A/N: Well, hello there guys. I am really really really really really sorry for the long wait! I don't have any excuse, other than a veeeeeery long list of stuff that's been going on irl. To name a few: exams, essays, homework, girlfriend. And the list goes on, and on, and on. Anyway, your chapter is finally here and I hope that you can still enjoy it!

Chapter One: Leaving Home

"Gah! I've told you a thousand times not to wake me up like that, Fletchling!"

The sudden outburst of her trainer woke Fennekin up from her comfortable sleep. She yawned sleepily and opened one of her eyes to find Serena had gotten to her feet and was currently trying to hit her mother's Fletchling with her pillow, in retaliation for waking her up. This appeared to be a morning ritual for Serena, because the same thing had happened both the previous morning, and the morning before that as well. Understanding that she wouldn't get anymore sleep today, Fennekin shook her head to try and wake herself up a little better and stretched out on the bed, yawning from drowsiness.

Serena sighed in exasperation as Fletchling dodged yet another pillow throw directed towards him and took off down the stairs, all the while chirping happily. Why couldn't her mother just set a normal wake up call instead of sending a bird to pick her in the head? But ah well, this had been the routine ever since she caught that Fletchling. If Serena didn't know better, she would say that Grace had caught Fletchling solely to use him as Serena's wake up call, because other than that, Fletchling really didn't do much.

But for once, she actually didn't mind to be woken up. Today was the day after all. Today she would start her Pokemon Journey! And today, she would take the first step in her quest to get back home to Kanto. Back to Pallet. Back to Ash!

The mere thought of reuniting with her best friend again made Serena feel all giddy inside. She couldn't wait to finally get going. With that thought in mind, she eagerly got up and went over to the window and opened it. The early morning breezes stroked her hair and tickled her skin, cooling it down from the warmth of her bedroom. She drew in a deep breath and breathed out again, just as Fennekin joined her by jumping up onto the windowsill. As if synchronized, both trainer and pokemon yawned and stretched out their arms, resulting in Fennekin falling backwards from the windowsill and Serena to giggle at her friend's expense. Fennekin however quicky got up and shook her head to clear it from the fall. Serena smiled at her pokemon's antics and bent down to scratch the little firefox behind the ears.

"You know what day today is, right Fennekin?" she asked and received a 'Fenne!' in response.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Serena got up and decided that she would take a shower before she got down for breakfast. With that thought in mind, she got out of her nightgown and grabbed a towel. As she left her room, she noticed Fennekin laying back down on her bed again, but decided not to comment on it. After all, these first days would most likely be very tiring for them before they got used to travelling.

-X-Y-Z-

"Here you go buddy. Dinner!" Ash said as he set down a bowl of Pokemon food in front of Pikachu's little hut. He waited in anticipation to see if the yellow rodent would willingly come out to get it, but when he didn't even stick his nose outside of the protective walls of the cardboard box, Ash just sighed and made his way back over to his bed and laid down, grabbing the book his mother had given him for his birthday.

After a little while, Pikachu finally showed himself as he crept out of the hut and began chewing down his dinner. Ash had been positively surprised to find that Pikachu had still been in his room when he got back from his errand. The yellow rodent had been sleeping peacefully in his hut, looking completely drained from the day. Well, Ash could't really blame him. He would probably also be pretty tired if he had been as tense as Pikachu had been the entire day.

Ash absentmindedly turned a page in his book as he studied his first pokemon out of the corner of his eye. For now, the little rodent seemed to be pretty relaxed, but he was still not too eager to let Ash anywhere near him. They seemed to have come to a silent agreement that as long as Ash stayed on arm's lenght from the rodent, Pikachu would not shock him. At least that was an improvement from the outright hostility Pikachu had shown when he first got here.

As he watched the little Electric type finish his dinner, Ash sighed and put away his book. He wouldn't be able to focus on reading as long as he thought about Pikachu. It was really interesting reading and it gave him tons of ideas for what to do, once he got out on the road. But he couldn't keep his mind at training while he wondered why Pikachu disliked humans so much. It was obvious that he had been exposed to some kind of treatment that didn't sit too well with him by humans at some point in his life and that in itself bothered Ash a lot, since he was supposedly a gift from his father. Had his father been harsh on him? If so, then how long had it been his father that owned him? Or had someone else treated him badly before his father caught him?

While he was thinking about this, Pikachu had finished his dinner and noticed that Ash was staring at him. Instinctively, he took a step back and sent electricity to his cheeks, causing his cheek pouches to spark threateningly. Why was the human staring at him like that?

Seeing that Pikachu was growing unnerved by his staring, Ash quickly raised his hands in front of him to show that he wasn't going to hurt him. He had already been shocked more times than he wanted to count today and he didn't feel like being shocked again. Pikachu hadn't shocked him since he let him out of the glass capsule, but judging by the look on the rodent's face as of now, he still wasn't above using shocks to talk for him.

"Relax buddy, I'm not going to hurt you!" Ash tried to reason with him.

Pikachu gave him a very suspiscious look, but after a few seconds, he relaxed slightly and his cheeks stopped sparkling with electricity. He still kept his eyes fixed on Ash though, still not trusting the human.

Ash lowered his hands and stood up. Pikachu tensed again as he watched Ash move over towards him and immediately resumed his defensive stance. When Ash saw Pikachu stiffen and growl at him, he stopped again.

"Easy there buddy, I just want to talk to you."

"Pika..." Pikachu seemed to be sceptical to Ash's claim.

Realizing that Pikachu still didn't feel comfortable enough to let him anywhere near him, Ash sat down on the floor where he stood instead, trying to make himself look less threatening. He had heard that making yourself look smaller was a good way to do that. And sure enough, Pikachu seemed to relax a little when he saw that Ash no longer towered over him in height. That was a good sign.

"Listen Pikachu. I don't know what humans did to you in the past, but we're not all bad people. I really just want to be friends with you, but to do that I need you to relax while in my presence. I can't prove that I am your friend if you keep shocking me whenever I get within range of your Thundershock."

"Pi-pikachu!"

"You're saying I deserved being shocked?"

"Pi!"

"How come? I didn't do anything!"

At this, Pikachu gave another "Pika!" and pointed towards the glass capsule Ash and his mother had used to contain the little rodent when he became too much to handle, earlier that day. Looking at it, Ash felt a little bad for locking the electric mouse up like that, but what choice did they have? And what did that have to do with this? Pikachu had been set on hating them since before they locked him up.

"But we didn't lock you up until after you became too much to handle? There must be something else?" Ash tried to reason with his pokemon.

"Pi-Pikachu!"

Once more, Pikachu pointed at the capsule and began gesturing wildly with his arms. Ash frowned as he watched the electric rodent try to convey his message. Well, at least he wasn't being as hostile as he used to. But what was he trying to say? It had to be something with the capsule and it was supposed to be a reason for his hatred against humans... wait a sec!

"You're saying that humans locked you up like that in the past?!" Ash gasped as he realized what the gesturing electric mouse was trying to say.

"Pikah!" Pikachu nodded.

Ash didn't know what to think. Had his father used similar methods to keep Pikachu in check? Why would he need to do that if Pikachu had a pokeball anyway? It didn't make any sense to Ash. Obviously, his father had caught Pikachu in a pokeball, so why would he need to contain Pikachu in a capsule? Unless Pikachu had been as hateful towards him and his father had wanted to try and keep Pikachu outside the pokeball. But that would mean that someone else had owned Pikachu before his father, because surely his father wouldn't treat Pikachu badly? And more importantly, what could he do to gain Pikachu's trust? It looked like Pikachu had indeed been treated poorly by humans in the past and if that was the case, then he would need to know what exactly had happened if he was to try and make amends for it. Not that whatever had happened was his fault in any way, but Pikachu didn't appear to be a reasonable fellow when it came to his past.

"Ok, if people treated me like that I guess I too would be kind of grumpy, but that's no reason to hate me now. If you don't want to be locked up, I will try not to lock you up but if you behave like you did this morning I can't just let you run along." Ash said as he looked over at his starter pokemon.

However, the electric rodent seemed to have lost interest in their conversation and was yawning openly and loudly, obviously exhausted after the day. He shook his head a few times and then, without warning, he laid down on the floor and fell asleep. Ash blinked in surprise at the sudden end of their conversation, but then he just shook his head. Pikachu had been tense all day, it was just natural he was tired. Sighing, he stood up and slowly and silently made his way over to the sleeping rodent and lifted him up, careful not to wake him, and carried him over to the little makeshift house he had made for his reluctant partner. Carefully, he set the rodent down on the warm and comfortable blankets and pulled one of the blankets over him to keep him warm.

"We will discuss that tomorrow then. In the meantime, just get some sleep." Ash whispered as he looked down on the Electric Mouse Pokemon fondly. Pikachu might not have been very friendly towards him so far, but he was still his first ever pokemon and Ash couldn't help but feel happy looking at him.

Trying not to make a sound, he stood up to go over and prepare for bed himself. It was getting late and he was feeling pretty tired himself after having tried to contain Pikachu all day. What he didn't notice though, was that the electric rodent squinted slightly with his right eye as Ash rose and turned his back to him. For Pikachu, this was something new. The human had actually taken the time to make sure he was comfortable before heading off to sleep himself. Why would he do that? It didn't match with the behavior he had come to know humans for. Pikachu's last thought before he fell asleep was that maybe, just maybe, this human could be an exception from what he thought all humans to be.

-X-Y-Z-

While Ash was preparing for bed in Kanto, his long lost best friend was preparing for something else over in her "new" home in Kalos. After her shower, Serena had went back to her room and gotten into her travelling gear. Fennekin had still been asleep when she left for breakfast, but when she returned to brush her teeth and make her last-second checkup to make sure she had everything she would need, the little Firefox had been wide awake again, obviously eager to get going.

'Hmm, let's see here. I got my sleepingbag, some emergency provisions, three sets of extra clothes... Do I really need three? Hmm...' Serena pondered as she lifted a set of extra clothes out of her bag and weighed it with her hands, then put the extra set back in and weighed it again, trying to determine if it was worth the extra weight to have a 4th set of clothes with her.

After having pondered her options, she decided that 2 extra sets of clothes would have to do. If things really came to the worst case scenario, she could probaby buy some extra clothes somewhere down the road. Making sure everything was packed safely in her bag, that she had her money and her Trainer's Liscence, her Pokedex and Fennekin's Pokeball, Serena headed downstairs. When she passed by the bed, Fennekin gave and excited "Fenn!" and jumped onto her shoulder. This caused Serena to smile, knowing that Fennekin was actually looking forward to their adventure as much as she did.

"Come on Fennekin! Let's go see the world!" she exclaimed excitedly, which Fennekin answered with yet another enthusiastic "Fenne!".

With her bag tossed over her shoulder and Fennekin on the other shoulder, Serena made her way downstairs, offered a quick "Good Bye Mom, cya!" and then turned to open the door. This might have seemed rude to most people, but given how strained Serena's and Grace's relation to one another had been since their move to Kalos, Serena didn't feel awkward at all at the sudden goodbye. And admitedly, neither did Grace, who cast a sad look at her daughter's retreating back, before she sighed and followed her out into the garden.

"Aren't you forgetting this now?" she asked as she reached inside her pocket.

Hearing her mother's question, Serena came to a stop and thought for a moment. Had she forgotten something? No, she couldn't have. She had checked her bag over and over and only brought the bare nescesities, so that she wouldn't be slowed down by a heavy bag. No, she was pretty sure she hadn't forgotten anything that wasn't absolutely nescesary.

"What are you talking about, mom?" she asked as she turned around. "I'm sure I got all..."

However, she never got to finish her sentence. As she turned around and her mother came into view, her gaze wandered to the outstretched hand. Serena felt her heart freeze and her chest constrict with shock and fear as she saw what it was her mother was holding. Her eyes widened and she suddenly found it hard to breathe or think clearly, because there, in her mother's open palm, laid her flight ticket.

"You weren't going to leave without this, were you?" Grace said as she took the step down the stairs and began walking up to Serena.

Serena stood there, frozen in place. She couldn't move, she couldn't think straight. She had been caught! How had her mother gotten ahold of the ticket?! Hadn't she put that away in... Oh no! She had hid it in a pile of clothes! A pile of clothes that must have been her laundry! If that was the case, then of course her mother would find it when she went to take the pile down for cleaning!

"E-ehm... I-it isn't what it..." Serena tried to form an excuse, but it was no use. She had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Grace came to a stop in front of her and looked down at her with a thoughtful look (which really didn't say much, as they were almost the same height by now). Serena swallowed as she met the look her mother was giving her, but then she lowered her gaze to look at her feet. This was it. She had barely left for her journey before it got ripped from her. Her chance to finally get back home to Kanto, to meet Ash again, their dream of travelling the world together... it would all be ripped from her by one simply, stupid mistake! All because she had hid her flight ticket in the wrong pile of clothes!

Serena felt her throat constrict painfully and she had to swallow hard to keep herself from choking on her own breath. On her shoulder, Fennekin began to twist nervously, obviously sensing her trainer's distress. She didn't understand what was going on or why that piece of paper seemed to upset Serena so much, but she didn't like to see her friend so distraught.

"Serena, look at me." Grace said with a surprisingly soft voice.

The unexpected softness in Grace's voice was enough to cause Serena to look up at her in confusion. But what she saw when she looked up caused her to temporarily forget her own distress. Looking back at her was her mother's tearfilled eyes. Was her mother crying? Since when did her mother cry? Was it because she was angry? No, it didn't look like it. The look in her eyes wasn't furious, it didn't even hold any kind of anger in them. They just looked... sad?

"Serena, how did it come to this?" Grace whispered and held up the ticket. "Is this really how far we have fallen apart?"

For a moment, Serena considered her words. Yes... this was how far they had fallen apart. She looked away from her mother and kept her gaze fixated on the ground a few feet to her left. What was this about? Shouldn't it be obvious, even to her mother, what this meant?

"If you have to ask, you're probably incapable of understanding." Serena replied with a cold voice.

She cringed inwardly at how hollow and cold her voice sounded. Even Fennekin on her shoulder cringed at the sound that came out of her trainer's mouth. It sounded so different from the cheerful and warm tone that Serena usually had that it caused Fennekin's fur to stand on end. Noticing the little Pokemon's discomfort with the situation, Serena silently pulled out her pokeball and returned her, not wanting any distractions from this conversation.

"Serena, please! I just want to understand how it came down to this! I understand that you want to go back, I really do, but why did you have to go behind my back to do it?"

The statement caused Serena's blood to boil and she almost saw red as she rounded on her mother. Didn't she understand?!

"Why? You want to know WHY I had to go behind your back?! Because you NEVER listen!" Serena almost roared at her mother, feeling the anger that had been building over 5 years finally come to the surface.

Now, it was Grace's turn to cringe. Her tearful eyes widened and she took an instinctive step backwards, away from her furious daughter. Serena however, didn't move an inch and before she could stop herself, she kept rambling up all the things that had caused them to fall apart.

"You ALWAYS ignored me when I needed help with something! You ALWAYS had something more important to do! You NEVER had any time to spend with me, YOUR OWN DAUGHTER! I spent more time with ASH and even with GARY for Arceus sake! I slept more in the Ketchum's GUESTROOM than I did in my OWN room, because you ALWAYS were gone somewhere, doing something more IMPORTANT!"

Hearing Serena list off the things that she had been furious over, but had kept locked up inside, Grace realized that this went deeper than simply their move to Kalos. That was just the last straw that had caused the goblet to pour over. This went back to Serena's earlier childhood, back to the time they had spent in Pallet Town when she was a kid. And with a sting of regret, she realized that Serena was right. How much time had she really spent on her daughter? How often had she actually been of help to her when she had asked for it?

While Grace was beginning to realize that it wasn't a matter of having fallen apart, but rather a matter of never having been as close as she might have thought, Serena was trying to calm herself down. She was panting with anger and felt her heart beat wildly in her chest, but she had to calm down. But that was easier said than done. When she couldn't surpress her anger, she settled for glaring at her mother, who was trembling with emotion as she came to terms with how the situation really looked between them. It tore slightly at Serena's heart to see her mother in so much distress because somewhere deep down, she knew that her mother truly did love her, but at the moment, she was too angry to let that feeling control her.

For a few moments, the mother and daughter didn't say anything to each other, each fighting their own internal battle. Serena to try and calm herself down from her outburst and Grace, trying to comprehend her mistakes in Serena's upbringing. After what felt like hours, but actually only were a few seconds, Grace frew a shaky breath to try and calm herself down.

"Will you be coming back?"

Suprised by her mother's question, Serena looked up. Coming back? What did she mean by that?

"What do you mean?" she couldn't help but ask, her anger slightly drained and her voice more even than it had been just a few moments ago.

Grace met Serena's eyes for a moment, but quickly looked away. She didn't want to see the answer in her eyes, she wanted to hear her daughter's answer spoken out loud.

"Will you be coming back ho... back to Vaniville again? After your journey I mean?"

Serena raised an eyebrow at her mother's change in wording, but didn't comment on it. She did, after all, not really see Vaniville as her "true" home. Well, it was still home in a way, but to her Pallet Town would always be "home". Would she come back to Vaniville after her journey... wait, what?

"You're still going to let me go on my journey?" she asked, shock evident in her voice.

Despite her reluctance, Grace turned back to look at her daughter. Serena's eyes no longer held the anger they had held the previous moments. Now, they were just full of shock. That must have been the quickest mood change Grace had seen but ah well, Serena was entering her teenage years after all...

"I realize that I made a mistake when I separated you and Ash and I am all okay with you going to Kanto. That was your dream after all, wasn't it? Travelling Kanto and the world with Ash?" she tried to offer Serena a smile, but she knew it was strained. "And just as moving to Kalos and become an Elite Rhyhorn Racer was my dream, you must follow your dream as well. As much as it hurts, I don't want to stand in your way for this."

As she said this, she reached out with her hand and pushed the ticket into Serena's grip. The honey blonde girl just stood there, staring at her mother as if she didn't believe her eyes. Well, she didn't really believe her eyes. She had been sure that her mother would refuse to let her go to Kanto, saying something along the lines of "It's too far away" or "It's too dangerous". Not that it would make any sense for her to first allow Serena to go on a journey and then say any of those things, but her mother never made sense! Hm... well, guess this behavior fit right in with her mother then.

"B-but I tried to sneak away! Aren't you angry?" Serena stammered, her mind not really comprehending what was happening.

Grace looked her daughter in the eyes and steadied her gaze.

"Well, of course I am but I am not blaming you for doing it. In a sense, you're doing just the same thing as I did when I moved us to Kalos, right?" she sighed and looked down on her own feet. "I was never one to listen to what other people thought. It wasn't just when it concerned you, it's been haunting me since I was a kid myself. I was always too stubborn for my own good. It was a trait that I sincerely hoped you wouldn't inherit but I guess it was a fools hope."

Serena blinked, not sure where this was coming from. Well, her mother was right that she was too stubborn for her own good, but was that a trait that she had inherited? It had never even crossed her mind until now, but now that her mother mentioned it, there really were some similarities between their behavior in certain situations...

Grace allowed Serena her time to think and process this information. It was funny, if Serena had just come and asked if she could go to Kanto Grace probably wouldn't have been so understanding. Somehow, trying to sneak behind her back had convinced Grace that Serena would have to make her descisions herself and that Grace would have to live with them, whether she liked them or not.

For a few moments, it looked like Serena wanted to say something, but she just opened her mouth, then shut it again without making a sound, as if she had forgotten how to form words with her tongue. Grace had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to say, but waited and allowed her the time to gather her thoughts on her own. She herself felt a little confused about how good she was taking this. When she had found that ticket hidden in Serena's pile of laundry, she had felt like her chest had just been frozen by a Cryognogal, but now that Serena had explained, albeit with a certain... hint, of aggression, she found that she didn't feel too bad about it after all. Oh, it was painful to accept that her daughter would be leaving, but in a way she couldn't help but feel... proud? Yeah, that was probably a pretty good way of summing it up. She felt proud that despite her obviously kind of poor parentage, Serena had grown up to become a strong-willed and headstrong young woman, ready to take on the world.

"If I come back here... when I'm done with my journey..." Serena said with a pensive voice, "what would I find here waiting for me?"

Grace blinked, before she realized what it was Serena was asking. Did she really have to ask? Oh, wait. Yeah, given all that had happened between them, she probably did, but there was no doubt in Grace's mind what her answer was.

"You would find your mother waiting with open arms. I..." here, she made a pause, carefully considering what she should tell Serena. She knew what she wanted to get through to her daughter, but wasn't quite as certain about the best way to do it. "I know that I've got a lot of flaws and that our history might not be the best, but I promise you Serena: if you come back, I'll do all I can to make your stay here worthwhile."

She was about to continue, but was cut off when her daughter slammed into her, hugging her in a way that she hadn't done for years. Sure, they had hugged now and then, but it had always been half hearted from Serena's part since... since they moved away. Grace's eyes widened in surprise and shock at the sudden display of affection, but then her eyes teared up and she threw her arms around Serena, hugging her back as she felt tears run down her cheeks.

"You stupid... stubborn, old..." she heard Serena mumble, before her voice became more coherent. "Of course I'll come back."

That was all Grace had wanted to hear. Swallowing harshly to try and get her tears under control, Grace broke the hug and looked down (eh, up?) at her daughter, who was currently wearing one of the most mixed and matched facial expressions Grace had ever seen. It looked like Serena had been trying to combine a happy but stern face with a thankful but sad one, the result of which looked too strange to put into words.

"Mom, I don't know how this came to be, but thanks for understanding." Serena said as she dried her tears with the back of her hand.

Grace lifter her hands and dried her own tears before answering.

"Just make sure to call home once in a while. You know I'll miss you terribly, right?"

Seemingly having recovered from their emotional discussion, Serena straightened into her full height and offered her mother a friendly smile. It was a bit weird, but she felt a lot lighter after having let that out, especially around her chest. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Of course, I'll call as soon as I land in Saffron City and then again when I find Ash. I promise."

Grace couldn't help but smile a little at the mention of the boy who had meant so much to Serena when they were younger, and had kept on influencing her growth even after 5 years of separation. She felt like she should thank him and Delia for all they had done for Serena, while she herself had been a selfish and stubborn... well, maybe jerk was a bit harsh but poor parent was a good way to sum it up.

"Ash huh? Just be sure to stay at a friendly level. I'm not ready to be a grandmother just yet."

Serena blinked in shock, not really sure if her mother had really said that. She felt her cheeks heat up as an image of her and an older Ash doing... never mind the details, slowly sailed into her head.

"Mom!" Serena cried in shock and took a few steps backwards. shocked that her mother would even suggest such a thing!

"I was only joking, Serena. You two used to look very cute together though." Grace laughed.

This did little to cool down Serena's heating cheeks and she swallowed and looked down in a futile attempt to hide it. What was her mother getting at? Of course, they had been best friends and... well, maybe Serena used to have somewhat of a crush on Ash after he "saved" her in the forest that day during summer camp, but really they were nothing more than friends, if they could even be called that anymore, since they hadn't spoken for so long. And how had this conversation moved from serious talk about Serena's and Grace's life to "jokes" about Serena's lovelife anyway?

"W-well, I'm leaving before you get any other funny ideas." Serena stammered and turned around, moving towards the gate. However, despite her furious blushing and her annoyance at her mother for ruining their good bye with such a... shameless joke, even after they made up, Serena found herself with a smile tugging at her lips.

Grace just laughed good heartedly and waved at Serena who, despite her obvious embarrassment at her mother's implications, waved back as she rounded the corner. Left behind was a smiling, although slightly confused Grace. That had been... one really weird conversation, in more ways than one. She didn't know quite what it was that had possessed her to make that last comment about Ash. It had kind of just slipped out. Maybe it was because she had just realized that her daughter would walk her own path and do whatever she wanted on that path from now on that had caused her to say it. But honestly, Grace couldn't think of anyone better suited for Serena than the person who had so far influenced her life so much. Back then, Ash had been Serena's world and from what little she had seen of the two, those feelings had been mutual.

It felt weird to, as a mother, be thinking anything positive at all about her daughter's possible first boyfriend, but well they weren't exactly a normal family. With a mother who had dragged her daughter halfway across the globe to ride a Rhyhorn in public, a daughter who had just attempted to sneak back the way she came after all these years and a father... Grace felt like someone had hit her in the face witha frying pan. Serena's father! That's right! Now that Serena was going back to Kanto, there was a risk that she would run into her father!

Would he recognize her? Would he be able to see the similarities between them? Did he even know that he had a daughter? Come to think of it, Grace wasn't sure if she had ever told him that she was pregnant before he left. She swallowed. What would happen if Serena and her father came face to face?

-X-Y-Z

Pikachu yawned and stretched out as the sun that was sippering in through the opening in his little hut woke him up. To be allowed to be woken up by the sun... he hadn't had that privilege since before he had been captured. Sitting up, he scratched himself behind the ear to try and get rid of a little sleepiness. He idly wondered what his trainer was up to... wait, had he just thought of the human as his trainer?!

As if that had been the signal, someone who was standing just outside the hut put down a bowl of fresh Pokemon food in front of it. Pikachu sniffed in the air, taking in the delicious smell of what he thought were Oran Berries and curiously made his way over to the opening, where the bowl stood waiting for him.

Ash, who had just walked back over to his desk and sat down with one of his books in front of him, looked up in surprise when Pikachu stuck his head out through the opening to study the bowl of food. He hadn't expected any reaction, he had thought the mouse was still asleep. He was about to ask if he had woken up and apologize if he had disturbed his sleep when he noticed something. Pikachu seemed to be a lot more relaxed than he had been just the other day. Instead of eyeing Ash suspiciously, he simply walked out into the open and sat down in front of the bowl and studied it with curiousitly.

"I mixed some mashed Oran Berries into the Pokemon food I got from the mart. It looked so dry so I thought that maybe you would want something to give it a little more taste." Ash said, watching Pikachu closely for a reaction.

The mouse looked up at him, not with any sign of hostility so far Ash noted, then looked back down at the bowl before picking up a piece of Pokefood and putting it in his mouth. After chewing at it for a few seconds, Pikachu's face lit up and he was not late to dig into the rest of the bowl.

While Pikachu was devouring the pokefood, Ash couldn't help but smile. It would seem that his actions late last night had at least had some effect on the little mouse. He was far from as tense and suspicious towards his surroundings as he had been back then. Maybe this wasn't such a lost cause after all.

"I'm glad you like it." Ash smiled towards the mouse. They had really done some progress over the few days that had passed since Ash had first recieved his starter.

The day after he had first gotten Pikachu, the mouse had still seemed a bit hostile towards him, but he hadn't been as tense as he had the first day. And as the day passed, he seemed to grow a little more accustomed to his surroundings and he had even refrained from doing any attempts at regaining his freedom. During the seconds day, Ash had taken the rash descision to allow Pikachu out into the garden, under surveilence of course. He had half expected Pikachu to dash off the moment he opened the door but to his great surprise and joy, Pikachu hadn't left and simply been trotting around the garden and looking at the plants that his mother was growing.

Now on the third day, Pikachu seemed to finally be accustomed enough not to tense up at the sight of Ash and that was something that made Ash feel happy. He was making some good progress! When Pikachu had finished his breakfast, he shook his head and gave a content sigh. Ash took this as the cue to present his plans for the day. His mail today had included a very awaited gift: his Pokemon Trainer Liscence! He could finally start on his journey and if he could have his way, he would already be on the road, but a stern look from his mom and kept him from rushing straight out into the forest and never come back.

Then, it was of course Pikachu. Ash didn't want to rush the little guy, not when it looked like he was finally warming up to him. After talking with his mother about it, they had decided that Ash should leave tomorrow, along with the other newbie trainers. That meant that Ash would need to warn Pikachu today or the mouse would most likely feel a little left out of the loop.

"Pika?"

Hearing his partner's voice, Ash snapped back out of his thoughts and was surprised to find the electric mouse looking at him with questioning eyes, almost as if he wanted to know something.

"You want to know what's gonna happen today, Pikachu?"

At the mouse's nod, Ash blinked. Pikachu actually wanted to know what they were gonna do? Well, that was new but good news regardless! With a grin, Ash stood up and walked over until he was about 1 meter away from Pikachu and kneeled down in front of him. Over the days, he had come to notice that this was as close as Pikachu would allow him to get without tensing up. It had of course been a little longer at first, but the mouse had seemingly warmed up a little to him since then so now they were here.

"Well guess what, I got my Trainer Liscence today! That means that you and I will be setting out on a journey tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

When Pikachu blinked in confusion and his ears twitched, Ash realized that maybe Pikachu hadn't been aware off their impendning journey before now? Come to think of it, he had never actually mentioned it in front of the electric mouse.

"You see, I'm going to travel the world. And I'll become the best Pokemon Trainer ever along the way, a true Pokemon Master!" he explained and offered Pikachu a confident smile. "It will be great! No walls to keep us in a limited space, no rules set up by mom and we can do pretty much whatever we want. Doesn't that sound great to you?"

Truth to be told, he wasn't quite sure what Pikachu would think about this. He had just gotten the mouse accustomed to his new home here in Pallet Town, after all. Maybe leaving so soon after was a little too fast? Perhaps Pikachu needed more time to open up?

"Pikachu!" the mouse exclaimed as it realized that this meant that he would be back in nature, back in freedom. At least, in a sense. He still wasn't too sure about this human, his "trainer", but he didn't seem to mean him any harm.

Ash could only take that enthusiastic exclaim as a shout of approval from Pikachu's side. This caused a smile to spread across his face as he felt his insides bubble with excitement. The time had finally come! He was really going to leave within a 24 hours! Leave and start his journey to become the strongest there ever was!

"Really? Then come one buddy! We got a lot of planning and packing to do!" he said enthusiastically and stood up.

Driven by his desire to get back to the nature where he belonged, Pikachu stood up and followed Ash to the door. Pikachu was starting to like this human, despite him being... well, human. And now, they were going to go out and live in the forest? That sure sounded good to him! Of course, he knew full well what travelling meant but really, travelling around the world didn't sound too bad to him, as long as he didn't get locked up in a glass capsule or a Pokeball again.

Feeling excitement overtake them, both trainer and Pokemon rushed down the stairs in search of Ash's mother, who was going to help the boy pack to make sure that he had everything. They may still not be the best of friends and they still got a long way to go, but this would be the start of a long and powerful friendship, that would stretch over the boundaries of space and time, over a long and exciting journey!

A/N: Whoa! I thought I'd never get this up! But what d'ya know? It's full moon outside and I can't sleep so I might as well get something done! Once against, I apologize for the illegally long wait! I hope you can forgive me and that you can be patient and wait once more for the next chapter!