Prologue
At the Lumiose City Airport, four young Pokémon trainers were getting ready to say their goodbyes. The first was a blonde haired boy with glasses; Clemont, the Lumiose City gym leader, his little sister Bonnie and her Dedenne by her side. The third was a girl that had honey blonde hair and a recognizable blue ribbon; Serena, the runner up of the Kalos Master Class. The fourth was a boy with black spiky hair and an unmistakable red cap with a Pikachu on his shoulder; Ash Ketchum, the runner up of the Kalos League, the savior of Kalos.
Serena was unsure about what she was going to do next. Was she going to go to Hoenn to pursue contests, stay in Kalos, or was she going to go with Ash? Nervousness trickled through her mind. What's going to happen?
Ash noticed her worriness. "Serena, it's going to be okay." He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned a little red. "I want to ask you something."
Over the years, he had traveled with many different companions, but none he had felt such a connection with as Serena. After all, she was the first friend that he had, and they always supported each other. Besides, she was smitten with him. Out of everyone, the only ones he had traveled with to more than one region were Brock and Misty, the former of which had stayed with him up until Sinnoh.
Serena was thinking something different about Ash's request. Is he going to ask me to be his boyfriend?
Ash cleared his throat. "First off, I would like to thank everyone for traveling and battling with me. This is probably the most fun I've had on a journey. Clemont, it's been an honor to battle and learn from you. Bonnie, I had so much fun hanging out with you. Serena…" he paused. How am I going to say this? "I'm so happy that I got to reunite with you. Thank you so much for inspiring me and helping me grow as a person. Never give up until it's over. But I also want to ask you this, Serena, can you come with me home to the Kanto region? I want to travel with you more."
Serena's heart started pounding. Ash and I traveling alone together? She started blushing at the thought, but at the same time, she was super excited. "Of course Ash, I would love that! Thank you!" she hugged him. Ash smiled.
"Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, thank you so much for traveling with me. Through you I have made so many friends and I have discovered my passion. Clemont, you always make me laugh and you have taught me some great advice. Bonnie, I love hanging out with you and you are like a little sister to me. Ash, you are my goal, and you mean so much to me," Serena smiled at him.
"There's just one more thing."
Serena began to move closer to Ash, and he gasped as she leaned in towards his lips and to the shock of all around, kissed him. Bonnie, Dedenne, and Pikachu were squealing with cuteness while Clemont had his mouth open in shock. Ash, however, stood there in awe and not knowing what to do, blushed. His eyes were sparkling and shining, full of wonder. Ash was certainly not expecting this, not in a million years.
He froze even as she moved away. Did she just kiss me on the lips? I've never been kissed before. Ash felt awkward but to tell the truth, he liked it. No, he loved it.
After saying their goodbyes, Ash, Pikachu, and Serena were on the plane back to Kanto.
"We had such a great time in the Kalos region, huh, buddy?" Ash turned to his best friend, and the Electric Mouse Pokémon nodded with a "Pika" in agreement. They looked out the window and remembered their memories in Kalos: Ash first arriving, his first battle with Clemont, falling off the tower, battling Viola, reuniting with Serena, battling with Viola again… He remembered all of the new friends, rivals, and Pokémon that he had made new connections with: Talonflame, Hawlucha, Goodra, Noivern, Greninja… Ash reminisced about the first time they had perfected the Ash-Greninja form. I miss you… hopefully one day we can reunite and I'll be even stronger, and I'll get my revenge on Alain. The other thing he couldn't get his mind off was Serena. He glanced at her briefly, sitting next to him just now, for all the countless times she cared for him, and that kiss… he would never forget that.
Serena had her mind on similar things. She thought about the Pokémon that she had befriended and her newfound love for performances. Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon had gotten her so far. Serena smiled at Ash and Pikachu, the two looking out the window. He had taught her so much and had inspired her. When journeying together, her fondness for Ash grew into more than just a crush. It was love.
Night time fell across the Kanto region. The sky was filled with stars, and a slight breeze ruffled the baby-breath flowers that surrounded the Ketchum residence. Ash ran to his mother's house, super excited to tell her about his journey, Pikachu by his side as always. Serena was not too far behind, struggling to catch up. "Ash, wait!" she called out.
Ash turned to her, slowing down in the process. "Sorry, I'm just really excited! I'll walk with you." Serena smiled. Ash slowed down as she caught up to him and as two were side-by-side, he nonchalantly held her hand. If this was earlier she would have blushed, but Serena looked down at their held hands and her eyes brightened. They were growing closer.
"Mom, I'm home!" Ash called as he opened the door, with Pikachu letting out a squeal.
Delia Ketchum opened the door and hugged her son. "Honey, I missed you! How are you doing Pikachu?" she said as she patted Pikachu's head. "Tell me all about your adventures-" Delia noticed that there was another person in the room, a girl that looked familiar to her. She recalled seeing her on the screen when she called Ash the final time before they left. "I didn't know you brought a friend."
"Sorry mom, I just decided last minute. You remember Serena from the Professor's summer camp?"
"Now that you mention it, you do seem familiar…" Both women smiled. "Nice to meet you again Serena." Delia shook the young woman's hand.
I can't believe I'm meeting my future mother-in-law! Serena thought.
"Ash, I was not expecting you to bring a girl home. Is she your girlfriend?" Delia winked while she and Mimey prepared dinner.
Both Serena and Ash turned red at the aspect, especially Ash, who denied. "N-no mom, not at all! She's just a really good friend."
Thankfully, his embarrassment was lifted when Serena asked about Mimey, and Ash explained the story about how it became a fixture in the Ketchum household.
While eating dinner, Delia whispered to Ash about Serena. "You've never acted this way towards other girls. Something's going on. You can tell me, you know."
Did he like Serena in that way? He wasn't sure, but according to his mother, it seemed like it…
"By the way," his mother interrupted his thoughts. "I have new clothes for you!" She held up blue-and-white striped t-shirt, dark gray shorts, and a red hat similar to the one that he wore in Kalos, except for the fact that the white line was more blockier and there was a second one facing in the opposite direction below the first.
"Thanks mom!" Ash exclaimed. "I'm so excited to begin my next journey!"
The next day, Ash and Serena decided to go to Professor Oak's lab in order to return Ash's Kalos Pokémon. When they walked up to the ranch, Serena was amazed about how many Pokémon were there.
"Wow, I can't believe you have so many Pokémon…" Serena stared in awe.
"Not all of them are mine, but I do have a lot." Ash scratched the back of his neck. "Hey look, here comes one right now! Bulbasaur!"
The so-called protector and peace-maker of the lab, along with Torterra, happily ran up to greet his trainer. "Bulbasaur!" Ash kneeled down as the Seed Pokémon happily nuzzled him. "Bulbasaur, this is my good friend Serena."
Serena smiled happily as Bulbasaur nuzzled her as well, and Ash chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Bulbasaur." She was reminded of Shauna and her Ivysaur, and wondered how the two were doing.
As they walked to Oak's office, Ash saw some more familiar faces, including Heracross and Glalie. Oshawott ran up to Ash and hugged him while Gliscor came down and landed on his face, knocking him over. Seeing all his Pokémon greeting him that way made it seem all the more evidence to Serena that Ash was such an amazing trainer and that he truly cared about all Pokémon, as well as this being one of the many reasons why she admired him.
When they entered the lab, Professor Oak and Tracey were there to greet him. "Hello Ash! Who's this with you?" The Professor eyed Serena.
"Hi, I'm Serena, and I went to your camp one summer." she introduced herself.
"Ah yes, you were the one who Ash befriended."
"Hello Ash," Tracey said, "I see you have some company." He smirked and Ash felt a little embarrassed again.
"Serena, this is Tracey. We briefly traveled together through the Orange Islands." the two shook hands.
"Say Ash," Oak continued again, "there's an Vulpix egg that I want to deliver to Professor Kukui in the Alola region-"
"Alola region?" Ash was excited at a new place to explore. "That sounds cool! I want to go!"
"Ash, things are different in Alola then what you are used to. Some Kanto Pokémon have Alolan forms of themselves called regional variants, and there are no gyms."
"No gyms? How am I supposed to enter the League?" Ash groaned.
Oak shushed him. "Young Ash, Island Trials act as a substitute to gyms. These trials help grow the bonds between people and Pokémon."
"Sounds awesome! Are you excited to go, buddy?" Ash asked his pal as Pikachu yipped in agreement. "Are you excited too, Serena? After all, you are going with me."
"Yes." To tell the truth, she was also nervous at being alone with Ash. "I think we'll have a great time!"
"Well, here are my Pokémon that I brought from Kalos. Take good care of them, Professor! They're quite a handful." Out of their balls came Talonflame, Hawlucha, and Noivern, all looking around with excitement at their new home.
"There's only three? Where's…" Tracey started.
"Sadly, I couldn't bring Greninja and Goodra with me because they had important obligations to do." Ash hanged his head for a second as he thought of his released Pokémon, both of which had meant so much to him. All of them played huge roles in his Kalos League placement and in defeating Team Flare. He looked to the ones that were remaining. "Hawlucha, Talonflame, Noivern, you're in good hands. Thank you so much."
All of Ash's Pokémon looked at him for one last time before the two trainers exited the lab. A new journey was about to begin.
Unknown to Ash and Serena, two particular Pokémon trainers and their talking Meowth were eavesdropping into the conversation from the bushes.
"Did you hear that, the twerp is going to a new tropical region called Alola!" a man with purple hair, known as James from Team Rocket, proclaimed in excitement.
"And it seems that twerpette from last time is coming along too," a woman with magenta hair known as Jessie noted.
"Wait, he's never done that before, does that mean…" a talking Meowth wondered before shaking his head. "Scratch that. There's a whole lot of super duper rare new Pokémon out there that we gotta bring to the boss!"
"Alola here we come!" the trio exclaimed in joy, while a certain blue Pokémon popped out of his ball and gave a cry back as well as a salute in response.
AN: Here it is, my first fanfic! This chronicles the story of Ash and Serena, their adventures, their romance, and their journey to reach their dreams! I have been planning this for a while now and I can't wait to get it all done. However, there will be a lot of chapters and I don't plan on updating that often.
Here is some info you need to know:
This will not be your typical journey fanfic. After Alola, Ash will be doing no gyms so expect huge timeskips here and there.
Ash will not be using any gimmicks. (except for Ash-Greninja)
I will not cover Galar at all as this was planned before Galar. Galar might be featured in a later fanfic of mine.
Serena... I'll have her compete in some contests in Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, and try out for the Kalos Queen in Kalos, but I don't know if I'll write them.
Some league battles in the earlier rounds will be skipped because they will be against random trainers.
Ash is going to be basically unbeatable in the fic. Yes you will see Ash sweep trainers in this fic by the time we get to Unova, but not right now.
Ash and Serena are not dating yet.
Ash and Serena are both 14 right now.
Ash won't be attending the Pokémon School, instead he'll be traveling the Alola region.
There won't be a lot of Team Rocket.
There won't be a lot of "filler". The filler will be Ash reuniting with old companions and maybe focusing on his Pokémon or sports.
Notes about this chapter:
Tracey is here! Tracey being the first companion for Serena to meet was not on my bingo card, but I figured since we are Oaks why not get it out of the way? He won't appear again until the finale of this fic.
The egg thing (which is how Ash first heard about Alola in canon) is just an excuse for Ash to learn about Alola. It didn't even get mentioned in the next chapter. Woops.
Team Rocket's scene was originally not here, but I decided to add it in because they are going to Alola too.
Hope you enjoy!