"Oh, Ash!" sang Serena from the entrance to Professor Oak's lab field.
Ash turned and smiled at her from where he was petting a few of his buddies. "Hey, Serena! Over here!" Then went back to scratching under chins and behind ears. (It was very serious and important business.)
He saw Pancham and Sylveon running past him, off to play with his other Pokémon. Delphox followed at a more subdued pace, skipping a little.
And then Serena sat next to him on the grass. She held out her hand for Gible to sniff.
"Gible, be nice," Ash warned. The tiny dragon-type looked up at him with big sad eyes as if to say, "I have never once misbehaved in my entire life." Ash squinted at him.
Serena giggled and smoothed her hand over Gible's head. "What a sweetheart," she cooed, and Gible cuddled right up to her. She looked up at Ash as she pulled out her brush. "Have you told everyone about Professor Sycamore's Garchomp?"
He hadn't! That had been right at the very beginning of his Kalos journey, which he hadn't talked about much in favor of talking about the Lumiose Conference and all that came after it, and he could see that all the Pokémon around them (more had gathered, probably hoping to be brushed by Serena) were excited to hear about Gible's 'cousin' in Kalos.
He launched into the story—meeting Clemont and Bonnie, Team Rocket (several Pokémon hissed), meeting Froakie and Professor Sycamore, Team Rocket again, the collar that had driven Garchomp into a rage, then racing across Lumiose and climbing Prism Tower to rescue her. It had really been quite the start to his journey!
"Oh?" Serena asked from where she was now surrounded by eager Pokémon that had either been brushed or were waiting to be. "You're not going to tell them how you got off Prism Tower?"
Curious eyes turned back to him. Ash cleared his throat. "Well, Pikachu was standing close to the edge of the platform we were on at the top of the tower. The whole structure was a bit beaten up after Garchomp's rampage, and Pikachu happened to step on a part that was crumbling."
"Pika!" said Pikachu from his spot on Serena's shoulder.
"Pikachu started falling, and I did even think about it—I jumped right off after him!" The Pokémon gasped.
"And then—remember I told you about Blaziken Mask, the hero in Lumiose City? Well, his mega-evolved Blaziken saved me! Jumped up and caught me and Pikachu and got us safely to the ground."
"It was all on TV," Serena added. "I thought it was a movie or something at first. And then I recognized Ash from when we were little. I couldn't believe it! My childhood friend, all the way in Kalos from Kanto!" She pouted at him. "And then I watched him jump off a building!"
"I was fine!"
"The tallest building in Kalos!"
"You're making it sound worse than it is," Ash said, rolling his eyes. It hadn't even remotely been the highest thing he'd fallen from. "And it was years ago!" He'd been to both Alola and Galar since then, spending a year learning with Professor Kukui and then challenging the Galar League. He'd won the league but been unable to beat the Elite Four (and, consequently, unable to challenge the champion) of Galar. He was home now to train and refocus on his goals.
Serena made a weird noise, then huffed and went back to brushing Pokémon. "Stupid boy," he heard her mutter as she gently dragged her brush through Buizel's fur. "Could have died." Then she reached up and scratched Pikachu's chin. "I'm glad he saved you, though."
"Pika!"
She finished brushing Buizel, then put away her brush and grinned at Ash. "By the way, I'm going to teach you to dance today."
"Um, what?"
"Come on," Serena said, standing up with a smug grin on her face. "We've got training to do!"
Ash didn't know how this qualified as training and told her so, but she just dragged him to a flat part of a field. Lots of Pokémon followed them, curious about what would happen next.
She pulled out two little devices from her pockets and handed him one of them. They turned out to be personal speakers with little clips so they could attach them to their clothes. "I had Clemont make these for me," she said. "They're synced together, so if one of us hits pause, the other will pause, too."
Ash scowled down at his. "But why?" He'd tried rhythmic battling and it was not for him. Why else would he need to know how to dance?
"Because. You're an absolute disaster on the dance floor and you don't have to be." She put her hands on her hips. "Did you know that Champions are asked to go to parties?"
"Well, yeah."
"Do you know what they do there?"
"…no?" He hadn't given it too much thought. No thought at all, really.
"Eat fancy food, talk, and then dance. Don't you want to have fun at those parties when you're a champion?"
He did. But she'd said that so easily, so full of belief that he would be champion one day, that he felt his ears start to burn a little bit. She had faith he'd win another conference, become a champion, and was willing to teach him a skill he'd need for it. So he nodded and straightened up. "Yeah!"
Her answering grin was radiant. "Good! We're going to start even more basic than basic this time, though."
"Like, how basic?"
"Like I'm going to have you walk around in time to music."
He blinked a few times. "Why?"
She tilted her head and looked around. "Well, let's see. What if…oh, I got it! What if you had a Pokémon that needed to charge a target head-on but kept missing? What would you do to help them?"
Ash scratched his cheek and thought. "It would depend on the Pokémon, but…I guess I'd have them try to hit a target that was closer at lower power, maybe going slower. Then we'd speed up and try for targets farther away."
She nodded. "This is like that. This is our closer target. We're going to walk around in time to some walking-tempo music." She smiled at him. "You have some rhythm. You can dance decently if you don't have to move your feet. So let's train your feet to move in time!"
Which is how he and Serena started marching around the fields of the lab every day, sometimes going very slow or fast, until he didn't even realize he was walking in time anymore—he just did.
"Well done!" she praised him after a week of in-time marching. She even made special Poképuffs for him and his Pokémon to enjoy. (A lot of them had followed him and Serena around as they walked, making a merry little parade.)
Her next step was to have him wear different shoes while they practiced. They looked dumb, he thought, even if they were less bulky than his sneakers usually were, which admittedly made it a bit easier to do what she had planned next. She had him practice simple movements—taking steps backwards, steps left and right, steps forward—all in time to music. Then step-touches, all directions again, and then they added 'grapevines' and turns as they walked
And it was fun, at least with Serena teaching him. Serena called it her 'special training,' which made him laugh, but she also demonstrated how she used the things she taught him in performances, how she and her Pokémon practiced, and he realized it was a kind of special training, just different from his typical kind.
Finally, a month later, he showed up for 'special training' and saw that she was wearing a short floofy dress, much fancier than her normal day-wear. She smiled at him. "Okay. Now we're going to practice with another person."
Their first dance was as basic as it got—they moved in a side-to-side pattern at a slowish tempo, step-touching with their feet, holding hands in front of them.
It was…not terrible. No back-and-forth movement and the relatively large distance between them meant there was no danger of stepping on toes, and her shorter dress meant no stepping on skirts. Then Serena had them do grapevines together, and then they did spins as they went from side to side (they were the same height, so they could spin each other easily).
"You're doing great!" she told him after their practice for the day was over, cheeks flushed with exertion. "We're really moving along quite quickly!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" They'd been going so slowly that he was pretty sure he was the slowest dance student ever.
She laughed and flounced a bit, doing a turn and a bow. "I took ballet for years, you know, and then ballroom dance. I know how to dance, but just because I've done it so much. You're really picking it up quickly! I'm really proud of you!" Her eyes sparkled in the light of the setting sun.
And even though he felt kind of stupid in his fancy shoes, dancing in a field with his Pokémon watching, he smiled back at her. "I'm only good because I have a great teacher!" It didn't get much more qualified than Kalos Queen, did it? Even if she'd decided not to defend her title.
She laughed and blushed and they went back to the Ketchum house for dinner.
At the end of summer, there was a festival, as there always was to celebrate the start of the harvest season in the farming town. Usually Ash didn't bother going, but both his mom and Serena dressed him up and dragged him there.
It was weird. There were a bunch of people he'd known from primary school—well, 'known' wasn't quite right. 'Been bullied by' was much more accurate.
There was food prepared by his mom and other people of the community, tables set up to eat at, and a dance floor set up in the middle with some people already dancing. Serena grabbed his arm and tugged him over to her, then whispered in his ear, "Ask your mom to dance with you."
When he looked at her, a bit confused, she nodded encouragingly and had Pikachu ride on her shoulder instead.
"Go on!" she said. "Please?" Pikachu even did a little fist pump to cheer him on.
So he walked over to his mom. She smiled at him and he realized with a start that he was looking her in the eyes. When had he grown? He extended his hand and asked his mom for a dance the way Serena had made him practice.
His mom blushed and laughed and went with him to the dance floor.
The song wasn't a waltz, but it was slow, so he did the step-touch slow rotation, one hand on his mom's waist and holding one hand with his other.
"Look at you, all grown up," his mom teased. "Dressed so nicely and dancing, too!" Then her smile wobbled a bit. "You just keep growing, don't you? Wasn't it just yesterday you were ten, leaving for your grand adventure?"
"Mom," Ash said, his mouth twisting. He hated seeing her upset.
Delia Ketchum was as relentlessly cheerful as her son was (he learned by example, after all) and blinked any tears away. "I'm so proud of you," she said instead with a smile. "I don't care if you never fight another Pokémon battle in your life. I just want you to know that."
Ash found that he was the one blinking back tears. "Thanks, mom." He sniffed and said, "That'd be pretty sad if I never battled again, though." Hopefully the joking tone came across. "It'd make becoming a champion a whole lot harder."
"Oh, I have no doubt you'll be a champion soon enough. You did very well in Galar, and your year in Alola was a good break for you after Kalos."
Their dance ended then, and Ash finished with a little bow while holding his mom's hand. She giggled and gave him a hug. "So charming! Well done, Ash!" Then she grinned and spun him around. "Now, go ask Serena to dance before anyone else snatches her up!" She gave him a little shove.
It seemed like some of his former classmates were working up the nerve to approach Serena for a dance, so Ash jogged over quickly. They were jerks, and she shouldn't have to deal with jerks.
"Ash!" she said as he got closer, looking up from a plate of food. "Grab some food! It's delicious!" Pikachu nodded and did not stop stuffing his little face.
Ash knew if he left that those classmates would swoop in and probably mess with her about hanging out with him, so he sat next to her and grabbed something off her plate instead.
"Eh—eh?!" she squeaked, cheeks burning. Sitting as they were, arm to arm, he could really see the color rise in her cheeks.
He couldn't help smiling. Flustered Serena was fun.
—
"So," Delia said as she and Ash sat in the living room relaxing with mugs of tea after the party (Serena had excused herself to get ready for bed), "I couldn't help but notice…"
"Hm?"
Then a mischievous grin snuck across his mom's face and he suddenly wanted to bolt. "You and Serena danced quite a bit tonight."
Ash felt his ears burning. "W-well, she did teach me. It'd be weird if we didn't dance."
"Mmhmm. You two were the stars of the show, you know."
Ash spluttered. What did she mean by that?
"It's not often Pallet Town sees such a cute, talented couple, after all."
"Mom!" Ash hissed. "We're not—we're not a couple!" They had kissed one time—well, Serena kissed him—and maybe he was a bit more touchy-feely with her than he was with anyone else, but that didn't mean anything!
His mom was in full mischief mode, though, and would not be stopped. "You just fed each other bits of food, danced every slow dance together, and laughed and teased each other the rest of the time. Definitely not anything a couple would do." She took a sip of tea, raising an eyebrow at him as if daring him to refute her.
And he couldn't. They did do all those things. It had been such a fun night, the most fun Ash had ever had at a party in Pallet Town. "But we're still not a couple!"
"Why not?"
Ash froze and thought. Then thought and thought some more. There…had to be a good reason, right?
"Ash," his mom said, the teasing tone in her voice gone. "I know I didn't give you a great example of this, but romantic relationships aren't something to avoid. And they don't need to be far reaching and epic to be important. Sometimes…sometimes it's just knowing your best friend is waiting for you at home, someone who spends all summer teaching you to dance and then dances all night with you." She smiled again. "She makes you happy, doesn't she?"
He swallowed but nodded.
"It's fun to spend the day with her, to learn and discover new things with her?"
He nodded again and had to put his mug of tea down, worried he'd drop it.
"And have you imagined, say, kissing her?"
Ash's whole face was bright red now, he was sure of it. But he had. It had been a lingering thought ever since they'd said goodbye at the airport in Kalos, when she'd run up the escalator.
(Her eyes had been shining, and she'd sounded as determined as she ever had:
"Ash! There's just one more thing!")
And as they did Serena's 'special training,' as they'd danced at the festival—Serena's laughing face all he could focus on—he'd wondered what it'd feel like to kiss her. Wondered if she'd keep smiling into the kiss, if she'd hold him tighter.
His mom stood up and walked over to him, putting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair. "Just something to think about. I'm off to bed—see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Mom," he replied, and she shuffled off to her bedroom.
Then Ash took a deep breath and got up, rinsed out their mugs and left them on the counter, then walked upstairs to where the bedrooms were (one of their guest bedrooms had been claimed by Serena for her longer stay). He could hear her humming as he walked to their bedroom doors (they were across the hall from each other) and couldn't help but smile. She was humming the last song they had played at the party.
His hand shaking a bit, he knocked on her door.
"Come in!" she called quietly, and he opened the door and stepped inside.
Serena was sitting at the desk, desk light on but overhead light off, working on sewing something. She glanced up at him. "Oh, hi, Ash!"
He smiled in response, walking over to see what she was doing. "What're you working on?"
"I got an idea for a dress for Sylveon," she explained, holding up something that was probably dress-shaped, "and I just couldn't wait to work on it!"
"Aren't you tired?" Ash asked. He was.
She yawned, against her will if the tiny pout afterwards meant anything. "Well, yes, but I had to start it."
Ash had never once felt the desire to make an outfit and didn't quite know how the whole process went. "Could you do the rest tomorrow?"
"Probably, now that I've got the idea solidified."
"Then you should go to bed."
She made a noise that made him think she'd fight him about it, but eventually sighed and put down the dress. "Yeah, you're right. It was a long day." She got up and stretched, then yawned again. She must've been more tired than she thought.
He was about to head for his own bed when he paused. Was he really not going to say anything? "Um, Serena?"
"Hm? What's up?"
"Could I…talk to you tomorrow?"
The look she gave him let him know she thought he was acting strange. "…sure. What about?"
He had no earthly idea how these kinds of conversations were supposed to go. "Well, I thought we could start dating and so I wanted to talk about that with you."
"Oh. Yeah, okay."
Ash nodded. There, that wasn't so bad, right? "Okay. See you tomorrow." He left, shutting the door and ignoring that his face felt like it was on fire. That had been weird, hadn't it? Oh, that had been so weird of him. But she said she'd be okay to talk about it, so it wasn't a complete failure, right?
There was a noise that sounded an awful lot like a shriek and a crash from Serena's room and he burst back in. "Are you okay?!"
She was sitting on the floor, some of her things knocked off her nightstand. Her hands covered her face and she peaked up at him. "Oh. All fine. All good, everything's good and fine." Her voice was very high-pitched suddenly.
He hesitated. "You sure?" He knew Serena sometimes said things were fine when they weren't.
"Oh yeah. Totally. I'll—uh—talk to you. Tomorrow. About the, uh. Dating thing. So. Good night!"
"…okay. Good night."
—
His mom didn't even have to say anything the next morning. She just looked at him and raised a smug eyebrow and he felt his face heating up.
"Good morning, Mom," he said, determined to be normal. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder to eat from a bowl of Pokéfood set out for him.
"Good morning, son-of-mine. Breakfast?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Not if you're going to be weird."
She laughed and took off her apron. "I actually have to run to the inn early today. I made some food you can heat up. Have a good day."
Ash gave her a hug goodbye and patted Mimey on the head as the two of them left.
Serena padded down the stairs a few minutes later. "Morning," she said in a sleepy voice. "Did your mom make breakfast?"
Ash pointed towards the kitchen and Serena shuffled in to grab a plate of food, joining him at the table.
Now that the sun was coming up, now that he'd gotten some sleep, he felt a bit calmer about everything. But Serena was still so pretty, even sleepy and hungry, that he couldn't help but smile. She was cute.
"What are your plans for the day?" she asked as she poked at some fruit, yawning yet again.
"Training for me," he said. "I've been thinking about it, and I've decided to compete in the Kanto League again."
She blinked and nodded. "That will be good. Will you have to beat all the gyms again? It's been years since you faced those gyms, right?"
"Well, no one's ever told me badges have an expiration date." He folded his arms and thought for only a moment. "But it would be really fun to challenge all the gyms again, even if it wasn't for badges." Then he grinned. "And if you came with me, I could show you all of Kanto."
That perked her up. "Really? That would be a lot of fun…"
He nodded, then stood and grabbed his empty plate. "I'm going to head over to the lab. Will you be coming?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you there!"
—
Ash told Professor Oak his plan and the man nodded seriously. "I think that's an excellent idea," he said. "Will you use your Pokémon or catch new ones?"
Ash scratched his head. "That's what I'm really wondering now. Part of the fun of challenging the gyms for me is catching new Pokemon, working together with them to improve, and exploring a new place."
Professor Oak flipped through some of the files on his desk. "You know, most gym leaders have a variety of teams for trainers and Pokémon of different skill levels, usually even full teams of six. It might be an interesting challenge for you to face those tougher teams with Pokémon you've already trained with."
Ash leaned against a wall and thought about this for a bit, turning to Pikachu after a few minutes. "What do you think, buddy?"
Pikachu pumped his little fists and sparks flew from his cheeks.
Ash smiled. "Full power from the very start, eh?" He turned to Professor Oak. "Then we'll do it!"
The older man nodded with a smile. "Then I'll go ahead and let the gym leaders know to be expecting you. Will you follow the traditional route?"
Ash nodded. "Absolutely."
And so Ash was set to start his Kanto journey once again. He hurried out to tell his Pokémon, who all clamored for the chance to go with him. He laughed and pushed them away, trying to keep from being smothered. "Okay, okay, I get it! You're all excited!" He tugged a very excited Gible off his head. "I still need to plan my teams. If we're going to battle at our best, I want to plan out a team for each gym individually." His Pokémon accepted this and stopped mobbing him, trotting off to train and play.
Serena arrived an hour or so later. "Ash!" she called from near the lab.
"Over here!" he called from a fair distance away. He waved so she could see him and she waved back. He then went back to watching his various flying type Pokémon race across the sky.
"Wow, they're so fast!" Serena said when she reached his side. "I bet if you took a picture they would all just be blurs!"
He smiled, proud of the work his friends were putting in to improve. "They're the best there is!"
Then he glanced at Serena. She was holding her hat against the wind generated by all the flapping wings, smiling up at the sky. Her eyes were shining, her smile bright.
Oh, right. They were going to talk today.
Now was as good a time as any, right? "Alright, everyone!" he called out. "Take a break!"
Then he turned to Serena, grabbing her hand. "Come with me," he said, pulling her into the woods.
She laughed. "Ash, where are we going?"
"Hang on! I know it's around here somewhere…ah ha!"
Serena, still laughing, looked around, then gasped. "Oh, this is where you found me when we were kids!" There was the big tree Serena had been sitting under when he saw her for the first time, scared and lonely. What a difference the years made.
He cleared his throat. "I thought it might be a good place to…to talk."
She blushed but kept smiling at him. "Then, can I go first?"
He nodded. He hadn't really thought about what he was going to say at all.
Serena picked up his other hand and then kissed the knuckles of both hands. He gripped her hands a little tighter. She laughed and said, "Ash, I love you. I love your kindness and your drive to achieve your dreams. You're the kind of person I want to be, and…and I've always hoped that we might be together." She took a deep breath. "I…I always want to travel with you, always want to be by your side."
Ash waited for a beat, but she seemed to have said everything she wanted, so he said, "I want that, too. You…you're incredible, so smart and fun and kind. I kept wishing, in Alola and Galar, that you were there with me, that I could experience them with you. I'm glad you went on your journey," he added quickly. "It was perfect for you and was just what you needed. But I missed you." He pulled her into a hug then, his heart racing, and he closed his eyes tightly, hoping she could feel all the things he couldn't find the words for. He leaned back a bit and waited until she looked at him to say, "Please travel with me, through Kanto and wherever we go next."
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, knocking him back a bit. He smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms more securely around her. When they paused to breathe, Ash asked with a grin, "Is that a yes?"
Serena laughed. "Yes! Yes, of course!"
Then she was pulling away from him, skipping around the little clearing. "Dance with me!" she cried, holding out her hands. He went, taking her hands and spinning her like she'd taught him to. Ash figured he'd probably be doing a lot more dancing in the future if Serena was his partner.
He'd not really had a human partner before. He hoped it went well. He wanted it to go well. He'd work for it, the same as he worked towards any goal he had, but he had even less of an idea of how to do it than he normally did. But Serena would be with him. They'd work together—that's what it was all about, right?
Serena laughed again, then grabbed his face and kissed him, which was kind of fun. Would she just do that now?
"You've got such a goofy smile on your face," she said, kissing his cheeks a few times. "I can't help but kiss you!"
And she was basically glowing, smiling wide as could be, so he laughed with her and held her close and they danced, perfectly in sync from all their practice.
He didn't know how this new adventure would go, how he'd overcome the challenges in his way, but…well, he wouldn't have to do it alone. Serena would be with him. They'd continue their journey together!