Hi! New revision is here! Enjoy! :) I took in what Alphinia said about the old version, so I hope this is an improvement!
It was a sunny, serene, and peaceful day in Pallet Town. The Pidgeys were chirping, Butterfrees were flying, and the sound of a little girl...crying?
"Serena, come on...moving isn't such a bad thing. Look around, don't you like your new home?" a woman asked. The woman looked like she was around her mid-twenties. She had short dark brown hair, a thick pink lower lip, and light cyan eyes. She wore a large yellow hair clip, a dark blue t-shirt, light green pants along with a light green jacket tied around her waist.
The woman's name was Grace, the famous Rhyhorn Racer from the Kalos Region, and she had just moved to Pallet Town with her only child, Serena.
Serena was a cute little eight-year old girl with honey-blonde hair. She had her mother's eyes and was currently wearing a pink sundress and pink sandals along with a straw hat with a pink band wrapped around it.
"Mommy...I want to go home…" Serena tugged her mother's jacket as she said this. The two were currently standing outside of heir new home, watching the movers and their Machoke carefully move their furniture.
"Don't worry about anything, Serena. This will be our new home and mommy can just join races in Viridian City! Now, we can spend more time together since it's just so close to Pallet Town!" Grace tried to reassure her daughter.
Serena just nodded, trying to find comfort in her mother's words.
Grace bent down to talk to Serena face to face.
"Serena, since it's your first day here in Pallet Town, I entered you in Professor Oak's Summer Camp to make all new friends," Grace said enthusiastically.
"Who's Professor Oak?" Serena asked.
"He's one of the teachers at Pallet High School and he is also a Pokemon researcher like our good friend Professor Sycamore," Grace informed her with a smile on her face.
"But I don't wanna..." Serena whined.
"This will be good for you! You can use this chance to meet new friends and Pokemon! As well as meet Professor Oak, who might be your future teacher!" Grace responded, rather aggressively.
Serena nodded once again, getting a little frightened by the tone Grace used.
With both of them in agreement, Grace walked Serena down a dirt path that lead to a large house on top of a hill. The house had a curved roof that was made up of flat roof tiles. The exterior had yellow wooden walls with bright blue windows. Behind the house, there was a gigantic windmill and large ranch filled with Pokemon.
As they were walking, they took notice of everything they passed by. The houses were so rustic and charming; most of them were painted white and had red roofs. Each house had their own garden or a front lawn, which Grace thought she could use as a practice area for her Rhyhorn Racing. However, the area they lived in was known for its old country feel. She knew that parts of the town like the Petalburg District were more modern and more technologically advanced. Her train of thought came to a halt as she was face to face with the gate of Professor Oak's laboratory.
"That's Professor Oak's laboratory. Serena, that's where you'll be going for today to get to know the other kids at Pallet Town, it was supposed to be a week but we weren't able to move in time," Grace informed her daughter as they walked up the steps and knocked on the door.
A man around the age of sixty opened the door. He had grey hair and tan skin, and also wore a pair of brown pants along with a white lab coat draped over a red shirt.
"Ah! You must be Grace! And this little one should be Serena, correct?" the researcher asked, cheerfully.
"Yes, we are. Would it be alright if I go back home to check on the movers, while I leave Serena here?" Grace questioned.
"Why, of course! Come now, Serena!" Professor Oak said, grabbing Serena's hand.
"Bye, Serena. I'll be back later to pick you up."
Serena nodded at her mother's words and let the Professor lead her to his ranch.
"Now, Serena, we're having a Pokemon Catching contest. Here is a list of Pokemon. You will go into the forest and look for a Pokemon on that list. The winner will be the one who finds the rarest Pokemon and he or she will also get to choose another participant who will get to keep the Pokemon he or she found. Don't worry about the Pokemon attacking, we showed them all of your pictures and told to follow any of the kids who are in this summer camp and you only get one chance at finding a Pokemon. If you already found one Pokemon, that Pokemon will stick to you like glue and will not allow another Pokemon to follow. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Professor," Serena said, shyly.
"Good, I wish you the best of luck!"
"Hello?" Serena asked nobody in particular, as she wandered around the forest.
A rustling came from a bush nearby. Serena gave a surprised squeal and tried to run; however, she tripped over a rock and fell down, thus scraping her knee.
Serena winced in pain and closed her eyes, feeling tears that threatened to come out.
"I didn't even want to come to summer camp...mommy!" the little girl cried out, with tears falling down full force.
The rustling became louder and louder until she heard a voice.
"Pikachu! Pikachu, where are you?!"
A boy around the same age, wearing a sleeveless yellow and red shirt withal pair of blue shorts and sandals popped out of the bushes. He had warm brown eyes and black messy hair.
"What are you doing?" Ash pointed at Serena.
Serena remained silent and simply stared at the boy. Ash sensed her shyness and decided to introduce himself.
"My name's Ash, what about you? What's wrong?" Ash asked in curiosity and worry.
"I...I hurt my leg..." she said, weakly.
"I can help with that! Here," Ash said, bending down in front of Serena and tying a light blue handkerchief with a small Pokeball insignia, around her knee tightly.
"There! That's a good luck charm; you should be able to stand up now!" Ash stood up and placed his hands on his hips.
"I can't! It hurts too much!" Serena cried out.
Ash smiled as he offered her his hand.
"Don't give up until it's over!"
Serena grabbed his hand in uncertainty but it was soon replaced with shock as he pulled her up a bit too strong and she landed in his arms. The position they were in was similar to a hug but without the use of their arms.
Serena broke the hug and looked at Ash in surprise.
"See? You stood up! Now come on! Let's find our Pokemon together!" the boy said, holding her hand a little tighter, guiding her around.
Serena on the other hand had a distracted look on her face as well as a fairly obvious blush.
"Pikapi!"
Ash looked to his side and saw a yellow mouse jump towards him. The mouse had two pointy ears, with black tips, red cheeks, three brown stripes on his back, and a lightning bolt shaped tail.
"Pikachu!" Ash screamed, catching the Electric-Type with his free arm.
"Pika!"
"You found him?! Where?"
The mouse responded by pointing into a certain direction.
"Then let's go! Oh, I almost forgot! Serena, this is Pikachu, a Pokemon my dad gave me. Pikachu, this is Serena, a girl I just met." Ash introduced.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted.
"Nice to meet you Pikachu..." Serena said shyly, while she squeezed Ash's hand for comfort.
"It's okay, Pikachu is very friendly." Ash squeezed her hand in return without looking back, too focused on finding what he told Pikachu to look for.
"Aha! Found you!" Ash shouted at a lizard like Pokemon.
"Char?" the Charmander responded, tilting its head.
Charmander was a bipedal orange Pokemon with big blue eyes and a yellow underbelly. It had razor sharp claws as well as a fire burning at the tip of its tail. Taking a clear look at its appearance, it greatly resembled a salamander.
"Charmander, I choose you!" Ash shouted with enthusiasm.
"Char…mander!" The Kanto Starter nodded walking towards Ash while the Pallet native let Pikachu out of his arm's grasp so the two Pokemon could talk to each other.
"So Serena, what Pokemon are you looking for?" Ash asked.
"Um…I don't know," she said bashfully.
"Why don't you take a look at the list?"
Serena nodded and looked at the list of Pokemon Professor Oak gave her and her eyes landed on one Pokemon's picture. It was a Pokemon called Fennekin.
"This one looks really cute and reminds me a bit of home," Serena said to herself, forgetting that Ash was next to her.
"Hm…Fennekin, I haven't heard of that Pokemon," Ash commented, startling Serena. She let out a yelp and had to let go of his hand as she landed on her butt.
"Oops…sorry Serena. I didn't mean to scare you," Ash apologized to the surprised girl.
"I-It's okay..." she said in a hushed voice, feeling much more embarrassed and shy than she ever felt before.
Ash offered her his hand once again and she graciously accepted it, only this time the boy was more careful about pulling her up.
However, while Ash was pulling her up, something caught his eye. It was a blur of yellow and orange that was hidden among the blades of grass.
"Hey, Serena, I think I found your Fennekin," Ash said with a huge grin.
"Really? Where?" she asked, looking around frantically.
"There!" Ash proclaimed, pointing to a certain spot on the grass field.
The two along with Charmander and Pikachu walked up to the spot and as luck would have it, the yellow and orange blur was in fact a Fennekin, although it was curled up and taking a peaceful nap.
Fennekin had the appearance similar to a fox. It was a quadruped Pokemon with yellow fur. It had to big pointy ears with tufts of dark orange fur coming out. Fennekin also had a smooth and well groomed tail that transitioned from the color yellow to orange.
Serena approached it and tapped it on its nose, cause the fox to stir and eventually wake up.
"Hi, Fennekin, would you please come with me?" she asked, in a low but sweet voice.
"Fen!" the fox barked and walked up to the other two Pokemon beside Ash.
"Well…that's taken care of, let's head back to camp," Ash said, leading her by the hand.
Serena smiled at his enthusiasm and at the comfort his hand provided.
"It has been a great day! All of you found some pretty rare Pokemon during our contest today, such as Ash finding a Charmander, May finding a Munchlax, Dawn finding a Cyndaquil, and Gary finding an Elekid, which are all very rare Pokemon in the Kanto Region due to them being native from other regions or in Ash and Dawn's case, not common in the wild. However, the winner of the contest is the newest person to move into Pallet Town, Serena! Serena has won not only by finding a rare Pokemon but the rarest one on the list, a Pokemon from the Kalos Region that my good friend, Professor Sycamore, gave me! Congratulations Serena, you get to keep Fennekin, but remember that you will also get to pick someone who will keep the Pokemon they found, now who is your choice?" Professor Oak asked.
Serena walked up on stage after seeing Professor Oak motioning her to do so. She stood at the center and started getting nervous. She wasn't really a shy girl but being around new people made her feel that way, and the large crowd wasn't helping. Her knees shook and she struggled to give everyone her answer, especially when nearly every kid in Pallet Town was attending the camp, giving her their undivided attention.
"I-I p-p-pick Ash…" Serena managed to stutter out.
"Really?! Thank you Serena!" Ash said, jumping onto the stage and giving her a huge hug, spinning her around in the process.
Serena's reaction to the hug was priceless; her face was burning and her heart started beating really fast. She didn't respond to the hug but just stood there with a distant look on her face.
"Looks like Ashy-boy got himself a girlfriend!" Gary mocked from afar.
The statement caused Ash to let go of Serena and rub his head in embarrassment.
"Hehehe….sorry about that," he said nervously, while Serena could only look at the ground and nod.
"That wraps up today of our Pokemon Summer Camp; unfortunately, it's our last day. But don't worry, there's always next year!" Professor Oak announced.
After everybody's parents picked them up, Serena and Ash were the only ones left at the Professor's laboratory, and the time they both had really brought them closer as friends. They discussed what they liked and disliked and Serena even talked about where she came from which had been a pretty touchy subject throughout the day.
"Ash sweetie…sorry I'm late, I was welcoming someone who just moved int-" Delia stopped talking after seeing the scene in front of her. Serena and Ash were on a couch, but what shocked her was the position they were in. Serena's head was leaning on his shoulder and Ash's head was leaning on her head. Pikachu and Charmander were both curled up on Ash's lap while Fennekin was curled up on Serena's lap.
"Psst…Grace, is that your daughter Serena?" Delia called out to the Rhyhorn Racer behind her.
Grace peeked into the room and was surprised at the scene herself.
"That's Serena, so I'm guessing that's Ash?" she whispered back as she and Delia made their way towards the kids quietly and carried their respective child and Pokemon in their arms.
"That was a real coincidence. I hope they become good friends."
"I hope they become more than friends," Delia said, jokingly, causing both women to giggle.
"It was nice meeting you Grace!" Delia said.
"You too! Why don't you and Ash come over tomorrow morning?" Grace asked.
"We'd love to!"
"Great! That'll give the kids more time to spend with each other," Grace said with a wink.
Both women giggled at the thought of their children dating but in all honesty they both didn't mind since the kids seem cute together, at least they were in their eyes.
"Goodbye, Delia," Grace said, walking to her new home with Serena in her arms.
"Bye, Grace!" Delia responded, walking into the other direction with her son in her arms as well.
The two kids were sleeping with smiles on their faces, happy about making a new friend today and even happier that they met each other.
"What happened?" Serena asked aloud, looking around and noticing that she was in an unfamiliar room.
She felt something on her knee and looked down, as she did so, she spotted a blue handkerchief with a small Pokeball symbol on it. Suddenly, it all came back to her: moving to Pallet Town, attending Professor Oak's Summer Camp, falling in the forest, winning Fennekin, and meeting….Ash.
She blushed at the thought of the raven-haired boy. He was just so sweet and cheerful, and in her eyes, he was also cute.
During her musings, she heard the door swing open and her mother coming into her room.
"Serena! Glad you're up! Professor Oak called me yesterday and told me about how you won the contest! Congratulations! How do you like your room so far?" Grace greeted, praised, and asked all in one go.
Her room was rather spacious. She had a brown wooden study desk with a green trash beside it. There was also a double door closet with the same shade of brown as her desk. In the middle of the room was a small Pokeball shaped table with a couple of Pokemon plush toys on it and the wallpaper had a cream yellow color with lavender stripes. All in all, it was a pretty decent room for Serena, although she thought that she could add a few more things as she grew up.
Then it suddenly hit her.
"Mom, do you know where Fennekin is?"
"Don't worry about that; Delia and I brought Fennekin, along with Ash's Pikachu and Charmander back with us. Fennekin is sleeping downstairs," Grace said with a smile.
"Who's Delia?" Serena asked.
"She's Ash's mother, and they're coming over, so get up and change into a fresh pair of clothes. I was going to tell you to change last night but you were too tired," Grace stated.
"Ashy, wake up," Delia shook her son as he slept peacefully on his bed.
"Mom…five more minutes..." Ash groaned, turning around so his back was facing Delia.
"If you wait five more minutes then you'll have to skip breakfast," Delia stood up and walked out of the room, knowing that her bluff would get Ash out of bed in record time.
Not a minute after, Ash came running down the stairs, all dressed in the same attire he wore yesterday while carrying a toothbrush, that sticking out of his mouth.
"Ash, finish brushing your teeth before you come down!" Delia scolded lightly.
Ash just nodded and ran back up the stairs so he could rinse his mouth. He came running down the stairs a second time, this time without the toothbrush and he had Charmander and Pikachu following him.
"Good, now grab the sandwich I made you and we can eat on our way to Grace's house," Delia said, opening the door.
"Who's Grace?" Ash asked.
"She's Serena's mother," Delia informed.
"Why are we going there?"
"Because Grace and I would like to get to know each other more! I invited her over yesterday while you were at Summer Camp and we talked for hours! That's why we lost track of time and forgot to pick you up," Delia said, getting slightly embarrassed at the thought of forgetting to pick up her own son.
To her surprise, Ash didn't react negatively.
"It's okay mom! Serena and I got to talk about so many things! I'm glad we get to play today!"
"Aw...my little Ashy has a girlfriend..."
"Mom! Serena is just my friend!" Ash defended, raising his hands in defense as his cheeks started turning a little pink.
"Then why do you want to see her so badly?"
"I want to get to know her better. She seems nice but she's so shy whenever I wanna talk to her."
"There's nothing with having a crush on her Ashy, I understand how kids these days are."
"Mom!" Ash exclaimed in embarrassment.
"I'm just teasing you sweetie! But jokes aside, I wouldn't mind seeing you get together with Serena one of these days," Delia smiled.
Ash just ignored his mother's comment and walked a bit more to the side to avoid further embarrassment.
"They grow up so fast...it's just so cute!" Delia squealed.
All the while, Charmander and Pikachu snickered at the human interaction.
They continued to walk down the path until they came face to face with a large house. The house, unlike the houses of other residents in their neighborhood, had grey brick walls instead of white wooden walls and the roof was made up of slightly curved red roof tiles, which closely resembled the one Professor Oak's laboratory had. It had to be the biggest house in the neighborhood, one that could even rival Professor Oak's.
They stepped through a gate and spotted a Rhyhorn inside of a small Pokemon house. They continued to advance to the wooden door and knocked on it twice.
Ash suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around and came face to face with Serena, or at least the top of her straw hat.
"Hi...Ash," Serena greeted shyly.
"Hi, Serena!" the boy greeted back with a grin.
"Do you…want to go and play at the park today?"
"Sure! I'd like that!" Ash responded with a large smile plastered on his face.
"Mom, Serena and I will go to the park. Is that okay?" Ash asked his mother.
"Sure! Just be sure to be back here by lunch," Delia reminded.
The two kids and their Pokemon nodded and walked towards the park, which was conveniently a block away from Serena's house.
The pair was really enjoying each other's company on their way to the park, just making small talk, until Ash asked an interesting question.
"So Serena, are you going to go to Pallet High School when we turn ten?" Ash asked.
"I don't know...my mom mentioned it but I don't know if she'll send me there or not," Serena muttered, audible enough for Ash to hear.
"Well if you'll go, let's be classmates!" Ash suggested giving her a thumbs up. This gesture helped Serena relax and wiped away any remaining shyness she had.
"You bet!" she responded.
The two finally arrived at the park and spotted the playground. Thankfully, the playground had no other kids on it so the two could enjoy their time.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, running towards the swing with Fennekin and Charmander right behind him.
"So where do you wanna play?" Ash asked.
"The swings look fun," Serena said, seeing the Pokemon playing on three of the four swings. She grabbed Ash's hand and walked up to the black swing set.
"Do you want me to push you?"
"Is it okay with you?"
"Sure!"
Serena was hesitant but figured that Ash was fine with pushing her on the swing, since it was solely his idea. So she got on the seat and Ash started pushing.
"Ash, push me higher!" Serena shouted in joy.
"Okay!" Ash pushed her back harder, making her go sky high.
Unfortunately, when Ash pushed Serena higher, the blond-haired girl's grip on the swing chains slipped and she came crashing on the ground, bruising and scraping her knee.
"Ow…." Serena cried, with tears flowing down her face which showed nothing but excruciating pain.
"Serena! I'm so sorry!" Ash ran to her side and bent down to take a look at her knee, with the Pokemon following his lead.
"I-It's okay Ash…." Serena assured him, however the tears on her face told him otherwise.
"Let's get you home then…" Ash walked in front of her, with his back facing her, and bent down.
"W-What a-a-are you d-doing?!" Serena asked, completely flustered at the thought of Ash having her on his back.
"We need to get you to your house so your mom can help with that."
"Oh….alright," Serena said in defeat.
Serena stood up, rather wobbly, and got onto Ash's back and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. Ash reciprocated the action by using his hands to hold the back of her knees in order to support the injured child.
The pair walked in silence while Fennekin, Pikachu, and Charmander conversed with each other while they walked by Ash's side; the silence was soon broken by Serena's voice.
"I'm really sorry about this Ash…today was gonna be a fun day but now it's not a fun day anymore because I fell," Serena said.
"No, it's okay Serena. Besides, it's my fault for pushing you so hard on the swing." Ash lifted Serena a little bit.
"Then I guess it's both our faults!" Serena said rather jokingly, while she looked at him from the side and gave him a wink and stuck her tongue out.
"Yeah…I guess it is," Ash said in amusement.
The two children then looked at each other and showed a toothy grin as Ash carried Serena back to her house.
To be continued…
Hope you guys like the slight changes I made! I put chapter one and two to put all their childhood experiences in one chapter because the next chapter will have a huge time skip! Follow, favorite, and review! I'm going to work on the next chapter of my other story so now you know my schedule. I'll alternate with my updates. :)