Chapter 3: The Fated Meeting

It was the year 2007. Summer is beginning. There are many kids ready to run out of school and enjoy the summer to themselves. However, there are 2 kids who spent the summer with each other which was first upon the fateful meeting of their own. It was the best time being spent with each other. This is the Summer of Amour.

Pallet Town, Ketchum Household

In the kitchen, we see Delia talking on the phone with somebody. "Oh yes! Our children have never met before! They would definitely love to meet at summer camp! I bet my Ash would be very excited!"

"Mom! Mom!"

"Oh, that's my son. I'll tell him the exciting news! Talk to you later!" Delia ends the call by setting down her phone. "Oh, Ashy! I got good news!"

"Is it about summer camp? I want to go there!" Ash asks as he holds up a poster showing Professor Oak as he hosts an annual summer camp for kids to play around with the joys of Pokemon in the woods.

"Actually, that's what I'm about to talk about. Me and my friend, Grace, we've been talking on the phone, and we decided to send you two to Summer Camp to have fun together!" Delia announced to her son.

"Yay! I'm going to summer camp!" Ash said, as he jumps around the kitchen excitedly while his mother stares at his eagerness.

"Hello! I'm not done yet! Are you listening to me?" Delia said, trying to grab her son's attention as she put her hands on her hips.

Ash begins to zone out for another minute until he's grabbed by Delia's attention. "ASHY!"

Startled, the boy turns around and looks at his mother. "Sorry, mom. Were you about to say something?"

Delia sighs before continuing to speak to her son. "Ash, at camp, you're going to meet a new friend. Grace has a daughter named Serena and we think you two will be very good friends with each other."

"Does she like Pokemon?" Ash asked.

Delia chuckles at Ash's question with his ever-so growing love of Pokemon. He's still a few years away from becoming a Pokemon Trainer, but camp is something he'd like to do for the time being until he grows into becoming a Pokemon Trainer. Plus, he'd love to meet all of the Pokemon he can find outdoors.

"I don't know, sweetie. You'll just have to meet her at camp and get to know her. I'm sure you two will be great friends together." Delia said, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder.

Ash stares a bit blankly for a moment, just to keep himself in wonder who is Serena? Would it be true to him that he'll be great friends with her? Even a big interest in Pokemon. He'll have to wait until camp time to have any of those questions answered.


Yvonne Household

"Alright, thanks for the talk, Delia. I'll see you later. Bye." Grace sets down her house phone as she calls for Serena who's in the room, sleeping peacefully as usual like every morning.

"Serena, honey!"

No response was heard, not even a sound of the door creaking.

"Ugh, this is getting tiring. Fletchling, will you wake up Serena for me?" Grace asks her Fletchling that is standing in the kitchen window besides her. "I'm going to make some breakfast for her."

Upstairs, we see Serena sleeping in her room. Since then, her room has grown into some changes. Serena is now 7 years old, starting to grow into a young, beautiful child. Her hair has begun to grow longer, at least from age 3. She never decided to cut it, or at least, ever. She just often loves how long her hair looks.

In the room, Serena sleeps nice and peacefully with her pink sheets as Grace's Fletchling flies into the room. Without any pecking noises heard, Serena stays still in her bed as Fletchling approaches her. It gazes at her sleeping form for a moment before it attacks Serena by pecking into her hair.

"OW! MOMMY!" Serena's shouts were heard throughout the entire house, which Grace obviously heard as she flipped the pancakes on her pan while humming a little tune.

Almost a minute later, Grace hears a loud banging noise coming from upstairs, which would be Serena's door, showing the girl in her pink colored pajamas filled with white hearts while her hair is a bit messy due to Fletchling's antics. Serena has an angered look in her face ready to stomp down the stairs to meet with her mother.

"Ah, good. Serena, you're awake."

"Mommy! How many times did I say about Fletchling?" Serena whining in front of Grace.

"Serena, honey, we've been through this many times before. If you're not awake on time for breakfast, Fletchling's going to fly up into your room to wake you up." Grace said.

"But, mommy, it hurts!" Serena whined as she tried to clean up her hair from the mess that Fletchling caused.

"Then get down here as soon as I'm making breakfast. You know it's the most important meal of the day." Grace said, in a more stern toned voice to her daughter.

Serena walks and sits at the kitchen table preparing to eat her breakfast with her mother.

"Okay, so while we're eating breakfast, I do have some stuff to tell you." Grace said, as she set pancakes on her and Serena's plates.

"What is it, mommy?" Serena asks, as she takes the first bite into her pancake.

"So, summer's coming up, and I've been talking to the neighbor, Delia, and we agreed to send you and her kid, Ash, to Professor Oak's Summer Camp! ISn't that fun?" Grace asked happily to her daughter.

This leaves a shocked look on Serena's face, this isn't the news that she expected to hear from her mother. Camp? Did she ask to go to camp? Was this the way she would spend the summer, without her mother? All by herself, at the outside, where she doesn't often interact with others.

Truth be told, so far within the 7 years of her life, Serena never had a friend before. She's usually at home with her parents. But overtime, Grace notices her playtime by herself with different toys and plushies. That's when the idea hit her mind. She needs a friend. She needs someone to hang out with often and play together. That's when Grace came up with the idea of sending her daughter to camp, at least when she also discussed it to Delia earlier. It was the perfect opportunity for both of their kids to meet. However, that plan begins to foil Grace's side of things.

"Mommy? I don't want to leave home." Serena said, sadly looking down at her breakfast. "I want to be here with you. I love you." The girl stands up from the table and hugs her mother which she returns.

"I know, honey. But you have to stop living every day with me. You're going to become 10 in a few years and before I have you ready for the outside world, you need to learn being in it, especially at a young age like yours." Grace rubs down her daughter's hair while she feels something a bit wet on her shirt. Serena opens up the hug, and a wet stain is on Grace's shirt. Serena appears to be opening up some tears from her eyes for a bit. "Honey, are you crying? You know this would be a great opportunity to meet some new friends. At camp, you're going to meet Delia's son, Ash Ketchum. Trust me, you two are going to be great friends together."

"No!" Serena yelled. Grace was taken back by Serena's shout.

"I don't want to come to camp! I want to be with my mommy!"

"Serena, honey, I'm doing what's best for you…" Grace tries to get her daughter to stop crying, but Serena interrupts her talking.

"No! You want what's best for yourself! I wish daddy was here! I wish things were easier with him here!" Serena shouts, before she runs upstairs to her room.

Grace runs after the honey blonde, but it is too late once she hears the slamming sound that appears to be the closed entrance to her room.

"No, don't worry, Grace. I'm sure she'll like camp. You're a single mother, and you can make the best decisions for your kids." Grace sighs, before she walks back into the kitchen to finish up eating her breakfast alone.


A Few Days Later…

It is the first day of Professor Oak's Summer Camp, near the small neighborhood of Pallet Town. Both Delia and Grace drop off their kids to the camp and the two mothers walk back to the neighborhood as Delia invites her best friend for some lunch to prepare in her home.

"Thanks for the invitation, Delia. It's good to spend time with one another while the little ones are off. It won't be the first time we get to see our kids off to an adventure of their own." Grace smiles, as she sits down at the kitchen table watching Delia preparing to cook some food from the stove while also putting on her apron.

"Oh, it's nothing of a bother, Grace. I'm taking an off day from the diner, and I'd be happy to spend some time with you while the kids are away. I'm just so glad my Ashy is ready to explore the outside world, interacting with a bunch of Pokemon." Delia said, turning on the stove to preheat her pan.

"At least your kid is doing better than mine at camp." Grace said, as she grabbed a mug from the cabinets.

"Serena's not doing well?" Delia asked, opening the fridge for ingredients.

"Nope. I told her about camp, and she threw a fit in front of my face. I couldn't talk to her." Grace sighed, turning on the coffee machine.

"Wow, she's not that excited with camp, isn't she?" Delia asks, putting an onion onto the cutting board, and begins to cut it into shreds.

"No, but hopefully she'll have a good time there. She just really wants me to be with her a lot. More clingy to me ever since her father died." Grace said.

"I still feel bad about that accident…I've met him a few times, and I wish I got to know him more. I guess our kids have no fathers in their lives now." Delia said, putting some of the ingredients into the pan.

"Your husband really left you, huh? No divorce papers signed from his departure in this house?" Grace asks, as she pours some coffee into her mug.

"Nope. Once I woke up that day, I never saw him beside my side again on the bed. Ash was anxious to know when he'll return, but he never did, for the past few years. He broke the promise that he made when Ash was younger." Delia answered.

"Which was?"

"That he witnesses Ash's first day as a trainer, when he turns 10. Ash was lost from our day at the park, and we found him in a cave with a bunch of Pokemon he saved." Delia explained.

Grace was surprised to hear Delia's response. She has never heard of a kid lost outside, and it begins to wonder for her if the same can happen to Serena as well, now that she did send her to camp.

"You know, now that I think about it, I do feel a bit worried for Serena during camp. I know she'll have fun, but I want her to embrace the outside world before she goes on a journey of her own. Or at least, Rhyhorn Race like me." Grace said, sipping into her mug.

"Oh, come on, Grace. Look at us, we're both great moms. We just sent our kids to an exciting camp where they'll meet each other, and they are going to be great friends. If anything, Serena could be having a great time there. You shouldn't be worried for nothing." Delia said, assuring her friend.

"You're right. I'm sure Serena is having a great time, giggling, chasing around the Pokemon in the wild." Grace said, smiling, with no worries into her motherly instincts as she and Delia continue to have a pleasant lunch with each other.


Professor Oak's Summer Camp

A bunch of kids are gathered around at the main patio area of the camp. It's usually around 50 or more kids attending the camp every year, and Professor Oak is pleased to see any of the kids around, ready to have fun for the summer…except for one.

"Hello kids, I'm Professor Oak, and this is my summer camp. Is everybody ready for the fun of summer spending and learning about Pokemon?"

"YEAH!" All of the kids cheered except for one, a little honey blonde girl with the biggest frown on her face looking down at the grass.

"Okay, now we do have a lot of activities planned, and before we have everyone assigned to their respective cabins, how about we already begin our first activity? Pokemon Hide and Seek!"

YAY!" All of the kids cheered, except Serena.

"Okay, so you have 10 minutes to search for the Pokemon hiding in the woods. There's many around like Pidgey, Metapod, and even a special one, Poliwag. Good luck, everyone!"

All of the kids excitedly run up off the grass and begin the search. However, Serena, being the girl who didn't want to come to camp in the first place, walks slowly and just let the flow go to her to just go ahead and let this search over with for her.

"Hey, Ashy-boy! I bet you can't find any more Pokemon than me!" A brown-haired spiky boy runs up to an eager Ash. This boy's name is Gary Oak, a boy that Ash met a year ago over at Cerulean Park. Upon the two meeting each other, they both have a similar interest in Pokemon.

"Nuh-uh! I can find more than you! I know because I'll be a great trainer someday, and Pokemon love me!" Ash retorted back to his friend while pointing a thumb to himself with his eyes closed.

"Heh! You wish. We're still years away from becoming Pokemon Trainers and you think you can become the best. I know my own ways of becoming a trainer, and for sure, I'll be a better Pokemon Trainer than you!

Ash begins to form a bit of an angry look on his face. If it's one thing that comes to his mind with Gary, it's that he can be annoyed most of the time with his own bragging.

"Well, smell you later, loser. I got a bunch of Pokemon to find!" Gary said, snickering his way to victory.

"Hmph, that Gary Oak. I know I'll become a great trainer too." Ash grumbled, crossing his arms together. "Well, time to find some Pokemon!"

5 minutes later…

Half of the time is allotted already for everyone's search for the Pokemon Hide and Seek. Everyone's sprawling around in different places.

One part of the camp is being searched by a tanned boy with black hair with red accents and blue eyes wearing a small red shirt looking for Butterfree flying in the skies. However, the girl beside him who has maroon hair and green eyes is feeling quite scared with every Pokemon that he finds on the search.

Gary is also doing very well on the hunt, being able to find 10 different Pokemon around the camp. He's getting heated up with his rivalry with Ash during this activity.

However, one person isn't doing that well during the search, and it is Serena, who is still walking with no excitement in her body as she continues looking down at the ground with the look of disappointment in her face.

She's been walking like this for the past few minutes since the hunt started, and the girl is not feeling very well already with the start of camp. What Serena doesn't know is that she hopelessly walks alone into a forest.

Serena begins to look up and wonders herself of her surroundings. "Huh? Where am I? Where is everybody?" Lots of green is surrounding her: bushes, trees, and various plants. But not a single Pokemon in her vision.

Gazing upon her surroundings for about a minute, she then hears a sound, alerting her to jump up and then falls herself down to the nearby bushes. Having to hear that sound replaying in her head, Serena knows that something's approaching her way. Getting a fearful look on her face, the girl embraces herself to prepare for what's about to jump out of the bushes as it shakes.

Just like that, though, it wasn't anything too scary popping out of the nearby bushes beside her. Turns out, a Poliwag pops out of the bush and hops through the forest as Serena witnesses the behavior of the Pokemon. At least she is able to find one for the sake of this hunt that she never wanted to participate in.

After the Poliwag hops away from her peripheral vision, Serena goes back into her frowning mode as she begins to speak up more without anyone hearing her. "I didn't even want to come to this stinky camp!"

"MOMMY! I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Then Serena hears another sound, which appears to be coming from the same nearby bush where the Poliwag jumped out of. It was the same shaking intensity that the Poliwag made, and Serena braces herself for the next thing that will jump out of the bushes, probably another Pokemon that could scratch her face while lying there scared with her eyes closed.

However, her fears were put to rest, as the thing she thought was going to pop out of the bushes wasn't a Pokemon, but rather, another kid, around the same age as her. A boy, who has tanned skin with brown eyes, and spiky black hair while wearing a half yellow and half orange shirt and blue shorts. "Poliwag, come back!"

The boy stops chasing after the Poliwag from earlier and notices Serena in her lying position. "Huh? What are you doing? Who are you?"

Serena stood on the ground, seeing the boy in her presence without answering the question being asked.

"My name's Ash Ketchum! What about you? What's the matter? Why are you on the ground?" Ash asks, after introducing himself to Serena.

"My…my leg. I fell down and…it hurts." Serena said, looking down at her leg looking to be injured with a red spot from the impact made.

"Are you okay? Wait! I think this should help with your leg!" Ash kneels down to Serena's aid and grabs something out of his pocket. What the young boy pulls out is a light blue handkerchief belonging to him and he applies the handkerchief to the part where Serena's leg hurts and ties it up for her.

"There! Now try! Stand up and see if you can walk your leg!"

Serena tries to stand up, but it is no use for her, at least when Ash tries another thing on her.

"It's a handkerchief to give good luck! Watch! Pain, pain, go away! Don't live for another day!" Ash tries to do a chant that very much acts like a magic spell which he hopes to put in effect on Serena's leg.

Serena tries to stand up once more, but unfortunately, the pain is still there, feeling it as she winces, with the thought that Ash's handkerchief never worked. "Ow…it's not working…my leg still hurts and I can't stand up."

Ash stands up and holds out his hand for Serena to take. "Never give up until the end. Please, take my hand."

Serena stood there on the ground for a moment staring at Ash's gesture speechless. The first minute seeing Ash, and she's taken back by his helpfulness to her. Maybe the first day of camp won't turn out to be the worst for her. Maybe it'll be a great summer for her, and her mother told her about camp and meeting Ash. This is him, right here, offering some help to her.

A moment later, Serena holds out her hand, and Ash grabs it and pulls her up to him which she holds onto his shoulders making it look like they're hugging each other. Serena opens her eyes and notices her position with Ash. She begins to form a noticeable red blush on her face. The young girl looks at Ash again, speaking up to her.

"Look at that! You stood up again! I knew you could do it!" Ash gives Serena a very happy look on his face giving her the widest smile that she has seen. "Let's head back to camp. I'll tell Professor Oak what happened."

Ash holds Serena's hand and leads the way back to camp and from the area where the boy found the lost girl. Serena couldn't believe it, turns out camp came out better than how she expected it to be. She thought it would be the worst thing ever to get injured at a lost forest area and she cried out for her mom, but as soon Ash came to the rescue, things were looking very sunny for her. Even at a young age, Serena might have found the boy she admires the most. Ash is truly a knight in shining armor to her and she's looking forward to spending more time with him.


Ketchum Household

Both Delia and Grace are enjoying their lunch together, both peacefully and quietly without any much bother enjoying their afternoon, until…

*Phone rings*

"Huh? Oh, I should get that." Delia said, getting up from her chair, grabbing her home phone plugged to the wall. "Hello?"

"Delia, is that you?" A familiar voice from the phone is heard.

"Oh, Professor Oak! How unusual to call you during this time of day, with the camp." Delia said, happily greeting the professor on the phone.

"Yes, yes. Actually, I've called you because this has something to do with your son." Professor Oak said.

Delia's eyes widened in surprise. It's the first day of Summer Camp, and she's already been given a call about her son. The mother gives out a worry of concern in her voice to know if Ash has gotten into some trouble.

"Ash? Has he been misbehaving already? Do I need to come over and pick him up?"

"Oh, no. Not that. Actually, your son did a remarkable thing today. It turns out he helped a little girl named Serena in the woods and her leg was broken. Ash helped her right into safety and told me about it." Professor Oak explained.

Delia gasps for a moment and realizes what the professor just said. "Would you give me a moment?" The young mother takes the phone off of her ears and holds it to her chest while speaking to Grace. Grace looks up to Delia waiting for an explanation.

"Our kids met each other."

Grace also begins to gasp, and her eyes are also widened by a bit, basically the same reaction as Delia. "How? I mean, I knew they'd meet, but that quick?"

"Yeah, Professor Oak's on the phone. He's also speaking about Serena." Delia gives the phone to Grace, which she holds it to her ear.

"Hello, Professor Oak? This is Grace, Serena's mother."

"Ah, hello, Grace. Your daughter, Serena, injured her leg during her search for the Pokemon Hide and Seek, but don't worry about it! She's feeling fine now, if it weren't for Ash and his aid for her."

Grace breathes out a sigh of relief hearing of her daughter's condition. "Thank you, Professor Oak. Tell Serena that I said hi and I'm glad that she's okay. Alright, goodbye." Grace ends the call putting the phone back into the wall.

Grace begins opening up the conversation to Delia about their kids. "Wow, our kids have now met each other. I didn't think it would happen so early on the first day."

"Me neither. I just thought they would be paired up together for an activity and interact with one another, quickly becoming friends. I guess fate really brought them together, and we brought them together, of course." Delia giggled.

Grace also begins to laugh with her as well. "I'm really on the side with fate. I guess the reason why it happened so early is because the universe wanted them to meet together already. That's how you know it's fate and soon, they're destined to become great friends together."

"You know, you're right. I just wish that it wouldn't be fate where I become a single mother taking care of Ash every single day. I'm just glad those two met each other now!" Delia said.

"Me too. Serena has her first friend now, and it'll be a great summer for the two of them."

Delia gasped with an idea on her head. "We should definitely be awarded for being the best mothers ever! We got our kids to meet each other, and we felt a bit involved in the process!"

"Heh heh. Well, I wouldn't be the best mother ever, but I do get your point." Grace chuckles as the two continue to eat their lunch.


Professor Oak's Camp

Back at the camp, Ash is waiting for Serena to come out of the infirmary for the nurse to treat her leg. He's been sitting at the bench next to the building for some time thinking about her until a minute later, she steps out of the building with Nurse Joy at her side. Ash notices the girl standing up better than how she did previously in the forest. "Hey! You're back! Are you okay?"

"She's doing fine. She just needs to relax her leg for a bit and the injury should go away soon enough." Nurse Joy assured Ash. "Please take care and stay safe, alright?" Nurse Joy pats Serena on her shoulders before walking back into the infirmary.

"Thanks!"

Ash walks closer to Serena and begins to talk to her about what happened after he took her into the infirmary. "Hey, you're okay. What did Nurse Joy do to you earlier?"

Ash and Serena sit down at the bench as the young honey blonde explains to Ash. "Nurse Joy took a look at my leg to see how bad it was, but it wasn't anything too serious. Just a cut that wasn't anything too bad."

"Oh, well, how did she fix the cut?" Ash asked.

"She sprayed on the bruise which gave me a wince as it hurt for a bit, but afterwards I felt better and she applied a bandage on the leg." Serena points Ash to the injury being covered up by a special branded Pokemon-themed bandage.

"Woah! And it's Poliwag-themed! That's so cool! I was trying to find a Poliwag earlier!"

You...did? Did it hop into the woods?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, I tried to find it, but instead I found you. You were laying there badly, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm okay now. Thanks to you." Serena smiles at Ash. It is the first time the girl's been happy after arriving at this camp. She hasn't felt like this until she met Ash. And now, here she is, sitting next to him having a pleasant conversation together on the first day of camp.

"Oh, hey! You never did tell me your name, didn't you? I almost forgot!" Ash begins to realize after talking to Serena for a few minutes.

"Oh, well, my name's Serena. You told me that you're Ash, right? My mom told me about you. You are Ash Ketchum, right?" Serena asked, while introducing herself to the raven-haired boy.

"Yes, that's me! And you're Serena? My mom told me about you as well. I didn't know that I would meet you already on the first day of camp." Ash said.

"Well, actually, I didn't want to go to camp, really." Serena said, looking down at her bandaged cut. Ash begins to stare at her with a straight look in his face of wonder awaiting for her explanation.

"My mom forced me to. She said it'll be a way for me to make friends and learn to be with Pokemon. But, all the time, I've been around my parents spending time with them without usually going outside, and not once, I don't know anybody. I just didn't want to come here in the first place, thanks to my mom."

"I get why she would send you here, but why don't you like camp? It's fun! Lots of Pokemon here and there's lots of activities to do!" Ash said, bringing up a bit of his own excitement.

"That's the thing, what if I don't like camp? I mean, I already witnessed the first reason why. I already hurt my leg and who knows what could be next? I just wish mommy would take me home." Serena shoves her head down in between her legs and closes her eyes in sorrow.

Ash notices Serena's position of misery which begins to help him out speaking a few words to Serena as he lays a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

Serena looks up to Ash as he begins his own response to Serena. "How about I show you how fun camp can be? I know you didn't want to be here, but I've wanted to come to camp to have fun with Pokemon and make friends." Ash then grabs both of Serena's hands close to his chest. "Trust me. You'll love it here. I'll be your friend along the way and I don't want to see you sad."

Serena looks into Ash's eyes for a few seconds before the young raven-haired boy smiles brightly at her again like he did earlier when they were in the forest, also with a cute chuckle. Serena couldn't help but form a light blush on her face before she gives Ash the response that he needs to hear. "Alright. I'll do it. I'll spend my time at camp with you and you can show me how fun it is!"

"Alright! We'll be best friends forever! I can't wait to show you the camp activities!" Ash said, excitedly jumping up and down with the new friendship beginning between the two. Serena takes a moment staring at Ash's own excitement before she looks down and notices a Poliwag hopping around the field near them. "Ash, look!"

Ash stops his excitement for a moment before he notices the Poliwag right near him. "Ah, the Poliwag!" This is the same Poliwag Ash tried to find when it got lost into the forest which Serena also saw as well after falling down.

With his own encouragement, Ash chases the Pokemon around the field. It wouldn't take very long for him to catch the Pokemon as he jumps right into the Water-Type and tackles it, safely catching it in his arms. "Yes!" Ash raises his fist up in the air for Serena to notice.

"Ah! Great job, Ash!" Serena shouts to him, as she finally gives out a smile on this first day of camp.

Ash stands up again, and holds the Poliwag into a hug of care and shows it to Serena as he walks over to her. The young girl is adored by the Pokemon's appearance. "Aww…he's so cute! I'm so glad you caught him."

"Wait! The Pokemon Hide-and-Seek! Oh no…I only caught this one and the hide and seek is about to end! I'm sorry, Serena. It's my fault." Ash quickly exclaimed, beginning to apologize for Serena.

"What for? You did nothing wrong." Serena said.

"For helping you out. I wasted most of the time just to see if you were okay, and I blew the first event now." Ash said, sighing in a bit of disappointment to himself.

"Ash, it's okay. You've helped me, and we're now friends. And this is camp, there's more stuff to enjoy than this. You're even going to show me how fun camp is!" Serena assures her new friend.

Ash begins to look at her while she smiles at him and he smiles back as well while giving out a small laugh. "You're right. Look at you, already getting the hang of camp!"

"Heh. I'm so glad we've met today, Ash. I would definitely love to be friends with you!" Serena said, forming a light blush on her face.

The two laugh at each other before Professor Oak encounters the two at the field. "Oh, what's this? Ash, my dear boy, you found a Pokemon yourself!"

"Oh, professor! I'm sorry, though. This is the only one I found since I was helping out Serena and—" Ash exclaims at the notice of Professor Oak before he interrupted him.

"Oh, worry not! I called both of your mothers and sent them the message of what happened. Serena, your mom told me hello and asked if you're fine."

"Mom?" Serena stopped at the thought. Actually, Serena already begins to feel a bit of excitement inside of her seeing what this summer at camp will be like with Ash. It is at this point now that she wants to stay at camp, rather than having her mom pick her up. She definitely doesn't now want to miss out on any more activities with Ash.

"Um, professor, do you mind if you can call my mom for me and tell her that I want to stay at camp and have fun with Ash?" Serena asked.

"Sure! And before I go, let me take a picture of you two! You're so cute together!" Professor Oak takes out a camera and asks both Ash and Serena to stand next to each other. Ash begins to pose holding the Poliwag in his arms while smiling. Serena, however, forms another light blush on her face while looking at Ash. She's definitely feeling something inside of her about him.

"Got it! I'll send this to your mothers in a postcard! Have fun, you two!" Professor Oak leaves the two to have a moment of their own again.

"So…what do you want to do now?" Ash spoke up, breaking the moment of silence the two had when Professor Oak left them.

"Oh! How about you show me your cabin? I'd like to spend time with you there!" Serena said.

"Actually, the professor hasn't even said what cabins we are staying in." Ash chuckled. "But I do hope we get to stay in the same cabin together!"

Serena and Ash walk together for a bit until the young honey blonde realizes something in her head. "Wait!"

"What's wrong?" Ash asked, looking at her with a bit of concern on his face.

"Do you think…that our mothers set us up to be friends together? I mean, she told me about you, but I had no idea who you were. Is there by any chance our moms already know each other and they want us to be friends? I guess that's the reason why she sent me to camp in the first place to meet you." Serena explained.

"Well, my mom told me about you, and I wanted to go to camp. Just never thought that the first friend I made here at camp is you. Maybe our mothers are setting us up to meet together and be friends." Ash said, as he lets go of the Poliwag and sets it free to hop around the woods. "Be free, little one."

"Well, either way, I'm glad to meet you, Ash. I'm really excited for this summer now!" Serena said, with a tone of excitement in her voice.

"Me too. You're going to have a great time here, Serena! We're going to have so much fun together!" Ash said, quickly taking Serena's hand as she reacts with another blush on her face and the two run into the forest again.

After a fated meeting between two children together, the two have become best friends with each other and spend the most exciting times at camp. But, this is just the beginning of the summer. What awaits them for the rest of the summer, can be the most exciting times they'll spend in their young lives together.