"She won't slow down!" Michael yelled to Ash. They had been trailing Garchomp for three hours and she didn't look to be looking for a rest. She then took a turn into the center of the town, toward Prism Tower.

"Come on, we need to stop her from destroying the tower!" Ash yelled back.

They could hear Officer Jenny below. "Everyone! A rampaging Garchomp is in this area of the city! Evacuate quickly!"

A news helicopter was in the area and was following Garchomp, too. Gabby stuck her head out to get a better look while Ty was shooting video.

"There is a Garchomp flying towards Prism Tower! We have no idea whose it is, but two trainers, one on a Charizard and the other on a Dragonite, have been pursuing it for many hours." She reported. She was cut off by a random Hyper Beam for Garchomp. "It appears that it is firing Hyper Beams at random targets, including us!"


Serena was just getting a drink when her mother called for her.

"Serena, take a look at this. Something terrible is happening!"

Serena huffed. "Yeah, something terrible happened to my face." She then saw what her mother was watching, a movie where a Garchomp was on a rampage through Lumiose City. "What movie is this?" She asked.

"It isn't. This is news straight from Lumiose."

Serena watch in horror as it went about the city, destroying building after building.


As Garchomp landed at the top of the tower, Ash and Michael landed as well.

"Dragonite, use Dragon Rage on the collar!" Michael commanded.

"No! Don't! You won't hit it with how much she is moving. Froakie, see if you can use your frubbles to stick her feet down!" Ash exclaimed, remembering how he had used them to block out that one Pokemon's Hypnosis.

He reached behind him, grabbing fistfuls of the sticky substance and threw them at her feet. It was now he saw the helicopter.

"Move away, it's not safe!" Ash yelled, making a 'move away' gesture.

"It looks like one of the trainers are trying to give us a message." Gabby said, right before Garchomp let lose a Hyper Beam at the news crew.

"We need to get that collar off! Come on Garchomp, just calm down." Ash said. He then ran and tried to hold her as still as possible. "Alright Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

Pikachu ran fan forward and hit the device with his metallic tail. It was broken into pieces and Garchomp fell to her knees, all of her energy drained. Both Pikachu and Froakie ran forward to check on her, when Froakie stepped on a chunk of concrete that broke off, causing Froakie to fall off the tower.

"Froakie!" Ash called as he jumped after the Pokemon.

The people below and inside the Yvonne Household gasped as they saw the boy go off the side of the building. Michael, however, had other ideas.

"Dragonite!" He then mounted his Pokemon and rushed down. He reached out for Ash's arm and grabbed it. He then pulled him onto Dragonite and landed softly of the paved road. The crowd that surrounded the town erupted in cheers.


"Sirs, what are your names?" a reporter asked, putting a mic in Ash's face.

"Uh, my name is Ash Ketchum and this is Michael…." Ash tried to remember Michael's last name.

"Natochenny. Michael Natochenny." he filled in.

"What made you go after Garchomp?" the reporter asked.

"She was being hurt, we couldn't just sit back." Ash answered without hesitation.

Then, Officer Jenny stepped in. "Please, leave them alone. They just went through hell to save the city. The Lumiose Police will issue an official report tomorrow."

The crowd dispersed and the Professor got a chance to talk to them.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you have done today. You brought back Froakie and helped Garchomp."

Ash waved the thanks to the side. "It was nothing. Anyone would have done it."

"Am I to assume that you are going to challenge the Gyms around Kalos? You can sleep in the lab, or what's left of it, tonight. The inns can be rather expensive, so it would be the least I could do."


Serena and Grace breathed a sigh of relieve when they saw the boys reach safety. The camera switched to a view of the face of the boy with the blue jacket.

"Sirs, what are your names." a reporter asked.

"Uh, my name is Ash Ketchum and …."

That was all Serena heard before she started to jump up and down. "Oh mon Arceus!" she yelled, "Did you see that? That was Ash!"

Grace had to take a moment to remember who she was talking about. "Oh, wasn't Ash the name of the boy you were friends with at Professor Oak's summer camp a few years ago?"

She started to nod. "Yep, and he is in the Kalos Region!" Serena then ran up stairs, her mother breathing out a sigh at her daughter's obvious crush on the boy.


"I hope you got a good night's sleep, even with the lab's condition at the moment." Professor Sycamore said to Ash and Michael as they entered the front courtyard of the lab.

"It was fine. I slept like a log." Ash reassured the man.

Michael expressed his thanks as well. Sycamore then pulled somethings out of his pocket. They were red on one side and black on the other, with a clear screen in between.

"I don't think I ever gave you a Pokedex, right? So, in thanks for your actions last night, I want to present both of you with these." he hand one to each of the two boys. "Now, I unfortunately have one more thing to ask. A girl in Vaniville Town wants to start her journey and I wanted to see if you would take a small detour to Aquacorde Town to meet with her and present her with her starter and Pokedex. It is directly south of Santalune City, the location of the Bug Badge." the professor asked.

"Sure, it looks like we might have to go through Santalune Forest, but we might meet some new Pokemon there, so it's a win-win." Michael agreed, checking a map on his Pokegear. He thanked them and passed them a box, containing her desired Pokemon and a Pokedex.

"So, we fly?" Ash suggested.

"Sure.

Ash walked over to the waiting Pokemon when he got hit in the head by frubbles. Froakie jumped off Charizard and walked over to Ash.

"What is it Froakie?" He asked.

"Fro Fro." he responded. He then put a Pokeball in Ash's hand.

"Do you want to come with me?" Froakie simply jumped up and returned himself as an answer.

"Well, I guess Froakie is your first Kalos Pokemon." Michael said.

Ash stood up and put the Pokeball in the air. "I just got….. A Froakie!" He announced.

"Was that really necessary?"


Grace hung up the phone and rushed up stairs to see her daughter, now in a black top and a red skirt with black knee-high socks and black shoes. Two hats were in front of her and she looked puzzled.

"Which one do you like better?" she asked.

"That one." Grace said, pointing at the hat with a white ball on the top.

"Okay, so this one." Serena said, putting down the one Grace suggested and putting on a pink hat with a black ribbon around the bottom of it.

"If you already knew, then why did you ask?"

Serena grinned. "Easy, the one you didn't pick was guaranteed to be the cuter one."

"Well, Professor Sycamore is sending two trainers to give you your starter. You're meeting in Aquacorde Town, near the water fountain in the middle of town." she told Serena. "I think it would be best for you to get moving. He said they were flying and would be there soon."


Author's Notes

And thus, the chase ends! Serena is also one step closer to meeting Ash and fulfilling her destiny! Too dramatic? Nah, just enough drama.

Did you know Arceus is "Arceus" in all languages? Not like almost every other Pokemon ("Greninja" is "Gekkouga" in Japanese or "Amphinobi" in French). So, when Serena says (or anyone really) "Oh mon Arceus," she is just saying "Oh my Arceus."

See everyone next week!