Chapter Ten: Two Meetings
Cerulean City was very different from Pewter City. It seemed to take its tagline of 'a beautiful city with flowing water and blooming flowers' very literally, as there were fountains and flowerbeds scattered throughout the city, not to mention its lighthouse and port, though unlike the port in Vermilion City, this one was only a container port. And, despite being some distance out of the city proper, there was the Cerulean Cape to the north, overlooking the ocean.
After a quick stop at the police station to warn them about Team Rocket's presence at Mt. Moon, Serena and Ash had headed out to get her registered for the Exposition, only to find that the registration wouldn't even open for another day, even though the calendar said it should have opened a day prior to their arrival.
Instead, they were now heading towards the Gym, and Serena was feeling a bit conflicted about it. On one hand, she really wanted to meet Misty. Ash had shared plenty of stories about his travels and the friends he'd made there, and Misty had of course come up several times during her travels in Kanto as well. On the other, she was ashamed to admit that she felt a bit jealous.
She knew she probably shouldn't, since even though she liked Ash, he'd never really confirmed one way or another how he felt about her. Nor, for that matter, had he ever conclusively admitted to liking Misty. In short, she knew she was being irrational by feeling the way she did, which annoyed her even further. Ash gave no indication of having noticed anything, but judging by the way Pikachu had looked at her a couple of times, he had certainly noticed it.
They reached the Gym and entered, and for a moment Serena thought they'd entered a swimming pool by mistake because of the smell of chlorine. Surely that couldn't be good for Pokémon, right?
"Hey Ash, what took you so long? Don't tell me you lost to Brock the first time around," someone said, and Serena looked up to see Misty approaching them, recognizing her from pictures Ash had shown from his older travels.
"Hey Misty!" Ash said, and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, happily running over to Misty to greet her. "Nope, I beat him first try, just like I'll do to you."
Misty looked up from petting Pikachu with a confident grin. "Oh? Big words from someone who got his badge out of pity," she said.
"I was winning that fight and you know it," Ash said.
For a moment the two of them glared at each other, and Serena wondered if they were actually getting angry, but then they both burst out laughing.
"It's great to see you again, Misty," Ash said, now walking over to greet her properly.
"Yeah, it's really been far too long," Misty agreed, putting Pikachu back down so he could go back to Ash.
She looked at Serena and said, "Hi! I'm Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader — though I'm sure Ash already told you that."
Serena nodded and said, "He did. My name is Serena. I'm here to compete in the Exposition."
Misty grinned. "Nice! Sorry about the registration not being open yet. I had some…last minute changes I wanted to make to the Exposition, and while Nikolaos agreed to them it did mean we needed a slightly different venue on short notice."
"What did you want changed?" Ash asked curiously.
"Well…I wanted to enforce the 'Location' part of the Location Round a bit more, so I want half the stage to be a pool, which the communal battle stadium can't do. The Gym can do it, but it doesn't have the seating capacity. So now they're setting up a temporary battlefield at the docks just for the Location Round. The Showoff Round's still just in the communal battle stadium, though."
"Isn't that…incredibly expensive?" Serena asked.
Misty nodded. "It is. But the Expositions are pretty heavily funded, apparently, so the money wasn't an issue. I think Nikolaos got both Silph and Devon to sponsor it somehow," she said.
("Wouldn't a lot of participants withdraw if they suddenly have to deal with a half water-field just for their appeal round?") Pikachu asked.
Misty shrugged. "That's their problem. It's meant to be a challenge, isn't it? Besides, I'm just doing everyone with Water Pokémon a favor."
("Still as biased as ever, then, got it,") Pikachu said.
Misty made a victory sign and said, "Guilty as charged."
Serena wondered how she would be able to use the water field to her advantage. None of her Pokémon were Water-types, and they didn't have any Water-type moves, either. She was beginning to realize what Nikolaos had meant by 'choosing your battles' in the Exposition Exposition. Even so, she wasn't about to give up without trying, and she knew her Pokémon wouldn't, either. She'd probably think of something.
"So Ash," Misty said, shaking Serena from her thoughts, "Brock told me you're retaking the entire Kanto Gym trip, not just the ones you got out of pity. Why?"
Ash shrugged. "Because it's good practice," he said.
Misty's eyes briefly flicked to Serena and then back to Ash. Serena only noticed it because she'd been keeping an eye on Misty as well. "That's it?" Misty asked.
"Of course it is," Ash said with a puzzled expression. "What else would it be?"
Misty shook her head with a faint smile. "Yeah, I don't know why I asked, really," she said, though she looked simultaneously relieved and a bit disappointed.
Or was Serena just seeing things? Was she expecting Misty to like Ash, to surreptitiously interrogate him about his motivations when he was traveling with another girl? And why had Ash's answer disappointed her, too? She was getting far too paranoid, and this wasn't the time for that. She needed to start to think about what she was going to do in the Location Round, not waste time worrying about nothing.
"Hey, um, you said the Location Round would be held at the docks, right?" Serena asked to change the subject.
Misty nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Can I go and check out the field? That way I'll know what I have to work with for the performance," Serena asked.
"You can, starting tomorrow," Misty said. "They're still getting the finishing touches ready, that's why we kept registration closed for now."
She turned back to Ash. "So, Ash, want to have our battle right now?" she asked. "Because I'm ready anytime."
Ash laughed. "I'd love to, but let's do it after the Exposition is over. I want to help Serena prepare. I just came to say hi today, really," he said.
Misty shrugged and said, "Your choice. I'll use those extra days to prepare my team, though. You won't know what hit you."
"Likewise," Ash said with a grin.
Misty looked at Pikachu. "Our deal still stands, right?"
("Of course. I'll be on the sidelines,") Pikachu said.
Misty gave him a thumbs-up. "You're the best," she said.
("I know,") Pikachu said cheekily.
"Well, we're heading over to the Pokémon Center," Ash said. "See you at the Exposition, Misty."
"Yeah, see you there," Misty said. She looked at Serena and added, "Good luck with the preparations. I'm sure you'll come up with something good."
She sounded casual, but her smile looked a bit forced.
Serena smiled back and said, "Thanks. I'll show you a great performance."
("Did it get chillier in here just now?") Pikachu asked idly.
By the time they reached the Pokémon Center, Serena had just about curbed her annoyance at her own annoyance, and when she and Ash were eating dinner, the atmosphere was light and happy, like it usually was.
Then, out of nowhere, something small and blue came running up to the table, chattering loudly. Serena looked up and saw it was a Piplup, but before she could comment on it, the Piplup's Trainer came running up behind it.
"Get back here, you little runaway! What did I tell you about– Ash! Hey!"
Serena recognized this girl from pictures as well. Dawn, a Coordinator and another former traveling companion of Ash's. The uneasy feeling she'd successfully repressed after leaving the Gym now came back in force.
"Dawn, hey!" Ash said. "And hello to you, too, Piplup."
Piplup happily chattered something to him and then allowed Dawn to pick him up again.
"You're here for the Exposition, I think?" Ash asked.
Dawn nodded. "Yep. I tried to register, but it was still closed for some reason. And you? Exposition as well?"
Then she seemed to notice Serena, because she said, "Oh, sorry! I'm Dawn, and this is my partner Piplup, nice to meet you!"
"I'm Serena; I'm here for the Exposition too," Serena said.
"Oh, cool! Are you a Coordinator too, then?" Dawn asked.
Serena shook her head. "No, I'm normally a Performer. I'm from Kalos, you see."
Dawn nodded understandingly. "Ah, I see. That's where you met Ash, then, I think? Traveled the region with him and saved the world?" she asked.
Serena giggled in spite of herself. "Yeah, that about sums it up," she said.
"You know," Dawn said to Ash with a shake of her head, "I haven't been in mortal peril even once since I started traveling on my own. Are you just a magnet for trouble, or something?"
Ash chuckled sheepishly. "I think I might be," he said. "We ran into Team Rocket again on the way here, too."
Dawn groaned. "Those guys are still following you around? Wow."
She looked from Ash to Serena and said, "Mind if we join you for dinner? We can talk about the Exposition a bit, unless you want to keep your routine a secret."
"Actually, I don't have a routine yet," Serena said. "I wanted to go and check the field out tomorrow to see what it's like."
"Isn't it just at the stadium?" Dawn asked.
"No, Misty had it moved to the docks because she wanted the field to be half water," Ash said.
Piplup said something and laughed maniacally. Dawn, Ash, and Pikachu sheepishly laughed along with him.
"What did he say?" Serena asked, a bit stung that she was the only one not in on the joke.
"Oh, the usual, there's no stopping him now, blah blah blah," Dawn said with a wave of her hand and sitting down next to Ash.
Piplup said something and Dawn replied, "Of course I came to win too, but just because you're a Water-type doesn't mean you'll win. I mean, what if Serena has three Water-types?"
She looked at Serena. "Do you?" she asked curiously.
Serena shook her head. "None, actually. I have Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon," she said.
"Ooh, can I meet them? I've never seen any of those Pokémon," Dawn said eagerly.
"I…guess?" Serena said uncertainly, before calling out her Pokémon.
"They're all so adorable!" Dawn said, and Serena was reminded of Delia's reaction to her team.
So was Pancham, apparently, because he said, ("Oh, not you too! I'm cool, not adorable!")
"Hehe, sorry, bit sensitive about it?" Dawn asked.
"You understood him?" Serena asked, surprised. "I thought you'd never met a Pancham before."
Dawn shook her head. "I haven't, it's just…you know how Ash can understand Pokémon really well? Well, I can do that too. I can't understand him like I can understand Piplup, I just…know what he means. It helps that he's so clear about it, though; it's not always that obvious."
"I…see," Serena said.
"Here, I'll show you my friends. Come on out, everyone!" Dawn said, and aside from Piplup, five other Pokémon appeared. Mamoswine nearly crushed the table next to theirs with his bulk.
"Oh. Oops," Dawn said, looking very much like Ash did when he did something impulsive. The other Pokémon were a Buneary, who immediately blushed when she saw Pikachu, a Pachirisu, a Quilava, and a Togekiss, who actually bowed politely to Serena in greeting.
"That's a varied team," Serena said.
Dawn nodded. "I've been doing Contests with them for around three years. I wonder how they'll do in an Exposition. This is my first one. Did you participate in the last one?" she asked.
Serena nodded slowly. "I did, but…it didn't go so well," she said.
("That's not entirely true,") Braixen said. ("We did really well in the Location Round.")
"Braixen disagrees?" Dawn asked.
Serena nodded. "Yeah. We were actually ranked first after the Location Round, but we got destroyed in the Showoff Round. That's not going to happen again, though. We've been training hard and Ash has been helping so much," she said.
Dawn smiled. "That's Ash, alright. He always helped me with my Contests, too. So Ash, you never did say if you were going to participate as well," she said.
Ash shook his head. "Not here. I'll definitely try one, but I'm here to challenge Misty to a Gym battle. I'm doing the Indigo League again."
"I saw you got second in the Kalos League, so I bet you've been training really hard," Dawn said.
Ash nodded. "We have. This time, I'm definitely winning the League. And on the way there, I'm cheering for Serena in her Expositions too," he said.
"So who'll you be cheering for if Serena and I end up facing each other in the Exposition?" Dawn asked slyly.
Serena had really hoped Dawn wouldn't ask that question, but she had to admit that a part of her was curious what the answer would be.
"I helped Serena prepare for this one, so obviously I'll be cheering for her, but if you win I'll support you for the remainder of the Exposition," Ash said with a grin.
For some reason, much of Serena's bad mood seemed to vanish when he said that. Ash would be cheering for her, against Dawn…
Dawn laughed. "That's fair," she said. "I wouldn't cheer against someone I helped train for a competition, either."
They spent rest of the evening talking about the various things they'd done and seen on their journeys, and for some reason talking to Dawn felt far less awkward to Serena than talking to Misty had done. Maybe it was just because Dawn didn't seem to feel any jealousy whatsoever that Ash would be cheering for Serena. Whatever the reason was, Serena was glad about it. She spent enough time worrying about Misty both before coming here and since arriving, and she didn't need paranoia about another girl to add to it. She glanced over her shoulder, half expecting Miette to suddenly show up, but fortunately that didn't happen.
When they went to their rooms at the end of the night, Serena and Dawn agreed to go and register for the competition together the next day, and then check out the field, but then they'd split up to work on their appeals.
When Serena lay in her bed a bit later, she was already looking forward to the Exposition. Somehow, having a sort-of rival made things even more interesting…
Okay, just for clarity: I don't really intend to have any jealousy be a major part of the fic. I'm only adding this in because, well, I feel it would be in-character and it'll be resolved semi-quickly anyway. Also, Serena and Misty don't actually dislike each other. I know that that seems a bit doubtful, but they don't.
Oh, and Pikachu and Misty's 'agreement' really isn't anything from canon. I established that Pikachu wouldn't fight Misty back in chapter two or three or something, and that is quite literally the only source for it. It makes things easier for me, so it's in the fic, basically.