Night has fallen on our heroes as they continue their trip for Violetrose Town, so they decided to camp for the night.
Braixen was using its staff to light up the fire as it grew dull, and Ash, Serena, and Vernon were roasting a bunch of marshmallows over the fire.
Ash stuck his now-cooked marshmallow onto some graham crackers and some chocolate, and bite down into its warm, gooey goodness. "Aw, man! I can't remember the last time I had a good s'more!"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed as it wolfed down a s'more of its own.
"You know, I remember my first s'more, my first campfire actually," said Vernon. "I was about six or seven years old, my dad took my family on our very first camping trip. We set up our tent next to a beautiful lake where Pokémon would frolic and play. I remember that later that night, we cooked some gooey, hot s'mores around a campfire, but after our parents fell asleep, my brother and I would try to spook each other with scary stories. My brother told me about a mutant Pokémon creature, and I decided to go find it. But all I found was an Ursaring, and let's just say it was not in the mood for company. Oh, man, I ran back to the campsite terrified, the Ursaring's roar could be heard for miles."
"Whoa, really?" Serena said. "How'd you even survive?"
"Oh, it was something you had to see to believe," explained Vernon. "My brother actually saw us coming, so he climbed on top of a tree, took out a flashlight, then cast such a scary looking shadow. He looked like Darkrai had descended on us, and that Ursaring ran off with its tail tucked between its legs. I mean, I almost did too for that matter. That night, I woke up screaming 'cause I dreamed about that shadowy figure my brother showed me."
"That's quite a story," said Ash.
"Indeed," said RotomDex, flying up.
"What about you, Serena?" Vernon decided to ask. "Do you still remember your first s'more? Your first campfire?"
Serena briefly paused. "Well, yeah. I remember it was... actually all the way back in Kanto, at Professor Oak's Pokémon Camp."
"Oh, yeah!" Ash said, swallowing his second s'more. "I remember, we both actually had our own first campfire there together!"
"Oh, yeah, that's right!" said RotomDex. "The two of you first met at that camp, didn't you?"
"It's true, we did," Serena explained. "Of course, ol' Ash probably doesn't remember it too well anymore."
"Hey, hey, that is not true!" Ash defended himself. "Yeah, after a long time, I did forget meeting you, but once you returned that handkerchief, it all came rushing back."
"Oh, really?" said Serena, turning her attention to her old friend.
"Yeah, and I can't believe I somehow forgot someone like you," continued Ash. "I mean, we were like best friends there together."
Serena paused, and slowly blushed, yet tried to hide it. "I'm glad you do remember. You were my only friend at that camp. I was so worked up the whole time, but thanks to you, I actually came to have a blast."
"Hang on, I'm lost," Vernon interrupted. "What exactly happened at that camp? I just told you guys a story. Why don't guys tell us one now?"
"Okay," Ash started. "I remember that I was about five or six when it happened. You see, in Pallet Town, I was always stuck cooped up in the house all the time. I wanted to get out, you know, actually do something. So one day, I was shopping with my mom, and then I saw a flyer for Professor Oak's Pokémon camp. I read it and I was, like, so psyched to see it! I talked my mom into letting me try it, and I just couldn't wait to get started!"
"As for me," Serena began, "well, the thing is, when I was young, I was scared of pretty much everything. That's why I never went far from home. But my mother, who was a famous Rhyhorn racer, she had actually come to stay in Kanto for a whole year, because Rhyhorn racing season was going to take place in Kanto all year long. I was a nervous wreck, stuck in such strange surroundings. But of course, my mother wanted to give me some kind of intervention, so she spied a flyer for the camp herself, and somehow tricked me into going.
"Anyway, that was when camp officially started, and that's when I met Ash."
A flashback takes us back in time by a few years, and we see a bus arriving at the camp. Several excited children poured out the door once the bus was parked, and at the very front of the pack was a younger Ash Ketchum.
"Alright! We're finally here!" the young Ash cried out as he excited pumped his fists in the air. "Oh, man, there's so much to do! Pokémon to see, food to eat, hikes to take-"
"Slow down there, young man," came a familiar voice. "How about we start by getting to know one another first?"
Ash looked to his right and saw his mother's old friend, Professor Samuel Oak, greeting him with a friendly smile.
"Professor Oak! It's so good to see you again!" Ash ran up to give the old man a hug, which Oak kindly reciprocated.
"You too, Ash," said Oak as he let the young boy go. "It's good to see you getting out here for some fresh air for once." He turned his attention towards the crowd of children. Counting them all with his finger, he gained a confused look on his face. "That's strange. We're supposed to have twenty-four campers here, but I only count twenty-three."
"Oh, there's one more girl still on the bus," said the bus driver, peeking out from the bus's door. "I'm trying to coax her into coming out., but she's still too nervous."
"Oh, really?" said Oak. "Well, in that case, let me talk to her."
In the back of the bus, there sat a young Serena, just sitting in the corner of her seat, reluctant to come off. As the bus went through the woods, she spotted several different Pokémon. Some seemed harmless enough, like a couple of Butterfrees, but others, like a swarm of Beedrills and some Arcanines charged through the forest, left her feeling apprehensive. She was reluctant to leave the bus because she was afraid of what might be out there.
"Excuse me, little miss?" came a voice. Serena looked up to see an old man she recognized as Professor Oak from the flyer to this place. "Is there any reason you don't want to come off the bus?"
"Oh, erm, sorry about that," Serena said softly. "It's just, I saw a lot of scary Pokémon when we came in, and I guess I'm just a little nervous about what's waiting for us out there."
"Hmm, I see," said Oak, nodding. "But I can assure you there's nothing to be afraid of. I have the best Trainers in the world out here, and they promise me that they know how to protect this camp from any potentially unruly Pokémon."
"Are you sure?" said Serena.
"I'm positive," said Oak, reaching his hand out. "As long as you don't go wandering off or anything, you'll be quite alright, Miss..."
"Serena," said Serena, tentatively taking Oak's hand. "My name is... Serena."
"Ah, what a beautiful name," Oak complimented as he helped her stand. "Now then, shall we go now? Everyone's waiting for us."
Exiting the bus, Oak and Serena noticed the other campers staring. "It's okay, everyone, Serena's doing just fine."
"Well, if she's done being a baby," one of the boys in the crowd said.
"Hey! Young man, you will not antagonize your fellow camper, do you understand?" Oak called out, silencing the boy.
Oak then went to the front of the crowd and officially welcomed, "Welcome one and all to my Pokémon Camp. Over the next two weeks, we'll have lots of fun learning about Pokémon, learning about Pokémon training, and about the world that these Pokémon live in. Now then, you all have your cabin numbers. Why don't you all get settled in, and then we'll all get to know each other?"
The campers all nodded and separated to go find their cabins. As he left, though, Ash caught a glimpse of Serena walking away. He wondered to himself why she'd be so nervous to come here. He himself was ecstatic to see some Pokémon up close and personal, so he thought about what was going through this girl's mind at the moment.
Serena finished putting away all her clothes for her stay, and then made herself comfy on her bed. Looking up to the ceiling, she thought about why her mother could have possibly sent her here. Did she want her to gain some new perspective? Did she want her daughter to escape the stress of the Rhyhorn racing world? Was it just to get her to get over her fears of the outside world?
She shrugged as she noted that the two girls she was to share this cabin with finished unpacking as well. One of them then excitedly said to the other, "What're we waiting for? Let's go check this place out!"
The two girls ran out of the cabin, and Serena felt actually pretty envious of them. They weren't afraid. In fact, they seemed to have it all figured out. She only wished that she knew what that was like. Sighing, she rose from her own bed and went out the door to go find Oak for today's introduction.
As she left, she felt something suddenly fall down on her face. It felt all soft and sticky, and Serena began to panic. "Ack! Gross! Get it off! Get it off!" Finally, she grabbed the thing with her hands and pried it off, but when she opened her eyes, she saw the thing land on the ground, and that it was only a mere Caterpie, which straightened itself out before slithering away.
"Ha! Look at this girl!" Serena turned her head to see two boys walking up to her. "Were you seriously that afraid of an itty-bitty Caterpie?"
"It, it just surprised me that's all," Serena said embarrassed.
"Hah! What a baby! She's too scared to get off a bus, and now I bet she won't even leave her cabin!" said one of the boys, before they both burst into laughter. As they walked away, one of them said, "Maybe someone better call mommy! She won't last even a day!"
As they left, Serena stood in silence, but felt tears welling up in her eyes. As waterworks flowed, she thought, "They're right! They're jerks, but they're right! I don't belong here! I-I-I wanna go home! I should just go home!" She quickly turned towards the road they came in on and ran.
All the other campers were gathered at the center of camp, as Oak was about to introduce all the campers to each other. However, as he counted everyone, he found himself coming up short one camper yet again.
"We're missing a camper again, everyone," he said to the children. "Has anyone seen Serena anywhere?"
"Oh, are you talking about that crybaby girl?" said one of the boys who'd been tormenting Serena before. "She's probably crying into her pillow right now."
"Hold it!" Oak said marching up to the boys. "Did you boys say anything mean to Serena?"
"So what if we did?"
"Because I will not tolerate behavior like this, and also, you seem to have driven her off!" Oak began looking around the campsite. "Serena? Serena, are you here?"
Ash was sitting on a nearby stump, but he found himself glaring in the boys' direction. It wasn't cool for them to make fun of Serena like that. The poor girl was still getting used to everything. He felt sad for Serena, because he could tell that she was scared out here. She needed some help. No, what she needed was a friend.
"Kids, why don't we all go back to our cabins for now?" suggested Oak. "I need to find Serena, fast!"
All the kids reluctantly rose from where they sat and headed back to their cabins. Ash felt worry creeping up on him about that girl Oak was looking for, but this was momentarily forgotten, when he spied a small, blue blob emerge from a nearby bush. Looking over to it, he identified it as a Poliwag, something he'd seen on TV before.
"No way! A Pokémon!" he couldn't help but shout excitedly. He ran up to the small Pokémon, but once the Poliwag saw him, it got startled and ran off into the woods.
"Hey, where ya going?" Ash called out after it, before running after it.
Who's that Pokémon?
It has the superior ability to look for honey. It can carry honey back to its nest from flowers over six miles away.
"Hello, anyone?" Serena rushed through the woods around the camp, looking for anyone who might take her home. However, as she continued to run, it became clear to her that she was lost. She quickly regretted trying to run away. Now, she just wanted to be safe. A Butterfree flew out from above her, and she ducked in fear, but quickly felt embarrassed when she saw what it was. She slowed her pace to a walk, looking around, and she called out, "Where did you all go?" All of a sudden, a nearby bush began to rustle. Panicking, she turned to run again, but tripped and fell on the ground, covering herself in dirt and scraping her knee. She looked back at the bush in apprehensive horror, but out of it came only a tiny Poliwag, which jumped out in front of her, glanced at her for a brief second, before hopping away.
Tears welling up in her eyes again, she said quietly to herself, "I knew I didn't want to come to camp. I'm so scared!" Suddenly, she screamed up towards the sky, "MOMMY!"
Suddenly, she heard the bushes rustle again, and she braced herself in apprehension for what she hoped would be another Poliwag, Instead, out came a young, black-haired boy about her age, looking around. "Poliwag?" he called out, but suddenly he spied Serena on the ground, and remembered that Oak was looking for a girl earlier, and realized that he had just found her.
Walking up to her, he tried to put on his friendliest face, and he said, "What are you doing out here?" He paused as he noticed the troubled look in the girl's eye, then pointed to himself with a grin and said, "My name's Ash! What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Serena slowly calmed herself and looked down at her knee, and explained, "I hurt... my knee."
Ash knelt down to her current height, and said, "Oh, no." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief that was blue and had PokéBall emblems popping up on the corners. Carefully, he wrapped it around the scrape on Serena's knee, and gently pulled it tight. "There!" Looking at Serena, he added. "Look! It's magic! Now all the pain will go away!" He moved his hands around her knee as if to say, "Abra Cadabra!" but Serena winced.
"But it still hurts!" she complained. However, Ash rose from the ground and offered her a hand.
"Don't give up until it's over!" he encouraged. Tentatively, Serena took his hand and allowed Ash to pull her up off the ground. Once she did, she accidentally felt herself falling forward and she and Ash found themselves in a hug-like position. Awkwardly, Serena pulled herself back, but Ash didn't seem to mind too much.
"There, you see?" Ash said, before chuckling to himself. He pointed back towards the camp and said, "Why don't we head back to the campsite? C'mon, let's go!"
Ash carefully led Serena back the way he came in. He didn't notice, but Serena was staring at him in surprise. She didn't understand why this boy was being so nice to her. Or why he was feeling so confident. Still, she trusted him to take her back to the campsite.
Some time later, Ash and Serena finally saw the camp again. "Aha! There it is! We're back!" Ash grinned at Serena, who chose not to react to this. The two then made the center of the camp, where Professor Oak had wanted everyone to meet before. Soon enough, they saw Oak, who was nervously checking behind the buildings until he saw the two children come in.
"Oh, Serena! There you are!" he said relieved, running up to the children. "I'm so glad to see you're safe! What happened? Where'd you run off to?"
"I'm sorry," Serena looked at the ground, ashamed. "It's just, these boys were teasing me earlier, so I got upset and ran into the woods."
Oak nodded. "I see. Well, Serena, if something like that happens to you, I want you to just come to me and I'll straighten the whole thing out. You should never run away, understand? I was so worried something could have happened to you."
"I'm sorry, I-I won't do it again," said Serena. "I'll stay the full two weeks."
Oak nodded again in relief. "Good. Now then, Ash, Serena, why don't you two find a nice place to sit? I'll call the other campers and let them know our introduction is back on schedule."
As Oak walked away, Serena finally looked up from the ground, but saw Ash smiling at her. "So your name is Serena, huh? Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"Well, I, um, I've come all the way from the Kalos region-"
"Kalos region? Where's that? Can I go visit sometime?" Ash asked.
"Um, probably not," said Serena. "There's kind of an ocean in the way. And, I guess, I'm the daughter of a famous Rhyhorn racer, Grace."
"Really? That's so cool!" Ash gushed. "I bet she must have the thrill of a lifetime up there on a Rhyhorn! Seeing the land zip past her, the wind in her hair!"
Serena saw Ash getting all excited, and for the first time since she got on that bus, she smiled. In fact, she chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so," she continued. "I sure wish I could do something like that."
"Whadda you mean?" Ash asked, perplexed.
"Well, the truth is, I never even wanted to go to camp," explained Serena. "It's just, I guess I grew up pretty sheltered, so the outside world just makes me so nervous."
"Really?" Ash said. "'Cause I think it's incredible! I mean there's so many cool Pokémon, so many neat and different people, and so much yummy, delicious food!"
Serena smiled, but only for a moment. "Yeah, I wish I could think like you."
"Well, why don't you?" Ash said, causing Serena to look at him in confusion. "Maybe the world isn't as scary as it seems. Maybe you just need to open up to it a bit more."
Serena looked at the ground again, but then the two noticed that the other campers were arriving. "I guess we should take our seats, huh?" she said.
"Yeah," said Ash, before he grabbed Serena's arm. "Hey, why don't you sit with me?"
"Okay, everyone, now that we're all here, why don't you each tell everyone a bit about yourself?" said Oak as everyone gathered in a circle. Everyone started going one by one introducing themselves, explaining about themselves and why they came to camp. As Serena spotted this, she felt more and more nervous as the circle began to reach her.
Eventually, the circle reached Ash, who was sitting to Serena's right, and he proudly rose from his stump chair and announced, "I'm Ash Ketchum! I come all the way from Pallet Town. I just came out here because I wanted to see all the neat and cool Pokémon that live out here! And I hope to become a Pokémon trainer myself someday!"
"Very good, Ash," said Oak before he saw Serena. "How about you, Serena?"
"Oh, uh, me?" Serena suddenly froze. "What are you guys- wha-" Everyone began staring at her like she was weird, and her face was heating up.
"Her-her name is Serena!" Ash suddenly interjected, causing everyone, including Serena, to look at him in surprise. "She came all the way from the Kalos region, and her mom's a famous Rhyhorn racer!"
"Whoa, a Rhyhorn racer?" said a girl that Serena recognized from her cabin. "Are talking about Grace?" Serena looked up and nodded. "Ooh! She's such a good racer! I wanted to be Rhyhorn racer too! What about you? Do you get to race Rhyhorns too?"
"Well, um, sometimes, my mom lets me ride her Rhyhorn just around the block," Serena explained.
"Cool!" said the girl. "You've gotta teach me how to do that!"
"She was even exploring the forest earlier!" Ash boasted. "She got to see so many cool Pokémon, like Butterfree and Poliwag!"
"Whoa!" said another kid. "You went exploring in those woods? All by yourself? Man, I wish I was brave enough to do that!"
"Well, I wasn't exactly brave..." Serena said.
"No, but you were courageous!" said Ash, earning a confused look from Serena. "You thought it was scary but you decided to press on anyway. You never stopped going, and that's pretty cool to me!"
Serena slowly began to smile, as Professor Oak said, "Alright, that's great, kids. Let's continue, shall we?"
As the next kid introduced himself, Serena whispered to Ash, "Thanks for that, Ash. I guess I froze up there, huh?"
"No problem!" said Ash. "After all, that's what friends are for, right?"
"Friends?"
"Sure, we're friends now, right?" said Ash, grinning widely.
Serena couldn't tell what it was, but something about this boy told her that, for once, everything was going to be alright.
Smiling brighter than she ever had that day, she said, "Yeah, we're friends!"
It's Butterfree!
"That was how I knew I finally made a friend at camp," Serena said in a voiceover. "I guess I really do owe it Ash for getting me to finally open up and stop being so scared all the time, and before I knew it, I was finally enjoying myself at camp!"
A montage of scenes is seen over the two weeks at camp. We see one scene where children are being introduced to trained Pokémon, including a Pikachu. Ash excitedly walked up to, but touched its cheeks, and received the shock of a lifetime. Though he fell down, he quickly stood back up and was soon gushing at its incredible power, and wishing he had one of his own. Another scene shows us the children getting into a water balloon fight. Ash has nailed several other camper with water balloons, until suddenly he felt something wet splat against him, and he turned to see a chuckling Serena holding a water balloon. He grinned and playfully chased after her.
The final scene showed everyone doing an arts and crafts project. Serena was at a loss for what she would do, but then she was able to talk to the other girls in her cabin. She'd managed to make friends with them after that introduction circle, and she thought they were nice enough people. They suggested that she make something that expresses herself, so she came up with an idea to make herself a costume for herself, and when she presented it to everybody, it looked dull at first, before reversed it into vibrant colors, and made some mini-fireworks go off in the background. Everyone loved it, and Serena loved the joy she seemed to bring to everyone.
Eventually, the last day of camp came, and Oak gathered everyone into the center of camp. "Okay, everyone! You'll be heading home later today, so I thought we'd commemorate our last day with a nature hike. Just really get to know this place before we have to say goodbye to it."
"Aw, man!" Ash groaned. "It's over already? But there's so much to do still!"
"It's okay, Ash," said Serena. "It was short, but it was definitely sweet!"
Oak led all the kids along a path along a mountainside. All the children began pointing excitedly every time a Pokémon, like a Jigglypuff or a Pidgeotto went past.
"Isn't this fun, Serena?" Ash said enthusiastically. "Finally, up close and personal!"
"Yep," said Serena. If she was being perfectly honest, she was still a little apprehensive about being out here, but she had decided to put on a brave face today.
Suddenly, Ash spied something stirring in the bushes. He looked over and was ecstatic to see a small Pichu crawl out. "Whoa, cool! What is that little guy? He looks just like a little version of Pikachu." Ash quickly managed to sneak away from the group, which was easy since he was at the back, and no one was watching him.
Except Serena. "Ash! Wait up! Hold on!" She quickly ran after him.
"Man, where'd you go?" Ash pondered as he made it into the forest, unable to locate Pichu. However, looking around, he spied the small Pokémon again, attempting to eat a cherry.
"Hey, there, little guy!" Ash greeted, walking up to the Pichu. "My name's Ash! What's yours?" However, when Pichu saw Ash coming, it quickly emitted a Thundershock attack that made Ash briefly fall down. It chuckled to itself before running away.
"Hey, get back here!" Ash chased after it. Pichu looked back to look at him, but suddenly, the ground beneath them disappeared. They had wandered over the side of a hidden cliff, and they fell down to the bottom of the pit.
"Ash? Ash, where are you?" Serena cried out, looking for her friend. She was wandering the forest, but Ash didn't seem to be anywhere. Suddenly, she heard something rustle behind her, and she turned in terror to witness a charging Tauros. Screaming, she charged ahead, ducking between the trees until eventually the Tauros lost sight of her.
"Phew, that was close," Serena muttered to herself. Suddenly, she heard groaning, and saw a cliffside. Peering over, she was shocked to see Ash and an unconscious Pichu at the bottom.
"Ash! Are you okay?" she called down.
Ash looked up and gave a weak grin. "Yeah, this little guy and I just weren't watching where we were walking."
"It's okay, Ash," said Serena. "I'm gonna get you out, okay?" Peeking around, she saw a dying tree nearby. It was already leaning over the pit, so Serena attempted to push it down so Ash could use it to climb out. However, it was too tough, and it wouldn't budge. Serena felt down, but then she heard the cries of the Tauros coming in.
"I-Is that a Tauros?" said Ash, suddenly sounding a bit worried. "L-look, Serena, don't worry about me right now, okay? You gotta stay clear of that Tauros! Professor Oak said that they're really dangerous!"
"No way, I won't leave you, Ash!" Serena declared. Ash tried to interject, but Serena suddenly called down, "Don't give up till it's over, right?"
Ash sat at the bottom of the pit feeling a bit scared for Serena, but his friend suddenly had an idea. "Ash, just wait! I know just what to do!"
Serena walked away from the pit and spied the Tauros, and began calling out to it, "Hey, over here, ugly!" This caught the Tauros's attention, and it charged again. Serena quickly ran, but led the Tauros back to the pit, and led it straight into the dying tree. It crashed into it, and as it fell dazed, the tree fell into the chasm, right next to where Ash lay.
"Quick, Ash! Use the tree to climb out!" called down Serena.
"Okay!" Ash said before he grabbed the tree. Suddenly, he heard a groan coming from the Pichu, and he looked over to where it lay. Feeling bad for it, he picked it up in his arms and climbed the tree with it, as it slowly began to regain consciousness. As Ash reached the top, he reunited with a relieved Serena. "Thanks for the help. I don't know what would have happened if it wasn't for you."
"No worries, Ash!" Serena brightly smiled. "No way could I ever leave you behind!" Honestly, at the start of the week, she'd never have tried something as crazy as this, but now, she felt so fearless for once, and she loved it!
Suddenly, the Tauros stood up, and looked at the kids angrily. At this time, the Pichu was finally waking up, and looked in terror at the Tauros charging its way.
"RUN!" Serena called out, and the Tauros ran right between them, causing Ash to drop Pichu. The two kids ran away, but Ash suddenly noticed that the Pichu was no longer in his hands. Looking back, he saw the terrified Pokémon on the ground, and without hesitation, ran back to pick it up before running away again. Eventually, they got far enough ahead of the Tauros that the angry Pokémon lost interest and walked away.
"Phew," said Serena, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "Now that was close!"
Ash looked down at the Pichu in his arms, who looked up at him shocked. "I'm glad you're safe, little guy. Sorry I got you in trouble. Here." Ash set the Pokémon down on the ground. "You're safe now, don't worry!"
Suddenly, the two children saw Oak and the others walk past, and Ash said to the Pichu, "Well, we gotta go now, bye-bye!" He and Serena walked away waving at it, and the Pichu suddenly gained a small grin. It walked away into the woods satisfied, but then felt a strange power manifesting in its belly, before it noticed its body begin to glow.
"Ah, now wasn't that relaxing?" Oak said as he led the campers back into camp. Ash and Serena had managed to sneak back into the group without Oak ever realizing that they were gone. Oak then noticed the bus come. "Ah, and there's the bus. Well, parting is such sweet sorrow, by your families are waiting. Time to go home."
As the kids made it to the bus stop, Ash and Serena exited the bus and saw their respective mothers waving to them. "Well, Serena, I guess this is it," Ash said, somewhat disappointedly.
"Hm, yeah, I guess so," Serena said, suddenly looking down. But suddenly, she was pulled into a strong hug by Ash.
"Serena, I'm really glad we met each other. I can't thank you enough for rescuing me from that pit. You're a really good friend."
As they broke the hug, Serena felt a smile creep up on her face, and she said warmly, "You're a really great friend, too, Ash. I'm glad I made friends with you." Pausing, she said, "Ash, do you think we can meet again someday?"
Ash grinned and said, "You bet. In fact, I promise you we will!" Serena beamed brightly before her mother honking her horn got her attention.
"Well, so long, Ash," she said.
"You too, Serena," said Ash as he went over to Delia. "Until we meet again."
As Serena walked to her mom's car, she suddenly realized that she was still wearing Ash's handkerchief on her knee. She looked back but saw that Ash and his mother had left already.
As she pulled herself into the car, her mother Grace began to drive away, and Grace asked her daughter, "So what did you think? Is it everything you thought it would be?"
"No..." said Serena, looking out the window. "It was even better."
Back in the present, Ash and Serena finished their story. "I wanted to go back again the next year," explained Serena, "but unfortunately my mom said she couldn't just make a trip to Kanto every year. So, sadly, I didn't get to go anymore."
"It's too bad," said Ash. "It would have been awesome to see each other again before Kalos, wouldn't it?" Suddenly, he noticed Pikachu staring off into space for some reason. "Hey, Pikachu, what's up?"
Pikachu snapped out of its train of thought before looking at its Trainer. Everything Ash had said about that Pichu, could it be...?
"And yet, after so many years, you two still meet up again," Vernon said. "It's almost like it was fate."
"Yeah, almost," said Serena.
"I'm glad that we got to be friends back then, Serena," said Ash. "You had to be the first real friend I ever made."
Serena slowly blushed, and said, "Well, you were my first real friend, too, Ash. After all, if it wasn't for you, I never would have learned to loosen up, have fun, and explore. I'm glad I got to discover all that with you." Looking up at the sky, she said, "Well, it's getting late. Maybe now's a good time to hit the hay."
Everyone gathered themselves into their sleeping bags, and as Serena tried to go to sleep, she saw Braixen standing over her.
"Braixen, brai," it said.
Serena understood what it meant. "I know what you're thinking. But he was right. We're always stuck going separate ways. Some dreams are just meant to fly away."
Meanwhile, Ash was trying to sleep, but Pikachu suddenly stood in front of his face. "Pika, pika," it said solemnly.
"Pikachu, I already said why," Ash said. "No matter where we go, we're always gonna end up apart. I wish we could, but we just can't."
Both Trainers closed their eyes and went to sleep, and their Pokémon looked sad for them.
It just goes to show that friends can be made when you least expect it! And no matter how far apart friends may be, they always carry the memory of each other in their hearts! More to come, as the journey continues!
TO BE CONTINUED...
So, I have some bad news. I'll be starting a new job soon, so I unfortunately won't be able to post chapters as often anymore. Yep, my month-long hiatuses may become even longer. But just stay with me, and I promise, I'll try to post a new chapter at least once a month, and I'll make time for you guys. Until then, best wishes!