Beyond the Kiss

Prolouge

Ash's POV: "Ash, thank you for allowing me to travel with you. I had tons of fun! Ultimately, you're my goal!" Serena exclaimed with a look of determination.
I stood there frozen. Someone as phenomenal as her thinks of me as her goal? I truly didn't know what to say or do.
"When we meet again," she continued "I'll be more and more of an attractive lady!"
I was still shook about what she said, but I managed to tell her, "Right!"
"I'll be seeing you!" She said as she parted and went for the escalator. A part of me really wanted to chase after her and tell her not to go. I don't know why, but... I just felt that way. She was a huge asset to our group and adventure. Her leaving was like watching a part of that adventure become erased. But there wasn't much that I could do right now. It was time to part and for all of us to go our separate ways to chase our dreams. And right now, as a good friend, all I could do was see Serena off, drifting further and further away.
Halfway across the escalator, Serena turned back to me with the biggest smile on her face.
"Hey Ash, can I have one last favor?"
One last favor? At a time like this?
She turned around and was fighting the gravity of the escalator from pulling her down. Eventually, she made it back to the platform where I was idly standing.  Suddenly her face got really close to mine.
Time stopped. My surroundings disappeared, other than Serena in front of me. I felt like I was floating in zero gravity, as if I was in outer space. I didn't feel anything but a gentle warmth on my lips. This feeling felt eternal, despite being only around 3 seconds.
Suddenly, I was plummeting back into reality; back to earth and time resumed again, I felt my eyes widening of what was going on. I looked back at her shocked, but to my surprise, she was only doing her signature blushing and smiling, like she always had been doing around me.
"Thank you Ash!" She managed to exclaim to me one last time as parting words before finally departing once and for all.
It should be the other way around. I should be thanking her for supporting me throughout my journey. She was the one who made who motivated me and snapped me out of it when I was at my worse. She was the one who helped me grow.
I felt a weird barrier break, and it was as clear as a Cryogonal to me now. Serena was in love with me. How could I've been so oblivious this whole time? I smiled back to assure her everything was okay and waved her off. Serena was getting farther and farther away and then eventually, she left to catch her plane to Hoenn. I became somewhat sad. I wished we had a bit more time together after what had just happened. There were so many questions popping up in my head. How long did she like me? Why didn't she tell me sooner? What would of happened if I knew sooner? What's going to happen with our relationship now? They became unanswered questions, and will probably remain that way for a long time. She was gone to fulfill her dream, and I had to go on to continue fulfilling mine.
Anyways... I just had my first lip kiss, by Serena.. I look back to see a appalled Pikachu, Clemont, Bonnie and Dedenne.
"O-oh, sorry you had to see that! I didn't know..." I said a bit embarrassed.
"It's ok! What matters now is that you finally know!" Bonnie exclaimed with a huge smile on her face.
"Y-you knew about this Bonnie?!"
Now I was very embarrassed.
"Ash, it was so obvious Serena liked you! And even Clemont knew about this too!"
"It's true... Sorry Ash, but I guess you were the most dense out of the three us.." Said Clemont a bit nervously.
"She really liked you for quite some time now, Ash. Heck, we never would've thought she would even have the courage to kiss you at all because of how shy she was around you!"
"But now this happened! I'm so happy for both of you!!" Bonnie said happily.
I still felt like this was all just some sort of fairytale I was currently living in, as everything didn't feel real to me at the moment, but there wasn't much time for me to be fixated on this this. The plane to Kanto was almost ready to board people on and it was only a matter of time before I had to depart as well, and to say my goodbyes to the lemon siblings.
Clemont and I decided to have one last battle, for good time sake, but it was cut short when the announcer was yelling out "Last call for all taking the flight to Kanto!"
It was time for my Kalos journey to come to a close. As we exchanged tearful goodbyes and promises to see each other again, I wished the best for Clemont and Bonnie, hoping that I'll see them again soon as a stronger trainer. After Pikachu and Dedenne said their goodbyes, it was time to go.
"Take care, Ash! Pikachu!" I heard Bonnie yelling in the distance.
"Come back to Kalos again real soon, Ash! We'll finish off our battle by then!" Clemont passionately yelled. I waved them off one last time, once i reached the top of the airplane stairs.
As the plane started to take off, I could see Clemont and Bonnie waving me off as they got smaller and smaller until I could no longer see them. This was it. My Kalos journey was officially over.
Forty five minutes into the flight, it was already dark. The sun had setted and the majority of passengers, including Pikachu were asleep. I couldn't sleep however. My mind drifted back to the kiss between me and Serena... My emotions were all over the place. I was just really ashamed I couldn't have found out sooner. I felt like a idiot after hearing from Clemont and Bonnie that she had liked me for quite some time now. At the same time, I was glad. I finally understood that she liked me, and that my very first kiss was with her. I also lightened up a bit knowing that she was giving it her all right now to be the best Pokemon Performer and to make people happy, so it's best if I did the same and continue to aim for my goal! I had a feeling that we weren't going to be separated from each other for too long. Now that I was feeling a bit relieved, I was starting to become drowsy. Before I fell asleep, I touched the spot on my lip where she had kissed me. I'm always going to remember that spot as my first kiss. I fell asleep for the remainder of the ride and before I knew it, we finally made arrived back home to Kanto. I left the airport and headed towards Pallet town as fast as I could, now that I was a bit rested and full of energy. At last, I made it to my house and greeted my mom.