Surprise! I've decided on a whim to write a couple more chapters for this story. In hindsight, this story wasn't so great...unorganized, rushed, and relatively short. However, I'm gonna try and compensate for its flaws by writing a more satisfactory ending for you all. Anyways...for those of you who were disappointed with the ending or wished for a sequel...enjoy :)

- MegazardXY

Chapter 11: Distance

~ Vaniville Town ~

"You look so beautiful, Serena."

Serena beamed at Grace's praise, modestly admiring herself in the mirror. She twirled, lifted up the edge of her dress, and ran her fingers down her long, honey-blonde hair. She was one of the highest-ranking performers in all of Kalos now, a dream she had been striving to achieve for three years. She had lost last year's final competition, but despite this her mother continued to provide unending support, like any loving mother would.

And Serena showed no less determination.

She kept thinking back to her first win, the first time she had ever competed in the Master Class Final. What really stood out to her was the fact that back then, she had had Ash by her side the whole way.

She sighed and looked down. She and Ash still kept in touch quite frequently, after all it was difficult not to after they had each confessed their feelings for one another. In fact, they talked over the phone pretty much every week. Ash would rave about how he was busy roaming the vast world of Pokemon. He was constantly meeting new friends and Pokemon along the way, battling countless trainers, Gym Leaders, and new bad guys, too. He also still had to keep Team Rocket in check, but that was nothing new.

Recently, Serena felt that her end of their conversations seemed to almost always be somewhat lackluster in comparison to what Ash had to say. Ash was so...lively, enthusiastic, and inspiring. There was always something incredibly exciting going on in his life, whether it was related to himself or his Pokemon or his traveling companions. While Serena still hung out with her friends and practiced for her Showcases, she missed traveling with him.

"Serena?"

Serena suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and returned her attention to her mother, who wore a concerned look on her face. "Everything okay, sweetie?" Grace asked her daughter.

Nodding, Serena began to change back into her normal clothes. "Of course, mom! I'm just fine," she said reassuringly, although lately she had definitely been far from fine.

Is this...what I really want? she wondered to herself. I've been working so diligently to live the life of a performer...and yet I'm still not quite as happy as I thought I would be. She shook away those depressing thoughts and dressed to go out. Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno all wanted to meet up in Lumiose for lunch, something she couldn't say no to.

– –

~ Viridian City ~

Excited and enthusiastic as usual, Ash was at the Viridian City airport, boarding a flight to the Unova region. Like always, Pikachu was in high spirits as he sat on his trainer's shoulder.

"Pikachu, this time we're gonna win it all, right buddy?" Ash said, petting his partner's little head. Pikachu responded in the affirmative, mimicking his trainer's confidence and passionate desire for battle. "Pika pika!"

Ash suddenly heard his Holo Caster ringing. He rolled his eyes, knowing full well who it was before he even picked it up. Ever since he had come home after traveling in Kalos, his mom had been intrigued by his Holo Caster and begged to have one herself. Now, she called him almost every day.

He answered up the call. Probably asking if I remembered to bring underwear, he thought to himself. "Yeah mom?" he asked.

"ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash nearly dropped his Holo Caster in shock. Uh oh, he thought. What did I do?

"Just where do you think you're going?" she demanded. "You left this morning without saying good-bye!"

He rolled his eyes. "Uh...mom. The Pokemon World Tournament? The Junior Cup? Remember that? It's tomorrow. I already told you, I'm getting on a plane tonight to head over to Unova. I haven't seen Iris and Cilan in forever, not to mention it'd be cool to see Trip and Cameron there and see how they've improved. How could you forget about this? I told you like a thousand times and I said good-bye before I went to bed just in case you were sleeping in the morning, which you were..." he said.

"I didn't forget, actually, I was just hoping you would remember to fulfill a promise you made a while back. It looks like you've disappointed me," Delia said, sighing heavily from exasperation. He is so impulsive, he just can't stop thinking about Pokemon, she thought to herself. Just like his father...

Now Ash was confused. "Wait...huh?" he asked.

"Remember last year when Serena called and asked if you could come to see her final showcase competition?" Delia asked, her voice somewhat calmer than it had been a few seconds ago.

The mention of Serena caught Ash off-guard. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I told her I couldn't go. Which I couldn't...you know I was busy. I was able to watch her on television, and she said she was fine with that."

Delia rolled her eyes. "And you just completely forgot about how you promised, yes, promised, her that you would come see the final one this year?"

Ash felt a lump form in his throat. He had completely forgotten. He had been so focused on the Junior Cup that he forgot that the final showcase competition in Kalos was coming up. "Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thin-"

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Serena when you make it to the Kalos region," Delia said.

"Mom, I can't just back out of the Junior Cup now, and plus I can't just randomly find a new flight to Kalos. I'll try to see if I can watch her on T.V. while I'm there," Ash said, desperately trying to fix the situation as best he could.

There was a pause before Delia said, "Ash, honey...I understand that your dream is very important to you...you're so driven and passionate and it just makes me so proud. Oh, maybe you'll understand when you're a bit older...but honey, have you ever stopped to think about Serena and how much she cares about you? Have you ever thought about her dream, and that she might just need your support to achieve it?

*click*

Before Ash could respond, Delia had hung up.

– –

~ Lumiose City ~

"So, Serena, you think Aria will make for as good competition as she did last year?" Tierno asked, trying to make conversation. Serena had been relatively quiet ever since they had sat down, and Trevor was busy fiddling with his camera. Shauna was giddy with excitement about the showcase and could not stop talking about the dress she was planning to wear.

Serena twirled her spaghetti with her fork repeatedly without any intention of eating it. "Yeah, probably. She's always putting on a beautiful performance, and she's so pretty, too..." her voice trailed off. She could've talked more about it, but she wasn't in the mood.

Shauna suddenly noticed that Serena seemed to be really out of it. "Hey, Serena...what's the matter?" she asked, concerned for her friendly rival. She had a hunch she knew what this was about, but refrained from saying anything until she knew she for sure.

Serena thought about telling her everything, everything from the day she first met Ash at summer camp to the day Ash confessed his feelings for her. She thought about it...then decided she didn't want to distract herself (or Shauna for that matter) from the showcase. The two of them both needed to focus in order to beat Aria.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just kinda tired; didn't get much sleep last night. Anyways, I think my mom wants me home soon, so I should get going," Serena said as she stood up to leave, her evasive demeanor obvious to Shauna and even Tierno, who was typically oblivious to such matters.

Despite the fact that she knew something was up, Shauna thought it best to keep quiet. It was evident that Serena didn't want to talk about whatever it was. It's gotta be Ash, she thought.

– –

Three hours into the plane ride to Unova, Ash found himself staring out the window in deep thought, something he didn't typically find himself doing often. Usually, he was concocting new battle strategies, or thinking of what Pokemon his team was weak against, or thinking of how to beat such Pokemon.

But now, all he could think of was Serena.

– – – –