August 9th / Serena
There was nothing like waking up to a good old peck-attack to the forehead. Serena sprang up from her bed from the momentary sting of pain and grumpily glared at Fletching - her mom's flying-type Pokemon that typically woke her up in this manner.
"Fletching! How many times do I need to tell you not to do that?" Serena complained
In response, Fletching simply landed on Serena's small table and blinked at her. Serena lunged at the Pokemon but missed as Fletching jumped on top of her head. She sighed and stayed in that position for a couple of moments until she heard the faintest sound of a vehicle come to a stop not that far away.
Serena got up and walked over to one of her windows, opening it up and peering out. It took her a couple of seconds to register the moving truck, with the bright sunlight bothering her eyes. From the looks of it, people were finally moving into the house across the street, which had been untouched for around a year now. She waited to get a look at her neighbors before going to meet them - which was inevitable, due to her mom.
First came out a boy about her age with brown hair and black eyes. He wore a purple sweater and black jeans, and over his shoulder he had a backpack slung. Serena took no particular interest in him; he just seemed like one of those troublemaker boys. Then, she did a double-take when another boy about the same age hopped out from the other side. Messy raven-black hair and brown eyes that she couldn't help but wonder if she had seen them somewhere before.
"Serena! Come on down!" Her mom called
"Coming!" She called back
She quickly threw on some clothes and walked down the stairs to be greeted by her mom, who was already standing at the doorway. She rolled her eyes, not expecting to already have to go and introduce herself to the new neighbors.
"Come on Serena, there's someone I want you to meet" Grace smirked knowingly
Serena raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior, but went along with it and walked with her mom across the street. The adult, who had obviously purchased the house, noticed them immediately and smiled as if she already knew them.
"Grace! It's been a while" She said
"It sure has. What brings you to the Kalos region?" Serena's mom replied
"Well, my son just returned from an adventure through the Unova region - his fifth adventure at that. We decided it would be nice to have a fresh start"
"Excuse me" Serena spoke up. "Your son has traveled through five different regions?"
"He sure has. Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Unova"
Whichever one her son is, he seems pretty interesting, Serena thought to herself.
"Where is your son anyways Delia?" Grace asked
"He should be unpacking somewhere" 'Delia' said, turning around to face the house
From the inside, Serena could hear two voices arguing about something to do with food. One voice sounded kind of irritating, but the other one was smoother and sounded familiar. Could it really be him? No...
"I wish I could stay longer, but I have to head to Ryhorn training" Grace said
"No problem at all. In the mean time, Serena can come inside and meet my son and his friend" Delia replied, a knowing smirk appearing on her face - similar to the one her mom had earlier
Grace nodded and waved before walking away. Mom doesn't even have work today, what's really going on here? Serena asked herself. She followed Delia, who somehow already knew her name, inside and into the living room. The room was simple and looked pretty similar to hers, but the colors were different and seemed slightly bigger.
The voices - that were still in argument - were now louder and the feeling of familiarity increased as she approached them. She poked her head inside the kitchen and stole a better look at the two boys. The one she thought was familiar had his back to her, and the troublemaker-looking one was facing him.
"Hello?" Serena piped up
The two boys turned around, and Serena's heart sped up. Up close, her suspicions had been confirmed. It really was him - Ash Ketchum, the boy she had met as a young child, and her only friend back at Professor Oak's summer camp. The boy with brown hair looked in confusion between the both of them, who were staring at each other with no particular emotion on their face.
"I feel like I'm missing something" He said
Ash swallowed. "Serena?"
She stiffened. "Ash?"
After a few moments, they broke into a smile and approached each other. The brown-haired boy's confusion only increased as time passed on.
"W-What are you doing in Kalos?" She asked, bushing a strand of hair behind her ear nervously
"Good to see you too" Ash replied sarcastically. "Mom thought it would be a good idea to move here and get a fresh start"
"I didn't think you would remember me" Serena admitted, giggling
"Of course I remember you, Serena" Ash smiled
"Ok, what's going on here?"
"That's Gary, don't mind him" Ash dismissed
"Don't mind me?" 'Gary' repeated in offense. "Who is this Ash?"
"This is Serena - we met each other at Professor Oak's summer camp" Ash said
Serena waved. "Hey"
Gary narrowed his eyes and looked up and down at Serena. "Interesting... okay then, 'Serena', I'm Gary Oak - grandson of Professor Oak"
They shook hands. "Nice to meet you"
"Hey Serena, do you know where I could find someone to battle around here?" Ash asked
"I sure do" She confirmed
After lots of complaint from Gary's side, the trio set out to find a local battlefield where they could find a challenger. Ash caught Serena up on everything since the last time they had seen each other, and she was surprised to find out he actually had gone on so many adventures. It made her wish she could go on one with him - not only because she liked him in more than a friends kind of way - but because they also seemed fun. In return, Serena told the two everything they needed to know about Kalos and the school they would all be attending.
Currently, they were fifteen years of age and heading into the ninth grade. And it just so happened that Ash would end up challenging an upcoming twelfth grader that Serena had seen around - Jason Covenant. He was a couple of inches taller than them, and had black hair along with piercing black eyes.
His posture gave his confidence off as well as ever. Serena didn't know much about him besides his name, but he just looked like a challenging opponent. She and Gary took a seat in the stands and watched as Ash and Jason stood on opposing sides of the field.
"You look worried" Gary said. "But Ash is a great battler, trust me"
Serena let her face relax and watch on as the two released their Pokemon. Ash went first and sent out a Charizard that flexed and blasted fire into the air confidently.
"Normally Ash likes to battle with Pikachu when he first gets to a region, but he's resting at home" Gary said
Pikachu's a cute Pokemon Serena thought. So is Ash, but he's not a Pokemon...
As it turned out, Jason had his own Charizard - a black one, at that. Gary's eyes widened a bit at the sight. "A Shiny-Charizard!"
"I've never seen a black Charizard before" Ash said
Jason nodded. "You can have the first move"
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Ash began
"Cancel that out" Jason said
The two Charizard's coiled back their heads and charged up fire before releasing it in a massive Flamethrower. The two attacks collided at the center of the battlefield and struggled for dominance, until they cancelled out and exploded - causing smoke to cover the field.
"Use that smoke! Use Dragon Tail!" Ash continued
Charizard flew above the smoke and looked around for its enemy. A bright glow came from inside the smoke, and a different Pokemon emerged from out of the smoke - a purple Charizard with different features.
"What's that?" Gary asked as he quickly pulled out his notebook and a pencil
"Mega Evolution" Serena half-whispered in surprise. "I've never seen a Mega-Charizard that looked like that though"
Ash shook his head and cleared his thoughts as Charizard charged forward and attempted a Dragon Tail, but missed as Mega-Charizard dodged and hit him with a large Fire Punch - sending him crashing into the ground.
"Your Charizard is definitely stronger than mine, but with Mega-Evolution, your outclassed" Jason said
"Mega-Evolution?" Ash repeated slowly
"Ah, you must be new" Jason figured. "Charizard, use Dragon Claw!"
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Ash defended
Mega-Charizard activated Dragon Claw and flew towards its counterpart; Charizard, still on the ground, fired off a powerful Flamethrower. The attacks clashed as Mega-Charizard crossed its arms and blocked it, eventually slashing its arms and separating the fire.
"Overheat Magnetron" Jason commanded
"You ever heard of that move?" Serena asked
"It must be a custom command for something else" Gary guessed
"Whatever it is, dodge it Charizard!" Ash instructed
A wave of fire sent Charizard stumbling back, and an aura of flames covered Mega-Charizard, who was currently charging up a Flamethrower.
Come on Ash, pull through Serena rooted in her head.
Mega-Charizard fired off a large blast of fire shaped like a star that was too quick for Charizard to dodge. It collided and an explosion of dust covered the entire battlefield - leaving the result unclear. Serena and Gary impatiently waited for the smoke to clear, but were relieved to see that Charizard had survived the attack.
"That's definitely a first" Jason said
"Are you alright Charizard?" Ash asked
The fire-and-flying-type nodded and stomped in place - ready to keep going.
"To the skies, Charizard" Jason resumed
"Chase him down and use Seismic Toss!" Ash exclaimed
Serena and Gary shield their eyes from the dust that arose from both Charizard's flying up into the sky so quickly. Mega-Charizard was faster and reached about fifty feet above the ground first. Charizard attempted to grab it, but it was too slow and was instead hit by another Fire Punch.
"Dragon Tail!" Ash shouted up
Charizard lunged again and landed a Dragon Tail to Mega-Charizard, but it didn't do too much more than make him stumble back. Both Charizard's lunged at each other and clasped palms, attempting to push the other back.
"That's a lot of brute force" Jason observed. "Charizard, Fire Punch to Blast Burn!"
"Dodge that Charizard!" Ash attempted
Mega-Charizard backed up and then hit Charizard with a massive Fire Punch that sent him rocketing towards the ground. Charizard quickly got up but Mega-Charizard was too quick and had already hit the ground, sending forth Blast Burn that crashed into it at full force. More smoke rolled in, but when it cleared this time, Charizard had been defeated.
"Thanks Charizard, you did great" Ash smiled and returned his Pokemon
Jason returned his own Pokemon, that de-mega-evolved before retreating into its ball. The two met at the center of the battlefield and shook hands, as per the custom.
"Mega-Evolution, huh? I gotta learn what that is" Ash said
"It's not as great as it looks, but if you've got a good enough bond, it can be pretty handy" Jason replied
The trio waved goodbye and decided on heading back to their houses so that Ash and Gary could finish their unpacking. Gary wasted no time in rushing up the stairs, but Ash sticked back with Serena at the front porch.
"I guess I'll see you around" Serena said, a bit disappointed. "School starts on Monday by the way, so in two days"
"Then I'll see you on Monday Serena" Ash smiled and Serena's heart fluttered. "I mean, unless you want to do something tomorrow. We haven't exactly seen each other in years after all"
"Um, sure, sounds good to me" Serena forced a smile, which was hard considering how nervous she was
Ash gave one last wave and entered his house. Serena sighed with relief as the door closed, and turned to walk back to her house, where she was greeted by her mom who was giving her a look that she didn't want to deal with.
"So Serena, what do you think?" She asked
"You knew, didn't you?" Serena replied
Grace smirked. "Is there something you want to tell me Serena? I couldn't help but notice the way you look at Ash"
Serena blushed. "W-What are you talking about?"
Her mom simply shook her head and retreated to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Serena stalked up the stairs and thought over what had just gone down. Ash is really in Kalos... There was no point in denying it - Serena had had a crush on Ash ever since they were young kids, but seeing him now only reinforced her feelings. Maybe, just maybe, she had a shot...