Settling Down

Chapter 1: Glory Glory

A golden trophy glistened in the crisp early autumn air, as Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town rejoiced in his triumph. He had finally done it. After all of those countless years of adventures, battles, tournaments, friends, Pokemon, hellos, goodbyes, Team Rocket blast offs, you name it! It all built up to this very moment. Ash grinned as wide as his mouth could stretch and held it high in the air like he'd just won the World Cup for Japan. He was officially a Pokemon Master now. Cameras snapped endless photographs and it felt like the whole world was clapping and cheering for him. He took a moment to absorb it all and simply just laughed in disbelief, before lowering the trophy down. As he did, a pair of arms affectionately reached over his shoulders and tackled him into an empathic hug.

'You did it! YOU DID IT! I'm so, SO proud of you, Ash!'

'Aww, I couldn't have done it without you, Rena!'

Serena giggled sweetly and released her grip on him. Serena always believed in Ash, but even she couldn't quite believe it. Not everyone won the Pokemon league after all, but she knew her Ash could always do it. She thought of going in for another hug and holding him longer, but thought better of it and decided to just admire her crush from afar, as he posed for his fans and basked in all the glory for as long as he could. All she could think about now was all the memories they had shared together from the very first day they met at the summer camp as kids, to their reuniting in Kalos, to now. Absolutely infatuated with this wonderful boy, now man, the whole way through.

Of course there was a big gap in between each stage though. Yet she remembered it all like it was yesterday. The day she parted ways with Ash, Clemont and Bonnie was the start of the rest of her life. She had a plethora of success in Hoenn and came so close to winning it all. She even met May and Max, who told her plenty of stories about Ash, which kept her going and inspired her to reach the highest of heights of her wildest dreams. Hoenn really made her the woman she is today and finally allowed Serena to discover herself fully. But she was still incomplete. She had moped about for days and felt lost after doing all she could in Hoenn. That was until she suddenly got a phone call at the Pokemon Center, from the person she wanted to be with the most. One phone call was all it took for reunion number two. Before they knew it, they were travelling again together, but just the two of them this time. He really picked her and her alone, out of all of the friends he had made in his life. Serena loved Clemont and Bonnie like a brother and sister, but she always wished she could have had more time with just Ash. And that's exactly what she got. She was there every step of the way, through Ash's latest and arguably, most important journey. And it resulted in this. Pure elation. Pure love...

Serena blushed as she stared down at the stadium floor and let Ash have his moment in the limelight. She slowly walked away, but then Ash suddenly came over and put his arm around her and used his other one to point at her, as if to say, she's the great woman behind him that made all this possible. Serena didn't know where to look and just shyly waved at the crowd and viewers watching at home. Ash lifted the trophy one last time and then exited the stage with Serena, hand in hand. Serena had finally gotten over the anxiety of grabbing his hand and they had been doing it frequently, without even thinking about it now.

'You know, this trophy is every bit yours as it is mine, Rena. You've been such an important part of my life these past few years. I really owe you a lot...'

The whole "Rena" nickname thing was a new thing, which only summed up the change in their relationship since Kalos. Ash had a point, but Serena just shook her head modestly.

'No, Ash. This is all you. I just gave you a helping hand, as all good friends do...'

'Well, there was a reason I called you before setting off on this particular journey... but anyway, I just want to thank you for everything. You truly bring the best out of me.'