Pokémon: Return to Kalos

Chapter 3: Love in Bloom

Later that afternoon, Ash stepped off of the inter-city bus in Vanville Town, and headed for a small one-story house on the outskirts of town. He knew the address because the friend who lived there had texted it to him during their long-distance correspondence. He walked up to the front door and rang the door-bell.

"Just a minute!" called a young woman's voice from inside the house.

Several seconds later, the door opened, and Ash found himself, as he had expected, face-to-face with the owner of the voice he had heard: a young woman, about twenty  years old, with shoulder-length honey-blond hair and deep blue eyes.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, "It's been so long!"

"Surprise!" said Ash, "Hi, Serena."

Ash followed Serena into the house, and the two sat down on the living-room sofa. He could smell the freshly-baked macarons in the kitchen. His stomach growled.

"I'm hungry," he said, "Partially because I distinctly smell macarons, and partly because I think I forgot to eat lunch."

"I'm hungry, too," said Serena, "and the weather is very nice. Let's have a picnic!"

"That sounds great!" said Ash, "do you know any good locations?"

"There's a small wood about a mile from here, with a small clearing in the middle. I sometimes go out there to relax. We can get there on my Rhyhorn."

They went into the kitchen, and made a few sandwiches. They packed these into Serena's backpack, along with the macarons and some Poké Puffs for their Pokémon. Then Serena summoned her Rhyhorn, and she and Ash got on.

Ash and Serena rode on Rhyhorn's back across a meadow, while Raichu tail-surfed behind them, a trick he had learned from an Alolan Raichu. When they got to the clearing, Ash and Serena dismounted and set out the picnic. They talked over old times as they ate, and then they sat and watched the sun set, and packed up the picnic blanket and any left-overs.

"Serena," said Ash, as they stood, hand-in-hand, at the exterior edge of the coppice, "It's been 11 years since we first met, and I've dreamed about you every night since I left for the Alola region. I somehow feel like we were destined to meet at the Pokémon junior summer camp in Kanto, and we were also destined to meet again when I first came here. I will admit, though, that if you hadn't recognised me, I wouldn't have recognised you. Still, I feel that we were destined to meet each other then, and if the not-so-secret crush you had on me is any indication, I'd say that our fates are somehow connected. The form of this connection is now clear to me. You are the nicest, sweetest, most beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life. Will you marry me?"

As he said those words, ash got down on one knee, holding the Love Ball in his pocket out in front of hi. He pushed the button on the front of the box, and the lid opened to reveal a ring.

Serena was moved to tears. "Yes," she said, "I will marry you, Ash."

Ash placed he ring on Serena's finger, and then stood back up. He handed her the box for the ring, and they kissed. It felt wonderful, Ash thought, to be back in the Kalos region, with Serena, to know that she loved him as much as he loved her, even though they hadn't seen each other face-to-face in over three years. He smiled. "I have another gift for you: a Z-Power Ring!"(he pulled it out of his backpack and handed it to Serena, along with 3 Z-Crystals: a Fairium Z, a Firium Z, and a Grassium Z.

"These Z-Crystals," said Ash, "allow you and the Pokémon you are using to perform a special attack called a 'Z-Move. I promised Clemont's little sister Bonnie to a Pokémon battle tomorrow. She's a proper Trainer now. I gave her my old Pokédex. I also gave her a Z-Ring, and gave a Z-Power Ring to Clemont. He now has a Grassium Z and Steelium Z and they both have Electrium Z's.'"

"What's her starter Pokémon?"

"Dedenne."

"Figures. She was so excited when we found him. By the way, speaking of tomorrow, Where are you staying the night?"

"Actually, I've been so stoked to be back in Kalos that I completely forgot to check into a hotel room. It completely slipped my mind!"

"I was wondering why you still had your suitcase with you when I answered the door. You can stay at my house, if you like."

"Gee, thanks, Serena."

"Well, that's what fiancés are for. Also, I'm a bit confused about what you said about giving Bonnie a Z-Ring and giving Clemont a Z-Power Ring. Aren't they the same thing?"

"Well, yes and no. A Z-Ring, when a Z-Crystal is used with a Pokémon of the same type, allows you to perform a Z-Move in battle. However, only the 18 type-specific Z-Crystals can be used in a Z-Ring. There are also 17 species-specific Z-Crystals, which can only be used in a Z-Power Ring. I gave Bonnie a regular Z-Ring because she's a new Trainer."

"I get it now. Anyway, let's head back to my place so we can unpack your things. Unfortunately, there's only one bedroom, so you can pick whether you want to sleep on the sofa in the living room, or share the  bed with me."

"I'll share the bed with you."

"You sure you don't want to sleep on the sofa?"

"I haven't seen you in person for three years. I want your beautiful face to be the first thing I see when I wake up tomorrow morning. I can't help it. You're the only one who can truly satisfy my greatest wish: to let me love you."

When the pair arrived back at Serena's house, Ash unpacked his suitcase. He changed into his pajamas: a t-shirt and boxers. Serena went into the bathroom to change. She came out wearing a tank-top and briefs. The two laid down in the bed and pulled up the covers. Ash shifted onto his side, facing Serena. Gently, he placed his arms around her, hugging her to him as if he was afraid he would wake up to realise it was nothing but a dream.

"Good-night", he whispered to her.