A/N: Oh good Arceus! I got almost 100 followers from the first chapter alone! That's a new record for me! :p Thanks a lot for the support, both in following, reviewing anf favouriting!
So, from the reviews I've gotten so far this was a good idea, and it have been well recieved by you guys. I am so glad that you are still willing to give me this chance, even after all this time! It means a lot to me. And to all of you guys who might be new to this story, it's nice to see you here! ;)
As for the poll, Brock is currently leading. Out of 61 voters when this is written, 27 see it fit that I bring back good old Brock-Ollie. In second place, with 18 votes is Shauna. I must admit, I was surprised to find Shauna so high on the list. I knew that some of you guys really liked my portrayal of her but seriously... she's got more votes than every canon character, except Brock! Did you do that because of her role in the games or because you think I did a good job with her? XD And finally, we got Dawn, who are in 3rd place with 14 votes. :D
Disclaimer: If I owned any rights to Pokemon, you would be watching this on TV, not reading it on this site.
Chapter Two: Egg-citement for Kalos
Serena couldn't help but smile as she and her friend, Shauna, made their way through Route 1, back towards Vaniville Town. If she didn't count the intense training session in the morning and early afternoon, this had turned out to be a great day! After she had left Vaniville Town, she had managed to catch up with Shauna at Aquacorde Town's market place before 2 o'clock. Her friend had been delighted to find that Serena had managed to get away from her mother's strict training program early, not that it really surprised her. Shauna could get delighted from pretty much anything. She even used to become delighted when it was raining, because that meant she could run outside in her swinsuit and splash around in the puddles. Serena herself didn't like rain. It usually made her hair become all messy once it got dry again, so she preferred to stay inside when it was raining.
Thankfully, there was no raining today as the two friends walked back home, listening to the sounds of various smaller pokemon all around them and having a light conversation about what they had done during the afternoon. However, Serena was only half aware of what they were talking about. She was more content just enjoying the peace and harmony around them. The calmness of pokemon and the nature they lived in, it made her feel almost like she was back home, in Kanto. It was moments like these that Serena treassured more than anything else, aside from the blue handkerchief that was tied around her left wrist. Sometimes, she wished there was a way to make these moments go on forever.
Don't get it wrong, she felt at home in Vaniville Town too but it just wasn't the same as her home back in Pallet. She missed growing up in the Kanto region, waking up early in the morning and run outside as soon as she had finished breakfast to play with Ash in the forest. When she had first arrived in Kalos, she used to keep up that habit of running out into the forest on Route 1, just to get the feeling that not everything had changed. In the forest, everything felt more familiar. In nature, there was no regional borders or Kalos or Kanto regions. In nature, everything was the same.
But after a time, she had begun to feel lonely playing in the forest all by herself. It just wasn't the same without Ash and she had been forced to realize that things really had changed. When she left Kanto and Ash, she had left more than the pink band from her straw hat behind. She had left all of her life up to that point behind and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't keep living in the past. Since then, she had opted to sleep late in the morning instead, hoping the days would pass by faster if she didn't get up out of bed and even after she met Shauna, she had kept that routine up.
"Serena? Are you even listening to me?"
Hearing her name being called, Serena stopped and shook her head to clear her thoughts. Turning towards her friend, she found the brown haired girl had stopped a few feet before her and was now standing with her hands on her hips, looking at the honey-blonde girl with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, I guess I kind of spaced out. You were saying?" Serena asked while she scratched the back of her head in embarrasment.
Shauna eyed her for a moment, silently wondering what Serena had been thinking about. Her friend had been spacing out a lot lately and it was starting to become a little creepy. Shauna knew of course that her friend missed her home in the Kanto region. Serena had told her that much when she had asked what she was thinking about during these space outs, but recently it had become more frequent. Deciding to let it slip for now, Shauna simply caught up with her friend and went along as if nothing had happened.
"I asked if you have ever dreamed of leaving Vaniville Town and see the world? I wish my mom would have let me go on a journey when I turned 10 but she refused, saying I was too young to be on my own." Shauna pouted at the last part, making Serena giggle slightly at her friend's childishness.
"I am from another region, remember? I have been out of Vaniville Town." Serena said with a smile on her face.
Shauna scowled at her friend's playful smile. That had not been what she had meant and Serena knew it! When Serena gave her a teasing look and stuck out her tongue in a childish way, Shauna began stomping her foot in the ground, which caused the dark-blonde girl mocking her to chuckle.
"Aah! That's not what I meant and you know it! I mean like, travelling the world, seeing new places and meeting new people! Going on a journey with your very own Pokemon! Wouldn't that be wonderful?" she asked, her exctiement at the thought of travelling with her own Pokemon overriding her frustration at Serena's antics.
By now, they had reached the gates that led into Vaniville Town. The gates were sceduled to be closed by 8 o'clock, as to not let any wild Pokemon roam the town at night. There wasn't any dangerous pokemon around these parts, but that didn't mean the Pokemon that did live here couldn't cause trouble. Serena looked up at the gates and remembered the first time she had seen them. Back then, they had felt so... foreign to her. The first night she had spent in her new home, she had dreamt about running out those gates and meeting Ash again. He would be waiting for her in the forest, just like it used to be. That was probably why she had ran out into the forest as soon as her mother had let her.
"Actually, I turned down the offer of travelling when Professor Sycamore asked when I turned 10." she said to Shauna, whose eyes went wide at this declaration.
Truth to be told, she had imagined herself accepting the offer so she could get out of Vaniville Town and back to Lumiose City to try and escape back to Kanto. In her mind, it had seemed like a perfect plan to get back to Ash, but then reality had kicked in. What about her mom? She would no doubt get to know it as soon as she left Kalos and if she didn't get to know it then, Delia would no doubt call her old friend if Serena showed up in Pallet Town when she was supposed to be on the other side of the globe.
"What? Why would you do that? I had to fight tooth and nail to get my mother to let me go and even then she was adamant I stay home! And now you're saying you could have been out of this place without even trying but turned it down?!" Shauna asked in exasperration.
Serena turned towards her friend. She hadn't told her about her plan of escape. Looking back, it was just too damn ridiculus and she didn't want to give Shauna that material to tease her with. Not to mention that it could inspire her friend to try her own luck at "escaping" Vaniville without permission. That sounded just like something Shauna would do.
"Yeah well, I was still pretty cut up after our sudden move from Kanto, and I guess I wanted Vaniville to feel like more of a home before I went anywhere else. You know, so I would have a home to return to..." her voice trailed off as she thought back to how she had felt when she moved here. It hadn't been a very pleasant experience. It had all come so sudden, almost as if her mother had just done it on a whim.
Shauna looked at her with a clueless look in her eyes, trying to understand why anyone would turn down a journey, no matter what the reasons. However, as two and two clicked together in her mind, a mischievous smile spread across her face. She elbowed Serena lightly in the side to get her to look at her.
"Ooh, you mean you missed that boyfriend of yours that you left behind in Kanto?" she said with a suggestive look on her face as she rolled her eyebrows.
"Shauna!" Serena exclaimed in shock. She felt her cheeks turn red at Shauna's implication. "It wasn't like that! We were just... friends."
The hyperactive girl next to her snorted with laughter at her friend's expense and Serena deliberately looked away, not wanting to meet her friend's eyes. Thankfully, Shauna seemed to be too busy trying to stiffle her laughter at her friend's embarrassment to be able to say anything else for a while. Serena picked up the pace, hoping to get back to her house before her friend could recover enough to keep teasing her about this. Why did this happen every time she mentioned her old home town to Shauna? And what was worse, why did she always get this warm, comfortable feeling in her chest when Shauna implied that Ash had been Serena's boyfriend? Unfortunately for Serena, they were still a little way from her house when Shauna regained her composure.
"Yeah sure. You keep saying that but your actions speak against you this time."
Feeling her cheeks flush even more as a picture of her younger self kissing Ash somehow found its way into Serena's mind, the poor girl desperately tried to find a way to change the subject.
"Can't we just stick to talking about journeys?" she groaned in despair.
Shauna was tempted to ask if Serena had been more willing to go on a journey if Ash had come with her to Kalos, but decided that her friend had suffered enough already. So instead, she just grinned at the still blushing girl and made a point of giving her friend a kind smile to show that she was done teasing her about this, at least for now.
"Sure. What pokemon would you like to start out with if you were to go on a journey? You do know what Pokemon we would get to choose from, right?"
Letting out a sigh of relief that they had moved away from the deep waters, Serena began searching her mind to try and remember what Pokemon Professor Sycamore had showed her when she was debating whether to go on a journey or not when she was 10 years old. If she remembered correctly, there was a Fox-like pokemon named Fennekin that was a fire-type, a Toad-like pokemon named Froakie that was a water-type and some weird kind of grass-type pokemon that looked like a cross between a mole and an otter named Chespin. All three were pretty cute but thinking back, she wondered which one would be the best looking when it grew up and evolved further. She didn't know much about them after they evolved so it would be a pretty hard descision to make.
"I'm not sure. I guess Fennekin is the cutest when they are young, but I don't know if that would be the best thing to base my descision on." she said after carefully contemplating her options and what she knew about all three of the pokemon. By now, her house was within sight and she could smell her mother cooking dinner through the open window.
"Really? I think I would pick Froakie. It is definetely the cutest!" Shauna said with a squeal at the last part.
Serena smiled slightly. Shauna had always been one to know exactly what she wanted. It was a trait that she had inherited from her mother, at least Serena thought so as Shauna's mother seemed to be the only one capable of winning an argument with her daughter, once she had made up her mind. And really, if Shauna's mother had been able to hold her daughter back when she stubbornly wanted to go on a journey, then she had to be at the very least just as stubborn.
When the two friends entered the small garden, Serena's mother's Rhyhorn looked up and upon seeing the two girls, he stood up and made his way over to them. When he stopped in front of them, he gave Serena a worried glance before giving her hand a lick.
"Don't worry Rhyhorn, I'm fine. I'm not angry about earlier today." the honey-blonde girl said as she bent forward to pet the Spikes Pokemon.
"Rhy!" the Rhyhorn gave as an answer as he murmured happily under Serena's gentle touch.
Smiling as she petted her mother's pokemon, Serena turned back towards Shauna, who was standing a few feet behind her.
"Are you staying for dinner?" she asked as she stood back up and let Rhyhorn make his way back towards his little kennel.
Shauna breathed in the aroma of Serena's mom's excellent cooking that was seeping out throught he open window and for a moment, she was tempted to accept the invitation, but managed to keep her mind straight as she remembered her responsabilities.
"Sorry, I can't I promised mom that I would babysit Sean tonight." she grimaced at the thought of spending her entire evening keeping an eye on her 5 year old little brother. Her mind had never been able to understand why her parents had wanted another child. Sure, he could be cute when he wanted to, but most of the time he was just annoying when he wanted to either play hide and seek or were causing chaos somewhere in the house.
Serena grinned at the thought of the night Shauna was due to have. In her mind, an image of Shauna chasing her younger brother all over their house while he was holding a matchbox in his hand and tossed lit matches all over the place played in Serena's mind and she couldn't help but giggle. Sean was 10 years younger than Shauna, who was the same age as Serena, but the similarities between the two siblings were already striking, both physical and mental. They both shared the same round face and brown hair and both had the same hyperactive personality. Since neither of them could sit still for more than 5 minutes at most, there was always full activity in their house.
"Well, good luck with that. You'll need it."
With that, the two friends gave each other a hug and bid the other farewell. After seeing Shauna disappear behind the hedges, Serena turned and walked in through the door.
"Mom! I'm home!" she called towards the kitchen, from where she heard the hiss of a frying pan.
She recieved a polite "Welcome home!" and decided to go upstairs to leave her hat and change into something more comfortable before going down for dinner. When she peaked into the kitchen to see how far along her mother had gotten with the meal, she was told to be down again in 10 minutes to set the table. Checking the clock on the wall to make sure she would know when to come down, Serena went back upstairs and into her room. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, she went straight towards her bed in the corner of the room and, after dropping her hat on the floor, threw herself down on the blankets. She was exhausted. It had been a very tiring day, with 3 hours of Rhyhorn Racing Training and then spending the rest of the day with Shauna in a market place.
Taking a deep breath, Serena felt her muscles relax and felt content just lying on the blankets for a while. The soft fabric felt chilling against her exposed arms, but that felt just too good after having spent the entire day in the heat of the sun. She was tempted to just close her eyes and dose off for a bit, but knowing her mother would just send Fletchling to peck her awake if she didn't come down to set the table in time, she surpressed the urge.
Instead, she settled for another deep breath and sat up again. After stetching her legs and arms, she stood up and went over to her wardrobe to see if she could find a pair of sweatpants to wear, now that she was at home. Those were a lot more comfortable than tights and skirts. Well, the skirt wasn't that bad, but it would not go very well with a pair of sweatpants, no matter what the colors. After rummaging through the shelfs in search of something, she settled for a pair of simple black sweatpants and a light blue sweater. Once she had changed, she made sure to untie Ash's handkerchief from her wrist and folded it before putting it back on her bedside table. She didn't want it to become dirty while she ate, or risk accidently putting it in her food.
Making her way back downstairs, she found her mother was just putting the finishing touch to their meal. She went over to the dressers and pulled out two plates and went on to put them on the table, along with 2 forks and 2 knives. After getting out 2 glasses and a milk carton, Serena sat down and waited for her mother to finish. However to her surprise, when her mother had finished by the stove and taken the frying pan off the hotplate, she just cleaned her hands before she went over to sit down opposite to her daughter. When Serena gave her a surprised look, she sighed and nodded.
"Before we eat, there is something I want to talk to you about." she said.
-X-X-X-
It was late in the evening, even in Kanto. After having spent the afternoon with Ash's pokemon at Professor Oak's lab, Ash, Alexa and N had made their way back to Ash's house, where Ash had introduced N to his mother. After a dinner spent re-telling Ash's adventures in Unova to his mother, with some help from N at the points where he had been present, Alexa had offered to help Delia with the dishes, as a means of showing her appreciation for Delia's hospitality. Pikachu had dozed off in the sofa in front of the TV, completely exhausted after having played around with Ash's other pokemon for the entire day. As for the two young men, they were currently outside in the back of Ash's garden.
N was looking up at the stars, silently appreciating the view, while Ash was lying down on the ground, resting his head against the ground. The stars... the mere fact that they could see them so clearly was proof of how close Pallet Town was to the nature that surrounded it. After their experiences, they both knew that in cities, the light from the stars always got toned down, often disappearing completely form view, due to the many lights that shone on the ground.
As he stretched out on the ground, Ash felt himself grow drowsy and tried to stiffle a yawn. N had come out here because he said he wanted to talk to him, but so far he hadn't said anything. Ash figured that whatever N had come to say to him had to be important, so he just let the boy take his time, but he had to be sure he wouldn't fall asleep. Therefore, he sat up and looked straight at N.
"So, you're going to Kalos next then?" N said, still not taking his eyes off the stars above them.
"Uhm, well yeah. That's the plan at least." Ash said as he rose from his seat on the ground. "No use in sitting around here and be grumpy, right?"
At this, N chuckled slightly and turned around to face Ash, leaning against the fence that was now behind him. For a moment, he seemed to be meassuring Ash with his eyes, almost like that time when they had first met, but after a few seconds, he smiled.
"You know? I'm glad that you're still the same person. Most people would've taken a long time to get over a disappointment like the one you suffered in the Unova Conference." N said as he looked back up towards the stars, as if asking for guidance in what to say.
Ash frowned. What was this about? Sure, he had been pretty down on himself, but it had only taken a night of bad sleep and he was over it. Nothing to it, that's how it had always been. And since when did N care for Pokemon Battling? He used to grow furious at just the mention of Pokemon battling each other. Seeing that he had Ash's complete attention now, N pressed on.
"I learned a lot from travelling with you, even if it was only for a brief time, but there was one thing that stood out to me out of all the things you taught me. When I asked you why you kept fighting, even against impossible odds, you told me that it was so that you wouldn't have any regrets later on. You said that as long as you really give what you're doing all you have to give, you wouldn't feel regret later on because there was no use dwelling on your past actions. You had given it all you had, and nothing you could've done would've changed the outcome."
Okay, now Ash was officially confused. Where was this coming from? Sure, N had always been a very deep and philosophical person, often saying things that Ash barely could understand, but this was definetely among the weirdest conversations they had ever had, if not the weirdest of them all. However, N wasn't done with his philosophical musings.
"Those words were probably the most important to me for changing my views on humanity. It made me realize that I can't blame humanity or myself for the state some Pokemon I've met have been in. Every living being are hurt at some point in their life. It was right in front of me the whole time, but I was blinded by the lies Ghetsis had been feeding me and I couldn't see it. You opened my eyes to the truth, and for that I thank you. Which brings me to why I am here."
At this point, N made a pause to see if Ash was still with him. The younger boy looked confused beyond confusion, but he at least was still listening and trying to take it all in.
"First, your words and my new resolve made me think about what a real winner is. You fought for the sake of our entire world when you and your friends went up against Team Plasma. The odds seemed impossible, and you were sent into the ground more than once, but you still stood back up, ready to go at it yet again and again and again if you had to. But despite that, you were eliminated early on in a tournament just shortly after. It didn't make any sense to me at the time how someone so seemingly strong could suddenly just lose like that. But then, I realized that you never actually lost."
Ash blinked in confusion. What was N trying to tell him? And was it seriously really nescesary to mess it all up with this talk about views and lies and whatever? It just made it all seem so more complicated than it really was. He lost a match, got a little sad and then he was back on his feet. Nothing more, nothing less. What was N trying to say?
"A true winner isn't determined by a single match, because everyone both wins and loses once in a while. It isn't determined by how long winning streak you can keep or how many matches you've actually won. There is only one thing that makes a true winner, a true champion, and it isn't the number of fights you've won or how few loses you've suffered. It is, to have to strenght of will to never give up, to stand back up when you've fallen to your knees and keep charging straight ahead no matter what." Here, N smiled gently at Ash as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And if you ask me, you if anyone in this world got that."
Scratching the back of his head, Ash shook his head.
"So, what you're trying to tell me is just that you think I'm Champion Material?" he asked, causing N to sweatdrop at his bluntness.
"Well, yeah I guess so. But I didn't come all the way to Pallet Town just to tell you that, so you could sum it down to 15 words." he said as he stood back up in his full height and looked Ash straight in the eye. "I have managed to get ahold of a Pokemon Egg that contains a very rare and powerful species of Pokemon. I want you to have it as a means of showing mine and Reshiram's thanks for all you did for us and Unova. I know you will take good care of it."
-X-X-X-
While Ash and N were talking about the mysterious egg and Serena was being confronted by her mother about going on a Pokemon Journey, another one of Ash's friends was currently making his way back home from work. After having taken his Pokemon Medication Exam and recieved his liscense as a recognized Pokemon Healer, 18 year old Brock Slate had taken up a position as assistant at the Pewter City Pokemon Center, helping Nurse Joy care for the injured Pokemon. It had always been his dream to become a Pokemon Healer, to be able to help Pokemon in need. He had thought that now that he had finally reached that dream, he would be happy. Yet, he felt like there was something missing.
As Brock made his was through Pewter City's nightlit streets, he couldn't help but get reminded of all the things he missed doing. The calmness of the serenity of the night, no shouting trainers or crying Pokemon... it was all too familiar to him.
He sighed. When he had told Ash that he would stop travelling, he hadn't realized how much he would come to miss it. That constant feel of adventure and excitement when something unnexpected happened, just living his life day by day with the best people he knew, getting Poison Jabbed by Croagunk whenever he went crazy about some pretty girl they met... Okay, so he could probably do without the Poison Jab but it had still been a part of a life he had loved, a life he had enjoyed to its fullest... a life he missed, now that he was settled down.
By now, he had reached his home. His family lived above the Pewter City Gym, since they had such a strong connection to it. It was almost as if th Gym had become a sort of family hierloom. First, it had been Brock himself who ran it, then it had been his father, Flint, then his mother Lola for a short time and now, it was Brock's younger brother Forrest.
Sighing, Brock reached out and opened the door. It wouldn't do to dwell on that. He had made his descision when he turned Ash down for a journey to Unova. At least, he got to spend more time with Misty since she lived in the nearby Cerulean City, running her Gym, and he could visit his other friends more frequently.
Barely had he entered the kitchen of his home before he noticed that something was amiss. It was too quiet. Usually, his younger siblings were making extreme amounts of noise at this hour, complaining about having to go to bed. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around to find that his entire family, including all 8 of his siblings, were gathered together over by the table, looking at him with concern.
"Is there something wrong? Why are you all just sitting there?" Brock asked with a frown on his face.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, it was Brock's father, Flint, who spoke up.
"Have a seat Brock, we need to talk."
Confused, Brock cast a glance at his family before he took the seat that was offered to him. It took a few more moments before someone spoke up again, but this time it was Lola, his mother.
"We're worried about you, Brock. You've been so distant lately. Do you mind telling us what's troubling you?" she asked with worry etched all over her face.
Brock frowned. Had he been distant? But he had done all he could to not let his little depression go out over his family! Sure, he worked later at night than he used to and he often left early in the morning, but was that really a reason to suspect that anything was wrong? He had just opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by his younger brother, Forrest.
"Oh please, we already know why you're being all depressed and down! The question is why you haven't done anything about it yet?!" he said with irritable voice, earning himself a kick to the shin from his father, underneath the table.
"What are you talking about?" Brock asked, "I'm fine."
However, as if they had been one, his entire family, all 11 members, sighed and shook their heads. At this, Brock sweatdropped. Seriously, this was starting to become a little creepy.
"Brock, we know that you want to get out on the road again. We're your family, we can see when something is wrong with you. And we're not the only ones. Nurse Joy called me the other day and told me that you had been spacing out during worktime, staring at the pictures on your desk in your office." Here, he made a pause and stared pointedly at Brock, as if to make sure that his message got through. "Pictures that were taken of you and your friends when you were still travelling."
For once, Brock had no answer. He found himself frozen in his chair, trying to somehow form a good answer to what his father had just said. His family was staring at him with expectant looks, waiting for him to respond. But as the seconds ticked on, it was once again Forrest who spoke up against his brother.
"If it can help you change your mind, Brock, I was told just today that Ash is back in Pallet Town. If you make up your mind quickly, you should be able to join him on his next journey."
This seemingly snapped Brock out of his thoughts. Ash was back? That was new to him.
"He's back? Since when? Last I heard, he was still in Unova." he asked in surprise.
Forrest sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, ignoring the sharp look his mother was giving him for being so pushy towards his older sibling.
"Have you been living with your nose stuck in that Medical Study Book of yours? Seriously, the Unova Conference was 5 weeks ago! Ash got eliminated in the quarter finals!" he said with exasperration, earning himself another kick under the table.
This however, had an effect on Brock. The news that his best friend had been competing in a tournament and he hadn't even been aware of it hit Brock like a horde of Tauros in full charge. He should have been glued in front of the TV to cheer him on! No, he should have been in the stands! And he hadn't even given Ash a call since he got home! Some friend he was...
While Brock was overwhelmed by his own confusion and guilt over not trying to keep in contact with Ash, his family was watching his reaction with anticipation. Behind his stern glare towards Forrest, Flint smiled on the inside at seeing how well his younger son could handle Brock. They knew each other inside out, and seeing what effect Forrest's words had on Brock gave Flint hope that they would be able to reach him. Not that they wanted Brock to leave, but they wanted him to be happy.
After a few moments of hesitation, Brock looked back up towards his family. They were all looking at him, trying to silently show him their support of whatever he decided to do. And in his heart of hearts, he knew what he wanted to do.
"So... what should I do?" he asked, feeling like a little kid for asking such a question.
"The question isn't what you should do, Brock." Flint said as he stood up and walked over to his oldest son, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. For a moment, father and son stared at each other intently, before Flint finished his sentence. "It's about what you want to do."
-X-X-X-
Ash was lying in his bed, studying the egg he was holding in his hands, while Pikachu was snoozing at the feet of his bed. N had left a while ago, despite Delia's protests that he should spend the night here, claiming that Reshiram and he preferred to travel at night to not draw unnescesary attention to themselves. Before he had left, he had given Ash this mysterious egg, saying that it contained a rare Pokemon, but he wouldn't reveal exactly what, as to not ruin the surprise.
Shorty after N had left, Ash had gotten a call from Brock! After a brief catching up, Brock had revealed that he wished to come with Ash on his next journey! Just thinking about it made Ash grin like an idiot. It would be just like the good old times! Not that he hadn't enjoyed travelling with Iris and Cilan, but no one could replace Brock in his mind. There was something special about that guy.
And it would be good to have him onboard! Brock knew pretty much everything there was to know about raising a Pokemon, as was the result of his training to become an expert Pokemon Breeder. And now that he had added a year of studying medicine, he would know even more about what to do when their pokemon got hurt. While both Iris and Cilan were good at caring for their Pokemon in their own way, there was no one like Brock when it came to that area!
Sighing in excitement, Ash put the egg down and sat up. This was turning more awesome by the minute! After he had talked to all of his Pokemon and explained that he would possibly start calling them in for Gym Battles as well as other tournament battles, his pokemon had all responded in delight. All of them had been eager to battle alongside him again, but Gible, Buizel, Infernape, Sceptile and Charizard in particular had peaked up on the prospect of possibly being called in for difficult battles. Charizard in particular had seemed eager to do more battling and after a lot of consideration, Ash had decided to break an old habit and actually bring Charizard along from the start.
Usually when he started a new journey, only Pikachu would go with him to the new region, but seeing as he would start calling in his other friends for battles as well, not to mention the fact that Charizard had left and opted not to return to the Charizific Valley in order to travel with Ash again, he didn't see any reason not to bring along Charizard from the start. It wasn't like his Pokeball would take up too much space on the airplane to Kalos.
But aside from Charizard, they had decided that the others would stay at home and only be called upon when their services were needed. Some of the younger ones, like Gible, would get the chance of travelling with him though, as they hadn't really travelled much together. For example, Gible had been caught just before he entered the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh so aside from that tournament, they really didn't know each other that well.
Now, he needed to start planning and packing. They would leave early tomorrow. Professor Oak would drive him and Alexa to the airport in Saffron City. They would pick Brock up outside of the Pewter Gym when they passed through Pewter City. Brock had told him that he would focus on the practical stuff, like food, Care for Pokemon things and a tent so Ash should focus more around his own personal packing. It really wasn't much he had to pack since he already had packed his sleeping bag and, which his mother had pointed out was extremely important, clean underwear. He had also made sure to get a small supply of potions and a first aid kit, both for himself and for his Pokemon. Now that he thought about it, Pikachu had a nack for getting badly hurt either during the journey to a new region, or just when they arrived in a new region. In Unova, he had even been hit by a Legendary Pokemon's attack during his first day in the region.
When he had checked everything over in his mind, he looked over towards Pikachu. Beside the yellow rodent, his mom had put what would be his travelling gear for this journey. As usual, she had opted to sew it by hand. He stood up and walked over to studied his mom's handiwork. She had placed a simple black undershirt at the top, under which the his new jacket was lying. He reached into the pile and pulled out the jacket, which looked pretty similar to the one he had worn during his travels through Unova, just that it was black/dark blue (the same color his shirt was in DP) where his Unova shirt was light blue on the upper part and that it had a hood instead of a high collar. The lining around his neck was also yellow instead of black and the hood was a blue color, similar to the outline of the pockets on its front.
Looking it over, Ash nodded approvingly. His mother really had good taste. Pulling out the chair from his desk, Ash hung the shirt over the back of the chair and turned to see what more he had been given. Apparently, his mother had decided that he would wear his new shirt along with a pair of blue pants, so his overall coloration would be the same as it had been when he was travelling through Sinnoh.
"Do you like it?"
Ash turned around when he heard the voice to find his mom standing in the doorway, looking at him with a gentle smile on her face. Seeing as she wanted him to try on his new gear, Ash signaled for her to move out for a few moments while he changed, which she did without complaint. It wasn't that she had never seen him in only underwear before, but he was a teenager now after all. After switftly changing into his new pants and pulling the zipper on his new shirt, he went out into the hall to show his mom.
"I love it. Thanks a lot mom. I really like colors. They are a bit different from what I usually wear." he said as he twisted and turned to get a good look at himself from all angles in the mirror that stood in the hall.
His mother studied him while he was inspecting his new clothing with an approving smile. She was glad to see that Ash was starting to care more for what he was wearing. In the past, he would just look it over and say "Good!" then that was it. He really was a handsome boy when he put his mind to it so it felt good to see that he was starting to care more for his looks. And he was about the age when boys usually started getting interested in girls now that the girls... developments was starting to shine through more. To be honest, Delia was a little surprised that Ash had been able to travel with 4 different girls through 5 different regions for 5 years without getting hung up on or at least become a little interested in any of them. Sure, he had only been 10-12 years when he was travelling with Misty and she had been older than him so that was probably understandable, but May, Dawn and Iris had all been wonderful girls and very beautiful in their own way. Even though she had never met Dawn or Iris in person, she had spoken to them many times when Ash called home and Dawn in particular had appeared to be really caring towards Ash. In her opinion, Iris had seemed to be a little too bossy with Ash and from what she had heard and seen, Iris had also been the one most keen on getting into arguments with her son during their travels. Dawn on the other hand had always been cheerful around Ash and the most supportive of all of Ash's female companions.
Ah well, it wouldn't do for her to try and make sense of it right now. When the time came for Ash to get a girlfriend, Ash would no doubt tell her. For now, she should be happy he was starting to pay more attention to what he was wearing.
"You're very welcome. I did the coloration the same as you had when you won the Lily of the Valley Conference. Perhaps having the same colors will bring you good luck." she said with a smile.
Ash hadn't really thought about it that way, but now that she mentioned it he realized that he had been wearing these same colors during his journey through Sinnoh and ONLY then. His attire was usually focused around white and blue, while the attire he had worn in Sinnoh had been more focused around darker colors and yellow. Why had he not thought about that before? Probably because he had never cared about what he was wearing, as long as it was not girl clothes. He shuddered at the memory of himself wearing a waitress costume when he was in Sinnoh. And then he shuddered even more when a picture of himself dressing up as a rich lady along with Cilan and Iris in order to infiltrate a snobby clubhouse so Iris could get revenge against one of the clubs members who had insulted her Emolga.
Shaking his head to get the disturbing pictures out of his head, Ash turned towards his mother and grinned.
"I like how you think." he said, before turning around and headed back into his room to inspect his new baseball cap. As usual, it was mostly colored red. At least that was something that would never change. However, the front was colored black/dark blue, same as his shirt and had a yellow pokeball symbol on it. All in all, it complemented his outfit pretty well.
His mother followed him into the room and nodded approvingly when Ash tried on his cap. Seeing as nothing needed to be changed in his outfit, she turned towards his desk to find that he had already packed most of his bag.
"Do you got everything packed?" she asked, though by the looks of his bag, it wouldn't be able to fit much more even if he did need to pack something else.
Ash sat down on his bed and nodded as he reached out and scratched the still sleeping Pikachu behind his ears. The little rodent cooed in his sleep and rolled over to give Ash better access.
"Yeah. I'll just do one last double check tomorrow before we leave. Brock said he would take care of food supplies and tent so there's nothing else I need to pack." he said as he looked over towards his belt that was hanging over the back of the chair he had used as a rack.
One single pokeball was hanging securely from it. He had made sure that Charizard was perfectly healthy before he left Professor Oak's laboratory and Pikachu was as healthy one can be. He had stacked up on Hyper Potions and he had even made sure to buy 2 of each cure against status conditions. He had made sure to pack his sleeping bag and made sure his new first aid kit was sercurely packed in an outside pocket. He was ready.
"Well, you better get to bed then. Tomorrow's the big day. You will need all the sleep you can get." Delia said as she turned to leave the room.
Bidding his mother good night, Ash changed into his pyjamas before he went to brush his teeth. When he was done, he walked back to his room and turned off the light. He carefully moved Pikachu so he was resting by the pillow and put the mysterious egg on his bedside table so he could move the blanket and crawl into bed. As he laid down, he thought about all the new pokemon and new people he would meet on this journey. Something, he didn't know what, told him that this journey would be special.
-X-X-X-
While an experienced trainer was falling asleep in his bed, a soon-to-be trainer was lying in her own bed, wide awake. When her mother had sat down and began asking questions about how Serena regarded her future as a Rhyhorn Racer, she had been tempted to try and lie. She didn't want to disappoint her mother by saying she didn't want to be a Rhyhorn Racer. But when her mother gave her a very serious look, she had found herself unable to lie and had said that she really didn't think Rhyhorn Racing was her thing. She didn't know what to expect when she had said it, but she sure hadn't expected to recieve a smile from her mom.
After that, she had been assured that whatever she decided to do, her mother would always support her, much to her confusion. However, it had all been cleared up after a few more words. It turned out that her mother had contacted Professor Sycamore, asking if he had any Pokemon to give to new trainers and discussed the possibility of giving one to Serena. The Professor had told her mother that should Serena wish to start a journey, it would never be too late and he would be able to send someone over to Vaniville Town to give her a Pokemon any day.
It had all come as a shock for Serena. She had been so surprised at the sudden offer that she hadn't been able to quite shake herself out of it for the entire meal. When she was done eating, she had told her mother that she wanted to think about it before she had went to her room and went to bed early.
But Serena couldn't sleep. Now that she had time to be alone and think, she just couldn't stop thinking about the choice. Did she want to go on a journey? Yes. Oh yes, she wanted to go on a journey. But what would it mean for her? She would be leaving her home behind, the home that she had worked so hard to establish and make feel like a home to her. It had taken years for her to finally accept that Vaniville was her home now and not Pallet. Would going on a journey mean that she would throw all those years away?
She wanted to go on a journey. She really did, but at the same time it was a scary thought. She would be on her own, no mom to help her when she was having trouble with something and no friends to turn to in dire situations. Well, that wasn't entirerly true. She would always have her Pokemon with her.
Speaking of which, what Pokemon would she pick? When she had discussed it with Shauna this afternoon, she had said Fennekin, mostly to just have an answer for her friend but the more she thought about it, the more it felt like she really would pick Fennekin. Yes, that would probably be a good choice. Speaking of Shauna... how jealous wouldn't she be when she got to know that Serena was going to leave on a journey!
Grinning as she thought about what her friend's reaction would be like, she rolled over so she faced her bedside table, where Ash's handkerchief was laying. Even in the dark room, she could make it out by its color. She sighed as she looked at the cloth.
I did get to go after all Ash. It took me 5 years longer than we planned, but now I'm finally getting to go. she thought as she remembered the endless afternoons they used to spend in the forest outside of Pallet Town, just sitting around and talkning about how their journey would go once they left. They had been dreaming of travelling together. Ash was gonna challenge the Gyms in Kanto and become a Pokemon Master while Serena... well she was just happy that Ash wanted her to come with him.
Thinking of Ash, she found herself wondering if he ever did go on his journey? He probably did. He had always been the kind to never back down, no matter how many obstacles got in his way. He would have gone on his journey, with or without her. As she imagined a 10 year old Ash walk out through the gates of Pallet alone, Serena felt her heart constrict. It hadn't been supposed to be like that. They had been supposed to leave together. Why did it have to turn out this way?
As she rolled over to stare up at the ceiling, she found herself once again wondering what had become of Ash. How had his journey through Kanto been? Had he won the Indigo League? Had he become the Champion yet? And if he had finished his journey through Kanto, what had he done after that? Had he went to another region or had he redone his journey? Aaah! So many questions!
Needless to say, Serena didn't get much sleep that night.
-X-X-X-
After having spent the morning with a mother who kept embarrassing him and a Pokemon Journalist who seemed to have turned back into a gigglish little girl again, Ash was relieved when Professor Oak stopped their car to pick up Brock. Seeing his old friend standing with his backpack ready and classic hiking vest on his upper body, Ash couldn't help but feel nostalgic. When Brock climbed into the car and sat down beside him, he couldn't help but grin like and idiot.
"Hey Brock! Long time no see!" he said and held out his hand for Brock to take.
The former Pewter City Gym Leader grinned at the outstretched hand, but put his backpack down and fastened his seat belt before answering.
"It sure has. And it seems you have grown quite a bit in that time." he said as he took the hand and shook it.
Upon hearing Brock comment on his growth, Ash couldn't help but think back to the journey he had with Cilan and Iris. Had he really grown during that time? It sure didn't feel like it. Thinking about his so called "progress", Ash sunk back into his seat as Professor Oak drove away from the Pewter Gym and set their destination for the airport in Saffron City.
"I'm not so sure about that. I mean, I got eliminated from the Unova League pretty quickly." Ash said with a sullen look on his face. In his lap, Pikachu nudged him to try and snap him out of his bad mood, but Ash didn't even seem to notice him.
Brock studied his friend for a moment. He could see that during the year they had spent on different locations, Ash really had grown. He seemed to be much more critical towards himself than he was in the past. When he had just started out as a trainer, Brock remembered Ash to be almost as cocky as Gary and sometimes arrogant enough to rival Paul, though he had never pointed it out. In his own eyes, Ash could do nothing wrong and even though that attitude had faded away over time as Ash grew up, this was the first time Brock had seen him give himself critique.
"Yeah, I heard about that. But what I meant was your growth as a person, Ash."
Hearing this declaration, Ash looked up from his lap with a surprised look. In the front seat, Alexa turned slightly to look at them through the corner of her eye. In her lap, Helioptile was sleeping soundly.
"You lost in the quarter finals of the Unova Conference. So what? I mean, look at yourself Ash. It takes a mature person to accept that what happened might have been his own fault and not someone else's. But instead of charging head on into the next adventure like you have done in the past, you took the time to think twice about your actions and how you could have done thigns otherwise to have it turn out better next time. You told me so on the phone." Brock said with a rock hard look in his eyes.
Ash thought back to when he had just gotten home. He wouldn't call it a grown up's action to lock himself in his room and sulk, but in a way Brock did have a point. When he had lost in his earlier tournaments, he had never taken the time to stop for a second and question what had gone wrong and what he could have done differently.
"Well, I guess you got a point there." he said hesistantly.
Brock smiled as he put a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"Look, I know it feels weird to be referred to as mature when you still feel like you're the same kid, but you get used to it. I went through the same thing when I began taking care of my siblings when my dad and mom disappeared." he said.
In Ash's lap, Pikachu listened with interest as Brock went on to explain to Ash what it meant to grow up and how far along that line Ash had come. As the two friends discussed Ash's developments, catching up on lost time along the way, Pikachu tried to make sense of what Brock was suggesting. It sounded almost like Brock was saying that this was an entirerly new Ash and not the same one that had rescued him from that flock of angry Spearows for him all those years ago. Yeah, he no longer pulled Pikachu by the tail when he didn't do as he was told, but to Pikachu, Ash was still Ash, and always would be. Content with that thought, Pikachu curled up in his trainers lap and followed Helioptile's example. He fell asleep.
During the entire trip, Ash and Brock kept talking about things they had done during the past year and what their expectations were for the Kalos region. When they came to the latter, Alexa joined in on the conversation. When the Pokemon Journalist turned around so Brock could see her face, he immediately went into "love mode", as Ash had taken to calling it. He immediately sprung forward in his seat with hearts in his eyes and reached to grab her hand while mumbling nonsense.
Unfortunately for him, what he caught and pulled towards him was not Alexa's hand, but Helioptile's ear. Upon being awoken from being pulled by the ear by a stranger, Helioptile released a large amount of electricity, shocking Brock with his Thundershock. While Brock was being zapped by the startled Generator Pokemon, which was still being held by the ear, Ash leaned forward to explain to the confused Alexa that Brock always behaved like that with all girls his age or higher and that she shouldn't take his marriage proposal seriously.
After a few hours of driving, they finally arrived at the airport. Ash, Brock and Alexa got out their bags and backpacks respectively and said good bye to Professor Oak before making their way inside to try and find their plane. While Alexa was checking in her bag in the reception area, Ash and Brock was standing a few feet away, glancing at the screen that showed arriving and departing flights. As soon as Ash spotted the one that was leaving for Kalos in one hour, he said without turning to Brock.
"You know Brock? There is something in the air today."
"Huh?" Brock answered, confused.
Ash grinned for himself as he discreetly reached towards his left wrist with his right hand and touched the pink band he had tied around it.
"I can't really explain how or why, but I can somehow feel that this journey will be special in some way. Somehow, I know that no matter who I face or how many battles I will fight on this journey, I won't lose."
-X-X-X-
While the three travellers from Kanto was checking in their luggage at the airport to take the flight over to Kalos, Serena had just finished her breakfast. When she hadn't been able to sleep very well, she had thought that she might as well get up early and make her own breakfast, rather than wait for her mom. It had almost felt like in the old days, when she got up early to play with Ash. She was just finished when her mother came down into the kitchen with a surprised look on her face.
"Well, someone's up early." she commented.
Serena smiled as she put her plate in the dishwasher and turned towards her mom. Despite not having gotten much sleep the night before, she felt great! And what was more, she felt determined! She knew what she wanted to do and that filled her with a strange kind of satisfaction that she hadn't felt since she moved away from Kanto.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep. I was too excited to get to call Professor Sycamore today." she said.
Hearing this, her mother's eyes widened. The two of them eyed each other for a moment, before Serena said the words that had been hanging in the air between them.
"I have decided to go on a Pokemon journey, to find my place here in the world. I want to accept Professor Sycamore's offer to recieve a Pokemon."
A/N: So there you got it. The second reborn chapter of Serene Phoenix! As you may have noticed, some parts of it were almost completely unchanged from the original and the reason for that is that I simply don't see a reason to change them. And as you may have noticed, Brock is coming back into the story! I haven't closed the poll, but Brock got such a big support so fast that I really saw him as an obvious choice. Not to mention that he was also in the original. However, I want to point out that I am looking to have 4 characters, instead of the 3 I used in SPO (Serene Phoenix Original) so there is still room for one more. At this moment, I am leaning towards Shauna.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and while I do hope to update the others fast, don't expect this to be a standard pace. The first few chapters are the ones that will get the least editing since Dusk's not in them and I am not changing any events. You will notice later that some events will change, partly because of Dusk's involvement in them in SPO and partly because I just don't like them. Anyway, please leave a review to tell me what you think of this chapter and I would be pleased if you could tell me what you think of it in comparison to the original. I am doing this rewrite to improve the original story, so it would be kind of counterproductive if you guys think this is way worse than SPO! ;) Cheers guys! Mr Oakzzz, signing out!