Hey, so I feel this is kind of delayed... So I'ma sorry!

Also, I have a poll up! So for those who haven't already voted:

If Leaf and Gary were to have a child, would it be a boy or a girl?

Please take the time to vote!

Amy47101 does not own pokémon!

o.0.o.0.o

The Adventure Saga

The Reality of Serenity

o.0.o.0.o

"Ah, Serena! Calem!" both looked up from purchasing their monorail tickets, seeing Professor Sycamore approaching them with Diantha not to far behind. "So you've made it to Coumarine! That's great!"

"Isn't it?" Calem grinned back.

"Anyways," he turned to Serena. "Congratulations! I see you finally obtained everything you need for Mega Evolution! A Mega Stone for the Pokémon, Mega Ring for the Trainer..."

"And a strong bond with my pokémon." Serena smiled. "Thank you."

"It was a close match, honestly, but Leaf actually decided it would be Serena." Calem said, glancing at her. "She said I acted recklessly and hesitantly. I suppose I have a lot of work to do!" he laughed at this, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Leaf choose? Interesting. I've actually received a request from Leaf as well, so maybe we'll all get to meet up soon!" Prof. Sycamore laughed. "Anyways, it's only a hypothesis, but I think the bond between Pokémon and Trainer is the key to this new Evolution. But what is this bond, exactly? And why are there examples of Mega Evolution only in the Kalos region? There's still so much we don't know..."

"A strong bond?" Diantha pondered, having remained silent up till now. "Does this make you think of something like Kalos's legendary pokémon? Found only here in the Kalos region, right? Nowhere else? Maybe that's not a coincidence."

"Oh! What an excellent point!" Prof. Sycamore said, turning to her. "Indeed! The more you know, the more there is to research! The excitement never ends, does it?" he laughed at this, then snapped back into seriousness. "Oh! I heard from Gary that you two caught an Amoura and a Tyrunt, correct?"

"Yeah." Calem nodded.

"They're fantastic partners." Serena chimed in.

"Well, both have rather unique ways of evolving. I came to tell you this, since it can be rather difficult if you don't know. Amoura evolves specifically at night at level thirty-nine, whereas Tyrunt evolves at level thirty-nine during the day." he put his hands on his hips. "Well, I wanted to tell you that, but I have to hurry back to my lab to meet up with Leaf. Serena, Calem..." he trailed off, looking at Diantha. "Diantha. I hope to see you all soon!"

And with a wave, he walked out the door.

"Bonds..." Diantha muttered. "They really are important to us all, aren't they? When I'm acting, I think I'm always trying to forge a bond between myself and the character I'm playing."

"Sorta like how writers try to form a bond with their characters?" Calem asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Exactly." Diantha said. "If all I think about is how I'm nothing like a character, then I'll just hate playing it. Just as if a writer focuses on how much he or she hates the main protagonist, then he or she will never be able to write the story. But if I focus on what I have in common with the character and put myself in her shoes, I might be able to understand her. It's the same for people... or pokémon." she paused, then laughed lightly. "Oh, never mind me! I'm just babbling about my own things." She blinked as an announcer came on over the loudspeaker.

"The one'o'clock monorail will be leaving soon! All who purchased tickets, please board the monorail in an orderly fashion. Thank you!"

"That's us." Calem stated. Diantha closed her eyes and smiled.

"Let's have a double battle the next we meet, shall we? I believe we promised we'd have one back in Lumiose, you two, but it seems you're monorail is going to leave without you if I stay."

"Of course! Next time." Serena nodded. Diantha smiled.

"I'm still looking forward to it!" she stated as she walked out the door.

o.0.o.0.o

The monorail was a slow and gentle ride, and Serena loved it.

Like a small child in on a long car ride, she had her hands pressed against the window, staring at the mountain that they rode up. Calem was staring at her amusingly out of the corner of his eye.

"You know, I would've thought that I would be more likely to act like that." he said. "Aren't you usually more... sophisticated?"

"This is fun though!" she said, sitting down properly. She sat there for a moment. "You know something, Calem? I've been meaning to ask you."

"What?" he asked.

"This might get personal, so I hope you don't mind, but for as long as we've known each other, I have no idea what your family is like. I know that you know my mom is Grace the Ryhorn racer. What's your family like?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." he said very suddenly and very seriously. Serena tilted her head.

"What?"

"I'm going out for fresh air." he stated simply, hiding his eyes with his bangs as he got up and moved. Serena felt a pang of regret go through her, though she had trouble understanding why Calem suddenly got so defensive about his parents. She recalled briefly running into his mother, and she seemed like a perfectly pleasant woman.

But then again... It wasn't like she was all to willing to talk about her father...

o.0.o.0.o

Arceus, he didn't want to talk about his dad or his mom. He didn't want to talk to Serena about it. How would she know anything? Having two parents who are veteran trainers, two trainers who annihilated the Elite Four in their day, hell, the best of the best in their day, only to be beaten by the Champion and giving up?

Everyone in Vanville knew, even gym leaders and more important people, like Prof. Sycamore, knew how wonderful they were. He knew the only reason he had a pokédex was because his parents were veteran trainers. He knew that the only reason he was on this journey was because his parents were veteran trainers. Everyone knew it.

"He's destined to be a great trainer."

"He's going to be a Champion one day."

He'll be just as good as his parents."

Every day. Every damn day, those words echoed in his head. Don't get him wrong, he never hated his parents. That is, until he turned fourteen.

Truth be told, he was delayed slightly in his journey because he didn't want to leave Shauna, but honestly, his own reasoning was because his father abandoned him and his mother out of no where. Wracked with grief, he decided to stay with his mother, held her through, not abandon her on the same day. The Shauna thing, as he hated to say, was an excuse. His father left him on his fourteenth birthday. A turning point for every young person, the day they could legally get their trainers license. The day he promised to see him off, the day that his father promised him a pokémon.

But he left him that cold December morning, and has yet to return. But will he ever? He abandoned them.

Ever since that day he wanted, more than ever, to prove himself different from his father. To prove he was a better man who would never abandon those he held close. He would do what that man could not: beat the Pokémon League.

"Calem?" he ignored Serena as he heard the door open, instead simply focussing on the tracks as they rolled under the monorail. Perhaps he was a bit of an ass. It wasn't like she knew. "I-I'm sorry. I know what it's like to have parent issues, so I suppose I kinda crossed the line."

She leaned on the railing next to him, trying to look him in the eye. He continued to count the boards that made up the tracks. There was a long silence. Then she abruptly stood up straight. She reached up, grabbing his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her. Calem's mouth opened slightly in surprise at the fierce look on her face.

"Don't begin ignoring me. You're a very close, close friend of mine. Perhaps even my first friend, okay? I don't want to loose you because I did or said something stupid. If you don't want to talk about your parents, that's fine. I can't talk about my parents either... so it was kind of out of line for me to ask. Maybe when we trust each other more, we can discuss this, but as of now... Just forget I asked, okay?"

There was a long pause. Then Calem put on his usual goofy grin.

"You know, if someone came out right now, it looks like you're about to kiss me~!" he sang out, making a kissy face. "Pucker up, Seré!"

"No, Calem!" she exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around her, successfully caging her in. "Now it looks like you're trying to assault me!"

"Kissy, kissy, kissy!" Calem teased, laughing.

"Calem!" she began laughing as well, turning to look at him, smirking as he ducked down to kiss her. She moved her head to the side, an pecked him playfully on the cheek. He immediately froze, his face going completely red. Then he scrambled back as quickly as possible.

Serena laughed at his reaction.

"And thus, the tables have turned!" she stated as Calem attempted to regain his composure. Upon realizing what she did, her face went red as well.

There was an awkward pause.

"Lets not talk about this." she stated, turning around, crossing her arms under her chest. Calem nodded, scratching his cheek awkwardly. He wanted to to talk about it because he, strangely, felt accomplished. He honestly did not expect Serena to kiss him; he figured she was used to his random outbursts by now. Though it was on the cheek... but Arceus, Serena just kissed him. He wanted to yell and shout it at the top of his lungs. He wanted everyone to know! "Okay, Calem?"

Slowly, he swallowed, then nodded, deciding to, like Serena, brush the incident off. He leaned on the railing as Serena began to talk about something else, but he was barely listening. He kept on thinking about Serena. He knew that, a majority of the time, he faked his smile to cover up the problems he had with his parents.

He knew it could be worse. Leaf's life is a prime example. Her father was murdered. She had to fake happiness for years, and now that all piled up with stress and she was but a hollow shell. Calem nearly frowned at this. He didn't want to be like that. He didn't want to be a hollow shell when he grew older and became great and famous.

But around Serena, he couldn't help but think about, on a few rare occasions, Serena had seen another side of him. His more shy side. His more serious side. He knew he was a goofball by nature, but Serena's managed to somehow get past his smile and actually see him.

He smiled lightly at that. Since meeting her, he began to feel strangely lighter. The heavy thoughts of his father and mother disappeared when she was around. He liked to see what he could do to get her to laugh. He liked knowing that he could make her laugh and smile. He also liked knowing that she told him everything, things she won't even tell Grace.

He cast her a side glance. She seemed lost in her own thoughts at the time. His eyes took in her profile, from her gray eyes that were swimming with emotions to her cheeks, slightly tinted red. Was she thinking about the event that just transpired? He smiled to himself. She was teasing him earlier today, he knew it. She said not to talk about it.

But she never said he couldn't tease her about it.

o.0.o.0.o

"Serena." Calem said as they stepped off the monorail. She blinked, looking up at him. He stared at her intensely for a moment, before he smirked. "Lets make a bet!"

"A bet?" she asked.

"Outside they gym," he said. "Lets battle! One-on-one! If you win, I'll buy you any one complete outfit you want from the Lumiose City boutique!" Serena's ears perked up at this.

"Anything?"

"Anything." Calem nodded in confirmation. Serena smiled lightly for a moment.

"And if I loose?" she asked. Calem smirked. Serena nearly frowned at this. By now, she knew Calems joking smirk. This smirk was very unlike the usual joking Calem smirk. In fact, it reminds her of a smirk one would wear when they were about to tease someone...

"You," he poked her on the nose. "Have to give me a kiss." Serena blinked Noctowlishly at him for a moment.

"W-W-What?!" she asked, blushing the request finally registering. Calem grinned.

"Yep~!" he grinned. "One-on-one!" Serena swallowed slightly.

"It's strange." she muttered. "You've never made these bets before. Is this about what happened before? On the monorail?" Calem grinned.

"Maaaaaaaybeee~!" he sang out. Serena bit her lip, then shook her head at her own ridiculousness. This was stupid! She literally won all the battles she had against Calem thus far, and even if she did loose the battle, was she really a looser, so to say? She wins the battle, she gets a complete outfit from the Lumiouse boutique, she looses, she gets to kiss Calem. And it wasn't like the latter would be an absolutely horrid experience...

She looked up at Calem, grinning confidently.

"Outside the gym, right?" she asked. "Challenge accepted, Calem!"

o.0.o.0.o

Serena stood across from Calem in front of the gym.

"Another reason I wanted to battle you is I want to see that Mega Evolution in action!" Calem called from across the field. "Whether you use it or not is up to you. But since I'm a Pokémon Trainer, I want to see things that make Pokémon special," he grinned, sending out his Absol. "That way, I can think up a way to beat it!"

"Don't expect me to give into you, Calem." Serena said as she smiled slightly. Calem knew she currently had nothing to counter a dark type. Ah, well. She supposed she could use this as an opportunity to fight with Amaura...

Suddenly, a beam of red light flashed from her belt, as she gripped Amaura's pokéball. Her mouth opened into an 'O' shape as she watched Eevee take form on the battlefield, growling menacingly at Absol.

"E-Eevee?!" she asked. Eevee glanced over her shoulder, looking at her trainer, then nodded to her. Serena blinked, then smirked herself. "Seems she remembers the last encounter with your Absol, Calem!" the little fox yelped in agreement. Serena grinned. "I know you can do it, Eevee!"

"Swords Dance!" Calem ordered.

"Use Quick Attack!" Serena ordered. Eevee burst towards Absol, surrounded in white, as it began to power up it's Swords Dance. Calem saw the scythe-like blades that usually formed around Absol when he performed the move, hoping that he could get the stat-boosting move in and order an attack from a close range with little to no escape. "Iron Tail!"

"Wha-?!" Calem exclaimed in surprise as Eevee bolted ahead, and using the momentum of the speed in her attack to cause more damage as the now metallic tail swung around and slammed into the side of Absol's face, sending him skidding to the side a bit, cutting off the Swords Dance move mid-process. Serena grinned.

"I knew that I had to figure out a way to counter that Swords Dance." she said, winking as she held up her finger, as if lecturing a student. "'Cause one stat boost and that Absol could very well beat Eevee, and that's not gonna happen." Calem grinned as Absol shook itself off, standing strong.

"Ah, you got me! Seems I have no choice but to forfeit and- Night Slash!" Serena was momentarily caught off guard by his little act, but laughed anyways as Eevee hopped up.

"Swift!" she ordered in response as Absol leapt up after Eevee. The gold stars flew at the Absol while it flew through the air, causing him to growl in irritation. He successfully managed to slash Eevee, sending the small fox off balance for a moment, but she quickly regained it and landed on her feet. "Last Resort!"

"Sucker Punch!" Absol burst forward, slamming it's head into Eevee. This caught both trainer and pokémon off guard. They didn't expect it to hit first! Regardless, Eevee shook off the surprise attack, leapt up, and surrounded by different colored stars, then rammed into Absol. "Swords Dance!"

"Quick Attack!" Serena ordered. "Iron Tail!" Eevee swung it's tail towards Absol's face. Serena frowned. She knew Calem was a capable and intelligent enough trainer to not fall for the same trick twice. But Absol was rendered immobile while performing Swords Dance, which meant gave her an opening to attack...

"Bite!" Calem ordered.

Serena widened her eyes as the Swords Dance seemed to break apart suddenly. Absol snapped his head back, dodging Eevee's Iron Tail, his fangs glowing white as they clamped down powerfully on Eevee's tail. The seemed to be frozen in time for a moment as Eevee ground her teeth, trying to figure out a way to get out of her current predicament. Absol glared menacingly at Eevee for a moment, then increasing the strength of the bite. From the force of the sudden attack, the iron around Eevee's tail began to crack, and all of a sudden, the attack completely dissipated, leaving her tail vulnerable.

Serena gasped as Eevee cried out in pain from the bite, and even Calem seemed taken aback by his pokémon's own viciousness. Absol brought his head back, with Eevee's tail still in his mouth, and flung the small fox across the field. Eevee landed in a heap in front of Serena, and out of sheer terror, she curled into a ball, tucking her tail around her as her ears bent back flat against her head.

"Absol!" Calem exclaimed as the dark-type stalked towards Eevee. "Back off!" The pokémon cast a glance over his shoulder, glaring menacingly at his trainer for a brief moment, before barking something at Eevee.

"Leave her alone!" Serena exclaimed. "She didn't do anything so don't you dare hurt her!" Absol brought his glance up to meet hers, and suddenly, Eevee stood up, glowing. There was a brief silence as Absol took a step back from the sudden glow, watching as Eevee changed form. Serena pulled out her pokédex as the glow faded away.

Sylveon, the Intertwining Pokémon. This pokémon has an impeccable bond with it's trainer, so it sends a soothing aura from its ribbonlike feelers to calm emotions emitted by the trainer such as rage or sadness. It likes to wrap its ribbonlike feelers around the arm of its beloved Trainer and walk with him or her.

Her eyes went down to the moveset, frowning at the new moves surrounded in pink.

"Fairy...?" she muttered aloud. She briefly remembered Sina talking about fairy types, then Calem mentioning something about Sylveon being a fairy type. She knew that the whole type matchup was jumbled up because of the fairy type. "We'll work with this! Moonblast!"

Serena watched as Sylveon tilted her head back, a ball of pretty, silvery light forming in front of her mouth. With a cry, a beam shot at Absol, to quick for him to dodge. He skidded back past Calem, who dodged to the side as the beam nearly hit him. The beam faded away, leaving behind a fainted Absol.

"Victory!" Serena exclaimed, jumping in the air. Sylveon turned to her trainer, crying out it's name happily as well. Serena bent down with open arms, accepting Sylveon into a huge hug.

"Absol?" Calem asked. Serena looked up and saw the dark type standing, staggering over to them. Sylveon wriggled around a bit in Serena's arms, before finally jumping down to face Absol, though not in a hostile manner or fearful manner, but rather, more curiously.

Absol stopped in front of Sylveon, then bent down slightly, tapping his forehead to hers.

Then he fell over.

"What was that?" Serena asked as Calem returned the dark-type. Calem glanced at the pokéball curiously, then shrugged.

"An apology, maybe?" Calem asked. "I'm sorry that he hurt her like that... he's serious by nature, but never violent..."

"Maybe he sensed her evolution was coming soon?" Serena asked. "I heard once that pokémon can sense things like that... maybe he was trying to motivate her?"

"I suppose that makes sense." Calem laughs. "Maybe they like each other?"

"Like trainer, like pokémon, I suppose!" Serena laughed. She blushed at this sentence, wondering, briefly, how Calem took it, but then shook her head. She was overthinking things. "Looks like," she poked him in the chest. "You owe me some clothes!"

"I guess so." he sighed dramatically, then turned to face her. "But oof." he rubbed the back of his head as he closed his eyes. "I sometimes forget how strong you are." he opened his eyes, turning his head. "Even though we set off from Vaniville Town at the same time, there's a gap in our strength. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Am I truly weak? Do you have something I don't?" he shook his head. "I don't really know."

"That's ridiculous." Serena said, returning Sylveon. "You're strong, very strong. You've done nothing wrong, I know that your pokémon are strong and kind at heart. And even if you loose a hundred battle," she moved to meet his gaze. "What does it matter when you have fantastic friends, human and pokémon?" Calem blinked, then shook his head.

"I guess I have to think about that..." he smiled. "I'm going to the pokémon center, then go train on the next route. Gotta become stronger so I can win back that kiss!" he laughed happily.

"So this is an ongoing bet?" Serena smirked. "Seems my PC will be filling up with many new outfits, hm?" Calem simply laughed.

"I guess I'll have to visit the Battle Chateau and beat some rich people for some extra cash!" he turned, waving. "Well, good luck with your Gym Battle!"

Serena watched him walk away for a moment, contemplating why she felt strangely saddened that she had won this particular battle.

o.0.o.0.o

Well, I wanted to have more of an insight on Calem and his personal reasoning behind his goals to be the strongest trainer. So he is a little out of character in this chapter, but I wanted to show Calem's more serious side... It doesn't pop up often, but it's there.

Also, I wanted to try to portray Serena and Calem's relationship a bit more in this chapter. Quite honestly, I feel as if their relationship is very similar to a relationship of two people i know right now, so I feel like I can really connect with them.

And now you can expect a lot of cutesy Calem teases towards Serena. Because.

Don't forget to vote in for the poll!

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^