It was a bright sunny morning. A gentle breeze caressed the blades of grass, while the leaves whispered to each other. The local Pidgey sung, and the local Dodrio slept under a tree. Children ran around, playing without a care in the world. Most adults sat under the shadow of trees, watching the children play with no small amount of amusement and talked about different topics. Yep, just another lazy afternoon in the lazy town of Pallet.

One person, however, was busy. So many documents to sign, all the fields to be prepared, assistants prepared for the Summer Camp- so much to do in so little time! The poor man frantically laboring on this is none other than professor Oak. At least he didn't have to go to the Ranch; his assistants, Leaf and Ash had the job covered for him. Ah, his prized student and his favourite (albeit unofficial due to her age) assistant… They could always bring a smile to his face even in the darkest times. Like during the annual League check-up on the lab. Oh shoot, he'd let his thought wander again! He had no time for that!

"How many people do you think we'll we see this summer?" Asked Leaf. She was busy brushing her Purrloin's fur. It was sleek and beautiful; such a vain little feline.

"I don't know. I think we'll have all 32 spots filled this year, since the League lowered the MTLA (minimum trainer license age) to 11. So a lot of parents would want to send their children to Summer Camps." Replied Ash. He was grooming Zephyr, the youngest of Feather's litter. And the only girl as well; though, ironically, she was much more aggressive than her 2 brothers. Though, as Ash quickly found out, she's just a big softie on the inside.

"I pity the Prof. You'd think that with 32 participants it wouldn't take as much effort. Though I still question the wisdom of off-putting everything until today." Leaf glanced over, stifling a giggle at Zephyr's dignified squawk at Ash missing one particularly itchy spot.

"You tell me. He would've probably forgotten had Daisy not shouted at him." Ash chuckled, remembering the scene from the day before. Ouch.

"There, all done." Said the children, standing up in unison, before looking at each other and laughing. They knew that the only remaining Pokémon to look after was Gyarados. But not just any Gyarados; it was just the shiny one that Ash had found washed up on the beach one day. Ash, being Ash, took the Magikarp in and started looking after it. His efforts paid off in the Magikarp finally achieving his dream: evolving. While the Atrocious Pokémon has become a lot more violent and distant, he stilled had a soft spot for the boy. Of course, the Gyarados tried not to show it, but both Ash and Leaf knew the truth. And, of course, it amused them to no end.

The Purrloin simply let out an annoyed huff at having to jump off.

"Rodney, Betty! Come here." Professor Oak called his two assistants. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have left the work off until this day.

"Yes, Prof?" The two assistants answered at the same time.

"I need you guys to prepare field A-5 for the camping session." The professor said, still cursing his decision to off-put the organization of the camp to this beautiful day. He could've been outside, watching Ash and Leaf tend to the Pokémon, but instead he was stuck.

"But professor- " Betty started, but Rodney cut her off.

"We'll do it, professor."

Pretending not to notice Betty's objection, he sent the two off. He knew that Rodney agreed to do the task just to spend more time with Betty. Having been in love already, he could easily see the 'chemistry' between them. How they would avoid each other's looks, how Betty would put down Rodney a lot more harshly than other men, despite her readiness to step in and defend him at any moment. Perhaps their relationship would blossom into something more profound and beautiful after the camp. Damn it, Augustine, why did you have to infect me with the 'Kalosian syndrome'?

"Damn it, another Summer Camp. Yay. More girls hugging me to death." Pikachu muttered. Ash and Leaf had gone back to the professor, who had asked them to help him with preparing to the camp. So, Ash had left them here to go and prepare the Rattata for Day 3. Ah, the infamous Day 3. When the Pokémon pretended to be injured for the kids to bandage them. And in Pikachu's case, the girls that were supposed to bandage him almost crushed him in their hug.

Purrloin playfully flicked Pikachu's forehead with her tail, before running away, smiling.

"Surely it's not so bad." Eve said. She was still naïve, even after all this time. At least Pikachu had someone to distract the fanatic girls from him.

"You have no idea, kid." The Charmeleon stood nearby, saying it with a smirk (and an inside shudder).

"As much as it terrifies me, I have to agree with Eve here. What's so bad about the Summer Camp?" Zephyr chirped. She, despite being younger than the excitable Eevee, was undoubtedly more mature. Something Zephyr wore as a badge of pride.

"The crazy children, what else?" Pikachu and Charmeleon said simultaneously, shuddering. Pikachu, of course, stopped chasing the graceful feline; she, realizing that, turned around with a look of rage that matched Leaf's.

"Crap."

"Mom, but I don't want to go to the camp!" A little girl in pink pajamas cried, hoping that she would be able to convince her Mom to cancel the trip. First she had to move, leaving all her friend, and barely 3 months later she is sent across the globe to attend some stupid camp she didn't want to go to.

"Honey, it'll do you good and you know that! And moreover, it's too late to change now." The mother signed as her daughter slammed the door angrily. While that was overboard, she couldn't blame her daughter; first the divorce, then they had to move away. Still, she hoped that the camp would do her little girl well.

The "little fairy", like everyone called her, had taken the move a little too hard. She hadn't made any friends in Vaniville despite their friendliness. Well, except for Shauna. At first she though that the girl was nothing more than a restless bundle of energy that just wants to make everyone happy. Turns out, their little neighbour was full of surprises. After all, it was she, who brought a smile to her little princess's face after so long. But that didn't matter now; she had to pack her Serena's things.

"Alright, everyone. Welcome to this year's Summer Camp!" Daisy said in a cheerful noise. Come on, pull your act together, girl. Can't screw up now, can you?

Serena just listened without any slight interest. She had heard this speech many times before, and it's not like this girl radiated an air of confidence like some other announcers. As the girl, what's her name? –Daisy, continued, Serena thought back to her first Summer Camp. While she didn't remember much, since she was only seven, she did remember vividly making friends with another boy her age. Just thinking about him made her cheeks feel rosy. Where was that camp anyways? Was it Sinnoh, or Kalos? Yep, definitely Kalos.

"… you will be divided into 10 groups. Each group gets their own cabin." Serena snapped out of her trance, rolling her eyes in annoyance. Oh, wait, now it's a boy talking. Well, the boy certainly seemed more confident. Wait, is that a Pikachu sitting on his shoulder? From the looks of things, the boy was about the same age as her. How did he get a Pokémon so early? However, she was interrupted from her muse when she heard her name.

"Serena Schroeder, Gary Oak, Leaf Green and Ash Ketchum are in group 10."

"So, Ashy-boy, ready to lose?" Gary said, accentuating the word 'lose'. While she had to admit, he had a good fashion sense, his attitude was starting to get under her skin. To her surprise, the boy with the Pikachu earlier just laughed lightly and waved it off. Either he was too arrogant, or Gary's jabs were a regular occurrence between the two. From what she saw so far, she suspected that both were true.

"So, Serena, where are you from?" Serena jumped back, startled. Oh, it's the other girl in her group. Leaf, wasn't it? Well, even if she didn't intend to make any friends, she didn't want to antagonize another person so quickly. Well, it wouldn't hurt to answer, right?

"I lived in Silvaria. But a few months ago my Mom told me that Dad had an accident and we moved to Kalos." She bit her lip. She was never really close to her father, with him being at work for so long. And when he got home, he was too tired to pay her any attention.

"Must have been hard, hasn't it?" Right, the sympathy thing. Everyone who's talked to her was either apathetic to the whole ordeal, or just simply sympathetic. They didn't understand anything, yet they thought that by saying a few comforting words everything will be fine. But it won't! Calm down, girl, you don't want to blow up in front of all these people. Particularly in front of the Purrloin- when did it even come, anyways? Its stare actually unnerved Serena more than she would have wanted to admit.

Leaf turned out to be way smarter than she thought. Instantly catching on, she apologized for touching a sensitive topic. However, she didn't get to ask Serena another question. A small purple Pokémon ran into the camp. Out of breath, it made a few incomprehensible sounds (not that they could have understood it either way). And the boy with the Pikachu ran straight after it. She could hear a few sounds resembling particularly vicious curses, followed by a Pikachu and Eevee running after the boy. She turned to Leaf. Huh, must have had her brows moved up in curiousity, since she instantly guessed. Either that or the girl-empathy really does exist.

"Must been an injured Pokémon. Ash always acts like that when a Pokémon's hurt. Sometimes I think he's too kind for his own sake!" Said Leaf with a light laugh. Was it Serena's imagination, or Leaf had looked a little too fond when saying that?

"It's just like that autumn night" Leaf thought, thinking back to the previous autumn… Ah well, it's not time for sad thoughts; this Summer Camps are supposed to be on occasion of joy and wonder, after all. The Purrloin looked up, and, guessing what Leaf thought of, licked her in an attempt to cheer her up. Yep, everything will be alright.

"It's raining again. Huh, just like that time, right, Purrloin?" Leaf was sitting at the window, looking out and absent-mindedly petting her precious friend.

"Purrrr….." The feline contentedly, well, purred, glancing up at Leaf. Wait a second, is she in deep thought again? Every time it rained, Leaf would zone out, delving into her consciousness. And she would also stop petting her!

"Stop it, Purrloin, it tickles, ah!" Leaf shouted, rolling to get the cat off, and promptly fell off. Ouch…

Rita looked up at her friend, worry as clear as day in her eyes. Fortunately, the girl stood up. Unfortunately, despite her face being shielded by her bangs, Purrloin still knew recognised face. And this particular face bode ill news for the little feline.

Purrloin gulped, regretting her decision to ruse the girl out of her muse.

"Tickles time!"

"Hang on, Zephyr! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Eve, Helping Hand!" Ash shouted, using his hands to shield his eyes. The Nidoran had come to him, asking for help. From what he knew, he deduced that it was the Nidoran's sister fell sick. Unfortunately, it also started raining. Now, usually Ash liked rain; water has always symbolized purity and tranquility to our young hero. Kind of ironic how a rain would wash away much of the dirt. Well, he liked rain; NOT a downpour. ESPECIALLY not when the downpour caused the Spearow to awaken.

"Nido!" The Nidoran was breathing heavily; he was clearly exhausted from running so fast. No, his sister's life was at stake; no time for rest! And with that, he started glowing. And in front of Ash's unbelieving eyes, Nidoran evolved into a strong-looking Nidoran.

"Nido!" Nidoran's roar echoed across the clearing, causing the Spearow to pause, giving poor Zephyr some breathing room. The, Nidoran preceded to blast the Spearow with- wait, Ice Beam? Must be an egg move.

And with that, the Spearow flock flew away. "Well, now let's get to your sister, 'kay?" Ash answered enthusiastically, happy for the small (formerly) creature.

The Nidoran's breath was shallow. Nina (that's how Leaf affectionately dubbed the Poison Pin Pokémon) had a nasty cut on her leg, blood leaking out of the wound. Ash felt a chill run across his spine; there was no wild Pokémon around Pallet that could leave such a gruesome wound.

"Vee…" Eve looked at the boy in concern. Despite almost regularly healing wounded Pokémon around Pallet, the boy still shuddered at the sight of blood. And it's not like her friend had a haemophobia; it's just that the boy disliked needless violence. That was the reason she loved her trainer; he was so kind and gentle. And the fact that she could receive pets whenever she desired didn't hurt either.

"Right, Eve. Alright girl, use Wish?" Seeing the Eevee nod, Ash gave her a quick pat on the head and a smile of gratitude before beckoning Pikachu over. The Pokémon was marching around, almost like a soldier patrolling the perimeter.

"Pika?" The little mouse ran over to Ash.

"Pikachu, we need you to find some Yarrow leaves to stop the bleeding. Can you smell any?" With a quick nod, Pikachu ran into the forest, stopping to sniff around every few moments, before finally finding the flowers. Upon returning, he let out a squeal of triumph (as much as he could, while holding the tender plant in his mouth).

"Hey, thanks, bud!"

"Arrr! How much more will this dumb rain go on?!" Gary practically screamed, hysterically pacing around the room. He, the great Gary Oak, had to sit in a small cabin with two girls! He normally wouldn't mind, since the girls usually flocked over to his side, listening to his tales of "how his journey would go". However, being stuck in a room with a nerd and a mute (figurative) was not how he wanted to spend his day! Sure, the girls were pretty- especially the mute (Gary was dreaming about how he ride in like a prince on a Shiny Rapidash and make the girl open up to him, ultimately becoming his girlfriend). Hey, don't judge him! You probably don't have a sister who LOVES cheesy romance movies. And if you do, then she (probably) doesn't practically blackmail you to watch them with her.

Meanwhile Leaf was watching on amused. She was in a good mood; she won their 127th 'tickle-war' against Purrloin. The said cat just sat with a dignified look on her face, licking up her fur.

And Serena… She just sat in a corner in deep thought. Right now she was pondering on whether or not her 'roommates' were crazy or not. One glance was all it took for her to nod. She knew she didn't want to go to the camp. When suddenly…

Boom! Thunder struck, illuminating the figure standing at the door, eliciting a girlish scream from Gary and a surprised squeak from Leaf.

"Dinner, anyone?" Ash said in an extremely cheerful voice, bringing in a tray full of food. He came up to the table in the center of the room and put the tray down, ignoring Pikachu's dignified shouts (and death-glares from Leaf and Gary). "Ow, what was that for?" Ash practically wailed as Leaf and Gary punched him.

Serena had a lot of thoughts in her mind a mere few seconds ago. Now, she had but one thought; "This is going to be a long week and a half."

"Alright, children. This is your first 'course' and the camp so listen carefully." Rodney looked around to make sure that the children understood his words before continuing. "Today you will learn to bond with Pokémon." He actually had to suppress the smirk on his face when he saw the look of shock on the children's face turn into excited whispers.

"The Pokémon that you will bond with are off springs of the Ranch Pokémon. Note that not all of you will be able to get along with the Pokémon, which is perfectly understandable as not everyone's as brilliant as I am" Rodney was interrupted by Betty's cough and chiding glare, that caused him to gulp.

"Basically, what this dimwit is trying to tell you here," Betty, earning a glare from Rodney, making her give him a glare to shut him up, "is that you might not get along with the Pokémon. That's okay, since we can get you another partner. However, please note that the Pokémon will stay at the Ranch, unless it agrees to go with you." That caused a few disappointed murmurs to ripple through the crowd of children. But they all lightened up at Betty's next phrase. "But, as long as you treat them like fairly, with love and respect, I'm sure that the Pokémon will agree to go with you!"

"So now, please follow me to the Ranch to meet your partner." Betty finished with a smile, causing the children to lively jump up and crowd around her. All Rodney could do was look down in embarrassment and mumble something incoherent at Betty's triumphant smirk. That meant that dinner would be on him. His poor wallet…

Serena was only mildly interested getting a 'partner'. It was obvious that the Pokémon would stay in the lab anyways, so what's the point of giving false hope? But it's not like she had a choice, so she walked along with the rest of the crowd. Then again, the camp in Kalos tried something like this too…

"Here we are. Now, please split back into groups; each of you will have one of the lab's staff watching over you and giving you tips for bonding with your future partners." Snapped out her thoughts, Serena rolled her eyes, annoyed. Ah well, it's not like she had a choice here, right? Wait…

"Wait, where is our instructor?" Serena asked, looking around quizzically.

"Oh, well, since the two of us work at the lab," Leaf replied, pointing at Ash who was petting his Pikachu's tail?- what the hell, Pikachu have been known to attack just because someone accidently stepped on their tail. "… so the Professor told us to instruct you guys." Leaf finished, all while grooming her little Purrloin.

"What? Gramps entrusted this to you two losers?! That's it, I'm out of here!" Gary stomped away angrily- did I mention childishly- to the lab. Leaf shook her head.

"And I have to instruct that brat…" Leaf finished with an exaggerated sign and an eye-roll. Upon seeing the blonde raise her brows, Leaf rolled her eyes again. "He acts childishly, so I can call him a 'brat' as much as I want."

Wait, did this mean that Serena was stuck with the excitable boy?

"Alright, erm, what's your name?" Serena could only face palm. He couldn't even remember her name! Upon seeing her glare (which was the 4th scariest thing he had seen in his life, with a poacher's former psychopathic Scyther that roamed the forests of Pallet for a while taking 5th place), Ash sweat-dropped and decided to continue.

"So, anyways, remember: Pokémon are living breathing creatures. They are fully sentient, so make sure to be mindful of their needs and wishes…" Ash juggled a few pebbles, one of which hit Serena. "Oops."

"I've heard that speech thousands of times already! So just help me make friends with one, or leave!" Serena shouted, storming away.

"What's her problem anyways?" Hearing that, Pikachu could just face palm. Ah well, at least he wouldn't have little babies torturing him for quite a while.

"Argh! I knew I didn't want to go to this stupid camp! First we have to move, then I'm forced go to some camp in Kanto!" As if that wasn't enough, she was stuck with an arrogant moron, a weird girl and an overly-optimistic happy-go-lucky guy! Oh, right, did she mention getting lost in a Ranch full of stupid Pokémon! The blonde was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she had walked into a clearing. Walking around cautiously, she saw an egg. Curious, Serena moved closer. She'd never seen an egg before; she wondered if Pokémon eggs were all smooth and shiny like in those cartoons or not, when…

"Doom!" Serena hit the ground, something pinning her down. She found herself staring up the jaws of a sleek black dog. Its eyes narrowed menacingly, she saw fire cloak the hound's teeth. Fear started building up inside of her.

"Isn't this something straight from a particular section of FFN?" Sir Aaron just couldn't help but ask.

"From what Mew told me, I think I'll have to agree. Though the Houndoom IS female."

"Pikachu, Quick Attack into Spark!" Came a voice. Never in her life did she think that she would be relieved to hear Ash's voice, but there she was.

Houndoom, however, was clearly enraged by the little 'intervention'; having already recovered, it immediately charged a Flamethrower and shot it. Pikachu just barely managed to use Protect.

"Why are you helping that human?" Houndoom snarled, baring her fangs and preparing a Shadow Claw attack.

"It wasn't her fault! She didn't know it was your nest!" Pikachu replied, taking the moment to analyze his opponent's movements.

"Oh really?" Houndoom lunged, only to have the speedy mouse dodge. "She walked right into the clearing! She was going to touch the egg! She could have harmed it!" The Houndoom roared, firing a Dark Pulse. Dodging to the right, Pikachu saw an opportunity. Glancing back at Ash, he saw the boy smirking. They were clearly thinking about the same thing.

"Pikachu, Mega Punch!" The mouse was only too happy to oblige, ducking under Houndoom's Crunch attack and striking with a Mega Punch uppercut. However, that didn't knock the canine out. In fact, that only ticked off the Houndoom-turned-Kangaskhan more.

Damn, this Houndoom is a mother! Ash knew that this Houndoom gave birth to the egg a few months ago, meaning that the little Houndour would hatch soon. Coincidentally, it also meant that Houndoom's body would soon start secreting milk to feed the litter. Most of Pikachu's attacks would do serious damage to the Houndoom, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to feed her own children. And, considering the murderous glare that Houndoom gave Pikachu, it was obvious that reasoning with it was pointless. So that left him with only one option. Ash chuckled, knowing that his Mom would kill him later.

And, before Serena's disbelieving eyes, the boy threw himself on the Houndoom. "Ash!"

"Fool, trying to stop our battle." Wait, wrong chapter.

"Fool, what was he thinking, jumping in like that!" Houndoom shook her head. Part of her felt guilt at hurting the boy. After all, the boy would be there for any Pokémon in times of sorrow. Then again, part of her was outright confused at Ash's actions. Did the boy want to turn into literal ash?

"Ash!" Pikachu shouted, running to the boy.

"Ouch…" Ash sat up, grasping his head. Blood was flowing out of a nasty gash on his forehead (the cap flew off his head because plot demanded so, that's why), and his left arm was covered in light burns. "What star hit me?"

"I get some Rawst Berries, you get some Yarrow leaves." Pikachu said after a brief pause. The Houndoom could only nod.

And, in front of Serena's disbelieving eyes, the pair of Pokémon tended to Ash's wounds right before her. She was torn; part of her felt guilty, thinking that if she hadn't run off like that, he wouldn't be hurt. Another part of her couldn't help but make her shake her head in wonder at the sheer stupidity of the action. However, another part of her felt utterly useless. The boy was wounded, yet she couldn't do anything to help.

"Pika." The Pikachu and Houndoom shared a look, before the canine bolted into the trees. The mouse, however brought some sharp smelling leaves, chewing them and spitting them on the ground, before pointing repeatedly between the leaves and the boy's wound. Realization dawned on her.

"You want me to tie the leaves to his arm?" At this point, the boy had stopped talking gibberish, coming back to his senses. The mouse just simply nodded, before running over to a tree stump and slicing some blue berries with his tail. The blonde thought about how to tie the leaves to his arm. First, she thought about tearing a piece of cloth and using it to fix it to his arm. However, suddenly, she remembered something. The handkerchief! Taking it out, she glanced at it. Memories began to flow back to her, making her relieve the scene.

"Oh, I knew I didn't want to go to this camp! Mommy!" Serena cried. She broke her knee tripping against a tree root. And, to make things worse, she was lost.

"Hey, Torchic, where are you?" Serena heard a voice. Looking at the direction from which the voice came from.

"Seré?" This was boy that was in the same group as her back at the camp. He was the only one to make an attempt to talk to her, despite her constantly pushing him away. Sure, she sometimes found him annoying, but he was also someone who stood up for her against another boy.

Serena signed, remembering back to that day. The boy helped her up, wrapping a handkerchief around her knee; and, somehow, that made her feel better. That there was someone she could count on. She forgot to return him the piece of cloth- no, she shouldn't call it that, considering how she valued it- and has kept it ever since. She never went anywhere without it. After all, it symbolized the friendship between her and the Kalosian, and he was the first person to open up to her. Coming to think of it, she became a lot friendlier to the other kids since that day. And now, she would use that same handkerchief to help heal another person's wound. Fate is a funny thing, isn't it? But upon looking back at Ash's wound, reality caught up with Serena, and guilt flooded her again.

"Ash, I'm sorry for running off like that, I-I just wasn't thinking and-" Serena tried to apologize to the boy. That wasn't a difficult thing to do, since she knew that she was at fault in front of him, but, somehow, it took a world of effort. Huh?

Ash put a hand on her shoulder, wincing in pain, but doing it nonetheless. "It doesn't matter. What's important is that you weren't hurt." Serena felt her heart skip a bit; didn't her mystery friend say the same thing when he and another boy got into a fight over her? Even his eyes mirrored that boy's, and Serena felt herself unable to look straight into the boy's eyes. Mumbling a quick apology, the two sat in an awkward silence as the blonde squeezed the juices of the Yarrow leaves (eliciting pained winces from Ash).

The silence was indeed awkward. Ash didn't like it, so he decided to strike up a conversation. "Nature is a beautiful thing, isn't it? The leaves adorn the tree crowns, clouds swimming across the vast azure ocean that is the sky… Hey, is that a Starly?"

"Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.

Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree.

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

It was the lark, the herald of the morn,

No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east.

Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

I must be gone and live, or stay and die."

"Really, Sir Aaron, really?" Arceus said with an exasperated sign.

"Sorry, Arceus, I couldn't resist." Sir Aaron shot back with a cheeky grin.

Serena at this point was rolling in the aisles, her laughter ringing like crystal. Ok, so fate has decided to turn her life into a cheesy romance- after all, did her Kalosian friend not say practically the same thing? At this point, it was a fact, not a theory. Still, she felt she owed the boy a reply, so she often her mouth and… Saw Ash and Pikachu running away, shouting "Run for your lives!" Serena looked at the Houndoom, before the two burst into laughter. Boys will be boys.

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