

Chumpsterz, if you're reading this, here you go. An update. I'll try to update as often as possible and I'm glad I got you to start watching Clannad Love the anime so much. Thanks to everyone reviewing. I always appreciate it. So if you haven't reviewed the story and want to give your opinion, feel free to voice it. Until next time. Bye.