Chapter 34: Under the Stars of Victory
Sorry for taking so long, I have been really busy and didn't have much of a chance to get to this chapter.
Summary: before the final stage of their journey Ash and Serena reflect on their travels.
Dawn looked at the ground visibly shaken up from the rejection that she had been given, "I guess it will be difficult for me to fully accept this," Dawn muttered under her breath, feeling hurt by what had transpired, "but at least you said something before I went too far," Dawn stated with her eyes starting to well up.
"Sorry Dawn," Ash replied softly.
Dawn did her best to put on a brave front, even putting on her signature smile, "no need to apologize," Dawn replied softly, she looked over to Serena who was standing on the spot watching the duo talk, "Serena is really lucky to have someone as amazing as you Ash," Dawn clarified with the trainer who looked over and nodded.
Dawn walked over to Serena and nodded, she then turned her gaze to Ash, "you take good care of him," Dawn whispered softly.
"Thanks, but you have been waiting for something haven't you?" Serena enquired calmly.
Dawn looked at her new friend with amazement, "how did you know?" Dawn asked the blonde haired trainer.
"I can read a person's aura, much like Ash can," Serena admitted to the bluenette.
Dawn stepped back in shock at what was being told of her, 'not only immortality, but also able to read aura,' Dawn gulped as she turned away from Serena, 'I cannot even hide my one wish from Serena and Ash either,' Dawn continued to think to herself with shame.
"You wanted to have your first kiss with Ash correct?" Serena sighed in disbelief. Serena turned away with her right hand on her chin, she started to think ignoring the calls of Dawn who was wondering what the blonde haired trainer was thinking about, 'nah, that would be mean,' Serena thought with a cheeky grin.
"I don't like that smile," Dawn remarked with a concerned expression.
"What's to worry about? I have been planning on pulling a prank on Ash for at least three months now," Serena admitted to Dawn. "Sadly I have forgotten what I wanted to do, since the idea was in my head about three months ago," Serena remarked with a saddened tone.
Dawn gasped at the comment from Serena and shook her head, "what did you have in mind?" Dawn asked, knowing that she was going to regret asking the question. Serena approached the younger coordinator and leant in to whisper into the bluenette's left ear.
Meanwhile Ash stood in awe at the sight infront of him, "you know buddy, now that I have a goal and the chance to defeat Serena in the Kalos League, I think it would be a great time to have a break," Ash explained to his pokemon, "well at least the two are starting to get along, maybe a little," Ash commented with a quiet laugh, he continued to look over to the horizon to take one more look, not realising that Dawn was sneaking up behind him.
'I cannot believe Serena got me involved in this stupid prank,' Dawn thought to herself, walking up slowly with a playful smile.
(A few hours later)
A seething Ash walked ahead of the two girls not liking the joke that was played on him, wanting to forget what had happened, he still couldn't believe the end result, "you know buddy, I don't mind pranks, but at least they could have made it less childish," Ash whispered to his partner pokemon, hearing the two women talking about their next challenges.
"You know Dawn, I am going to be your rival anyway, I think I might take on Pokemon Contests," Serena admitted calmly.
"You would never be able to defeat me that easily," Dawn teased the inexperienced trainer.
"Well it would be better than getting completely annihilated by Ash," Serena made her excuse to Dawn who shook her head in shame, "Ash said that he would completely destroy me in the Kalos league," Serena announced, but before Dawn could reply they heard the hysterical laughter of Ash, "what's so funny Ash?" Serena asked in anger.
"I was joking, you took it seriously," Ash replied as the light of day started to fade, Ash looked back and stood on the spot, "we set up camp here," Ash announced calmly.
Ash pulled off his backpack and pulled out his tent, ready to setup for the night, his Pikachu helping to set up camp, the trainer ignored the two women as they helped one another, 'well at least they are helping each other out instead of arguing,' Ash thought as the peace between the two girls continued.
Ash started walking away from the camp and towards the forest, Serena turned her attention to Ash, "where are you going?" Serena asked her boyfriend curiously.
"I will be gathering the firewood, you two get the meal ready to cook," Ash instructed the two girls as he left the scene to help finish the preperations. Ash walked slowly picking up logs as he continued through the forest, "you know buddy, this could be the perfect time for some payback," Ash smirked as he looked over to the girls with malicious intent. Thinking back to when he first met Serena and the parts of their journey, "we are friends, rivals and now we are going out," Ash whispered thinking back to the first race between him and Serena.
(Flashback)
Standing on the balcony the two trainers watched the fireworks, nothing seemed to be going on, Ash averted his gaze to Serena, something that she didn't even notice, noticing how much Serena loved the fireworks, 'what's wrong with me?' the puzzled trainer asked himself, trying to figure out why the image of Serena kept getting better.
Ash pulled the map out of his pockets and unfolded it, he placed it on the railing while the rival held it down with her right hand, "hey Ash, instead of a battle, how about we have a race?" Serena asked her friend with a broad smile.
"Where to?" Ash asked in response.
"To Shalour City, we get another two pokemon and another badge, the loser has to fulfil a request from the winner," Serena suggested with a broad smile.
Ash tilted his head wondering what the request from Serena would be, 'oh man, I have no idea what my request would be,' Ash thought to himself while trying his best to not make eye contact with Serena, 'it might have been a week, but I have to admit, she sure is pretty,' Ash stated, resisting the urge to say a word.
(Return from the Flashback)
Ash started walking back towards the camp with enough firewood to last the night, "I guess we kind of had a draw," Ash started to chuckle at the result of the race, Ash looked at Pikachu who stood on his left shoulder, "you know buddy, after today's stunt, we can both get Dawn and Serena back, I just need your help," Ash laughed manically.
Serena and Dawn looked up to see Ash returning with enough firewood for the night, "oh good, we have almost finished," Serena expressed her joy at seeing Ash coming back, it was then she noticed a cheeky smile, "say Ash, what are you thinking?" Serena grew a little nervous at the smile that Ash was showing.
"Nothing, nothing at all Serena," Ash lied to Serena, hiding the plot of revenge against the two girls, 'yeah, that stunt you pulled earlier today will have funny consequences tomorrow morning,' Ash thought to himself while resisting the urge to laugh.
"Um Serena, I think we might be in for a shock tomorrow morning," Dawn grew nervous, as if she knew what Ash was thinking about.
Ash placed the wood in a pile before calling out one of his pokemon to start the camp fire, "alright, you two get the meal cooked, I will prepare the table and chairs," Ash told the two girls calmly, he moved to get the final preparations done for the meal.
While Ash was making the final preparation Dawn finished placing the vegetables in the cauldron, "Serena, how did you and Ash first meet?" Dawn asked her friend, curious as to Ash and Serena's first meeting.
Serena turned her attention to Ash, "well Dawn, it was about twelve years ago, I was at the summer camp in Pallet Town which I was invited to go to by Professor Oak," Serena explained the day she went to camp, "but I didn't want to go," Serena admitted quietly, she turned her attention to the bluenette who grew even more excited about the camp that Serena went to.
"Oh wow, I have always wanted to go to Professor Oak's summer camp, but my mom would always be on the contest trail performing with her pokemon," Dawn stated with an excited tone, she placed the cauldron over the fire and sat on the chair waiting for Serena to complete the story, "tell me more," Dawn demanded of the blonde haired trainer.
"Before I go on, can you tell me what contests are like," Serena requested of her friend.
Ash looked over his shoulder to see the young women talking peacefully, a smile graced his lips as he placed the final touches on the preparations, "well buddy at least they are peaceful," Ash whispered before hearing Serena and Dawn yelling at one another, "or not," Ash sighed at the sight of the two girls glaring at one another.
"There is no chance that you will beat me at contests!" Dawn yelled at Serena with her fists clenched.
"I can crush you in battle anytime, anywhere!" Serena snapped back in fury, but before the two could continue to yell at one another a sudden jolt hit both the girls with Ash's Pikachu being the origin, Serena's and Dawn's hair stuck out starting to sparkle from the effects of the electricity.
"That's enough from the both of you, geez, I was going to save that for tomorrow morning, but hey revenge now is better that getting later on," Ash told the girls with a sly smirk, Ash turned away to sit in front of the fire to think about his journey so far, "if you two are going to be rivals save it for later on, like when we go to Hoenn," Ash suggested to the two teens.
"Alright," Serena and Dawn submitted trying to hold back their laughter at one another's expense.
Dawn turned her attention to Dawn, "now, tell me when you first met Ash," Dawn requested for the story that she was wanting to hear.
"Okay, I was forced to go to the summer camp, because of my mother, but when I got lost in the forest because I wondered off," Serena stated while gleefully looking at the trainer, her smile widened, "he doesn't know this, but that day, he was my prince," Serena professed, she looked up to the darkening sky.
"How so?" Dawn asked with a perplexed expression
(Flashback)
Running lost in a forest a young Serena was searching for someone to help her get back to the camp, "where is everyone?" Serena asked herself, feeling alone, she moved her arms into a defensive posture, the shrubs in front of her started to shake, falling to the ground hurting herself, "I didn't even want to come here, MOM!" Serena cried out while hearing another shake of the shrubs in front of her.
"Poliwag where are you," A younger Ash called out for the water type pokemon. The young boy turned his attention to Serena who was on the forest floor hurt and crying in fear, the would be trainer approached the little girl as she pushed herself back in fear, "are you alright?" Ash asked the girl.
"My leg it hurts," Serena cried. Ash pulled out his Handkerchief and started to wrap up the wound, "it still hurts," Serena complained about the pain lingering.
"A magic spell for you," Ash said while starting to wave his hands over her injured leg, "pain, Pain fly away," Ash chanted but to no effect, "come on stand up," Ash encouraged the strange girl.
"I can't," Serena replied still in pain.
"Never give up until the very end," Ash stood in front of the younger girl, extending his hand out to her, trying to encourage her to stand up, Serena took his hand, the would be trainer pulled Serena up and embraced her when he fell into his arms. Serena in shock at what had happened, she was unable to even say anything, but her cheeks started to turn a little red, she pushed herself back, still unable to put together a sentence.
Walking towards the entrance of the forest after, 'who is he?' the young Serena thought, puzzled but still unable to hold back her blushing and the racing of her heart.
(Return from flashback)
"Never knew that Ash was that kind of person," Dawn commented while thinking about her travels with Ash, "I never thought he had a romantic bone in his body, but even when he was seven years old he was able to sweep you off your feet," Dawn remarked with a hint of jealousy, 'I guess I lost way before I travelled with him,' Dawn thought while standing up to get one of the plates for dinner.
"When I started my journey, I bumped into Ash, when I saw him that day, I immediately recognised him, but I couldn't even bring myself to say something," Serena admitted with a giggle, she looked at the trainer watching the night sky with his partner pokemon talking to him.
"Really, I never thought of you as a shy person," Dawn replied with pride, "why don't you sit at the camp fire with him and have dinner, I will sit back and give the pokemon some food," Dawn suggested calmly, taking a deep breath, finally accepting the fact that she wouldn't end up with the trainer.
"By the way Dawn, Ash, is going to help you with something once we get to the Kalos league, he instructed me not to get in the way, he didn't say what it was, but I can sense that it will be great for you," Serena explained to her friend and rival, she grabbed two of the plates and started walking to the camp fire to sit with Ash.
Serena put the plate of food in front of Ash and allowed him to take it, "thanks," Ash replied gratefully, "you know, we have done so much together, we have both travelled on different roads and yet we are still heading towards the same destination," Ash started laughing, Serena followed the trainer's laughter while Dawn watched the two trainer sharing their laughter.
"Yeah, I know, we haven't even had much of a battle yet," Serena confirmed what their rivalry had lacked.
"Yeah, I know, but you certainly got stronger," Ash complimented his girlfriend on her growth, Ash turned his attention to Serena who was shivering from the cold air, Ash placed his meal on the ground and grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Serena, "would hate for you to get sick," Ash admitted with a great sense of care.
Serena started to giggle at the compassion Ash was showing, "still a gentleman to this very day, you haven't changed much at all," Serena mentioned the nature of Ash with immeasurable joy, Ash picked up his plate and started to eat, enjoying the meal, Serena watched him eating his meal and smiled at him, 'he is still that same boy I met back then,' Serena thought to herself while turning towards the fire.
"So, what has journey been like so far? Tell me the things that I don't know about," Ash requested the blonde haired trainer.
"Everything you want to know? Alright where do I start?" Serena whispered as she grabbed another forkful of food.
(Flashback Serena)
Serena was walking through the streets of Lumiose City on her own, a salad sandwich in her grasp, she looked around to see what the city had on offer, "wow so many shops open, I wonder what specials are on today," Serena wondered as she peered through the windows, seeing a beautiful pink dress and starting to imagine Ash's reaction to seeing her in that dress.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we present to you for the very first time in the Kalos region, Pokemon contests!" a woman's voice echoed through the massive city.
Serena quickly turned her attention to where the voice originated from, "contests? I thought Kalos knew nothing of it," Serena's inquisitiveness started to get the better of her; she rushed toward the promotion that was being shown at the centre of the city.
"Today is just the contest battles, to show off the excitement of these amazing battles!" A woman with wavy shoulder length brown hair, wearing a blue shirt and dress, with a massive scoreboard standing behind her, "I am Lilian Meridian and today we have two promoters set to have a battle, each from Sinnoh and Hoenn, they will be using contest rules of course," the woman announced with great excitement.
Serena watched with amazement as the two coordinators stood on stage, "this should be interesting," Serena whispered quietly as the crowd continued to grow around her, the two pokemon taking part in the battle appeared on the stage, "Butterfree against Glaceon," Serena's interest continued to grow, she kept her attention on the two coordinators, an older woman wearing a pink dress and a man wearing a black suit, both with black hair, "they are siblings," Serena noted as she waited for the battle to begin, just like the crowd around her.
"Butterfree attack with Silver Wind," the woman announced her first attack of the battle.
"Glaceon defend with Protect," the brother called for the defensive attack.
The wings of Butterfree started to glow before they started to flap vigorously sending a powerful breeze towards the light blue pokemon who built up a barrier, Serena looked up to see what the red bar was about, seeing that the older woman's points started to drop, "what's going on? Nothing happened," a curious Serena wondered as the two coordinators smirked at one another.
"As you can see ladies and gents defending attacks can lower your opponent's points," Lilian announced to the crowd.
Fifteen minutes later Serena walked away from the stage with a clearer view of what contests were all about, "but isn't there more to it than that?" Serena wondered to herself as she walked towards the shop, even more curious about the Pokemon Contest.
Serena walked up to the shop window to find that the beautiful dress had been sold, now feeling a little disappointed, she walked away from the shop window, "oh well, I learned something really cool today, so I cannot be all upset," Serena smiled even though she was hurt a little at not being able to buy the dress she wanted to buy.
(Return from flashback)
Ash burst out into laughter while Serena pouted at the trainer, "what's so funny?" Serena asked angrily at the trainer who was still laughing.
"I was in Lumiose the same day you were, I heard about the promotion about the contests and I saw you at the shop window, staring with intent on that nice dress," Ash professed with laughter.
"What did you do?" Serena asked the trainer as he calmed down his laughter.
"Nothing, nothing at all, I was just passing the city by before heading towards my next destination," Ash lied convincingly, not wanting to ruin the surprise for Serena, 'great if she finds out, I bought her that dress, she will want to wear it immediately,' Ash thought as he started to picture Serena in the dress.
"Oh, alright," Serena sounded a little disappointed, 'kind of wished he got me that dress,' Serena wondered as her hopes of impressing Ash even more seemed dashed.
Sitting at the table on her own surrounded by the eighteen pokemon that were traveling with them, she watched the couple talking, "they seem to enjoy one another's company," Dawn whispered while Pikachu looked up with Dawn petting his head.
"So Ash, tell me what has your journey been like so far? Something different that I don't know about," Serena's questioned her rival about his journey so far.
"Well let's see, I was in hospital for a while with a broken arm," Ash replied with a slight hint sarcasm.
"I already knew that, I went to do some serious training in order to be of more use," Serena retorted with a smirk.
Ash grasped his chin with his right hand and started to think about the journey so far, "let's see, there was this time in Santelune City," Ash started with a smirk, he looked up to the stars and thought about the day off he had in the small city.
(Ash's flashback)
"You know buddy, we haven't had a day off in our travels for a while now," Ash pointed out while walking through the small city, he looked around to find whatever the city had on offer, "you know we haven't been south for a while, maybe we should explore that forest," Ash suggested, walking quietly towards the forest.
"Yo Shauna and Trevor check out my new dance moves," a larger boy showed off his dance moves to his friends.
"Who are they? Are they trainers like me?" Ash asked himself in curiosity, he took his time walking up to the trio watching them from a distance away, he then turned his focus to the smaller of the three friends, a young girl dressed in pink with short brown hair and denim shorts, "you know buddy that girl has potential as a trainer," Ash whispered quietly as he got closer.
"Who's there?" the girl known as Shauna called out to the person.
Ash walked out from hiding and approached the trio with a warm smile, "hey guys, just walking by, I was thinking off heading into the forest," Ash said with a nervous smile, "my name is Ash very nice to meet you, and you three are?" Ash enquired after introducing himself to the three would be trainers.
"Shauna," the girl replied energetically.
The much larger person danced happily as he introduced himself to the raven haired trainer, "Tierno, the most amazing dancer in all of Kalos," the boy introduced himself to Ash before posing in front of him.
"Trevor," the last boy announced his name to Ash.
"This is my buddy Pikachu, we have been traveling since Kanto," Ash stated with a smile.
"Oh wow, so does that mean you have visited other places like Serena?" Shauna asked the raven haired trainer, he stepped back in shock after hearing that they already know Serena, "you know Serena too, I can tell with the way your face turned a little red," Shauna teased the older trainer.
"You know Serena, I thought she didn't have many friends when growing up," Ash pointed out with a shocked expression.
"Yeah, that was the case, in fact we weren't popular at school either, so we sort of made our own gang of friends," Shauna pointed out with a saddened tone, she looked over towards the city and smiled, "in fact we are going to take our time to get to Lumiose, to get our pokemon from Professor Sycamore and become really cool trainers like you and Serena," Shauna explained her goal to Ash.
"So you three have a really good goal to follow, why not head to Hoenn to do your journey, Serena and I will be heading there after the Kalos League," Ash announced his intentions to the three friends.
"Alright, I cannot wait to tell Serena that I met her boyfriend," Tierno danced with joy.
"Um please don't, I want to meet up with you in Hoenn to surprise her a little," Ash replied with a cheeky grin. the friends grew a little uneasy with the smile of the trainer, "oh come on guys, I was joking if you three are friends of Serena, then you three are friends of mine as well," Ash stated happily, he turned away and started to leave the three who were perplexed with this strange trainer.
"We see you in Hoenn!" Shauna yelled out with pride.
"Oh well the day off didn't go the way I wanted it to go, but at least I met some amazing people," Ash silently told himself, he looked over his left shoulder to see the three friends waving good bye to him, "you know buddy, I think Serena will be overjoyed to know that her next rivals in the Hoenn league will be her friends," Ash stated while walking back to the city on his own with his partner pokemon.
(End of flashback)
"I cannot believe you met my old friends and influenced them to go to Hoenn and be my rivals," Serena pouted at the trainer who waved his hands in front of his face nervously, "I didn't mind one rival, but three?" Serena asked the trainer as she moved a little closer to Ash.
"Sorry about that Serena," Ash apologized to his girlfriend.
"That's fine Ash," Serena answered back.
After an hour under the stars Ash and Serena walked towards their respective tents to get the night's sleep they needed, the next day was important, the day they arrived at the Kalos League, "tomorrow," Ash whispered softly.
"Yes tomorrow we will be rivals again, so don't hold back," Serena instructed Ash as she entered her tent and closed up for the night.
Ash entered his tent and immediately went to sleep, waiting for the next day to come and see what the next lot of challenges will provide them, 'after this league is over Serena and I will no longer be rivals, we will start a new wave of goals,' Ash thought to himself as he finally nodded off to sleep. Starting his dream of Serena dancing in the dress that he bought her when she thought she couldn't buy it.
Hope you liked this sweet chapter, it was more of a filler chapter, before we head straight into the final chapters, the Kalos League arc, which will most likely go 4-5 chapters.
Next up chapter 35: Kalos League begins
Well I have some amazing news, I am starting a new AmourShipping story, my inspiration for this story is Episode 37 of the XY series, but until then (next year) I will need to finish a few projects, this one included which only has about 4-5 chapters remaining.