𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙱𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚁

Serena

I looked into my cup of coffee and wished I hadn't. The color of it was so reminiscent of his eyes... those sweet, mischievous eyes belonging to an equally handsome face. That of Ash Ketchum, my ex. We'd broken up recently, a few weeks ago. He'd started out as a challenge because I'd wanted revenge for what he did to my best friend. But he became more. We were a couple for a few months... until he found a new girl. A new, prettier, caramel-haired girl, because I was the second blonde he'd dated, and he'd decided based on me that blondes sucked. He'd told me. Those were the last words he'd uttered before turning away, all of him, his mussed raven mane, his auburn-brown eyes, his tan, tall, muscled frame gone.

"You okay, Sere?" asked a gorgeous brunette sitting across from me, who was stirring her green tea with a long straw. The first time I'd met her in my college dorm, which we shared with a beautiful girl named Misty, and a shy, platinum-locked girl called Lillie, I'd been incredibly insecure just gazing into her sky-blue eyes and looking at her perfect body, her long, chestnut curls, and her stunning smile. Her name was May, and she was my best friend, and rightly so. Her heart was as beautiful as she was, and she had a personality like a warm sunny day. It was surprising that people like us still went to college. I was Kalos Queen; May was Top Coordinator. Misty was the Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym, and Lillie was the heiress of the company Aether Foundation. Misty was from Kanto, I was from Kalos, May from Hoenn, and Lillie came from Alola. Yet we were all gathered here, in the frosty Sinnoh region.

From what I'd heard from Misty, Kanto was full of vast expanses of nature, differing from the more inhabited Kalos, which was all cobblestones and stylish boutiques. Hoenn was much like Kanto, except more populous, and with more Contests. That was how May had become her region's Top Coordinator. And Alola... went unsaid. It was perhaps the most striking region in the world: perfect weather, clear skies, golden sand, and tropical land and breezes. So for all of us to come here to a university in Sinnoh (Daybreak College, the most prestigious in all of this region) was surprising, especially because Sinnoh was frosty cold in winters and mildly hot in summers. Of course, it had beautiful, brightly-colored falls and rosebud springs, but it was still very different from any of the regions we originated from.

"Just thinking about..." I sighed and shook my head. May's sunny eyes darkened.

"Him," she finished for me, smiling empathetically. It was shocking that we could still be best friends while I dated her ex, and even more now that we were both roadkill squashed by the same man, but we managed. And although Misty, Lillie, May, and I were closely knit, me and May were truly best friends, here for each other through thick and thin.

"Why?" I whispered, my heart shattering as I took a long draught from my snow-white mug of coffee, the bustle of the café around us blurry as I took a few deep breaths.

"This is a lesson for both of us," stated May coolly. "To never date bastards like him," she shook her head. Another unexpected fact was that although May, Misty, Lillie, and I differed greatly, we all had a thing in common... we were all Ash's exes. Misty was his first girlfriend, and she'd captured his heart with her feisty personality, her warm heart, and her gorgeous looks — a long, glossy waterfall of red hair, a pale complexion, an athletic figure, and her eyes. Her eyes were the most beautiful aquamarine, set like precious stones into a face as innocent as a child's. Misty, however, wasn't innocent, not in the slightest. You could tell by looking into her face, expertly made-up, and her posture, perfect and beguiling. Her genuine smile was very pretty, but the one made for men was so sensuous none could resist, a small lip curl in one corner, her red lipstick vibrant against her skin. Ash had told me about her, and about what an amazing girlfriend she'd been, always making his friends jealous. Too bad he'd gotten bored of her, he'd said.

Lillie was his third girlfriend after a brief fling was a nameless girl. She had been dated like that in a cliché romance novel — she'd been bullied, he'd stepped up for her. She, too, was beautiful, but in a different way than Misty. While Misty was enticing, Lillie was sweet. While Misty was sharp, Lillie was soft in every way. And of course, that was just their personalities. Lillie had long, silky curls of an almost silvery shade, except they were pale golden. Her eyes were big and anime-style, and a delicate shade of lime green. She had a higher-pitched voice and was kind and very thoughtful. She was intelligent, beautiful, and very wealthy, as well as obedient and a damsel in distress. A perfect package, Ash had told me with a smirk. Or so he'd thought. Then he began to find her perfection dull and ditched her.

May was his fourth love, dated mere days after his and Lillie's break-up. At that time, May, Lillie, Misty, and I hadn't attended college yet; we hadn't known each other. Evidently, Ash was captivated by May's looks; her flawless body, flirtatious winks, her long, curling locks, and those eyes; eyes as blue as a Kalosian sky. May's relationship had lasted around two months — but it hadn't been only Ash who'd wanted out. May, unlike Lillie or even Misty, realized that Ash Ketchum, regardless of his initial kindness and wit, his god-like build, or his handsome face, was a bad man, and broke up with him. Ash, unlike with Lillie or Misty, liked May Maple, liked her face, liked her voice, liked her body, liked her personality. But May didn't want him after a while, and they grew apart. And so it was with a heavy heart that Ash had broken up with her, or so he'd said.

And then there was me. Plain, boring, blonde Serena Yvonne, with stereotypical golden hair and blue eyes. I always wished I could look like feisty Misty, with her unconventional red locks and striking teal eyes, or Lillie, armed with silky silver-blonde hair and innocent lime-green eyes. But most of all, I'd always wanted to be like my gorgeous best friend. Brunette and blue-eyed, she was every man's dream. And of course, her character and build didn't hurt either. I'd always known May had been Ash's favorite love. Until me, of course, he'd promise, holding my hand and pressing it to his heart, smiling down at me with his adorable auburn eyes. At six-foot, he was almost four inches taller than me, and the height gap was a little awkward sometimes. But I fit into his body perfectly, every groove and niche molding together. I'd taken that as a sign of perfection, but maybe it wasn't. I knew this was the way it would end as soon as I saw him and his face. And that caramel-haired girl, five times smarter, prettier, and fitter than me? My classmate. We'd eaten lunch together, Alyssa, Ash, and I, and I'd introduced him to her. I should have known that something would come of the soft smile he'd flashed her.

A waitress came by, carrying back May's credit card.

"You're all set," she smiled in a friendly way, and light glinted off her nametag.

"Thank you, Violette," I replied, collecting the card from the tray and standing up, my skirt swishing around me. May did as well, beaming lightly at Violette, and we both walked out of Diamond Heart Café. It was Sunday afternoon. Class started again tomorrow.

I really hope you liked this chapter. This is from Serena's POV, but the next chapter will be from another character's. This story may contain references like 'Top Coordinator', but there will be no Pokémon in this story — only the characters. Please note that my characters will probably not retain their original personalities in the anime (notably Ash), but some will. Thank you for reading!