The Elite Four Tournament
Written by: Thiago Dias
F.Y.I. - I do not own Pokémon.
This is a Nonprofit Pokémon Fanfic.
Written by a fan to all fans.
Chapter 1 – Goodbye Serena
Three years have passed since the end of the Kalos league, the league which a young boy came to the finals and lost to the champion Diantha. It was an amazing battle between both mega evolutions forms of her Gardevoir and his Greninja. His performance against the champion of Kalos, almost beating her, surprised the entire world making him famous all over regions.
After the end of that league, everyone thought that boy would start being called to be interviewed and challenged by many people due to his last wonderful performance, however, he disappeared. No one heard of him again after that day. It was a mystery for the entire world, but after one year, he was forgotten, new trainers appeared and took his place as revelations of battling, and today after three years, his name is no longer remembered. Who was that boy? Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto.
But his disappearing was not a total mystery, at least not to a select group of people which were his closest friends and family, and at this very moment one of them was thinking of him about where he could be and what could be doing at the moment.
Vaniville Town – Kalos Region
Serena was sitting at her bed, she had just woken up but couldn't leave it, she was thinking about her best friend Ash. It's been three years today he had left her and all of his friends and family. It was still fresh in her memory the day he said to everybody he would leave to be trained by Lance, the Dragon Master and champion of the Elite Four.
FLASHBACK
"What?" asked Serena "What do you mean you are leaving?"
"Lance asked me to go train with him" Ash replied
Serena still couldn't believe, does that mean they would have to split up?
"Ash this is amazing" said Clemont, the Gym leader of Lumiose city and one of Ash's companions. "Lance is one of the best trainers ever and I am sure he has many skills and abilities to teach you"
"I don't want you to go Ash" said Bonnie, Clemont's little sister
"Bonnie, you have to understand that this is an amazing opportunity to Ash, so you must give him support" said Clemont
"I will miss you" said Bonnie who started crying and hugging Ash
Ash hugged her back, got on his knee to be face to face with Bonnie
"Don't worry Bonnie this is not a goodbye, we will see each other again. I am just going to study a little more about Pokémon to be a better trainer, so you can be proud of me" said Ash smiling to Bonnie
"I am proud of you Ash" said Bonnie "You are the best trainer in the world, even though you did not beat Diantha"
"Thank you Bonnie. You give me strength. I appreciate your support and understanding in this situation" said Ash.
Bonnie stopped crying and started smiling. But someone was still not smiling. Serena. She was looking down, avoiding eye contact with Ash, who notice her behavior
"Clemont, Bonnie, Could you two please give us a moment?" asked Ash
Clemont and Bonnie looked at Ash and then to Serena noticing what was happening
"Of course Ash" said Clemont leaving the two of them alone and taking Bonnie with him.
Ash and Serena remained about a minute in silence in the same position, Ash looking at her and she looking down, until Ash broke the silence.
"Serena, what's up?" asked Ash
"I don't want you to go" said Serena still looking down
Ash smoothly looked at her, took two steps forward getting real close to her, put his hand on her chin and raised it up making her to look at him
"Why not Serena?" asked Ash
"How could you not know?" thought Serena "How could you not know how much you mean to me. That I just met you after so many years" Serena kept thinking
"Why not? Serena" Ash asked once more
"I don't know if I can keep going on without you" Serena said
"What do you mean?" Ash asked
"I just started my journey, I know so little about Pokémon and about everything. You were teaching me all about Pokémon and stuff. I need you more than you think"
"I know" Ash said with sadness in his eyes "And I need you more than YOU think" said Ash making Serena blush "But ever since my lost to Diantha, I feel like there's something missing in my life, something I've been trying to find into my journeys through the regions but I can't. Maybe I will be able to find with Lance."
Serena stood still for a moment not looking down this time, she was looking into Ash's eyes, and she felt determination in his eyes, and somehow she understood what he was saying.
"It would be selfish of me if I made you stay because of my silly scare of the world" Serena said
"It is not silly" Ash said "It is completely okay to be afraid of unknown things. Sometimes it is necessary"
Serena looked at Ash, smiled and hugged him, so strong that made him lose air, but he didn't mind
"I will miss you Ash" Serena said very low on his ear "Promise me you will be safe and will return to me"
"To you?" Ash asked smiling
"Yes! To ME"
"I will be safe and I will return to YOU Serena. I promise"
After that Ash returned to Pallet Town to give the news to his family and friends and one week later he went on his training with Lance. To where? Nobody knows. And nobody heard of him ever since that day.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Ash! Why haven't you kept in touch?" thought Serena
Serena finally after an hour got up and went down for breakfast, her mother already in the kitchen was preparing bacon and eggs for them
"Good morning sweety" said Grace "I thought you were not going to get up today. It is almost eleven o'clock. Have you overslept?"
"No I haven't. I woke up about two hours ago. I just didn't feel like leaving the bed" said Serena
"I see" said Grace "Here you are" said Grace placing some bacon, eggs and toast to Serena's plate.
"Thank you. Mind if I turn the TV on?" asked Serena
"Do as you wish sweety" said Grace
Serena turned the TV on and started switching the channels. Nothing interesting seemed to be on, some cooking programs, news, cartoons, until she found a channel where she saw a person she was sure she knew.
"I know that man" she thought to herself "Who is he?"
It was a man who appeared to be around 60 years old, he had brown hair and was wearing a white coat
"Wow that's Professor Oak" said Grace who had just came back from outside
"Professor Oak, that's right" thought Serena "The famous scientist from Kanto, the one who gave Ash his first Pokémon"
"Have you heard that Serena?" asked Grace
"What?" said Serena
"What professor Oak just said. Aren't you paying attention?"
"What did he say?" she asked
"There will be a special tournament to commemorate the centenary of the Elite Four"
"What?" asked Serena
"Pay attention on the TV" said Grace
"…The tournament will be held in Kanto at the Indigo Plateau, the official residence of the Elite Four. One hundred people will be invited to participate in this tournament. However, preliminaries will occur at the local and only ten people will go to the finals. The participants will be chosen by the official rank of the elite four which includes all regions and doesn't matter if you are a Pokémon trainer, performer, coordinator, gym leader, creator or scientist, what will be taken in consideration is your rank"
"Interesting" said Grace
"Yes. It really is"
"Maybe you will be called Serena. You must have a good rank since you finished second in the Kalos showcase and won the Hoenn Showcase league"
"Maybe" said Serena "I was never in a tournament of battling before. I wonder if I would do well" asked Serena
"I am pretty sure you would Serena. But as you heard professor Oak, it is just a commemorative tournament" said Grace
"Professor Oak is still speaking mom" said Serena turning her attention back to the television
"…The champion will receive $1 million…"
"Wow! That's something" said Grace
"It sure is" replied Serena "Now I have more reasons to wish to be invited" joked Serena
"…the champion will get a place at the Hall of Fame of the Elite Four, and last but not least, the champion will have the opportunity to challenge the leader of the Elite. Lance the Dragon Master "
"WHAT?" screamed Serena while getting up
"What happened Serena?" asked Grace
There was no answer from Serena, she just stayed there staring at the TV
"Serena?" asked Grace again "What happened? What did he say?"
"The Champion will Battle Lance" said Serena
"So? The Champion will challenge the leader of the Elite. Nothing more fair" said Grace
"That's not it" said Serena "Lance is the one who took Ash to train three years ago" said Serena still looking at the TV, even though the program which they were watching was no longer on.
Grace finally understood Serena's reaction. She knew about Serena's crush on Ash a long time ago, but never asked her about it, she thought it would be better to wait Serena tell her herself, but now that this subject might come back to her life, it would be better to do her part as mother and talk to her about her feeling for Ash.
"Serena" said Grace also getting up, turning off the TV and putting herself in front of her daughter to caught her attention "Do you miss Ash?"
Serena looked at her mother confusedly. Of course she misses him, her best friend, her mentor and her crush for so many years. Yes, she misses him a lot
"Of course mom, he is a good friend…"
"That's not what I mean Serena" said Grace interrupting her daughter "I mean if you really do miss him"
"What?" asked Serena
"Serena. I am you mother. I've seen the way you look at him, it is the look of love " said Grace smiling
Serena blushed almost as much as a red pepper, how could her mother now something like that? Not even Ash knew that, and she gave many clues to him, many clues. But she could not lie to her mother. Not to her
"I can't lie to you mom. At first I thought it was just a crush based on a past friendship we had, but when we met again three years ago, I started feeling different around him, hot, weak and at the same time strong, calm and happy. When I realized what it was I had no doubt, I was in love with Ash" said Serena looking down embarrassed
"But you never told him how you felt?" asked Grace
"No. I tried. I gave many clues to him hoping he would notice by himself, but he didn't" said Serena sadly
"Well, he was into something different by that time" said Grace.
"I was going to tell him after the end of the Kalos league, but before I had the chance he announced he was leaving to train with Lance"
"And you never thought about moving on during those three years?" asked Grace
"No. Because When he left he said to me that he needed me more than I thought, and he promised he would be safe and return to me" said Serena placing her hand on her heart
"And you took that as a love promise?" asked Grace confused
Serena looked to her mother like she wasn't understanding what she was saying
"What do you mean? It wasn't?" asked Serena
"Of course not Serena" said Grace "And even if it was, three years have passed, many things happened" finished Grace
Serena looked at her mother, she wasn't understanding quite well what she wanted, does she want she and Ash to be together or not?
She hadn't had time to ask her mother because the doorbell rang and Grace went to answer it, but this gave Serena some seconds to think about everything that was happening that morning. If Lance was going to be at the end of the tournament to battle the champion, it means he wasn't training with Ash anymore, so Ash could also be at the tournament. Maybe he would come to Kalos to look for her, but maybe Lance was going to stay only for a day at Kanto to battle the champion and then come back to the training with Ash.
It was decided! Serena had to go to Kanto, look for Lance and asks him where she could find Ash. She had to finally tell him about her feelings. She had to tell Ash that she loves him.
When she realized Grace was already back at the kitchen looking at her.
"Were you thinking?" asked Grace
"Yes mom. I decided that I must go to Kanto, find Lance, ask him where I can find Ash and confess my love for him" said Serena
"Very good Serena. I am happy you have finally made up a decision. I am sorry if I sounded like I wasn't supporting you, but you had to realize what you should do by yourself" said Grace hugging her daughter
"Thanks mom" said Serena returning the hug "I just hope not to be difficult to find Lance. I mean, he is the champion, he will probably be along with the others competitors" said Serena
"Well, if that's the main problem you have nothing to worry about anymore" said Grace smiling
"What do you mean?" asked Serena
"The doorbell before, it was the mailman. He just delivery a letter from Kanto" said Grace handing the letter to Serena "Congratulations Serena, You have been invited to the Elite Four Tournament"
