Chapter 4 has arrived. Per feedback and with the help of my beta reader, I've improved my dialogue and I hope you enjoy! This chapter is somewhat filler, but also important for Serena in that it provides some background to her Hoenn journey!
Slateport Pokémon Center
Morning had begun as the group sat together in the Pokémon Center cafeteria, eating a traditional Hoennian breakfast. Pikachu sat down next to them, devouring a bowl of Pokemon food (with plenty of ketchup of course). Ash had taken this time to explain to Serena what exactly they were in Hoenn for, and needless to say…it was news to her.
"So let me get this straight," Serena stated. "You three came to Hoenn due to a meteorite that's going to hit the region soon, and are supposed to go to Mt. Chimney to collect this…Primal energy or whatever to help stop it?"
"More or less," Ash noted. "Serena, if you don't want to come with us now because of what we're getting involved with, that's okay."
"No, no, I'm still gonna stick with you guys," Serena assured him, shaking her head. "And besides, it's been so long since I saw you, Ash!"
Ash smiled at Serena as he slurped down his miso soup like a Pelipper gulping down Wishiwashi.
As he did so, Brendan stopped eating, a piece of rice falling off his chopstick.
"Does he…normally eat that quickly?"
"Back when we were in Kalos he tore through some cookies I made like they were nothing," chuckled Serena. Seeing Ash ravenously devouring his meal reminded her of the good old days. Perhaps if she cooked something for him then he might-
"Uh, Serena?" Chloe whispered. "You're blushing again."
Serena yelped slightly as she broke out of her trance. Ash was fortunately still digging into his food, but she had totally been staring at him the whole time! Returning to reality, she turned back towards Chloe in remorse.
"Alright, you got me Chloe," Serena replied, still blushing. "Too obvious?"
"Little bit," Chloe said before taking a bite of some pickled vegetables. Serena sighed in response. Old habits die hard after all.
It wasn't long after everyone finished breakfast that the group set out for Route 110. Ash had taken the lead, Pikachu on his shoulder, with the rest of the group not too far behind. They were walking along the Seaside Road, a large bridge between Slateport and Mauville that, while formerly exclusive to cyclists, had now recently been opened up to anyone. Ash stretched his arms out as the sun beat down on the five Trainers, turning back to his friends.
"Great weather, a great view, now THIS is travelling!" Ash shouted as he held a fist up in the air.
"Pika!"
Serena couldn't help but smile at Ash's optimism as they walked along. Goh meanwhile was taking in the view from the bridge, smiling to himself. A flock of Wingull soared through the skies, chirping away.
"Vermilion has nothing on this. And to think there's all sorts of Pokémon out here for us to catch!"
"Yeah, for you to catch," Chloe added. Brendan chuckled as Goh rolled his eyes from what Chloe said. As all of this was happening, Ash turned towards Serena with a smile.
"Hey Serena, why don't you catch us up to speed on what you were up to in Hoenn?"
Serena jumped slightly as she heard Ash ask her that question, but returned a smile to her crush.
"Oh, sure! How about we start with my first capture here?"
Petalburg Woods
Serena was walking along the road, idly smiling to herself. So far she had obtained her Contest Pass and visited Littleroot Town, Oldale Town, and Petalburg City. Rustboro was her next destination due to a contest being held there, and she was excited to take it on. As she was thinking of contest strategies, her train of thought was interrupted as she turned around a corner to see a Treecko clinging to a tree branch, munching on an Oran Berry. As soon as it noticed Serena, it growled before unleashing a fierce Leafage, nearly blowing her off of her feet. While a little ticked off, Serena couldn't help but notice the way Treecko had made the leaves spin towards her, and immediately got an idea. She grabbed a Poké Ball off of her belt and hurled it into the air.
"Pancham, let's go!"
Pancham jumped from his Poké Ball, getting into a playful fighting stance as it stared down Treecko. Treecko responded in kind as it jumped from the branch and let loose a Pound, sending Pancham a short distance. Pancham quickly did a handstand to avoid tumbling to the ground, before getting back into position.
"Stone Edge!"
Pancham raised its hands into the air as massive spikes of stone rose out of the ground in a rhythmic fashion, with the last of them hitting Treecko. As Treecko took the hit however, it quickly bounded forward before spreading its arms and letting loose a series of hearts at Pancham, infatuating it. She knew Attract!
"Pancham, snap out of it! Use Arm Thrust!"
Pancham was briefly dazed as it stared at Treecko lovingly, before shaking his head and jumping forward with his hand, smacking Treecko several times. Treecko was knocked back a good distance, but responded with another Leafage, barraging Pancham with countless spinning leaves. Pancham proceeded to take the hit, immobilized by Attract, as it slammed into a tree.
"Dark Pulse!"
Pancham attempted to create a wave of darkness from its hands, but stopped as hearts formed in its eyes, staring at Treecko in admiration. Treecko grinned as she rushed forward with another Pound, but Pancham snapped out of Attract at that moment and unleashed a blast of dark energy, knocking away Treecko. Serena then grabbed a spare Poké Ball and stared down Treecko.
"Alright, this is it! Poké Ball, go!"
Serena hurled the Poké Ball at Treecko, encapsulating it. The ball fell to the ground, shaking slightly, before clicking shut and dinging. Serena had caught a Treecko!
"Ta-da! Pancham, Treecko will be joining us!"
Pancham smiled, but couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated since Attract had worn off and it now felt contempt for the Grass-type. Nevertheless, Serena continued onward through the woods, now armed with four Pokémon.
"Treecko would later evolve into the Sceptile you guys saw yesterday!" Serena stated, wrapping up the story. "She's quite nimble in Contests and I really helped her show her love for putting on a show."
"Funnily enough, I also caught my Sceptile as a Treecko in Petalburg Woods," Ash added on. "He even left his clan to join me."
"Funny how things work out," Serena responded, amused by the idea of a clan of Treecko. "Perhaps the two of them once knew each other?"
"We may never know."
Ash and Serena shared a chuckle as the others smiled in response. Chloe especially was grinning to herself at seeing the two bond. As the chuckling died down, Serena spoke up again.
"Anyways, from there I didn't quite win the Rustboro Contest, but I did score two ribbons in Dewford and Mauville respectively," Serena stated as she pointed a finger up. "Once I arrived in Verdanturf though, you'll never guess what happened."
Verdanturf Town
Serena walked into Verdanturf Town, observing it in awe as she made her way to the Pokémon Center. Before she could walk inside however, a green-haired boy stormed out angrily, bumping into her.
"Sorry about that miss." he muttered as he looked away from her.
"It's okay sir! Are you alright?"
"Word of advice: apparently some people confuse criticism with insulting."
As the green-haired boy walked off, Serena shrugged before entering the Pokémon Center. Another girl her age sat alone at a table, furiously slurping down a bowl of noodles. Serena curiously approached her and sat down across from her, not even being noticed.
"You're plowing through those, aren't you?"
The girl stopped slurping, a few noodles hanging out of her mouth. She stared at Serena with a deadpan expression.
"Well yeah. How else am I supposed to deal with a breakup?"
"Hold on. Did that guy outside have anything to do with that?"
The girl looked at Serena angrily.
"Oh, him? That's none other than Drew, the densest guy in the Hoenn region. To think we went through all of Johto together, and for what, his victory at the Johto Grand Festival, which he only barely won by 5 points no less, being something to rub in my face? I swear he liked my Beautifly more than he liked me."
Serena was stunned; really, breaking up over Contests?!
"I-I'm sorry miss. Are you feeling alright?"
The girl slurped back up the noodles hanging out of her mouth, swallowing them before grinning.
"Oh yeah no, I am feeling WAY better," the girl sighed in relief. "So, what are you doing in Verdanturf? Are you also a Coordinator?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Serena explained. "I'm a Pokémon Performer from Kalos who came to Hoenn to study Contest techniques for my performances."
"Oh, I've always loved to go to Kalos sometime!" the noodle girl gushed in excitement. "I've heard Lumiose is such a beautiful city."
"It's wonderful. Plenty of stores, friendly people, and there's lots to do!"
Serena then extended her hand to the girl, smiling.
"I don't think I introduced myself yet either. My name's Serena."
The noodle girl shook Serena's hand back, smiling.
"Great to meet you, Serena. My name's May."
"Wait, wait, wait. You met May, the Princess of Hoenn?!" exclaimed Ash and Brendan simultaneously, though Brendan added on the "Princess of Hoenn" bit himself.
"Is she actual royalty?" Chloe asked.
Serena chuckled in response.
"Yep! She helped mentor me when it came to contests. And no, it's just a title Chloe. Ash, Brendan, how do you two know May?"
"We travelled together in Hoenn and Kanto!" Ash exclaimed.
"Our dads are friends, so we became friends because of that!" Brendan yelled.
Serena winced a bit upon hearing that Ash knew May beforehand, but then upon remembering that she had dated Drew, sighed in relief.
"Guess the world is smaller than I remembered. Anyways, May did beat me in the Grand Festival before going on to win the whole thing, but I can't be mad at that. Not sure where she is now, but I got her number."
Brendan's ears perked up slightly upon hearing those last few words, but he remained silent.
"So how did you catch your Milotic then?" Goh asked. "I heard the scales people use to evolve Feebas aren't found in Hoenn."
"That's because Feebas is native to Hoenn and can evolve naturally without it," Brendan replied. "All it takes is a specific Pokéblock or Poffin diet, or any sort of dry food."
"And how do you know this?" Chloe asked. She had heard some of her classmates talk about Pokéblocks and Poffins before.
"When you're the son of a Pokémon Professor, you pick up on a lot of these evolution methods," Brendan replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "I've heard that Galar's Yamask population have a really weird way of evolving too. Anyways, sorry Serena, you go on ahead and tell the story."
Serena smiled softly as she began to recount her capture of Milotic.
Lilycove City
So far, Serena was preparing to win her fourth ribbon in Lilycove City's Pokémon Contest following her victory in Verdanturf and two losses in Lavaridge and Fortree, and was busy walking along the beach the day before. However, she couldn't help but notice an odd brown object in the distance. Walking over to it, it turned out to be a Feebas that had just beached itself. Serena couldn't help but frown upon seeing it, and looked at it in sympathy.
"You poor thing. Let me help you out."
Serena kneeled down as she picked up the Feebas, which was now flopping up and down in her arms. Struggling to keep hold of it, Serena walked closer to the water and lightly tossed Feebas back into the ocean. It smiled at Serena upon surfacing, and she returned the smile as she walked off. However, she soon collided with an object as she walked off.
It was the Feebas again, who was now looking up at her and smiling. She smiled back as she picked up the Feebas once more and returned it to the ocean again. The third time she attempted to keep walking, it beached itself again in front of her.
And again.
And again.
Serena sighed after the fifth time, until she decided to try something. Grabbing a Poké Ball from her belt, she held it right above Feebas.
"Look Feebas, if you REALLY want to stay with me, why not try it this way?"
Feebas looked up at the ball, before attempting to jump upwards.
No dice.
As it attempted it again and again, it inched closer and closer, before hitting the button of the Poké Ball and ending up inside, falling to the ground. The ball immediately clicked shut as Serena grinned to herself. Feebas would be a great addition to the team.
"It took a fair bit of grooming and a specific diet to get Feebas to evolve into Milotic. But boy was it worth seeing Milotic smile after she evolved."
Ash smiled upon hearing Serena's story. She really could bring out a smile in anyone, human or Pokémon.
"So Ash, what have you been up to besides helping out Cerise in Vermilion?" Serena asked.
"I've actually been taking part in the World Coronation Series, though battles have been a bit slow lately."
Ash rubbed the back of his head. The PWC was fun, but was there anyone in Hoenn who was doing it too, and in the Ultra Class no less?
"I'm hoping that once this is all over I can continue pushing my way back up to entering the Masters' Eight."
"Well I'll be sure to give you all my support as you make that climb," Serena assured him. "If you're still as good as you were in the Manalo Conference, I'm sure you can give Leon a run for his money."
"That's the spirit Serena!"
Ash grabbed Serena's hand as he raised it into the air alongside his, earning a small blush from Serena. Chloe couldn't help but look on with a smirk at Ash's unintentionally romantic behavior.
"Should we tell him that he's still holding hands with Serena?" asked Goh. Chloe shook her head in response.
"No, let's leave the two of them be."
True to Goh's words, Ash and Serena were still holding hands without either of them being aware of it. Chloe couldn't help but sigh in relief at this.
Perhaps bringing them together wouldn't be as difficult as she had anticipated.
Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm sure many of you have questions regarding May's cameo, and I'm going to answer the big one right now: while Contestshipping is a great ship, I prefer Hoennshipping (Brendan x May) a bit more and with Brendan in the picture the choice had to be made. While Amour is the priority, I can't say it will be the only ship seen in the story.