Chapter 10: A Promise

Ash arrived at the airport just barely in time to catch the plane leaving for Kanto. He was out of breath by the time he made it to the gate, and dragged his feet behind him as he slowly walked into the cabin, taking his seat next to a window. Despite his defeat in the semifinals of the Kalos League, Ash was in a great mood. He was ready to go home and share all the stories of his adventures in the Kalos region. He made plans to visit Misty and Brock; and Professor Oak, of course. He was going home.

Serena bowed her head and did a curtsy in front of the cheering crowd. Shauna and Aria stood behind her, all three of them waving. The three Pokemon performers had put on a fantastic show at the final showcase competition, and they all smiled as they looked into the crowd. But the one with the proudest smile was Serena, wearing the Kalos Queen tiara on her head. She wished Ash could have stayed for the ceremony, but his flight had been rescheduled and he barely had time to even watch the show itself.

Clemont and Bonnie were back at home with their father, the masked Mega Blaziken hero. They were eating dinner while watching the ceremony. Bonnie's eyes were gleaming with adoration as she looked at Aria, Shauna, and Serena, all three of them looking their very best. Clemont seemed disinterested, he was more focused on some automatic utensil thing that he was working on. He was, of course, very happy for Serena, though.

"Man, Pikachu. Kalos was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" Ash said to his partner, patting its head affectionately. Pikachu agreed, "Pika pika pi!"

Ash looked out the window as the plane began to take off. He watched as the airport quickly disappeared as the plane flew higher and higher. After a few minutes, he could make out the colossal structure of Prism Tower. That takes me back, he thought. It seems like so long ago when I was up there trying to save Garchomp...

Palermo smiled at Serena, which was a rare sight to see. Usually Palermo had a straight face, without showing any emotion. But it touched her, seeing this young star grow in terms of her ability to persevere even in the most difficult of times. She had been wrong way back then; she had thought there would never be another Kalos Queen as fantastic as Aria was. But here she was, handing Serena a trophy of recognition...the same girl who had cried on the dock after her Fennekin had tripped right on stage. Serena was really something else.

It'll be great to see mom and Mr. Mime back at the house, Ash thought. And maybe if Gary's in town, we can have a battle! I'd love to see how much stronger he's gotten, even though I know he's focused on research. He will always still be my rival. Ash looked down and noticed that Pikachu had fallen asleep in his lap. He stroked Pikachu's fur softly and looked out the window. He saw a cloud that kind of looked like a Froakie. That reminded him of Greninja.

After the ceremony finally ended, Serena headed outside back to the spot where she and Ash had talked before. She sat down on the same rock, in the same spot. She released Braixen and Greninja from their Pokeballs. The two Pokemon they decided to go for a walk, leaving Serena by herself. She smiled as she watched the two lovebirds walk off into the woods.

To think...that Ash was actually able to admit his feelings... she thought. I remember it like it was yesterday... then she blushed to herself as she realized that it actually had happened yesterday. She replayed parts of the conversation in her head, the parts that she really liked.

"Ash...I've been holding back a big secret from you all these months that we've been traveling together..." she had started. All the doubt and second thoughts she had about telling him were completely gone now. She had decided that she had to tell him...no matter what.

"What is it, Serena?" Ash had replied. I knew I had his undivided attention, and he even seemed a little concerned. There was no turning back at that point.

"Well...it's kind of embarrassing...I'm not sure if you want to know..." she was sort of teasing him, trying to see just how much Ash cared.

Of course, his reaction had made her smile. "No, c'mon, Serena! I wanna know!" he had said, looking her straight in the eyes now.

Serena blushed, looking away for a moment. "Okay. Well, you see...ever since I met you that day in the woods, when we were just little kids...I've really, really liked you and I haven't had the courage to say it up until now..."

Ash had just stared at her, his face showing that he was surprised. "Serena...I..." he had looked down, and Serena could tell that he had been blushing. Then he had chuckled. "I guess I was just too focused on my Pokemon to realize...that's kind of embarrassing," he said, rubbing underneath his nose. "The truth is, I've always really cared about you, Serena...and I really appreciated all that you've done for me. I mean, you've supported me more than anyone else I've ever traveled with. And...I've actually been wanting to ask if you wanted to keep traveling with me...maybe I could show you my home region, and-"

Serena had cut him off, which was probably a little rude but it was sort of necessary. "You see, Ash...that's what I've been thinking about lately..."

"You have?" Again, Ash had seemed surprised.

Serena blushed. "Well, yeah of course...I've been dreading the day when you leave for home and I had been planning on asking to go with you..." she had paused for a moment and took out a Pokeball. "But...I realized that as much as I want to stay with you...I need to follow my dream...when I first left home, it was for none other reason than to see you...which was great, even though you didn't remember me at first," she had smiled as she spoke to let Ash know that she was only teasing.

"Yeahhh, sorry again about that," Ash had replied.

"But now, I know that I have to try to become Kalos Queen...my Pokemon and I have been working so hard for this, and it's really important to me...I hope you understand..." Serena looked at Ash worriedly.

Ash had simply smiled at her, his eyes full of understanding and compassion. "Of course I get it, Serena. After all, I wouldn't wanna be the reason you left your dream behind. I just know you're gonna be Kalos Queen; I'm sure of it! You're a really amazing performer, better than Shauna and that girl Aria."

Serena responded by planting an affectionate kiss on his cheek, something she had been wanting to do for months. Surprised, Ash had immediately blushed more than she had ever seen him before. Then they embraced each other, just silently enjoying the other's presence. Afterward, Ash had decided to leave Greninja in Serena's care when he left for Kanto. He could tell that Greninja really wanted to be with Braixen, which he understood completely. This was also a reminder of their agreement: One day, Ash would come back for Serena. They didn't know exactly when; it could be Ash's next journey, or the one after that, or maybe she'll just visit Kanto for a while. Whatever it was, and wherever Ash went, eventually he was going to be with Serena again. He had promised this before he had left.

– –

Ash woke up from a nap, his head uncomfortably leaning against the wall of the cabin. He looked out the plane window again and saw a few Pidgeotto and Fearow flying amongst the clouds. He smiled. He was almost home. He felt a pang of sadness when he remembered that he wouldn't see Serena for a while, but he quickly shook it off. Wait for me, Serena, he thought. I'll be coming back soon.

Serena lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been a long day. Being Kalos Queen attracted a lot of attention from the media, and of course, the boys as well. But she only had one boy on her mind, and to her he was the most amazing person she had ever met. Ash, she thought. When we meet again, I will never, ever leave your side...

"Mom, I'm home!" Ash shouted, opening the door to his house. Mr. Mime was there to greet him, smiling and waving its arms in excitement. Delia Ketchum came down from upstairs and he gave her a hug.

"Ash, you're finally back home again. How was your journey in, honey? You remembered to change your underwear, right?" Ash's mom joked.

Ash exclaimed, "Oh, it was great, Mom! I lost in the semifinals of the league, but still...I think it was my best adventure yet!"

His mom smiled. I'm so proud of him, she thought. "Hey, you know what they say about Kalos...that it's the region of love. So, did you meet any girls?" she teased.

Ash smiled and blushed, scratching the back of his head as he looked at the floor. He knew that he had quite a long story to tell. "Well...you see..."

"So, Serena...you never did tell me. Why did you exactly leave for your journey? It was so sudden...and you hadn't shown much interest in Pokemon before," Grace Yvonne asked.

Serena blushed and looked over at the T.V. "Well, remember that live news story about the Garchomp and Ash?" she asked. "Well...see I recognized Ash from that camp back in Kanto, and I guess I just really wanted to see him." She took out Ash's handkerchief. It would always be a symbol of their relationship, whatever it was, in her heart.

Grace nodded and smiled. She had been suspecting that Ash had had something to do with Serena leaving. Now she looked at her daughter, and she seemed...different. She was Kalos Queen, of course, so that was a contributing factor. But she knew that Ash had some sort of influence over Serena that made Serena into a better person. "Ah, I see. Of course. My goodness, I was so frightened for that brave boy when I saw him jump off the tower. Ash is really something else, isn't he? I don't think you'll ever meet anyone quite like him, Serena. You're very lucky, you know," she said as she took a sip from her cup.

Serena looked out the window and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I really am."

The End.

– – – –

Good ending? Bad ending? Disappointing? Let me know in the reviews! Like I've mentioned before, this is my first story ever, so it's not the greatest. But in the future I plan on writing another Amourshipping story, and I hope for it to be my best story yet. In the meantime, stay tuned for my Pearlshipping story. Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading, especially all of you who read every single chapter and gave me advice and criticism, it really helped me and I enjoyed writing because of it. I apologize if this story wasn't what you wanted it to be, but hey; all the more reason to review, right? And don't be afraid to hit that 'favorite' button while you're at it! :) Thanks again!