Chapter-7: A Family Reunion!

Author's Notes:
Welcome to the chapter-7 of A Family Reunion. This is going to be an introduction to a new character, someone whom I've seen being portrayed as the villain of amourshipping fanfics. To do him justice, here I am, making Calem, Serena's cousin!

Make sure to give in any constructive review, although the a lot many chapters have already been published on Wattpad, but I'll try and catch up to it someday. Hopefully.

Our heroes arrive at Pewter City, Site of Ash's first gym badge, but before that they have to visit the Pokemon Center to have their Pokemon checked on, but first they need to catch their breath.

The trio sit over the few rocks on the path, enjoying the breathtaking skyline from the hill.

"That's Pewter City? It looks amazing. I can't wait to see what the gym will be like." Ash said enthusiastically.

"Yeah. The view is beautiful! And the fresh air! It's amazing!" Serena said, taking a deep breath.

"Yep, it's still as good as it was the last time." Misty said.

"Pewter City's always been beautiful." A voice said from below them, and they jumped in surprise.

"Wow! You sure startled us." Ash said, catching his breath.

"The name's Flint, and you're sitting on my merchandise." The man said, introducing himself.

"You... sell rocks?" Serena asked with a confused look.

"Yes I do. Pewter City is pretty famous for its rocks. So, souvenirs?" Flint asked.

"No thank you. We need to make a stop at the Pokemon Center, and then I'll challenge the gym tomorrow." Ash declined politely.

"You're kidding right?" The man laughed it off.

"Do you really think I'm kidding?" Ash asked angrily.

"Well, sorry for that. But I don't think you can beat the gym leader. Brock's a really strong gym leader, a beginning trainer like you wouldn't stand a chance against him." Flint stated.

"Well if that's the case, why don't you come over to the gym and watch me win tomorrow? Ash asked.

"No thanks kid. But I'll show you the way to the Pokemon Center if you want to." Flint offered.

"Geez thanks for your kindness." Ash replied sarcastically. He was clearly pissed off from Flint's predictions.

"Ash, why don't we let him show the way. Besides, you'll have more time to train and form a strategy if we get to the Pokemon Center early." Serena suggested.

"Well, I guess you're right." Ash said reluctantly. He then turned to Flint. "Show us the way Flint."

"Alright, follow me children." The man said, leading the group to the Pokemon Center in the city.


They walked into the Pokemon Center, and Flint bid farewell to the group, but he decided to stick around and see what Ash does. The boy seemed really similar to a particular trainer from his days as the gym leader. But now no one knows where the legendary Red Ketchum is.

Ash and the group walk up to Nurse Joy, booking their rooms for their stay and Ash went out to train for the gym battle. He called out Butterfree and Pidgeotto, who stood in front of him.

"Alright guys. this is it. It's going to be our First Gym Battle. And if I'm not wrong, it's going to be a two on two." Ash said. This made his Pokemon sad. They all wanted a chance to battle, but guess it wasn't meant to be.

"Now I want you three to decide who wants to sit this one out." Ash explained.

The three Pokemon looked at each other, and then Pikachu nodded to the flying types. "I'll take this one off Ash. Those rock types also must be part ground type as well. Too bad I can't thundershock them." His starter explained. "But I call dibs for the next gym!"

"Sure buddy. So Pidgeotto, Butterfree, you're both going to battle tomorrow. Let's get some training done so we can prepare." Ash explained. "Pidgeotto, fly high into the air and use steel wing. Butterfree, work on your Sleep powder and psybeam. Both of you try to hit me."

Pidgeotto rose into the air rapidly, and Butterfree began storing energy for the move. They both fired their respective moves at Ash, who dodged them with ease.

"C'mon guys, you've got to be faster than that if we are to beat Brock. Pidgeotto, try using Steel Wing with quick attack. And Butterfree, move around so that the Psybeam covers a larger area!" Ash suggested.

The two Pokemon nodded and began taking their positions again. Pidgeotto flew high to gain momentum, while Butterfree moved around erratically.

"Do it now!" Ash screamed excitedly, as the Bird Pokemon Charged in at him, with her body glowing white, and her wings shining from the steely aura. The Butterfly Pokemon sent a wave of psybeam, which zig-zagged its way to the Pallet Native.

However the boy still dodged the attacks, but this time it was close.

"Good job you two. Now, Rock type Pokemon are usually slow, but we can't expect a Gym Leader's pokemon to be like the rest. They're meant to test a trainer's skills, and their Pokemon's as well. You'll both be at a disadvantage tomorrow, but I know you won't give up. The key is to dodge the attacks and strike back with everything you got. We're going to get stronger from this battle, doesn't matter if we win or lose." Ash gave his speech. "Now both of you start practicing again, but don't overdo it."

The two pokemon nodded and flew off to sharpen their agility.

"Alright Lucario. Now for our training." The Raven haired boy said, releasing the Aura Pokemon from its Pokeball.

"Alright Master. You should probably learn how to handle a staff or a sword." Lucario suggested.

"What?! But why am I even going to use a weapon?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Come on Master! No questions!" The Aura Canine instructed, forming two bone rushes. He threw one at Ash, who caught it easily. "Let's dance!" Lucario declared, as he plunged at Ash.

Ash stepped to the side, as Lucario tried to stab Ash with the bone. Turning around the Aura Pokemon, Ash gave a smash on its back with his bone.

"That was a nice move. Now try this!" Lucario said, while slashing left and right.

Ash parried the attacks successfully, before placing a kick on Lucario's right arm, which had the bone club. It slipped from Lucario's arm and disappeared.

"Well, there's your next lesson. I can form my own club, you can't!" Lucario smirked, as it formed another bone club in his left hand, and began swirling it around. "Well Master, let's see if you can keep up!"

"Well, that was rather... unfair." Ash mumbled, as he took the offense this time. He started stabbing with the bone club, but it was being blocked by the bone club.

"You'll have to be better if you wish to hit me Master." Lucario smirked, while continuing to rotate his club.

Ash began to increase the speed of his hand, and even switched between arms in intervals, and soon they were perfectly in sync with Lucario's speed. This let him hit Lucario several times in a second. Pushing the Jackal back.

"So, what do you say we make this a little more of a challenge Master?" Lucario asked.

"Huh? What do you mean Lucario?" Ash asked, blinking in confusion.

"Don't take your concentration off the opponent!" Lucario scolded, as it hit Ash's club out of his palms, placing the club on the boy's neck. "Here! Take this." Lucario said, presenting another bone club to Ash.

"Now Pikachu!" Lucario called out to the Electric Type. Pikachu began running around the two, engulfed in a green glow.

"Huh... He managed to learn it after all." Ash smirked, not taking his eyes off of Lucario and its movements.

"Of course Master. He's a fast learner. Like trainer like starter I guess." Lucario said, while it advanced at Ash with the bone club. Ash stretched back, landing on his arms, before springing back and sweeping it around Lucario's feet, who jumped off.

To make matters worse, Pikachu hit him with an Extreme Speed assisted Iron tail, making a gash on his back. It could've been worse if Ash hadn't sensed the attack at all.

"Hey! Mom took so much efforts to sew this shirt!" He complained through the pain.

"Alright, this should be enough for today. You did amazing Master." Lucario praised, as he used Heal Pulse on Ash's back, closing the wound.


"Alright Guys. That's enough practice for now." Ash said, calling the his Pokemon back. Both Butterfree and Pidgeotto had finally got a proper hold on their respective moves.

The four Pokemon made their way to Ash, standing in front of him. "Okay, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, you both did great today, do the same tomorrow, and we'll win for sure." He said excitedly. "Lucario, nice work getting Steel Beam perfected. How're ya feeling?"

"It was exhausting indeed, but I think I can now stand more then two per battle." Lucario replied with a smile.

"Well, that's wonderful, but I don't want you to push yourself too hard. If you get hurt then you might be out for a long time." Ash said.

"I will take care of myself Master." Lucario replied with a smile. Ash nodded and turned to his starter. This little guy has worked really hard today.

"And buddy, you were absolutely amazing. Normally I can even dodge Lucario using Extreme Speed, but you managed to hit me. I'm proud of you." He said.

The Electric Type looked at him and gave a faint smile, before dropping on his lap again.

"You worked really hard today buddy, I guess you can have half a bottle of Ketchup today." Ash chuckled.

"I can?" Pikachu asked, as its ears perked up.

"I'll never understand your obsession with Ketchup buddy." Ash said, rubbing the back of its head, causing him to let out a cha.

"Alr..." Ash said, getting up, but was interrupted by a voice.

"WoW! Is that your Lucario?" A boy asked excitedly. He looked a little older, wearing a full sleeve jacket, with white outline on the zipper, a red hat with sunglasses, slim blue jeans and a pair of mountain shoes. He looked a little older and had an uncanny resemblance to Serena.

"Umm... yeah." Ash said nervously.

"This is amazing, I have never seen a Lucario with Silver coloring as this one before." The boy continued in excitement.

"I won't be surprised?" Ash asked, not knowing what to say. He remembered his dad telling him that His Lucario was of a very special type, who have a Mastery over their Aura. This intrigued the little boy to learn more about Lucario, and Aura itself.

His Lucario was special for sure. Most Lucario have a deep blue coloration and some of them have a lemon yellow one, but Silver fur was almost never seen. So it made perfect sense that the boy might never have seen a Lucario like his.

"Oh sorry. I've been rambling about all this. I'm Calem by the way. Nice to meet you!" The boy introduced himself.

"Hi Calem, I'm Ash, and it's nice to meet you." Ash greeted cheerfully, putting his hand forward for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you too Ash." Calem said, returning the gesture. "So, were you training for your gym battle?" He asked.

"Yeah. We've been training really hard." Ash said, and turned around to his Pokemon. "And we're going to win that badge tomorrow!" He declared.

"That's wonderful. I'm sure you'll be unstoppable with Lucario. Fighting and Steel are super-effective on Rock Types." Calem said.

"Hehe... Lucario isn't battling tomorrow. He's too strong to be used for a gym battle to be honest." The Kanto native explained.

"So, whom are you going with tomorrow then?" Calem asked in a surprised voice. The other three Pokemon each had a serious disadvantage in a rock type gym.

"I'm entering with Pidgeotto and Butterfree." He replied confidently.

"Uhhh... Are you sure?" Calem asked. "You do know that it's a rock type gym right?"

"Type advantages aren't everything." Ash pouted. He didn't like people relying too much on type advantages. "Anyways, were you here to challenge the gym too?" He asked changing the topic.

"Actually, I had my battle today. It wasn't exactly easy, but I beat him in the last minute. with my Starter." Calem said happily.

"Really? That's awesome! So that must mean you're entering the Indigo Conference too!" The Kanto native said excitedly.

"Yeah. It's been a while since I last competed in a league." Calem said.

"That means you've competed before?" Ash asked getting riled up.

"Yeah, I did back home in Kalos in few years." Calem said. "It didn't exactly go too well, and I thought if I stayed and helped the professor for a while, it would help me get better. So I helped him in his research for the last two years, and now I came here to compete."

"Well! It's great that you're competing again. But why Kanto?" Ash asked. Kalos was quite a faraway region, so why not compete somewhere closer to home.

"Well, other than just wanting to go to a faraway region, my cousin shifted here a few years ago, just around the time I started on my journey. In fact I was going to go see her from here." Calem said. This got Ash thinking. Serena moved to Pallet about three years ago, and Calem said his cousin moved to Kanto around the same time. And the un-canny resemblance was only increasing his suspicions.

"Hey Calem, by any chance, is your cousin's name Serena?" He asked nervously.

"It is. How do you know her?" The Kalosian asked in surprise.

"Why don't ya come with us?" Ash said, dragging the older boy along. His Pokemon followed behind, some extra stretching before the gym battle would be really great.


"Ugh! Where is he?" Serena asked, pacing through the room.

Ash entered the Pokemon Center in an excited mood, but the Honey blonde was going to have none of it. "Ash! Just where were you! We were so worried you know!"

"Serena, Serena, calm down." Ash said placing his hands on her shoulders. "Look who I ran into after training." He said, turning out of her frame.

"Hey pigtails!" A boy said, entering the room, and his face was met with a tight slap.

"Whoa! She's scary." Ash and Pikachu shivered in fear.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Pigtails." Serena screamed at him.

"Ouch. That stings 'Rena." The boy said, holding his cheek.

"Not more than Fletchling's pecks. So deal with it, Calem!" The honey blonde replied sassily.

"So, gonna introduce me too?" Misty asked in a similar sassy tone.

"Whoa, you handle two feisty girls at the same time?" Calem asked Ash, until his head was met with a huge mysterious mallet and a tight slap.

"Your cousin really needs to keep his mouth shut." The orange haired girl said to Serena.

"Surprisingly, I agree." Serena replied with a nod.

"Wow, all that after I come to Kanto just so I could see you again." Calem said, crying anime tears. "But it's really wonderful how you manage these two, especially little pigtails here." He added with a smirk.

"Oh, Ash doesn't need to do anything, just a smile is enough to melt her." Misty added in a matter of fact tone, as Serena blushed in embarrassment.

"Huh? That's weird. Does little pigtails have a crush?" Calem asked in a teasing tone, making Serena's temperature to rise. She started fiddling with her hair nervously, and Calem knew he was right.

Ash saw this too, thinking maybe she does like him. But what if he was wrong? What if just because Calem was teasing her? So he decided to play his trump card again. The ability oblivious. He instead decided to think about his battle the next day.

The older Kalosian turned around to see Ash's reaction, and it seemed very neutral. Ugh, this boy is dense, he thought to himself, making a mental facepalm.

"So Calem, since you're going to Pallet Town, why don't you stay and watch my gym battle tomorrow? It would be great to have your approval." He blurted out, making the others in the room to raise their eyebrows.

"What?" Ash asked in a confused manner. "I just wanted an experienced trainer for a rival. Other than that, it's just Gary and Drake. Oak tree will just keep rambling about how he's got a quintillion badges, and better than me in any way. And Lucario has got a streak of beating his Charizard now."

"Oh, so that's what you meant." Calem sighed. "Well, I'll be glad to watch your battle. You're really confident if you're going in with Pidgeotto and Butterfree to a rock type gym."

"You know Ash, if you asked really nicely, I'd be glad to lend you my Pokemon, and of course you know water beats rock right?" Misty offered sweetly.

"Of course I can't do that Misty. That wouldn't be fair to my Pokemon. Besides, if I needed to, Lucario could easily take the gym by himself." Ash refused respectfully.

"But don't you think Butterfree and Pidgeotto are going to be at a huge disadvantage?" Misty questioned.

"I know they will be. And that's what we spent the entire day on. Look, I know gym leaders are really strong, but if not anything else, this is going to be a good experience for them. Pidgeotto, she's already super excited for this battle. And Butterfree wants to grow stronger too." Ash explained his point of view.


"Ash!" Serena shrieked. "How did you manage to tear your shirt? And, are those... blood stains?"

Right now they were walking into the cafeteria. Ash being the foodie he is decided to rush in, but he forgot the gash given by Pikachu. Of course Lucario had healed it, but the dress still had the slash, stained with his blood.

"Oh that?" Ash said, sweating profusely. "Uh... well, Pikachu turned out to be quicker than my reflexes."

"ASHTON REDRICK KETCHUM!" She screamed at the top of her voice. "PIKACHU YOU TOO!"

"Hey, don't blame it on the little guy." Pikachu said in a scared tone.

"Please mistress Serena, forgive Pikachu, it happened under my instructions, for which I seek your forgiveness. I have already healed Master, but if you wish to punish me for my actions, I shall take it gracefully." Lucario said, coming out of its pokeball.

"Wait! It actually talks?" Calem jumped in surprise.

"All Pokemon do talk. I am merely using my aura to transmit my thoughts." Lucario explained.

"That is so amazing. You can use Lucario as a translator to understand all your Pokemon!" Calem said excitedly.

"We don't need Lucario for that." Misty said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The Kalosian asked in confusion.

"You see Ash here is very proficient in understanding Pokemon." Serena said proudly.

"Wow! What other new thing am I going to learn about you now? Maybe you're the son of that really strong trainer, who was called the legend of mt. Silver." He said as a joke, making Ash to chuckle nervously. "Wait! Don't tell me that trainer's actually your dad!?"

"Well... I can't deny the truth now can I?" Ash said while rubbing his hair nervously.

"You certainly have a good choice pigtails." Calem teased his cousin, who was flustered. Again, Ash decided to think it was probably an exaggeration of his mind.

"Ash." Serena cried literally, and it made the Raven haired boy feel terrible. He quickly moved to her and gave a nice warm hug, rubbing her back to give the comfort she needed.

"Tell me Ash, why do you have to make me so worried like that?" She asked.

"Well, I just want to be stronger Serena, my sparring proved that I need to improve. This won't happen again, because there's no way Pikachu will beat my reflexes next time." Ash declared.

"But why are you training so hard Ash? Aren't we just normal trainers? Aren't we meant to be on a normal journey?" Serena cried into his arms.

"After what happened on our first day as trainers, after receiving that wing, do you really think we're going to be the least bit normal?" Ash asked with a serious expression. "I want to grow stronger for us Serena. I made a promise that day that whatever will come, we'll face it together. But that means nothing if I'm not prepared to protect you. That day if Pikachu didn't come through, all of us would've died.

You're my friend Serena, and I can't go on knowing we might have to face something similar, or maybe even worse, and just go on with it." He explained passionately. Everyone was moved by his reason. Misty was now feeling even worse for blaming them for her bike's unintentional destruction. Calem felt he found the perfect boy for his little pigtails, and Serena felt her legs become jelly at that confession.

She walked forward to him and gave him a tight hug. "Ash." She said softly. "I didn't know you had such a huge burden on your heart."

She rubbed his back, feeling the rough slash on the shirt, thinking about how much it might've hurt when Pikachu's attacks hit. "I feel so proud to call you my best friend Ash. You're the best!"

Ash wanted to say something, but his tummy spoke first.

"Haha... way to ruin the moment!" Ash said to it, placing a hand on his stomach. "Well, I guess all that training and talking has really got through to me. Let's go get some dinner, and then I'll have to rest up for my gym battle!" Ash declared.

A little away from the group, A man was watching the group as they enjoyed a hearty dinner.

"Maybe it's time I owned up to my family." He said to himself, before leaving the Pokemon Center.

AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!

Author's Notes:
And that's another chapter finished. I'll be honest, I never planned for that emotional speech by Ash, it's just something that came on its own, and it just feels so perfect. Anyways, this is a good introduction to Calem, sorry if this seems to familiar to JOAPM, because that book's the blueprint to this one, I'll try to keep things as authentic as possible, but I can't help it that they're going to be very close in terms of the plot.

So, as Ash is ready to face Brock now, but what twists and turns await to cross his path now? To know, keep following the book.