Ash had a hearty meal along with Pikachu, who was psyched up for some extra training. Ash's belt occasionally rumbled, the Pokeballs hanging from it eager to come out. Although he was excited, he decided to wait for Serena. After all, she wanted to watch him train.

The honey-blonde seemed to take her time, zoned out. Her eyes, which stared at her food, looked as though they were looking elsewhere.

"Serena?" Ash called out, concerned. He hadn't seen such a troubled expression on her face before.

"Ah? Sorry, I'm feeling kind of full." Serena pushed away the cheesecake, which had two to three scoops taken from the whole. And there was also her French Toast, which was untouched. "Let's go."

Ash didn't move for a second, "..can we at least package the food and take it with us?" He muttered, almost in a whisper. Serena looked a bit puzzled. "You want to eat that later? Then sure."

"It just felt like a waste of food." Ash corrected, calling over a waiter. Serena smiled a bit. Ash's eyes narrowed.

As I thought, she is feeling down for some reason.

He glanced at her face. Although a smile clustered on her lips, it felt fake and damp. He felt like he recognized the expression from something a while ago, but couldn't remember exactly what. Either way, it didn't give him a good feeling.

The black-haired boy didn't plan on letting that little detail slide past him.

"Alright, let's go!" Ash cheered, and with Pikachu, rushed out of the restaurant. Serena followed in tow, not saying a word.

Despite the Town being in a phase of growing and building its base pillars, there was bound to be a battle arena around somewhere.

Ash grinned as he realized how new it was. The white lines around the edges of the rectangle were crystal clear, with not a blemish or chip in their color and design.

The dirt on the floor felt smooth and even. It would be the perfect field to show off to Serena.

"Everyone, come out!" Ash yelled.

Four creatures roared as they came out of their pokeballs. Serena stared in amazement.

"What the" she was shocked. "These are your Pokemon?!" She yelled, shocked. She had no idea he had these monstrous Pokemon on him.

"Yeah. We've been through a lot together." Ash grinned. The Pokemon were restless, two flapping their wings in anticipation, while the other two fiddled around in wait.

Serena had never seen such a vigorous and high-level training session like this before. As Kalos queen, she had been invited to see many fights, which included warm-up training, but it couldn't even come close to the casual training happening here.

At times she'd see a beam of energy so strong it could decimate a battleground, and other times a Pokemon would flicker in and out of her vision, going too fast for her to track.

Even from afar, she had trouble keeping up with the pacing and sheer force going on in the practice battle.

Ash, without delay, let out orders at lightning-fast speeds, adapting along with the battle. The more ramped up he got, the faster and better his Pokemon moved. The more confidently he let out an attack, the more skillfully they responded, executing his plan perfectly. Serena thought she was watching a well-scripted play.

By the time they were finished, she was left with her jaw on the floor. Craters littered the ground like it was the surface of the moon. The once clean, lined battleground was now looking like a wasteland of rocks and dirt that had been rocked around in the five pokemon's awakenings.

"Return," Ash said with a strained sigh, trying to regain his breath. He was just as tired as his pokemon. "Whew. I'm tired." Pikachu, who was lying on top of his chest, nodded.

"I-i bet you are. That was something," Serena said, disheveled. "You've gotten even more amazing, Ash."

The teen happily turned to her, content with the praise she gave him. "Of course. These five years were full of training!" Ash's electric pal raised its paw in agreement. He knew just how much effort he and his trainer put into reaching their dreams.

Traveling around the world, region to region, and catching countless Pokemon. They had done it all. And with their accomplishments, came moments of sadness and loss. But they persevered through and ended up here.

"I'm excited to see the results of your training too, Serena. I bet your old performances could never compare to what you're capable of now!"

Serena's gaze turned down, towards the ground again. She disagreed with Ash when the topic came to her performing skills.

My performances back when Ash was around were far more heartfelt and genuine.

And now, she merely performed to satisfy her past dreams, which were now built into her. There was no true motive or drive behind her movements, only the training she did every other day replaying out in front of a stage. It wasn't the same.

What made it worse was that her Pokemon had started to catch onto her situation. She didn't know how she managed to trick them for so long, but karma had caught up to her.

While the honey-blonde drifted off into her thoughts, Ash stared at her. Her pink fedora shadowed her eyes, which were usually a beautiful sky blue. It was clear something was wrong with her again.

It has to do with performing, huh?

He had a small premonition that was the issue. When he tried to discuss it seriously with Serena back at the hotel, she had managed to steer the conversation away.

But now, he couldn't afford to let her run away again. He had a disturbing feeling that if he did, Serena wouldn't be the same.

"Seren-" Ash was cut off by a shadowy figure rushing from a bush, grabbing Serena's purse, and running off.

The three were too shocked to react on time. By the time Pikachu started running after the person, they had gained considerable distance.

Serena watched the man run off, not saying or doing anything. That purse they had taken contained the tiara she had gotten as Kalos Queen. The blonde didn't understand the reason she carried it around everywhere, but she never even thought about leaving it in her home.

Yet, when the thief snatched it away from her, she didn't say anything. She didn't even feel anything over it. There was no physical or emotional attachment to the item that many dreamed of attaining- even her, back at one point in time.

It's fine, right? After all, it doesn't matter to me. Why bother and retrieve something with no value?

"Who was that!?" Ash yelled, getting up as quickly as possible off the floor. He worriedly glanced at Serena, who stared in the direction the thief ran.

"My tiara.." She mumbled. Ash was deeply disturbed by the lack of emotion in her voice.

"The tiara you got as Kalos Queen?! Why did you have that on you?" Ash asked in confusion. He was beyond bewildered at everything that had happened in a minute.

That's not important right now. We need to go find that person.

Ash hastily grabbed Serena's hand, "Let's go. I'll follow Pikachu, and you can get officer Jenny." Oddly, Serena blankly stared at him, unmoving. Ash stared into her eyes, struggling to identify Serena's glint in them.

"It's fine. It's just a tiara, after all." Serena muttered, turning back towards the path. Ash couldn't understand her words at all.

"What are you saying? Just a tiara?"

Ash was starting to wonder who this person was- because it certainly wasn't Serena. This person had hollow, pastel eyes that were dim and had a lack of light. A small fear sprouted within him.

Ash roughly grabbed her shoulders. She flinched at the pressure she felt on them. "What's gotten into you? How could you say it's just a tiara? You put your entire mind and body into gaining that! It's priceless!"

Serena felt as though ice-cold water had been splashed on her face. She could only focus on the amber eyes that had a burning passion in front of her. The blonde felt like she had just awoken from a long, unpleasant nightmare.

"B-but I.." She sputtered. His eyes made her feel unnerved. Compared to his strong resolve, hers had been shaken from the mere absence of him.

Ash, on the other hand, was starting to grow mad. She had only said a few words, yet he felt like he understood more than he wanted to. Something was going on in her head.

"Serena, I'm not one to decide how you feel, but I can't stand seeing you throw something you put your all into for so long away like that," Ash said, his voice more serious than she'd ever heard it be.

Serena no longer had any drive to perform. She'd lost that a while ago. And now that he understood that, catching the thief was the last of his worries. He wanted to get things straight with the saddened teenager in front of him.

"Don't you think it's unfair to your past self? The one who went through so much to even compete on a stage?" He asked, trying to reason with her. Although he was trying to persuade her, his words were genuine. He saw just how much Serena sacrificed and changed about herself to become a performer.

She gained multiple injuries while practicing, performing, and through various other means. But she never stopped. The fire in her eyes continued to grow, day by day. Ash truly felt she was one of the strongest people he knew.

"When I think of your old self, I feel bad for her. All that work is being ignored."

Serena's chest pulsated with pain, and her eyes were on the verge of tears now. Hundreds of emotions flowed through her body, yet not one was able to make its way to her mouth.

She knew how much work she put into performing, too- even more than Ash. It was herself, after all. Those countless nights filled with dreams of becoming Kalos Queen alongside her Pokemon flashed across her mind. She didn't like thinking about this.

Plus, Ash was beyond disappointed with her. She could tell with a glance. His eyes were more upset than the time he lost to Sawyer and Wulfric back-to-back.

At that time, she had tried to bring back the Ash she knew, believed in, and cared for. Was Ash now doing that with her? The teen's fuzzy mind couldn't formulate an answer.

"Dreams aren't something you can throw away so easily, Serena," Ash said after a pause of silence. He seemed to have calmed a bit, as his grip on her shoulder loosened.

"..." Serena didn't have a response. She was too ashamed to look into his eyes again, only able to turn her teary vision towards the ground. Dark emotions swirled within her.

She was weak. Her will was weak. After all, she had only run away from her mom's wishes for her to become a rhyhorn racer and decided to become a performer after one viewing of the Kalos Queen's performance. Wasn't that too quick? She never gave it much thought, did she?

"I don't know what made you lose your drive, but know that I'll be there to support you. Even if you decide to quit as a performer for good, or return to doing it." He said.

He'd be there to support her. Why was he here now, after all these years? Where was he when she needed her?

Serena didn't even realize what she said after that. All she saw was Ash's eyes widen, stupefied. It dawned on her that those words would be ones she'd regret saying.

"Serena.." Ash muttered, "The reason you quit was because of me?" Ash asked. He wasn't expecting an answer- It was just a question he had to verbalize from his brain clogging.

Oh. I went and told him.

Her mouth opened in a hurry, trying to form some sort of excuse for the words she uttered, but failed. The lump in her throat wouldn't disappear.

She had essentially blamed him for her losing the drive to perform. How much more of a scum could she become?

"Why does my presence being there to actively support you matter that much?" Ash asked, his voice almost a whisper.

He was confused. Serena, after seeing Aria's awe-inspiring performance, decided to become a Pokemon performer. She was inspired by the girl. What did he have to do in all that?

"Wasn't becoming a performer your dream?" He asked. Her eyes felt like they were forced to look up at him.

"Becoming a performer wasn't something I decided for you. I only supported your decision because I thought you were strong enough to achieve it."

Another hard hit in the feels. She was starting to reach the end of the rope. Memories, pain, and guilt all flooded her body, unable to fit in such a confined prison.

"I know you didn't do all that! I just missed you!" She yelled, emotions bursting in her voice. Ash backed away.

"You gave me power. It wasn't even me- everyone who knew you felt stronger when you were around. When you left, that sudden strength left all of us, too!"

It was true. While it wasn't on her level of loneliness, all of Ash's past comrades missed his cheerful presence. A presence that brought the person power and a feeling of determination to never give up.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows. "We each have paths that we follow! I can't be there to support you guys all the time!"

"That's exactly why it hurt so much!" Serena shouted back. Before the two realized it, it was a shouting match. One ideal versus another. The two stopped, catching their breaths. It had started to hurt to talk.

Serena was sobbing. Her deepest thoughts had been forced out, and she felt selfish in front of Ash, who was only stating the truth. She didn't blame him for reacting the way he did. Everything she had said was selfish. Extremely selfish.

It all boiled down to the fact that she couldn't stand on her own two feet, and needed someone to help her walk. But was that wrong? Not everyone was strong.

But then again, it was wrong. It was wrong to selfishly rely on others and expect them to be by her side. She needed to learn to walk on her own two feet and be independent.

".. I'm sorry, Serena. I didn't think about how you felt before screaming like that." Ash groaned. "It's like at Snowbelle City all over again.."

Between hiccups, the blonde responded, "A-ash, it's my fault. I was being selfish. I.." Serena gulped another lump, but it formed again seconds later.

"I know you can't be there for me all the time. It was just my wishful thinking."

Ash knelt in front of her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief. It was the same one Serena had given back to him when they first met in Kalos. Its faded blue tone caught Serena's attention. "This is.." She trailed off, as it was used to gently wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah. It's the same one you gave back to me all those years ago," He confirmed, still wiping her damp eyes. "You kept it all these years?" She asked timidly. They both were calm now and spoke in whispers, their voices still aching.

Serena's broken heart felt like it was slowly mending as the soft, silky cloth pressed against her eyelids. A small warmth spread across her shivering body.

"As I said at the hotel, I never got you out of my mind. I kept it for when I was reminded of you." He chuckled a bit, a small blush on his cheeks. "You still have that ribbon too, right? The one I gave you under that tree."

Serena nodded. If her bag was still there, she would have grabbed it from the custom-made pocket she reserved specifically for the ribbon.

"Then, how about I make a promise under it?" He asked. Serena seemed confused. "Promise? For what?" Ash looked away.

He was about to say something embarrassing. If he wasn't careful, it would come out weird.

"It'll be something like the promise you made with Braixen, except this time it's a ribbon." He suggested. Serena's eyes widened, a sparkle in them.

"I promise to always support you, even if I'm not there. That ribbon will be proof of it."

..and I say something weird.

Ash wanted to bash his head against a brick wall.

-

The two didn't take long to agree under that promise- and it went both ways. Serena promised over the now wet handkerchief that she would always believe in Ash and support him. The boy was happy from the bottom of his heart when she did that.

After a while of sitting there like goofballs, they remembered that there was a stolen purse they needed to retrieve. Serena felt motivated to get it back after their 'talk' (although it was more of an argument).

They contacted Officer Jenny, and within half an hour, the culprit was found. The surprising thing was, they found him unconscious, next to an exhausted and injured Pikachu, who held the purse with every last ounce of its being.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, rushing to his pal. The electric mouse immediately recognized its trainer and exclaimed in excitement. Ash gave his longtime pal a big hug. "Thanks for protecting the bag, buddy."

"Pikachu.." It muttered, fainting soon after falling into his hands. Ash held it with care, a smile on his face. Serena walked up to the sleeping mouse and caressed its head gratefully.

"We've got a long day tomorrow, Serena. Let's get two rooms at the Pokemon Center and call it a night." Ash suggested. She nodded.

That night, she fell asleep with a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Firstly, I apologize for a more heavy chapter this time round. I didn't like my own premise of Serena losing sight of being a performer just because Ash wasn't around, but I decided to keep it just for a scene like this. Giving Serena a moment to grow was something I wanted.

Thanks for reading. See you next chapter.