Serena's eyes furrowed as Ash's Pokémon were getting closer to obtaining the ribbon on Absol. Hawlucha was weakened due to the recoil of its high jump kick attack earlier so Serena had that going for her but Melmetal was still tanking on.
Delphox was reaching her limit as her fur was all roughed up and dirty while Pangoro was still strong enough to go on the offensive as he tried to keep Melmetal at bay.
Ash smiled as he crossed his arms.
"You've gotten way stronger than the last time we battled."
Serena glanced at him and smiled with pride. "I have to give some thanks to my mentor."
"Who mentored you?" Ash asked curiously.
"She would be the champion of Kalos herself," Serena answered bluntly.
"Diantha."
Ash's grinned in excitement as now he knew Serena was more of a formidable battler. He knew that Kalos trainers had a speciality of using strategy when it comes to their battles. Trainers of Kanto were mostly about overpowering and overwhelming their opponent with brute strength. This was going to be an interesting battle to see the least.
"Melmetal!" Ash yelled out. "Use Double Iron Bash on Delphox!"
Melmetal acknowledged its trainer as it punched its iron fists together before accelerating to tornado-like spin toward Serena's Pokémon.
Serena sweat-dropped as she had to think of a way to stop the upcoming attack but then she remembered that Melmetal is weak against fire. If she could somehow stop Melmetal's movement, she can have Delphox to release a fire-based attack.
She suddenly had an idea.
"Pangoro! Halt Melmetal's movement in any way you can!" She called out in slight desperation.
Pangoro gritted its teeth as it looked like it was preparing to stop Melmetal's spin. He raised his arms out as he ran toward Melmetal but the moment Pangoro came into contact with the mythical Pokémon, he was struck with a hammer fist of steel to the face. The dark-type Pokémon was launched slightly in the air giving Melmetal's Double Iron Bash an opening to hit Pangoro's stomach area causing him to fall on his back. Pangoro however, hunched back up to the fighting stance.
Melmetal was still on the offensive with its attack and went toward Pangoro. This time however Pangoro was more cautious and able to halt Melmetal for a moment. Two strongly built Pokémon in an equal stance as they held their fists in a stalemate with them trying to push each other to no avail.
Serena took advantage of the time she had and told Delphox to use Fire Blast. This took Melmetal by surprise as a wave of fire was hurtling toward it. Pangoro got away in a split of a second to avoid the attack with Melmetal taking all of it. Once the flames cleared, Melmetal was badly burned but was still standing. Delphox and Pangoro tiredly regrouped near Absol.
Ash was impressed. He suddenly took out Melmetal's Pokéball and recalled it, leaving Hawlucha on the battlefield.
"Hey, Serena?" The raven haired teenager spoke as he straightened out his hat.
"Hm?" Serena hummed in response.
"How about we do a one against one? I would like to have a traditional battle with you if that's ok." Ash proposed.
Serena thought about it, if it was gonna be a 1v1 she would probably send out her most unpredictable, maybe even her strongest Pokémon of her team. She would accept it.
Serena recalled Delphox and Pangoro before walking toward Absol. She carefully untied the ribbon from Absol and petted her before returning her to her Pokéball.
Serena then draws her attention at Ash with a determined look.
"I accept." She said, "But first I need to get ready."
The Kalos Queen then looked at her satchel and walked out of the dome battlefield leaving Ash and the rest of the gang bewildered.
"Where is she going?" Goh asked Chloe but she only gave a shrug. Dawn and May looked at each other with puzzled looks.
Serena sensed the confusion so she looked back and assured them she'll be back soon.
They all waited for Serena but luckily it wasn't long as she returned in new clothing attire. It seemed to be a special attire that she usually wears on nice occasions. It was predominantly dark clothing with gray and black colors. It was a turtle neck shirt with separate sleeves that showed her shoulders. She had leggings with the same brown boots from earlier and a big sun hat.
"Alright Ash, let's begin." Serena provoked as she reached for one of her Pokéballs. Ash agreed as Hawlucha got into its stance.
"You ready Hawlucha?" Ash asked his fighting type Pokémon.
Hawlucha glanced back and flexed his biceps signaling he was.
Serena looked at the Pokéball she was holding and smiled. She threw it out into the field and then it opened.
It was Serena's wild card.
Mr. Rime.
"Hehep!" The dancing Pokémon cheered as it tapped its cane on the ground.
Dawn blinked before whispering to May. "Ya know I can't tell if the head of Mr. Rime is the actual face."
May nodded and said her thoughts about it. "The face might actually be at the torso area or could have two faces."
"Now that's unique." Dawn said amusingly.
Aah stared at the Pokémon Serena just sent out and started to remember his battle with Leon's Mr. Rime, on how brutal the physical attacks were. The clown-like Pokémon also reminded him of Mimey back at home as well. He could already tell he was going to have a lot of fun.
"Didn't expect me to have a Mr. Rime did you?" Serena quipped, putting her hand on the side of her hip.
Ash slowly shook his head. "I'm not sure what to think but I bet having Mr. Rime was an interesting story."
"That's one way to put it." Serena chuckled, "Are you ready Mr. Rime?"
Mr. Rime answered by hoisting his cane over its head.
"Rime!"
And so they began their friendly match but neither of them knew that a fan was secretly broadcasting the battle live near the entrance.
At Lumiose Tower...
"I wonder where Serena and Ash went." Professor Kukui wondered out loud as walked toward a fogged up window.
"Probably battling." Leon randomly pointed out.
Kukui raised a brow at him. "What makes you say that?"
"Oh I'm just watching a broadcast of them battling." Leon answered as he pulled up the Rotom-phone to show the professor.
Professor Kukui sighed in amusement.
"Why am I not surprised that Ash would do this on their first da-"
Suddenly a door opened to the room they were in and it was actually Diantha who barged in.
"Have you seen the live broadcast?" Diantha asked intently.
"Yeah." Both said at the same time.
"My dear Serena is battling your student Professor Kukui."
The Professor nodded slightly. "They must be having a good time then."
Back to the Battlefield Dome...
"Hawlucha use flying press!" Ash commanded.
"Swift dodge it!" Serena yelled out.
As Hawlucha was about to make contact with the tap dancer, Mr. Rime jumped out of the way and landed on its head. Mr. Rime chuckled as if he was mocking Hawlucha.
"Rime Rime." The comedian Pokémon chanted.
"Haw-cha" the wrestling Pokémon grunted.
Both Ash and Serena were so enthralled in their battle that they didn't know they started to make an audience. It was all thanks to the live broadcast that led many people to come through the doors to watch the whole battle. May, Dawn, Chloe, and Goh were not too thrilled as they just wanted this to be secluded and watch their friends battle it out.
"Looks like we got company." Chloe grumbled a bit.
"At least they're not interrupting the battle." Goh reassured her.
"That's true." Chloe sighed as she moved her head more on her partner's shoulder.
"Your Mr. Rime is a tricky one." Ash stated.
"He definitely is." Serena agreed before giving another command to Mr. Rime.
"Mr. Rime use triple Axel!."
The ice-psychic type Pokémon nodded and ran toward Hawlucha at full speed to act upon the attack. It landed a hit and another but missed the third hit as Hawlucha quickly moved out of the way in time.
"Hawcha!" The bird-like Pokémon winced, holding his shoulder.
"Rime Rime." The Galarian Pokémon bellowed.
"Diantha taught you a good deal of strategy right?" Ash quipped.
"Yup." Serena answered as she brushed some of her short locks back.
"That's good but I can't help but feel that you are not going all out," Ash started before continuing on "Your Mr. Rime has a lot of potential with the tactical side." Ash stated as he crossed his arms.
Serena gulped and her mind ran.
'How can he tell?'
'Wait he's the World Monarch, of course he would notice!'
As Serena was trying to come up with a reason, Ash stopped her by speaking first.
"Are you nervous battling me and my Pokémon?" Ash asked, not really sure what to say at the moment.
Serena blinked before waving her hands
"No no no, you and your Pokémon are strong, a bit too strong..." she whispered that last part before raising her voice again.
"But the truth is that Mr. Rime can be a bit unpredictable at times and I'm still getting used to this whole battling thing..." Serena confessed.
"I see," Ash said. "Well I want you to go all out against me and what is better to start right at the top!" He chanted with his arms stretched out. This caused the audience in the background to hype up a bit.
The Kalos Queen began to think even more. He was right, she should go all out against the top. She could learn her weak points and work her way to that peak. This would be a good learning experience.
"You're right." She started. "From here on out I'll go all out."
"That's the spirit." He spoke, clenching his fist.
As the audience grew larger in the Battlefield Dome the more likely the media coverage were to come soon. Ash and Serena were still giving commands to their respective Pokémon.
"I never expected our Kalos Queen to go against the Monarch." One man in the audience said.
"That Mr. Rime is insane!" A kid yelled out.
The entrance doors slammed open as the press finally arrived and began to record the scene with their cameras and microphones ready to go.
"Do they know the dome can actually open up?" A cameraman asked his manager who was busy writing something on a clipboard.
"I don't believe so." He hummed before looking at another employee."You there, go switch the panel from closed to open over there please." He directed, pointing at a control panel.
The employee nodded before walking toward the panel to pull the switch down.
In an instance the ceiling began to open up like a hatch, revealing the atmosphere outside. Heavy snowfall and shivering wind poured into the battlefield within seconds. The audience looked in awe with Ash and Serena stopping their battle to see the new night sky above.
Serena reached her hand to catch the snowflakes before grasping it. She now had the advantage of the field. The Honey-blonde looked at Mr. Rime before calling out an attack.
"I learned this one from watching your battle with Leon all those years ago." She announced.
"Mr. Rime use Freeze-Dry!"
With that, Mr. Rime spinned happily as he aimed his ice cane at Hawlucha and fired the ice attack.
"Hawlucha!" Ash called out knowing full well that the attack is unavoidable.
Once Freeze-Dry came into contact with one of Hawlucha's wings, it froze the Kalos-native Pokémon to the point it was immobilized.
Since Hawlucha wasn't able to make a move, Serena made Mr. Rime activate Psychic Field giving him an advantage in terms of power.
"Gotcha!" Serena smirked as she told Mr. Rime to do a one more physical attack to take out Hawlucha.
"Finish this Mr. Rime!"
Mr. Rime danced toward the frozened Pokémon and prepared its attack. The Clown Pokémon raised its cane over its shoulder like a baseball bat before pummeling it toward Hawlucha in a blink of an eye. The ice shattered into thousands of shards with Hawlucha being launched into the air and fell heavily back onto the ground. Hawlucha struggled to fully get back up but was able to hold its head above the ground. What the feathery Pokémon saw was something that made it fearful.
The cold icy glare of Mr. Rime's eyes.
The Galarian Pokémon skipped away as Hawlucha got back up. Hawlucha was badly damaged but still had that determined look.
Serena's expression turned from a confident one to a surprised one.
"Your team is truly incredible Ash." She said,
"They definitely are." Ash agreed. "Hawlucha now use Thunder punch!"
Hawlucha howled as he flew into the chilling cold air with a fist hurtling toward Mr. Rime.
"Too fast!" Serena exclaimed in worry. "Mr. Rime dodge it now!"
Unfortunately for the Kalos Queen, Mr. Rime was not fast enough to avoid the punch as Hawlucha came in flying in at full force driving his fist against the belly of Mr. Rime which caused the comedian Pokémon to fly back as it bounced off the ground like a bouncy ball.
"Rime!" Serena called out.
"Hawcha!" The fighting Pokémon flexed.
Mr. Rime grunted as it hoisted itself back up. Serena smiled in relief knowing Mr. Rime was able to take a direct hit. The dancing Pokémon gave a sharp glare to its opponent. Mr. Rime held its cane like a sword with another hand making a beckoning sign to come near, causing Hawlucha to get annoyed.
"I will not lose this battle." Serena stated as she tightened her sleeved glove and held it to her chest where her heart would be.
"Mr. Rime use Triple Axel once more!" She commanded as she swiped her arm forward.
Mr. Rime nodded and began to approach the weakened Hawlucha. The clown Pokémon jumped in the air and harshly kicked Hawlucha in the torso area and came back around to kick the lower back. Finally Mr. Rime went for Hawlucha's head and made a full swing kick right down on the face, this caused Hawlucha to take a fall forward with its head hitting the ground first.
After a few seconds, Hawlucha yet again stood right back up but that was all it could do as a minute later he finally fainted with Ash recalling him and thanking him.
The audience gasped and went silent. No one made a sound until an applause was heard coming from the Champion of Alola himself.
"You battled amazingly Serena!" Ash cheered as he clapped his hands.
The audience followed suit and cheered for the Kalos Queen. Serena looked and saw all of the cheering the people made and she began to think.
'This feels different.' Serena thought deeply on how her battling brought smiles to people. Before she could dwell more into her thoughts, the press were already surrounding her.
"Miss Serena, how does it feel to defeat one of the Monarch's Pokémon?" A reporter asked while pushing a microphone up to her face.
This made her a bit uncomfortable but thankfully Mr. Rime used his Psychic abilities to move her and friends away from the people. They flew up a few feet in the night sky until they couldn't see the crowd anymore. Mr. Rime would then gently place them on the ground.
Serena smiled gratefully at her Pokémon before walking toward the ice-psychic type. She bent down and held her fist out. Mr. Rime also made the same gesture and they proceeded to do a fist bump. Upon seeing that fist bump, Ash was beginning to see the similarities between him and Serena of how they both cared deeply for their friends and Pokémon, no wonder he started to fall for her.
He kept on thinking in his head that he didn't realize that something caught on his foot. It seemed to be a hook of a cane made out of ice. Ash blinked and then in the next second he was pulled off the ground. He expected to fall face first but it never came. Apparently Mr. Rime caught the cloak to stop Ash from falling to the ground. Mr. Rime chuckled at his playful prank as he thought it was funny but his trainer...not so much.
"Mr. Rime!" A displeased Serena yelled out causing Mr. Rime to panic. The Pokémon quickly rolled Ash back to his feet before patting away the nonexistent dust off his clothes. It was slightly unnerving of how this Pokémon can have this many human characteristics.
"Don't do that again." The honey-blonde said in a stern voice.
Mr. Rime bowed his head meticulously to apologize to both Ash and Serena. Ash couldn't help but find it a bit funny at the rare situation. Seeing Serena angry was a rare sight to see but he had to admit it was attractive.
He should probably stop thinking now.
"It's alright Rimey." She sighed while taking out a Pokéball. "You did amazing today."
Mr. Rime made an expression of joy as it swirled his cane and tipped his hat-like head. The clown Pokémon tapped the Pokéball and off he went.
"Well I'd say tonight was fun don't you think?" Goh asked, with everyone nodding in agreement.
"Yup." May stated as she looked at the night sky. "Well me and Dawn should be going soon, we wouldn't want to be late for our practice routine."
Dawn nodded in agreement.
"Yeah we have to practice for the upcoming festival here." She said,
"Aww leaving already?" Chloe spoke up.
"Yeah it was purely a coincidence that you saw us at the mall." May responded before looking at Ash and Serena.
"You two have fun on the rest of your date." She chuckled softly.
"We will." The couple said in unison.
"Well, we'll be on our way, see you guys later!" Dawn waved and began to walk with May.
"To be honest." Goh started as he scratched the back of head. "Me and Chloe were also going to part ways with you two to look around the shops here in Kalos."
"Yeah, the fashion here is incredible." Chloe added before locking arms with Goh.
"Oh ok." Serena said as she began to hold hands with Ash.
"Alright, and Chloe?" Ash asked the marooned-haired girl.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure to keep an eye out for Goh, you know how he is with catching new Pokémon." Ash bluntly stated.
"Hey-" Goh felt called out and ready to defend himself only for Chloe to hush him.
"I've been dating him for almost a two years, I'll do just fine." Chloe stated confidently as she pulled Goh away and began to walk in the opposite direction.
Ash and Serena just stood there and looked at each other.
"I believe it's time for us to go to a nearby Pokémon Center." Serena told Ash.
"Yup." Ash nods.
At the Pokémon Center...
"Thank you for waiting, your Pokémon are fully healed." Nurse Joy smiled as she gave Ash and Serena their respective Pokémon back.
"Thank you." Ash said with Serena repeating the same statement.
"Well, where to next?" Serena asked Ash.
Ash scratched his chin. "I do have one more surprise for you."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"Follow me and you'll find out your majesty." He winked, trying his best with the tactics of flirting or something like that.
That caused Serena to turn a shade of red. However, she wasn't a little girl who could be easily flustered anymore so she decided to hit back with her own remark.
"Well, the job of The Queen's Champion is to make sure to follow the Queen's order, isn't that right?" Serena stated proudly before continuing on her little charade.
"And right now, I want my handsome knight to provide my path to whatever surprise he holds." She finished.
She then poked Ash's nose leaving him in daze as she walked toward the entrance.
"Are you going to show me your surprise or not?" She snickered.
"Huh? O-Oh right!" Ash snapped out of his stupor before catching up to Serena. The idol of Hoenn couldn't help but giggle at Ash's behavior.
After a while Ash led Serena into a tall building full of Pokémon merch. As Serena was peeking around the merchandise, Ash went over by the cashier and whispered something with them. They nodded when Ash backed off. After that Ash quickly took Serena's hand and strolled to an elevator.
"Ash, what exactly are you planning?" Serena asked in confusion.
"Don't worry, we'll be there soon." He said in a cryptic manner and he pressed the button to the roof.
The elevator moved up and soon enough the doors slid open with a gush of cold air hitting them. Serena held onto Ash's arm when they began to stroll to the edge of the rooftop. They stopped and looked at the city view.
It was peaceful and calm but a bit too quiet.
"Ash, I'm not sure what's going on." She said in a hushed tone.
Ash looked at her with a toothy grin before looking at his watch.
"They're here." He announced as a huge wave of wind mixed in with snow blew over them. The sudden push caused Serena to shield herself with her arms instinctively with Ash just standing with his arms folded behind his back. Once everything went settled down, she opened her eyes to see a familiar Pokémon flying above her.
"Corvi..." the steel armored bird rasped as flew behind the couple with it landing with a noise that sounded like heavy armor clanking around.
"Hey lovebirds!" The taxi man waved excitedly as he launched himself down from his saddle.
Serena blinked as she didn't expect this at all. Ash waved happily as he ambled to talk with Corviknight caretaker. She couldn't make out what they were saying but the only words she managed to pick out was "did you get it?" and "will it work?" She was beyond confused with the whole matter but she straightened up and walked toward them. The moment Ash saw Serena he swiftly opened the carriage door and gestured her to go in like a gentleman. She smiled at the raven-haired teenager and got inside. When she got inside, it seemed like the whole inside of the taxi was refurbished with beautiful lights and newly implanted cushioned seats with heating.
"Thanks to your boyfriend here, I was able to fix up the old taxi." He said while putting his thumb to Ash. "I'm really grateful for his generosity."
"It was nothing really." Ash uttered as he got inside of the taxi.
"Whatever ya say lad." The taxi man closed the door and secured it. He hoisted himself right back on Corviknight to start the short journey to the next destination. He adjusted his goggles as well as fixing his trapper hat.
"Onward Corviknight!" He commanded.
Corviknight roared it hooked its claws around the taxi carriage bar and began to fly into the sky.
To be continued...
Author's note:
I have a Twitter which is @ Rotoscare if you are curious on more updates for this fanfic! this story had zero beta readers this entire time I've been writing this lol and this my first fanfic. I'd say I'm doing ok