Chapter 2: Camp Tales

"Kuzuki…." Serena narrowed her eyes as she stared at him with a deep frown. Fennekin noticed her trainer's mood go down and began yipping angrily at the boy.

"Woah!" Kuzuki responded to the fire type pokemon's hostility. "Easy there little fella. I don't bite, but I'm sure you do!" He laughed at his own joke. "How's it been Serena? Still holding your mommy's hand?" He teased. Serena's face went red.

"Whoa Kuzuki! You know Serena?" Ash exclaimed, surprised at the outcome. Now it was Kuzuki's turn to be confused.

"Uh, yeah I do. I always told you about her in camp, remember?" He earned a blank expression from Ash. "Really? You don't recall? Here let me give you a hint." Kuzuki finished his drink and took a deep breath.

"What's he doing?" Bonnie asked her brother.

"I don't know. Maybe he's about to act something out. He was always good at that." True to Clemont's words, Kuzuki did just. He got down on his knees and put his hand over his forehead dramatically.

"I want my m-mommy!" He wailed with tears in his eyes. Serena gasped at his little performance. Something seemed to click in the mind of Ash.

"Oh! Now I remember. You were that girl with the straw hat that cried for her mom everyday!" Ash shouted out rather bluntly. This caused Kuzuki to belly laugh.

"Is that why you called Serena a mommy's girl?" Bonnie asked Kuzuki.

"You bet! If you want, I can share to you guys some stories of camp," He suggested. Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie beamed brightly at this. Serena's small cries of protest were ignored.

"Ivy!" Ivysaur's stomach grumbled in hunger.

"Guess we should go to my house. It's getting late after all. We should feed our pokemon there," Clemont stated, earning a groan from Bonnie.

"Aw! But I want to hear the stories!" Bonnie protested, oblivious of Serena's feelings.

"Pika!" Pikachu's stomach rumbled too.

"I guess we should head back." Kuzuki seemed deep in thought. "Although one little story won't hurt on the way there." He grinned madly at Serena who in return gave him a dirty look. The group walked along the sidewalk with Serena distancing herself a bit.

"It was the first day of camp," Kuzuki began. "I was dropped off by my mom and we had to wait for the others to show up before we could head to the camp. I was thinking about what types of pokemon were going to be there when all of a sudden, I heard someone let out a shriek. Naturally, I turned my head and saw a girl wrapping herself around her mom's leg. Anyone have a guess as to who this was?" He asked. Ash snapped his fingers in a flash.

"Oh! That was Serena? Man I must be real awful at remembering people." Ash placed his hands behind his head. "I still remember what happened though. Professor Oak came and had to help get her off her mom's leg. I think he mentioned having to almost get a Charizard to assist him before she finally let go."

"Yeah, after that, we arrived at camp and I was placed into the Squirtle Cabin. Ash was too so that pretty much sums up how we met. Anyway, on to the juicy part part of the story." He clasped his hands together. "Later that evening, we were told to go to the cafeteria for dinner. I got there late because I explored the camp for pokemon. When I got there, all the seats were taken expect for one table."

Flashback

Young Kuzuki had spotted a table that wasn't full like the rest. It was currently occupied by one person. Kuzuki recognized her as the girl from earlier who put on quite the scene. Seeing no other option, he carried his tray of food and sat down next to her. She had barely even touched her food. The girl had her head in between her knees, not noticing that someone else is at her table.

Shrugging, Kuzuki began eating his sandwich in silence. His eyes widened as he took his first bite of the sandwich. He admitted that it was the best sandwich he has ever tasted, but he never told his mom that. Finishing the last bite of his sandwich, the boy took a sip of his apple juice and sighed happily. His eyes wandered to the sandwich that was on the girl's tray.

The whole wheat bread stared at him, just begging for him to eat it. Kuzuki licked his lips, imagining the flavor of the sandwich back in his mouth. He reached out to the food item but then pulled back. His father didn't teach him his manners for nothing! However, he still really wanted that sandwich and the girl didn't seem like she was going to eat it anytime soon. Dinner was almost over! He had to act fast.

Kuzuki tilted his head forward and the girl was still was covering her face. Maybe she was sleeping. Some kids started to get up and Kuzuki knew it was now or never. He thought about what he was going to say since he first lay eyes on her sandwich.

"Hey are you going to eat that?" He asked her a little too loudly. The girl let out a shriek and fell back, hitting the floor back first. His known presence had obviously startled her. She was partially dazed by the fall.

"Woah!" Kuzuki exclaimed, surprised by her fall. By then most of the kids turned around and started laughing at her misfortune. The girl let out a squeak and ran out of the cafeteria, not without catching a glimpse of the boy. The counselors had called everyone back to their cabins. Still shocked at the outcome, Kuzuki stood up, quickly swiped the sandwich, and stuffed it in his pocket before heading out of the cafeteria.

End of Flashback

"That sandwich was just as good as the first!" Kuzuki laughed along with Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie. His obsession with that particular sandwich was too unreal to believe.

"No wonder there were crumbs on the floor! One of the counselors made me waste my afternoon cleaning it up." Kuzuki laughed louder as Ash playfully hit his shoulder. Serena was too far back to hear most of his story, only catching the part where he got to the cafeteria. Soon they arrived at Clemont and Bonnie's residence where Meyer was waiting.

"You guys finally made up! I see you brought your lady friend back Clemont," Meyer teased, prompting a giggle from Kuzuki and Bonnie. Serena didn't seem too amused at the joke anymore. The five got in the house where they gathered around at the kitchen.

"Wow! Clemont, your house is huge!" Ash complimented.

"Oh it's nothing really." Clemont flushed red from the compliment. "Bunnelby, come on out!" Clemont tossed his pokeball and out came his pokemon.

"Bun! Bunnelby!" It cried out. Ash soon followed Clemont's lead.

"Fletching and Froakie, you guys come on out too!" A small bird and frog appeared in the room.

"Froakie!"

"Fletch!" It chirped in delight at seeing its trainer. Ash watched as Kuzuki took out four pokeballs and released his pokemon.

"Alright you guys, come on out," Kuzuki said.

"Blastoise!"

"Nido!"

"Nub! Nub!"

"Dar!" All four pokemon gave a cheer at seeing their trainer making Kuzuki grin.

"Wow, you still have most of your pokemon from our last journey! But wait, who's that pokemon?" Ash asked as he pointed to the owl like pokemon.

"This right here is Dartrix," Kuzuki explained. "I caught him while I was in the Alola region."

"Wow! I've never even heard of that region before. What's it like?" Ash inquired.

"It's like a tropical paradise filled with oceans, sand, sunny days, and pokemon. I went to Alola a while after I arrived back in Kanto. Brock said he was going to the Hoenn region which I presume he went to find you there?" Ash nodded. "Without Brock I decided to spend most of my time in Misty's gym. We always tried to hang out like we used to but her gym leader duties kept her super busy. I got bored just sitting there so I decided to travel somewhere new." Kuzuki let out a sad sigh when he finished.

"Sounds like a place I want to visit!" Ash announced. As they were having their discussion the pokemon had one of their own.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu greeted his old pals. The mouse pokemon first addressed the water pokemon whom was his oldest friend besides Ivysaur. Last time they saw each other he was still a Squirtle.

"Blastoise!" Blastoise looked down at his old pal and started laughing at how small he was now that the water type pokemon grew.

"Nub! Nub!" Pikachu then turned his attention to Swinub. The dual-type pokemon began hopping in the air, ecstatic at seeing Pikachu once more.

"Nido!" Nidoran welcomed the electric type in a friendly manner. Ivysaur, Froakie, and Fletchling came over and the seven pokemon started chatting and laughing together. Pikachu then noticed the last of Kuzuki's pokemon looking at them awkwardly. He stood beside his trainer, staring at them in envy. Once he noticed that Pikachu was looking at him, he turned his head around acting like he didn't do anything.

Pikachu felt bad for excluding Dartrix from their little reunion and called him over. Dartrix was tempted to join them but kept still. Then all his pals started to invite him over and the flying type pokemon smiled as he flew over and introduced himself to Pikachu. Clemont's Bunnelby decided to join the group and make new friends.

"Dedenne!" The antenna pokemon hopped off Bonnie's satchel and joined the group of pokemon, not wanting to be left out. Kuzuki let out a surprised noise as he saw Dedenne.

"Woah! How did I just now notice there was a pokemon in that satchel of yours Bonnie?" Bonnie giggled at Kuzuki's shocked face.

Serena's Fennekin watched all of this happen while standing next to her trainer whom was a good distance away from the group. The fire type pokemon mustered up the courage to join her pokemon companions until Serena put her hand out.

"Fennekin, stay." Serena commanded. She didn't want her pokemon near Kuzuki's.

"Fenn..Fennekin," Fennekin whimpered, going back to her trainer's side. Serena felt bad about this but decided it was the right thing to do for now. Clemont and Kuzuki began filling up plates with pokemon food. Once they were done, the two placed the bowls on the floor.

"Eat up everyone!" Clemont watched as the pokemon began stampeding towards the food. "Well, I got to go finish reprogramming Clembot so it can be ready for tomorrow's challengers," Clemont announced, exiting the kitchen before he heard someone approach behind him.

"Come on Clemont." Kuzuki spoke from behind. "You didn't think that I'll leave you to reprogram Clembot alone, did you?" Kuzuki grinned. Clemont smiled at his friend and leaded him to where Clembot was located.


"Wow Serena, how come you never told me that you're friends with Kuzuki? It seems like the two of you are very good friends!" Ash asked, monitoring the hungry pokemon. Serena scowled at this.

"We are not friends," Serena stated sternly. Ash and Bonnie grew rather surprised at this.

"How come?" Bonnie questioned, not understanding why she said such thing.

"Because…." She let out a deep breath. "...because he's a jerk!" Serena yelled out frustrated. Bonnie quickly defended the boy.

"Kuzuki is not a jerk! He's the nicest person I know besides my big brother." Ash decided to jump in too.

"Yeah, we traveled together for so long and he's never been mean unless he has a reason to," Ash claimed. Serena knew she was outnumbered so there was no point in arguing about it anymore. At least for now.

"Nub! Nub!" The loud series of gasps that followed turned all the attention away from Serena.

"Swinub! No! Stop eating all of the others food!" Bonnie shrieked running over to the pokemon and tugging him away from the food.

"Fletching! Fletch!" The bird pokemon screeched at Swinub. The dual type took the liberty to help himself to some of Fletchling's food. Fletchling was not pleased by this at all.

"Ah! Don't worry Fletchling, I'll get you some more pokemon food. Wherever it is," Ash muttered. Seeing Bonnie too busy calming the sobbing Swinub, he decided to not bother her and look for himself. He checked every cabinet in the kitchen before finally finding the large bag of pokemon food at the top shelf.

"There it is!" He said proud of himself. Ash grabbed the edges of the bag and tugged it out of the cabinet. Although, the bag was shockingly too heavy and Ash accidentally spilled it all out of the floor.

"Nub?" Swinub stopped making a fit when he smelled the pokemon food from afar.

"Fletchling!" The flying type quickly noticed the scent himself. Both pokemon looked at each other before they sped off. Bonnie wasn't fast enough to catch the little guy and she quickly went after him.

"Whoops!" Ash yelped when the bag came crashing down to the floor. Seeing this, Serena quickly came to Ash's aid. However, the damage had already been done. The pokemon food was out of the bag and on to the floor. "Oh man! We got to clean this mess up before Clemont comes back," Ash said in worry as he began to pick up each little piece of food.

"Swinub!"

"Fletchling!"

Before Ash and Serena had any time to react both of the pokemon had already made a dive at the food. Ash gasped, watching the food practically start to disappear thanks to his and Kuzuki's pokemon.

"Nub! Nub!" Swinub started munching happily and at a faster pace. His hunger seemed to surpass Fletchling's as the flying type pokemon got full fast. This meant more for Swinub! Ash laughed at its appetite, clearly reminding him of someone else's Swinub! (A/N: Bonus EXP if you know who it is)

"What's with all the racket?" A voice asked, causing everyone but Swinub and Fletchling to freeze. Luckily, it just turned out to be Kuzuki. Ash let out a relieved sigh and quickly went towards his friend.

"Kuzuki! Thank goodness it's just you. I need your help quick!" Ash pleaded for Kuzuki's help but was crestfallen to see him shake his head.

"Haha! Oh man, is Clemont going to freak when he gets a look at this! You guys are so going to get it!" Kuzuki chuckled at Ash's look of betrayal.

"What!?" Ash growled. "But it's your pokemon that's eating it all!" He accused his friend. Kuzuki had a wide smile plastered on his face seeing Swinub's silly antics

"What? My poor sweet little Swinub did this?" Kuzuki innocently questioned walking towards his gluttonous pokemon. He crouched down and wrapped his arm around Swinub. "You didn't cause any of this, did you Swinub?" The dual type pokemon shook his head and giggled at Kuzuki tickling his belly. Suddenly, Kuzuki gasped loudly.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked. Kuzuki perked up tremendously as the realization went through his brain. Laughing maniacally, he grasped his megaphone and exited the kitchen.

"Huh?" Ash cocked his head in confusion. Serena clenched her fists. This couldn't be good.

"Clemont, come to the kitchen! Quick!" Kuzuki's amplified voice soared through the house along with his fits of laughter. Ash's whole body tensed at this.

"Oh no!" He gasped when he started to hear footsteps quickly approaching. Looking down at the floor, there were still traces of Swinub's mess scattered around the floor. Boy, was Ash going to get it! "Uhh..." Ash panicked, not knowing what to do. Even both Serena and Bonnie looked unsure of the whole situation.

"I knew Kuzuki was going to pull off something like this," Serena quietly whispered, but not low enough since Bonnie heard everything she said. The little girl frowned, what was the deal with her today? Before she had time to thoroughly think it out, Kuzuki came back to the kitchen with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Kuzuki, how could you!?" Kuzuki waved him off, merely chuckling at his clever thinking.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. Blastoise, use water gun at the floor! When he finishes, Dartrix use Ominous Wind to dry up the water and throw it out the window!" He pointed at the open window and quickly swooped up his sleeping Swinub from the floor with Ash doing the same with his Fletchling. Blastoise shot out a ray of water on the floor clearing up the leftovers and crumbs still laying on the ground. Dartrix then casted an eerie purple atmosphere and flapped his wings. This let the purple wind fly straight the window.

"Wow! The floor looks spotless!" Bonnie said amazed at the shiny floor. Ash gaped at Kuzuki, who in return, gave him a thumbs up. Just then, Clemont walked in the kitchen.

"What's up Kuzuki? You using that megaphone made it sound urgent," Clemont stared at Kuzuki, awaiting a response.

"Yes! It really is urgent," Kuzuki responded seriously. "Serena here has an important question for you!" Kuzuki stated, pushing all the attention towards Serena. She gritted her teeth, watching Kuzuki have that stupid grin on his face, like he always does.

"Well, you see Clemont," Serena started with venom in her words. "I was just wondering where I can sleep." Kuzuki was quite surprised at her quick thinking.

"Oh. Is that it?" Clemont thought about this. "Well I guess you can stay in Bonnie's room if that's okay with you Bonnie." His younger sister was still a little sore about the unkind words Serena exchanged about Kuzuki, but nevertheless, complied. Maybe she was just tired.

"Sure! Kuzuki and Ash can stay with Clemont then!" Bonnie chirped brightly. Clemont nodded enthusiastically. Kuzuki took this opportunity to strike about his sleeping situation.

"Of course, you're going to let me take Clemont's best pillows, aren't you Bonnie?" Clemont let out a loud "huh" at this. "I mean, it would be rude to let your houseguest sleep on the cold hard floor without a comfortable headrest, wouldn't it?" Bonnie's eyes widened at this.

"You're right! It would be impolite of us, especially just for you! You don't mind Clemont, do you?" Bonnie gave her brother a hardened glance when she saw him about to refuse.

"Fine..." Clemont sighed. "Why don't you just take away my bed while you're at it." Clemont instantly regretted saying that.

"Well if you're offering, then yes I will!" The blonde haired boy grumbled and said he was going back to finishing reprogramming Clembot.

"Will you at least put Bonnie to bed for me?" Clemont requested.

"Aww, but I don't want to go to bed!" She cried, scooping about Dedenne in her hands. Clemont placed his hands on his hips and stared at Bonnie sternly. She stared back.

"Come on Bonnie, we should get you ready for bed. You have a big day tomorrow, you don't want to be tired during it, would you?" Kuzuki pointed out. Seeing no way around it, Bonnie sighed in defeat with her head hung low.

"Cheer up Bonnie. What if I read you a story, would that made you feel better?" Kuzuki questioned. The younger sibling let out a cheerful "hooray" and rushed upstairs.

"Well I guess that's that." Clemont stared at Kuzuki for a few seconds before exiting the kitchen once again. Kuzuki turned around and surveyed his pokemon.

"Alright guys, time to get back in your pokeballs!" The group of pokemon groaned at this but did as they were asked. Soon, only Ivysaur and Swinub remained. Kuzuki gazed towards the still sleeping Swinub, still in his arms and smiled. All that food must've worn him out. Petting his head thoughtfully, Kuzuki waved goodbye to Ash and Serena before heading upstairs with Ivysaur following him.

"I guess that goes for you too, Froakie and Fletchling." The flying type pokemon moaned, still feeling the after effects of eating so much food. Froakie remained quiet. Ash called back his pokemon with Serena doing the same.

"Goodnight Serena. See you in the morning." He bid her farewell and climbed up the stairs with Pikachu on his shoulder. Serena soon followed.


Serena grabbed the door knob and opened it. To her relief, the two weren't in the room yet. Quickly putting on her pajamas, Serena lay down on the far edge of Bonnie's bed. Once the girl heard the door open she quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be fast asleep.

"Wow, your room sure is still as yellow as last time," Kuzuki commented before he noticed that Serena was asleep. "Looks like Serena beat us here. We should be quiet and let her sleep." Bonnie nodded in her Tyrantrum pajamas. Kuzuki said that it resembled her personality prompting her to give him a light punch in the arm. Bonnie took her place in bed and lifted up the covers. Once she got comfortable, she demanded her story as promised for brushing her teeth.

"Alright, let's see what you got here." Kuzuki took a look at the collection of books that were neatly organized in her cabinet. "The Little Tyrantrum that could. Nah, too cheesy. Old McArceus had a farm, too lame. A Kalos Journey? What a dumb title." He kept rummaging through her pile of stories but found all of them boring.

"Well?" She spoke softly, not wanting to disturb Serena's slumber. Kuzuki rubbed the back of his head nervously, tempted to tell Bonnie that her taste in literature was poor. That's when he had an idea.

"Tell you what, I'll make one up right now," Kuzuki offered, sitting at the edge of the bed. Immediately as he did so he felt Serena shift her body further away from him. Bonnie noticed this and looked up at him, expecting an answer. He shrugged and began his story.

"Once upon a time…" Bonnie clicked her tongue.

"Can you not start with once upon a time?" She said irritated.

"Sure, One afternoon, there was a young boy, about six years old. He loved pokemon and the outdoors. Because of this, his parents enrolled him to a summer school. When he got there, he met a girl who seemed too attached to her mother." Bonnie felt the covers being gripped tighter on the other side of the bed as he said this. It made her wonder if Serena really was asleep. She ignored it for now, too intrigued at Kuzuki's story.

"The boy accidentally embarrassed her on the first day. He tried to make it up to her later but she was too stubborn to accept his apology. When he finally did manage to gain her trust, the two spent all of their time with one another. They visited the pool, did activities together, and supported each other every minute. It was until one day that one of them decided to leave the other behind. They didn't see each other ever again, living happily never after." He bitterly finished the story with Bonnie giving Kuzuki a tearful look.

"That wasn't a very good story," She whimpered, not liking the end of it. It also didn't help that Serena practically snatched the whole blanket out of Bonnie's grasp.

"Well…" Kuzuki didn't realize that he went off track there with his story. Getting up, he hauled the blanket off of Serena and put it around the two of them instead of leaving Bonnie shivering during nighttime. Kuzuki held a book in front of his hands. "...how about the Little Tyrantrum that could?"


"...and the little Tyrantrum lived happily ever after. The end," He finished. Kuzuki closed the book and put it back where it belonged. Bonnie's light snores indicated that she had fallen asleep during the story. Kuzuki gently tucked her in and headed out the door.

"Goodnight Bonnie." He opened the door. "You too Serena." The door shut behind him. Serena flinched with a bit of tears staining her pillow. Feeling sorrowful about how the whole day went, Serena drifted off to sleep, hoping the next day would turn out better.


Serena opened her eyes and saw that she was back at the camp in Kanto.

"How did I get back here," She muttered, taking in the old surroundings. Her peers were minding their own business as they did everyday. Suddenly the speakers went off.

"Good morning campers!" The voice said from up afar. She recognized it as Professor Oak's. "Today, we'll be learning how to properly feed a pokemon! Be near the main lodge in thirty minutes!" The speakers turned off and the other campers scrambled to their cabins to get prepared. Serena remembered this day clearly.

"If Professor Oak just finished his announcement, then that means…." Serena's words drifted off as she felt an arm around her shoulder.

"Good morning Siri!" Kuzuki beamed brightly. Serena body tensed at the sudden contact. "Did you hear? I bet you did since Professor Oak's voice was so loud. You know, one day I want my voice to be projected just like that too!" He declared humbly. "Anyway, we're going to feed pokemon! You don't know how excited I am about this!"

"I'm pretty sure I can," She replied, but Kuzuki ignored it.

"Come on Siri! We have to get there early! Maybe the professor will let us see the pokemon ahead of time!" He snatched her hand and dragged her to the main lodge. Serena stayed silent, if today was the day Professor Oak brought the three starter pokemon, then that means. "Pick up the pace, I can't drag you the whole way there. I'm not your mom!" Kuzuki teased. Memories came flowing back through Serena at the mention of her mother. She tried to get away but something kept her from doing so. She didn't want to be here again.

The walk to the main lodge didn't take long. Kuzuki, like before, let out an elated cry when he saw the three starter pokemon.

"Wow! Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur!" Kuzuki exclaimed loudly. Professor Oak, who was getting the pokemon ready to meet the campers turned around to see the two standing there.

"Hello there!" Professor Oak greeted. "Did you two decide to see the pokemon early?"

"You bet professor!" Kuzuki's giddy behavior caused the professor to laugh.

"Well since you're here now, why don't you come here and meet these three fine pokemon," He suggested. Kuzuki zoomed towards the pokemon and started petting each one. Serena remembered this moment clear as day. She watched as Kuzuki and Bulbasaur made eye contact.

"Wow! It's Bulbasaur!" He diverted all of his attention to the grass type pokemon. Professor Oak smiled at this display before he noticed that Serena stood a good distance away from her friend.

"Why don't you join your friend? The two pokemon do sure seem disappointed now that he is only playing with Bulbasaur right now." Serena's mind felt like it was about to explode. This is where it all started. She wanted to desperately run away, but instead, felt her body go forward.

"Char?" The fire type pokemon saw the new potential friend approaching him and let out a happy cry. Serena tried to force herself not to take anymore steps ahead but to no avail.

"No!" Her mouth finally screamed out. As she did so she felt her vision fading. "No…." Serena's vision came back.

"I'm still here," The girl uttered with dread in her voice. "And I'm right outside the infirmary." It was then that Serena realised it was still the same day, but later. She found the closest window and peered in. She saw Kuzuki inside, bandaged up and talking to the computer screen with an unfamiliar man on it.

"That's right. The professor told Kuzuki that his parents wanted to call him after the whole…" Serena shuddered just thinking about it. "It still amazes me that Kuzuki wanted to keep attending camp." Serena observed the way his head drooped down as his father scolded him. She stopped staring at the inside and sat on the floor with her back against the wall. To this day, she still had no idea what was discussed in the room. However, what she did know is that this was the day that changed everything. Suddenly, the door opened and out came Kuzuki with a blank expression.

"Kuzuki..." Serena heard herself say. The boy merely ignored her, his shoulder hitting hers, which prompted the girl to fall down. She watched with tears in her eyes as Kuzuki began running away from her. The water droplets fall free from her eyes, finally came pouring down. Serena cried, with her eyes being covered with her hands.

"Char…" Serena froze at the sound. This didn't happen before. Carefully did the girl remove her hands off her face and came in contact with the same Charmander as before. This time it looked angry, really anger.

"Charmander!" It roared, casting an Ember attack straight at her.

"Ahh!" Serena shrieked.


Serena let out loud scream! The events from the past still haunting her, but the end was new. Maybe the fire type did really hold a grudge against her after that day. She heard a door being opened wide open.

"Sir-Serena! Are you okay!" The girl found out that she wasn't back in the camp anymore. A low whimper came from beside her. Serena glanced towards that direction and saw Bonnie shaking with the covers clutched tightly in her hands. The little girl gaped frighteningly at her. Kuzuki quickly came to Bonnie's aid.

"Shh, shh. It's alright Bonnie, it's alright." The scream clearly spooked Bonnie out. She gripped Kuzuki's torso in comfort. "Serena was just having a bad dream. Right Serena?" Serena had a choice at this point. The dream brought back bad memories. Unfortunately, just seeing Kuzuki's face brought back worse memories. Silently Serena lay back down and had her back facing the boy. She made up her mind and promised herself to make it up to Bonnie in the morning.

She heard Kuzuki frustratingly sigh at her behavior. This angered her, it's his fault all of this was happening to her. Kuzuki stayed for a while longer until Bonnie eventually fell back to sleep. He then placed her back in her bed.

"Please don't scare Bonnie like that again Serena." He spoke softly before exiting the bedroom.

"Of course you're just worried about only Bonnie."


Kuzuki walked back into Clemont's bedroom. Ash was, not surprisingly, still asleep, not affected by the scene. His Pikachu was in the same boat with his trainer. Swinub was sleeping peacefully on one of Clemont's pillows that Kuzuki placed him on. Ivysaur was on the bed where Kuzuki was sleeping. He still thought about the whole ordeal and what exactly had gotten Serena so worked up about.

"Ivy?" His pokemon snapped him out of his thoughts. Ivysaur had a very concerned look in his eyes.

"Serena just had a bad dream, at least, that's what I think." Just then Clemont walked in the room with his pajamas on.

"Whew, finally finished," He said. "Anything happen while I was gone?" Clemont asked Kuzuki as he lay on the homemade bed that Kuzuki made him. He was even generous enough to return one of Clemont's pillows to him.

"Yeah, Serena had a nightmare and it spooked Bonnie out." Immediately, Clemont got back on his feet at the mention of his younger sister. "Relax, I went over and got her back to sleep. No need to fret Clemont, trust me," Kuzuki insisted. Taking his word, Clemont laid back on the bed and the two enjoyed the comfortable silence.

"Hey Kuzuki, do you think Ash is sorry about not being able to challenge the Lumiose City Gym?" Clemont asked.

"Yeah, but knowing Ash, he'll want to come back and challenge the gym at a later day. Perhaps when he meets your preference." Clemont looked over at Kuzuki confused. "Well, you did say you prefer challengers with four badges, right? Ash would want to make his friends happy. That's what I'm leaning towards anyway." Clemont chuckled quietly. "Although, I'd say I'm one hundred percent sure that he'd want to battle you instead of Clembot." Kuzuki smirked.

"Really? If that's the case then I'll give him a gym battle that he'll never forget for the rest of his life!" Clemont spoke in a determined tone.

"I'm sure you'll give it your all Clemont. After all, you decided to go aggressive on me when I told you that I didn't have four badges yet. Something about being weak, I presume?" Clemont stammered, trying to give an apology. "I'm just messing with you." Kuzuki laughed softly. Clemont did so too, embarrassed by his own behavior.

"Well, good night Kuzuki."

"Night Clemont."


Author's Note: Chapter Two is now completed. We found out what type of pokemon Kuzuki has and his life in between Ash's departure to Kuzuki's arrival in Kalos. We also get a better understanding of Kuzuki's and Serena's history back in camp. More secrets to be uncovered later on, along with the reason of their fallout. Stay tune for Chapter Three: Greedy Ol' Chespin!