Wait, what? A new story?!
Yep! That's right! In the middle of writing Project 'Kamen Rider', I've had the inspiration to write a new story!
It's not original, but I'm going to put my own twist into this!
Episode 1: Let's be Long-Distance Friends!
It was the final day of Professor Oak's Summer Camp and Serena had mixed feelings about it. Sure, she didn't even want to be here, she'd rather be with her mom and Rhyhorn, but she had no choice in the matter. Her mom, Grace Paschall, is a famous Rhyhorn Racer, and she was on tour in Kanto for said races. The tour was going around the same time as the summer camp, so Grace decided to enroll her daughter in it as she went and did races.
Serena didn't like the camp at first. Where Grace had the idea to enroll her daughter to give Serena a chance to come out her shell and make friends, it came to be the exact opposite. No one wanted to be her friend. To many of the kids in the camp, she was just shy and weird, someone that you didn't want to play games with or talk to.
Except for one boy, and probably the only reason why she even liked the camp, especially toward the end of the event.
The boy's name is Ash Ketchum, and he proclaimed that he was going to be a Pokémon Master and become champion one day. Serena didn't even know that was a real thing. He took the time to spend time with her and be an actual friend to her, much to her happiness.
Some kids would make fun of Ash for sticking with the weird girl, making her shy away from everyone, but Ash would defend her pretty quickly. There were even moments where some random kid was bullying her for playing with dolls instead of the Pokémon at the ranch, he snatched her dolls and threw them on the ground. She started to cry, wanting to just leave, but then Ash came to her rescue and started fighting the bully!
Some kids didn't want to deal with Ash picking fights with them, so they just left Serena alone, much to her relief.
Then, during a scavenger hunt, she wound up lost in a forest. She was completely terrified and just when she scraped her knee, making her fall to the ground, she just whimpered out, "I knew this was a bad idea… I didn't even want to come to this camp in the first place…"
"MOMMY!" she would scream, hoping it would somehow work.
The bushes would rustle, making her afraid that something was going to come out and eat her. Luckily, it was Ash, who got distracted with a random Poliwag jumping out of the bushes. It seems he forgot the point of the scavenger hunt and just chased after the random tadpole Pokémon. He noticed Serena was in pain, so he gave her his handkerchief, wrapped it around her knee, and did a weird, albeit cute chant, "Pain, pain – Go away!"
She lamented it didn't work, but then he uttered a phrase that is now stuck in her head, "Don't give up until it's over!" He lifted her up, making her able to stand. He then held her hand as he led her out of the forest, all while giving her encouraging words.
Yeah, she was crushing on the boy… just don't let people know that!
She always thought boys had cooties, but she guesses Ash is the only exception to that.
So, the two, already close, became nigh inseparable. Serena would only cling to Ash, but he didn't mind it at all. He just assumed she wanted to be close to her only friend and would play with her. Dolls and everything, even if in his mind, dolls are for girls.
Now, their closeness ends, and she can't help but be extremely sad about it. Ash also was upset she was leaving, but he didn't let it get to him as much as it's getting to Serena. He just told her he will always remember her, but to Serena, that wasn't enough. She didn't want to stop talking to her only friend! As she saw her mom walking to Professor Oak's ranch, she then went up to her mom and did something unthinkable, "Momma, I want to long-distance friends with Ash!"
Grace, who hasn't seen Serena in 3 months, stares blankly at her daughter, "Uh, who?"
"Ash! He's my friend and I… I'm gonna miss him, so… I want to keep talking to him!" She forces it out, almost backing down at her mom's inquisitive stare. "Please, mom!" she begs, clasping her hands together. She then points to Ash, who is now being picked up by his mom, "Please, momma… Before he leaves!"
Grace glances over, looking at his direction as Ash spins around and excitedly talks to his mom, or who she can assume is his mom. She almost thought that was Ash's sister at first, not his mom. His mom smiles, nodding, intently listening to her son rave about something. Ash then notices Serena pointing at her, then he points back at her, a smile on his face as he keeps talking to his mom.
His mom then looks at Grace, and the two begin walking to her and her daughter.
"Oh, hello, my name is Delia!" Ash's mom introduces herself, "It seems my son and your daughter, Serena, became quite the friends. He was just telling me everything that they did together," she crouches down to Serena's eye level, who begins to shy away from Delia, slightly intimidated, "Oh, you're such a sweet girl, thank you for taking care of my Ash!"
"Mom," Ash whines, much to his mom's amusement.
"My name is Grace," she politely introduces herself, "and yeah, Serena was just telling me how she and Ash became friends. To be honest, I can see why, Ash is a very charming and energetic boy. He's probably Serena's first friend, if I'm completely honest with you."
Delia gasps, looking at Serena, "Oh, well, I'm happy Ash is your first friend! He's quite the special boy," she teases, making Serena blush and hide behind her mom, making the two woman laugh in good fun. Ash didn't seem to get the joke, but shrugs.
"Well, it seems Serena does have something she wants to share, isn't that right, Serena?" Grace nudges Serena, wanting her to speak up, the same way she did moments ago. Serena then stares at Ash, who's giving her a curious gaze, but with a huge grin forming as if encouraging her to continue. Delia offers a warm smile, wanting Serena to talk.
She takes the plunge, "I want… I want to keep talking to Ash, uhm… like, when I get home! I want to be pen-pals with Ash!"
"You see, Delia, we're from Kalos, not Kanto, so for them to see each other, it would be almost hard for us to schedule time to do such stuff… I hope this is fine with you?" Grace asks, hopeful to keep Serena happy, as this something new from the girl. Even if it's a boy, the fact Serena is opening up makes Grace ecstatic.
Ash's eyes widen as he jumps around, "Yeah! Serena and I can keep being friends, yay!" He grabs Serena's hands and has her hop around with him, making her laugh and hop with him. Delia doesn't see the problem and smiles, affirming the decision.
"Of course! I'd be more than happy for us to keep in contact and let them talk to each other. I'm not sure about Kalos, but in Kanto, we use our video phones. Do you have something like that there?" Delia asks, as she begins writing down their contact information on a piece of paper.
Grace nods, "Yes, we do! Here, let me give you my information as well. Thank you so, so much for letting them be friends," she thanks her, writing down her contact information. The two women hand it over to each other, Delia all the happier to see the potential friendship the two kids would have.
"No, it's my pleasure!"
Once Grace and Serena arrived back at Vaniville Town in the Kalos Region, Grace wasn't surprised for Serena to immediately run to the video phone and immediately start dialing Ash's house. However, instead of her daughter dialing, she cut the connection off, much to Serena's dismay.
"Momma," Serena whines, a pout on her face as she stares at her mom with an annoyed expression, "I was going to call Ash!" Grace had to bite back a chuckle, she forgot her child didn't understand anything about time zones.
She points to her watch that was still set in Kanto time, it was 23:32 there, compared to their 19:32 here. Noticing her daughter not understanding, she decided to elaborate, "Dear, we're four hours behind them. That means they're in bed already. To them, it's almost the middle of the night, here's it's just time to eat dinner."
Finally realizing, Serena's eyes water, "D-does that mean I can't talk to him?"
Putting her hands on Serena's shoulders, she wipes the tears threatening to spill, "No, dear," she smiles, comforting her, "It just means we have to be mindful of when to call. I can call Delia whenever she wakes up and we can discuss a perfect time for you and Ash to talk. Is that okay?"
With a slow nod, Serena accepts.
It would be quite a challenge for the two kids, as they always eagerly wait to call one another. One time, the two would call each other the same time, causing the lines to get busy with each other. Ash got frustrated and Serena almost cried, thinking the lines were not working. Delia and Grace both laughed at their inability to use technology, which is fair, they're only 6.
Soon enough, Serena and Ash would alternate calling each other first. They set up the time to call, where it's 20:30 for Ash, and 16:30 for Serena.
"Hey, Ash!" Serena would chirp happily, always happy to see Ash, even over video calls.
"Hey, 'Rena!" Ash would start calling her that, making the girl blush profusely at the nickname. She knew calling 'Ashy' wouldn't go well with him, especially if others would hear, and start making fun of him. Especially when Ash would rant to her about a mean boy by the name of Gary Oak. Now, she never met him, as he wasn't even part of the Summer Camp.
"Gary never went to our camp, he kept saying he was too 'good' for it or something," She remembers Ash groaning over that.
"Oh? That's kind of mean," she would respond, though not sure how to process that. Her momma always told her that those who talk big, never play big. Or something like that, her momma was weird with phrases.
"Yeah, he was my friend, but ever since I went to the camp, he changed," Ash looked down, which made Serena frown at the downtrodden look of her friend, "he became a big bully to me, he just left me for some other kids and just kept bragging he'll be the best Pokémon Trainer ever and I'll just be a loser like everyone else in Pallet Town."
"Ash… I don't think you're a loser," she remembered stating to him softly, trying to make him feel better.
"Yeah… thanks, 'Rena, you're the best," she just gave him the biggest smile.
The two would continue talking, as if nothing can ever tear them away. It's been two years and they've still been going on strong.
Then, something amazing happened that she knew she needed to take the plunge! From what her mom said, there has been talks about Professor Sycamore, the professor of the Kalos region, hosting his own summer camp. And the best part is that the talks did go well for him to begin enrollment in June! Starting next month, Sycamore will be opening his own camp site and all kids from around the world are eligible to join! She knew this would be the perfect opportunity to reunite with Ash!
So during their calls, the following discussion is as follows:
"Hey, Rena!" It was Ash's turn for the call this time, something Serena always loved waiting for. While she enjoys calling, having her crush call her first seems more romantic to her… despite the fact she told her mom boys are 'icky' and 'gross'. But Ash is different than most boys!
"Ash!" she happily greets him, seeing his mom wave in the background, making her wave back.
"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum!"
She hears Delia laugh and tells her she can just call her 'Delia' instead, to which the young girl reluctantly agrees to. She never could find it not awkward to call an adult by their first name, but if she insisted…
"So, Serena, I have some news!" Ash would start, making Serena smile and nod.
"Me too! I have some news I want to tell you!"
"You first!" Ash insisted, starry eyed. She blushes, looking away, but regains her focus. She must let him know first!
"W-well, there's this summer camp coming along, uh, hosted by Professor Sycamore and…" she mutters the last bit, asking him extremely fast, "would you like to visit and stay with me there?" It took a while for Ash to understand, but he stares at her, mouth agape, before ultimately giving her a huge grin.
"No way! I gotta ask mom first! But I think she'll say yes!" he bolts out of the room, screaming, "Mom!" at the top of his lungs, making Serena stifle a laugh. He's too excitable sometimes, but oh well. She can hear Ash talk to his mom about something, before silence and then he comes back running, his arms high in the air as he cheers happily, "Yay!"
"We'll see you there, Rena!" Her smile becomes big, her eyes glimmer and she nods excitedly.
"Mm! I can't wait for you to come here, Ash! It starts in June, so please get here before then, please!"
"You bet! Man, this beats what I was going to tell you!" he laughs.
"What is it that you were going to tell me anyway?"
"Well…" he draws out, "since it's going to be me going there, I'll keep it a surprise!" Ash teases her with a wink, making her pout. Oh, she hates surprises! She tries to make Ash spill it out, but he's steadfast and just teases her some more, making her give up. She did warn him it better be good, but he laughed it off and promised she'd love it.
The two would continue talking until their time was over. When the two hung up, she squealed happily, jumping around and flailing her arms around.
It was time to see her friend again! She was super happy! She ran down the stairs, passing by her mom's Fletchling, who was perched on the stair frames. "Mom!" Serena calls, as her mom was busy cooking dinner for the two of them.
"Hm? Yeah, Serena?" Grace glanced at her daughter, cooking them some pasta.
"You know how you told me there's a summer camp coming up?" She asks, her eyes gleaming with excitement, making Grace turn around. This was new, Grace mused. Normally, Serena didn't care for the Summer Camps happening in other regions, especially since Professor Oak hasn't been hosting them anymore. This new camp was opened up recently as a way to give kids something to do again, this time being hosted by Kalos' own Professor Sycamore.
"Mhm. I do, are you going to this one, dear?"
"Mhm! And Ash is too!"
Grace smiled, so that's why she's wanting to join now. Well, it has been some time since the two saw each other. Plus, this may give Serena more friends too. Serena hasn't joined the other summer camps hosted by different professors, so she hopes this can give her more friends than just Ash. As much as Grace adores Ash, she hopes that Serena can have more friends and be comfortable with other people.
Ash was able to make a few friends by himself, but Serena always stuck to Ash like glue. The two are super close, but she wants Serena to one day have another close friend or set of close friends.
Time would fly by fast and, as promised, Ash and Delia both arrived to the Kalos region! Their flight took them to Lumiose City, where Grace was more than happy to pick them up. The two women began talking, but Ash was restless, disappointed Serena wasn't in the care. Grace noticed his downtrodden look and winked at Delia, who hid a small giggle.
"Don't worry, Ash, you'll see your Rena soon!" Grace winks, making Ash pout, but nod.
Apparently, Serena was sleeping in. She was up all night, unable to sleep as her friend was coming over to stay for day or two! She was just imagining all the things she can show him! She can take him around the small forests around Vaniville Town, take him to Route 1 where it's just a brisk walk to Aquacorde Town, where there's all the small shops and some cafés he can try out!
She then opens her eyes, only to begin freaking out. Where's her mom?!
"Mom!" she calls out, to no response.
She groans, she woke up late! She was supposed to have gone with her mom to pick up Ash! She then notices Fletchling looking at her with a blank expression, making Serena glare at the bird, "Why didn't you wake me up this time?!" The bird just pecks her between her eyes, making her cry in frustration, "You…" she growls out, but sighs.
"Oh well, I'll just deal with it…" she grumbles, pouting. Fletchling just perches over her shoulders, rubbing its head against her cheek. Serena didn't have the heart to stay angry at it. She opens her windows and waves at her mom's Rhyhorn, who just growls back a response.
She prepares herself a bowl of cereal and just eats in silence. Her heart skips a beat when she hears her mom's car pull into the driveway and the car doors open and close. Multiple times. Her eyes widen. They're here! She rushes to the front door, opening it and watches as Delia is taking out stuff from the back, with Ash grabbing some bags.
"Ash!" she happily exclaims, running towards him, hugging him.
With a gasp, Ash awkwardly hugs her back, just as happy to see his best friend, "Rena!" The two stare at each other, Serena having a small blush on her cheeks, but she just puts her head on his shoulders, continuing to hug him.
The two separate and Grace smiles, hands on her hips, "Well now, it's good to see you two still joint to the hip as ever." She teases them, making Serena blush and Ash just smile, not knowing what she means by that. Delia smirks, winking at the little girl, who blushes harder.
"Now, Serena," her mom begins, "Ash and his mom are going to take the guest bedroom, can you go show them where that is, please? I'm going to be back in a little bit, Rhyhorn and I need to get his shots done for the upcoming race."
"Sure, mom!" Serena grabs two bags, trying to help.
She leads the mother-son duo upstairs, where she takes them to one of the guest rooms next door to her. She opens it up and poses, "Ta-da! Mom made sure we got it all cleaned up for you both!" Delia smiles, looking around, with Ash practically bouncing up and down.
"You two are such great hosts! Thank you both for letting us stay over while Ash is participating in the camp!" Delia thanks the two, with Grace waving off the appreciation lightly.
"No, no! The pleasure is mine, Delia. Besides, it'll be nice for us to hang out and get to know each other more while the kids are on their little dates!" Grace bits her lip, trying not to laugh as Serena stares at her mom with huge eyes and a blush that's so intense, one would think she was about to use Blast Burn.
"Mooooom," Serena groans, trying to kick her mom in the shin, with Grace moving away from the attack, snicking as she does so. Luckily for Serena, Ash wasn't paying attention and was actually looking for something in his bag.
"Ah-ha! Found it!"
They turn to see Ash holding a small yellow box, with a red ribbon wrapped around it. Delia proudly smiles at Ash, knowing what it is. She did spend the time helping him with it.
Ash turns to Serena, a small blush forming on his face out of nervousness, "Hey, uh, Rena… I, I got this for you…" he stammers, holding it out to Serena, "It's been a while since we last saw each other and… I wanted to give you something… so, yeah… that was the surprise, this gift for you… Hope you like it."
If one can imagine it, they can probably see steam coming out of the girls' head, her face completely flushed red as she holds the gift in her hands. Normally, they send each other gifts, little hand made ones, for birthdays and presents, but if Ash is getting nervous… then it must be special. She gulps, untying the cute ribbon, and opens the box, only to gasp.
It was a blue ribbon.
Ash looks away, with a sheepish look on his face, "I figured you'd want something for you to wear and I know you like fashion, so I thought-" he immediately shuts up as Serena hugs him tightly, a warm smile on her face as she looks at her best friend.
"I love it."
Hope you guys enjoyed it!
I'm excited to keep writing more of this and Project 'Kamen Rider'!
I also have another story in the works! I'll try not to burn myself out while writing for all three! Leave some reviews and let me know what you think!
