And now here's Chapter 2 of the story, Enter Serena. Much like the last chapter, some of the content is just how I currently feel the XY and Z series will go through, so might have to change some dialogue once the actual episodes are released, but like I've said before, it won't really change anything to the overall fanfic. And if you don't want to risk being spoiled of the XY and Z series, read at your own risk. Without further ado, please enjoy!


(plays [Event] Is It Right... from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006)

On the piers of Ambrette Town of the Kalos Region sat an 18-year old girl. She had blonde hair in a short haircut with a pink-red fedora with a black hatband. She wore an outfit quite similar to the one she wore throughout her first journey 8 years ago, though there were a few differences. The pink dress she wore has longer sleeves that extend to her elbows, the red vest is shorter, reaching down to her hips rather than her thighs, and her brown boots were also a bit bigger. One thing that was most definitely kept was a blue ribbon tied at the collar of her dress, as it was very special to her. This girl's name is Serena.

Sitting on the edge of a dock, Serena was looking off towards the deep blue sea, remembering the journey she went on 8 years ago, most specifically how it ended.

Flashback 8 years ago

(plays Last Look at Rogueport from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door)

At the airport of Lumiose City, Ash, Pikachu, and the rest of Ash's Kalos Pokemon were saying their goodbyes to Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and their Pokemon, as now that the Kalos League was, by technical means, over and Team Flare has been defeated once-and-for-all, their journey has sadly come to an end.

"Well guys," said Ash, "looks like this is goodbye."

"Looks like it is." said Clemont.

Bonnie, who was on the verge of crying, ran up to Ash and hugged him, saying, "Oh Ash! I'll miss you so much! Please visit whenever you and Pikachu can, and bring other Pokemon too!"

As she was saying that, Dedenne jumped out of Bonnie's satchel and ran to Pikachu to hug him goodbye, and much like his trainer, he was also crying. Pikachu happily hugged him back and the two shared one more electrical nuzzle before Dedenne returned to the satchel.

As Bonnie was hugging him, Ash returned the hug and said, "Don't worry Bonnie, Pikachu and I will definitely visit you again soon. And hey, once you're old enough to become a Pokemon Trainer yourself, you can definitely challenge us to a battle. Right Pikachu?"

Pikachu jumped on his trainer's right shoulder and excitedly replied, "Pika pika!"

Overjoyed on hearing this, Bonnie replied, "Really?! THANK YOU ASH!" Bonnie then wiped the tears from her face and walked back to her brother's side. "But just remember Ash, on that day where I challenge you to a battle, Dedenne and I will be ready!"

Dedenne happily cried out after Bonnie said that, agreeing with her.

Clemont then walked to Ash and the two shook hands.

"Ash, it's been a pleasure getting to travel around with you."

"You too Clemont, and all your inventions were all amazing and I know they'll keep on getting even better and better!"

Hearing this caused Clemont to nervously chuckle. "I sure hope so too."

"Don't worry brother, I'll be there to help clean up the mess when they explode!" Bonnie teasingly insisted, much to Clemont's annoyance. "Oh, and Ash, I almost forgot to ask you something."

"What is it Bonnie?"

"Once I find my brother a good keeper, can you be the Best Man for him at his wedding?"

"BONNIE, STOP!" Clemont yelled at he activated his Aipom Arm to cover his sister's mouth.

Amused, Ash let out a chuckle.

During all of this though, Serena was silent. She just couldn't believe that the adventure was finally over, and Ash was leaving her again. She was devastated, though she tried to hide it from her friends. She hadn't felt like this ever since she and her mom were leaving the Kanto region when she was younger, but at least this time, she gets to have a proper goodbye with Ash. She then saw Ash walking towards her, so she quickly snapped back to reality, not letting her sad thoughts control her.

"Serena, it was really great traveling with you." Ash said, holding his hand out for a handshake.

Blushing a bit, Serena shook Ash's hand and replied, "It's been great traveling with you too, Ash."

"Hey Serena, after I leave, what are you gonna do now? I know Clemont is going back to his gym and Bonnie's gonna prepare for when she becomes a trainer, but what about you?"

"Well, Aria's teacher, Palermo, offered to mentor me to help me achieve my dream of becoming Kalos Queen after the Gloire Showcase. I turned it down back then because I still wanted to keep traveling with you guys, but I promised once the journey was over, I'd go back to her."

"That's awesome, Serena! That means you're only getting closer and closer to fulfilling your dream!"

"Yeah..." Serena silently replied. While she has excited to learn under Palermo, deep down, she still wanted to be with Ash. She looked down and noticed Bonnie giving her a look that said, "What are you waiting for? Tell him already!" Serena turned to her Pokemon, who were also giving her the exact same look in their own way.

"And once you're performing at the Gloire Showcase again, you know I'll be there, cheering you on!"

"Th-thanks. Hey Ash, there's something I've been always wanting to tell you."

"Oh, what is it?"

"It's just that I... I..."

"Yes?"

"I... I..." Serena tried her best to say the words, but she just couldn't get them out. "I... I... I...!"

Bonnie, Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon all looked excited. They thought Serena was finally going to admit her true feelings to Ash, but what came next surprised them.

Crying a bit, Serena hugged Ash and said, "I'll miss you a lot Ash!"

In her mind, Serena was yelling to herself, "YOU IDIOT! THIS IS YOUR PERFECT CHANCE AND NOW YOU'RE JUST WASTING IT! GET MY HANDS OFF HIM AND JUST TELL HIM ALREADY!" Serena tried to do just that, but she couldn't. It was just that, Serena is afraid that Ash might not return her feelings.

Braixen let out a sigh, disappointed in her trainer for not revealing to Ash her love for him. She then walked towards Greninja, who let out his right arm for a goodbye handshake. Instead of returning the handshake, Braixen wrapped Greninja in a big hug, causing him to blush and become frozen in shock. Seeing this, Braixen giggled and returned back to her trainer as Ash's other Pokemon went up to the stunned Greninja, asking him what's wrong, but the response he gave out was a collapse to the ground, surprising them.

Meanwhile, Ash hugged Serena back and said, "Serena, I'll miss you too. But don't forget, no matter how far away we are, we'll always be great friends, and nothing could ever change that! And like I said before, I'll see you soon once you perform at the Gloire Showcase again, which I know you'll win and become Kalos Queen! I believe in you!"

"Thank you so much," Serena then let go of Ash and faced him, trying her best not to blush again. "Ash, you promise you'll be there?"

"Of course! There's nothing in the world that'll stop me!"

"Alright, then I'll see you there! And I promise I'll win, cause I won't give up until it's over!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!"

The two high fived. In her mind, Serena was still yelling at herself for not confessing her feelings for Ash at this moment, but now that he told he'll be that at the Gloire Showcase when she performs there again, she felt that would be the perfect time to finally confess, as by then, they'll be a little older and Ash would hopefully be able to notice her feelings and return them.

A flight attendant then appeared towards the group and told Ash the plane would be leaving soon, so he has to get on now.

"Aw man, already? I better get going then," Ash then turned to his Pokemon. "Well, are you guys ready to-" Ash stopped himself when he noticed his Greninja on the ground, knocked out, with his face completely red. The other Pokemon were staring down at him worried, trying to ask him what's wrong, though the frog ninja could not reply. "Hm, guess he's not a fan of planes." Ash took out everyone's Pokeballs and recalled them all as Pikachu jumped back on his shoulder. Before Greninja was recalled, he tried to use Thunderbolt to wake him back up, but not even that worked. Ash and Pikachu then started running to their plane, waving goodbye to their Kalos friends in the process as they waved back.

"Goodbye guys! Thanks to all of you for the amazing journey!"

"Pika pika!"

"You too Ash!" All three of them yelled back.

Ash and Pikachu entered the plane and after a few minutes, it rose from the ground and took off for the Kanto region.

Serena watched the plane fly off to the distance with a content, knowing she's going to see Ash again pretty soon.

Unfortunately for Serena, that moment was actually the last time she ever saw Ash.

(plays Moment Lost from Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo OST)

After Ash left Kalos, Serena parted ways with Clemont and Bonnie and returned to Vaniville Town so that she could reunite with her mom, Grace, and just have a relaxing break from the journey before she goes to Palermo as her student. But two days after Ash left, Serena received the worst news of her life: Ash has disappeared.

On that day, Serena was about to go outside to play with her Pokemon until she saw her mother on the phone, apparently talking with Ash's mom, Delia Ketchum. When Grace got off the phone, Serena immediately asked her what she and Delia were talking about, having to have overheard Delia asking about Ash. Grace reluctantly told her daughter that two days ago, Delia found a letter in front of her door during a stormy night, and it was from her son, saying that he couldn't return home, not giving a reason why. On the phone, Delia was asking her if Ash was going through anything emotionally before he left Kalos, but since Grace wasn't at the airport, she didn't know and told her she'll ask her daughter. Upon asking her , Serena assured her that Ash was perfectly fine when they parted ways. He was his normal happy-go-lucky self. Grace went back on the phone to tell Delia this while Serena walked outside with her mind all fogged up with confusion and anxiety.

Why would Ash disappear without even telling his mom why? Was he really depressed from losing his chance to win the Lumiose Conference when he was so close? It couldn't be as he always puts others before stuff like that and that's why he immediately went out to stop Team Flare when their plan was revealed. Did Team Rocket steal Pikachu on his way home and managed to get away? That couldn't be true either as not only does Ash has 5 other Pokemon to save Pikachu, but that darn trio never wins.

Why did he run away? Why wouldn't he tell his own mom? And where is he now?

Wanting to figure out anything she can, Serena went over to Lumiose City to ask Clemont and Bonnie. While they both also heard of the news of Ash disappearing, neither of them knew what became of him as just like Serena, they haven't heard anything from him since he left two days ago. But Serena didn't stop there. She wanted to know where Ash was, she wanted to make sure he's at least safe, she wanted to see him again, and with all that as her new first priority, Serena called Palermo to tell her she is going to have to be her student at a later time as she wanted to find Ash. Fortunately, Palermo understood her, telling her to take her time.

Determined to find Ash, Serena went over to the Kanto Region with her Pokemon. Over there, she also learned that Ash's Pokemon have also disappeared from Professor Oak's Lab, with the only ones remaining were 29 stampeding Tauros. Many people, including Serena herself, had asked Oak what became of them, but he said so himself that he doesn't know how they all disappeared. He even called an Officer Jenny to investigate, but not even she could determine how all of Ash's Pokemon mysteriously disappeared, along with all their Pokeballs too. Serena spent an entire year in the Kanto region searching for Ash, meeting Misty, Brock, and Tracey in the process, who all helped out in her search, but to no avail.

Serena didn't stop at Kanto though, as she and her Pokemon also searched far and wide in the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and the Unova regions, also spending a year each in every region, but even though she had the help of every one of Ash's past traveling companions, there still wasn't a single sign of Ash. Some of the traveling companions even stopped helping mid-search, either thinking there was no hope in searching, Ash just wants to be alone with his Pokemon and they should respect that, Ash might have died and his Pokemon ran away out of grief, Ash is just training away at a far-off place and will return later, or Ash is pretending to be missing as a prank, so they shouldn't give him the attention. Serena didn't believe any of that. Despite everyone's indications, there was nothing to prove any of them were right. She just knew Ash was still some place somewhere. When Serena returned to Kalos at age 16, that was when her friends and family insisted her to take a break from her search, telling she's just gonna overly tire out herself and her Pokemon, and while she want reluctant to comply at first, she eventually did, knowing Ash wouldn't want her to stray away from the friends she still has and exhaust herself and her Pokemon just for him.

Flashback ends

Serena sighed to herself, remembering how obsessive she was to find Ash during those first six years after his disappearance. In a way, she herself almost disappeared from her friends, but luckily, she was able to set her mind straight to take things easy. Continuing to stare off into the ocean, she soon heard the cries of Pokemon from behind, causing her to turn around and see her beloved and precious Pokemon running towards her.

First, of course, was her starter, the bipedal fire/psychic fox, Delphox. Braixen had evolved into Delphox during Serena's search for Ash in the Kanto region. Delphox was just as sweet and beautiful as ever and her bond with her trainer had just grown stronger and stronger throughout the years. She also still had the magical stick with a red bow that was given to her by Pancham when the old one broke during a training session.

Next was the sunglasses-wearing fighting/dark panda, Pangoro. Pancham evolved into Pangoro during Serena's search in the Orange Islands in order to defend his trainer and teammates from some rampaging giant Pokemon, and with that new evolution came new strength and muscles that Pangoro likes to pride over himself at times, but he's still very loyal to his trainer and despite his evolution, he's still as bratty as he was as a Pancham.

Up next was the small fairy Eeveelution, Sylveon. Throughout the years, Sylveon has became much more beautiful to the point that almost every male Pokemon that see her instantly run up to her with a large bouquet of flowers, though she always politely turns them down, as she is more interested in Clemont's Bunnelby, who has evolved into Diggersby. Now that the two Pokemon were older, their relationship has become a lot more due to Diggersby now returning Sylveon's feelings.

Delphox, Pangoro, and Sylveon weren't the only Pokemon she had on her team. During her 6 years of searching for Ash, she had also caught 3 more Pokemon.

One of them was as female Absol, whom she caught during her search in the Hoenn region. Serena found Absol in Petalburg Woods where she was battling a female Houndoom to prevent it from causing a forest fire as being a natural disaster Pokemon, Absol predicted Houndoom of doing that, though the canine was not too pleased of being accused of causing a disaster, so she fought Absol. In the end, Houndoom ended up winning, critically injuring and burning Absol while accidentally setting some trees on fire just as Absol predicted. Fortunately, Serena had Sylveon use Fairy Wind to put out the fire to prevent any more chaos and after healing Absol's Burn with some Rawst Berries, Serena brought Absol to the closest Pokemon Center to restore her back to full health. When Absol was completely healed, the Houndoom apologized to her and Absol, thankful to Serena for doing all that for her, allowed herself to be captured. While Absol is a strong fighter, she is also great at performing too, with moves like Psycho Cut and Razor Wind doing a great job in showing her beauty and elegance.

The next new Pokemon on Serena's team was a male Walrein. Much like Absol, Serena caught him at the Hoenn region. Serena first met Walrein as a Sealeo at Izabe Island, where it was being taken cared of by the Nurse Joy. According to Nurse Joy, Sealeo used to be a part of a pack of its evolution chain that lives around the island and he had always dreamed of being the pack leader since it was a Spheal, but sadly, when the time came for the pack to decide its new leader, Sealeo lost after being defeated in a battle by a bigger Sealeo. Devastated of failing his dream, Sealeo ran away from his pack and out of shame, Sealeo kept hurting himself with his own Ice Ball attack. Nurse Joy soon found him and brought him to her Pokemon Center, where he wouldn't be able to hurt himself anymore due to the watchful eyes of the Center's Chansey. Upon learning his backstory, Serena comforted the Sealeo herself, feeding him Pokepuffs, entertaining him with Pokemon Performances, and telling him "Don't give up until it's over." Touched by her kindness, Sealeo decided to leave his life with his pack behind forever and join Serena's team, doing so by instantly rushing towards a Pokeball that Serena had accidentally dropped, capturing him in the process. Sealeo eventually evolved into Walrein to save Serena from drowning when she had fell off a ferry she was on. Walrein is very protective of his trainer, willing to attack anyone he feels is a threat to her. He is also a very powerful battler and a great performer, especially when he uses moves like Waterfall or Sheer Cold.

The very last Pokemon on Serena's team was a female Charizard wearing a pink bow. She also has a nickname: Charla. In Serena's journey in the Johto region, Serena came across a valley full of Charizard called Charicific Valley, where it was being watched over by Charla's original trainer, Liza. Learning from Ash's friends that Ash used to keep his Charizard there, Serena asked Liza if she knew anything of Ash's whereabouts, but unfortunately, she didn't know anything. Liza though, seeing how determined Serena is to find Ash and how much Charla misses Ash's Charizard, decided it would be best if Charla were to go with Serena instead. Both Serena and Charla were surprised at this, but Liza assured that since Ash is missing and Charizard is probably with Ash, then they would be a great team. Charla instantly proved herself to be a very valuable member of the team. Not only is she the powerhouse of the team due to her many years of training in the Charicific Valley, but she can also fly Serena to anywhere she wants without any trouble. Charla also instantly became best friends with Delphox as the both of them are female fire-type starters in their final evolution stage. Charla didn't really like Pokemon Performing at first since she saw it as a little too girly, but eventually came to enjoy it too like her teammates, though she still prefers battling overall.

Serena smiled happily as her Pokemon affectionately snuggled around her. She couldn't be more thankful to be blessed with such a loyal group of Pokemon. Not only do they do their very best for her in performances or battles, but even how obsessive and reckless she got during those 6 years of searching everywhere for Ash, her Pokemon didn't give up on her, they did whatever they could to help their trainer find Ash, and even though Serena still feels guilty for having her Pokemon go through so much for her, they still love her anyways. And she will always love them. She then started to remember her greatest memory with her Pokemon: the Gloire Showcase Master Class last year. For all the teamwork, effort, and love they shared throughout that moment, how could Serena ever forget. Serena stared back towards the wide ocean, remembering that special day.

(music stops playing)

Flashback 1 year ago

This is it. It's finally time. Serena was participating in the Gloire Showcase Master Class like she did 7 years ago, and much like before, she has made it to the finals and is facing off against the current Kalos Queen, Aria, who is defending her title. Prior to the Gloire Showcase, Serena spent an entire year learning under Palermo about the true traits and secrets of a Kalos Queen, just as she did with Aria before her. Now with her past experiences and Palermo's teachings, Serena was able to win her three Princess Keys with no problem.

At the Gloire Showcase, Serena used Charla for the first Freestyle Round, giving the audience a dazzling aerial fire dance. In the second Freestyle Round, Serena used Absol and Walrein to create perfect beautiful ice sculptures combining Walrein's Sheer Cold and Absol's Razor Wind. In the process of all this, Serena defeated her friends, Shauna, Miette, and Nini, though none of them didn't really mind as they were just happy to see Serena perform again after she returned from her 6-year quest for her crush. And now, it was time for the final Freestyle Round, which would determine whether if Serena would become Kalos Queen, or Aria would keep her title. For this round, Aria was using her three signature Pokemon, Delphox, Aromatisse, and Vivillon, while Serena decided to use her full team, as that way, whether they win and lose, they'll still be together. On top of the royal-esque staircases on the stage were Serena and Aria on opposite sides with their Pokemon, all dressed in lovely attire. Monsieur Pierre had just finished introducing them and Serena and her Pokemon made their way down to the center of the stage. With the spotlights on them, it was time. Not to just give it everything they got, but to have fun! It's time to have a fun time!

(plays Fly Me to the Moon (∞ Climax Mix) from Bayonetta)

Starting off the performance, Serena twirled Sylveon into the air where she fired a Moonblast above her. During this maneuver, Delphox and Charla went to the opposite sides of the stage and used Mystical Fire and Flamethrower towards the airborne sphere of Moonblast, creating a beautiful sparkly explosion. As Serena, Pangoro, Absol, and Walrein danced under the showering sparkles, Sylveon, who was still in the air, latched her feelers on Serena's stretched-out arms and brought her trainer high in the air with her. As they started descending back down, Serena and Sylveon joyfully spun around with Serena holding Sylveon's feelers as the intertwining Pokemon used Fairy Wind to create a lovely effect around them. Down below, Walrein used Sheer Cold to cover the entire stage with a thick layer of ice. Pangoro skated around until he jumped up and caught his trainer in his arms and Sylveon gracefully landed on his head, finishing Fairy Wind by spreading her feelers out, forming a beautiful sparkly cloud all around. They were not done yet though. With excellent and careful precision and timing, Sylveon jumped off Pangoro's head and Delphox threw her branch over to Serena, who backflipped out of Pangoro's arms in time to catch it and mount on Walrein who leaped over Pangoro after Serena's backflip. Now riding on Walrein who was sliding around the icy stage, Serena used Delphox's branch to send many fireballs up to the air in a horizontal arch formation and Absol used Razor Wind as a boomerang to destroy all of them, creating even more dazzling explosions. Serena then had Charla use her powerful Flamethrower on the branch, allowing Serena to create an ever larger flame that was in the shape of a heart. As the giant fiery heart levitated high above center-stage, Absol had Pangoro throw her to the air so that she can reach above the heart's upper-right corner. From where she was, Absol launched a Psycho Cut through the flaming heart, making it look like that Cupid's arrow had pierced a heart once the attack had completely gone through the lovely display.

Walrein then slid below the heart and used Brine on it, turning the fire into a large cloud of steam, though still keeping the image of an arrow going through a heart. The steam started descending to the ground and Sylveon used Fairy Wind on it as soon it hit the ice to clear out all the steam, revealing Delphox and Pangoro doing a cute ice skating ballet with each other. During the ballet, Pangoro dance lifted Delphox and as the fox was being held in the air, Walrein, with Serena still on his back, jumped over the dancing duo, spinning around in the process, and Serena skillfully threw Delphox's branch back in her hands. Pangoro then twirled Delphox around until he threw her up to the air as she performed a number of marvelous tricks with her branch before Pangoro used Stone Edge to create 7 large stone pillars on the stage in an upside-down V formation. With a majestic somersault, Delphox safely landed on the middle pillar where she used Light Screen to create a large number of horizontal psychic shields inside the V for her trainer and teammates to use to reach the top of the other pillars. Instead of just regularly jumping from one shield to another, Serena and her team reached the tops by gracefully jumping to shields that were more apart from each other, that way, they could perform more tricks like Sylveon somersaulting to one shield, land on her feelers, and then use them to bounce to the next shield. Absol even winked to the audience for a split second as she was making her way to the top. When Serena reached the middle pillar where Delphox was, the fox Pokemon majestically side flipped to the pillar left of it while also combining all the Light Screen shields into one that hovered just a little below the tops of the stone pillars. Now that Serena and her team were all on top of a pillar, from the audience perspective, going from left to right, it was Absol, Pangoro, Delphox, Serena, Charla, Walrein, and Sylveon.

Serena smiled to her Pokemon. It was time for the big finish. Serena pointed up, cueing her Pokemon to fire up attacks above the Light Screen. And with that, a combination of Razor Wind, Dark Pulse, Mystical Fire, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Swift was met above the psychic shield, forming a giant energy sphere that dropped onto the Light Screen, destroying it, sending a large number of dazzling sparkles everywhere, more than any of the previous sparkle explosions from before, and then after a combination of Fairy Wind and Dark Pulse, Serena and her Pokemon jumped off the stone pillars and used the currents of Fairy Wind to go through the Dark Pulse like hoops as a large amount of sparkles showered around them. Once both attacks cleared up, the whole team formed together as they started falling to the ground. As they fell, Delphox used one last Mystical Fire to create a gorgeous fiery loop around them that extended down to the icy center-stage floor, creating a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke cleared up, it revealed Serena and her team doing their final pose. From left to right, Pangoro had Delphox in his arms, Sylveon, giving the audience a wink, was on Walrein's back, Serena was behind them, and Charla was flexing her right muscle as Absol stood tall and proud in front of her. Serena twirled at her spot and brought her right hand to the air, bringing their performance to a close.

"Finish, yeah!"

(music stops playing)

The audience erupted in a glorious round of applause. It was one of most beautiful and nicely done Pokemon Showcase Performances they have ever seen. Serena held her pose as she started panting a little, though while she generally looked exhausted, she really had the time of her life by being able to put on a fabulous show with her beloved Pokemon and she knew her team felt the same thing. They didn't really care about winning, they were just glad they were able to have a fun time while making the people watching them smile, just as Palermo had taught them.

Serena and her Pokemon left the stage for Aria and her team to perform. After they were done with their wonderful performance (which Serena had to admit, was actually even more beautiful than the last one she saw Aria do 8 years ago), it was now time for the audience to vote. Serena and Aria stood anticipatively on center-stage as Monsieur Pierre told everyone to take out their glowcasters to cast their vote. In just a small moment later, an uncountable number of glowcasters were raised up high, causing many small purple and green balls of light to emerge out and fill up the keyhole-shaped gauges above Serena and Aria, with the purple representing Serena and the green, Aria. Once the voting process was done, all lights went out with the exception of two spotlights shining on Serena, Aria, and their Pokemon.

"The revered title of Kalos Queen belongs to..."

More spotlights suddenly lighted up and shined on Serena.

"Performer Serena! The new Kalos Queen is Serena of Vaniville Town!"

(plays Kamiki Festival from Okami)

And the audience erupted in an ever louder cheer than before. The two gauges brightened, showing that Serena's was two meters higher than Aria's.

Serena was speechless. This can't be real.

"Klefti, her tiara please!"

On cue, Pierre's Klefti hovered over Serena' head and carefully the Kalos Queen tiara on top. Seeing the tiara on her head caused tears to start forming in Serena's eyes. This is real. She did it. She had accomplished her dream.

Serena looked around the audience to see Clemont, Bonnie, Dedenne, Diggersby, and Chesnaught stand up from their seats to loudly cheer for their friend. She then saw her mother a few rows away doing the same thing, with tears of joy falling down from her eyes. She even saw Palermo at the back to see a proud smile across her. Serena's Pokemon were also excited on their victory. Pangoro struck a pose for the audience, dropping Delphox in the process, but she didn't mind as she was quickly helped back to her feet by Sylveon.

Smiling at all her Pokemon, Serena gratefully whispered to them, "Thank you." The team then all joined hands to bowed together to the audience as they continued to applaud them.

After their bow, Serena was then engulfed in a hug from Aria, who joyfully told Serena how proud she is of her and Serena hugged her back, thanking her for inspiring and believing in her. Serena was then wrapped in hugs by her friends, Shauna, Miette, and Nini, who were also extremely proud of Serena for being able to become Kalos Queen. Pierre then started directing everyone to head to the back of the Gloire Showcase for the ending celebration of a new Kalos Queen. Before Serena went away, she turned around a gave the audience one last glance, remembering that Ash wasn't there, and thus, didn't see her win. She sniffled a little, but knowing that she shouldn't that one thought ruin this special day, Serena instantly regained her smile and made her way to the back to celebrate her achievement. The rest of the day was nothing but happiness and cheer; Serena achieved her dream and made her mom and friends proud. From that point on in Serena's life, nothing really changed except that she was constantly bombarded by fans for the first few weeks after the showcase until Aria helped her make a disguised alter-ego for herself just like she did when she was Kalos Queen before her. Serena's alter-ego was called Serylah. Other then that, Serena became a star among the Kalos region, with people always excited to her and her Pokemon perform with their talent, elegance, and grace. And she was able to make this all happen by not giving up until it was over.

(music stops playing)

End of Flashback

Serena happily sighed remembering that special day. She then look at her Pokemon around her and wrapped them all in a big hug, knowing that she could have never become Kalos Queen without their love and dedication. She absolutely loved and cherished them all. When she was done hugging them, Serena looked off towards the wide ocean again.

"If only you were there though," Serena said in her mind, "Ash, where are you?"

Sensing her trainer feeling down, Sylveon placed her paw on her knee, asking her what's wrong. Serena noticed the small Pokemon and petted her head, saying, "I'm fine Sylveon, thanks for asking. I was just thinking of Ash again."

All her Pokemon understood Serena's feelings Ash. Not only do they knew of her crush for him, but the ones who also knew Ash miss him too, along with his Pokemon. Delphox and Charla especially missed Greninja and Charizard respectively. Before they could think about the missing trainer anymore, they all heard a familiar female voice behind them.

"Serena! Hey Serena! I have something to tell you!"

This voice belonged to Bonnie, who had grown into a 15-year old trainer. In her satchel popped Dedenne who also called for their friends.

"Bonnie, shush," yelled Serena in a hushed manner, "you know you shouldn't yell out my name like that in public, or else my fans could hear you and storm me again!"

"Yeesh, sorry. But why are you out here without your disguise anyway?"

"No one else was here when I came and I just wanted to relax with my Pokemon without that stupid tight disguise."

"Oh, okay. Well, anyway, Clemont just got a new challenger, and I heard he's really good, so I thought you would want to see the battle."

Serena giggled and said, "Sure. Sounds like an interesting match," she then recalled all her Pokemon back into their Pokeballs except for Charla. "We can fly to the Prism Tower with Charla."

"Awwwww, but I wanted to use-"

"Nope," Serena teasingly cutted Bonnie off, "we're using Charla."

Bonnie huffed, but accepted it. The two really have become close sisters throughout the years.

Serena turned to Charla and asked, "You ready, girl?"

(plays Gusty Garden Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy)

In reply, Charla excitedly roared out and lowered her back for Serena and Bonnie to get on. With a mighty flap of her wings, Charla took off towards the Prism Tower of Lumiose City.

"So Serena, what were you and your Pokemon doing at the beach anyway?"

"Oh, just having a good time. Perfect weather after all." lied Serena. In reality, while she did have her Pokemon play around, the real reason Serena came to the beach is to have a quiet place to think about Ash. She didn't want Bonnie to know because she preferred not having her friends think she was becoming too obsessed of looking for him again.

"You were thinking about Ash again. That's really why you came there, right?"

Welp. So much for secrets.

"N-No! Wh-What makes you think that?! You know as well as I do that-" Serena then saw Bonnie giving her a look that said "Give up. I already know." causing Serena to concede. "Okay, you're right, but how did you know?"

"Serena, I was like the only one in the gang who knew you had a crush on Ash besides your Pokemon. And 8 years later, now there's nothing you can hide from me."

Serena sighed. She was right. The two really are close as sisters.

"Don't worry Serena, I won't tell anyone that you still think about Ash. Right now, I just wanna see Clemont's battle with his new challenger!"

Serena nodded. Now was the time to think of the friends she still has around. "You're right! Let's go see us an awesome battle!"

"Yeah!"

Charla happily roared and continued to make her way to the Prism Tower as it came closer in view. Even though Serena has never seen the new challenger herself, for some reason, she just felt so excited to see their battle against Clemont. And she couldn't wait either.


Chapter 2: done. I apologize if this chapter seemed either too short or too less action-packed than Chapter 1 or the Prologue, but I promise the next chapter will bring back some action as Clemont's new challenger will be introduced and they will battle him. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading, thanks to everyone for the sweet reviews, and don't forget to leave a review if you want to give me advice, criticism, ideas for stuff like music choices, or your general thoughts. Thanks to you all and remember, everyone is awesome in their own way! Ciao!