Our Promise, Our Future

Chapter 84: Don't Give Up

Yo what up!! I'm here with the penultimate chapter of the Aim to be a Pokemon Master arc! This will be the beginning of the final battle between Ash and Serena. It's all led to this, who will win? Let's see how the first part goes first. So, enjoy my readers! (Video is also mine, be sure to check out the rest of the series if you could).

Ash and the boys were shocked.

"Battle? With me?" Ash said with surprise.

"Yes you. But not just any battle, I'm battling you for the title of World Monarch!" Serena said with grin.

Now the boys were even more shocked. This almost wasn't making any sense. The others couldn't wrap their heads around it either. Serena told them to come to Wyndon Stadium but didn't say anything else.

"What's Serena thinking? Why is she doing all this?" Burnet said.

"She's trying to help him" Kukui said, looking down at the two.

"Help him? By trying to take away his World Monarch title? That's helping?" Burnet said.

"That's not it" Grace suddenly said. She too was staring down at the two. "Those two have always battled against others and became stronger, but now they're battling against each other."

"To find out which of them is the stronger one" Jake concluded.

"Now I see. Serena isn't actually trying to take Ash's title, she's helping him keep it by pushing him to be stronger" Burnet said with smile.

"...she is trying" Grace said.

Everyone gasped at Grace's claim.

"She is? But, why? She knew how much this meant to Ash, now she wants to take it from him after he just acquired it?" Kukui said.

"Serena has always felt left behind, I see that now after all the Rhyhorn Racing lessons I put her through. She always had a big defeatist attitude for most of her life. Now, thanks to Ash, she has become more confident in herself than she ever has in her life. Everything she has accomplished, Ash has helped her reach. Now, for the first time, she is reaching for something even higher, with no help from Ash in any way. To her, doing this, will determine if she is ready to walk next to him as his equal" Grace explained.

The adults looked down on the teens, serious expressions plastered on all their faces.

After getting over his shock, Ash grew serious. After brief silence, he chuckled. This confused Serena.

"I can't believe...how obvious it was" he said as he continued to chuckle.

"What do you mean Ash?" Serena said.

"My last step, it was painfully obvious what it was, yet I still didn't realize it." He looked up at her with a smile. "Before I can call myself a Pokemon Master, I need to beat the one I love most in a battle!"

Serena blushed hard at that.

"There was always this desire I had, one I've had since Kalos. It was for a battle, I knew that for sure. I started to think hard about it, about who I personally wanted to battle the most. I was always excited to take on opponents like Gym Leaders and Champions, but, this desired battle was different, it was like, an opponent I've never faced in my life. But now it's clear to me." Ash gave her a determined grin. "The one I've wanted to battle the most...is you Serena!"

Serena's eyes widened as her blush grew more red. Her hair slightly blew from the wind. She lowered her head and hid her eyes as she smiled and placed her fingers on her red ribbon. She looked up at Ash and matched his grin with her own.