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The sky was a mixed ombre of red to orange and the waves underneath crashed against the side of the dock. Serena looked towards the distance watching the ferry go off. The small shapes of people on board were hard to see, but she knew now that on board was the one boy who had changed her life. She felt something circle around her arm and without having to guess she knew who it was.
“I am okay, Sylveon.” The smile on her face was bittersweet, but in her stomach there were Vivillons. She reached for the pocket inside her skirt, pulling out a well kept up blue ribbon. The ribbon was a bit tattered, but anything would be after the amount of places she had used it. An example being its most recent spot tied to the underside of her competition skirt in her last contest.
“Syl?” One of the other feelers came up and touched the blue ribbon, knowing what it meant to her trainer.
“I was just surprised to see him again,” Serena supplied for her friend, “It’s been a year and a half, but seeing him brought back so much.” Serena turned around, and headed towards the shore. Her mind was flashing through moments, memories that she had been replaying through pretty much every moment of the last year and a half. Her mind lingered on her last words and gift to Ash.
“Veon?” Serena had slowed down without meaning too, and it had obviously concerned her friend.
“I’m fine,” Serena was smiling now, her eyes gleamed with something that the eeveelution next to her couldn’t decipher. “It’s just……. He was looking at me differently.”
As she said it her mind was rushing, going over every moment that they had together, landing on the look on his face after they had kissed. There had been something in his eyes that had changed in that moment, and today she had seen the result of that change.
“Slyveon, do you think that I have a chance?” She felt her cheeks growing pink and when she looked down she saw that Sylveon was smiling at her,
“Sylve!” Serena felt her grin grow larger, a giddy feeling going through her whole body.
“Come on, let’s go! We have a big day tomorrow,” Serena took off, surprising Slyveon who rushed after her. The ribbon was still clenched tightly in her hand.
_____________________________________________________________________
“Ash?” The boy turned at the sound of his name, turning to the younger boy who had quickly become one of his closest friends.
“What?” Ash saw a confused look on Goh’s face, and the searching look on Chloe’s. “Sorry, were you saying something?” Both had called their pokemon back into their pokeballs and were now staring at the boy.
“No…” Goh dragged out the word, which for some reason made Ash nervous. “It’s just that the ferry left the dock at least five minutes ago, so why are you still staring at it?” Pikachu started to smile, having left his partner's shoulder and now standing on the boy’s right. He knew why, but he wasn’t exactly sure if his friend did. He could be dense sometimes.
“It was just nice to see a friend again.” Ash said quickly, pulling both his hands away from the railing.
“Pika~” Pikachu was teasing Ash now and his trainer knew it, giving Pikachu a small side-eye.
Chloe noticed, looking between Pikachu and seeing the slight blush on his trainer's cheeks.
“You didn’t act that way with any of your other friends,” Goh pointed out, somehow completely missing the interaction. Ash shrugged,
“I had more time with them,” A small hint of disappointment entered his voice. It was almost unnoticeable but Chloe caught it.
“How do you know her?” It was Chloe who asked him the question, turning Ash’s attention to her.
“We went on a journey together not too long ago. It was me, her, Clemont and Bonnie.”
“Is she from Kalos?” Goh asked curiously, having met the two siblings a few weeks earlier. “Why is she in the Hoenn region?” Ash replied quickly,
“After our trip in Kalos, Serena wanted to continue her journey. I was done with the league, Serena was done with her performance run, and Kalos was at a point where it no longer needed us to help rebuild it. She wanted to continue growing, Hoenn was just where she felt was the best place for her to start.” Chloe was about to say something but was interrupted by Goh.
“After Kalos was rebuilt? When did that happen? Kalos seemed fine when we went there.”
“It’s still being rebuilt actually, The Kalos Crisis only happened a year and a half ago,” Ash responded looking off into the distance with a sad tone in his voice, “There was so much destroyed.”
“Kalos Crisis?” Asked Goh, a level of confusion evident in his voice.
“It was all over the news,” responded Chloe, a dumbfounded expression on her face, “I might not know much but even I know about the Kalos Crisis.”
“I don’t really watc-”
“The event where Zygarde showed up?” Goh’s eyes widened in understanding, and Chloe sighed,
“Of course, a world altering event that affects a region and you have no clue, but the name of a legendary pokemon and you know exactly what I am talking about.” Goh ignored her instead asking Ash a question.
“You said that the Kalos Crisis happened a year and a half ago, how come there wasn’t any visible damage when we went?” Pikachu had stopped smirking and had jumped back on his friend's shoulder.
“That’s all thanks to Clemont,” Ash answered, his voice full of an admiration for his friend, “He has spent the last year helping out. Within a week of the incident, he had the electrical systems back up and running. He rebuilt Lumiose City tower pretty much all by himself and is currently helping build up the rest of Lumiose City. Isn’t the power of science so amazing!”
Goh frowned, “Still if it was as destroyed as you mentioned….” Ash's eyes grew distant, a cloudy film now seeming to cover them. Pikachu started to nuzzle Ash’s cheek obviously hoping to calm his friend down.
“You didn’t see the worst parts of the city, the places that are still being built. Most of the vines and wreckage in the main part of the city were cleared up within the first few weeks of the incident. It was a lot of effort but it was worth it in the end to see everyone happy.”
“What exactly happened during the Kalos Crisis?” Goh asked, “There isn’t much information on it except for the fact that a legendary pokemon showed up.” Ash’s eyes grew darker and the boy looked haunted. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
“How did you meet Serena?” Chloe diverted the conversation, noting her older friend’s noticeable mood shift.
“Well it depends on which time you’re asking about,” Ash brightened up considerably, and Pikachu settled back sitting normally on the boy's shoulder now. He looked at Chloe, thankful for her intervention.
“What do you mean by which time?” Chloe’s curiosity was growing, while Goh’s mind was still going over the whole Kalos Crisis thing.
“Well, I met her when I was around 7 at Professor Oak's Pokemon camp.” Ash explained his mind going back to the past, “She was lost in the forest and I ran into her after chasing a Poliwag. I met her again when I was 15. I had just lost my first gym battle and she was returning the backpack I had left in the gym. She had recently begun her journey a few weeks earlier.”
“She must have been a late starter,” Chloe commented, “Most people start their journeys at 10 or at least by the age of 13.” Goh broke out of his stupor to give her a are you serious look.
“And you went on your journey early?” Chloe gave Goh an annoyed look at his words.
“I unlike some other people went to school and focused on building my skills before my journey,” Chloe said giving Goh a side eye, “I was just curious about why Serena would start her journey so late.”
“It was because of her mom,” Ash said, this snapped the two younger kids' attention back to him.
“Her mom?” The two echoed in unison, confusion written on their faces.
“Her mom is a big time Rhyhorn racer,” Ash explained, reaching up to pet Pikachu, “She had been training Serena on how to be one since she was a little kid. Serena didn’t want to be a Rhyhorn racer, but she didn’t know how to tell her mom.”
“How did she end up going on her journey then?” Chloe asked curiously, “She mentioned that she originally didn’t really have a goal when she started her Journey, but never told me why she started.”
“Well it might have had to do with me,” Ash offered up, to the very confused looks on his friends faces.
“What do you mean?” Goh asked curiously, “You said you didn’t meet her again until after she had started her journey.” Ask chuckled nervously as Pikachu stilled, the two of them exchanging a look.
“When we first got to Kalos we started in Lumiose city,” he started, “We had been battling Clemont after not being able to challenge our first gym. We were attacked by Team Rocket and a Froakie had jumped in front of a thunderbolt that had been reflected back at us by their Wobbuffet.” Goh looked confused at where this was going,
“How-” Chloe elbowed him,
“Let him answer your question before asking another one,” She hissed at him. Ash waited for them to finish their antics, used to them at this point.
“We headed to the nearest place we could to take care of the pokemon, which turned out to be a professor's research center. The professor's name was Professor Sycamore,”
“I know him! He researches mega evolution right?” This time it was Chloe who had interrupted, leading Goh to give her a side eye.
“Hypocrite,” was all Goh muttered before Ash continued,
“He introduced us to mega evolution and to his Garchomp, a pokemon that reportedly could mega evolve. Team Rocket had apparently overheard. They tried to capture him by using a strange device. It backfired and made him crazy from the pain. He went on a rampage, eventually ending up on the top of Lumiose Tower. I followed him, wanting to make sure he was okay and wanting to rescue him.”
“You what?” Goh said surprised, until he remembered that he had met the boy in front of him after they had both jumped up on a legendary pokemon. “Nevermind, that makes sense go on.” Ash glanced at Goh before continuing. Pikachu had for some reason decided to jump off his friend's shoulder, and now paced the floor in front of his trainer.
“I was able to get it off his neck, but by that time the foundation of part of the tower was damaged. That part was the one Pikachu happened to be standing on. He fell off the tower and I jumped off to catch him.” His friends gasped but at that point they weren’t surprised to learn this about their friend.
“Chu-” Pikachu said giving a small shiver, he obviously didn’t have any good feelings associated with the memory.
“You jumped off a building to catch Pikachu? How did that help with anything?” Chloe asked confused, “How are you both still alive for that matter?”
“I was caught by a Mega Blaziken,” Ash stated as if it was obvious. His pokemon also gave Chloe a look. “It was caught on the news and broadcast throughout the region. Serena apparently recognized me and wanted to return something to me I had given to her at the camp.”
“So she saw you jump off a tower, remembered you from nine years earlier and decided that it was the perfect time to go ahead and start her own journey.” Chloe asked, her eyebrows raised, “Are you sure you aren’t leaving something out?” Ash shrugged,
“That is all I know about it, Serena has her own reasons for wanting to go on a journey.” Pikachu looked up at his friend with a look. The pokemon knew that his trainer knew there is more to the story, he just didn’t want to say it. Goh nodded, accepting what his friend said. Chloe however wasn’t convinced that was the whole story, she left it alone for the moment.
“How did you meet her?” Ash asks curiously, looking towards Chloe, “Weren’t busy preparing for the showcase?”
“You did great by the way, at your showcase performance I mean,” Goh suddenly says, looking at Chloe, “Sorry I missed it.” Chloe blushed a little bit,
“It’s fine Goh,” She changed focused on Ash now, “I met her after Lisia scouted me for the showcase. She actually was practicing different moves for her contest runs with her Sylveon.” Ash smiled at the mention of Sylveon, remembering seeing the shy eeveelutions evolution, “She recognized me from the broadcast right away and we started talking.”
“That sounds like her,” Ash said leaning back across the railing, Pikachu nodded his head in agreement.
“It turns out that she was the famous Sylveon trainer we were sent out to see,” Chloe informed the boys in front of her, “She was impressed by how me I had chosen to have my Eevee make her own choice in how she wanted to evolve,” Chloe had taken out Eevees pokeball at that point and had it held it in front of her.
“Do you think Eevee knows how it wants to evolve now?” Asked Goh curiously, staring at the ball that Chloe held in front of her. Chloe shook her head.
“I don’t think so but today definitely helped,” Chloe said with a small smile, “The experience did something for me. I wasn’t actually originally planning on doing the contest either.” The boys looked at her surprised,
“You weren’t?” asked Goh, surprised, “You seemed to have decided to do it when we called you.”
“Well Serena had convinced me to do it at that point,” responded Chloe, “She told me some words a friend of hers had said, nothing you ever do is a waste of time.” At this Ash stood up in surprise, no longer leaning against the railing. Pikachu smirked, remembering that this was a term that was frequently said between his trainer and his friend.
“Are you okay Ash?” Goh asked confused, Ash had grown a blush but shrugged it off,
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Continue telling us about your day Chloe, ” The boy’s two friends had definitely noticed his flush but decided to ignore it.
“The words inspired me enough to try out the contest. She took me to the performance center and helped me find an outfit. According to her it was once worn by the Princess of Hoenn,” Ash’s eyes grew large recognizing the nickname, guess the two of them know each other, he thought leaning back up against the railing. “I went up first, I had no idea what to do but I remembered what Serena said and it helped me go forward. I was completely amazed by Serena’s performance though, They were amazing. Her Sylveon, Panchum and Delphox worked so well together,” Chloe was about to continue when a large clang came from where Ash had been standing, as his two friends turned to see him now having fallen on the deck.
“Her Braixen evolved?” Ash asked in surprise, his two friends looked at him weirdly.
“If Braixen is the prevolution to Delphox then yes,” Chloe responded correctly guessing which pokemon he had been referring to, “Ash, are you okay?” Pikachu was giggling from his friend's side, taking delight in his friend's flustered behavior.
“I’m fine,” Ash said, giving Pikachu a small glare, “I just slipped.” Goh and Chloe obviously weren’t convinced,
“Are you sure?” Goh asked in concern, “This is the second time that you reacted this crazily, since Chloe has started talking.” Ash’s flush became deeper,
“I am fine,” He said this with a conviction as he stood up, “It’s just been a long day.” He said the statement with some finality, which his two friends noticed. Chloe hesitantly began talking again,
“She ended up tying for first place with Lisia. According to Serena this was more of an exhibition than anything. That is why they didn’t have any battles and it ended in a tie.” Chloe checked on Ash making sure he was doing fine before continuing, “That’s one of the reasons that they were inviting newbies like me to perform. Apparently, they were trying to bring more interest to performances because it’s currently being overshadowed by the World Coronation Series.” Both boys seemed curious about this,
“Really? I am surprised by that, contests are always so interesting to watch.” Ash said, “I even participated in one once.” At this the other two looked at him in shock, “What? I am an adventurous person and I wanted to see if there was anything new I could learn for different strategies.”
“That makes sense,” Goh conceded looking at his friend, “Why is it decreasing in popularity though?” Chloe shrugged,
“I don’t think it is that it is losing popularity, rather it’s just not gaining as many fans and new trainers recently.” The four contemplated it, Pikachu having settled down and now leaning against the side of his friend's leg. A breeze cut through the air, causing them all to shiver.
“Let’s get inside,” Goh said with a shiver, “It’s getting cold and it’s dark.”
“You go ahead,” Ash said looking back towards the distance where the shore of Lilycove had been, “I want to breathe in some more of the cold air.” Both Goh and Chloe exchanged looks before conceding and heading inside the ferry. Pikachu stayed with his trainer, nuzzling his friend's cheek. The waves crashed below the ferry as the two looked towards the inky blackness.
“Pika?” Pikachu questioned a bit later, after the two of them had sat in silence.
“I’m fine buddy.” Ash muttered, “Just a lot to think about.”