Hey! Welcome back! It's been a few weeks since the last update. Had a lot going on in my life for a while, and then I got sick. Not Covid, but probably the most sick I've been in several years. Not a fun time. But, I'm almost over that now, and finally managed to publish the next chapter. Thanks for waiting everyone!

We do not remember days, we remember moments

Cesare Pavese

"Ash…Ash…!"

The man now known as Ash turned around a corner, repeating his name to himself with each stride of his sprint. To any onlooker, his chants probably would have made them think he was an adult playing as a Pokémon, but he didn't care. He had heard it for the first time just a few hours earlier out of the mouths of the friends of his past, and he couldn't get the name out of his head. Never before had Ash identified with something as simple as name, but he supposed that not everyone went through the experience of forgetting their own name either.

Ash was racing for the park not far from Restaurant Le Yeah as quickly as his legs would allow him. With each pump of his legs, he felt his excitement growing. With each step he took towards the park, his fear of the unknown subsided. Previously, he was anxious to know about what would happen when he finally crossed that threshold into his past. Now, almost all of that anxiety was gone. It disappeared in a wild torrent, banished by a girl with bright blue eyes, an electric mouse, and a blonde genius.

Now he had agreed to meet them in a nearby park after work, and Ash couldn't have gotten out of the restaurant faster. He didn't even think he was capable of the speed that he used to clean the kitchen. Albern even commented on it by the time he was done, asking why he didn't clean like that every day. Ash simply smiled and said he was never motivated for something quite like that before. It was the truth.

Ash turned around another corner and took a deep breath. His dead-sprint from Restaurant Le Yeah to the park several blocks away was starting to take its toll, but he wasn't about to give up. He told himself he would run all the way there, and he was going to do that. Gazing in the distance, Ash saw the tops of leafless trees. Smiling to himself as best as he could with his heavy breathing, Ash dodged a puddle on the sidewalk and juked by an old man walking carefully with a cane. The snowfall had gone on all day, and there was a thin layer on the sidewalk. There would have been more, but foot traffic all day tended to disperse it, in addition to the still-warm temperatures of the ground.

Closing in on the park, Ash allowed himself to slow down a little bit. Totally not to catch his breath though. He looked both ways before crossing his final obstacle: a road, and jogged across to reach his destination.

"Made it…" Ash said, panting heavily. He bent down and put his hands on his knees.

There was no time to wait though. His determination hadn't dried up yet. After a few seconds of allowing his legs rest, he immediately started up again. He had to find his friends. Thankfully, the park wasn't very big, and because of the snowfall, wasn't very crowded either. There were a few groups of children playing in the snow while their parents watched them frolic with content smiles. Other than that, the park was only occupied by various types of Pokémon.

Ash couldn't help but notice a familiar yellow Pokémon sitting on a red-coated shoulder on a bench not far away.

Unable to stop his grin from spreading, Ash immediately forced his legs back to work and ran towards his bright-colored friends. By this point, he was a little sore, but he forced himself to continue. Not bothering to use the paths as he deemed them unnecessary, Ash ran over the snow-covered hill that separated him from his friends. It didn't have a very big incline, but it was long.

Running on the fresh and moist snow instead of the path may have been a mistake. As he was running, Clemont seemed to have heard him and turned around. Tapping Serena's shoulder to get her attention, he pointed at Ash running towards them. Ash waved wildly, but this brought his attention away from keeping his balance on the snow, and that cost him his footing. He took one step incorrectly and failed to catch himself in time, and his left foot slid several inches forward. This resulted in him falling backward onto his back with a sharp yell.

"Ash!" Both Clemont and Serena yelled, racing over to him in the snow.

After witnessing him fall, they were certainly more careful than he was. They were up to him in just a few seconds, and Serena put her hand on his shoulder, helping him lean up.

"Are you okay?" She asked, the fear nearly tangible in her voice and on her face.

Ash, a little dazed and still breathing heavily from his sprinting, looked up and saw her sitting over him. Momentarily, he was lost in her eyes. The odd feeling in his chest whenever he thought of her in the past returned. Her eyes were captivating, enhanced by the gray clouds above her and slowly falling snow. It was like something out of an old painting, and he likely would have continued staring at her, not answering, if it wasn't for Pikachu nudging him with his paw.

Chuckling at himself, Ash shook his head a little. "I'm…fine…" He said, trying to force his panting to slow down. Clemont reached down to Ash's other shoulder, and he and Serena both pulled him up.

"Thanks guys…" Ash said, rubbing his back a little. "I guess I was a little too eager to see all of you. Probably should have taken the path."

"You were always an "act first, think later" kind of person, Ash…" Serena said with a teasing tone. She shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"Well, I'm glad that didn't change." Ash replied with a laugh. Much to his joy, Pikachu hopped from Serena's shoulder back to his. He felt complete again. "Welcome back, Pikachu. I missed you." He said, scratching under his best friend's chin.

"Cha..."

"Did you run all the way here?" Clemont asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I was really excited to get here." He rubbed behind his head. "I really wanted to see you guys."

"I'm glad, Ash. It's good to see you again too!" Clemont reached out and gave Ash a firm handshake, which quickly turned into a bro-hug.

"It's good to see you guys too!" Ash replied, pulling back from the hug after a second. He and Clemont looked at each other for a moment and then unlocked hands. "What made you two come into the restaurant today? I didn't think I'd see you again after you came yesterday." He pointed at Serena then. "And you brought Serena this time!"

Clemont shrugged. "We came in yesterday, as you know. And the waitress told us that the assistant chef knew us, and we didn't recognize the name "Aaron". We figured we should check it out." He smiled widely. "Turns out that was the best decision we could have done."

"You could say that again." Serena added, brushing snowflakes out of her hair.

"Yeah, Aaron was the name I was going by since I woke up in the mountains. I've always been fine with it, but "Ash" just feels so much better!"

At the mention of the mountains, both Serena and Clemont's smiles faded. "We've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually." Clemont gestured towards the bench. "I hope you won't mind, but we wanted to ask you a few questions. It's been a really long time since anyone has even seen you, so we'd like to be caught up a bit. Do you want to sit?"

Ash nodded once. He had expected this from the moment he left the restaurant. Of course, he had a few questions for them too. "Yeah, I can sit. I'm sure you guys want to know a lot from me."

"We'll happily answer any questions of yours if you had any." Clemont said.

"Sounds good to me." Ash said, taking his seat on the bench. It was a little damp from the snow, but it was tolerable. Serena took a seat on his right and Clemont on his left. Both looked at him with concern.

"So…" Serena began, her eyes burrowing into his with her intense stare. She sounded hesitant. "Start from the beginning, I guess. What's the first thing you remember? How far back does your memory go?"

Ash rubbed behind his head, looking forward so that it looked like he was giving his two friends equal attention. "I figured that one was coming. I guess the first thing I can remember, before I started therapy of course, was having a terrible headache. Like, the worst one imaginable. I woke up in a mountain cave above Snowbelle City. A man named Frank had rescued me, apparently. He lives up in the mountains, and has been there for a long time." Ash looked up at the sky, remembering the moment he woke up in the cave with great detail. "He said that a fletchling told him I was injured, and he found me at the bottom of a hill with a bad head injury. He kept me alive, and after a few days, I woke up. Couldn't remember a thing though, and he told me I could stay with him for a while."

"How long did you stay with him?" Serena asked.

Ash shrugged, and in doing so, was reminded of Pikachu on his shoulder. He had already grown accustomed to his friend being there again, forgetting he was even there. "Around eight months or so."

"That's quite a while." Clemont commented, rubbing his chin. "What did you do for those eight months?"

"Well I just lived up in the mountains and forests. Frank taught me a lot. He taught me how to survive up in the mountains." Ash chuckled then. "I don't know if I knew how to survive up there before I lost my memory, but for a while, he was all I had."

"But we sent search parties for miles! I'm sure someone would have found Frank and your cave!" Serena said, clutching at the center of her dress. The action briefly reminded Ash of something, but he couldn't place it.

"Frank had lived up in the mountains for years and preferred not to be bothered. He had a very good relationship with the Pokémon up there, and they actually led trespassers away from him sometimes. That, and he was really high up. Not too many people went up that high unless they had a reason to."

Serena crossed her arms, looking disappointed. "I'm sure if they would have known we were looking for you, they wouldn't have led us away…"

Ash shrugged. "I'm sure. But they were wild Pokémon. They don't really like people that much. Frank and I were exceptions, I guess."

"Why did you come down from the cave?" Clemont asked, returning to his questions.

"I lived up there for quite a while, but as much fun as I had living up in the cold and rocky mountains, I didn't feel like it was right for me." Ash replied. "The only reason I had stayed up there in the first place was because I was an amnesiac and Frank thought it would be best if I lived with him until I could survive on my own. Once I figured I was good enough to go on my own, I told him I wanted to return to civilization. He told me about Snowbelle City, and I walked down the mountain in search for a new life."

"Did you stop in Snowbelle?" Serena asked hastily.

Ash shook his head. "No, I didn't. While I may have been from Snowbelle City, judging by how I was found near it, I wanted to start a new life. So, I kept walking."

Clemont facepalmed. "I wish you had stopped, Ash!" Before Ash could ask why, he answered the question anyway. "When we left Snowbelle City, we left you a note in the Pokémon Center! If you had stopped and Nurse Joy had kept it, you might have seen it!"

Ash thought for a second before shrugging again. "I guess so. Although as much as I like seeing you guys, I prefer not to think about what would have happened if I had stopped in Snowbelle. For as long as I can remember, I've always believed that nothing we do is ever a waste of time. I've learned a lot since moving to Lumiose City, and I get to see you guys now! It's like the best of both worlds."

Halfway through his answer, both Clemont and Serena's expressions brightened considerably, but neither commented on anything. Ash found that odd, considering their question, but he did not voice this. Instead, he asked his own question.

"I'm going to assume I was with you guys, okay. What were we doing in Snowbelle City?"

"Do you not remember that at all?" Serena asked, her expression dimming again.

Ash shook his head. "Nope. Before I started therapy, I remembered nothing from before I woke up in Frank's cave. Absolutely nothing."

"I guess…" She started, pausing for a moment. "I guess I just didn't think you'd forget something like this. You were in Snowbelle City challenging the gym leader for a badge. We traveled all around Kalos together in your quest to enter the league and become champion of the region."

"That was my guess, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for answering"

"What did you do when you came down from the mountain?" Serena asked then.

"Well, I didn't really know what to do with myself when I came down. I just kept walking, thinking that the wind would guide me towards whatever path I would end up on. Frank always told me that, and I took it to heart, I guess. I ended up in Santalune City, but it felt weird there for some reason. Weird in a good way. It's hard to explain."

Serena immediately grinned, grabbing his sleeve. "That's where we met again! When you first came to Kalos!"

"Really?" Ash asked. He shifted his gaze towards her, tempting himself to get lost in her eyes again. "You're the straw hat girl, aren't you? From when we were kids? I remembered that in therapy."

Serena looked absolutely overjoyed. "Yes! That was me!"

Ash furrowed his brow. "How could that have been you though if you're from Kalos and I'm probably from Kanto?"

"I lived in Kalos, that's true, but we met for the first time in summer camp when we were kids. Then, years later, you came to Kalos to try your hand at the gyms here, and we met again in Santalune City!"

"That makes sense. It was always a nice feeling whenever I thought of Santalune City, until the headaches came around. That soured the feeling quite a bit."

A light pink color came to Serena's cheeks, but before Ash could think about it, Clemont attracted his attention.

"What happened after that?" He asked.

"I met a man in Santalune City who said his brother was hiring for a dishwasher at a restaurant in Lumiose City. He said Lumiose was the place where people went if they wanted a new start, so that sounded good enough to me. I got an apartment, a job at Restaurant Le Yeah, and began my new life there. A few years down the road, here I am."

"Life certainly works in mysterious ways…" Clemont said, rubbing his chin. "Who would have known you were right under our noses this entire time."

"This is a big city." Ash replied. He pointed back towards the street he came from. "That waitress at the restaurant you two met? That was Talia, my ex-girlfriend. She was a great person for you to meet when you came into the restaurant. She's pretty good at her job."

"Oh…" Serena said, suddenly crestfallen. She looked away from Ash then, choosing to stare down at her feet.

Feeling something stir inside of him for some reason, Ash quickly backpedaled and waved his arms. "We're just friends now though! We actually broke up a month or two ago now. She was actually the one that first said I should go to therapy, and in a way, is kinda the reason why I'm even sitting here with you guys right now…"

Serena seemed to warm up to this, and she placed her hand on the center of her dress again. She looked back at Ash with an odd look in her eyes. Ash made a note to ask about this habit of hers later, as it was very familiar. He just couldn't place it.

"You keep referencing your therapy, Ash." Clemont said. "Can you explain that a little?"

Ash pointed down the road he came from across the park again. "Oh, Dr. Rosemary Carter. She is a therapist down the road from Restaurant Le Yeah who has an Alakazam. The Alakazam can enter my mind and pull memories out." He gestured towards Serena then. "That's actually how I remembered finding you in the woods back in Kanto. I couldn't remember who you were, but I still remembered the event."

"And…" Clemont continued. "The headaches come from this therapy?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, they do. It's good to see that my dreams were accurate. You really are super smart!" He laughed then, while Clemont blushed and awkwardly shifted. "A side-effect of pulling memories out of my mind is apparently headaches. They used to be really bad, but they've gotten better lately." It was Ash's turn to awkwardly rub the back of his neck now and look at the snowy ground. "That's actually what happened at the restaurant yesterday, and what happened at the showcase when I saw you, Serena…"

"I was going to ask you about that…" Serena said slowly. "I wasn't expecting to see you of all people at the showcase."

"To think we were that close to finding you!" Clemont said, gesturing around himself. "I still can't believe that you've been in Lumiose City this entire time!"

Ash shook his head, some snow falling out of his hair. He chuckled to himself and brushed the rest of the snow off of his clothes. "It's hard for me to believe it too. To think I was this close to you guys this entire time!" Ash reached up and petted Pikachu, who looked happier than Ash had ever seen him during all of their travels.

After a few seconds though, he turned back towards Serena, his smile shrinking. "Serena…what happened at Snowbelle City? The thing you were apologizing for?"

She looked away for a moment and took a deep breath. It didn't seem like she wanted to discuss this particular topic at all. "Well…" She said. "You had challenged the gym leader of Snowbelle City for your last badge, as I think I've mentioned. You lost though, and were pretty upset with yourself. You went out into the woods and I went after you. We…argued…and I ended up leaving after throwing a few snowballs at you." Her face dropped then, and she suddenly looked very sad. "Ash, that was the last time that I saw you. You never came back, and there was a bad storm not very long after I left you. We thought you had died out there somehow. I thought I…was the last person to see you alive, and that your disappearance was my fault."

She clenched her fists. "I still believed that somehow you had survived though, and were out there. Somewhere." After saying this, it was as if she had turned off a switch, and all of her angst disappeared. She flashed a small smile at Ash. He briefly thought that he preferred when she smiled at him. "Turns out I was right. You were out there. Right under our noses. And here you are now."

"Huh." Ash replied, putting both of his arms behind his head. "I can understand why you didn't really look like you wanted to talk about that. It sounded like I left quite a mark on you."

Serena sighed. "Your disappearance left a mark on everyone you had affected, Ash. It just left a bigger mark on me because…" She stopped herself abruptly midsentence, a slight look of embarrassed terror shooting onto her face. Ash gave her a questioning look, expecting her to continue what she was saying, but was interrupted by Clemont clapping his hands and pointing up at the sky before he could voice his concern.

"Actually," Clemont said quickly with an awkward chuckle. "I used to tell Bonnie every night before bed that you were out there in the world somewhere. I would tell her to look at the sky and picture you looking at the very same moon, somewhere out there in the world. It used to help her sleep at night during the first few months of your disappearance. And honestly, it helped me a little too."

Ash chuckled, completely forgetting about Serena's unfinished sentence. "Ironically, I may actually have been looking out at the very same sky whenever you told her to do that. I was only by Snowbelle City!"

"We'll have to tell her that when we see her!" Clemont replied.

"Hey, where is Bonnie now? Why isn't she here?"

Clemont smiled and looked up at the cloudy sky. "She's in Unova at the moment. She started her journey a while ago, and chose to go there since it was the place you went through before coming to Kalos." He chuckled then. "I actually called her the second I was out of the restaurant to let her know that we found you. She's racing for an airport right now to come and see you at this very moment!"

"Awesome!" Ash said, pumping his fist. "Then the entire Kalos gang can be back together!" He laughed, and both Serena and Clemont joined in as well. When they had finished their little laughing fit, Ash took a deep breath. "I guess Serena's story explains how I ended up in the woods outside Snowbelle City, but it doesn't explain how I lost my memory."

"That'll probably come back to you with time. You can't force yourself to remember things." Clemont said, shrugging.

Ash looked back at Serena then. "I'm sure that me losing my memory wasn't your fault though, Serena."

She looked surprised, her mouth forming an "O". "Why do you think that? You don't know how you lost your memory!"

Ash chuckled, a smile tugging at his lips again. "I can tell from being around you right now. You're much too nice of a person to have caused my memory loss. If you had anything to do with me losing my memory, it probably wasn't directly the reason."

Another light blush graced her cheeks, but this time Ash noticed it. He stared at her for a few seconds, and when Serena caught on that he wasn't looking away, her blush deepened.

"Ahem." Clemont awkwardly cleared his throat. Ash shook his head abruptly, ending the stare. "Ash…let me ask again, you don't remember your journey through Kalos with us?"

Ash jolted back to reality and looked at his lap. "Nope. I only saw bits of it through my dreams. I don't remember anything of it."

Clemont adjusted his glasses and briefly, a light reflected off of them. Ash had no idea where the light even came from, as it was cloudy and still snowing. "Then…would you like it if we tried to tell you the story of our journey? As much as we can remember, at least?"

Ash nodded and leaned back on the bench. Pikachu jumped down and set himself onto Ash's lap, curling up. "Yeah! I think I'd like that. Maybe it'll bring something back in my head."

"Hopefully!" Serena replied, a twinkle in her eye.

And then started the great storytelling. Ash sat with a grin on his face as his friends recalled to the best of their memory their collective journey through Kalos. Clemont started with his meeting with Ash in Lumiose City, and then it went on through the first few days of Ash's time in Kalos. Then Serena came along in Santalune City, and their group was complete. Clemont, Bonnie, Ash, and Serena. Ash listened intently, asking questions and laughing at various details as Clemont and Serena would take turns telling story after story of the crazy things that they had done over the months they traveled.

They went through all the gym battles that Ash had and all of Serena's performances, as it was apparently during their journey that she first discovered performing. Finally, after an unknown period of time simply talking, they came to the Snowbelle City gym battle. Clemont explained what had happened at the gym to Ash, and Serena finished it off with a more detailed retelling of her argument with Ash in the woods.

Ash simply nodded throughout the last parts of the storytelling, understanding that it seemed to be a sensitive subject for his two friends. They looked and sounded uncomfortable when talking about his gym battle with Wulfric years before, and it was probably still a sore subject for them, even if Ash was sitting right next to them. His presence next to them probably didn't do much for reassurance though, since he couldn't remember anything.

"Man…that was a lot…" Ash said, leaning back and looking up at the sky.

"We had many fun adventures together, Ash." Serena said, her voice filled with an emotion Ash couldn't quite identify.

"I wish I could remember all of it…" Ash said with a sigh. "It sounds like my time in Kalos was amazing."

"I'm sure it'll all come back soon." Clemont replied, adjusting his position on the bench. He cleared his throat then. "Anyway, after we came back to Lumiose City after you didn't come down from the mountain, the organization known as Team Flare emerged and attacked everyone at the end of the league tournament." Clemont took a deep breath and adjusted his fogged-up glasses. "We only barely managed to defeat Lysandre and Team Flare. Barely." He gestured over at Serena. "Serena here had befriended a girl named Mairin, and together they convinced Alain to help defeat Lysandre, and luckily, he managed to pull through and do so. It was close, but he did it, with a lot of help."

Serena sighed. "We missed you throughout the entire time you were gone, but if there was ever a time that we needed you the most, it was during the Team Flare crisis…"

"I'm sorry guys." Ash said. He reached his arms out and brought both Clemont and Serena closer, much to their surprise. "I heard about how rough the Team Flare crisis was. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

"You were busy recovering up in the mountains." Clemont replied, fixing his glasses again after Ash bumped them during his hold. "We all wish you could have been there, but I'm certainly happier now knowing that you were alive and safe during the crisis, and not dead."

"That's true." Ash said, and he released his friends. They leaned back up to their regular sitting positions, albeit a little closer to Ash now. Clemont scooted away a few inches, but interestingly, Serena did not.

Reaching down to pet Pikachu, Ash looked around at his surroundings. The streetlights had long been on, and it was reasonably dark now. He rubbed his head a little bit, ruffling his hair. He had a slight headache, but it was manageable.

"What's wrong?" Serena asked, getting a little closer. "You winced there for a second."

Ash looked at her, surprised. "I did?" He asked, before remembering what he was doing. "Oh. I have a small headache. Nothing to worry about. It usually happens whenever I think about my past, and it used to be much worse." He shrugged. "A little sleep will make it go away; I think."

Immediately, Serena stood up. "Then we'll escort you home! You need to sleep that headache off right away!"

"That's not necessary, Serena." Ash said with a chuckle. "I'll be fine, I promise!"

She wasn't having it though, and shook her head fervently. "Oh, I've heard that one before! Last time you said that, you came down with a terrible fever!"

Clemont stood and laughed a little, but Ash was simply confused. Serena started tugging on his arm though, and he reluctantly stood up too. "That sounds like something I should remember, but don't…"

"Doesn't matter!" Serena said, a confusing light blush now on her cheek. In one smooth motion, she hooked herself around and latched onto Ash. To any onlooker, they were walking arm-in-arm, but to the group, they knew that she had him trapped. Pikachu snickered and took his place on Ash's left shoulder, while Serena tightly squeezed his other.

"Now lead the way, Aaron." Serena pointed off to the road Ash came from with a teasing tone. "I won't have you getting sick again out in this chilly weather, on top of adding to your headache!"

"I'm fine, Serena! Really!" Ash looked to Clemont for help, but received nothing but a sigh, chuckle, and shake of his head. Huffing, Ash accepted his defeat and began walking alongside Serena. They walked in the direction he had come from, but soon, she let him take the lead. She did not remove him from her iron grip though, and Ash honestly didn't want to remove himself either. How could he not want a pretty girl holding onto his arm anyway? Not to mention the odd feeling he had whenever he thought about her.

The snow had stopped falling but the ground was still covered in it. The thin white layer of snow over the sidewalk was painted orange and yellow from lit street lights as the small group casually walked through the streets of Lumiose. It was something they had all done a thousand times before, but not something they had done together in years. Ash would point out random little tidbits of information about buildings or landmarks as they passed them, making sure that Serena saw all of the sights of the part of Lumiose he had called home for the past few years. Clemont, despite being the odd man out, laughed and engaged in conversation as well. Truthfully, Ash felt at home walking arm-in-arm with Serena, and next to Clemont. He only wished that Bonnie could have been there as well.

It wasn't long until they arrived at Ash's apartment door. Serena seemed to realize where they were and let go of Ash, who walked in front of them with a content smile on his face. Turning around, he shifted his gaze between his two friends.

"I'm really glad I got to meet you guys." Ash said. "Again, I guess. Since we knew each other before."

"Me too," Clemont replied, offering a thumbs up. "I'm happy to know that you've been alive and doing well this entire time, Ash."

"You have a lot of time to make up for though, Ash!" Serena added, a great smile spreading across her face. She playfully punched his arm. "As Kalos Queen, I believe it is my personal responsibility to have you reintegrated into your former life!"

Ash grinned. "I look forward to it. I don't work on Sundays, so how about I stop over to Prism Tower tomorrow and see you both? How does that sound?"

"Sounds great!" Both Clemont and Serena replied in tandem.

Serena ran forward and gave Ash an abrupt hug, almost knocking him over again. She lingered for a few seconds, and Ash suddenly became very aware of how warm she was in the chilly Autumn night. It was a comforting feeling. Quietly, she whispered "I missed you" into his ear.

"I know…" He whispered back, before reluctantly pulling away. He was hit by an urge to let the hug continue for just a few seconds longer, but decided against it. As he was pulling away, Pikachu hopped over from his shoulder over to Serena's.

"I guess Pikachu wants to stay with Serena tonight." Ash commented, a little disappointed.

Clemont shrugged. "He probably doesn't want to aggravate your headache any more. Sounds like a good idea if you ask me."

Pikachu nodded, as if agreeing with this idea. Ash sighed, but seeing his friends brought the smile back to his face.

"That settles it then. I'll see you three tomorrow!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, Ash!" Clemont replied as Ash turned around and entered the apartment building.

They waited for a few moments, before both Clemont and Serena took a deep breath together.

"That went well." Clemont said, rubbing his hand behind his head. "I mean, he remembers some stuff."

"Not the stuff where we're apart of it though…" Serena replied, crossing her arms and looking at the ground. "At least he recognizes us. I guess I'll take a feeling of familiarity over the other option: having him not remember us at all."

"You're right." Clemont said. He turned around and began walking in the other direction, and Serena did the same, taking a position at his side. "We'll have to contact all of his other friends and Delia too. Let them know he's actually alive."

"We can't overwhelm him though!"

Clemont shook his head. "Yes, I was just about to say that. If he gets headaches, we might not want to overwhelm him with sensory overload. It would be hard to contain all of the people he's met over the years if they find out he's actually alive."

"He did affect a lot of people…" Serena said with a wistful tone. Pikachu nodded in agreement and added a hearty "Pikapika!"

"Speaking of him affecting people…" Clemont trailed off, stealing a thoughtful glance over at his friend. She recognized the look he was giving her immediately, and sighed deeply.

"I know, I know…"

"I think that he certainly affected you quite a lot…" Clemont said.

"Yeah, he did…" Serena looked down at her shoes, attempting to hide her light blush. "Thanks for the save back there, by the way. I can't believe I almost let my feelings slip out right then and there!"

"It's no problem. What are you going to do though?"

"I'm not sure. I still feel bad about causing him to lose his memory!"

Clemont waved his hand. "Ash himself said that he doesn't believe that you made him lose his memory. I feel like that's enough of a reason. He's never lied to us before."

"But he doesn't remember losing his memory! Whose to say that I didn't indirectly cause it by making him run off into the woods while he was still upset? That would make it my fault!"

"I don't think so. Your involvement ceased when you left him out in the woods. Anything that happened after that was likely an accident."

Serena crossed her arms. "I don't know, Clemont. I've had a long time to think about what happened. And now that we know he's alive, I just can't shake the feeling that I had something to do with him losing his memory!"

"Well, I don't think you had anything to do with it. When the truth comes out, you'll see." Clemont said, ending that little conversation. It was silent for a few seconds as they turned a street corner. Pikachu shuffled on Serena's shoulder, and she adjusted her jacket to keep the cold out.

"Are you going to tell him?" Clemont asked quietly, breaking the silence.

Serena sighed. "I don't know. My feelings for him never went away, but…I don't know if I can tell him if he doesn't remember me. Telling him now would make my confession empty, since he doesn't even remember all of our times together."

"You're probably right. But his memory will return eventually, you know?"

"Who knows how long that'll take!"

Clemont reached over and patted Serena on the shoulder, giving her a supporting smile. "Trust me, Serena. From what I remember of our journey with Ash, I think he liked you too back then. He just…didn't know how to recognize those emotions." As if agreeing with Clemont's statement, Pikachu nodded and gave Serena a thumbs-up.

"And," Clemont continued. "From how he described it, he's regaining more and more of his memory with each day. It's only a matter of time until he gets his entire memory back. With that, his feelings for you may come back too. Actually, they might already be coming back. I saw how he was looking at you back there..."

Serena blushed and looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah right. You tell yourself that." Clemont teased with a chuckle. "I know I'm not the smartest guy when it comes to romance, but you'd have to be pretty dense to not pick up on that back there!"

"I don't know, this is Ash we're talking about."

"Yeah, you're right. But who knows? Maybe this time around, things will be different."

Serena smiled at Clemont and looked up at the sky. Because of the city lights, she couldn't see the stars in the night, but she could imagine them being there behind the clouds. "Thanks, Clemont. I was hoping that I wasn't the only one that saw how he was acting a few times back at the park. Now I know I wasn't imagining it."

"No problem, Serena. I know he's pretty dense, and I am too, but I'll try and help you out in any way I can."

Serena huffed and brushed her hands through her hair. "I guess I'm just disappointed that Ash doesn't remember me. I pictured our reunion going a little…differently than it did. I waited a long time to see him and now it looks like we'll have to get to know each other all over again."

"At least until he regains his memory." Clemont said.

"Right. At least until he regains his memory."

"It's like he always said, Serena. Never give up until it's over, right?"

Serena felt her smile widening on her face. "Never give up until it's over."

"Chuuu!" Pikachu added enthusiastically. Both Clemont and Serena laughed as they continued their walk. They could call a taxi or hitch a ride on a bus at any moment, but they were content enjoying the chilly Autumn air early in the night in Lumiose City. After all, their long-lost friend, Ash Ketchum, was finally found. And amnesia or not, they could rest easy knowing that he was okay.

So this chapter didn't have as much happening in it as other ones, but I felt like it was a chapter that needed to happen eventually. The whole "catching up" thing with Ash, Serena, and Clemont. I explained a few things in this chapter too. Where's Bonnie been? Unova, on her own journey. Although she'll be back soon. Team Flare? Well, from what I recall, Ash was important to Lysandre's plan. But if you take him out entirely, that kind of messes things up a bit. So, I had it so that Lysandre's plan is the same, just without Ash involved. Things continue on as they happened, but Alain is convinced to fight Lysandre by Mairin and Serena and manages to BARELY defeat Lysandre (without Ash's help). The same ol' thing happens in the anime, with the rooftop battle and the megalith and such, just without Ash present. A bit of mental gymnastics there, but hey, this is already a story where Ash got amnesia and disappeared for four years, so I think that having this order of events isn't that far out of the way, ha!

Now that I think about it, there actually aren't very many chapters left of this story. A few left, I think. We're not quite wrapping up yet, but we're almost to that point. Feels good :) Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing so far, and I won't let it go almost a month without an update this time! Promise :)

Twilly