The Legacy of Ash Ketchum

Our story begins with Ash Ketchum, the young Trainer who had won the Kalos League, a feat of which a select few gained, but due to his hard work and training with Pikachu and his other Pokémon, Ash made his dream a reality.

And after finally defeating Alain, stopping Team Flare from committing their diabolical plans, and saving the world once again, Ash was awaiting the moment Serena left him and went to Hoenn to train to be a better performer.

"Well, I'm off!" She said, her body moving towards the escalator leading to her flight terminal, where she shared her emotions. "The moments we shared together, I will cherish she said to her group of friends.

"Pika Pika." Said the electric mouse Pokémon, wishing his friend the best in her journey.

"Serena, be sure to call us! Someday I might even visit you in Hoenn!" Bonnie said in her usual cheery voice.

As her friend said this, Serena hummed her approval, her teary eyed smile showing vividly.

"Ash, I'm really glad I got to travel with you. You are my goal." Serena said with a sudden boldness in her tone, the words resonating in Ash's mind. 'You are my goal.' the words echoed in the boy's mind. He always enjoyed the company of his friends, but Serena was incredibly special. The bond the two shared over their time in Kalos together was close, if not intimate. Ash harbored feelings for the girl, yet he as the person he was knew not how to address or express them to her. The feeling in his gut tugged at him while the only expression her could make on the surface was him gapping, his head leaning backwards from the shock of her confession.

"You'll see. The next time we'll meet, I'll be a much more attractive woman." Serena said to the boy, her boldness still holding as she gave him a wink. "Yeah!" Ash said, his shock from her initial remark disappearing. "Well, I'm off then!" Serena stated, turning her back towards the others as she made her way down the escalator with Ash stepping forward more that the rest of his group to see her off with his own eyes. As she went further downward. Serena, with a feeling of bittersweetness in her heart could not leave things off the way she did. With every last bit of courage she could summon, she looked back up towards Ash.

"Ash! There's one other thing I want to say!" Serena called to him. Visibly perplexed by what she meant, Ash stoop there, waiting for Serena to say what she had in mind. Just as he stood there, he watched Serena slowly make her way up the escalator, her face now meeting his. As she got closer to him, Ash's eyes and mouth widened, his pupils dilated and his face slightly blushed.

As he realized what was about to happen, his mind suddenly stopping from the feeling he had. It was a pleasant and wonderful feeling, something he'd never experience anywhere else before. The girl he'd admired for so long planted the most heavenly kiss upon his mouth. The moment was as exhilarating as it was brief, as the escalator carried the girl away, her face red as a tomato.

"Thank you!" she simply said to Ash, his face almost as red as her's. His eyes were sparkling in awe, his mouth still parted from the experience. The boy continued to stare off into space, relishing the moment he had with her, and just then, something went off in his brain. He realized what he needed to do, rushing down the escalator as she turned to leave.

"Serena, wait!" Ash shouted, catching up to the girl, grabbing her arm gently to get her attention. "Ash, wait what are you-" Serena began to ask her crush.

"Serena, I'm such a fool! I've had all these thoughts in my head, yet I've never known how to act on them. I don't know if I was scared of what these meant for me and you, but now I know." Ash said, completely flustered and embarrassed by his words.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked him, her blushing face still as red as it was before. "Serena, I love you!" Ash spouted, making Serena's face somehow even redder than it was before.

Ash realized he was embarrassing his sweetheart, and quickly tried to rephrase himself. "I…ju-just look. I've never been one to realize love that people have for each other. Before we met, I always thought that if two people loved each other, they would do so like they'd love pizza." Ash said, hoping his analogy didn't sail over her head.

"What I mean is that you've always been kind, sweet and caring for me. Even when I was at my lowest and yelled at you, you still supported me to the end. I've always tried to support all my friends in their dreams, but with you, I sensed something different. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to give you all of my devoting, I want to stay by you and ensure your dream comes to fruition. I just want to be with you." Ash finally said, hoping his speech would make it through to her without sounding desperate.

After he finished, it took a while for Serena to get over his love sick confession, her face still flush with red, half from embarrassment and half from sheer excitement. As Serena began to calm down, she took Ash's hands into her own. "So long as we know that we both know we are ready for each other, that's enough for me." Serena said meekly through her pure delight.

"But I don't think we're meant to be, not yet anyways." Serena said. Noticing how Ash's face grew somber, hoping her words didn't strike him like a cold dagger in the back. To ensure that he didn't feel like he was being rejected, it was now Serena's turn to clarify. "Like I said upstairs, I want to be the best possible woman I can be for you, even if that means setting aside your love just for a moment, so we can be together forever in the end." Serena said, hoping Ash could accept to wait for her.

"But Serena, you're already the perfect person for me." Ash said, desperate to keep his beloved from leaving.

"A very special trainer once told me to never give up and always strive to be better." Serena said, making sure he understood that "special trainer" was him. "If I want to be with you, then I must be better than perfect, because a person as amazing as you are deserves nothing less." she added with a smile, her hands now cupping Ash's cheeks.

The two stood there for a moment, looking into each others eyes for the last time until they met again many years later. Just before she left however, Serena shared one last kiss with Ash, a movement now fully reciprocated, Ash now finally accepting his feelings for the one he loved. The boy then stood helplessly as his sweetheart departed from his view to catch her plane, vowing in his mind that he'd train to be an even better man for her.

8 Years Later

"Ash, honey. Wake up, you've overslept again." Delia said, barging into Ash's room. Even as a teenager, Ash still slept in, like the day he became a Pokemon trainer and received his very first Pokemon and best friend Pikachu. "Ok Mom…" Ash yawned. Ash stepped out of bed to get ready for the day. Today wasn't an ordinary day though, for Ash had spent many months planning a party he'd host for all his old friends at Oak's ranch. He planned to use this party to finally fulfill a promise he made to someone.

Walking over to his dresser to grab a small, yet special box he'd then put in his pocket, Ash then began to look at his decorations. Littered throughout his bedroom desk, dresser and wardrobe were trinkets, gym badge classes, frontier symbols and league trophies from all his hard work over the years. He'd become a trainer of unfathomable strength and intellect, but he wondered if that would be enough to prove that he'd be perfect for her.

"Come on Pikachu, let's get to Oak's early. We don't want our other friends to feel unimportant before the party starts." Ash said calling to his best friend and partner over all those years. "Pika!" the electric Pokemon cried in joy, hopping onto his friend's shoulder.

As Ash ran to the door, his mother protested that the teen ate breakfast first before anything. Begrudgingly taking his mother's advice to to his excitement, Ash grabbed a quick bite to eat then bolted for the door, grabbing some toast and apples for the road for him and his Pikachu to share as they ran. Ash and his pal then ran down the dirt road to the Professor's ranch, ignorant of a shadowy figure spying on him from the distance.

"Target confirmed, shall I pursue? Yes sir. You'll tell the Boss then? Very well, I shall maintain position." the figure said, the person who he spoke to having his voice garbled by the radio he had.

Meanwhile in a Secure and Unknown Location

"Sir, we have confirmed that the trainer known as Ash Ketchum is now in motion. We're studying his pattern right now, shall we capture him now?" a scrawny man with grey hair in a pearl white suit simply marked with a letter "R" asked to a man in a chair. The man remained hidden in the shadows resting comfortably in his chair, the Persian in his lap being the only visible thing about him.

"No need for that, we move forward with the final plan tonight. We will not rush things and ruin everything, Archer." the man in the chair replied firmly yet calmly with a deadly and sinister voice. "I've been keeping an eye on this boy for years now. If we jump the gun now, our strategy is foiled. We must rely on the boy's ignorance of our plans if we are to succeed." the man said, resolved to keep his course of action. "We've had multiple spies say that wherever the Legendary Pokemon Ho-oh goes, this boy seems to be there. If there is any connection between the two, I shall exploit it." the man said, standing from his chair to reveal it to be none other than Giovanni, head of Team Rocket, former gym leader of Viridian City, and all around committer of several atrocities worldwide.

"I will capture this boy, and with him as bait, I will force the great beast to submit. When that happens, the unfathomable power of Ho-oh will belong to Team rocket!" Giovanni said, his fist gestured at the air to rally the legion of grunts in the room.

"For the glory of Team Rocket!" the grunts shouted, matching Giovanni's pose in unison. "You three, ready the men. We'll be taking the machine with us." Giovanni said, turning to a group of three people, one magenta haired woman, another blue haired man and a Meowth to accompany them.

"Yes sir!" Jessie, James and Meowth said in unison. Their dedication to Team Rocket's goals in other regions had won them the respect of their Boss so much that he'd given them promotions to lead his special unit, a promotion which the three once incompetent losers took without hesitation. "Finally, that twerp is finally gonna get taught a lesson!" Jessie said. "If we pull this off right, Giovanni will reward us beyond measure for sure." James added. "And we'll get that twerp's Pikachu while we're at it." the Scratch Cat said, finishing the thoughts of what the other two surely thought.

As the trio grew giddy over their perceived victory even before the plan had yet to be executed, Giovanni simply starred at a camera feed of Ash, one that was being taken unbeknownst to Ash by a bird Pokemon circling above him.

"Soon, my young trainer. You will see how pointless and useless your existence is to me. After I capture Ho-oh, I will dispose of you for good. Mark my words." Giovanni said to himself, fully intending on making good on his threat.