Note: And the Hoenn arc is done, somewhat sooner then expected. I'm not sure if the next arc will be done as quickly, but we'll see. Regardless, I'm glad to be posting again, and I've been particularly excited to post this arc for a while now.

I have also realized that my "prologues" and "epilogues" aren't actual prologues and epilogues, so I'm changing up the naming scheme for those from here on out, and I'm going to change the old chapter titles sometime in the future.

Hoenn: Dragonlord (Arc 3)

Hoenn Chapter 0: May, May, May of the Jungle!

The plane ride was long, but it gave Ash the sleep that he had desperately needed. In his later days of traveling, he had grown to prefer flying over a boat ride or weeks of hiking. Now awake and somewhat refreshed, he and Yellow stood in front of the airline terminal.

"So, you said they would meet us here?" He asked Yellow, who was taking a look at a map of the airport.

"Yes. They should be here any minute," Yellow responded.

During the plane ride, Yellow had contacted the professor Birches, informing them of their arrival. The Birch that was familiar with Ash stated that they would be seeing some familiar faces at the airport, meeting in the area right past customs. The Petalburg airport was busy today, so it would be a bit difficult to spot someone from the crowd. They sat in the waiting area, surrounded by other people who were just standing around, checking their watches or calling loved ones, asking when they would pick them up.

"So, these aren't more dexholders huh?" He turned his attention to Yellow

"Nope. Apparently it's a handful of your friends who were in the area."

"Hmm…" Ash didn't think too hard as to who it could be. May and Max lived in Hoenn, but who knows if they were actually in town. Almost all of his close friends had goals that required them to travel about. In theory, it could be anyone.

"Pika-chuu," Pikachu sat next to Ash, keeping a watchful eye out. Said eyes couldn't see past most peoples ankles, but he tried his best.

"You're doing your best, Pikachu," Ash said as he kneeled down, patting Pikachu on his head.

"Hey, Ash!"

He heard a voice, a very familiar voice, coming from the escalator. He ran over to investigate.

Oh

Moving up the escalator was a young blonde woman wearing a dress and vest combination that could only be described as Kalosian. She stuck out from crowd of people on style alone, but this was someone that Ash all too easilyrecognized, especially on an escalator. The last time he'd seen her on one…

Before he could blink, she was right next to him, granted at a respectful distance.

"Long time, no see."

"Hey Serena… it's been a while…"

"Just a while, huh?"

Yellow hadn't even looked up from the map as Pikachu ran up to her. Tugging at her cloak.

"Pika!"

"Oh, Pikachu. Are they here?" She said as she looked up, seeing Ash standing in front of someone.

Must be one of his friends. Oh… Yellow noticed the blond hair. "You know what, I don't think I've looked at this map enough. How about you help me out here?"

Pikachu gave her a puzzled look before eying the map himself, not understanding a thing about it.

"Well, more than a while. It's been a long time actually," Ash said.

"Yep. And it looks like the home life has been doing you some good. You look great." Serena said. Ash smiled. Good to know his nap on the plane did him some good.

"Well, it hasn't been all that great. Sometimes I want to be anywhere but that house. Get away from it all, you know?"

"Get away? From who?! Pikachu?!"

"I mean he can get feisty sometimes," Ash said with a laugh. He should have considered himself fortunate that Pikachu wasn't standing next to him. It was only due to Yellow's counsel that he didn't ruin Ash's day right then and there, and if he managed to see the little pokémon's face at that moment, that might have been all it took.

"Besides, you of all people should know. Last time I remembered you were very happy to be away from your mom."

"Oh how dare you go there, Ketchum," she said as the pair burst into laughter. Ash was surprised at how naturally this was all going, like nothing had really changed since they last met in person. Sure they had occasionally messaged each other in through texts and group chats and the like. He did so with almost all his friends. It wasn't like he was talking with a stranger.

But a lot had changed. He wasn't the same person that left Kalos all those years ago. He was a little older now. A tad bit wiser, perhaps? At least he'd like to think. Thinking was something that he had done a lot in the last few years. Retrospect was a trainer's best friend and mortal enemy, and he had a lot of it.

And in retrospect, he realized that Serena had feelings for him, and he never noticed until they departed. And now he had feelings for her, and had no idea if she still felt the same way. At this moment he truly realized that reflecting on the past was actually very easy. Determining what to do in the now was a different matter entirely. The consequences of thinking.

"Hey… I'm glad to see you're okay," Serena said, a lot quieter than before. "We all heard what happened to you a few weeks back. We were all so worried." She clenched her right hand into a fist, placing it directly over her chest. She never hid her concern very well, even when she tried.

"Well… I'm alright now!" He said with a grin, rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course. You always get through…" Her voice was steady, and her smile was sincere, but Ash noticed the slight tremble in her hands. He dropped the lax attitude. It was easy for him to forget that his coma lasted for almost 2 weeks, even though to him it felt like mere moments. Two weeks of uncertainty for his friends and family. He remembered how his mother had felt during that time.

Without even thinking, he gently clasped her hands in his. "I did get through it. And I'm here now, awake and alive" He held her hands at the midpoint between them. "See?"

She felt slightly bewildered. This was… bold. In her younger years she would have felt flustered. But not now. Right now she felt like she could relax again. He was safe, and there really wasn't anything to worry about.

"Well… don't do that again, okay?" she intended to follow with something witty, but her mind went blank.

"I won't. I promise." he intended the same, and failed as well.

Despite being at a loss at what to say next, the ambient discussions of the other airport attendees almost drowned out another voice that was suddenly beside them.

"And today on May's expedition, the mysterious specimen we know as Ash Ketchum is caught in the act of holding a girl's hand. More at 5…"

"May?!" Ash was suddenly very, very aware of the situation he was in. His shock must have been apparently considering the way Serena started giggling at him.

"Oh don't be shy now. It was just gettin' good!" May exclaimed, her fingers still creating a camera-esc square right in front of her face, positioned in almost perfect symmetry with her brown hair that parted down the sides of her head. Ash was used to seeing her in a bandana, though it seems that she traded it out for a red hoodie today.

"Really May?" Serena sighed. Couldn't help herself, she supposed.

"What? It's fun to mess with him."

"That's true."

"Hey…"

"Don't listen to her Ash, you're doing great."

"Doing great?!"

"You're still holding her hands."

He retracted his hands, quickly stuffing them into his pocket. The girls were laughing in full force now.

"Birch wasn't kidding. You are very familiar with these two."

Ash nearly jumped out of skin. For a minute he forgot that Yellow was also there. Which meant…

"So… you saw…"

"Everything," she replied. Pikachu chortled next to her.

"Hey…" May's tone softened. It was time to let him off the hook, for now. No one could accuse her of not being merciful. "It's good to see you're back at it."

"So, you're traveling together again?" Ash asked the duo. The pair had met up during the Hoenn contest circuit, and traveled together for a while. They had become close friends since then.

"Less traveling, more hanging out. Serena here was in the area on vacation, right before the merging," May said.

"Not the greatest timing, but I was lucky that I was with May and her family when it happened."

"Yeah. She got front row seats to the sudden appearance of a second family in our house."

"I knew you looked familiar," Yellow chimed in. "You look like Sapphire."

"Another one of your juniors?" Ash asked.

Yellow nodded. "You've met her?" she asked May.

"Yes. She was visiting her boyfriend Ruby at the same time. Turns out in your world, Ruby is the son of the Petalburg city gym leader, Norman. In my world, Norman is my dad. We were a bit panicked when the merge happened. Sapphire umm… attacked on sight."

"Attacked?" Ash asked.

"She's a bit… wild," Serena winced at the memory. People shouldn't be able to scale a building like that, let alone that quickly.

"Ruby's somethin' else entirely. You'll get to meet them in littleroot," May said.

"Sounds good. Guess we should get going," Ash said. As May and Yellow went ahead, Serena stayed next to him.

"Hey Ash… thank you. For being here." She winked at him. "For being alive and awake."

"Oh… umm… no problem…" So that's what it sounded like.

Petalburg was not a humble city, but it was definitely smaller than the larger locales that Ash and Yellow had frequented in the last few days. It was almost uncanny how many people seemed to be familiar with each other here. Granted, his perspective might have been skewed being with May. Everyone made sure to make themselves familiar with the daughter of the local gym leader. At least they weren't swarming over her like the last time he visited. Unfortunately, May was a lot more keen to divulge in conversation with said locals, and now the group found themselves on-route to Littleroot town with the sun setting. They weren't exactly traversing the dirt road with haste either.

"I'm sorry I got a little caught up," May said.

"May, you always get caught up when we visit your city," Serena retorted.

"Fair. It's not my fault I'm so popular."

"Well, it's your dad's fault actually."

"Hey, I'm sure they know me for my own accomplishments!"

"Oh suuurreee they do,"

May and Serena walked slightly ahead of Ash and Yellow, wrapped in their own conversation. The backrow trainers were quite content to listen in, at least until they noticed that the shadows of trees had begun to loom over them.

"It's getting late, and we're still a few hours from Littleroot," Ash noted, preemptively scanning the area for a clear space to set up camp.

"Huh, guess you're right." May stared out at the orange, darkening sky.

The trainers found themselves a sizable clearing, and had even managed to start up a campfire. They even got lucky, finding a handful of logs to sit on.

"So Ash, sounds like you've run into some really strange stuff recently," Serena asked, hands outstretched towards the fire.

"That's one way to put it. What Giratina's doing to trainers is… I don't know how to describe it."

There was a slight shudder that emanated throughout the group. The professors had begun to get the word out on what was happening, the pair of professor Birches having already filled in Serena and May that morning. It was something else entirely to hear about it from Ash and Yellow. They could only imagine what it was like to see a distorted trainer in person. Something told them they wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

"I think the fire's starting to dim. We need some more wood," Yellow said as she got up from her log. "I'll get some more."

"I'll go too," May said, getting up as well.

"We'll help to…"

"Oh it's fine," May interrupted Serena. "You two stay back and make sure the fire doesn't go out, alright?"

"Will do." Ash nodded. May turned around, hiding a mischievous smile as she slipped into the forest.

Ash and Serena sat next to each other on a fallen tree, illuminated by the fire and the starry night above them, hovering above the clearing. They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring directly at the fire. They avoided the others' gaze like their lives depended on it, their faces stern and thoughts tumultuous.

Alone on a starry night. It's the perfect mood, but…

Everyone's gone for a bit and Pikachu's fast asleep, maybe it's a good time to…

But what can I say? It's been so long, but my feelings for him haven't changed at all. Is that weird?

I know she used to have feelings for me, but that was so long ago. And now I've gotten feelings for her years after we traveled together. What if she thinks I'm weird?

But he's changed so much, yet not at all. Still the same Ash…

I've changed so much, yet I still feel like the same dense teen who had no idea what being in love means…

We spent almost a year together and all I could do was give him a kiss before we went our separate ways. I should have been honest about my feelings sooner. Maybe we could have worked something out…

Almost a year spent together and I only figured out she liked me after it was all over. Maybe if I caught on sooner we could have been something more…

But we're still young, and we're adults now. We can talk about these sorts of things, right? But…

It's not too late. Now's my chance. But…

I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to do.

But I just have to…

"Say something…" Ash whispered, barely audible over the cackling embers of the fire.

"What?"

"Oh, um… nothing…" Ash said, scratching the back of his head. It was too late now, however. The unspoken contract of silence between them had officially vanished.

"You know… I'm glad we got to spend the night out like this. I still prefer a warm bed but…" She gazed out at the stars. "Camping out does have its perks."

"Certainly wouldn't have said that when we first met," He said with a smile. "You couldn't stand the thought of not sleeping in a nice bed."

"Well, I adapt quickly. Like how I went from Ryhorn racing savant to professional performer in less than a year. Well… I guess that was all thanks to you."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short," He shook his head, finally looking right at her. "You had it in you all along. You just needed an excuse to get out there and find your way."

"Yeah, and I had to see you on TV as an excuse to leave. My mom wouldn't have believed that I actually wanted to go see the world on my own, and I don't think I would have been brave enough to tell her otherwise."

"But you still did, right? That means you had it in you the entire time."

"I guess I did. But still…" she shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I never saw you again."

"You would have found your way out eventually, and become a great performer, even without me."

"Maybe…" she wasn't all too convinced, yet he was so certain. She learned to have faith in herself, but it didn't always come easy, let alone naturally. Yet she swore he had enough confidence for the both of them. Hell, she sometimes felt that he had enough for the entire world. It was just one of the many traits that she liked about him.

"Well I guess I shouldn't discount myself completely. I can be quite inspir..aaahhhhhhhhh!" Ash's faux arrogance would be swiftly turned against him, as his attempt at a good stretch would unbalance him just enough to fall back-first on the floor, his legs still hanging off the log.

"Ash!"

"I'm okay!" Ash exclaimed, laying on the floor, defeated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I… uhhhh…" He could save this. The mood wasn't completely lost, right? "I fell down here on purpose! The ground is just so…" he patted the rock hard, uncomfortable dirt. "Soft."

"Oh reeeaalllyyy?" Serena suppressed her laughter. Still as clumsy as ever. Another trait she found endearing.

"Yeah and… now I can see all the constellations better! Like over there." He pointed at a random collection of stars. "There's Ursaring-major!"

"Really Ash?" She looked up in the same direction he was pointing at. "Cause I took a course on constellations a few years back, and I don't see it over there."

"Oh well… maybe it's 'cause you're still sitting up! And clearly my viewpoint is superior! Being… on the… floor…"

"Oh well… maybe I should give it a try then." Serena promptly fell right on her back, her legs also hanging off the log.

"See," He continued to point up at the sky. "It's right over there."

"Actually…" she grabbed his pointed finger, angling it a bit to his left. "It's right over there." Finally he truly saw it, a set of stars that artificially created the image of a mighty Ursaring.

"Oh… wow. Those lessons must have really come in handy, huh?"

"Well no, I lied."

"You what?" Betrayal! And he was caught red-handed as well. Could this night become even more treacherous?

"Ash… there's no such thing as constellation lessons, just crash courses you can find on the internet."

"Oh well… I knew that…"

I'm sure you did. Besides…" Her eyes went back to the stars. "I didn't need them. I used to star-gaze when I was a kid. I used to look for constellations with Ryhorn every night. Mom always said I spent too long looking at the clouds. She said it was why I could never make up my mind about anything."

"She thought you couldn't decide anything for yourself. But really, you were always looking ahead. You knew that your dreams were out there, away from home. You just needed to go out and find them yourself."

"Oh Ash…" She took a deep breath. "Thank you. You're just so kind…"

"Well I mean… that's what friends are for, right?"

"Right…" She whispered. Right… still just friends. Maybe it was the wrong time. They were happy just as they were. It was a good talk, and perhaps they should leave it at that for now.

"Hey Serena… I… I like you."

She shoulda just said yes.

As May crawled through the underbrush of the dense petalburg forest, she wondered why she didn't take up Serena on her offer. So she and Ash could get cozy around the campfire? What about her and yellow? They deserve to be cozy too! And they could have been a lot sooner with a bit of help lugging dry twigs around the forest floor.

Thankfully, the moonlite atmosphere meant that she wasn't fumbling around blindly in the dark, and she knew that the forest was relatively safe. At least there was nothing that she and her pokémon couldn't handle. With her hands full of twigs and sticks, she made her way back to camp. Yellow had gone in the opposite direction. She figured that the older trainer would be fine enough on her own. She was probably already back at the camp.

The light of the campfire shone in the distance. She wondered how Ash and Serena were doing on their own. She was well aware of how Serena felt about Ash. It wasn't exactly hard to figure out the moment he came up in their conversations. And it seemed like he was somewhat interested as well considering the scene he made at the airport. Still… she was assuming a lot, and that didn't exactly guarantee anything, now did it?

She would know. It took a lot of time, patience, and an entire journey through Johto before she got her own love life in order. In the end, the answer was to just be honest.

She could hardly think of more honest folk. They'll be fine.

With her thoughts dwelling on her friends' romantic lives, she hardly noticed the pair of blue eyes staring at her through the brush. She briefly froze in place upon the realization that she was being watched. She dropped her sticks in a pile in front of her.

"Hello?! Who goes there!?" She yelled, pointing accusingly towards the bush.

"How 'bout a lil game of chase," the bush said with a growled voice. May couldn't help but notice that it held a strange accent, and sounded very familiar.

"Chase?! Here? and now!?"

"RUN! GET GOIN'"

May didn't have to be told twice. She bolted towards the campfire, which was shockingly far away from her. How long was she out here blindly wandering through the forest?

Whatever was chasing her was gaining speed, and quickly. She didn't hear footsteps, but rather the assailant crashing into the canopy of branches above her. Whatever it was was leaping through the treetops at an alarming speed.

She was a few meters away from the campsite when she was about to call for help, right before a loud "gotcha!" rang from behind her as she instinctively turned around. The other person slammed right into her, pinning her arms to the floor.

This is it. You've just completed some weird tag ritual with a mysterious creature in the forest and now it's gonna take your soul. I guess this is the end. Goodbye cruel world! May braced for the end with her eyes shut tight.

"Wow, didn't know yer were such a scaredy-cacturne," the assailant said, now with a clear feminine voice. May recognized that voice! It was one she had become very familiar with in the last two weeks.

"Sapphire!?"

Looking above May was a girl who many would consider to be her exact look-alike, save an enlarged set of canines and a bulky, short ponytail. Sapphire burst into a fit of laughter, allowing May to promptly toss her off.

"Please never do that again…"

"Fine!" Sapphire jumped back on her feet, holding out her hand to help May up. Wearing a blue shirt and black cargo pants, it was no surprise that May couldn't see her in the dark.

"Peace?"

"I'll think about it," She sighed, taking her hand in solidarity. "But first, can you explain why you decided to start chasing me down in the middle of the woods?"

"Well you looked all tranced out, so I thought I'd put some energy into ya."

"But I was going to go to sleep soon…"

"No excuse!"

This night just got a lot longer.

If the fire continued to crackle, Serena couldn't smell its burning charcoal, and if the nighttime pokémon continued their calls, then she couldn't hear their soothing songs.

"Um… Ash… did you…"

"Yeah. I… I said I like you."

For a brief moment the world around her disappeared. Did he really just do that? Here? As they laid on the ground next to a fading campfire? Sure, she thought earlier that it was the right mood but she didn't think that it would actually come to this, here and now.

"Like… like like?"

"Yes. That kinda like."

"Ash I…" she didn't know where to start. So she just lay there in silence. And now they ended up exactly as they started. Completely silent, unable to look each other in the eye.

Oh you really did it this time Ash. Now she won't even speak to you.

He had the guts to confess and now I'm just sitting here with my mouth shut not saying a thing!

You just had to confess your feelings while lying on the rock-hard ground. Couldn't have done it somewhere comfortable. Maybe I wouldn't have freaked her out like this.

And he did it while we stared out at the beautiful sky. He couldn't have picked a better time! How could I not see this coming? I should have been more prepared.

And now she won't say anything.

And now he isn't saying anything.

I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to do.

But I just have to say…

"I like you too."