The two broken halves of the Pokeball rested on the table, propped up with a towel beneath them. Deep marks had been carved into the shell, scuffs from being smashed marked deep with dirt in the lighter, plastic crevices. The hinge was only on one of the Pokeball, the internal manifold that held the two together hanging out of the edge like a sad tail, mixed in with thin cables and wires that attached the two halves.

Though Clemont was staring down at the Pokeball, completely transfixed by Serena's memory, Dawn was focused directly on her. She was sitting forward, looking attentive and concerned, hanging on every word of hers.

Serena looked exhausted, both physically and emotionally. As she sat at the far end of the table, her hands in her lap, her body slumped towards the edge of the table, she kept staring down at the table, completely lost in the memory.

"Did anything else happen…?" asked Dawn.

Serena shook her head, sighing. "Nothing remarkable. I got on the train and went straight home. I told Clemont what had happened, showed him the Pokeball, and kept quiet."

"Did you tell Ash?"

Serena looked up. She looked at Dawn, making sure she had heard her right, turning the words over silently in her head as she looked at her. She swallowed, shaking her head. "No, I didn't," she said.

As Serena was silently searching for an answer to give Dawn, an answer as to why she had done what she had done, her train of thought had been cut off. Dawn spoke up first, interrupting any words that could have come from her.

"Clemont, can you give us a moment? Alone?" asked Dawn.

Clemont nodded. He got up, stepping away from the table and scooting his chair back in. In the background, behind Dawn, he shuffled and muttered at the floor, getting Bunnelby to move away from a plate of tea cakes from beneath the table, getting him to follow out of the room.

Out of the corner of Dawn's eye, she saw the large wooden door to the meeting space close. She then turned her attention to Serena, giving her a surprisingly warm smile.

"You know, I had really been looking forward to meeting you. This really isn't what I had in mind, though," said Dawn, lightly chuckling.

"Oh…?" Serena tried to look cordial but her expression wilted into sadness. "I… I really didn't mean to ruin us meeting. I really wanted to see you and meet you and do all sorts of fun things… I… I just remembered Sylveon today, and I needed help… Clemont said you were the one who could help..."

Dawn's smile grew warmer, more light laughs coming from her. She sipped from a tiny teacup she held poised in her hands, drinking from the sweet, steaming contents.

"They never threatened to hurt you or Sylveon if you tried to heal her, did they?" asked Dawn.

"No..."

"So... What's stopping you?

Already, Serena looked exasperated, searching herself for the answer to the question. Her mouth opened several times in false-start attempts to answer, but she came up short. She finally looked up to Dawn.

"I… I made a promise..."

Dawn leaned in a little closer, looking more confused. "Huh?"

"I… I had an obligation… And I failed..."


TexTheTepig asks:

Howdy, Serena. What's the best thing that's ever happened in your Kalos adventure?


"When I left my home in Vanville Town, I didn't know what I was getting into. I really didn't. In all honesty, I just wanted to get away from my mother—but I really wanted to go travel the world with amazing people, people like Ash. It was all I had ever wanted—not to be out in the world, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground, sleeping in tents on cold nights, going days without showering or constantly running into trouble—but to be my own person… To have… Responsibility…

"At first that responsibility was what I had expected. It wasn't easy, but it was fulfilling. I felt like I was growing up in a matter of weeks, learning to take care of others and more importantly those around me. I was developing relationships with my Pokemon, I was reaching for dreams I had never thought were possible. It was the best time of my life.

"Things got hard, I wasn't expecting it to be as hard as it was either. There were times I desperately wanted to go home, but I couldn't—I wouldn't let myself."

Dawn looked deep into Serena's eyes, leaning in closer from where she sat, looking over at where a darkness was washing over her face. A deep, shuddering sigh came out of Serena.

"I had to remember… I had to remember what I had said in the first place," said Serena. "It was when I was first going to leave, when I was first heading out on my own… The difficult thing I had to say to my mom, the promise I had to give: that I would take care of my Pokemon—my friends—first and foremost above myself. It was so easy for me to say at the time because I knew that saying it would let me free of my mother… But it was the hardest thing I had ever said now that I ever think about it. I genuinely meant it. Pokemon were my friends and partners, and I was looking forward to investing in them."

Serena raised her gaze, looking across the table over at where Dawn was. The table seemed longer—or Serena seemed more distant from Dawn than she had ever been, seeming miles away even though she hadn't changed where she was sitting.

"It… It was those words that changed my life, forever… Of all the things I've been glad to do in Kalos… All the amazing Showcases… Meeting Aria… Traveling all over Kalos… Spending time with my friends… Nothing has ever been more important to me than my Pokemon. My Pokemon changed my life…"

A painful swallow came from Dawn. Though she had looked worried before, the confidence that came with it, the natural reassurance she had always behind her had seemed to go away. Dawn's gaze was masked by a cloudiness, brows folded together and worried.

"And… And I failed them… I know I didn't know what would happen with Aria, but I didn't put their… Their safety ahead of my own…."


A/N:

Hey everybody, minor announcement.

To keep pace and end the story on time by November 1st, I will be doing double chapter posts everyday until the story is complete. I apologize for your email inbox if you are subscribed to this story.

Thank you for your continued support.