Settling Down

Chapter 4: Old Friends & Reunions

Ash was gobsmacked as his eyes trailed down the line of people smiling at him. Serena gingerly opened the door and walked in, bemused at what was going on too. Delia and Pikachu emerged from the kitchen with party hats on and blew party horns.

'Wh-What's going on?'

'Well, duh! Isn't it obvious!' said the redheaded girl.

She clicked her fingers and pointed upwards to a banner that said "Congratulations Ash!" Several balloons had been put up too. And there was lots of food laid out on the living room table.

'Oh, wow! You did this all for me?' 

Everyone nodded and clapped for him.

'Of course! You didn't think you could just go and win the whole freaking league and not get any kind of party?! We're all so proud of you! Now, are you just gonna stand there? Or are you gonna give me a hug?'

'Thanks, Misty. And yes, of course!'

Misty wrapped her arms around Ash and hugged him tightly. She spotted Serena in the corner of her eye as she hugged him. Misty had no idea who she was and wondered why she was with Ash. As far as she knew, all his closest friends had already been invited to the party. Misty gave her a half-smile and then decided to hug Ash longer than was needed. Serena furrowed her eyebrows and had a distinct look of jealousy on her face. Who was this girl? And why was she hugging Ash for so long? Serena didn't want to assume anything, but she didn't like this one bit. When Misty finally let go of Ash, Serena quickly changed her expression and put a fake smile on.

'So, how did you guys put all this together so fast?' asked Ash, with his hands on his hips.

'Well, it was all my idea!' Misty butted in, before anyone could speak.

'Oh. Well that's nice of you, Misty. It must have been a lot of work to get everyone here!'

'Yeah, well it was a collective effort to be fair. I phoned Tracey, Gary and Brock, then Brock phoned May, who told Max, then May phoned Dawn, who tried to get Iris and Cilan to come, but they couldn't make it. And then your mum told us about Bonnie and Clemont and insisted we invite them too. But we didn't have their numbers, so we got Professor Oak to phone Professor Sycamore, who told them about it. And now we're all here!'

'Haha, no way! Professor Oak was in on it too? We were just helping him at the lab...'

'That's right!' said Professor Oak, walking in behind Ash and Serena.

'I have to confess, Delia and I knew about it the whole time! And we both made sure that I distracted you long enough to let everyone set everything up for you here.'

'Aw! Well, thank you so much everyone!' said Ash.

Everyone clapped for him again. He revelled in the moment and was happy to see so many of his friends come all this way here for him. But then he quickly looked over at Serena and saw that she was looking down at the floor shyly and awkwardly twiddling her thumbs. She wasn't sure how to introduce herself, but she wouldn't have to.

'Oh! And for those of you who don't know her, this is Serena!'

Ash pointed towards her. Then he rushed over to her and put an arm around her. Serena blushed a little, with the limelight on her all of a sudden now.

'She refuses to take any credit for it and I think she's probably tired of hearing it by now, but I really owe my victory to her! We've known each other since we were kids and reunited a few times over the years. But these past few years in particular, she's really been my rock and the most amazing friend! So, please give her some love too!'