Chapter 15

After taking a safe passage through Mt. Moon, Ash, Pikachu, Serena, and Brock, make their way to Cerulean City. The group smiles happily as they finally enter the borders of the city with Serena stretching as they walk.

"It feels so good to be out of the mountain pass," she says. "Nothing beats making it to a nice, beautiful town or city after traveling through a forest, desert, or mountains."

"You can say that again," Ash says.

"And we've arrived a day earlier than expected, so you have more than enough time to register for the Pokemon contest and practice before your big day, Serena," Brock adds.

Serena nods in agreement.

"Plus, more than enough time to see how Misty is doing and have an official rematch with her," Ash says, feeling pumped.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu shouts from Ash's shoulder, sharing his enthusiasm.

Serena chuckles nervously, still feeling uneasy with the mention of Misty. She puts her hand on her ribbon, which Brock notices and frowns. As Ash walks ahead to look at the city with a nostalgic look in his eyes, Brock walks a little slower to lean on Serena's ear.

"Serena, is something wrong with you meeting Misty?" He whispers.

Serena looks at Brock bashfully and asks, "What makes you say that?"

Brock frowns and says, "I've seen you act nervous and play with your ribbon every time Misty is mentioned even before we left Pewter City. Something is on your mind, so out with it."

Serena sighs and looks away with a hesitant look before she answers.

"Well...it's just that…I mean..." she stutters while playing with her fingers. "Well, Ash has known Misty a long time, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Brock confirms.

"And you were there when the two of them traveled through all of Kanto and Johto, right?" Serena continues.

"Uh, yes," Brock says, unsure of where Serena is going.

The honey blonde girl takes a deep breath and decides to bite the bullet, asking, "Did Ash and Misty ever have feelings for each other?"

Brock stares at Serena, making her uneasy. Then he covers his mouth to hide a snort before he breaks into a loud laugh. Serena looks at him, confused, and Ash and Pikachu turn to him with their heads tilted.

"Brock, are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm fine, Ash," Brock chortles. "Just thought about an inside joke you wouldn't understand."

Ash and Pikachu continue to stare at Brock before they shrug it off and continue sightseeing as they walk. Brock eventually stops laughing before turning to a puzzled Serena.

"Ash and Misty together. Wouldn't that be a surprise?" He chuckles.

"So...that would be a no?" Serena asks awkwardly.

Brock snorts before he answers, "I doubt he ever felt that way about her. I have more memories of the two of them teasing or fighting each other than of him giving her genuine compliments."

"Really?" Serena asks, surprised. "That doesn't sound like the Ash I know."

"Well, of course not," Brock says. "They were only ten going on eleven through most of our adventures together. They stopped bickering as they got older, but nothing ever happened between them."

"Really?" Serena asks in a hopeful tone.

"Absolutely," Brock says assuredly. "If anything, I think Ash and Misty are more like brother and sister than anything else."

Serena sighs in relief.

"Where was information like that before Ash and I left Pallet Town?" she asks.

Brock chuckles lightly and pats Serena on the back.

"Don't worry about it, Serena," he says. "It's normal to worry about the person you care about liking someone else. And if it puts your mind further at ease, he's never shown to think of our other girl companions like that in any way either."

Serena gives Brock an appreciative look, and he smiles back until they notice Ash has stopped walking ahead. They turn their heads to see that they have reached a giant stadium. The building looks clean and shiny as if it has never been used, and several trainers are entering and exiting the stadium. Serena looks at Brock and then at Ash, who both smile at her.

"Looks like this is the place to register for your contest pass and to participate in the contest here in Cerulean City," Ash says.

"Pika, pika," Pikachu says.

"Yeah, and by the looks of things, this building was recently made just so that they can hold contests here," Brock adds.

Serena examines the area and smiles, silently agreeing with them.

"Right," she says. "Then let's waste no time. I should get my pass so that I won't have to worry about it later."

"Good idea," Ash says.

The four of them enter the front door only to stop in surprise to see that there is a long line to the front desk. Serena sighs and walks to the end of the line.

"There's so many people here registering," she says. "Are there really that many coordinators here in Kanto alone?"

"Sure are," Brock answers. "When we were traveling with our friend, May, who is a coordinator from Hoenn, there were two hundred and seventy competitors she had to face at the Grand Festival."

"Two hundred and seventy?!" Serena asks in alarm.

"Yeah, and that's just the ones who managed to win five ribbons," Ash says. "There were a lot of coordinators who didn't get to compete because they only had four or less of the five ribbons they needed to win by the time the contest season was over, and so they had to wait until next year to collect the ribbons they still needed. Even May was lucky to win the very last ribbon she needed at the end of the seasons in both Hoenn and Kanto."

Serena stares at Ash with her eyes widened in shock. She looks down on the floor, feeling pressured.

"When you put it that way, I should count my blessings for the amount of competition I had during the Pokemon showcases," she says.

Ash notices the honey blonde girl feeling intimidated and pats her on the shoulder, catching her attention.

"Don't worry, Serena. You're going to be just great," he says with a toothy grin. "You're going to win five ribbons without a hitch, no doubt."

"Pikachu," Pikachu agrees while on Ash's shoulder.

Serena smiles sweetly at Ash and nods.

"You're right, Ash," she says. "I'm gonna do my best and show Kanto what I'm made of."

"That's the spirit," Ash says with a toothy grin.

Serena's smile grows, and her cheeks turn slightly pink, with Ash's hand still on her shoulder. As the line starts to move, however, Ash lets go so that the four of them can move the line along, secretly making her miss the feeling. They wait for ten minutes, until the person in front of them gets his card, and they approach the front desk where a woman with glasses greets them with a warm smile.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" she asks professionally.

Serena opens her mouth, but then Brock steps in front of her, takes the woman's hands, and looks at her dead in the eyes with a blissful look.

"Wow, in all my years, I've never seen such beauty!" he exclaims giddily. "Maybe you can help me by joining me in a romantic dinner for two, and a boat ride in the moonlight where we can express our deepest feelings and - AUGH!!!!"

His moment is interrupted by a small hand grabbing him by the ear and dragging him away from the woman at the front desk. Serena turns her head to see a small ten-year-old boy with black hair and glasses looking at Brock with an annoyed look as he holds on to his ear.

"The sky is cloudy, and you're dining alone, Brock," he says.

"Max?" Ash says, surprised. "Max, is that you?"

The young boy lets go of Brock, and turns to Ash with a smile while Brock whimpers in pain as he massages his ear.

"Hey, Ash. Long time no see," the boy says happily.

Ash and Pikachu run over to greet the boy named Max, and Serena begins to walk behind them when the woman at the front desk clears her throat.

"Excuse me, but I believe it was you who needed help?" she asks.

"Oh, yes. Sorry," Serena says. "I would like to register for a pass for the Pokemon contests, please."

The woman in the front desk smiles and says, "Place your Pokedex in the slot in front of you."

Serena happily complies, and an image of her appears on the screen next to the slot. The woman checks Serena's information and smiles before pressing a button, and a pass card emerges from the machine next to her computer.

"Alright, Serena, you are registered to compete in all contests in the Kanto region, and you're signed up to compete in tomorrow's contest. Good luck."

"Great. Thank you," Serena says as she takes her Pokedex and pass card and puts them back in her backpack. She then turns to Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and Max, who are happily talking to each other while she walks over to them. Ash notices her approaching and smiles.

"Oh yeah, you two haven't been introduced," he says. "Serena, this is Max, May's younger brother. Max, this is my friend, Serena from the Kalos region."

Max turns to Serena with a friendly smile and says, "Nice to meet you, Serena."

"Likewise, Max," Serena says, smiling back.

Ash grins, pleased with the introductions, and turns to Max.

"So, is May here with you?" he asks.

"Not just her," says a female singing voice.

Everyone turns around to see a girl with brown hair wearing an orange outfit and a green bandanna on her head, and a blue-haired girl wearing a black top, a short pink skirt, and a white and pink hat while holding a Piplup. Ash and Brock's faces light up as they suddenly run over to the girls.

"May!" Brock shouts.

"Dawn!" Ash yells happily.

The girls smile happily as Brock hugs the brown-haired one, and Ash gives the blue-haired girl a high-five. Serena looks at them curiously as the four of them laugh together before Ash speaks.

"Are you competing in the Kanto contests too?" he asks.

"We sure are," the blue-haired girl says.

"Piplup," Piplup says.

"And while I compete, I'm rooting for Max with winning his gym badges," the brown-haired girl says.

Ash and Brock look at each other, shocked before turning back to Max.

"Does that mean…?" Brock asks.

Max gives the two of them a proud smirk and takes out two Pokeballs.

"Treecko, Ralts come on out!" he shouts, tossing the Pokeballs high into the air.

The Pokeballs open to reveal a Treecko and Ralts giving everyone friendly looks.

"Alright, you're a Pokemon trainer now!" Ash says happily.

"I sure am," Max says proudly. "I got Treecko from Professor Birch, and Ralts is the same one I made a promise to capture after I become a trainer. Shortly after that, May offered to go with her to Kanto so that we can journey together again now that we're both trainers. In fact, we are about to head over to the Cerulean City gym so that I can challenge Misty."

"Awesome!" Ash says excitedly. "So, that means you're going to compete in the Indigo League?"

"Yup," Max answers. "I don't have any badges yet because May and I wanted to go straight to Cerulean City so she can start competing in Pokemon contests, and I can have my very first gym battle with Misty."

"And that's when they bumped into me shortly before we saw you guys," Dawn says before turning to Serena. "By the way, you're traveling with Ash, Pikachu, and Brock, aren't you?"

"Uh, that's right," Serena says, taken aback that the girl suddenly noticed her.

"Oh yeah, how can I forget?" Ash says. "May, Dawn, this is Serena. She's my friend from Kalos."

The two girls look at Serena with friendly faces.

"Hi, I'm May," the brown-haired girl says.

"And I'm Dawn, and this is my partner, Piplup." Dawn says with a cheerful tone.

"Wow, a Piplup," Serena says as she takes out her Pokedex and scans Piplup.

"Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon," her Pokedex says. "It's very proud, and its thick down protects it from the cold."

"Yup, Piplup is very proud, and we've gone through thick and thin together," Dawn boasts. "By the way, I love your outfit. It's adorable."

"Oh, thank you, Dawn," Serena says.

"Of course," Dawn says happily. "I love how you're surrounding yourself with pink and red. And where did you get that pretty blue ribbon you have there?"

Serena looks away and blushes lightly while subconsciously putting her hand on her ribbon.

"Oh, it was a present from Ash," she admits bashfully.

May and Dawn freeze in place, staring at Serena with their eyes widened, making her uneasy.

"It was a present…?" May starts.

"...from Ash?" Dawn finishes.

The two of them look at Ash, who chuckles nervously.

"Yeah, Serena helped me get presents for my Pokemon for a big festival in Kalos, so I gave her the ribbon I won to thank her," he says, scratching from under his nose.

May and Dawn blink twice simultaneously, and turn to Serena, who is still timid. The two of them look between Ash and Serena, which confuses Ash.

"Are you two dating?" May asks.

Serena's face turns beet red, and she fights the urge to let out an embarrassed squeak. Ash, however, tilts his head, looking even more confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asks.

Everyone but Ash and Serena falls to the ground and groans. Ash looks at everyone dumbfounded as they get up, and May and Dawn chuckle at themselves.

"Of course. Same old Ash. What was I thinking?" May says.

"It was just too good to be true," Dawn says before regaining her cheerful mood. "Anyway, what are you guys doing here? Did you come to visit Misty?"

This time, Serena doesn't let the mention of Misty affect her, deciding to take Brock's words to heart.

"Yeah, I'm going to ask her for a battle at the Cerulean City gym," Ash says. "I'm going to have a rematch in all of the gyms in Kanto where I didn't properly get my badges while I get ready for the Indigo League. We're also here to get Serena registered for the Pokemon contests."

May and Dawn's eyes turn back to Serena, intrigued.

"So, you're going to enter in pokémon contests as well, eh? Then, I guess that makes us rivals," May says with a friendly grin. "Have you ever competed in a contest before, Serena?"

"No, I haven't," Serena admits. "I was advised to compete in contests after becoming a runner-up in the Pokemon showcase Master Class a couple months ago."

"The what?" Dawn asks.

But before Serena can answer, the six humans and Pikachu, Piplup, Treecko, and Ralts hear a rumbling sound that makes Ash chuckle nervously.

"Sorry, guys," he says. "Guess it's time for lunch."

Everyone sighs followed by May and Dawn chuckling.

"That's just like Ash," Dawn says with a smile. "Since May, Serena, and I just registered, why don't we find a place to eat before going to see Misty?"

"Count me in," May says enthusiastically. "I'm always down for some chow."

Serena nods and takes out her tablet.

"Let's see," she says. "There's a buffet just a couple blocks from here."

"A buffet?!" Ash and May say simultaneously. "Let's go!"

Without a word, the two of them race out of the stadium. Everyone else chuckles at their enthusiasm before Max returns his Pokemon, and they run after them.

**************************************************

Thankfully, while the buffet is packed with other trainers who just registered for the contest, Ash, Serena, Pikachu, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, and Piplup manage to secure a table for all of them. Before long, Ash and May start gorging themselves with piles of food while everyone else eats reasonable helpings. Serena stares at Ash and May, amazed that May is as big of an eater as Ash. Dawn, who is sitting opposite of Serena, notices her shock and smirks.

"Betcha didn't know May is such a bottomless pit too," she says teasingly.

Serena snaps out of her gaze and chuckles nervously.

"It's really something," she admits. "And here I am only used to seeing how much Ash can eat."

"Yeah, you get used to it," says Max, who is sitting next to Dawn.

Dawn nods before taking a bite of her food, and turning to Serena.

"So, Serena, what is the Pokemon Showcase Master Class?" she asks.

Serena thinks of how to answer and says, "Well, the Master Class is where you go after winning three princess keys from Pokemon Showcases. You see, in a showcase, you show off your skills with your Pokemon and put on performances. Whoever is voted to have the best performance gets a princess key, and if you gain three of them, you can compete in the Master class, where you compete to become Kalos Queen."

"Really? That sounds like a lot of fun," Dawn says. "And you were the runner-up for the Master Class?"

"That's right," Serena says. "I made it to the final round where I went against the current Kalos Queen, Aria. I didn't win, but her former mentor, Palermo, offered to tutor me so that I could win next year. Eventually, I decided I wanted to do more than perform, so Palermo suggested that I try Pokemon contests, and so here I am."

"Wow," Dawn says. "You know, I was a runner up for the Grand Festival back in the Sinnoh region where I'm from."

"Yeah, and May was in the top four at the Kanto Grand Festival," Max says proudly.

"Oh, really?" Serena says, surprised. "Seems like most of us are runners-up of big competitions between the three of us girls and Ash."

"Huh? Why Ash too?" Dawn asks.

"Because he made it to the finals of the Kalos League," Serena answers with a hint of pride in her voice. "It was a super close match. He only lost by one Pokemon."

"Amazing," Max says. "I didn't know Ash has ever come so close to winning a league."

"Me neither," Dawn says. "I was there when he made it to the semi-finals at the Sinnoh League, and I heard from our other friend, Iris, that he only made it to the top 8 at the Unova League."

"Yeah, that's about how far he got at the Hoenn League," Max says. "It sounds like he's gotten a lot stronger since the last time either of us have seen him, but it won't be enough to stop me from winning the Indigo League if I can help it."

Serena and Dawn smile at Max's enthusiasm before they silently go back to eating their food. But as they eat, Dawn gets an idea and looks at Serena with a smug look.

"Hey, Serena," she says.

"Hmmm?" Serena hums with her mouth full of noodles.

"What's your story?" Dawn asks.

"What do you mean?" Serena asks after she swallows her food.

"I mean how did you invite yourself to go with Ash on his journey through the Kalos region?" Dawn clarifies.

Serena tilts her head quizzingly until she remembers her conversation with Brock at Pewter City.

"Oh, I didn't invite myself to go with Ash," she says honestly.

"Oh, come on, I know you have," Dawn says with a determined grin. "I asked him if I could come with him after helping him reunite with Pikachu after Team Rocket tried to steal it again. May asked if she could join him after Pikachu destroyed her bike, and according to her, Pikachu also destroyed Misty's bike too, and so she decided to follow Ash until she could get a new one. And of course, there's our friend, Iris, who just decided to join Ash and Cilan on their journey through the Unova region. So, given his reputation of girls asking him or inviting themselves to join him on a journey on top of the fact that you like him, I gotta know how you invited yourself to go with him."

Serena's face turns red again, taken aback by the way Dawn bluntly called her out on her feelings for Ash. She takes a moment to recover before she says, "I didn't invite myself. He invited me."

Dawn's determined grin softens, and she tilts her head.

"Wait, are you serious? He invited you? No joke?" she asks.

"No joke," Serena confirms. "After he won his first badge, he asked where I was going, and I wasn't able to answer, so he asked that I join him, Clemont, and Bonnie on their journey. He wanted me to be there to help him with his future battles like I did with his rematch against Viola."

Dawn stares at Serena, speechless.

"So, he invited you to join him?" she repeats. "Well, what about your journey together here in the Kanto region? Did you ask to join him when you decided to compete in the Pokemon contests here?"

"No, I didn't," Serena answers. "He invited me to go with him to Pallet Town and then asked if he could go with me on my journey."

Dawn looks at the honey blonde girl even more speechless than before. She takes a moment trying to process everything she just heard, making Serena uneasy.

"I didn't realize this is such a big deal," she says.

Dawn snaps out of her daze and sees the truth in Serena's humble comment. Finally, she sighs, and her smirk returns.

"So…" she begins. "Do you plan on confessing your feelings for him?"

Serena blushes again, and looks away, mentally wishing she had her long hair back to hide her face. Dawn's smirk grows, and she chuckles.

"Well, I'll give you this, Serena, you seem to be in a unique position compared to the rest of us," she says before her smile turns into a friendly one. "I hope you pull through in the end."

Serena looks at Dawn, surprised.

"Don't look so shocked," Dawn says with a warm smile. "I can see that you care for him, and I understand why. He can be a goof sometimes, but once you look past that, he is a great guy. I do think your odds don't look great what with Ash being so dense, but maybe you'll get through to him in the end. All you gotta do is your best, right?"

Serena blinks, staring at Dawn before she smirks back and says, "Right."

The two of them nod and go back to eating their meals. After a half an hour of eating, Ash, Brock, Pikachu, Max, May, Dawn, Piplup, and Serena exit the restaurant with Ash and May patting their big bellies.

"Now that's what I call a buffet," Ash says, satisfied.

"I've never been so happy," May says in a blissful tone. "I'm so glad that you found that place, Serena."

"Yeah, thanks," Ash says, turning to Serena with a toothy grin. "You're the best, Serena."

Serena's cheeks turn pink, and she smiles back, pleased with their praise. Dawn notices her cheeks and gives the honey blonde girl another smug look.

"Alright, we've delayed long enough," Max says. "It's time to go see Misty so that I can have my gym battle."

"Not if I have my battle first," Ash says with a suddenly determined look.

The two boys stare at each other for a moment before they start racing to the gym. Brock and May call out to them with no avail, leaving them, Serena, Dawn, Pikachu, and Piplup to chase after them. As they run, Serena glances at Dawn and smiles, appreciating the blue-haired girl's words.

"I will do my best," She says in her mind as she turns back to Ash, who is still racing with Max. "That's a promise."