Author's Note: I've been asked if I intend to write any more Ash/Korrina stories, and the answer is probably not. I wrote this story to explore what I thought was interesting about the dynamic between those two characters, and now that I've done that I don't really have anything else to say on the subject.

Thank you for reading!


Later that evening, Ash and Korrina were returning to the area around Prism Tower, having finished one last tour of Lumiose City. They'd had a delicious lunch before exploring the Lumiose Museum, then Korrina had dragged Ash into a clothing store named Boutique Couture, wanting to give his wardrobe an update. Due to the unexpectedly high prices, Ash had only left with one new outfit, but it was a good one that gave him a much classier look. After enjoying a decadent dinner together, the two of them were walking through a nearby park, which was lit up by the orange of the setting sun. Their Pokémon partners, Pikachu and Lucario, were by their sides as they always were.

"You should wear that outfit when you fly home," Korrina suggested. "I bet your mom will flip out when she sees it. You'll look like a totally different person."

"Yeah, she probably will," Ash responded. "But then she'll just flip out again the next day when I go back to my normal clothes."

She let out a snorting laugh. "Maybe you can convince her to give you money for more."

He chuckled. "Yeah, maybe…" The two of them started walking across a Pokémon battlefield, one of several in the park. "I can't go in and buy them myself, though. I need you to tell me if what I'm buying makes me look like a weirdo."

Korrina squeezed his hand in hers playfully. "You'll always be a weirdo, Ash."

He laughed, giving her hand a squeeze in return. "Gee, thanks."

She let out a wistful sigh. "I sort of wish I didn't have to go back to Shalour City. Today was so much fun. I've never explored Lumiose City like that before."

"Me either," he concurred. "I can't remember the last time I was in a city this big. Maybe Jubilife…"

She nodded. "Still, I can't leave the gym in Grandpa's hands forever. After all the work Lucario and I did, I need to go back and take my place as Gym Leader. I've been away for too long."

"You're going to be great," Ash reassured her. "That battle between us was one of the best I've ever had. Other trainers should be able to experience that, too."

"I'm glad you think so, Ash." She smiled sadly as she looked around at the trees surrounding the battlefield, and the people passing through. "I guess this is the last day of my journey… I'm glad it was a good one."

"Well, the day's not over yet," he commented. "There's still time to do something more."

"That's true." She turned to face him, a grin on her face. "There is one more thing I've been wanting to do for a while…" Her eyes were locked on his as she leaned in gently.

"I know what you mean," he answered, leaning in a bit as well, thinking the exact same thing as her.

Her eyes shone as she grinned down at him. "So, two on two? What do you think?"

He nodded. "Sounds good to me. How about we make it a double battle?"

"I like it! Let's do it!" She let go of his hand and walked backwards to the challenger's box closest to her, as he did the same. She reached down to her hip and pulled out a Poké Ball, summoning her Machoke onto the field, and her Lucario ran in beside the muscular Pokémon. Ash responded in kind, bringing out his fully-evolved Talonflame to battle with his Pikachu.

"You can have the first move, Ash!" she called out confidently.

"Thanks!" he responded, clenching his fist. "Talonflame, use Flame Charge!" His Pokémon cawed and shot forward, coated in flames, as the battle began.


One hour after Korrina won their battle, the two of them were sitting on a bench outside Prism Tower, watching the show that was taking place in the night sky. Clemont had wired the tower with multicolored lightbulbs, creating a rainbow beacon in the sky, and an array of fireworks completed the display. They sat in silence, with smiles and wonder on their faces, watching one firework burst after another. Pikachu was resting on his trainer's lap, half-asleep, while the other Pokémon were tucked away in their Poké Balls.

Ash occasionally glanced over toward Korrina, studying the expression on her face. There was a hint of sadness and regret in her smile that she wasn't able to mask, the sadness of an inevitable goodbye. He could feel his heart ache, for her sadness as much as his own. He wished he could freeze this moment in time, and stay sitting by her side indefinitely, so that they never had to part. There was no escaping reality, however, and they had to address it sooner or later.

"I've decided what I'm going to do next," he eventually announced, breaking the silence.

"You have?" Korrina turned her head toward him. "Is it the thing Professor Oak told you about?"

Ash nodded. "It is. I'm going to enroll in the Pokémon School in Alola. Professor Oak's cousin is the principal there, and he said there's room for one more student."

She put on her most encouraging smile. "I think it's a great idea. If you're going to be a Pokémon Master one day, you'll want to learn everything you can." She looked back toward the fireworks. "I've never been to Alola, but I hear it's beautiful. And there's all the new kinds of Pokémon there, like the ones we saw at the aquarium. I bet you'll love it there."

"Yeah, I think I will," he agreed. "I'm looking forward to it." They continued to sit in silence for a while longer.

"Do you think you'll ever come back to Kalos?" Korrina finally asked, her voice tinged with sorrow.

"Definitely," he reassured her. "As soon as school lets out, I'm coming right back here."

"Really?" She turned toward him again, eyes shining with hope.

He grinned back at her, meeting her gaze. "Yep, really. And Shalour City's the first place I'm going to go."

"You promise, Ash?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "It's a promise."

Her expression softened, the sadness in her eyes replaced with warmth. "I'll be waiting for you in the Tower of Mastery. You'll owe me a battle when you come back."

"Don't worry, you'll get one," he replied. He could feel his own heart grow lighter, as he saw the happiness return to her face. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, about how he had connected with her like he had connected with nobody else, how she had brought him several steps closer toward his dreams, how all of his favorite things were now made even better because they were associated with her. The words all jumbled about in his head, with no hope of escaping thanks to his ineloquent tongue. As he looked into her eyes, though, he realized he didn't need to say them. She could see the words in his eyes, and feel the words in her heart, conveyed through the unbreakable bond the two of them now shared.

As they continued gazing into each other's eyes, it was Korrina who made the first move. She leaned in a bit closer, hesitantly, gauging his reaction, before closing her eyes and closing the gap, pressing her lips gently against his.

His eyes shot open as wide as they could, his heart stopping and his breath stolen away, as time seemed to stand still. Once he had recovered from the shock, however, his eyes closed as well and he slowly kissed her back, letting instinct take over, his whole body tingling from head to toe. They stayed like that for several long seconds, sharing a kiss that contained a thousand unspoken words.

She eventually pulled away, and the two broke apart, their faces flushed and their ears red. Ash needed a brief moment to catch his breath as he opened his eyes. "Whoa, Korrina…"

"Was that alright…?" Korrina was hesitant, unsure, with a hint of worry in her eyes. It was rare for her to be lacking in confidence like this.

"Yeah…" He grinned at her, his cheeks warm. "That was great." They weren't the most poetic words, but they were earnest, and they were his. She visibly relaxed, beaming at him, before leaning in closer and wrapping both of her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder. With their hearts thumping in unison, they turned their gaze back to the fireworks, which seemed brighter and more colorful now.

"You'll still call me every night, won't you?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course I will," he answered without hesitation, before thinking it over. "Although… I guess Alola is on a really different time zone from Kalos. It might be morning for one of us, and night for the other."

She shrugged, not bothered. "We'll figure it out."

He smiled and rested his head against hers. "Yeah, we will." They arrived at a much happier silence than they started at, watching the fireworks together and listening to the sound of Lumiose City all around them, quietly wondering what the future held for the two of them.


"Ow!" Ash winced. "Does it have to be so tight?"

"Yes, it has to be tight," Korrina answered, kneeling down in front of him and fastening a roller blade to his left foot. "If they're too loose, they'll wobble around and you won't be able to move properly."

"Alright, if you say so…" Ash was seated on a bench along the main street of Hau'oli City, on Melemele Island in the Alola archipelago, while Korrina applied a pair of roller blades that she had brought for him as a gift. The two of them had been speaking over the phone every day for the past several months; for Korrina, the calls were right before she went to sleep, while for Ash, they were right after he woke up. After months of being apart, she had flown out to Alola on the eve of the region's first Pokémon League without telling him, surprising him by appearing in the stadium audience during the first round. Ash had been completely blindsided by her arrival, though his classmates were even more shocked. They generally had not bought Ash's story of "I have a girlfriend who's a Gym Leader in the Kalos region, only you can't talk to her because she's sleeping during school hours, and also I left my only pictures of us together at home in Kanto."

"This is my boyfriend, everyone," Korrina deadpanned to an imaginary audience, as she moved to his right foot. "He can win the Manalo Conference… he can fight off an invasion of Ultra Beasts… he can defeat a legendary island guardian in a Pokémon battle… and he can't skate."

"Hey, come on," Ash protested. "Do I have to be good at everything?"

"Well, you're going to be good at this," she replied, ignoring his sarcastic boast. She finished tightening the right boot before adjusting his elbow and knee pads, then sat up and secured his helmet tightly as well. Satisfied, she stood in front of him in her own skating outfit, which had been augmented with elbow and knee pads, in case Ash took a spill and brought her down with him.

"Alright, you're ready," she declared. "Try standing up."

He nodded and pushed himself into a standing position with his arms and legs, using just a bit too much force. His wheels began slipping out from under him, and he yelped as he tried to regain his balance, to no avail. He quickly pitched forward toward an unsurprised Korrina, grabbing her by the shoulders as she caught him in her arms.

"Your balance needs work," she offered, her smirk clear in her voice.

"I'm trying! It's harder than it looks!"

"It's not easy the first time. You'll get it quickly enough, though." She helped him back into a standing position, before reaching down and grasping his left hand in her right. "We'll start slow. Just watch my feet and do what I do."

He nodded and looked down toward her feet, as she started to move at a snail's pace. He watched the way her feet came into contact with the ground, swinging down toward it instead of taking proper steps, letting her momentum propel her forward. He began to mimic her movements, feeling the wheels of his skates pushing him along, gripping her hand more tightly whenever he felt unsure of his footing. It took less than a minute for him to start feeling comfortable with the movement of skating, and soon their speed had increased from "snail" to "golf cart". Without saying a word, she was teaching him how to move forward.

"You're doing great, Ash!" she encouraged. "I told you that you'd get the hang of it."

He smiled wide, letting himself look up as the city slowly moved past him. "Yeah, you did! This is fun!"

"Do you want to try it without holding onto me?" she offered.

He turned his head to face her with a grin on his face. "That's the best part, though!"

She giggled, holding his hand more tightly. "Alright, then… just for a little bit longer."

The two of them continued to talk and laugh, as they skated slowly through Hau'oli City, hand in hand.