Chapter Three
"Hey, Ashy-boy, what are you doing out in the woods? You know camp rules are that we can't wander off!"
Serena tensed as she heard Gary's voice, fear running through her as she and Ash walked out of the woods. The moment she had caught a glimpse of camp she had been so excited, but now that she heard Gary and Damian standing there she only wanted to retreat back into the forest. However they did not look anything like they did before– their hair now brown and blue instead of the gray it had been before. She looked towards Ash, whose brown eyes have narrowed.
"What do you want, Gary?" He asked with a sigh.
"I want you to know that you're going to be in trouble~" Gary said tauntingly. "Because you broke the rules– and lookie! You found the dumb-girl! She broke the rules too, going off without a grown up!"
"You told me to go find Poliwag!" Serena cried, but as he smirked she realized that's what he wanted all along. Whether she went or not, he had planned on getting her into trouble. He grinned, fist-bumping Damian next to him.
"Lookie, Damian, she's acting like we can understand her," Gary said, and tears stung her eyes. "Looks like she really is a dumb-girl."
"Hey!" Ash said, stepping in front of Serena. "Don't talk to her that way!"
"And what are you going to do about it, Ashy-boy?" He asked with a smirk. Ash's hands curled into fists, and the next thing Serena knew he was rushing forward– knocking Gary to the ground. "Gah! Get off of me!"
"Take it back!" Ash cried, grunting as Gary threw him off, but Ash swiftly grabbed his legs, pulling him back to the ground as he tried to stand. Gary let out a growl, Damian uncertainly standing on the sidelines as the two boys grappled with each other. Serena was petrified, not sure of what she should do.
"Ash!" A voice cried– and immediately the two boys froze up. A woman was hurrying towards them, one with brown hair and a very pale face, and she quickly pulled Gary and Ash apart. The two of them glared at each other, the woman looking at them in disbelief. "I thought you two were over this! What are you boys doing?"
"He started it, Ms. K!" Gary said, pointing a finger at Ash.
"Not true!" Ash cried.
"You knocked me down first!"
"You were calling her names!"
"Enough!" The woman shouted, and after a moment Serena was able to recognize her as Delia, the camp counselor of cabin one. She stared at her for a moment, everything about the woman having changed now that Serena's world was in color. The only thing that remained the same were her eyes– a flat gray.
But that's how everyone was, everyone's but Ash.
"Gary Samuel Oak, what did I tell you about fighting!" Professor Oak was making his way towards the group, a deep scowl on his face.
"But Ash started it, Gramps!" Gary cried, breaking free of Delia's grasp. "He knocked me down!"
"Is that true?" Delia asked, turning to Ash. He hung his head towards the ground.
"Yeah, it is... Mom..." He muttered quietly, and she let out a long sigh.
"I'm very disappointed, Ash. You promised me that you wouldn't fight this week."
Ash looked up at his mother, hands curled. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I had to. Gary was calling my soulmate mean names, and I couldn't let him get away with that!"
Everyone paused, and for a moment some of the tension of the fight seemed to flee. Even Gary let out a bark of a laugh. "A soulmate? You don't have a soulmate! You're just a kid!"
"I do have a soulmate!" Ash said, pointing towards Serena. "And you were calling her dumb! Mom says that you shouldn't call people dumb!"
She shifted uncertainly as everyone looked towards her.
"Honey... you're too little to have a soulmate," Delia said slowly. "I'm glad you were standing up for a friend though, but next time I need you to come get an adult instead of starting a fight."
"But you said when I meet my soulmate that I was supposed to protect them! Protect them and love them and make sure they're happy! And Gary was making her cry!"
"I know that everyone is excited to meet their soulmate one day, and I'm sure you'll meet yours when you're ready," Delia began, and Ash pulled away from her. He glared at his mother for a moment, before rushing over to Serena.
"Well I have met my soulmate!" Ash declared. "She's right here, and I will protect..." He paused, looking at her. "Um... what's your name?"
She swallowed. "Serena."
"And I will protect Serena from meanies like Gary!" Ash finished, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "Go on, Serena, tell them that we're soulmates."
"Um, er..." She shuffled.
Professor Oak and Delia glanced at each other, while Gary and Damian were laughing, none of them clearly believing them. Delia stepped forward. "Ash, I'm proud of you for standing up for your friend, but I need you to get an adult next time, okay?"
"I need to switch cabins," Ash said. "So I can be with Serena and make sure Gary doesn't call her dumb anymore."
The professor looked at his grandson. "Is it true that you've been calling people names?"
"No!" He shouted. "I didn't do anything– they're the ones that broke the rules! They were out in the forest without a grown up!"
"We were looking for the Poliwag you lost!" Ash snapped back. "How could you make it fight a Spearow? You know Spearows are mean!"
Gary looked slightly pale, glancing at his grandfather with a hesitant smile. The professor let out a long sigh, rubbing at his temples. "Delia, have Serena moved so she's out of Gary's cabin. And I do thank you two for looking for Poliwag, but you should have gotten one of the camp leaders instead. I'm going to have to ask you two to sit out for the next activity."
"Ha!" Gary said triumphantly.
"As for you, young man, you will be sitting out for the rest of the day," The professor said, crossing his arms. "We do not tolerate teasing the other kids, and I have told you a hundred times that the lab Pokemon are not toys! If I hear of anything else happening for the rest of the camp you'll be heading home to clean out the barn instead."
"...Yes Gramps..." Gary muttered unhappily, and Serena watched as he was led away by his grandfather.
She couldn't believe what was happening. Not only was Gary getting in trouble, but she wasn't going to be in his cabin anymore! She looked at Ash, who was smiling as well, looking not at all bothered about having to skip the next activity. She hesitated, before offering him a small smile– her first real one since she had arrived at camp. Ash grabbed her hand, pulling towards one of the cabins.
"Come on!" He said happily. "You can be in the Squirtle cabin with me!"
And not only did she have a soulmate– but also a friend.
Perhaps this camp wouldn't be so bad after all.
The rest of the summer camp did end up being a blast for Serena– she had been a bit afraid of how cabin one would treat her, but yet they had welcomed her with open arms just like Ash had. And while they had asked about the way she talked, they had only seemed interested in learning that she was from the other side of the world. So instead of spending her time quiet so no one would say anything about her voice, she found herself telling them about Kalos.
She still wasn't that good at many of the activities, but her new cabinmates seemed more in it for the fun rather than the competition. No one scowled at her when she missed a basket in basketball, and they cheered her on even when she lagged behind in the relay race.
The best part had been during the Rhyhorn rides though– she had been the first one in all the cabins to be willing to approach the monstrous creature. She didn't see Rhyhorns as scary, though she could see why the other kids would be scared. They were a mountain of rock and muscle, with rough stoney plates covering their towering form. Their eyes were sharp just like the horn that sat on their snout, and the whole ground seemed to shake when they walked. She was glad to see the Rhyhorns hadn't changed now that she could see in color– they were still a rocky gray with beautiful silver claws– with bright red eyes. Unlike a human's eyes, she could see the color of a Pokemon's eyes with ease.
The rider of the Rhyhorn was impressed with Serena's courage, and when he had asked her if she had wanted to go on a ride she had mounted the Pokemon without hesitation. She couldn't help but be a bit proud of the look on the man's face and the way the rest of the campers were looking at her– who were all clearly impressed.
"Well, you did that like a natural!" The rider said, patting his Rhyhorn as it uncertainly looked at the many campers around it. "I was going to lift you up, because you can get scraped–"
"–Get scraped by their plates," Serena finished, recognizing it as the same speech her mother gave her so often. "You use this plate as a step," She continued, pointing to one of the rocky structures near the Pokemon's shoulder. "And then swing yourself up into the saddle!" She paused, hesitating. "My mom taught me that."
"Does your mom have a Rhyhorn?" The rider asked with a smile, giving a small whistle to his Rhyhorn. The rock type lumbered forward a few steps, having been told before hand that he was going to be giving rides to trainers. He walked in a circle around his rider, and Serena held onto the leather reigns like she had been taught.
"Yeah, she's a Rhyhorn racer," She said, her smile fading a bit as her thoughts turned to her mom. "She's actually running in races right now, that's why I'm here..."
The rider frowned. "The races taking place these next few weeks are the professional division. What's your mom's name?"
"Grace," Serena replied as the Rhyhorn came to a stop, and she swung herself off the Rhyhorn, coming around and patting his horn.
"Grace– as in Grace Yvonne?" The rider's eyes widened. "The Grace Yvonne?"
"You should go next, Ash," Serena said, smiling at the young boy as she headed towards the rest of her group. "Rhyhorns are a lot nicer than they look, I promise."
Encouraged by Serena's success the rest of the campers pressed forward, all excited to get a chance to ride on the powerful creature in front of them. The Rhyhorn didn't seem quite as eager as before, but calmly took each camper in a circle as they were lifted onto his back. Serena watched with a frown, noticing the nervous look in the Pokemon's eyes, but it didn't lash out once.
"You were awesome, Serena," Ash said after he had his turn, sitting next to her in the grass. "That was so cool to watch, getting up on it like it was nothing!"
"I'm going to be a Rhyhorn racer one day," Serena said. "So my mom's been teaching me a lot– though she doesn't let Rhyhorn go any faster than walking when I'm on his back."
"That's awesome!" Ash said. "When did you decide you want to be a racer? I've wanted to be a Pokemon Master for a long time now, ever since I saw Champion Lance battling on TV with his Dragonite. I wonder what color Dragonites are, I'll have to look that up once camp is over..."
He trailed on– but yet Serena was stuck on his first question. When did she decide she wanted to be a racer? She thought back on it, but slowly realized she had never made that choice. About a year ago her mom had started to put her on the back of Rhyhorn, telling her that she needed to learn how to be a racer. Her training was very simple, but Grace had promised she'd teach her everything over the years.
But she had never once wanted to be a racer. But Serena was sure that her mom knew what she was doing, so perhaps it shouldn't be something she should worry about.
"Mommy!"
It took Serena a moment to locate her mother in the crowd– because her mother was no longer the gray-haired gray-skinned woman she had grown up with, but rather someone whose tones were just as rich as everyone else around her. But the moment her eyes had locked on that familiar face she was bolting across the field, racing past the other campers as they waited for their guardians to pick them up.
"There's my little Serena," Grace said, her daughter barreling into her arms. They embraced each other, before pulling back and looking into each other's eyes. "Now, how was the rest of your camp? I'm guessing it was fun, seeing how you didn't call me again."
Serena flushed slightly. "It, um, did turn out to be fun. After I met Ash, but before that it was horrible!"
She studied her mother, trying to take in everything about her. Her mother had the same skin tone as her, Serena knew that because she had stared at her hands many times trying to get used to the new colors. Her mother had much darker hair than her though– a dark brown with her hair cut short. The only thing about her that hadn't changed was her eyes, which was the same gray she had always remembered.
"Ash? It sounds like you made a new friend, are you going to introduce me to them?" Grace asked, smiling.
"Yep!" She grabbed her mother's hand, dragging her back towards where Ash was waiting near his mom by the camp leaders. "He's over here! C'mon!"
Grace chuckled, allowing Serena to lead her towards Ash, who brightened up the moment he saw her, waving to her happily, while Delia looked up. The mahogany haired woman studied Grace for a moment, before taking in a deep breath and walking over to meet them, Ash swiftly following after her.
"You're Serena's mother, correct?" Delia asked, holding out her hand, and Grace nodded. "I'm Delia Ketchum, I was her camp counselor while she was here."
"I'm Grace," She replied, shaking her hand. "I hope my Serena wasn't too much trouble."
"She was an angel," Delia replied.
"Hi Ms. Yvonne!" Ash said, bolting up towards Grace. "I'm Ash Ketchum– it's really nice to meet you! Serena told me a lot about you! Is it true you have a Rhyhorn?"
"Hello there," She said. "Are you the Ash that Serena made friends with?"
Ash beamed. "Oh! We're more than friends! We're–"
"Ash, not this again," Delia said.
"What? Why? I wanna tell her!"
"Ash I know you two are close, but that doesn't mean–"
"Or maybe Serena should be the one to tell her, it is her mom after all."
"Ash are you even listening to me?"
"Tell me what?" Grace asked, looking between the three of them. "Is there a problem?
"Tell you that me and Serena are soulmates!" Ash said proudly, and Grace blinked.
She then let out a small chuckle. "I think you're a little bit young to have a soulmate."
"Sorry, these two have been insisting that all week," Delia said, letting out a laugh of her own. "Ash came to her defense when some other kids were teasing her, and the two have been good friends ever since... and calling each other soulmates."
Grace turned towards her daughter and crossed her arms. "Soulmates aren't something to joke about, why don't we end this little game, okay sweetie?"
"But he is my soulmate!" Serena said, grabbing Ash's arm. "When I looked into his eyes I was able to see colors, Mom!"
"Honey," Grace said, voice a bit rougher. "I know seeing colors is something you'd like to have, but that will happen when you're older. You shouldn't be messing with your camp leaders."
"But I am seeing colors!" Serena cried. "The grass is green and the sky is blue and–"
"Everyone knows the basics sweetie, I taught you that a long time ago."
"But Mom–!"
"I'm sorry, Serena tends to get carried away in things," Grace said, turning her attention towards Delia.
"Oh it's fine, they're just kids after all..."
Ash grabbed Serena's hand, pulling her away as the adults began talking. She followed him over to the shade of a tree, expecting that he'd want to sit down and talk– but instead Ash turned towards her, pulling her into a sudden hug.
"Huh?" She asked, before returning it.
"You live in Kalos," Ash said, holding her tightly. "Mom says that's really far away– too far for us to be able to have playdates. That means after you leave I won't see you again for a long time."
"Oh..." Serena said slowly. She had known that she would be leaving back to Kalos, but she hadn't realized that would mean she wouldn't be seeing Ash. She looked away. "Why don't they believe us? We really are seeing colors..."
"They'll believe us one day," Ash said. "We just have to keep telling them– that's all! And we need to get together and play soon– I don't care how far away Kalos is– I don't want to not see you again."
"Me neither," Serena said. "But we're soulmates, so that means we'll be married one day– right? That means we will see each other again. But I don't want to wait until we're grown ups."
Ash bit his lower lip in thought– and then his eyes lit up. "I know! We can go on our journey together!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah! It's perfect!" Ash said excitedly. "When we're fifteen we'll be old enough to have a Pokemon– and old enough to go on a journey! I'm going to be doing gym battles here in Kanto, and I know that there's Rhyhorn racing here– so you can come back to Kanto and we can travel together! I'll do gym battles and you can race!"
She smiled. "I would like to travel with you– that sounds like a lot of fun!"
"Okay, it's a deal then!" Ash said, and he held out his hand. "Let's pinkie promise we'll go on a journey together!"
Serena held out her hand as well, the two of them linking pinkies. "I pinkie promise to come to Kanto and go on a journey."
"And I pinkie promise to go on a journey with you when you get here," Ash said, and the two best friends smiled at each other– brown and blue eyes gleaming.
A Pokemon journey was a long ways off, nine more years, an entire lifetime for the young children. But yet in that moment, as they made their promise under the tree in front of Oak's lab, it didn't seem that far off at all.
Only one more chapter of them being kids, then we'll jump to their journey. :)