Chapter 1: Departure
-Ash-
"Come on Ash," Goh said. "Professor Cerise is waiting for us downstairs" he mentioned as he shook Ash, trying to get him to hurry up. "Yeah, I know I'm coming" Ash replied hurriedly, putting his shoes on as fast as he could. He exited the closet and grabbed his hat from the rack. "Come on Pikachu" he said as his partner pokemon jumped onto his shoulder as he followed after Goh.
They found Professor Cerise waiting for them in the lab, as he always was. Behind him, the screen showed a map of Hoenn's Mossdeep City. "Morning, Professor" Goh called out from behind him. "Ah, Ash, Goh. Just who I wanted to see" Cerise greeted in return.
"Got anything good for us professor" Ash asked enthusiastically. Raring to go adventuring.
"Actually, a friend of mine from Mossdeep has informed me of something quite peculiar happening with the local water pokemon" Cerise explained. "He said it might be worth checking out so I'll be sending you two to go give it a look".
"Awesome, I've never been to Mossdeep before" exclaimed Goh.
"Which reminds me," said Professor Cerise as he dug around in his lab coat for something, eventually pulling out two gold and red tickets. "Hoenn's Grand Festival is in a few days, so I thought you might like to see something other than battles for a change" the Professor explained handing them the tickets.
I wonder if May is participating Ash thought to himself as he took one of the tickets from Professor Cerise. Damn, It's been years since we last met.
Meanwhile, Goh took his ticket, anxious to see what all the hype around the Pokemon Contest was. "You'll be flying out this afternoon, I already arranged for my friend to host you while you're at Mossdeep so you won't have to worry about it" Cerise added.
"You might want to start packing, your flight leaves in six hours"
-Serena-
Serena arrived in Slateport City at noon, after spending three days on the road to get there. She had only been in Slateport once before, and even that was only to register for contests at the nearest contest hall. It was also the place where she first met May and Dawn. Even though that had happened three years ago, it felt like it was yesterday.
Serena made her way to Slateport to sign up for her first contest season as it was the nearest town where she could sign up in time. She'd gotten desperately lost among the piers, but luckily she stumbled upon May and Dawn, who were making their way to the contest hall, but had also gotten lost as well. Together they found their way to the contest hall and signed up in time. They've been friends ever since.
Now that she was once again in Slateport, and not under the pressure of having to find the contest hall in time, she could finally have a proper look around the city and maybe even do some shopping. She strolled over to the Slateport Market and took a quick look around, buying some of the local cuisine as well as picking up some berries for her pokemon. After her little shopping spree. She headed off towards the boathouse to meet up with May and board the ferry.
"Serena! Over here" Serena heard a familiar voice said. Amongst the crowd she noticed a gloved hand sticking out of it, heading in her direction. "May!" she called back, moving towards it.
The two girls reunited with a hug. May was still wearing her red shirt and bandana. Curiously though, Serena noticed half of a contest ribbon pinned to her chest. "Congrats, on your fifth ribbon!" May congratulated her as both girls broke the hug. "Thanks, May" Serena replied humbly.
"So, how've you been?" asked May.
-Ash-
Ash and Goh boarded the overnight flight to Lilycove Airport, where they would arrive early in the morning and then take a ferry to Mossdeep city at around three in the afternoon, leaving Ash and Goh with a few hours of spare time, Ash will look for someone to battle while Goh tries to capture more Hoenn pokemon. Then they'll spend a few days in Mossdeep researching the phenomena for Professor Cerise before watching the Grand Festival.
Their flight was a pretty uneventful one, they had dinner before boarding the plane and Goh and Pikachu slept most of the way there. For Ash, however, sleep avoided him all together. As he stared out the window into the night sky longingly, his mind drifted back to his final moments in Kalos.
"Ash, thank you. I'm glad I came with you" Serena said. A hand over the blue ribbon he had given her. "You're the type of person I want to be". Ash looked at Serena, as she was about to depart for the Hoenn region. He'd only just realized how beautiful she looked. "Next time we meet, you're gonna like the type of person I've grown into" she said with a wink.
"Uh, see you" she said as she turned her back to him and stepped onto the moving escalator. Ash had parted ways from many close friends before however, for some reason, saying goodbye to Serena physically hurt him. Even though he didn't know why. So what she did next, took him by storm.
"Hey Ash, there's just one more thing" Serena said as she turned back to look at him. She rushed back up the escalator right to where Ash was standing. Her face grew closer and closer until she finally stopped. Standing on the tip of her feet and laying a single small peck on Ash's lips. They only kissed for a second, the sweet taste of her lips abandoned Ash's as quickly as he felt them. The escalator pushing Serena back down the stairs. Her pale-face completely flushed with red.
Ash found himself thinking about this moment very frequently, on an almost daily basis. It was always a constant presence in his memory. Before every battle he had faced since then, he looked back towards that moment, and found the strength to pull out a victory. During his battle with Professor Kukui back in Alola, he could've sworn he heard Serena in the crowd, cheering for him. Of course, she wasn't there, but just imagining her voice filled him with incredible strength. He didn't know why these feelings arose, he didn't even know what these feelings were.
He rolled around in his seat and closed his eyes, trying to get just a little shut-eye before they touched down in Lilycove.
-Serena-
Serena climbed onto the top bunk of the bunk beds she and May were sharing. They'd boarded the ship to Lilycove a few hours ago. They shared dinner at the dining hall and went down to the cabins to get some sleep. They should be arriving in Lilycove late the next day. Dawn said she'd be waiting for them back at the hotel, where she'd already rented the room for the three of them.
May snored loudly below her. She reminded her a little bit of Ash, they both were incredibly similar, they would've been very close friends. She took out the picture of her and Ash once again. At first, being away from him was easy, but the more time went by, the more she yearned to see him once again. During her contests across Hoenn, just imagining Ash amongst the crowd as one of the many people cheering her on gave her strength and determination. She didn't know where Ash was, but she wished he was here with her.
She thought back to her final moments in Kalos, when she'd finally built up the courage to kiss Ash. I still can't believe I did that she thought to herself. But first thing's first, I gotta win the Grand Festival, then I'll go looking for him, she decided. She put the picture back in the bag and closed her eyes. Not knowing, she wouldn't have to win the grand festival to be reunited with him.