Chapter 3

The school bell rang and all the kids went home. Serena took the bus, like she did on the way.

"I'm gonna win next time. I'm gonna win." Serena repeated over and over in her head. She really wanted to beat Ash in battle but it was very hard to. Ash loved pokemon battles and he was really good at them. In fact, he was probably the best kid in the school at them, or maybe even the whole region!

"If I'm gonna win," Serena whispered quietly to herself, "I'm going to need to train. Maybe I can train with Dawn! I'll just have to ask my mom..."

The bus soon arrived at Serena's house and Serena hopped off.

When Serena stepped into the house she saw her mom holding her Ryhorn racing suit.

"Oh no!" Serena had totally forgot she was supposed to practice for Ryhorn racing today. She took a step back.

"Come on," Serena's mom said. "Hurry up and put it on! We don't have a lot of time! I've got an interview in an hour!"

"U-uh um," Serena mumbled.

"Here you go," Serena's mom said and handed her the suit."

"Well actually, I'm feeling kind of sick," Serena said without even thinking.

"Really?" Serena's mom asked. "Well I guess we can practice tomorrow.

"I think I'm gonna go to my room," Serena said and rushed up the stairs.

"That was weird," Serena's mom said.

Serena was surprised. She never expected to need to lie to her mom just to practice battling. But still, her mom would never say yes to going over to Dawn's house. She really wanted to win the next battle. But she was also busy with other stuff like preforming and Ryhorn racing. It's not like she could pretend to be sick forever.

An hour later Serena's mom left for and interview and Serena was home all by herself. She was going to Dawn's house to train for battles. She brought her pokeballs, a couple snacks, and headed for the door. She turned the door knob, and started walking to Dawn's house. It wasn't a long walk, thankfully. Dawn lived across from Serena so it was really easy to get to her house. When she arrived, she knocked on the door. Dawn's mom answered.

"Yes?" She asked. "Oh Serena! It's you! What are you here for?"

"I was wondering if I could train with Dawn," Serena replied.

"Oh sure!," Dawn's mom exclaimed. "She's in her room."

Serena rushed into Dawn's room and explained why she was there.

"I see," Dawn said. "Well let's go train in my backyard. It's got lots of space!"

"Sure!" Serena exclaimed.

They went to Dawn's backyard and started to train. They trained and trained and trained some more. Soon Serena was really good at pokemon battles.

Serena looked at the clock. It was 5:58.

"I got to get home! I'm gonna be late!" Serena said and rushed to the door. "Bye Dawn!" Serena slammed the door and ran home.

She made it home just in time. At 6:00, when her mom was supposed to come back. And then, Serena saw the knob turn. She ran up to her room as quickly as she could. She got in bed, put the blanket on, and put a tissue box next to her bed. A minute later, her mom entered her room.

"How are you feeling?" Serena's mom asked as soon as she stepped into the room.

"Much better actually," Serena answered.

"Good then you can go to school tomorrow, and you can practice your Ryhorn racing!" Serena's mom exclaimed.

"Today!?!" Serena yelled.

"No, not today of course, but definitely tomorrow," Serena's mom chuckled.

Serena sighed.

"Well I should get some rest. Got to make sure I feel COMPLETELY better," Serena said.

"Okay, get some rest," Serena's mom said as she exited the room.

Serena fell to sleep. Tomorrow she was going to challenge Ash, and she was going to win.