Ash / August 10th
Unova to Kalos had been quite the transition for Ash. One week, he had been finishing up his adventure through Unova, and the next he found himself packing up for the Kalos region. Of course he hadn't complained either, his mom had definitely brought up some good points. School had definitely been something Ash didn't seem coming either, but he thought he would give it a try and explore the region on the side.
Most importantly of all though, there had been that old dusty book Ash had kept in his closet this whole time had discovered when packing up - Professor Oak's Summer Camp. It was in there where he was reminded of the straw-hat-wearing girl with the long honey-blonde hair. Coincidentally enough, he had found her in Kalos pretty quickly, and if that wasn't weird enough, he was living across the street from her. It almost like Arceus (or whoever controlled fate) himself wanted the two to reunite.
And that was how he found himself in his current situation - pacing around his room at ten in the morning. Pikachu eyed his trainer and best-friendly suspiciously, not knowing the reason for his troubles. There was no denying it for Ash, he was fifteen years old, and Serena was a really pretty girl. He was just at that age where he was starting to see girls as more than just the opposite gender.
Should I just go and knock on her door or wait? What time are we going to go anyways? Ash thought to himself.
"Uh, are you alright Ash?" Gary asked, peaking his head into the bedroom
Ash paused and turned. "Yeah, I'm fine"
"The only time I've seen you like this is before a league. What's got you so nervous?" Gary inquired
"It's nothing really" Ash dismissed
Ash knew that Gary was probably the best person fit to help him with his current situation, but he decided that it wasn't worth the teasing and embarrassment to tell him.
"Suit yourself" Gary shrugged and made his way down the stairs
Later that day, around one and sometime after lunch, a knock came at the door. Already having been in the living room, Ash got up to go answer and was relieved to see Serena at the door.
"Hey Ash" She greeted, offering a small wave
"Hey Serena" He smiled back
"Are you ready to go? I was thinking I could show you around Lumiose City" Serena said
"I'm good to go" He confirmed with a thumbs up, just as Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder
.
Lumiose City wasn't much of a walk from their houses. Ash was amazed to see the city at first - it was nothing like he had ever seen. It seemed a lot more sophisticated and technologically advanced, and there was definitely a lot of people.
"That's Prism Tower" Serena motioned over to a tall white and blue tower. "It's how you know you're in the center of the city. There's even a gym there for you to challenge"
"Look at that Pikachu, a gym! I guess we know where our first gym battle of the region is gonna be" Ash said
"Say, Ash, what kind of Pokemon do you have?" Serena asked
"Well I brought some over from back in Kanto. I could show you some of them later if you'd like" Ash offered
"Sure! That'd be great!" Serena accepted eagerly. "Though, if you do have three Pokemon on you, you could try and challenge the gym now"
Pikachu pumped his fist up and gave his trainer a confident look.
"I've got exactly three on me now" Ash grinned, ready for his first battle
The two entered the gym, passing some tubes that had lightning surging in then. The hallway was made of metal, and there was a green glow to it. They hit a pair of two metal doors with a monitor at the top of them, and when they got close of enough, they opened up and sprayed gas. Ash and Serena covered their eyes and walked through the gas, finding themselves inside Lumiose City's gym.
But, there seemed to already be a battle going on. On the far side of the field, a robot held a Pokeball and uttered commands, while directly in front of the two, a black-robed figure stood. The robot was battling alongside a Magneton, while the strange figure's companion was a Tyranitar, except it looked different, as if it had evolved again.
"Magneton, use Thunderbolt!" The robot commanded. Magneton charged up electricity and then fired off the powerful attack.
The robed figure waved his hand and Tyranitar quickly fired off a Dark Pulse. The two attacks struggled for a moment, until Dark Pulse completely overpowered Thunderbolt and charged through, colliding with Magneton in a large explosion. The smoke cleared, and Magneton was on the ground.
"Looks like Magneton has fainted. That means the victory is yours" the robot said, returning its fallen Pokemon and strolling over to hand the figure his badge.
Without speaking a word, the black-robed figure accepted the badge and returned Tyranitar. He turned and for a moment, Ash could make out the faint silhouette of a pair of eyes that stared back at him before the figure left the room.
"Who might you be?" the robot asked, facing the pair
"My name Ash from Pallet Town, and I've come for a gym battle!" Ash answered enthusiastically
"How many badges have you acquired thus far?" the robot questioned
"Well, this is actually the first gym I'll be challenging, so none yet" Ash replied
"I'm afraid that in order to challenge the lumiose City gym, you have to have acquired four gym badges" the robot informed
Though he hadn't gotten his gym battle, Ash was left wondering what was up with that Tyranitar he had seen from the strange figure. But with Mega Evolution, you're outclassed Jason's words came back to him.
"Sorry about that Ash, I didn't know you needed four gym badges" Serena apologized
"It's fine Serena, like you said, you didn't know" Ash shrugged. "But, would you happen to know anything about Mega Evolution?"
"Besides a couple of lessons in school, I don't know too much. I just know that it allows a Pokemon to temporarily evolve again in battle" Serena explained. "Apparently it requires two kinds of stones, and a strong bond"
"Cool. I hope we learn about that in school, and then maybe I could use it" Ash said
"Professor Sycamore is the leading researcher in Mega Evolution, and he's not only a teacher at the school, but the principal" Serena informed
Ash was about to reply before Serena suddenly grabbed his wrist and pushed him up against the wall of an alleyway. She put a single finger over her lips, which were dangerously close to his. His heart beat increased, and he watched as two people about his age walked past.
"Uh, Serena" Ash stammered
"Sorry about that, I saw some people I didn't want to run into" Serena said, thankfully backing up
The two continued on their way, stopping at several places so that Ash could get accustomed to the city, where he would most likely be coming to a lot. They entered a large mall and walked past different shops that sold your basic necessities.
Once again, Ash was about to talk, but was interrupted when a voice called out: "Serena?"
"Oh no" Serena sighed, stopping and turning around
Ash followed and turned to see the two people he had seen past them earlier. The one on the right was a girl with blue hair and brown eyes that almost looked strangely red, unless they actually were red - which would be pretty creepy. On the left, a boy with black hair and brown eyes.
"I thought I saw you earlier" the girl said as the two approached
"Um, hey you guys" Serena replied nervously
"Who's this?" asked the boy, pointing at Ash, his tone unclear
"This is Ash, he's new and he'll be attending school with us" Serena said, placing her hand on Ash's shoulder
"Hey there" Ash waved with a smile
"Ash, this is Miette and Calem" Serena introduced
'Calem' narrowed his eyes. "So Ash, would you happen to have any Pokemon on you?"
Serena
Just like that, the four teenagers had found themselves at the closest battlefield. Serena and Miette sat in the stands, while Ash and Calem stood on opposite sides of the field.
"So Serena, how'd you meet Ash?" Miette asked teasingly
"Well, we actually met a long time ago when we were kids in a summer camp, but then I moved and we haven't seen each other since yesterday" Serena said
"Childhood friends. How romantic" Miette chuckled
Serena blushed heavily. "W-What are you talking about?"
"Nothing" Miette shrugged. "Let's just watch the battle"
Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and landed in front of him. Calem pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it, the red laser revealing a Sandslash.
"Sandslash is a ground-type, and Pikachu is an electric-type, so Calem clearly has the advantage here" Serena said
"Calem was the best battler back in school" Miette added. "I wonder if Ash is any good"
Serena still didn't know just how good of a trainer Ash was, besides what Gary had said. She hadn't really gotten a good measure, because the only time she had seen him battle, it was against a super powerful Mega-Charizard.
"You can have the first move" Calem offered
"Alright then. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash began
"Sandslash, Dig!" Calem commanded
Pikachu was surrounded in an aura of thunder as it charged up its move, but before it could release it, Sandslash had already dug into the ground. Ash and Pikachu both waited, but it was helpless as the ground-type Pokemon exploded out of the ground and slammed into Pikachu - sending them both into the air.
However, Pikachu released Thunderbolt midair and electrocuted Sandslash. The two landed on the ground a couple of feet away from each other, having sustained equal damage.
"That did a lot of damage for it not being an effective move. Pikachu must be really powerful" Serena observed
"Use Poison Jab!" Calem continued
"Counterattack with Iron Tail!" Ash instructed
Sandslash's claws glowed purple as it charged forward, and Pikachu's tail seemingly changed into steel. Their attacks clashed twice, but Pikachu eventually landed his and knocked Sandslash back.
"Now use Quick Attack!" Ash pressured
"Dodge!" Calem attempted
Pikachu glowed white as he dashed forward, leaving Sandslash no time to dodge as he slammed into him and sent him skidding back across the ground. Sandslash was stubborn though, and lunged again, hitting Pikachu with a Poison Jab.
"Now use Headbutt!" Calem said
"Iron Tail!" Ash countered
Sandslash jumped forward, but Pikachu jumped up and rolled midair, slamming his tail down onto Sandslash's head, creating dust cloud that engulfed them.
"Now use Thunderbolt!" Ash said
Despite not being able to see his opponent, Pikachu charged and fired a Thunderbolt that reluctantly hit - the silhouette of Sandslash jittering around as it got electrocuted. Once the smoke cleared, Sandslash was heavily damaged, while Pikachu was feeling the affects of Poison Jab.
"Sandslash, Hyper Beam!" Calem exclaimed
"Dodge that using Quick Attack, and then counter with Electro Ball!" Ash quickly replied
Sandslash glowed silver season it charged up Hyper Beam, and Pikachu patiently waited for it to attack. Once it did, Pikachu activated Quick Attack and ran straight for the attack, jumping over it before it could hit and firing an Electro Ball. The electric ball of energy charged at Sandslash and collided, dust swallowing up the Pokemon.
Once the dust cleared, Sandslash had fainted. Calem looked surprised he had been defeated, but accepted it and returned his Pokemon, thanking it first. Ash and Pikachu celebrated their first win in the Kalos region, and the two trainers made their way back to their friends.
"Wow Ash, you won even though you had a type disadvantage. I'm impressed" Miette said
"Thanks. Me and Pikachu know just how to overcome type disadvantages" Ash replied, petting Pikachu who had returned to his shoulder
"Type don't matter, I won't loose next time" Calem assured
The group of four headed to the closest Pokemon Center so that Pikachu and Sandslash could be healed up. Afterwards, they exited and had to resume what they had been doing before. For Calem and Miette, that had been school shopping.
As Ash talked with Calem about something to do with battling, Miette pulled Serena in close and whispered: "Enjoy the rest of your date"
"I-It's not a date!" Serena denied frantically, waving her arms in front of her
"Whatever you say, Serena" Miette said
Though, Serena wouldn't mind going on a date with Ash. Not one bit...