Chapter 1: Home

A boy stood at the top of the hill that overlooked his hometown. It was a small town, so much so that one probably wouldn't find it on a map if it wasn't for the Pokemon Lab located there. The town was covered in farmland with houses scattered throughout, and the total population couldn't have been more than three hundred. It was a peaceful life for those who lived here in Pallet Town.

The wind ruffled the boy's messy, black hair from under his hat. Under it were his deep brown eyes, but they weren't filled with their usual determined look. His partner pokemon, a Pikachu, looked at him from his shoulder with worried eyes.

The boy let out a sigh. Usually, this was a view that filled him with excitement for his return home. However, for the first time in his life, even that couldn't lift his spirits.

He had just returned from competing in Unova's Pokemon League, the Vertress Conference, in which he placed in the top eight. While most would consider this a great achievement, the boy wasn't satisfied. He knew he had underperformed, both in the competition and throughout his entire journey there.

He blamed himself more than anything. Looking back, there were far too many times where he had put himself or his pokemon in danger because he hadn't bothered to understand what he was up against. Sure, he could have trained his pokemon better to even the odds, but that didn't make up for the fact that his ignorance had been his downfall far more than a reasonable number of times.

Once again he looked at the medal in his hand. It had been given to him for participating in the Pokemon League. It read:

Vertress Conference
Ash Ketchum
Top Eight

Ash smiled weakly at the medal. This was an achievement he was supposed to be proud of. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when Pikachu nuzzled his cheek.

"Pika-pi, pika pikachu," the yellow mouse said happily, in an attempt to cheer him up. It was worried that its trainer was scolding himself a little too much. Ash and Pikachu had been together since day one of their journey, and it knew better than anyone that Ash was a good trainer, even if that didn't always show.

"You're right, Pikachu. Maybe I'm being a little too hard on myself," Ash said. He scratched the electric-type behind the ear, who then cooed with joy. There was no way Ash couldn't put on a smile after seeing that. "Ready to head home, buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, raising its fist in the air. It then leapt off Ash's shoulder and ran down the trail to Pallet Town. Ash laughed at his partner's enthusiasm before jogging to keep up with it.

Ash's negative emotions left him as the two passed through town. Despite how he felt only a moment ago, it was difficult to not be excited as he got closer and closer to the house he grew up in.

Finally, the building he was looking for came into view. It was a small, white house, not unlike most of the other buildings in Pallet town. It had two floors with a red roof, and was surrounded by a white, wooden fence. The sight put a broad smile on Ash's face. He was finally home.

Ash immediately swung the door open and yelled, "Mom, I'm home!"

"Ash?" a voice asked from the kitchen. A moment later, a woman appeared in the doorway with a gentle smile. She had brown eyes much like Ash's along with reddish brown hair and was wearing a yellow and pink top with a blue skirt. "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back," Ash said before wrapping his mother, Delia, in a hug.

The two soon broke from the hug, with Delia resting her hands on her son's shoulders. "I'm so proud of you," she said.

"Thanks, mom," Ash responded.

Delia couldn't help but notice that Ash's smile faded slightly when she said that. She figured that Ash probably wasn't satisfied with his performance at the Vertress Conference, but decided against pressing the matter. Ash would tell her about it when he was ready.

"Well, I'm sure you're eager to see all of your pokemon again," Delia said, receiving a nod from Ash, "so why don't you take your things up to your room before heading off to the lab? We can talk all about your journey over dinner tonight."

Ash felt a bit guilty for wanting to leave so soon, but since his mom was fine with it he decided it wasn't a big deal. "Okay mom, I'll do that," he said before he ran up the stairs, Pikachu at his heels.

When Ash opened the door to his room, it looked as though he had never left. Everything was exactly where he had left it. On one side of the room was his bed, which had covers on them with pokeball designs. There was a large stuffed Snorlax in one corner of the room along with a radio and a small television. In another corner was a desk with all sorts of books about Pokemon. Ash wasn't much of one for reading, but he loved Pokemon so much that he didn't mind sitting down and learning about them from time to time.

Lastly was the dresser that displayed all his past achievements. The badges and rewards he had received from other regions were all neatly displayed across it. There were also a few other items on display, such as his Battle Frontier Symbols, his half of the Terracotta Town Pokemon Contest Ribbon, and his Orange League Championship Trophy.

Ash set his bag down next to the desk and then fished out his Unova badge case. He set it on the dresser along with his medal. He would have to remember to properly display those later, but first he wanted to go to the lab.

Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder before he left his room and dashed down the stairs. Before he got to the door, he heard his mother calling to him from the kitchen.

"Please invite Professor Oak over for dinner while you're there!" Delia said.

"I will!" Ash yelled before making his way out the door and toward the Professor's lab.

It wasn't long before he was at Professor Oak's Lab, but Ash was so excited to see his pokemon again that he skipped the Lab altogether and went straight for the fields. Pikachu, realizing what was about to happen, quickly leapt off his trainer's shoulder and onto the fence that surrounded the property.

Ash hopped over the fence, and the moment his feet touched the ground on the other side, he could feel it rumbling. Seconds later, Ash found himself being trampled by his herd of Tauros. Once they passed, the black-haired trainer could be seen sprawled out on the ground with a dazed expression on his face.

"I guess I forgot about that," he said with a grimace. Pikachu felt bad for its trainer, but could stop itself from snickering a bit. It took him a bit of effort, but Ash soon managed to sit upright. It was then that he heard another one of his pokemon nearby.

"Bulba!" Ash turned to see a small grass-type pokemon running toward him, and it was clearly very happy to see him again.

"Hey, Bulbasaur!" Ash yelled, and reached to pet the seed pokemon when it got to him. "How are things here at the lab?"

"Bulba, bulbasaur," it said. It appeared that everything was going very well between all the pokemon. With Bulbasaur acting as a peacekeeper at the lab, it was rare to see fights last very long.

"That's great! Bulbasaur, would you mind calling everyone from Unova over here?" he asked.

Bulbasaur nodded and began storing energy in the plant bulb on its back. After a few seconds, the energy was launched into the sky to create a small firework display. Whether he had seen it one time or one thousand, Ash thought that Bulbasaur's control over its Solar Beam was astounding. Not only was it able to create something so beautiful, it also had many different patterns it could use to signal specific groups of pokemon.

"Thanks, Bulbasaur," Ash said. The seed pokemon smiled at this and turned to Pikachu who began to animatedly tell it about all the adventures they'd had in the Unova region. Ash then released his other pokemon from their pokeballs, who started to talk with the other pokemon as they arrived.

While he was waiting, Ash heard a someone calling out to him. "There you are, Ash!" He looked behind him to find Professor Oak walking toward him from the lab. "I thought I saw you out here."

"Oh, hi, Professor Oak!" Ash exclaimed as he stood to greet him.

"You know, Ash, I thought you would at least stop in the lab to let me know you were here," the Professor said.

Ash's face fell when he heard that. "Sorry, Professor. I guess I got a little too excited to see everyone again."

"Don't worry about it, Ash," he said with a smile, "I completely understand. So, tell me, how did your journey in Unova go?"

Ash's expression lightened slightly. "I certainly had a lot of fun, and I also made a lot of new friends," he said, gesturing to the pokemon that were arriving one at a time after seeing Bulbasaur's signal, "but I also think I could have done a lot better. I made a lot of mistakes in Unova, and it just makes me wonder how well I would have done if I was better prepared."

"Ash, it's important to remember that nothing you do is a waste of time," the Professor said. "Anything can be a learning experience. The best thing you can do now is learn from your mistakes. Once you understand your mistakes, you can then take steps to ensure they don't happen again."

"Thanks, Professor," Ash said. That was exactly the kind of thing Ash needed to hear right now. Having someone remind him that he can improve from this experience filled him with confidence once again.

"Any time, Ash," Professor Oak said. "You're planning on seeing all of your pokemon today, I presume?"

"That's right," Ash confirmed, "but I wanted to start with these guys first. I wanted to thank them for all their hard work in Unova." Ash saw that the last of his pokemon were arriving.

"I see. Well, I won't keep you any longer, Ash," he said, turning to leave.

"Oh, wait!" Ash said, remembering what he was supposed to do while he was there. "My mom wanted me to invite you over for dinner tonight."

Professor Oak stood there in thought for a moment, but then noticed something behind Ash. Before he had time to look, he was tackled by another pokemon. It didn't take him long for him to realize it was Muk on his back.

"At least it's not me for once," the Professor muttered before answering Ash's question. "It has been a while since I've had Delia's cooking. I'll be there."

"That's great, Professor!" Ash said between laughs. "Okay, Muk! It's good to see you too!" Professor Oak smiled at the scene in front of him before he left to return to the lab.

Once he got Muk off him, he returned his attention to his Unova pokemon. In front of him stood Unfezant, Oshawott, Pignite, Snivy, Scraggy, Leavanny, Palpitoad, Boldore, and Krookodile. Along with Pikachu, all of them played very important roles in Ash's Unova journey. Now that everyone was here, they all quieted down and waited for what their trainer had to say.

"Thank you, everyone, for the adventure in Unova," he told them. The group all let out a small cheer in response. "You all worked hard in the Unova League as well. I'm proud of all of you. I know we didn't win, but you all did your absolute best and I couldn't ask for more."

"I don't want any of you thinking that it was your fault we lost," he continued. "If anyone is to blame for this, it's me." Everyone gave cries of disapproval because they knew he was a great trainer, but let him continue.

"Thanks for believing in me, everyone, but that doesn't change that fact that I made a lot of mistakes in Unova. Many of which were ones that were completely avoidable, and I should have known better with my experience as a trainer. It was my actions that put us at a disadvantage at the Vertress Conference. I'm sorry, everyone."

Once he had finished, all his pokemon gathered around him for a group hug. Even Bulbasaur and Muk joined. They all accepted what their trainer had to say, but they still wanted him to know that he always had their support. The last thing any of them wanted was for him to think he was an inadequate trainer.

Ash felt tears well up in his eyes. He wouldn't have thought that his pokemon would be this supportive of him. "Thank you, guys. I promise, I'll get stronger and I'll learn from my mistakes. Next time, we're bringing home that first place trophy!" he exclaimed while throwing a fist in the air. All his pokemon cried in approval and mimicked his pose.

Everyone there was laughing and having a good time. "Hey Bulbasaur!" Ash called to the grass-type. "Why don't we call everyone else over here? I don't want to leave anyone out of this."

Bulbasaur nodded and charged Solar Beam once again, then fired it into the air. Everyone looked up to watch the light show, which was just as beautiful as before.

It had been a long and eventful afternoon for Ash, and he had enjoyed every moment of it. After his talk with his Unova pokemon, he got to see all his other pokemon. Every one of them was happy to see Ash again. Even Sceptile, probably the calmest pokemon out of the group, was uncharacteristically ecstatic. He got the usual head bites from Totodile and Gible, and Bayleef was more affectionate than ever toward him, which everyone else thought was impossible. No one was surprised when Torkoal burst into tears upon seeing Ash, though.

The whole group was there for a little over an hour. Ash got some time with each of his pokemon separately, while the rest of them enjoyed what had become a small party. Soon though, all of them began to disperse, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone once again, relaxing under a small tree next to the lab.

"Today was great day, wasn't it, buddy?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

"Now it's time to figure out what comes next," he said. "I have no idea what we should do."

Ash started to think about his options, but quickly realized he didn't have many. He currently had no leads on other regions he could visit or other competitions he could compete in.

He then reflected on his journey in Unova, and all the mistakes he made along the way. He needed to find time to focus on fixing them, but how could he do that effectively if he was exploring another new region?

Professor Oak's words echoed in his ears: 'Nothing you do is a waste of time. Anything can be a learning experience.'

"Pikachu, I think I have an idea," Ash said. "You're probably going to think I'm crazy, though."

"Pikachu?" the mouse pokemon asked, tilting its head.

Ash took a deep breath. Even he knew that what he was about to say was completely out of character. "What if… we stay in Pallet Town for a while?"

"Pika!?" Pikachu cried out in shock. Ash had never wanted to stay still once in his life. If he wasn't on the move, he didn't feel right. What made him think that this was a good idea?

"Yeah, I figured you would have a reaction like that," he said with a light chuckle. "I just feel that I could benefit a lot by staying here for a while. We could get a lot of training done here at the lab, and I would also be able to focus on my weak points as a trainer. Then, once we're ready, we can decide a new journey."

As Ash spoke, Pikachu's expression softened. What its trainer was saying made a lot of sense. He felt so bad about how his last journey went that he doesn't want to just rush into the next one. If this was what Ash felt was right, then Pikachu was behind him all the way. Pikachu nuzzled his cheek to show him that it was okay with his plan.

"I'll take that as a sign that you agree," Ash said.

"Pika-pi, pikachu!" it replied happily.

"Good," Ash said with a laugh. "Now, we should probably get going. Mom will be done with dinner soon." Pikachu nodded its head in agreement.

Ash stood up, and Pikachu perched itself on his shoulder. He then ran to the lab after remembering that he probably shouldn't be hopping the fence again.

Once inside the lab, he briefly searched for Professor Oak, but he didn't appear to be around. He ran back home, assuming the professor had already left.

Ash was proven to be correct as soon as opened the door. He found his mother talking with the professor in the living room, patiently waiting for Ash to return.

"Ash! You're just in time!" Delia exclaimed. "I just finished dinner a few minutes ago."

"Great!" Ash said, beaming. "I'm starving!"

They all had a laugh about Ash's appetite. Not much gets him more excited than food. They all moved to the Kitchen and took a seat, with Pikachu sitting on the table as it often did. Ash did his best to not swallow the whole dish of food in one gulp.

Delia was the first to speak once they sat down. "So Ash, how was your day with your pokemon?" she asked.

"It was great," Ash said. "We all just gathered around and we had an amazing time together. It was almost like a party. It was really nice to spend time with all of them again."

Both Professor Oak and Delia simply smiled in response. It was nice to see him in such a good mood, especially since they had both seen he was a bit distracted when he first arrived home.

"Have you decided what you are doing next, Ash?" Professor Oak asked him.

Ash nearly choked on his food when he heard this, but managed to keep his cool. He knew this question was coming eventually, but he wasn't expecting it to be within the first three minutes of dinner.

"Um, actually," Ash began hesitantly, "I was thinking I would stay here at home for a while."

Both nearly dropped their utensils in surprise. Just like Pikachu, they didn't think that Ash was even capable of staying in one place for an extended period. After they took a moment to let what Ash had said sink in, they spoke again.

"Where did this idea come from?" Delia asked.

"I think I might know," the professor said. "You want take time off for some training."

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "After the Vertress Conference, I realized that there were a lot of things I could be doing better. I thought the best way to learn how to improve myself was to stay here for a while rather than hope I figured it out on the go."

"I think that is a very wise thing to do, young man," Professor Oak told him.

"I'll support you all the way on this, Ash," Delia said. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

"Thanks," Ash said. He was happy that they had both taken the news well.

"You know, Ash," the professor started, "if you are planning on being around for a while, it wouldn't be a bad idea do some studying on pokemon. It would really help you out if you come across an ability or move that you wouldn't have known about before."

"Oh! You can learn to cook for yourself, too!" Delia said excitedly. She had always wanted to teach him. "How are you going to survive out there if you don't know how to make something decent to eat? I know on all of your other adventures you had someone else with you that knew how to cook, but what if that isn't the case next time?"

"One more thing," Oak said. "Do you know how to properly take care of your pokemon? I have no doubt that you can do a decent job on your own, but like Delia said, you also had someone else traveling with you that knew all their needs."

Ash listened intently on what they were telling him. Everything they said made sense. He knew he wasn't as educated as he should be in certain areas, and he had always been reliant on others as well. It would take a lot of hard work, but Ash was determined to better himself.

"You're both right," Ash told them. "I have a lot I need to work on."

"What's important is that you understand what needs to be done and work hard toward it," Delia said, giving her son an encouraging smile.

Ash was ready. He was going to become the best trainer he could be. With that in mind, he asked the most important question of the night.

"So when do we start?"

In the forest that borders Pallet Town, a young girl had gotten lost in the forest.

"Hello? Where is everyone?" she called, but no one answered.

The girl was becoming more afraid my the second. Truthfully, she hadn't been separated from everyone for very long, no more than ten minutes, but for someone so young and shy it wasn't difficult for the fear to set in.

The girl was six years old, and was visiting Pallet Town from Kalos for a summer camp. She had bright, blue eyes with honey-blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders, and she wore a straw hat with a pink dress.

She flinched when a nearby bush began to rustle and tried to run away. However, in her panic she tripped and fell to the ground. She scraped her knee up quite a bit in the fall and couldn't move it. Tears filled her eyes as she was forced to watch in terror, waiting for whatever creature could be coming for her.

Suddenly, a small blue pokemon hopped into view directly in front of the girl. A Poliwag. The tadpole pokemon looked at her, causing the girl to back away as much as she could. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the Poliwag left, hopping along deeper into the forest.

Tears started falling down the young girl's face. "I said I didn't want to go to camp!" she cried.

Her mother had forced the girl to go to the Summer Camp, despite being adamantly against it. This was her third day at the camp, and she hadn't had any fun or made any friends at all. She was too shy to start conversations with anyone else at the camp so she found herself hiding from everyone as much as she could manage. Now, she was lost and absolutely terrified. If only she could have convinced her mom to let her stay home…

Just when the honey-haired girl thought the situation couldn't get any worse, the bush started rustling again. Still unable to move, the only thing she could do was shut her eyes as tightly as possible and wish for it to all be over soon.

"Poliwag?" a voice called. A boy around the girl's age stepped into the clearing. He was looking for the water-type that had just passed through, but stopped when he saw the girl on the ground in front of him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

The girl's eyes opened when he spoke. The boy had brown eyes and messy, black hair. He wore a sleeveless red and yellow shirt with a pokeball design on them with blue shorts. Had someone come to save her from this nightmare?

"I'm Ash," the boy said, "and you?"

Before she could answer, the girl winced at the pain in her leg.

Seeing this, the boy, Ash, asked a different question instead. "What's wrong?"

"I-I hurt my leg," the girl replied. There were still tears in her eyes and she was still quite scared, but seeing someone else had her a bit relieved.

Ash knelt in front of her to look at her injured knee. "Are you okay? Oh, right," he said, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. It was white with a blue edge on one side that had pokeball symbols in the corners. "In times like these," he said, while tying the piece of cloth around the girl's leg, "all right!"

The girl tried to stand, but once again winced in pain. "Ow!"

"I'll put a spell on it!" Ash said to cheer her up. "Pain, pain, go away!" he exclaimed while making strange motions with his hands and finally throwing both of his hands into the air.

The girl once again tried to stand, but the pain was too much for her. "Ow! It's no use, I can't get up," she said sadly.

The black-haired boy stood up and smiled. "Don't give up until the end!" he told her, then he held out his hand for the girl to take.

The honey-blonde girl didn't even realize that she had stopped crying. She wasn't even scared anymore. This boy, Ash, was the first person since she had arrived at the camp to show her any amount of kindness, melting away any fears she had left. She carefully took Ash's hand.

Ash pulled her up to her feet. The girl closed her eyes as she waited for the pain, but it never came. She opened her eyes and found that she had fallen into a small hug with the boy. She held her position for a moment before taking a step back to look at him.

"See? You got up!" he exclaimed with a toothy grin.

The boy was right. Never give up until the end. The girl decided that she should remember that. Then she remembered that Ash had asked for her name. "I'm Serena," she told him.

Ash gave her another smile before saying, "Let's go back to the campsite." He then started to walk, still holding Serena's hand. "Come on, it's this way." He pointed to an opening in the trees nearby with his free hand.

She felt a little bit silly for getting lost so close to the campsite, but she wouldn't trade this moment for anything. She had finally found a friend at camp and didn't need to hate being there any longer. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as they walked together. Despite her young age, the girl knew that this boy was special.

Serena would never forget this moment.

The sun was rising over a peaceful little town in southern Kalos. Much like Pallet Town in Kanto, there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about the place, aside from the famous Rhyhorn Racer, Grace, who lived there. The town consisted mostly of farmland, but also had a large open field that Grace used for practice.

It was another quiet morning in Vaniville Town. Or, it was before a piercing scream cut through the air.

The residents were used to this by now. It had been a near daily occurrence over the last couple months. They were all well aware that the noise had come from Grace's own daughter.

The girl in question angrily sat up from the floor and stared at the Fletchling in her room. It had once again woken her up by pecking her hard in the back of her head.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to wake me up like that!" she screamed. Fletchling just looked at the girl with honey-blonde hair as if it had done nothing wrong.

"It wouldn't be necessary if you woke up on time, Serena!" her mother called from downstairs.

Serena hung her head in response. She hadn't always been like this. She used to always get up at a reasonable time and help her mother with whatever was needed. However, after her sixteenth birthday, Grace insisted that Serena learn to race like she did. She soon found herself sleeping in as much as she could to avoid training, which led to this confrontation more often than she would like.

"I was in the middle of a great dream, too," Serena complained. Fletchling snickered in response. It had heard this one before. It then flew out the door of Serena's room the way it came.

Serena let out a disappointed sigh. She had once again been dreaming about the boy who had found her in the forest all those years ago. She stood and looked toward her dresser, where the handkerchief he had given her sat neatly folded in the center. She had meant to return it to him, but he insisted she keep it as something to remember him by.

"Ash," she mumbled to herself. Serena had no idea why he had been on her mind so much recently. It seemed that with how miserable she had been in these past few months that she had latched onto her happiest memories in attempt to keep her spirits up.

"I hope you're getting ready for your morning training!" Grace once again called. Serena grimaced at this, but she knew it was coming. She groaned as she moved to pull her pink racing outfit out of her closet.

It wasn't like she hated the idea of Rhyhorn Racing, though. She always admired her mother's skill and determination, but this wasn't what she wanted to do. The training was tough and often painful. Unfortunately, Serena didn't think she had a lot of alternatives available to her.

Serena had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, and she was content to stay home with her mother until she found something. Grace was aware of this, and that's why she forced her to race. She knew that her daughter wasn't going to enjoy the training, but getting her to like it wasn't her intention.

Grace recognized that Serena was never going to find a passion in her life the way things were going. She thought that if she could make her want to leave, she could discover what she enjoyed on her own. She knew that it was rather unfair to Serena to essentially bully her out of the house, but she would never leave on her own adventure just because her mother had asked her to.

The racer knew that her daughter was just about to her limit. All she needed now was a final push to get her started. But what was that going to be?

Serena pulled the red bow out of her hair and looked into the mirror in her room. She had to admit that despite the bedhead she still looked alright. It wouldn't last for long, though. Her hair fell to the middle of her back, and her pajamas were pink with white bow symbols all over it. The girl slowly changed into her solid pink racing uniform and tied her hair up.

"Well, I have to do this sometime," Serena told herself as she went to the door to her room. She stopped in the doorway and took another look at the handkerchief. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to see him again.

Unbeknownst to her, the boy from her childhood would soon be leaving Pallet town once again.

Nearly six months had passed since Ash had returned to Pallet Town, and it had been quite eventful. He had learned much more than he would have initially expected when he started.

His mother helped him learn how to cook, and he was getting rather good at it. It wasn't quite at the same quality as his mother's, but it was passable. Ash had even contacted his old friend and traveling partner, Brock, to get some of his favorite recipes from him.

Brock was also more than happy to help Ash out by giving him a bunch of his breeding notes. With those, he would be able to give his pokemon the care they required, such as making food for them that meets their needs.

Whenever he wasn't reviewing Brock's breeding notes or studying about other various things, he was at the lab with his pokemon. With how often he was around, it was easy to find time to help his pokemon train. Now, all of them were in top form, and Pikachu specifically had never looked better.

With his time in Pallet Town coming to an end very soon, Ash was now trying to decide where he wanted to go next. Professor Oak had given him a couple ideas for regions he could explore, and he was now walking with Pikachu near the outskirts of town while trying to decide.

"I don't know, buddy," Ash told his partner pokemon. "What do you think?"

Pikachu shook its head. It wasn't about to make its trainer's decision for him, not that it had any idea anyway.

"The way I see it we have two options," Ash said. "We could go to Kalos; I bet that would be good for us. On the other hand, we could also go to Alola; traveling around tropical islands would certainly be a lot of fun. It's a hard decision."

"Pika," the electric-type said, nodding in agreement.

Ash stopped when he saw an opening in the trees nearby. For some reason, he wanted to see what was in that direction. They didn't exactly have anything better to do, anyway.

"Want to explore the forest a bit?" Ash asked. Pikachu nodded and hopped onto his shoulder. Ash then started moving into the forest.

It wasn't long before he realized that he was somewhat familiar with this area, but he had no idea how that was possible. He hadn't even been on this side of Pallet Town in years, so why did he recognize this place?

The two quickly came to a small clearing. Ash paused when he saw it. "Have I been here before?" he asked himself. Ash couldn't shake the feeling that something important had happened here.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu asked. It had absolutely no idea what was going on inside Ash's head.

Ash was suddenly distracted by some nearby noise. Something was moving around behind him. He turned around just in time to see a pokemon hop out of a nearby bush.

"A Poliwag?" he asked.

Then he remembered. "That's right, I was following a Poliwag through this part of the woods. That's when I came to this clearing, and..." he trailed off.

Then the rest of the memory came rushing back. An image flashed in his head. It was of a girl wearing a straw hat.

"I met someone here," Ash mumbled.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked. Now it needed to know more.

"It was a long time ago. Probably ten years or so," he told Pikachu. "She was lost here in the forest. I happened to be nearby when she fell and hurt herself. I helped her to her feet and showed her the way out of the forest."

"Pika, Pikachu," the mouse pokemon said, urging him to continue.

"She was here for a summer camp that Professor Oak was hosting." Ash smiled as he recalled more and more about the camp. "She was incredibly shy, and didn't even want to come to the camp at first. We became friends fast after the incident here, and we spent all our time together for the rest of the camp."

"But then the camp ended, and she had to leave." His face fell a bit. "We only had a few days together. We had so much fun, though, that she actually didn't want to go, despite how much she had been against coming here in the first place."

Pikachu pat Ash on the back to comfort him. It seemed like this girl had been important to him, even though they had only known each other for a short time.

"She's from the Kalos region," he remembered.

Pikachu was a bit surprised that the girl was from one of the regions they were considering to visit. Knowing Ash, Pikachu knew what he would say next.

"Let's go to Kalos, Pikachu," Ash said. "Who knows? Maybe we'll run into her while we're there. Even if we don't, the Kalos League is supposed to be incredibly strong. We could use a good challenge after our time off."

Pikachu thought it was a little odd to base his decision on someone he only remembered a mere five minutes ago, but couldn't see anything wrong for wanting to track down a childhood friend. The mouse pokemon nuzzled Ash's cheek to tell him he was okay with that.

"Good," he said. "Now if only I could remember her name."

Ash concentrated as hard as he could on the memory of the time they met. He knew he had gotten her name then.

He had pulled her to her feet, but maybe put a little too much force into it. She then stepped back in surprise, since she was expecting her leg to hurt more. Then she introduced herself...

"Serena."

Author's Note:

There are a few things I need to address. First, I must apologize to all of those who were following my other story, Almost Over. Some things happened, and I couldn't find the motivation to work on that story again.

As for what exactly happened, it was a mixture of things. School got a little crazy, and it became more difficult to find time to work on my writing. In addition, any time I have had to write has been used toward a new, original story that I've had my mind on for a while. Finally, the most important factor was the reveal of the Sun and Moon Anime. After seeing that, I kind of lost hope for the series.

However, the final episode of XY&Z managed to restore my faith a bit, and I would happily consider it as a "true ending" of the Pokemon Anime, until Sun and Moon can prove to me otherwise. As for what that means for my writing, I've decided to give this another go. For now I am viewing this as a way to practice writing while I do some research for my original story.

Anyway, back to the actual story you just read, I hope you enjoyed it! My goal here was set Ash up for success in Kalos, as well as give him a real reason to go there. He did not meet Alexa in this universe. Hopefully the story so far feels somewhat natural. I felt like I might have been reaching a bit too far for certain things to happen in the first couple of chapters.

I'm not going to promise a regular schedule for these right now, since anyone who read my other story knows how well that worked out. Instead, I'll just say that I'll put these chapters out when I can. The next two chapters are already written, and I'll start to post them in a few days.