-Prologue: Till We Compete Again-
Today was the day that Serena had been both anticipating, and dreading. Today was the day that she, Clement, Bonnie, and Ash were all parting ways. She had decided to go to Hoenn. She had told the others her decision, but she still wished to travel with Ash, who would be going back to his hometown in Kanto. Clement and Bonnie would be staying in Kalos to run the gym. No one was particularly happy that their journey was over. Everyone was reminiscing of the adventures they had shared. Before anyone knew it, it was time for them to head off to the airport.
"Looks like your flight is the next one," Clement said to Serena
"Latias Airlines flight H71 to the Hoenn region will be boarding soon."
"Let's see Serena off first." Ash said.
"Everyone," Serena said just after getting her boarding pass, "We won't be seeing you for a while." She wasn't the only one saying her goodbyes though. Chespin was crying while Pancham tried to comfort him Sylveon was saying goodbye to Bunnelby, Serena still didn't understand why those two got along so well, Hawlucha was trying to be tough in front of Braixen, but wasn't having much luck. Serena looked over to Bonnie and saw that Dedenne was having troubles saying goodbye. Suddenly Dedenne started running off.
"Dedenne!" Bonnie called, running after it. Everyone began searching for it, to no avail.
"Pikachu," Ash said, "find Dedenne." Pikachu started using its electicity to sense Dedenne's location. They found Dedenne hiding behind a billboard.
"Dedenne," Bonnie called, "come on out, please," when Dedenne wouldn't come out, Bonnie said, "I know why, Dedenne doesn't want to say goodbye to everyone. I need you Dedenne. I know you want us to stay together forever because we've had so much fun together. Well so do I. I love everyone too, but we all have dreams of our own. Everyone tries to make their dreams come true. Sure I'm sad, but I've got to stay strong. When I get older, I'm going to become a Pokémon Trainer, and I want you to be my partner. I'll become just as good a performer as Serena, I'll earn a gym badge from my brother, we'll beat Ash and Pikachu and then we'll be number one in Kalos. And so, let's dream too. We can say our goodbyes and still laugh together. What do you say?" Dedenne jumped back into Bonnie's arms, which was answer enough that it agreed.
Ash walked up to the two and said, "Dedenne, you can help Bonnie's dreams come true. You'll see. We will battle someday, and if you've trained enough, you may beat me."
"I know I'm going to have to do my best," Serena added, "or you'll beat me."
"None of us want to lose to you, but that doesn't mean it's not possible."
Suddenly the PA announcer said, "Latias Airlines flight H71 to the Hoenn will be taking off soon. Ticket holders who have not yet done so, please proceed to the gate immediately."
"Okay, it's time to go," Serena said, "Ash, Clement, Bonnie, you've all given me so much, more than I can say. Ash, thank you, I'm so glad I could come with you. You're the kind of person I want to be. Next time we meet, you're gonna like the kind of person I've become. Goodbye." She said as she started to go down the escalator, but she couldn't leave, not without telling Ash how she felt about him. She turned around and said, "Hey Ash, there's just one more thing." She ran up the escalator and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered into his ear. As she started going back down the escalator she saw that Clement, Bonnie, Dedenne, and Pikachu all shocked.
Ash was just standing there in awe, then he smiled and waved to her."Goodbye Serena," he said. She waved in return. She started to walk to the plane that would take her to the next phase of her journey. Serena started thinking about her journey, getting Fenniken from Professor Sycamore, meeting Ash again at the Santalune Gym, the Pokémon Camp, deciding to be a performer, catching Pancham, her first performance, meeting Aria, befriending and catching Eevee, the Master Class, and now looking back on it all, she knew her journey was just beginning.