A/N: Hey guys, this is hryepuru, and this is my first Fan Fiction, so please cope with me until I get a good grip at wording, grammar, and my vocabulary. And now without further ado let's start the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, if I did, Ash would have won at least one major league.

Chapter 1: Tickets to Ride

Serena walked out of the store grinning from ear to ear. With her hands in her hands in her pockets she walked over to Ash cheerfully, "Look what I've won Ash." She said pulling out four tickets from her pocket.

Ash, Bonnie and Clemont looked at her with tired faces. You see, she has been spending the whole day shopping and visiting places in the town. Not an hour of productive training happened that day. Ash, who certainly would retort for this kind of expense of time, did not question this particular girl. He never knew why. He just sighed and smiled at her.

Unlike the other girls he had traveled with, Serena was a calm and cheerful person who didn't have many mood swings. Never was he beaten and battered with a Mallet, or yelled at or dragged around.

"A movie?" he asked smiling a little weakly yet cheerfully.

"Nope…" Serena replied with her hands on her hips, "Take another guess…"

Well Serena, it obviously can't be a ticket to the "Champion's League" finals…. Which I really wish it was, I guess it must be for some Pokémon fair, or some kind of show maybe?" Said Ash and shrugged.

Serena looked stunned for a moment. He was almost right. This was her lucky day. Maybe she could bribe him into taking her somewhere. She looked around at Bonnie and Clemont for an answer. They just shrugged.

She walked up to Ash and held the tickets near his face.

For a moment there, Ash looked as if he were hit by a thunderbolt. (Which was partially true since Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, and was looking at the tickets with Ash, and was stunned too and released a light thunderbolt) He fell on the ground (because of the shock from Pikachu, and also because he was too stunned) with the same awestruck look and stammered looking at the teenage girl, "H-how did you get those?"

Serena tucked the tickets away. "What? The tickets to the Champion's League finals?"

"Mh…Hmm"

"Like I said, I won them in a draw," she replied, "But I'm not giving them to you."

Ash's face was horror-struck. "B-but why not?"

"For being so thoroughly negative when you guessed about the tickets." Serena smirked. "Besides, what am I getting in return?"

"Whatever you want!" the Raven-Haired trainer exclaimed.

"Really? You sure?" She pressed.

"Sure."

She looked around a little embarrassed at Bonnie and Clemont, and hesitantly spoke to Ash in a faint whisper. "Will you go on a date with me?"

"A date." Ash said a little too loud.

Bonnie giggled. Clemont tried to shush her while trying to suppress his own smile.

Ash looked blankly at Serena, who was blushing a dark red and with her gaze fixated on the ground. Suddenly to everyone's surprise, "What's a date?" asked Ash. Bonnie and Clemont fell on the floor dramatically, while Serena looked even more embarrassed.

"Uhh... I mean, can we spend tomorrow together…. Alone?" She rephrased still blushing hard.

Ash got up from ground and nodded, "Where shall we go?"

… And so the one – sided couple spent the whole next day together, browsing through malls and restaurants. She knew how bored Ash would get in movies, so she decided against it.

To compensate that loss, she did more shopping at the expense of Ash's cards. "Wow Ash! It looks like you have an entire bank stuffed in that card of yours."

She twirled around with her arms spread out. Her new dress was eye – captivating to all the bystanders and not to mention Ash himself. For the first time (well technically second time, as the only person Ash saw like this was Giselle from the original series) it should be, as she spent almost two hours trying on all the dresses and swim suites in front of Ash and asking his opinion on them.

"Really? I didn't notice it," he said, staring at his Kanto region debt card, "I usually wire money from home and spend in cash."

"Well, for every trainer whom you fight against and win, your PokeDex sends data to PLA and you win money. If you lose a battle, you lose money. I thought you knew that already. From the looks of your current balance, you've won many battles and some really – really high level ones too. It's like you are a Champion, that's how much money it has."

"Well, this is my Kanto – Orange Islands Account and I used this account when I traveled through Kanto twice and when I was travelling through Orange Archipelago. This is also when I become the Champion of the Orange League and the Kanto Battle Frontier Winner."

She stopped goofing around and looked at him stunned. "Really? I-I mean you seem just like a beginner… don't take it offensively, but most of the Pokémon you seem to have aren't that… well... you know… that high of a level."

Ash smirked.

"That's because I start over every journey with only my Pikachu."

"But then what about Pikachu? Shouldn't he be like a very high level? And if he is a high level, why did he lose to Viola's Surskit, to which he had an Advantage over?"

"Well you know… I put a limiter on Pikachu just like all the gym leaders do." Serena put on a blank face not knowing what a limiter was, "A limiter is an object put on your Pokémon's Poke Ball to reduce its level temporarily. And as I go from one gym to another, I increase his level to match the gym leader's Pokémon."

She mused on his statement for a few seconds looking at Ash with her still blank gaze. It seemed absolutely senseless in every possible angle. But, it was Ash. He must have something behind that logic. But why would he lose all the leagues just because he wanted to start fresh every region, even if he did do that, why can't he use his other Pokémon in at-least the League battles? Well… this is Ash we are talking about, Ash always does the impossible. Ash placed all the bags he was carrying on the table unable to hold them for this long.

They were at a small café near the Pokémon Center.

"So, did you enjoy our date?" Serena asked.

"Well, it was fun. I got to visit the whole town, and restaurants and so many cool places. The shopping mall had cool things too. You look really pretty in the clothes you tried in the mall by the way." Ash replied while blushing a little, thinking about the bikini Serena tried on at the Mall.

"Thank you Ash," she said blushing a bit. "Do you think we could do this again sometime… just you and me?" Serena asked with hope clear in her voice.

"Yeah sure, why not? This is really fun; we can do this together very often."

Serena let out a wide grin, "With you Ash, gladly."

The two of them ordered some snacks and Ice Cream. Ash looked around and saw a hooded figure approaching their table. It took a moment but he recognized who it was. "Diantha?" his eyes widened, Serena looked a little stunned too.

"Nice dress Serena…" She complimented, "May I have a seat?"

Ash got up and pulled up a chair for her from a table besides them.

"Ahh…" she sighed, "It's becoming tougher every day escaping from my assistant and my schedule." She called a waited and ordered a cup of Coffee.

She looked at the two of them, "I'm sorry, have I interrupted something?"

"No problem Diantha." Ash said cheerfully. "Glad we could meet you again. Sorry that you lost in the champion's league though." Well, you see, Diantha lost in the semi-finals round of the Champion's League against Lance.

Diantha smiled and dreamily looked into the sky.

"Well, I aim to win it the next time. Your region's Champion has been sitting on the throne for quite a long time. I'll grab it the next tournament."

"Who is he?" Serena asked.

"Red," Diantha replied, "Red of Kanto. I'm not trying to flatter you Ash, but Kanto trainers seem to have it in them for some reason. Believe it or not, all of the champion masters before Lance were from Kanto."

Ash and Serena exchanged surprised glances.

"… Wow, that's something really surprising. But don't worry, the next time I'm going to enter it and win the whole thing. You better watch out for me Diantha" Ash said.

Serena pulls out the tickets. "Diantha, Guess what? We have the tickets to the finals."

"That's really nice" she said, "but, throw those tickets away, I'll have a few VIP seats booked for you."

… And soon the ordered food came by and the group stuffed their faces. To their surprise, the actor and champion decided to spend the night with the group at the Pokémon Center. While the champion has her own reasons, which is to escape from her assistant of course.

They took a room on Ash's name and after dinner, they settled in for the night.

But the presence of only two double beds and a single bed raised a few questions. The champion was granted the single bed; Clemont and Bonnie shared a double bed. And Ash took the other bed, for Serena would be left with none.

Serena knew the discomfort she would feel even at her age. Pulling out her sleeping bag out of her backpack she smiled, "See, I have arrangement for myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry Serena," Diantha said, "I should've taken another room,"

"No-no, it's perfectly fine…" Serena insisted, "Besides, if you took another room, then wouldn't your assistant found out about it?"

Ash interrupted suddenly, "You can share the bed with me. The bed can easily fit the two of us."

There was a dead silence in the room, which was interrupted by a giggling Bonnie. "What's so funny Bonnie?" Asked Ash innocently.

"You and Serena are going to 'share' a bed" Bonnie said. All the while giggling.

It took Ash some time to get it, but when he did, he turned a deep shade of red. Ash thanked the god for the room was dark and nobody could see his blush. "I-It's not like we are going to do anything like that!" Ash exclaimed.

But before anyone could say anything Serena took the opportunity and jumped into the spot besides Ash, and slipped under the covers.

Awkward…

…Was the thought lingering in everyone's head, except for the two for obvious reasons. Ash because he was feeling too comfortable from being so close to Serena, and Serena because she was in her own fantasy thinking about how she could get Ash to wrap his arms around her. Diantha just giggled faintly, which was unnoticed by everyone but Clemont and Bonnie, with the latter giggling and Clemont trying to lower the noise so that the couple couldn't hear it.

"Hey Ash, why didn't you join this year's Champion's League? You are the Orange League champion right?" Diantha asked changing the topic. "Well… Drake attends the Champion's League instead of me every time because, even though I'm the champion of the Orange League officially, I didn't want to just stay in one place my whole life, so I asked Drake to continue as the Champion, and when he gets defeated, then I will go and battle that person for the Orange League Champion title. And since Drake is still undefeated, I never had to anyone yet."

"Oh. So like you said, are you going to join the Champion's League next year for the title of Pokémon Master?" Diantha asked.

"Yes, I'm going to go to the Champion's League after finishing the Kalos League, but if I win the Kalos' League, I'm not going to participate in the Champion's League though, since I have to train hard to defeat the Elite four and if I win, then defeat you." Ash replied.

"Oh if you do win the league, then I wish you luck to defeat all of my Elite Fours, because you will need it," Diantha taunted Ash to get his spirits high and make him train harder to give her the challenge nobody could ever give her. "And it's good that you're attending the Champion's League finals. Lance and Red are well experienced and powerful trainers you will ever see battle."

Ash ignoring the taunt, said "Do you know anything about this Red guy? I have ever only seen him on TV, and even then he always wears his hood, which makes it hard to see his face. And he never replies to any media. And the only Pokémon that he ever released is his Charizard."

"No Ash. He never talks other than to issue commands to his Pokémon, but he said that he will reveal himself this year if anyone could defeat his Charizard." Diantha replied.

"But that's impossible!" exclaimed Ash, "Nobody had ever even gotten close to getting a scratch on his Charizard, that Charizard is way too powerful."

"But Lance may have a small chance to defeat his Pokémon, since he has a few mega evolving Pokémon too…"

"Lance's Pokémon can mega evolve?" Ash piped up. "I never knew that…"

"His Charizard does…" Diantha replied. "Only a single Pokémon can mega evolve during a battle, and since his Dragonite cannot mega evolve, his Charizard has become his new signature Pokémon. Charizard X to be precise. A fire/dragon type.

"…cool." Ash murmured. "I wish I could mega evolve my Pokémon as you guys do…"

There was silence in the room for a few minutes as the trainers pondered over their thoughts. Serena slowly shifted nearer to Ash and almost held his hand. She could get used to this every day.

"Ash, after I met you for the first time, I did a small research on you…" Diantha started.

"Really, that's an honor," Ash said surprised.

Diantha giggled slightly, "…Brandon told me that you conquered the Battle Frontier. Is that true?"

"Yes it is…" Serena spoke out for her crush, "We were talking precisely about that before we met you today and also about why he doesn't use his old Pokémon from his other travels."

"Exactly how many Pokémon do you have?" Diantha asked.

"…About fifty to sixty," He replied proud of his accomplishment.

Diantha scoffed, gaining a confused sound from Ash. "I bet most of them are low leveled and untrained…" She said. "That's what usually happens when you get carried away in catching new Pokémon every time…"

"That's partially true," said Ash, "But to me all of my Pokémon are strong and they really are very impressive…"

"Do you have any Pokémon who can mega evolve?" She asked.

"If I just had the mega stones."

"Just having stones will not suffice the prerequisites for mega evolution. The Pokémon and trainer should have a good relationship." Diantha pointed out. "… and the Pokémon should be at the highest of his level… powerful, skilled and loyal, and most importantly be able to control the power that comes with mega evolution."

"Charizard and I fought through all sorts of odds. I saw him grow up from a small, abused and broken Charmander to an arrogant rascal of a Chameleon. That evolution was purely out of will power, which shows his character. Then he evolved into a Charizard just to fly and take down an Aerodactyl. He saved me from being killed several times and never lost a single battle."

"…wow" Serena murmured. "I want to see him. Sounds more like you except for the arrogant part," she snuggled into the raven-haired trainer, making him slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't always win all of my battles," Ash corrected and gently grabbed Serena's hand which she was trying to grab. "That makes me different from him."

"Well, the way you win your battles compliments for that…" She slowly placed her palm on his torso.

"How experienced is this Charizard of yours?" the Champion asked.

"Like I said. He never lost a battle. He has enough fire power to level down a whole field of boulders. Fought several legendary Pokémon and won against Articuno and Entei. All which he did without removing his Limiter, the same goes for Pikachu too. Without the limiter, most of my Pokémon are at Champion's level."

"…and then I have my Sceptile, whom I saw evolve from a Treecko. He is one of the most loyal Pokémon on my team. So loyal and connected that he could even wake up from a dream eater attack from a Legendary Pokémon just upon my call. His high attack power and speed make up a deadly combination. He is even more controlled and collected than my Charizard. He's had the history of taking down a Darkrai with leaf blade. Also my Glalie and Heracross can mega evolve too, and if my Gabite evolves (in my story, Gible evolves when in the ranch training with the other Pokémon), then he could mega evolve too."

Diantha calmly listened to the trainer from Pallet and had only one thing running in her mind, which she decided to speak out. "Are you nuts? Why don't you have them with you now?"

Serena too listened expectantly for a logical answer.

"Well… There are a few reasons why, one, the animators didn't let me do so."

"What?" Asked both Serena and Diantha. While Clemont and Bonnie both fell asleep in the middle of the conversation.

"Never mind. And the second reason is that they are too powerful for the gym battles." He replied, "Using them won't improve my skills as a trainer as much as working with a newer Pokémon would, and any of my Pokémon like putting the limiter on them, since it would make them look weak."

The two ladies thought for a few moments over the raven-haired trainer's logic. It didn't make sense for Serena though, and Diantha too found a few flaws to argue with. Both the girls had one question in common.

"How many years do you want to do this?" they asked simultaneously and giggled at the coincidence.

The raven-haired trainer had no answer. Perhaps he had another reason in his sub conscience that didn't mid answering that question.

The champion shuffled in her bed and peeped down. "I want to see them the first thing tomorrow…" Diantha said. "I want to see your most powerful Pokémon tomorrow morning"

Ash nodded.

"Can you put your arms around me?" Serena asked mocking innocence, "I'm feeling a little cold."

Ash nodded and put his arms around her. "If you still feel cold, you can share my jacke-"

"That's enough!" Diantha interrupted calmly suppressing her jealousy and embarrassment at the scene below, "Let's just fall asleep. The cold will vanish soon."

A/N:

Well, that was the first chapter, I will try to update soon but I can't promise you anything.

Anyone know where this story is going...?

And any Reviews would be appreciated.