I got off my plane and went straight to the conveyor belt walkway to the rest of the airport. I was thankful to have packed light, due to the insane amount of time it takes to find your heavy bags. I let the conveyor belt take me along, as my thoughts overwhelmed me, they were thankfully about my schedule, not my recent catastrophes.

I have the rest of my vacation week, the month where I can just train, the day of the master class performance against me, and finally the Kalos league. I still can't believe they are letting me start the Kalos league this year! It will be a great event to be in the VIP section for! I should let Clemont and Bonnie watch with me there! Right, Clemont and Bonnie are waiting, so I should hurry to them!

I started walking the rest of the conveyor belt, which shortened very quickly. I saw Bonnie standing there waiting so I set off running for her.

"BONNIE!"

She locked eyes with me, sharing one of her adorable smiles.

"SERENA!"

I finally reached her and we hugged very tightly. She had gotten a little taller over the years, but not enough to be as tall as me. I let her go only to see Clemont as he dove forwards to hug me.

"Welcome back, Serena! I'm glad to see, but sorry that it is under such awful pretenses."

"That's alright, Clemont! Thanks for letting me stay with you two and for coming here to pick me up!"

Bonnie hopped back into the conversation, clearly bubbling with joy from seeing me again.

"Of course! Let's pick up the food and then head back!"

"Sounds awesome!"

-A short walk and a little bit of time later-

As the door to Clemont's home opened, I noticed that it hadn't changed much since I had last visited. I looked at the couch, which had been made into a movie watching lounger, covered in blankets and pillows. I loved seeing their cute set up for movies, so I was excited to join them there after we ate. We set up food in the kitchen, but that was when my attention was taken to a lower point of focus by Clemont.

"Serena, I know it might be a little early to ask, but can we all talk about what happened with Ash?"

I was a little stunned, so I dropped the chopsticks I was holding. It freaked out Clemont and Bonnie frowned, so I decided very quickly what to say next.

"Sorry to worry you just now, but yes, let's talk about what happened. Do you guys want the full story or a simpler version?"

"The full story, please."

"Sure thing, I'll start with when I reunited with Ash."

-About 45 minutes later-

"So, that was when I got on the plane."

Bonnie was teary eyed and Clemont was still gently crying as softly as he could. I saw that my story was hurting them a great deal, because we had all travelled together and they knew I liked Ash. Then Bonnie made me rethink about somethings I had seen and done.

"Serena?"

"Yes, Bonnie?"

"Did you ever consider that the voice you thought you heard calling you was Ash trying to get your attention before you got on the plane?"

I feel like my shock was extremely apparent when Clemont nodded.

"Yeah, I think that might have been who the voice was as well. I wonder if he was trying to explain things that you saw. I mean he probably read the letter, had Pikachu as his guide, since you told Pikachu, and ran off to try and stop you. I know that he made huge mistakes and I am very disappointed with him, but he's Ash. He would never intend to hurt you so much, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do think that."

My bittersweet smile and glistening eyes got their serious attention.

"I don't think he meant to hurt me in any way. But I think he was too nice to reject me, kick me out, or tell me that he really loved Lana the whole time. I still love Ash, but the vile side of me wants to never see him again."

Bonnie said something very critical to me, which prompted me to change my thinking.

"Serena, if Ash comes back and apologizes, what will you do?"

"Wait, Bonnie, where is that coming from?!"

"Serena! You love Ash, so you know he isn't a cheater and a liar! He is and always will be that honest, brave, and sincere young man he was in my mind, so I know that you will remember that Ash too! I think it was a misunderstanding! I know it is hard on me to say this to you when you're still healing, but I think that he loves you as much as you love him."

I was completely astonished with her words, but I couldn't see them being false. I sat there for a moment in silence, when I came up with what a good response to her, but also the idea, would be.

"Bonnie, maybe you are right. But I came home to figure out some things I learned there in Alola. If what you said was true, then Ash would have read my letter. He would've seen me say that I wouldn't be ready to see him for a little while. So if he really loves me, then he will show up again in a little while and explain, at which point I would be willing to apologize for misreading the situation. But if he does love Lana, then at least I left before I interrupted them more. Does that settle the topic around Ash?"

"Yeah. You're not angry, right, Serena?"

I smiled at her gently and calmly as possible to prove my next statement to her.

"Of course not! Thank you for honestly bringing that idea to my attention. Now, I am really hungry, so let's eat!"

"Okay!"

We all dug in and when we finished, we went over to the couch and enjoyed movies under blankets of laughter and anxious watching as the horror and comedy films kept going. Bonnie fell asleep on me, followed by Clemont dozing off on his side of the couch. I leaned down next to Bonnie and wrapped my arms around her and my napping Pikachu, who had been sleeping as we watched movies. She woke up, made a quick "cha" sound, and then curled up in front of Bonnie. Bonnie wrapped her arms around her, which made my heart beat fast.

I know what I need now and it is right here in front of me. If I can hold this memory close, then I will never want to give up anything, even when it's the very end.

-One month and three days later-

Is my dress good? Are the Pokemon ready? Is my hair doing what I want it to? Okay, everything seems good, so let's do this thing!

I walked to the platform for the opening of the Kalos league, taking a step up with my Pokemon to stand proudly on it's clean floors. I nodded to the guy controlling the height of the platform that I was ready. He nodded in response, then pulled the lever that sent me up to the bright sky and cheering crowd. I smiled as brightly as I could, doing a complete circle while waving. My brilliant star Pokemon followed suit, which got even more cheers. Then I faced towards the camera direction and some of the crowd and started the exhibition performance they were promised. It included the fanciest moves I had, seeing as I had already used them to defend my titles in Kalos and Kanto successfully. I lost my Hoenn winning streak to a lovely young lady with a great Pokemon, which made me feel a little less stressed, but glad to have learned so much there. I figured that as I lost my titles, I would retire from them. I owned the shop in Coumarine city that I was renovating with Clemont, Meyer, and Bonnie's help, so my retired job would be baking Pokepuffs and teaching other girls anything they might want to know about performing and contests. With these moves though, I showed the best of my new member, Pikachu, who has literally electrified the energy of the audience with her cuteness and sass. They loved her to pieces, which helped my vote in the final round of the master class.

I finished with my final move, a flight, double flip, rotation, three move collision, and a landing that was so clean and steady that the people lost it. They gave us the applause of our lives that day, so I cherish my Pokemon for being there to make that memory so special for me. I held Sylveon's ribbon, had Pikachu find her spot on my shoulder, and I held Pancham. My original and very close partner, Delphox was right there with us too. I got a picture of us one day in the future from that experience, taken by Trevor. He was in the audience and Tierno made him take it but he ended up sending it to a photography contest, where it took first. I received it after it was a winner, which made it even dearer to me.

I started my planned speech now, which I had carefully memorized after I wrote it two weeks ago.

"Hello everyone! I'm Serena Yvonne, the current Kalos queen, a Top coordinator in Kanto and Hoenn! I am extremely thankful to be here today to welcome the start of this year's Kalo league!"

The crowd cheered, so I paused a moment, then continued on.

"I am a performer and coordinator, so I don't battle much, but I know what it can take to follow your dreams. This battlefield will reflect what these courageous and creative young people have been dreaming of; a chance to be the champion. I have a quote from a friend who battled here on this very stage many years ago that I would like to share as a spark to light the flames of passion for the many trainers about to battle their way for the single title of Kalos Champion. I implore you all to, "Never give up till the very end!" I'll be cheering for you all, so show us what your dreams are! Good luck to all of you and give it all the ability that you've already got inside of each and every one of you!"

With the speech over, I bowed with all my Pokemon. That was the signal to the technical crew to lower me back down on the platform, which is exactly what happened. I helped my Pokemon out of their costumes, put them into their Pokeballs after thanking them and promising each one their favorite meal, and walked towards the internal hallway that led to the VIP section. I found my seat inside next to Bonnie and Clemont. They both greeted me with excited looks on their faces.

"You were awesome, Serena! No wonder you're Kalos Queen and a Top Coordinator! You also had an amazing speech!"

"Aw thanks, Bonnie! I am glad it was a spectacular start! These trainers deserve to be hyped up by a cool beginning exhibition and speech."

Clemont hopped in at this point.

"Hey, they're about to start! The first two competitors are walking out of the tunnels!"

We all stopped our friendly chit chats and watched as the first competitor walked out of the door. It was a young girl, who was about 11 or 12 it seemed, so she was clearly an unexperienced trainer to the league level of battling. She smiled and waved as they called out her name, which was Amelie. Then we all waited as the next competitor left the tunnel.

Is that who I think it is!? Oh, my gosh….it is…...he's actually here to fight for the title he was so close to winning when we were younger.

The other competitor was Ash himself, grinning euthustatically and waving. The crowd roared to life and was whooping and clapping with more passion than ever at the sight of Ash. He was the champion of Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Alola, so everyone suspected he would visit Kalos next in an attempt to be a complete World Champion.

I was clapping too, but when he looked up directly at the VIP box, we locked eyes. His smile melted off his face; replaced with a steely gaze of power and determination. The match was started with an electric battlefield and the girl sent out a ground type to oppose the field. Ash sent out Pikachu, as he usually did to start leagues, and the heated first battle began.