Chapter 5: Feels Like Home…

Pallet Town, Kanto. 6:05 A.M.

Few minutes after sunrise, as the sun starts to shine the peaceful town, Serena was awoken by the sounds of Pidgeys chirping around the Kantoan sky. She slowly stood from the bed to a sitting position before looking at the window of Ash's room. It was a beautiful yet familiar sight to her as she felt that she has already experienced this before.

Serena stood up from the bed and walked towards the window to open it. As she opened the window, she was met by the warm breeze of Pallet Town. She looked outside the window, taking her time to admire the familiar atmosphere that she was feeling.

Serena stretched her arms before giving off a yawn. "Funny, it feels like I've been here before. It's like I'm back home." she later added, remarking on the familiar atmosphere that the town gave her.

It has been almost twelve hours since Serena arrived in Ash's home in Pallet Town. As noticed by both Delia and Professor Oak, the flight had seriously been exhausting on the Kalosian girl as she was constantly yawning throughout the day when they met her in Saffron City. As soon they arrived in the town, Serena's body was already begging for her mind to sleep.

Serena then reached for her Pokeballs and called out all of her Pokémon. Each of her Pokémon looked ready to start another day of her journey. Serena then kneeled before them. "Good morning guys! I hope you have a good night sleep! Anyway, is it okay for you to stay with Ash's mom for the day? I've promised Professor Oak to come by at his lab today so, is it okay for you to help out Ash's mom for the day? Besides, Ash is gonna be here in a day so Delia would need some help in preparing the party for him…" she said to her Pokémon, in which all of them cried in agreement. Serena smiled "Thanks guys! Oh and Braixen, I want you to come with me to the professor's lab so that I can have someone whenever Team Rocket or someone like them show up." She said to the fox Pokémon in which it agreed.

Serena then changed to her regular clothes before proceeding downstairs with her Pokémon, where Delia was waiting for her. Delia and Mimey were watching TV with what seemed to be reruns of previous League Conferences that happened during the past years, before getting caught by the attention of Serena coming down the stairs.

"Oh! Good morning Serena! How was your sleep?" Delia greeted her guest. Serena smiled "Good Morning too Ms. Ketchum. It was great. My body has been needing one after the flight yesterday." she replied.

"I'm glad that you did." Delia smiled back. "You're going to the professor right? Why don't you and your Pokémon have breakfast first before going to the lab?" Delia asked.

"Uh…thank you…" Serena nervously replied before both her and Delia proceeded to the dining room. During their morning meal, Delia resumed their conversation last night regarding her son's travels with Serena in Kalos.

As they finished their breakfast, Serena voluntarily took both of their plates which took Delia by surprise. "Nonono. I'll take care of this. You should go ahead to the lab. The Professor's probably waiting for you by now so you better get going!" she said as she politely took the plates back from Serena "Oh uh thank you" she smiled nervously before turning her attention to Braixen. "I guess it's time to go Braixen!" she replied before looking at her Pokémon, in which it cried in agreement. "In case if you don't know, Professor's lab is just up in the hills. It's the building with a windmill on it so it shouldn't be a problem for you to find it." Delia said to the honey blonde, directing the way to Professor Oak's Lab.

"Thank you very much Mrs. Ketchum. I'm leaving Sylveon and Pancham with you for the day so that they can help you out in preparing for Ash's party." Serena replied. Delia smiled "Oh my thank you! I appreciate your help from your Pokémon!" she replied. "Well you and Braixen take care on way to the professor!" she said in which Serena nodded "Don't worry! We will!" she said shortly before leaving the house.

Serena opened the door as she was met by the morning breeze of the town. It was a beautiful sight for her to see the town in the day for the first time. She took her time in walking through the town to admire the peaceful atmosphere before noticing a hill with a building that had a windmill next to it. Serena stopped and looked at the building "That must be Professor Oak's Lab! Let's go Braixen!" she said to her companion as they both started running towards the Professor's Lab. Both Serena and Braixen approached the hill as they made their way to the gate of his Lab.

A few moments later, Serena and Braixen finally made it to the gate of Professor Oak's Lab. Both her and her Pokemon were both panting from running. "Phew! I guess we had a morning jogging season today huh Braixen?" she said to her Pokemon. "Brai…xen…" the fox Pokemon replied as they both were catching their breaths.

After recovering their breaths, Serena looked at the lab's gate, hoping to find a doorbell or a similar device to gain authorized entry in the lab. Soon, she found what seems to be an intercom with a screen and a small camera installed in it. The honey blonde girl let off a sigh before pressing the button of the intercom.

The screen of the intercom started to light up, showing a live video of the Lab's owner, Professor Oak. "Well, good morning Serena! I'm glad that you finally made it to my lab! I see that you brought your Braixen with you as well" the professor greeted as he looked through the camera showing Serena's image in his screen. Serena smiled "Good morning too Professor!" she greeted back in which Braixen did the same.

"Anyway, my assistant, Tracey, is on his way to open the gate for you. See you later Serena!" Professor Oak said to the Kalosian girl before logging off.

After the call, Serena waited a few minutes before a brown-haired boy, who looked like in his mid-teens, approached the gate.

As the boy opened the gate "You must be Serena! Welcome to Professor Oak's Lab! Come in!" he greeted Serena". Serena smiled "Thank you. You must be Tracey right?" she replied, confirming the boy's identity. "Yep that's me! The professor is waiting for you at the lab." Tracey replied. Tracey then led Serena and her Braixen to the front door of the lab.

As they climbed their way to the lab. "So Tracey, how long have you been working with Professor Oak?" Serena asked. "Four years. It's actually a dream come true for me because I've always wanted to see the Professor in person. To be able to work with him was a bonus. If it wasn't for Ash, I wouldn't be here right now." Tracey replied.

As the two made it to the door, they were immediately greeted by the Professor himself, being accompanied by a Bulbasaur in his side. "Ah great! Thank you, Tracey!" Professor Oak delighted by Tracey's assistance in which Tracey nodded as a thank you before proceeding inside the lab.

Professor Oak then looked at Serena "It's good to see you Serena and you too Braixen. You have clearly grown up since the last time I saw you in the Summer Camp years ago." He smiled at her. Serena smiled back "It is good to see you Professor. May I ask why did you asked me to come here?" she replied with a question.

"Follow me, I'll tell you on the way." The professor replied as he and his guests started to walk towards the corral outside of the lab.

"Well, Noivern has been waiting for you for the last few days ever since I told him that you'll be arriving here in Kanto. If I remember correctly, Ash told me that you both took care of it when it was still a Noibat, isn't that correct?" Professor Oak asked.

Serena went a bit embarrassed as she remembered caring the bat Pokemon like it was their own child. "Well, uh, yes haha. It was kinda cute taking care of Noivern when it was still a Noibat." She nervously laughed. "It's like I'm taking care of a baby." She added while blushing in embarrassment. "So Professor, are all of the Pokemon here belong to Ash?" Serena asked.

"Well, most of them are his, including this Bulbasaur here. Other than that, the other Pokemon are owned by other trainers in this town." The professor replied as Serena looked at Ash's Bulbasaur. "Say hello to our guests, Bulbasaur" he said to the Seed Pokemon, while it extended its vines to give both Serena and Braixen a 'handshake'. "Nice to meet you too Bulbasaur…" She greeted the Pokemon as she shook its vines with Braixen doing the same, in which the Pokemon exclaimed in a welcoming tone.

The group finally made it to the corral of the lab. Serena couldn't believe how big the backlot was. It was full of Pokemon of all types, who were making the place as their residence. The corral looked less of an actual corral but more of a sanctuary designed for the Pokemon. Serena couldn't help but smile at the Pokemon who were clearly enjoying their time in the corral. "Wow, this place is big! There's so many Pokemon in this place!" She exclaimed before a small, bipedal red Pokemon went in front of them, coming from the roof of the lab. Both Serena and Braixen were startled by the Pokemon before noticing the Pokemon as it turned around.

Serena recognized the Pokemon that appeared in front of her and Braixen "Hawlucha! Good to see you! It's been a while…" she exclaimed.

"Lucha!" Hawlucha replied as his way of saying hello before Braixen approached the Wrestling Pokemon shaking hands with him. After reuniting with two of his former travelling companions, Hawlucha called for its fellow Kalos Pokemon.

It was not long before a tall, bat-like Pokemon and an orange flying type Pokemon came down from the sky as they land in front of both Serena and Braixen, covering their eyes from the wind generated by the two Pokemon landing. As the dust cleared up, the bat-like Pokemon hugged Serena, which caught her off guard. The Pokemon hugged the honey blonde, as if it's a reunion of a child and his mother.

Serena couldn't help it but to return the hug as "Aw, I missed you too, Noivern." she said to the bat-like Pokemon, who had tears in its eyes. As they ended their hug, Talonflame greeted Serena as Noivern greeted Braixen.

The professor did nothing but smile at Serena. "Well, it looks like a family reunion in here." The professor remarked, clearly delighted by the scene. Tracey later came into the scene and nodded "It sure is, professor. You can tell that they are very close to each other." he replied. "I've never seen any of Ash's Pokemon being this close to one of his friends." Tracey later added as the Professor analysed the behaviour between Serena and Ash's Kalos Pokemon. "Tracey, I think Serena is more than just a friend to Ash." The Professor concluded.

Tracey later turned his attention to Professor Oak. "Oh, by the way professor, I've received an email from your cousin in the Alola Region." Professor Oak looked at his assistant, bemused. "Oh, really? What does it say?" the professor asked.

Tracey took a deep breath "Well…uh…he said that Ash had already left Alola…." he replied, which surprised Professor Oak. "Wha….he already left?! I guess that boy couldn't wait for another day huh?" the professor sighed. "Well, it is Ash we're talking about so it's no surprise that he already left." Tracey responded.

Professor Oak then called Serena and Braixen to tell them the news. "I guess we better get back to the house then…" Serena said to her Braixen after hearing the news.

Serena and Braixen went back to Delia to tell her the news. Both Delia and Serena immediately rushed to prepare processing the ingredients to be cooked for Ash's arrival, with the help of their Pokemon. All of them were working the rest of day preparing for Ash's return.

After three hours, everything was set. Both Serena and Delia sat into the couch as Delia let off a sigh of relief "Phew, thank goodness it's done." she said as she looked to an exhausted Serena. "Sorry that you have to go through all of this." Serena, still tired, managed to give her a smile "It's okay Mrs. Ketchum. I'm glad that I was able to help." She replied.

Delia then let off another sigh "I think we both deserve a rest for today. You should go ahead and take a rest, Serena. I still have check everything, making sure they're ready for tomorrow." she said.

"Thank you Mrs. Ketchum. Goodnight and see you tomorrow morning!" Serena greeted as she made her way upstairs to Ash's room with her Pokemon. After taking a ten minute break, Delia stood up and with the help of Mimey, checked their checklist, making sure everything is set for Ash's arrival.

Unbeknownst to them, they are being watched by a tall figure in a branch of a tree off a distance moments before dashing back to the forest that surrounded the town.

It seems to be also waiting for Ash….

And that's it for today's chapter! Finally, I've done it. That took me longer than I expected. So anyway, thanks again for taking your time to read this chapter and hopefully I'll be able to post new chapters right on time! A

See ya!