Welcome back, this time to age 19. Not much to say here too. :)
Age 19
Lumiose City.
It was the grandest city in the region, attracting tourists from all over the world to see its great landmarks. It was also the center of culture for the region and the seat of the government. Whenever something major was happening in Kalos, Lumiose was the place to be. That's why a certain young Kalosean was staying in an all-expense-paid five-star hotel in the richest part of the city.
Performances were huge in Kalos and a vital part of Kalosean culture. The government worked hard to promote them and the Showcase Foundation was never short of funds every year. The most important figure in the showcase world was the best performer: the Kalos Queen, and a few weeks ago, the reigning Kalos Queen for six years, which was a long time by showcase standards, was dethroned. Aria, the face of the showcase world for six years, was dethroned by Serena Yvonne from Vaniville Town.
Serena emerged from her bathroom with a fancy purple shower robe, courtesy of Palermo. It was made of the finest fabric available in the region, and was quite possibly the softest thing she had ever worn. The famous smile of the honey-blonde was on her lips as she brushed her hair, walking through the well-decorated room over to the couch. She hummed a melody she heard on the radio hours before and recalled the events of her day, as she gazed out at Prism Tower's nighttime lights through the large window.
Becoming Kalos Queen was incredibly busy, to say the least. There were a lot of contracts to sign, deals to make, meetings to attend, and conferences to go to. Never before did Serena think that the Kalos Queen had to be so involved in so many things other than performing. But, as the new "face of performing", Serena had to represent an entire industry to an entire country of people. It was her new responsibility, and she was taking it one day at a time. Today was full of meetings with Palermo to discuss the next showcase schedule and how she would retain her title. Nine hours of meetings with a grumpy old lady did a lot to a person, and Serena took the longest shower she'd ever taken in her life in order to relax from the day.
The smallest twinge of doubt manifested itself in her mind as she frowned to herself after thinking about her very boring day. Did she regret achieving her dream? Was this all too much? Becoming the top-tier performer in the region, and practicing politics and meetings more than actual performing? Serena shook her head to herself as she continued brushing her hair, now long again after a few years of keeping it short.
No. This was all worth it. She achieved her dream, and now she was going to reap the rewards for all her hard work. If becoming Kalos Queen meant attending meetings, then she would attend those meetings with gusto. She would do whatever she had to do. After three years of hard work, traveling all around Kalos twice over and Hoenn once, she wasn't about to give up now.
There was a pleasant ringing sound throughout her hotel room, and Serena got up from the couch and walked over to the source of it. Pressing the intercom button right next to her door, Serena cleared her throat.
"Yes?" She asked in as formal of a tone as she could conjure. One never knew when Palermo was going to drop by for a surprise visit, as the new Kalos Queen found out the hard way a few days ago. She had started keeping the bathroom door closed at all times now, even when alone.
"Excuse me Ms. Yvonne, this is Roger." An equally formal deep voice replied. Serena smiled, thankful that it was Roger, the front-desk man, and not Palermo, that was calling her so late in the evening.
"Yes, nice to hear from you, Roger. How are you doing?"
The Kalos Queen could almost hear Roger smile through the intercom as he replied. She tried her best to be kind to everyone she met, even with her new celebrity status. The memory of her childhood bullies, Madeline and Claire, had convinced her that she had to treat everyone with kindness, no matter who they were. "Splendid, my dear." He cleared his throat then, as if his formal façade was cracking. "I believe there is someone here to meet you. She is very, um, persistent."
Silently, Serena rolled her eyes. "Looks like Palermo is stopping by…" She thought, before composing herself again.
"If I may, who is it?"
A feminine voice that was too young to be Palermo sounded off in the background and Roger cleared his throat nervously again. "She simply said her name is "May", and she has been very insistent that we let her up to see you."
Surprised, Serena gasped and quickly replied "May! I know her! If you would please send her up, I'd appreciate it."
Roger audibly sighed and thanked Serena before hanging up the intercom. Smiling and shaking her head, Serena walked over to the kitchen counter and leaned against it, waiting for her long-time friend to come up the long elevator to her floor number. A few minutes passed and the honey-blonde waited patiently, that is, until a subtle knock was heard at her door. With a bounce in her step, Serena hurried over and opened the door to reveal her best friend and companion throughout her times in Hoenn, May Maple.
"Serena! Congratulations!" She called out and without a second of hesitation, threw herself at the honey-blonde, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"May! I didn't know you were coming! Thank you!" Serena grunted out from beneath the hug of her friend. They hugged for a few more seconds before May released her iron grip, allowing Serena to breathe and close the door to her room.
"Well, it was a mission of its own being able to get in here in the first place." May huffed with a fake frown and crossed her arms. "You'd think they'd let the Princess of Hoenn in to see the new Kalos Queen! I mean, we're both royalty!"
Serena laughed and walked into the living room, gesturing for May to follow her. The two girls took a seat on two very comfortable chairs that provided a wonderful view of Prism Tower through the large window.
"Well, in Roger's defense, there are a lot of people trying to come and see me on a daily basis. I don't even want to know how many "princesses of Hoenn's" he's encountered in the week it's been since I got here."
May shrugged and chuckled. "I suppose. He seemed like a nice man. But he was very insistent that you weren't accepted visitors, and I begged to differ." She leaned forward, her bright eyes shining in the city lights. "This view is wonderful though! I don't get treated like this back in Hoenn! You're like an actual queen!"
"It's pretty nice, for the most part." Serena said with a wink and a shrug. "Except for the meetings and politics, this has been a dream come true."
May rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it! I don't know how much you have to do, but when I became Princess of Hoenn, there was so much I had to do that they didn't tell me until I already got the title!" She gave a great smile though and gestured towards the Lumiose City lights. "How has it been otherwise? It's been a long time since I've seen you!"
"Oh, it's been great! Like I said, this has been a dream come true. I worked hard for this, so it feels good to finally reach what I've been striving for! What are you doing in Kalos? I didn't know you were here!"
"Well, I'm actually here on vacation." May replied, her eyes twinkling. "I planned this about eight months ago, but I wanted to surprise you so I didn't say anything. Then you became Kalos Queen so I had even more of a reason to stop in and see you!"
"Well thank you! I really appreciate you stopping by to visit. I like my fellow performers and all, but I miss all of my old friends I met during my journey."
"I know what you mean. Now that we're all grown up, it's been a lot more difficult trying to keep contact with people. I mean, I haven't heard from Ash in years at this point! I saw Dawn a few months ago, but it had been a long time since I last saw her too."
At the mention of Ash, Serena tensed slightly, something that wasn't missed by May. She decided not to comment on it though. Instead, Serena leaned forward and smirked, hoping to beat her to the punch and get the topic off of herself. "Did you finally get that boy you were trying so hard for?"
May's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she slapped Serena's hand playfully. "Maybe…He's actually at our hotel now. He asked me out a few months ago after years of us being in a confusing limbo."
Serena clapped. "Congratulations! I always knew you had it in you. Tell Drew I said hello and that I look forward to meeting him."
"I'll do that."
Then May's face turned into a similar devious smirk to the one Serena just had. The honey-blonde knew that the topic of their dating lives was going to come up eventually, so she just decided to get it out of the way as soon as possible so that May would stop pestering her about it. May had a knack for trying to dissect people's dating lives, something that Serena generally didn't like talking about because it always went back to a certain someone.
"What about you, girlfriend?" She asked. "You got a man in your life yet? You don't have the excuse of "I'm working towards my dream" any longer."
Serena shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. May was her best friend and could see right through any of Serena's lies, so she had to be careful. "Not at the moment, no. I did have a short-term boyfriend a few months back though."
"Didn't work out?"
The honey-blonde shook her head. "No, it didn't. He was a nice guy and all, but it was an experiment and nothing more. We dated for a little over a month or so, and we both decided to end it together. I think I only told a few people about him too, like Bonnie, Clemont, and my brother."
"Well, they don't always work out. I'm just teasing you though. You don't need a man in your life, Serena. You're strong enough to do anything on your own!"
Serena laughed lightly. "Thanks May. I knew I can always count on you for your words of wisdom."
"What about Ash? Hear from him lately?"
That question threw the performer's composure out the window, even though she knew he was going to come up. He always did. She had hoped that by talking about May and Drew and about her ex-boyfriend, that Ash wouldn't come up. She was wrong.
Ash was debatably one of the most important people in her entire life, but she hadn't heard from him in a long time. Almost a year, actually. She supposed it was because of his traveling around to follow his dream, but still, she would like to hear from him every once in a while. After a long pause, Serena shook her head slowly. "No, I haven't heard from him in several months."
"Yeah, that guy is pretty difficult to get ahold of." May said with a huff. "You'd think that after all this time, he'd learn that he needs to send a letter every once in a while. His past friends want to see him too!"
"After he left Kalos, I found out that he went to Alola and ended up becoming the champion there. I saw it on tv, and he ended up sending me a letter to let me know it too." Serena added while looking down at the floor. A memory of a certain action she took as she departed Kalos three years ago for Hoenn was on her mind, but she wasn't going to share that with May.
"You got a letter after that?" May asked, incredulous. "I haven't gotten a letter from him in probably four or five years! The only reason I know he's still alive is because he's on the news seemingly every few weeks for saving the world or some junk!"
Serena laughed then. "Yeah, I haven't been able to figure out if trouble finds him or if he looks for trouble."
"The world may never know." May replied with another shrug. "You still have that ancient crush on him?
Serena's cheeks turned a twinge of pink as the memory of her final Kalosean kiss to Ash immediately came to her mind again. "No. I got over that a while ago. I told you that I had a boyfriend for a bit, didn't I?"
May's face turned into a playful grin, and Serena inwardly groaned. "Oh no. I saw that blush. You totally still like him!"
The honey-blonde's face turned a darker shade of red at the teasing and she looked away, crossing her arms. "I do not! I haven't liked him for a long time!"
"Don't lie to me! I know you're lying!"
Serena couldn't help but smile, but pride refused to allow her to submit to her friend's prodding. She simply shook her head and kept her gaze away. "Nope. Ash Ketchum is gone from this heart! I'm not looking for a relationship right now."
"Whatever you say, my love-sick friend." May stood up then and pointed over onto the counter. Serena inwardly sighed in relief, thankful for the change in topic. "I don't know if you recall, but the contest season is starting up soon again. I sent you the schedule in case you were able to get away from your royal duties and stop over in Hoenn for a few days again. You see it?"
Serena shook her head and stood up, walking over to the pile of mail sitting on her counter. It was large, and mostly fan-mail. Serena usually took the time to open fan letters when she had her morning coffee before she'd start her day with Palermo. This was an example of what happened when the new Kalos Queen didn't open her letters in the morning. A great pile of junk and fan-mail.
"No, I don't think I saw it." Serena said as she pointed at the pile of mail. "As you can see, I kind of slacked on my mail duties this morning."
"Well maybe it's in here." May declared. She then proceeded to go through the pile, sorting fan-mail from junk advertisements. Neat piles were formed on each side of her as Serena watched her friend's face twist in concentration.
"I'm not seeing it in here. How disappointing." She said with a huff. "Maybe it'll come tomorr—" She stopped mid-sentence, prompting Serena to look at her with confusion. Her friend's face formed a small smile as she picked out a fan-letter from underneath an advertisement for new shoes. She thrusted it at Serena's face, who narrowly managed to grab it in time. Confused as to why May would do that, Serena took one glance down at the sender of the fan-letter, and understood immediately.
Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Kanto.
"Haven't heard from him in a while, eh?" May taunted, her left eyebrow raised and her lips up in a smile.
Serena was silent for a second and she ignored May's taunt and laugh following the performer's lack of reply. She simply stared at the name on the upper left corner of the envelope. She hadn't heard from Ash in such a long time, and here she was, holding a letter from him.
"Well, are you going to open it or are you just going to gawk at it all day?" May teased, poking Serena on the shoulder.
Scoffing, Serena carefully ripped open the envelope, revealing the letter her old friend and crush had sent her.
Hey Serena!
I know it's been a while since we last saw each other. I'm sorry about that. I've been traveling all the regions with my friend Goh for a while now, and we've encountered many different situations that you wouldn't believe!
Well, maybe you would believe them, since we went through some crazy situations as well.
I wanted to write a letter to you to congratulate you on becoming Kalos Queen. I always knew you could do it. You're the strongest person I know, and will be the best Kalos Queen the region has ever seen. I'm certain of it. Next time I'm in Kalos, I'll try and find you. It's been too long since we've seen each other.
I hope all is well over in Kalos too. I miss our little group traveling around the region. Tell Bonnie and Clemont I said hello too! They were always great friends.
Anyway, I have another flight to catch. Gotta head back to Kanto for a brief break before we head over to Unova again. I miss you, and hope we can meet soon.
Take care, and don't give up until its over. No matter what you do.
Love,
Ash
"Love, Ash?" May asked.
Serena shrieked in surprise, jumping away from her friend with a bright red face and holding the letter close to her chest defensively. "You weren't supposed to read it!"
May laughed, pointing at Serena again. "Well, I had to know what he was telling you! He signed it, "love, Ash", Serena! And he said he misses you! That means something."
"It probably doesn't mean anything. I don't even know if he knows what that means." Serena replied with a frustrated huff.
"You still like him. It's written all over your face."
As if it would help, Serena covered as much of her reddening face as she could with her hands and Ash's letter. "No, I don't. It's just embarrassing that you read the letter, is all."
"Please girlfriend. I haven't received a letter from him in five years, and you've gotten two? And you're holding one right now that says he misses you!" May crossed her arms and turned away slightly, a sly grin on her face. "You must be special to him."
"I haven't heard from him almost a year! And it's been three years since I last saw him when I left for Hoenn!"
"Have you sent him any letters since you last saw each other? Not replying to one, but sending one first?"
Caught, Serena was quiet for a second before lowering her head in defeat. "No…"
"Exactly." May declared proudly. "You haven't sent him a letter either. So don't complain about him not contacting you. The way I see it, he's sent you two whole letters that I haven't gotten, and even signed this last one with love."
"Well what am I supposed to do about that!?" Serena asked, still holding the letter in her right hand. "It's not like he has any free time to do anything other than travel, while I just became busier than I've ever been in my life with Kalos Queen duties!"
May was quiet for a second before shrugging, a smug smile plain on her face. "I don't know, Serena. I know you may have accomplished your dream, but he still hasn't yet. I'm a romantic, and I believe in the end, you two will end up together. It was meant to be."
Serena rolled her eyes, but inwardly, she wished that May was right. She knew inside that she never really did stop liking Ash. She told him back in Kalos that he was her goal, and she hadn't given up on that. She wasn't giving up on him. That boyfriend for a month was just a test to see if she was doing the right thing in waiting for Ash. It only steeled her resolve. Now that she had achieved the title of Kalos Queen, all she had to do was continue working on herself to make herself better, and wait for her meeting with Ash. Whenever that would be.
"We'll see…" Serena replied quietly, her azure eyes looking over the folded-up letter in her hand.
"Yes, we will." May agreed.
The two friends walked over to the couch again and resumed talking as if nothing had happened. It had been a long time since they last saw each other and they had a lot of catching up to do. Serena hadn't talked Bonnie or Clemont in a few months too, and made a mental note to give them a call when she had free time tomorrow. She heard a rumor that the Lumiose gym leader and the Shalour City gym leader had begun a romantic relationship too, and wanted to confirm and/or tease her old friend Clemont about that.
May and Serena talked long into the night, laughing and teasing each other about their respective lives. In the back of Serena's mind though was the letter from her oldest friend, still sitting on the counter. She wondered when he would come to Kalos next and when they would meet. She would certainly reply to his letter, and she knew the perfect closing to use at the bottom.
Love,
Serena
Another chapter complete. Do you capitalize "Kalos Queen" every time or do you write "Kalos queen" when not referring to the reigning queen themselves? Haven't been able to figure that out as everyone has differing opinions again, so I just capitalized it every time, which then obligated me to capitalize "Princess of Hoenn" with May. Hope that wasn't too irritating. I also always liked May, and since Serena went to Hoenn, I can definitely see the Pokemon writers having them be friends. It's pretty common in the fanfiction world to have those two know each other anyway.
Another thing too. What do Kalos Queens do? Well, other than perform, I figured that I'd add a bit of realism to this too. Performing, for Kalos, seems like a cultural thing, and the real government of France has taken a lot of initiative to promoting "French" culture amid this interconnected world. For good or for bad, whether you agree with it or not, I decided to make performing something similar in this world of Pokemon. The state of Kalos has an incentive to promote performing as it promotes Kalosean culture, so the Kalos Queen has a lot more responsibilities than just performing in my little world. Meetings, politics, performing, you name it. I figured that would be interesting.
Anyway, see you in the next chapter.
Twilly