The Ketchum Family

Dashing Hopes and Flashing Beauty: Part 3

This part picks up shortly after the previous one ended.

I hope you enjoy the conclusion to this long chapter.

The beautiful Alolan sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon when Garchomp soared over the Pokémon School on Melemele Island. Ash let out a happy laugh and pointed at the place where he'd made so many memories with his friends.

"That's where Professor Oak and Kukui taught us!" he said excitedly. "We really had a lot of adventures there!"

"Mmm-hmmm..." Serena hummed in a disinterested manner. She was sitting right behind Ash, gently holding on to his waist.

Ash's expression fell for the briefest of moments. For some reason, Serena had been rather distant since they'd left the sandbar. He hoped she wasn't getting bored with Alola. He thought quickly and decided that maybe showing her around the Ultra Guardians facility might reenergize her. He gave Garchomp a subtle nudge and the creature banked to the right to begin a descent.

"Let's go check it out!" he declared with extra enthusiasm. A few moments later, Garchomp flapped its wings and gently landed in the courtyard. Ash thanked his old friend and Serena gave its snout a kind caress. The ride Pokémon then took to the air again and began the trip back to Aether Paradise.

Ash chuckled and looked at Serena who stared back with a somewhat pensive expression. He swallowed nervously and gestured at the large tree near where the classrooms were located.

"You're gonna love it!" he said.

"Mmmmm," Serena hummed.

Ash grimaced and started walking down a path he'd trodden many times before. He really hoped Serena's wasn't bored out-of-her-mind. His woman followed in his steps, speculating how long it would be before she would allow him to share her bed. After the day's events, the date was looking quite a ways off...

Five very long minutes later Ash was regretting bringing Serena to the school. He grinned tensely as he waved his arm across the empty school room where he'd spent so many days with his friends.

"Uh, so this is also where we'd get ready for Ultra Guardians missions," he said awkwardly.

"Mmmm-hmmmm," Serena mumbled.

Ash chewed on his lower lip and was about to ask Serena if things were okay when a very familiar, gravelly voice sounded from the corridor.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd finally turn up!" Professor Oak said.

Ash beamed and Serena smiled. She turned around and her face immediately scrunched up in surprise and disbelief.

"Uhhh, Professor, you're really.... tan..." she remarked, eyeing the older man's complexion, which was much, much darker than when he'd called them just a couple of days ago. "You... been spending a lot of time in the sun...?"

The professor and Ash blinked in uncertainty and then laughed.

"Nah, this isn't our Professor Oak," Ash said with a grin. "This is his cousin, Samson Oak."

Serena blinked and stared closer at the man who looked an awful lot like the man who'd once run the lab in Pallet Town. She noticed a few differences, like hair and gait, but the resemblance was still impressive. She remembered Ash telling her all about Samson Oak, but she'd completely failed to recognize him. Feeling a little silly, she chortled tensely and spoke in a bashful tone.

"Oh, uhh, hi!" she managed. "It's good to meet you."

Professor Samson grinned and spoke in an amused tone. "Yes, I'm very Happiny to meet you too!" he said, briefly contorting his face into a strange expression as he substituted the Pokémon's name and spoke in a different inflection.