Growing up, Serena was always known as her mother's daughter, daughter of the famous Rhyhorn racer, Grace. Always living in the shadow of her mother, forever unknown. Growing up, she never had true friends of her own. Sure, different people tried to be friendly towards her, but it was more often than not to get closer to her celebrity of a mother. She didn't mind it though. She never resented her mother for her fame and she learned to enjoy the peaceful life she had. However, all of that changed when she and her mother decided to move to Kalos after her retiring. She made many friends. Her human friends, Calem, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. She also made a lot of pokemon friends, especially her Greninja, Charizard, Tyrantrum, Raichu, Lucario, and Yveltal. Her suddenly changing life didn't stop there either. She set off on an adventure of her own, fighting Team Flare (or Team Fabulous as she called them) and defeated the Elite Four. Her life had certainly changed. Now that her journey was over, she once more took delight in the peace and solitude that came with staying at home. She still made time for her friends and her pokemon. A few days a week she would meet up with them to battle, have lunch, or hang out at the mall. As for her pokemon, she dedicated one day to each of them. Six days a week she would train, groom, and feed them pokepuffs, but on the seventh day of the week, she took the day for herself; her own personal sabbath.
Stretching out on her bed she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, smiling against the plushness of her comforter. She craned her neck to check the clock on her oak desk, her blonde hair tickling her face. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning. Her lids grew heavy as she continued to lounge lazily in her room. Her thoughts began to quiet down as she gradually succumbed to sleep. Hearing a loud noise, her eyes quickly snapped open to the sound of knocking against her door. Leaning on her elbows she sat up, "Come in!" she called out.
Her door opened to an older woman with similar features to herself. Aside from the loose silvery strands that fell from her pulled back hair. "Hey sweetie," Grace said, her words heavy and uncertain.
"Hey mom, what's up?" Serena asked, curious as to what was weighing on her mothers mind. Stepping in, she could see that her mom was carrying her old dufflbag and weathered jacket made from Tauros hide; a telling sign of either her departure or arrival. "I got a call from my business manager from Unova, they want me to fly out and compete for the next couple of weeks. It's for a funraiser to help forcefully released pokemon find a home again, so I decided to go ahead and take the job. I hope you dont mind..." she wrung her hands as she often did when she was anxious or unsure of herself.
Serena returned her mothers worried features with a broad smile, "of course I dont mind! I'm glad youre going. I know you've secretly missed racing."
Grace gave into a guilty laugh. "I guess you know me better than I know myself." She rubbed the back of her head, further ascrewing her hair. "I thought I was done with racing but I guess I can't escape what's in my blood." Looking at her daughter she sobered up, "are you going to be okay with being here alone?"
"Ptth," Serena rolled her eyes and waved her hand nonchallantly. "Please, I'm the one who ditched you for pokemon training for six months. I'll be fine."
Her mother laughed as she tighened the strap of her dufflebag on her shoulder. "Alright, alright. Well, I am off. Be good, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks."
Pushing off her bed, Serena closed the gap between them to give her mother a tight hug. "I will. Have fun, I love you."
Returning the hug, Grace smiled against her daughters silky hair. "Thanks, I love you too."
After saying their goodbyes, and hearing the sound of the front door clicking, Serena laid back down on her bed. Her laziness now replaced with restlessness. Sitting up she grabbed the remote and clicked the television on. Not finding anything of interest, she continued to surf through the channels, stopping occassionally when someting would catch her interest. Clicking past the news by habit, she furrowed her brows and clicked back to the news channel. Her cerulean blue eyes widened as she took in the information being broadcasted across all of Kalos.
"This just in, I am standing in front of the Regional Prison," a peppy young intern with curly brown locks and big blue eyes spoke into the microphone she held, "the villanous leader behind Team Flare, Lysandre, has been imprisioned and tried guilty in court." In the background a tall man with untamed orangey-red hair was cuffed and being forcefully moved through the front gates of the prison. "His punishment- execution by guitine. Victims and their families are welcome to watch the beheading. It will take place tomorrow at-"
Serena clicked the power button with a shakey hand. She continued to tremble as she stared at the black screen of her t.v. Her lips quivered as struggled to speak. "Wh-what? How can that reporter act so calm about it?" She pasued for a long period of time before she decided what her next move would be. "I need to call Shauna!"
"What do you mean, customary?" Serena asked, her voice skeptical.
The line crackled as Shaunas voice came over the speaker of her phone. "Sorry, Serena. I though you knew! Here in Kalos it's not uncommon for bad people to receive the death penalty. I mean... he did try and kill everyone to achive his goals." She tried reasoning.
"Still doesn't make it right..." Serena trailed off while biting her thumb.
"Well, look at the bright side," Shauna added quickly. "At least he won't be able to hurt anyone again!"
"Yeah... hey I gotta go," she stated rather abruptly. "My mom is out of town so I just need to check on some stuff."
"Okay, no problem! I'll talk to you later!" The line made a distinct clicking noise, signaling the call had been ended.
Sighing, Serena sat on the edge of her bed, contemplating the situation. For an hour she mulled the information around in her mind until, finally, she made a decision. Growing up, her mother always told her to do the right thing, to follow your heart, even when the odds stacked up against her. She stood up with a stretch. Grabbing her bag, pokeballs, and heels, she quickly stepped through her front door. Locking the door behind her, she released her charizard from his capsule. The orange dragon roared in appreciation of being able to stretch his wings. She offered the drake a smile as she stroked his long neck. Climbing on his back, she instructed him to fly towards the prison. She was going to follow her heart and do what was right.
Lysandre paced around his cell, his footsteps even and rhythmic. He had been stripped from his fashionable suit and instead given grungy orange scrubs to wear. Although Team Flare had heavily doned the color, Lysadre found himself quickly hating the hue in its entirety. Not that it would matter for much longer, he thought to himself darkly. Kalos retained it's low crime rate because of endorsing strict and calloused dicipline. Although pun not inteaded, he began to think that perhaps the region had been appropriately named after all. He began to think about the course of his life, the friendships he made, the loves he had lost, all in all they were no more than useless facts of a soon to be deceased man. His crime? For trying to make the world perfect and beautiful.
He was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a guard speaking to someone he could not see from his vantage point. After a few exchanged words the guard opened the outer door to his cell, to allow his surprise visitor in. His visitor, a sillouette from the bright light pouring in through the door, was small in stature. A young man or perhaps a woman was his guest. Leaning against the bars of his cage that separated him from the shadowed individual, he spoke up. "Come to see the man before he is slain before the eyes of many? How easy it is to accept a mans death when they do not have to meet his eyes. You, however, have come to see me anyway. For that alone, you have more courage than any man I have known." His monolouge was concluded by the sound of the door shutting and the light being cut off. His guest continued to stand in silence, as if a statue carved from stone. The soft clicking of heels filled the quiet air as a young woman wearing a red and black dress stepped into the light. For a brief moment he stared at her in disbelief until he gave way to humorless laughter. "Of all the people in the world, I did not expect to be greeted by you, Serena."
She said nothing as she held her chin up, evaluating the man that nearly ended all life to create his 'perfect world'. "I came here to tell you, that what you did, what you tried to do, was wrong." She struggled to keep her voice level.
He stared at her for a few moments increduously, as if he didn't believe what he heard or saw. Soon, his silence was replaced by laughter. "Is that so? Come to instruct me in the errors of my ways before the end? Or have you come to gloat in your victory of bringing down what people now discern is the face of evil? To squeeze lemon juice over the wound, hmm?" She remained silent, allowing him to continue his speech. "Or, perhaps you are here to apologize? To make peace with youself before you lose your chance of relieving your inner guilt?"
"Neither."
He scrunched his face as he tried to decipher her meaning. His icy blue eyes questioning. "Come again?"
"I mean," she started, her voice growing stronger. "I'm not here to gloat or apologize."
Lysandre restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Then why are you here?" He asked impatiently.
Serena bite her lip as she pulled a pokeball out of her bag. She stared at the red and white capsule before returning the redheads gaze. "I'm here to tell you, that even though what you did was wrong, what they are planning to do, is wrong too."
He glanced at the ball in her hand curiously before probbing futher. "Serena, what are you doing?"
"Something incredibly stupid." She admitted with a weighty sigh. Focusing her eyes, she casted the ball down, summoning the collausal dinosaur, Tyrantrum. The massive pokemon lunged towards the cell, causing Lysandre to jump back. Taking a bite, the Tyrantrum chomped through the metal bars of the cage and thrusted his head against the brick wall behind the redhead, creating an opening to the outside world. "Come on!" She hissed sharply, grabbing his hand when he didn't budge. "They'll send guards down here for sure, let's go!"
Lysandre looked down at the tiny hand wrapped tightly around his three fingers. With a nod he allowed the girl to lead him out of his cage and into freedom.
Just when I am thiiiis close to finishing my first fanfic, I start a new one. Go figure. Well, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! This one is going to be more fast paced than my previous one, Excavation of the Heart, and focus more on romance than adventure.
I'm not the only one that ships this, right guys? Guys?
R&R
