Chapter Two

If her apparent 'accent' wasn't enough to single her out from everyone, once the many camp activities began she found herself even more distant from the rest of the kids.

Baseball was a mess itself– with Casey and Miles having a love for the sport, combined with Gary's competitiveness made Serena's struggle at the game nothing but shameful. Damian had quickly become Gary's best friend, and even though he was barely better at it than her it was her mistakes that were met with frustration by the rest of their group. Even though they had won in the end they had made it clear she hadn't been a part of it.

She was no better at capture the flag, ring toss, or tug-a-war. At meal times she sat at the edge of table three while the rest of her group talked among themselves, not even looking up when Gary was loudly shouting out taunts to 'Ashy-boy' at table one. At the campfire her first night her marshmallow had caught fire, and the cabin Poliwag panicked if she tried to hold him.

She had cried herself to sleep her first two nights, and by day three she had no motivation to get up as Samson cheerfully told them it was time to wake up. She just buried her head in her pillow, hoping that their camp leader would ignore her like everyone else in their group, and she'd be able to just stay in the cabin all day.

"Come on, Serena," Samson said cheerfully. "Rise and shine! The Sunflora is up, and so we need to be as well!"

She shook her head, her face still in the pillow.

"Don't you want breakfast?" Samson asked, and again she shook her head.

"I want my mom," she whispered, voice muffled by the pillow.

"Well, I'm sure your mom would want you to have breakfast," Samson said, gently grabbing her shoulder and having her sit up. He paused when he noticed the tear streaked face of Serena, hesitating. "We have a lot of fun activities planned out for today, I don't want you to miss them."

"I do," she whispered, trying to dive back under the covers, but her camp counselor simply picked her up and placed her on the ground. "I don't want to be here– I want my mom."

"How about this?" Samson offered. "If you go get all ready for today and eat your breakfast, we can call your mom after, okay?"

Serena perked up. "And she'll come and get me?"

He smiled, though she could see the hesitation in his gaze. "You'll be able to talk to her, and if she feels like she needs to come pick you up then I'm sure she will."

Serena bolted from the cabin, the promise of perhaps being able to go home being something she couldn't miss. Despite all the other members of her cabin being up before her she was the first one dressed and at the pavilion for breakfast. For once she didn't poke at her food, but wolfed it down as quickly as she could.

And then as promised, Samson took her to Professor Oak's laboratory to use the video phone to call her mom.

"Mommy!" Serena cried the moment Grace appeared on screen, the heaviness in her heart somewhat retreating.

"Hey honey," Grace said with a smile, Fletchling on her shoulder. She was dressed in her Rhyhorn racing gear, and judging from the dirt and sweat on her face she probably just finished a race. "How's everything going?"

"Horribly!" Serena cried. "I don't want to stay here, Mom, please don't let me stay here any longer!"

"Serena, you promised me you'd at least try out the summer camp," Grace said, crossing her arms.

"I did!" She cried– she had been here for two horrible days, and this third one wasn't looking any better. "I don't like any of the games and no one in my cabin likes me and they say my voice sounds funny and I just want to go with you–"

Tears were running down her face as she spoke, and with a small sigh Grace leaned closer to the screen. "Serena, honey, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. You're almost halfway done!"

"But I want to be done now!"

"Serena, I can't come and get you," Grace said, causing the young girl to freeze up. "I have another race I need to prepare for, and you know I can't miss one."

"Mom, please!" Serena begged.

"No honey," She said firmly, but she gave Serena a small smile. "But if it would help, maybe we could talk every morning? That way you won't miss me as much?"

Serena was struggling against tears, and slowly nodded. But it wasn't just the fact that she was missing her mom that she wanted to leave, but it was everything else as well. The way she was always alone, and how Gary always managed to find a way to laugh at her when the adults weren't looking.

"Okay then, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Wait, no!" She cried. "I still want to talk to you!"

"Tomorrow, honey," Grace replied. "You have fun, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Serena whispered, watching as her mother ended the call.

"B-but you're supposed to be taking care of Poliwag today!" Serena cried.

"Sorry, I can't understand you~" Gary said haughtily. "Maybe if you spoke Kodaic..."

"I am speaking Kodaic!" She cried, but that only made Gary laugh. He and Damian had managed to corner her outside of their cabin– them coming back from breakfast while she was coming back from her call with her mother.

"It doesn't matter– I need you to go find Poliwag before someone notices he's gone," he said. Each day a different member of the cabin was in charge of watching their mascot, with Gary having volunteered for today. But yet the little water type had managed to sneak away sometime during breakfast, and he was now ordering Serena to go find it.

"But you're the one that lost him!" She protested.

Gary leaned in close, and she instantly pulled back, pressing up against the wall of the cabin. "Look here, if you don't find the Poliwag I'm going to tell everyone that you took him from me and then lost him. My Gramps owns this camp– so who do you think they're going to believe? Me or you?"

She looked down at her feet. "F-fine. I'll go get Poliwag. Where did he run off too?"

Gary waved a hand towards the forest. "Somewhere over there, probably."

"I can't find him if you don't tell me!"

He shrugged, grinning at Damian. "Not my problem."

"Je te déteste!" Serena cried in Kalosian, before turning on a heel and racing off towards the forest. Her heart was thumping as she did so, the shadows between the trees looking daunting as she went towards them alone, but the thought of being blamed for something she didn't do was even worse, and so she swallowed her fear and entered the forest.

At first she stuck near camp, searching through the woods where she could still see the pavilion and cabins if she looked over her shoulder. But there was no sign of the Poliwag, the young girl peering into bushes and looking up at the trees. She wondered if she should just tell an adult what was happening, but she realized the fact that she was looking for Poliwag would only make Gary's story look more real.

So despite how much the idea terrified her, she set off deeper into the woods of the camp.

She shivered with each step she took, quietly calling out for Poliwag as she continued her search. Every time she heard leaves rustling her hopes would rise– only for fear to take its place as a wild Pokemon bolted past her. A few even threw her unhappy looks, and the farther she went the colder the Pokemon seemed to become.

Her mother said to never wander off alone, that wild Pokemon could be territorial. She didn't know what the word territorial meant, but it sounded frightening, and she wondered if that meant they would attack her. The ones she was seeing sure looked like they would, and so her fear was only growing.

When an Ekans slithered across the path in front of her Serena didn't care if Gary would get her in trouble– she just wanted to go back to camp. She turned and raced back in the direction she came, hurrying down the path so she could be back at the cabins and away from the wild Pokemon.

But the farther she went, the more she realized she had no idea where she was.

This path didn't look familiar, and all the trees around her looked the same shade of gray. Had the path branched off somewhere and she hadn't realized it? Was she simply going the wrong way? Swallowing, she began to call out, hoping that she'd get some reply that would take her back into the direction of camp.

The minutes stretched out, only silence meeting her replies. Tears stung her eyes, the young girl realizing that she was lost.

"Hey! Where is everyone?!" Serena called as she stumbled into a small glade. She couldn't even hear the distant sounds of the camp, which must mean she was a lot farther away than she realized.

She froze up as the bushes next to her rustled. She stumbled back, knowing instantly it was a Pokemon, and she turned to run. The grass was slick under her feet though, and she only stumbled forward a few steps before she fell to the ground. Her knee flared up with pain as she crashed into the earth, and she fearfully looked behind her to see what Pokemon was coming.

A gray shape leapt out of the brushes– the very Poliwag she was looking for glancing around. The water type stared at her for a moment, before it began to leapt away and back into the forest. Her heart sank, realizing that there was no way she'd be able to catch it, even if she found it once more. Gary would be putting the blame on her no matter what– and he had probably been planning this from the beginning.

"I d-didn't even want to come to this camp," Serena whispered, tears forming in her eyes. But she hadn't even been given a choice– and even when being told how horrible it was her mother still wanted her to stay. Slowly, she tried to push herself to her feet, but a wave of pain ran through her knee. The girl went still again, heart thumping, before crying out. "Mommy!"

She wished that her mother would somehow appear, pick her up and make the pain in her knee vanish. But instead all she heard was a rustling in the bushes, and she realized another Pokemon was coming. This time it couldn't be the Poliwag, meaning that it would be another wild Pokemon. She inched back, tears running down her face as she closed her eyes, fear rushing through her.

She heard the bushes rustling some more, and a soft voice calling out. "Poliwag?" Her heart leaped as she heard the voice– realizing that someone else was here. "Huh? What are you doing?"

Serena opened her eyes, and found someone standing a few steps away from her. He seemed to be about her age, so he must be another camper. She hesitantly looked up, hoping that it wouldn't be someone like Gary, but rather someone that knew the way back to camp. She peered up into a pair of concerned gray eyes– and suddenly a wave of tingles washed over her.

The moment her eyes met his she froze up– not out of fear, but every muscle tensing up as if she had been hit by lightning. Her eyes began to water, but for once it wasn't from her racing emotions. Her gaze remained locked on him, and then suddenly... everything began to change.

Those flat gray eyes shifted, a depth that hadn't been there before filling his gaze, it was as if she were looking into a deep lake. A gasp wanted to escape her, but she was as still as a statue, held back by whatever force was keeping her still. That desire for a gasp soon shifted though, terror running through Serena as she watched as more began to... change.

His eyes darkened, but yet not to a darker gray or black... but into something she had never seen before. She had no way to describe what she was seeing, his eyes being something that she had never seen before. It reminded her of the sun, bright and warm, but yet she had no word for the hue itself.

And it wasn't just his eyes– his skin too brightened from their gray hue, starting from his face and spreading across his entire form. The contrasting light and dark shades of his shirt began something brand new– one a harsh burning hue, and the other a much calmer shade. His pants were dark, almost black, yet a much richer tone than gray ever was. The only thing that remained the same about him was his hair– a raven black.

And suddenly she was free from whatever force had been holding her still, and a panicked gasp escaped her. She inched back on the ground, staring up at the boy in shock. She didn't understand what had happened, she didn't understand what she was seeing. She just stared into those eyes, which held a detail she had never seen in anyone else's gaze.

Brown. The word filled her mind, soft and foreign, and a yelp escaped Serena.

"What just happened...?" The boy asked in confusion, blinking, looking about. "W-woah! This is awesome!"

More tears were pouring from Serena's eyes, because the boy wasn't the only thing that had changed. The landscape around her was now covered in a whole new hue, the same one covering the grass on the ground and the leaves on the bushes and trees, a variety of shades depending on just what plant it was on. It was everywhere, and the very sight was making her eyes hurt.

Green. The voice said in her head– and she let out a startled yelp.

"...Blue?" The boy said in confusion, tilting his head. "But that's a... color! Blue is a color!" His eyes lit up, looking at Serena in excitement, who flinched. He quickly looked around, beaming up at the trees. "Yes! And green!"

"D-do you hear it too?" She whispered as he said the same thing the voice had said. Was he seeing all of this too? This craziness that had overtaken her vision?

"Yeah! It's telling us everything," He leaned down, plucking up a few strands of grass. "So this is green, oh wow, it's so pretty!"

Green... with a jolt the meaning of the word finally registered with Serena– it being one of the mysterious colors she had heard so much about. And brown, that was another color, and then the boy had said blue... She hesitantly glanced around at the new world around her, trying to understand what had happened. These were colors? This strange brightness that was covering everything around her?

Green. The voice told her again as she looked up at the leaves.

The only thing that wasn't green around them was the trunks and branches of the trees, which were brown like the boy's eyes, but darker and more rough. She then looked down at herself, realizing her skin was no longer gray, but rather a richer tone like the boy's– though paler compared to his. Her clothes were a soft color, but one that stood out against all the green around them.

Pink. The voice told her– and she again glanced at the boy. The voice quickly named the colors of his clothes as she peered at them. Red. Yellow. Blue.

Finally Serena closed her eyes, which were starting to hurt from the new colors around her, a headache forming. Then of course there was just simply the sheer panic from the suddenness of what was happening, and the fear of being lost, and then of course her knee was still hurting– and it was all bearing down on her at once.

"No, don't cry," The boy said in worry, and she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm Ash Ketchum. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"What's happening?" Serena asked, voice wavering, tears falling. "I... I don't understand..."

"We're seeing colors!" Ash said. "Can you believe it? We're actually seeing colors! Mom said I probably wouldn't be able to until after I was a trainer, but I am right now!"

"Colors," Serena whispered, still not daring to open her eyes, but still trying to calm herself down. "That means... that means..."

His eyes. His eyes weren't gray– one thing Serena did know about seeing colors was that even when your eyes were opened to them everyone's eyes would always be gray. You could never see anyone's true eyes, nobody's but your...

"That means we're soulmates!" Ash cried happily, and she could tell he was leaning closer even with her eyes shut. "Um... could you open your eyes again? They were so pretty."

"We can't be soulmates!" Serena cried, eyes opening– and she found that Ash's face was only a few inches from hers, his brown eyes staring at her and his hair brushing against her hat. "Eep!"

"Why not?" Ash asked, frowning in confusion. "We're seeing colors, and I can see your true eyes. My mom says that means we're soulmates. You can see the colors too, right? And my eyes, right?"

"Y-yes but– but– but mom said– that when you're older–"

"Mine too!" He said cheerfully, understanding her despite her stuttering. "She said that you usually meet your soulmate when you're all grown up. But usually doesn't mean always– and I'm so happy that I get to meet you now!"

She just kept staring into his eyes, which seemed to draw her in. It was more than the fact that there was color to them now– but the very appearance of his eyes had changed too. It wasn't a flat tone, but rather deep and memorizing, like looking into a pool of water. She didn't want to look away, but yet all the new colors around her was just too much and so she kept closing her eyes so they could rest.

"What are you doing out here anyways? I'm looking for cabin three's Poliwag– you see I saw Gary and some other kid trying to make it battle a Spearow after breakfast, but Poliwag got scared and ran off. And then Gary didn't go get it or tell anyone, so I decided to go find Poliwag myself– and I was looking for a while and then I thought I saw Poliwag come this way but when I came over here I saw you instead!"

"M-my knee really hurts..." Serena whispered, looking down at her leg– which had become scraped up in her fall.

The excitement in Ash's gaze faded– concern filling his golden-brown eyes instead. He looked at her leg, gently touching it, before pulling back when she flinched. After a moment he began to search his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief. It was almost white in shade, a soft grayish tone, but the voice in her head told her it was blue.

"This should help!" He said proudly, holding up the cloth. He then began to wrap it around her knee, Serena tensed up as he worked, but yet he was nothing but gentle. "There!" She again tried to stand, but only yelped as the pain flared up. "It's a good luck charm! Here– pain, pain, go away!"

He waved his hands above the handkerchief, before throwing them over his head. For a moment she could have sworn she saw a flicker of blue near his hands, but she assumed that it was only her mind trying to get used to all the colors. He looked at her, smiling, but still she didn't dare to move. She had already felt how much it hurt, and she knew that waving his hands wouldn't do a thing.

"I can't stand up," She said quietly.

Ash pushed himself to his feet, putting his hands on his hips. "Never give up until the end!"

He held out his hand as he gave this declaration, and strangely she didn't find herself hesitating. Ash had been nothing but nice to her, he hadn't said a word about her accent or the way she talked, he was just trying to help her. She slowly reached her hand up, and he wrapped his hand around hers, pulling her to her feet.

She let out a small gasp, expecting another wave of pain, but yet her leg felt just fine as she leaned up against Ash. Her eyes flew open in surprise, not understanding where the pain could have gone. She slowly leaned back, looking at Ash once more, who was still smiling.

"You stood!" He said, looking so happy and proud, and she honestly didn't know what to do.

It felt like she was in a whole new world, colors dancing around her. And as Ash gave her a grin she realized that someone at the camp was being nice to her. Not mocking her or ignoring her, but rather just being kind. She just stared at Ash for a moment, trying to make sense of it all. A soulmate... did she really have a soulmate? She had heard so many stories about finding a soulmate, but everyone in those stories had always been a grown up. She was only six.

But out of everyone she met here in Kanto, if she was supposed to be with one of them, she most definitely wanted to be with this Ash.

"Anyways, let's head back to the campsite," Ash said, pointing off in the direction he had come from. "C'mon!"

It was only then that Serena realized that her hand was still in his, Ash carefully leading her back towards camp.