A/n:
Omit - (This was supposed to come out with the other chapters but it was a little late, mb. Mostly because my draft expiration date was on Feb 1 and it was like 11:45pm so I had to post it cause I was scared it was gonna delete. )
Anyways, here's the chapter. I also forgot that the chapter names were songs and I was going to name them so
Ch 1: Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce
Ch 2: Thinking Bout You - Frank Ocean
Ch 3: The Game Of Love - Santana, Michelle Branch
Whenever Wherever and The Endless Ways I'll Keep Loving You
Ep 3: The Game Of Love
Ring… ring… ring…
With the blaring noise from her rotom phone and a furry weight laying on top of her, Serena Yvonne awoke from her sleep and opened her eyes to the morning sun. As she adjusted to the sudden light, she reached over to the nightstand next to the bed and felt around the surface looking for her phone. When she felt the rectangle in her fingers, she grabbed the rotom and turned the screen towards her, looking at what this disturbance in her sleep was. A phone call from her mother was present on the phone, showing the two answer and decline buttons. Groaning a little bit, Serena pressed the answer button and put the phone's speaker to her ear.
"Serena is that you?!"
"Uh yeah it's me. Good morning mom." Serena could hear a slight bit of panic behind her mother's tone.
"It is? Are you home right now?"
"Uhh no? I'm still in the hotel room with Shauna, why?"
"Oh my Arceus ok.. ah sorry, good morning Serena."
"Um ok? What's this call about? You kinda woke me up."
"Sorry about that sweetie, just something weird happened. Or well is happening."
This seemed to wake Serena up. She sat up in bed and became more engaged in the conversation. Pancham rolled off her stomach and flopped out onto the bed in front of him.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"Well you won't believe this."
"Mom! What's going on!!"
"Well I thought you were home so that's why I called you but it seemed that you weren't."
"What do you mean you thought I was home?"
"Well.. somebody was riding a Rhyhorn outside and it kinda looked like you, so I just assumed you were here already."
"Someone's riding a Rhyhorn? What do you mean?"
"I woke up this morning to the noise of Rhyhorn running around outside. So I went to look out the window and low and behold, someone's out there riding on our track."
"Is it someone you know?"
"Well I thought it was you, they kinda look like it. But you're not here so I guess not. And it's none of the other kids in town."
"So someone random is at our house."
"I mean yea, but they don't seem to be causing any harm. They're just riding Rhydon."
"Mom! That's a random stranger!" Serena couldn't help but shake her head. Sometimes her mom could be too nice for her own good.
"Hold on, she's coming to the door…"
"What? Mom, be careful."
"Don't worry sweetie. Oh wait she's at the door, hold on."
Serena held her breath.
"Ah she's opening the door… wait she's opening the door?"
"Mom! Hide! Be careful!"
"Oh uh… Serena?"
"Mom! I'm here!!"
"Wait not you Serena, sorry you Serena. Wait hold on. Serena I'll call you back. I think you should come home."
In an instant, Grace hung up the phone. Panic began to arise in Serena. Something wasn't right and she needed to get home immediately. Serena looked at the panda sprawled out on her legs. Pancham was still asleep, lying on his back, and enjoying the sleep he was getting. With a gentle push, Serena moved the panda from her lap and onto the bed, allowing her to escape from under the blanket.
She placed her phone back onto the nightstand in between her bed and Shauna's. Speaking of the girl, Serena looked across the room to Shauna's side, where she was still sound asleep. When the two arrived at their hotel room at 3am, Shauna instantly made way for her bed, flopping herself onto it without a care.
Almost in an instant, she seemed to be out. Serena, being the good friend she is, helped Shauna out of her dress and dressed her in the pajamas she brought for sleeping. After aiding the girl, Serena herself changed out of her dress and into her comfy pajamas, tucking herself in for the night with Pancham joining her in bed.
That was 5 hours ago. Serena was still feeling a little grumpy from her abrupt wake up call and desperately wished to go back to bed. She was a little jealous of Shauna who got to sleep in and recover from their late night. 5 hours wasn't enough sleep for Serena and she really needed more. But, whatever was going on with her mom worried her and was definitely more important than getting some sleep.
Serena moved throughout the hotel room, going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and freshen up. She then changed into her clothes for the day, a pair of leggings and a hoodie to go over her shirt. Afterwards, she went to make sure all her belongings were packed in the backpack she brought for this overnight trip.
She made sure everything was accounted for, then she woke up the still sleeping Pancham and returned him to his Pokeball. He too wasn't happy with the wake up but understood that they needed to leave. After the panda was off the bed, Serena made the bed and straightened out the blanket. Once she was done, the bed looked exactly like when they first arrived in the hotel room, spotless, clean, and folded neatly.
Walking over to sleeping Shauna, Serena went to the side of the bed she was facing and knelt down. With her arm, she tried to shake Shauna awake to let her know she was leaving.
"Mmmh… wat…"
"Shauna, are you awake?"
"Mm.. partly. What's up?"
"I have to go. My mom called me about something and I gotta get back home."
"Mmk. Be safe, I'll talk to you later."
With Shauna mumbling through the whole exchange and probably not even registering anything said, Serena was satisfied letting her know at least, and she made her way to leave the hotel room.
"I'll just leave my key here. Text me when you wake up."
"Mmhmm."
The train ride back home was an anxious one for Serena. Not only was the lack of sleep not helping, but she couldn't help but feel worried for her mom. Nobody used the Rhyhorn track except for Grace and having someone show up unannounced and out of nowhere didn't make Serena feel good.
It also didn't help that their phone ended with her mom ending it abruptly and the mystery person entering their home. Her thoughts couldn't help but race at the possibilities at who it could be.
Sylveon was sitting next to Serena and had one of her feelers wrapped around her hand. The ribbon Pokémon could feel the stress within Serena and tried her best to calm her trainer down, using the feeler to give Serena as much comfort as she could.
Serena's leg wouldn't stop bouncing as she let her worry take over her. She tried her best to calm down, focusing on the passing scenery or squeezing Sylveon's feelers, but nothing seemed to work all too well. It also didn't help that her mom wouldn't answer her calls. 'Something was definitely not right…' she thought to herself.
She stayed in this nervous state the whole ride until eventually, the train arrived at Vaniville Town and opened its doors, letting passengers out. Serena bolted out of the train as fast as she could, running out of the train station and towards her home.
The run to her house was short and in an instant, she arrived at her front door, gasping for air. After taking a second, Serena burst through, searching for Mom immediately.
"Ah Serena! You're here!"
"Mom, are you ok?!" Serena ran up to her mom, who was relaxing on the couch, sipping some coffee from her mug.
"I'm fine. Come, take a seat." Motioning for her daughter to sit down, Serena obliged and settled in next to her mom.
"You didn't answer any of my calls! What happened! You hung up on me suddenly!"
"Ah sorry about that… I just kinda got distracted."
"Distracted how?"
"Well…"
"Mom, here's some biscuits if you want."
Serena froze. She didn't say those words. It was definitely her voice she heard but her mount didn't open. Serena whipped her head around and was greeted by a peculiar sight.
Before her, was herself standing with a plate? Serena became instantly confused. A Serena was standing there, with a place of biscuits in her hands, and looked exactly like the Serena sitting on the couch.
"Uh mom? What's going on?"
"That's what I was wondering too. But when she walked through the door and I hung up on you, I was just so confused that you were here. Or well other you was here."
"Wait, so the person that was riding the Rhyhorn was me?"
"Yep. She, or well you, walked in and I was instantly like 'oh you were just playing a prank on me' but then I saw she had no phone."
"Ok…"
The Serena with the biscuits walked over to the two and sat down in the chair in front of them. She placed the biscuits on the coffee table and leaned back in the single seat. Serena looked at the girl sitting in front of her.
The majority of her looked exactly the same as Serena except for a few differences. The most notable was the length of hair. This Serena had long hair, like when she began her journey as a Pokemon trainer all those years ago. The other was how toned her muscles were. It wasn't in a jacked, weight training way, but in a way that looked like she rode Rhyhorn a lot and was used to the workload.
Other than that, this Serena was the exact same.
"So then she came in and I started talking to her like I would to you."
"And then?"
"I realized after a bit that this wasn't you. Yes, you look the same but the personality and mannerisms seemed a bit off."
"How so?"
"Well she was still nice like you but she seemed to have a real passion for Rhyhorn Racing!"
"I see."
"And so we kinda got distracted talking about Rhyhorn the whole time and I may have forgotten to call you back. Sorry." Grace smiled sheepishly at her daughter.
"Seriously Mom!? I was worried sick! I'm just glad you're alright."
"Same here. But I still am confused as to why there's two of you. Is this actually Shauna in disguise here?"
"Nope. Definitely not Shauna. She's still knocked out in that hotel room."
"Ohh? Did something happen last night?"
"No mom! We did nothing, just got back to the hotel room late."
"Alright alright."
Across the room, Serena cleared her throat to get the attention of the mother and daughter.
"I'm sorry for interrupting but I too, am confused as to why I'm here."
Serena and her mom turned their attention to the girl sitting across from them.
"Well let's talk about it then." Grace wanted to understand whatever was going on too.
"Is there anything you remember at all? Like anything weird?"
"Well I woke up today at my normal time, got changed into my riding attire, then went to practice a bit. My daily routine."
"Nothing strange happened?"
"Not that I can remember. I went to bed, woke up, and everything seemed fine. When I went through the house it all looked the same to me and when I went to the pens it was the same too."
"Hm… strange." Serena tapped her chin with her finger. The whole situation was weird.
"But I guess apparently this isn't my home, judging by your reactions and how you're not technically my mom."
"Serena, shouldn't you tell Professor Sycamore about this? Maybe he could help somehow?"
"That's a great idea, I'll bring her along with me."
"If he can't explain it then I don't know who can."
"Alright let me drop my bag off in my room, I'll be right back."
Serena stood up and made her way to the stairs, leaving Grace and the other Serena alone.
"So you're telling me your daily routine has you riding a Rhyhorn?"
"It does! I have to practice after all."
"Practice? Wait, don't tell me, you ride Rhyhorn?"
"I do! You made me want to compete anyways. Well I guess not you but you get what I mean."
"Yea, I do. Wow, it's so weird to see you enjoy Rhyhorn racing. It's like you're a different version of my Serena here!"
"What do you mean?"
"Well my daughter doesn't ride Rhyhorn. She gave that up a long time ago."
"She did?! What!"
"Yea, it was years ago now. But she really did not like it."
"So what does she do now?"
"She's in all those contests and performances. The exact opposite of Rhyhorn racing."
"Wow… interesting. I never really liked those to be honest."
"You're like exact opposites!"
Grace's laughter could be heard from Serena's room. Inside, the girl dropped her bag onto her chair and turned to leave the room. Before she did however, Serena took a look around, always feeling comfort in being back in her childhood room. Since she left on her journey, her mom has kept her room almost the same, cleaning it every now and then.
As Serena's eyes drifted around the room, a shiny sight caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She snapped to her dresser and went to look at the sight. On the top, a trophy was displayed with a mini gold Rhyhorn adorned on the top.
"What's this?"
Serena reached out to grab the trophy when suddenly it disappeared, leaving no trace of it behind.
"Huh?"
As Serena finished her reaction, the trophy reappeared again, with some sort of glitch effect, announcing its return.
"What the heck?"
Serena took a closer look at the mysterious trophy. On its plaque read '1st Place Victor - Serena Yvonne'. Then right below that line read, 'Rhyhorn Cup Invitational'.
"A Rhyhorn cup..? When did I win this?"
Reaching out one more time, Serena tried to grab the trophy. To her surprise, it didn't vanish before she could touch it this time, and she held it firmly in her hands. With the trophy now in possession, Serena left her room and walked downstairs.
When she arrived, she could hear the friendly chatter between her mom and herself.
"Hey um so I found this in my room." Serena held up the trophy for the two of them to see.
"That's my trophy!"
"It is?"
"Yea! It was my first ever win so it's very important to me."
"You won a Rhyhorn Cup Invitational!?"
"I did! And many more but they're in the display case…"
The Rhyhorn riding Serena trailed off. She looked around the living room, searching for something.
"Ah I see…"
"What is it?"
"I really am not in my own house. In my living room we have a display case with all my wins that I've gotten over the years."
"So there's more of these?" Grace was certainly interested.
"There sure is. I love Rhyhorn racing."
"That's so amazing to hear." Grace seemed to be entranced by this version of her daughter.
"Mom!!"
"Relax, I'm just messing around. Of course I love your performances too Serena. They're just as impressive and amazing to me. Even more so honestly."
"Yea alright mom. We should probably get going now."
"Be safe you two, come back home when you're done!"
Pulling Rhyhorn Serena out of the house, Serena lead herself to the train station, from which they hopped onto a train and began their trip to Lumiose City to meet with Professor Sycamore.
The two Serena's were able to sit next to each other, as they were in the back of the train and there was nobody else aboard. Seeing two of the same girl could've been bad and would've led to an interesting train ride. Luckily, nobody seemed to be going to Lumiose from their route.
The train moved along the countryside, passing by beautiful grass fields and Pokemon roaming free, enjoying life. Next to Serena, her counterpart was busy watching a video on her phone of herself racing Rhydon.
"So what's it like where you're from."
"It's exactly like here except well, I guess I like riding Rhyhorn more than doing performances."
"I see then. Did you ever go on a journey with Pokemon or anything?"
"Was I supposed to? Is that something you have to do for Rhyhorn racing?"
"What? No no of course not. It's just that I went on an adventure and that's how I came to understand I didn't like Rhyhorn racing and that performing was the thing meant for me."
"Ohh I see. That's interesting then. It's like we led different lives."
"I guess so, yea."
"I do wonder what other similarities or differences we have. This is pretty interesting."
"I agree."
As the train rolled along the tracks, the two began to engage in their differences. How their daily life was like, who they were friends with, adventures they've been on, it was all very interesting to the other. Rhyhorn Serena seemed to be very interested in the stories that our Serena told. The journey she went on throughout Kalos was one that made her a little jealous of the girl sitting next to her.
It seemed so amazing that she was able to discover the region and find what she was passionate about. Not saying that she wasn't passionate about Rhyhorn racing but being free and independent made Serena look so much better in her eyes.
As Serena talked about her life, she too couldn't help but feel something for her counterpart. Seeing how devoted she was to Rhyhorn made her think about how she could've been on that path and whether she may have been letting her own mom down with her selfish desires.
Serena kept talking about her adventures when Rhyhorn Serena noticed something was off. During her stories, a piece felt missing from everything, almost like she was purposely avoiding something.
"So when you traveled around Kalos, you were only with Clemont and Bonnie?"
"Ah… well not really."
"Not really?"
"Well there was one more person…"
"Care to share why you left them out?"
"Um…"
Serena began to turn red. She was deliberately trying to avoid the topic of Ash, as the thought of him was a touchy subject right now.
"Do you remember attending a summer camp when you were younger?"
"I think so… some professor's lab I think?"
"Yea, Professor Oak."
"What about it?"
"Do you ever remember playing with a boy at that camp?"
"Hmm… vaguely."
"He was… the other person in our group."
"You're talking about him like he's dead or something, what happened?"
"Well first of all, he's not dead. It's just a touchy subject right now."
"Oh? Was he an ex-boyfriend? That's cool, at least I dated someone in some other life."
"No! He wasn't an ex-boyfriend."
"So what was he? Wait… did you like him?!"
Serena let out a little squeak. Hearing Ash being called her crush still makes her blush every time.
"Mhm."
"Woah! So what happened, you have to tell me everything about him!"
Serena looked at how long they had before they arrived at Lumiose. Deciding she had enough time, Serena began her story over again, this time including Ash and all her thoughts about him.
"So she's you but instead of being a performer, she's a Rhyhorn racer?"
"Exactly."
"And she showed up randomly? Like out of nowhere?"
"Pretty much."
"This is really weird."
Professor Sycamore was standing before the two girls with his hand rubbing his chin. The strange event left him clueless as to what was going on.
"I don't really get it."
"Us too."
"So what, you're like some alternate universe version of Serena here?"
"Maybe?"
"I'm going to need to ask the other professors about this, I don't think I could figure this out on my own."
Serena watched as the professor left the two and walked towards his desk, turning his computer on. With a few clicks and taps on the keyboard, he seemed to be surprised with what he found.
"Well look here, looks like it's happening elsewhere too. Professor Oak just sent a message out to all of us Professors about this kind of thing."
"Really? Fantastic! Get him on the phone asap! We gotta call him!" Rhyhorn Serena was very enthusiastic about wanting to call Professor Oak.
"I'm already on it. I sent a message asking if he could call."
"Did he say why he sent that message out? Did someone he know have some weird alternate universe them show up?"
"He didn't specify in the message but I would assume so."
Thoughts ran through Serena's head for a second. Could it be possible it was Ash? It was one of the only people he knew who were related to Professor Oak and who else would come running right to him? But he was still in Galar, Serena was sure of it. She made sure to check the news on his whereabouts while they were on the train in fact.
"Now all we do is wait. Professor Oak isn't the fastest at responding."
The two Serena's walked over to a pair of office chairs that were empty. As Rhyhorn Serena sat down, she asked her counterpart a question.
"So you went here to get your partner Pokémon?"
"I did. With Ash too."
"Woah I didn't mention him, why're you bringing him up?" Clearly teasing, Rhyhorn Serena couldn't hold back her smile.
Serena on the other hand was blushing profusely. "I- I was uhm…"
"Girls! Good news! Professor Oak is calling right now! Come quick!"
The two girls rushed over to Professor Sycamore and watched as he positioned the camera to face him. Serena and Serena were not in frame just yet.
On the counter screen, the call came through and a picture of an old professor was shown, having himself some difficulty with the camera. Once he got it adjusted, he backed away and greeted the other professor on the line.
"Sycamore! Glad you saw my message."
"And I'm glad I saw it right away! Just so happens it showed up right when my problem arrived."
"Alright so what's happening over there?"
"Well, one of my trainers came with what looks to be an alternate universe version of herself."
"An alternate universe? Now that's different."
"Why? What's going on with you?"
"Well my trainer had his younger self show up. Like him from 10 years ago younger."
"Hmm strange. What's our plan here?"
"First, anything else weird happen? Like a thing that's not supposed to be there, being there?"
Sycamore turned to Serena. He gave her a look like he wanted her to come on camera. "You care to explain what happened?"
Serena nodded and walked over to the computer to make herself seen by the camera. "Hi Professor Oak."
"Well hello there. My, you look familiar…"
"I attended your summer camp when I was younger."
A rustling noise could be heard from the computer and from Professor Oak's side of the screen.
"Let me see here… ah! Serena! I remember you now, you spen- wait what are you doing?"
Professor Oak was cut off by two boys trying to look at the computer. Ash and his younger self were front and center, looking at the computer with eager eyes. Once they did, they seemed to be happy.
Serena on the other hand, felt a mix of that same happiness but also scared. Seeing Ash through the computer seemed to stir something inside her. Rhyhorn Serena squeezed in frame too to take a look at who was on the computer.
"Wait… Serena isn't that?-"
With a hand to silence her other self, Serena stopped the girl from speaking. She didn't want anything ruining this moment, even if this look at Ash was just through a computer. On the other side, Ash was doing the same, holding back his younger self from trying to interfere with the view.
"Serena/Ash?" Simultaneously, they said each others names as they looked into each other's eyes, separated by a computer screen.
a/n:
That's the intro arc done. Now with all the setup completed, the story can truly begin and we can start getting into all the ideas I have. Apologies for the slightly rushed ending, I just wanted to get this chapter out so the first 3 can all be read at once. Expect the next one to come maybe in 2 weeks, im not a very efficient writer and I take so long to write, but I'm trying to get consistent with my writing. Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!