Serena POV:

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always wanted to be a fashion designer.

It first developed as an excuse to avoid my mother's pressure, whose career as a horse jockey did not appeal to me at all.

Then, as time went on, I slowly realized that I loved designing clothing and jewelry. My mom, puzzled as to why I would choose "such a girly topic", decided to send me to Professor Oak's Summer Camp.

There, I met someone very dear to me. After our initial meeting, we were always together for the two years that followed. Then, we moved away soon afterwards.

I never saw him again.

The day before I left, I sat in my room and reminisced the times I had in Kalos. Soon my thoughts drifted away from my Kalos friends to someone else, someone with brown eyes and wild black hair.

I wrapped my fingers around the chain looped around my neck, fingering the small blue ribbon tied on it.

I fell back onto my bed for the last time.

"Oh, Satoshi-kun...when can I see you again?"

Oh my goodness we're finally here I can hardly wait oh my Arceus this place is huge okay okay calm down Serena-

"Serena! Give me one last hug before I leave!"

I turned back. My mom was waiting next to the car, her arms spread wide. I smiled and gave her the biggest hug I could muster.

She pulled back and stared at me sadly. "Oh, my little Serena's all grown up now! I can hardly believe it…" Her eyes began misting up. "I'm going to miss you so much, you know?"

I buried my face into her shoulder, trying to ignore the wetness forming in the corner of my eye. "It's only until Christmas...Mom, please don't cry, you're making me cry too!"

She wiped her eye quickly. "Now remember, no drugs, sex, or skipping school. I expect straight A's, okay? And please have fun. I know it'll be great! And call me whenever you want!"

I pulled back, smiling sadly. I would even miss Control Freak Mom. "O-okay, mom."

"Love you, sweetie."

"Love you too, mom."

She looked back at me one last time before stepping into the car and driving away.

I wiped the residual tears off of my cheeks and set off for my dorm, my luggage in tow.

Where is my dorm?!

After almost an hour of fruitless searching through the extended campus of Indigo Prep, I finally gave up and sat on a bench, attempting to rest my exhausted arms. Setting my luggage down, I sat down and stretched my legs, when-

"Oof!"

I saw a blue haired girl awkwardly sprawled on the ground and bags strewn across the pavement. "Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Leaning down, I helped her up. She looked slightly winded, but otherwise unhurt. "I'm fine, no need to worry. But really, I should be sorry," she said, looking mortified. "I should have been looking at where I was going."

An awkward silence ensued. Attempting to salvage the conversation, I said, "So...what's your name?"

The girl's eyes widened and she laughed sheepishly. "Whoops! Where are my manners? My name is Dawn."

I smiled shyly. "I'm Serena. It's nice to meet you."

Dawn smiled awkwardly. "Hey…do you know what dorm room you have?"

"Uh...room 2A of the Saffron dorm."

Dawn straightened, her eyes wide. "Wait, you have room 2A too? That means…" She fished out a paper from her pocket. "We're roommates!"

I smiled widely. Thank Arceus it's not one of those girls… "Well, then," I gestured to our bags. "Wanna go look for our elusive dorm together?"

Dawn laughed and hefted up her bags. "Well, I thought you'd never ask."

As we walked, I was quite aware that I probably looked like a small-town ordinary girl compared to Dawn's glossy dark blue hair and large azure eyes. To distract myself from said depressing thoughts, I started a conversation.

"So, what district are you from, anyways?"

Dawn looked back at me, slightly surprised from the break of silence. "I'm from the Sinnoh district. And you?"

I glanced off, suddenly recalling my mom's sad eyes. "Kalos district."

Her eyes whipped back to me. "Kalos? Isn't that, like, a thousand miles away?"

I looked back. "Only eight hundred. But yeah, it's pretty far away."

Seeing my suddenly melancholy face, she said, "So, what career are you interested in?" Huh?

I stared at her, perplexed. "Why do you ask?"

She tilted her head. "Aren't you supposed to know? Indigo Prep is a really prestigious set of schools for mostly the children of wealthy businessmen and women. According to the handbook, they're known for setting teens up for their careers as early as freshman year. So, everyone's supposed to know what they want to do by the time they enter high school."

My eyes widened. "Wait, but how do you know this stuff, anyways? Weren't you lost, too?"

Dawn stared into space, her gaze lost. "Me and my friends attended Indigo Preparatory Junior High together, so we were taught this stuff pretty early on. This is a different campus, though. But anyways, enough about the school. Answer the question!"

I scratched my cheek, looking to the side. "Well, I've always wanted to be a fashion designer…"

She looked back, her eyes sparkling. "Really? That's awesome! My mom wanted me to do something like that, but I'd rather be a singer. Hey, maybe when we get to the dorm room, you can show me some of your work..?"

I grinned. "Yeah, and you can show me your singing! I'm sure you're amazing at it."

At that last note, Dawn stopped. "Ah, here it is! Our dorm."

After the initial shock of discovering the enormity of the room (although Dawn reassured me that it was still the economy suite), we got right to work in unpacking.

I was almost done with unpacking my last bag when my hands fumbled, and the bag tumbled to the floor, scattering papers everywhere. As I scrambled to pick up the sheets, Dawn grabbed one. "Wow, is this what you were talking about earlier?"

She held up the sheet. On it was an outfit based somewhat off of 19th century fashion. I blushed. "A-ah, well, that's...not really one of my best designs…"

Dawn gaped at me. "Are you kidding me? This looks awesome!"

I stared to the side, still unconvinced, but happy for the praise. "R-really? Thanks..."

Dawn grabbed my arm. "That's it. I'm taking you to see my friends. They'll love all of your work, it's amazing!" And against my protests, she grabbed the sheets out of my hands and strutted to the doorway, giggling nonetheless.

"H-hey! Give me back my-" I ran to her, trying to grab the papers in her hands.

"Ah-ah! You're gonna have to catch me first!" And with that, she broke into a run.

"HEY! Come back here!"

After chasing her all around campus, I was thoroughly out of breath. Dawn, meanwhile, had excellent breath control and was already darting off. Shrugging, I gave up on the pursuit, instead following her long pink scarf as it weaved through the crowds.

Finally, I found her in the midst of quite a large crowd. Suddenly I felt a huge wave of embarrassment rush through me. I wasn't used to showing off my work, let alone to a huge crowd. I walked over, my shoulders hunched, and shyly asked, "Uh, can I have my stuff back, please?"

Six pairs of startled eyes stared at me (on second thought, there weren't actually that many people).

Flustered, I stepped back, only for Dawn to grin and tug me back forwards. "Ah, and here she is! Guys, this is Serena!"

A brunette stepped forwards, an awed look on her face. "You're the one who designed these? They're so cool!"

I blushed. "Er, thanks…" I trailed off at the end, my message clearly doubtful.

Dawn giggled, albeit slightly nervously. "A-ah! I almost forgot! Serena, this is May." May smiled and waved. "It's really nice to meet you!"

She gestured to the orange-haired girl, "This is Misty," a tan guy with small eyes, "Brock," and a quiet, black-haired boy. "And Tracey. Misty is a sophomore and Brock is a junior. All the rest of us are freshmen."

"Hey, don't forget me!" A voice cut through the air.

Dawn laughed. "And that idiot there is Ash."

Ash?...No, it can't be...

A brown-eyed boy with spiky black hair pushed through the group. "Daaawn! Why am I always…" As soon as he met my eyes, it was as if time had stopped itself.

Sa...to...shi…

I blinked slowly, checking if he was real. He leaned forwards, looking as if he were taking me in.

"...Satoshi-kun..."

His eyes widened at the familiar name.

"...Sere-san?"

I smiled slowly, my vision blurred with tears. My hand had slowly migrated to my ribbon, rubbing the worn edges softly.

"Nice seeing you again, Satoshi…"

I was met with a bone-crushing hug.

Satoshi is here...Satoshi is HERE! WITH ME!

My smile grew impossibly large in his arms, and a few tears leaked onto my cheek.

Ash pulled away from the embrace slightly. "I can't believe it...You're actually here."

I grinned, wiping the saltwater from my eyes. "Yeah...I can't believe you're here, either."

We stared at each other a bit, a comfortable silence settling over us, before I interjected, "How did you get in? I don't remember you having any significant talents."

"Well, I-" I giggled quietly behind my hand. "I...wait...HEY!" I erupted in full-blown laughter. "I...can't believe you actually took that long to figure it out!"

Ash grinned. "I guess you're still as clever as ever."

I smiled. "And you're as dense as a rock. Not unusual." Ash glared at me playfully. "Hey! Seriously, Serena, one insult after another?"

"But seriously. Why are you here?"

Ash grinned, displaying a small medallion from his pocket. "Soccer."

I stared at the medallion. "Um, Ash? That self-conscious that you carry a medal with you wherever you go?"

He chuckled, but his eyes held a hint of nostalgia. "No, this was the first medal I've ever earned...it's a bit of a good luck charm for me."

I grinned. "Aww, that's so sweet! Almost like you've grown up a bit!"

We both laughed, before Ash suddenly stopped and reached out towards my neck. I couldn't stop the blush quickly forming over my face as he slowly stroked my collarbone...until I realized he was trying to see the silver chain around my neck.

I helped him fish out the faded blue ribbon, and his eyes widened.

"Serena...you…"

I nodded slightly, and his face erupted into a full-blown grin.

"Serena, you seriously kept that? It's been, what, six years? Seven?"

"Yep! And hey, it's...a bit of a good luck charm for me." I said, imitating him discreetly.

He couldn't stop staring at the ribbon. "Oh, man…"

I smiled, and then he grinned. It was as if a switch went off inside us, and then suddenly we were laughing so hard Ash had to lean on me for support.

"R-remember when you gave me that? I must've looked so shocked…" I gasped for breath, trying to stifle my giggles.

"Ha, a-and remember when I told you where I got it afterwards? You looked so insulted, oh my Arceus…" His chest heaved as he tumbled over in laughter.

A loud cough interrupted our gasps of laughter, and we both turned, still smiling giddily, as Dawn stared at us, an amused and perplexed look on her face.

"Sorry to interrupt, but… WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

Ash and I turned towards the group, fighting back waves of embarrassment. I mean, I, this total stranger, just hugged one of their friends out of the blue and...oh Arceus, did I sound like I was flirting with him?! Oh no, oh no…

Judging from the shocked looks on their faces, I must've done something very wrong. Or…

The tan guy looked almost depressed. "Seriously? Even Ash has a girlfriend! Life is not fair."

I squeaked, my face slowly burning red. "U-uh...I'm not...um...his girlfriend..?" My voice had slowly been rising in octave, and the last word came out as a squeak.

Ash scratched the back of his hair, messing it up further. "Yeah, guys. Just friends."

The brunette, known now as May, pouted. "Aww, but you guys are childhood friends! That's just too cute!"

...As if I could get any redder…

Misty looked mildly impressed. "Hmm, you're definitely stronger willed than I thought. I like you."

I shrugged, looking sheepish. "Uh...thanks..?"

"Guys," Ash groaned. "Y'know, we could just get dinner now and stuff and you guys can interrogate Serena..? Er…'cause I'm hungry."

As if on cue, his stomach grumbled, loudly.

Ash flushed pink.

"Well, looks like we know where we're going." Brock laughed, and suddenly I was whisked away with Ash and his friends.

A/N: Hi, I'm back. Recently I was tugged into a different fandom and now... This may possibly be the last Pokemon fanfic series I will do for a long time so I'm gonna try to make this as good as possible.

Welp, nothing much else other than that. Yes, I am completely rewriting my High School story. Yes, I will be editing all of the chapters. And yes, I have changed some things. For all of you who have started with this story, you may now have spoilers! Congrats! (not really)

Constructive feedback. PLEASE. I NEED IT BADLY.

Reviews always appreciated!

Yours in demigodishness,

RainbowsandButterflies888