Hello everyone! Chapter time!

I'm updating today since I just felt like it, even though it's not the weekend yet where I am. Enjoy!

Here's today's topic, which was suggested by a guest reviewer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Summer Camp

(Summer before) Grade Two

Ash (7), Gary (7), Leaf, (7), Misty (7)

Serena (7)

"But I don't want to go!" Serena, a young girl with honey-coloured hair and blue eyes, whined to her mother, Grace.

"Oh, come on, Seree-sweetie, it'll be fun!" Grace said merrily. "Many kids your age go to Professor Oak's Pokemon Summer Camp. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends!"

"But Mommy-!"

"Seree-dear, just try it! It won't be as bad as you think. Many of the kids are friendly! You'll be making friends in no time!"

Serena sulked as she continued walking on with her mother who was holding her hand. Her mother never seemed to understand! Serena was just not the outdoor-type of girl. She preferred looking at nice clothes, and baking, and dressing up, but her mother, well, her interests clashed.

Grace was a sporty, energetic woman, always up for a challenge, being a bit of a dare-devil, and not to mention the fact that she was a former Rhyhorn racer. She expected Serena to continue her legacy of becoming a first-place Rhyhorn racer, which was why she always made her get up early in the morning to practice, and pushed her into joining junior Rhyhorn races.

But not matter how much Serena tried to tell her, her mother couldn't understand that she did not want to be a racer. She was convinced she would learn to like it, which the little girl doubted.

And now, her mother was under the impression that Serena did not want to go to the one-week summer Pokemon camp because she was afraid she wouldn't make any friends. Granted, she was a quiet little girl who often shied away from meeting new people, but that wasn't it! She just didn't want to go to camp, where she would have to participate in outdoor activities, socialize with a crowd of hyper kids her age whom she didn't even know, and have to do stuff like that.

"Hello Professor Oak!" Grace greeted an elderly man, who greeted her warmly in return.

"Why hello there!"

"My name is Grace, and Serena here is going to be joining camp this week! Aren't you Serena? Say hi to Professor Oak!"

"H-hello!" Serena squeaked.

"Oh, I remember! Your mother signed you up for this camp, didn't she? Well, I can assure you, this will be a great experience!"

Serena stayed in doubtful silence while her mother continued talking to the man. Finally, the woman was waving to her daughter as she left. The blue-eyed girl gave a tiny wave back, but she felt quite alone, standing there with a small suitcase and her backpack in an unfamiliar place where she didn't know anyone.

"Well, Serena, why don't you go to your tent? You are in tent 5. We'll be camping outside when the weather permits, but we have cabins for when we can't. Do you need help?"

Professor Oak took her suitcase into one of the cabins (since the tents didn't have enough room) and led her to tent 5, where there was a group of other kids her age chatting. When the man left, Serena just stood off to the side, separate from everyone else.

She spotted a few here and there who looked familiar since they were from the same school as her, like the boy Trip, who was enthusiastically taking pictures with his digital camera. And then there were Ash and Gary, both from her class, who were in a group with two girls she did not recognize. Gary and Ash appeared to be arguing about something, while the two girls watched exasperatedly.

At least not everyone was a stranger. But Serena had never really talked to them directly before, and she wasn't comfortable in doing so right now either.

The day went by without too much occurring. Once everyone had arrived and was settled in, Professor Oak went through the basics of camp, like the rules, and what their plans were. He handed out schedules, and looking at them, it seemed the rest of the week was going to be much more eventful.

It began raining too, so they all went into the cabins instead of spending the day outside. Most of the kids were disappointed, but Serena was an exception. She would rather not spend the day running around outside. This week wasn't going to be very fun in her eyes.

"Make sure you stay with the group! These woods are not very deep, but you can still get lost!" Professor Oak said to everyone. It was the next day, and they were all out for a hike. Professor Oak was going to lead them through the woods to show them the many Pokemon that lived there.

They began walking, and Professor Oak proceeded to point out a Pidgey, and a Ratatta, and a Caterpie (which caused an orange-haired girl to scream).

Serena observed her surroundings, but she could instantly see the differences between her and the other kids. Everyone was so enthusiastic and energetic! It was clear they were all enjoying themselves, whereas she was only there because her mother made her.

She eyed the orange-haired girl, the one who was with Ash and Gary and a green-eyed girl. Now she looked like the kind of daughter her mother would want, with her sporty clothes and apparent love for athletics. She wondered if she would like Rhyhorn racing and going to camp better if she were like that orange-haired girl.

As they walked on, Serena noticed a flower. It wasn't just any flower. It looked particularly pretty, and stood out from the surrounding plants. The little girl paused to admire it. She liked the bright pink colour, and how it seemed to shine brightly in the small ray of sunlight that fell upon it. But she shouldn't get distracted. She had to keep going, so she didn't fall behind of the group.

But when she looked up, she was all alone.

"Cool! Another Weedle!" Ash exclaimed, running to the tree where the Pokemon was resting.

"Eep! Ash, stop running off like that! You're gonna get separated from the group!" his friend Misty called to him, not daring to run after him, since it would mean having to go closer to the bug.

"Hurry up, you guys!" Leaf urged. "We're falling behind!"

"Are you afraid we're gonna get lost, Leafy?" Gary teased. "I know the way through these woods! I always come in here with my grandpa!"

Leaf rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore him and his boastful claims. "Come on, you guys! The group's already so far ahead!"

The four quickly caught up with everyone else. Professor Oak had stopped walking, and was pointing out a small pond.

"See there, everyone? You can see many Pokemon around here. They come here to drink and cool off. Many bug-types and water-types like living in this area."

"Oooo, water-types?" Misty repeated excitedly. "Are there any around here right now?"

"Hm..." Professor Oak tried to spot movement, but failed. "It doesn't look like it right now. Do you guys want to wait and see if a Pokemon shows up, or- Hey look! Over there!" A water-type Pokemon had appeared.

"It's a Poliwag!" Misty announced.

"Wow, it's so cool!" Ash edged forward to get a closer look.

"Don't get too close, Ash," the scientist warned. At that moment, the Poliwag became startled by the boy's closeness, and jumped out of the water, escaping into the bushes.

"Hahaha!" Gary laughed. "You scared it away! Ash-boy is very scary looking!"

"I didn't even get to take a picture..." the boy named Trip mumbled.

Ash, however, was not dispirited. "It was just surprised!" he insisted. "I'm gonna go find it and make it my friend! You'll see!" Before anyone could stop him, he ran off after the Pokemon.

"Ash, wait!" The professor tried to catch up, but was too slow. "Don't go off like that on your own!" However, he was too late. The boy had already disappeared.

"Where is everybody? Where did you all go?" Serena was close to tears, as she turned this way and that, trying to find everyone else. But they were nowhere to be seen. And now, the area around her was looking unfamiliar as well. She was lost, and she knew it.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in a nearby bush, which startled her, causing her to fall and hurt her knee. But at the moment, she was terrified of whatever Pokemon might appear, with the possibility of it attacking her, to worry about her scrape.

"Huh?" A Poliwag jumped out. It looked around, before hopping off.

Now Serena felt lost and hurt as well, and her tears began to pour.

"I knew I didn't wanna come to camp!" she sobbed. "I knew it!" She couldn't help but yell out, "MOMMY!", as if her mother would somehow hear her and come to her rescue.

Suddenly, the same bushes were rustling again, and it looked like whatever was hidden behind them was much bigger than the Poliwag. She was scared to death, so she shut her eyes tightly. But then she heard a voice.

"Poliwag?" A boy with black hair stepped out, evidently searching for the Pokemon that had just left a few moments ago. When he saw the little girl, he was immediately distracted from his pursuit.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes to see who had appeared.

"Hi, I'm Ash! Who are you?" He gave her a smile, and his brown eyes shone with friendliness. Yes, she knew Ash from school, but they had never talked before now. And from the looks of it, Ash had not recognized her. Probably because she was always so quiet, and often went unnoticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly noticing how teary her eyes were.

"I hurt my leg," she answered in a shaky voice.

"Don't worry!" he assured her, pulling out a blue handkerchief. "See this? This'll make it better!"

He wrapped it around her knee while she watched on.

"All done!" he exclaimed as he made a knot. Serena tried to move her leg, but winced when it hurt. However, it seemed Ash was not done.

"Now watch this!" He moved his arms around over her knee as if casting a spell, and raised them in the air at the end, all the while saying, "Feel better, feel better, right away!"

Serena tried to move again, but without succeeding. "It still hurts, I can't stand up!"

Ash stood up in front of her, and held out his hand. "Don't give up till it's over, 'kay?" he advised. "Come on!"

She hesitantly held out her hand, which he took hold of, and pulled her to her feet. She blinked in surprise, and stared at the boy before her.

"There you go!" he said, giving her a toothy grin. "I think we should be getting back to the campsite, 'kay? Come on!"

Holding her hand, he began leading her to where the campsite apparently was.

"Thank you," Serena managed to mumble.

"Hey, no prob! I'm not too sure where the others are right now, since I sort of lost them when I went after Poliwag, but I'm sure the campsite is this way!"

"O-okay..."

However, it wasn't. They ended up in a clearing in the woods, but there was no one else there.

"Aw man! I was sure it was somewhere around here!" Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"We're lost! We can't find them!" Serena was starting to panic again. But the thought that she wouldn't be left all alone this time comforted her somewhat.

"Nah, I'm sure we will! Remember, don't give up till it's over, right? Hm, there's gotta be a way to know where they are..."

"BUGS!" A scream was heard from somewhere, and it brought a smile to Ash's face.

"That's Misty!" he exclaimed. "The others must be close! Come on, I think I heard it from this way!"

Still leading Serena by the hand, he hurried in the direction he had heard the voice. As they neared the area, they could hear Professor Oak, and some of Ash's friends, calling for Ash's name, and that led them closer. Finally, they arrived where the others were.

"Hi, everyone!" Ash exclaimed cheerfully, getting their attention. Serena let go of his hand, moving away, not wanting to be in the spotlight.

"Young man, it was very irresponsible that you to just run off like that! You could have gotten lost or hurt!" Professor Oak scolded.

"Did you make friends with Poliwag?" Gary teased. "Or were you too scary for it?"

"Oh yeah, Poliwag! I forgot all about it!"

"Seriously?" Misty raised an eyebrow. "How did you forget about it? Wasn't that the whole reason you ran off in the first place?"

"Yeah, but then I found a girl who was hurt, and I was looking for you guys with her."

"A girl?" Leaf cocked her head curiously. "Who?"

"Right here!" Ash turned around to where Serena was standing. Or had been standing. She had joined the rest of the group again, not wanting to draw attention to herself, or get scolded for being separated from the group like Ash had been. She was watching Ash and his friends talk from afar.

"Well, Ashy-boy? Where is she?" Gary inquired, smirking, sure that Ash was just making it up.

"Hm, I don't know. She was right here, really! Her name was... Wait, she didn't tell me her name!"

"You were just imagining things, Ash!"

"No, I wasn't!"

Gary and Ash began having an argument, which lasted the rest of the hike. Serena, though, couldn't help but think of how nice the boy had been. Never give up till it's over, he had said. Maybe she shouldn't give up on the fact that camp might not turn out to be that bad.

Later that night, they were all back at the campsite, with tents set up, and a bonfire which they all sat around, roasting marshmallows.

Serena smiled to herself as she watched Ash stick multiple marshmallows on his stick, enthusiastically telling one of his friends about how eating a bunch of marshmallows at once tasted better than just one.

Maybe, with friendly campers like him, this week wouldn't be too bad, she thought as she nibbled her own marshmallow. She glanced at the handkerchief which was still wrapped around her knee.

Well, she had decided that she wasn't going to give up on this week just yet.

When I got a suggestion to do a camping chapter, this scene from the anime came into my mind. It seemed to fit! And thus, the chapter was written!

Please review, and thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a magnificent day, and smile all the way! :)