SatoSere - Where the Sakura Blooms

Tangled Fates

Alright, so the last chapter was a bit heavy, but Callum isn't done just yet. I'll put it this way, he will not be learning his lesson anytime soon. Ash and Serena reunite! Lots of cute moments between these two.

The mere idea of you
The longing here for you
You'll never know how slow the moments go
Till I'm near to you
I see your face in every flower Your eyes in stars above
It's just the thought of you
The very thought of you
My love

~ The Very Thought of You by Nat King Cole ~

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Valor Lakefront
Pokemon Center
Ash

Seeing Serena again is like breathing a rush of fresh air. She is as beautiful as ever, so full of spirit and is so determined to find herself. Her strength ignited something deep within me, my aura flared a bit feeling her warmth, as if responding to her presence. I breathed in smelling some vanilla and citrus from her shampoo and  perfume.

"It is so great to finally be with you again, Ashton." She responded smiling as we slightly came apart.

I nod with a smile, "Are you alright though? He did not hurt you did he?"

"I am fine Ash. I know he said some very unsavory things about me, but I know you really know who I am inside and out. As for what nearly happened, you stopped him before he could do anything too damaging." She responds kissing my cheek.

It was May who spoke with a teasing smile, "You guys make a good couple. Are you sure you two are not secretly together?"

"I wish..." I thought to myself. I had fallen so hard for this girl over the last few years.

I rolled my eyes knowing my face was flushed, "Oh shut it Maple!  None of your teasing, you little hopeless romantic.Thank you again for your assistance Officer Jenny. And I'll be sure to report first if anything the like this happens again." I say the latter statement tinged with a respectful tone.

I did notice Brock's lack of zealous action towards the nurse and officer. I chuckled to myself, had he finally noticed Pike Queen Lucy's feelings for him? Or was it just because of the recent issue?

The Officer just smiled and shook her head, "Do not worry about it young man. You had to do something. And I, myself am relieved that you were able to stop him before he could really do something horrid. As I must also thank Ms. Maple for defending these two, you are both known for your hemorism the world over. We will handle him from here, and if he causes anymore trouble then he'll be stripped of his License. I am surprised you didn't confiscate his Pokemon."

"What?" Shauna says surprised by the bit of information.

I looked towards the honey blond girl, who was just grinning impishly. I shook my head chuckling at her, she always did love surprising others with certain secrets. Shauna looked at her accusingly while she gave her best friend a wink.

"I see Serena has not told about his titles. Ms. Yvonne loves her secrets. I guess she is entitled to it, after all they are childhood friends. Don't worry Shauna, you aren't the only who was surprised by the news. Just be lucky you did not find out about any of this while you were on an adventure with him." May says giggling as she winked at us.

Dawn shakes her head,."The first time I heard about his apprenticeship as an Aura Guardian was when we saved Oreburg from an rogue Areodactle! It was another worldly experience to whiteness his aura abilities at work."

"When did you have to time to train with your abilities Ash? The last time you told me you went to Rota was when you traveled with May." Serena inquires with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

Nurse interrupts our conversation clearing her throat, "Ash, I believe you need to have Pikachu and Torterra checked?"

"Yes I do. Thank you Nurse Joy! Alright buddy, go with Nurse Joy to get healed for a while then you can come back to us." I say handing my starter and Grottle's pokeball over to the nurse.

Brock says, "How about we head back to Zoey? She must be going spar no knowing what's happening. She's worried about us just leaving so suddenly."

"Oh my! Looks like that explanation is a long one. Let head back." Dawn says shaking her head as she laughed.

We walked back to our table, it was at the corner farthest from where the ordeal had happened. We wanted to be unnoticed, with three rising coordinators, an ace level trainer, and our esteemed Performers  the press were bound to hound us for sure. Once we got to our table Zoey was on us with questions.

"What happened? I'd anyone get her hurt? And how do you know the Princess of Kalos?" Asked the red haired girl from Snowpoint.

Dawn had a slight sweat drop with her rival's questioning, "Woah. Slow down a bit there Ms. Rouge! One question at a time."

"No none of us got hurt, well except the guy that caused the scene that is. Ms. Yvonne got assaulted by some arrogant twat, who could use some serious lessons in manners. And I met them in Hoenn a year ago when they ventured the Region." May says with a chuckle placing her hands up.

I laughed shaking my head, "Relax Zoey. I have known Serena since we were kids. I met her at a Summer Camp in Kanto."

"The surprises just keep on coming with you guys. It is nice to meet you Serena and Shauna. You're both talented Performers!" Zoey says bowing slightly towards the two Kalos girls.

Both girls shook her hands a little flushed at the praise. I smiled, happy that they were known the world over despite Pokemon Showcases not being so well known outside of Unova and Kalos. Maybe I'll consider going to Kalos next, learning about Mega Evolution and a considerable number of new Pokemon would be exciting. But then again, Unova would be an interesting region to visit as well. I'll see what my mind will go with...

"Nice to meet you Zoey! Your appeal was great! You really made Glameow shine. And thank you for the complements." Serena replies smiling as she took a seat beside me.

Shauna grinned take a seat on Serena's other side, "We'll be taking part in the contest as well. We just want to experience it, we aren't really in it to compete."

"Naw, I bet if you are really in it to compete then you guys would win! I saw you in Hoenn, you two nearly made the Semi Finals in that year's Grand festival." May says grinning.

I nodded and said, "Even making it into the Grand Festival is a great feat for a first time Coordinators. You're experience in Showcases helped you during Contests, it was just the battling portion that you girls had to get the grip on."

Shauna nods while contemplating her answer, "Yes. It was such a surprise to us that Pokemon contest actually had battles. Showcases don't have a battle round, so we really stumbled around that area. But, it was great having May to help us out in that part. She was really a wealth of knowledge when it came to battling."

"But. Even I could tell that Ash had some influence on her battle style. Seeing her battle was awe inspiring. While there was grace, I can see she mixed some raw power into it aw well. The tactics she would use would resemble yours, Ash." Serena adds smiling at me.

Brock smiles rubbing his chin as he explained, "When we traveled through Hoenn Ash would spend part of his time teaching May battle strategies. Some of those strategies were counter measures he taught himself after losing Gym battles in Kanto and Jonto, others were strategies he learned from Gym leaders and other trainers. While those tactics would look less then graceful they work well in battle, so it was up to May to refine them and add some elegance onto those tactics."

"You would be surprised with what you could learn from other trainers on the road. I've learned a few strategies from watching other battles myself. Of course, it is also your own intuition that leads you to decide if those strategies would work on the contest stage." May adds reflectively.

I also shared my thoughts, "I was pretty unprepared when I began my journey in Kanto. I was over confident and very inexperienced. It was a wonder on how I got Charmander to evolve into Charizard only to have him rebel against me because I could not control his power and it was my hubris that caused the problem. But through all those pitfalls I got better, and learned from various people on the road. I couldn't thank Misty and Brock enough for their support and guidance throughout Kanto."

"Misty would bring you back to Earth and pop your ego when it got too big, like an older sister. It wasn't a problem, traveling with you was an experience for us as well. It made us realize that we missed out a lot of things while being stuck in our respective duties for so long" Brock says smiling at me.

May then says, "Now back to Serena's query..."

"Well. Uncle Riley had called me a few months before I was due to come to Sinnoh and told me I had come back to Rota to train with aura powers. So, I had to take six months off of my Journey to go to Rota. And I met Riolu again that time, he was training on having more control over his aura sphere. After Six months Riley gave me the apprenticeship." I explained thinking I should call my uncle.

"Word on the street is that there will be a ball after the cup. Is that true?" Zoey asked looking towards the two Kalos girls.

Both shrugged with Shauna answering, "I don't know anything about that. We were invited to do an opening performance. Maybe Wallace planned it with Monsieur Pierre."

"I'd love to escort you if there is one Serena." I offered giving the blond haired girl a smile.

She giggles patting my cheek, "Try asking me again and see if I say yes."

"She'll say yes..." Shauna whispers ginning cheekily at her friend who huffed.

I chuckled pinching her cheek, "Maybe I'll be on one knee next time."

I winked at her, she blushed probably imagining me in that position asking her to the dance. I start planning my proposal to her. She slapped me playfully for making her blush.

"Enough of that mister." She says her blue eyes filled with mirth despite the faux glare she was sending my way.

Dawn shakes her head commenting "Despite not being together, you guys sure act like a couple. Your flirting isn't exactly keeping your feelings secret."

"Who said that we were trying to keep our feelings a secret?" I responds raising a brow.

Serena elaborates leaning into my side, "We have to know how the other feels for a long time now. He confessed first when he went to Jonto and I responded to his letter with a confession of my own. He then asked me to be his girlfriend when he was taking a break from his travels. Of course, we kept it under warps because we didn't want the public to know. But our mothers knew and they were worried about the long distance relationship."

"Speaking of our mothers…" I say smiling as he brought out his Halo Carter which Serena gifted him for his 15th birthday.

He looked for his mother's name and pressed it. He placed it on the table and waited for Delia to pick up.

Shauna's eyes widened, "You got him a Halo Carter?"

"Color me surprised when I opened the present in Hoenn. Of course, we still stuck to writing letters but we would video call for the holidays and on our birthdays. That was how I knew she had stayed the holidays in the Maple Household." I tell them with a grin.

Zoey, Dawn, and Shauna were even more surprised when the individual who answered the call was not Delia but a Mr. Mime!

"Mimey?" Ash says gaining the attention of the Pokemon who was in the Kitchen.

Mimey saw Ash and waved its hand in greeting, "Mime, mime."

"Hey! How are you both doing in there?" Ash asks smiling.

The Pokemon smiled, "Mi, mime."

The three girls continued to look surprised, much to the amusement of Ash, Serena, May, and Brock. Ash had half expected Mr. Mime to answer because he was always in the house when his mom was out, Serena has known about Mr. Mime since they were kids, he was Delia's and had chosen to stay with the mother and son instead of in Oak's ranch. Both Brock and May upon going with Ash to palette at the end of their Hoenn Journey.

"The Ketchum's are a special family. " May says giggling. She had reacted the same way when she saw they had a Mr. Mime as a house help.

I chuckled nodding in acceptance, "Our family comes from an ancient line of aura users, a clan that is task with guarding the balance of the world. According to the book I've read in Rota's grand library and what my Uncle Riley has been teaching me, the Aura Guardians were hailed as the warriors of Arcious. The Ketchum Clan was part of the twelve clans that formed the Grand Alliance, or what we know today as The Pokemon League Association. The PLA still holds the twelve seats of those ancient clans today. My uncle has held our family's seat in the PLA since my dad passed away."

"Who are the other clans?" Asked Dawn with a curious glint in her eyes.

It was Serena who answered, "The first six seats were held by the prominent families who dedicated their lives to preserving the histories of our world; Stone, Leaf, Raion, Petalburg, Shriona, and Coronet. While the other half was held by those concerned with the safety and balance of the world; Ketchum, Byron, Roi, Zyphon, Archille, and Fyon. The Ketchums belonging to the latter group."

"Wait. You're saying that Cynthia's family is part of those twelve clans!" Zoey says in surprise at this new knowledge.

May chuckles nodding, "Yes. Along with my family, Petalburg was actually the name of my ancestor who founded the city many eons ago. The name Maple was later used when Princess Mable married a nobleman with that surname, since she was the only child she basically created a new dynasty that that lasts until today. Zyphon is the ancestor of the Berlitz family, when the only daughter of the Earl Zyphon married a son of Count Berlitz the two went on to create a new town in Sinnoh's growing Kingdom at the time. Twinleaf Town was created in the later eighteenth century." 

"How is it that you guys know so much about the world's history? I did not even know that bit about Sinnoh!" Zoey says in wonder.

Brock chuckles shaking his head, "When you've through the adventures we have been through you'll learn a lot of things about the world. Plus that tidbit about Sinnoh was thanks to one of our encounters with Cynthia recently, she revealed a little bit of the region's past to us through her findings in her home town's library."

"My mom told me about our family's heritage years back. I did not like the feeling of notoriety that could have brought me if I mentioned it in public. I like to keep my successes my own. Plus, the past lies where it belongs."  Dawn says scrawling at the thought of resting on her ancestor's laurels.

Ash laughed shaking his head as she patted Dawn's shoulder, "Most of us don't like the idea of resting on our ancestor's laurels. But there are others who would like to think that they would get their birthrights without hard work. Serena, isn't your Father sat on the Archille seat?"

"Yes. He had served the Kalos Army and retired as a Colonel. He took up his seat when Uncle Jean stepped down. Dawn, my Uncle has mentioned your aunt a couple of times." Responds Serena smiling at the younger blue haired girl.

Dawn smiles back nodding, "Yeah, she would often tell mom and I about what would happen in the PLA. She mentioned your relatives names often. They are also close friends, she also mentioned May's father."’

"You guys could have known each other since childhood!" Zoey exclaimed.

The rest laughed, while Serena and Ash just smiled sweetly at each other. It would have been great to meet their friends when they were children, but meeting them  on road seemed like fate was playing a hand to their encounters with these individuals. Little did they know, only time would tell if their encounters with these people would lead to something big in the long scheme of things.

For what the future brings is something yet to be told....

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And there we have it. I hope the ending was not too abrupt, if you found it to be... then I am sorry, kind of got a little bit stuck on how to continue the chapter. I promise to make the next one longerc, everyone. So tell me what you think of the lore I added into this chapter, I know it is not part of Canon but that is the beauty of fanfiction. I just hoped that I didn't go to far with the madup histories and such.

Some of you may ask what happened during the call between the group and Delia. That's coming in the next chapter.

So the Holidays are coming up and that 12 Days til Christmas remake is still in the making. But I promise that all the chapters will be posed on schedule! The book will end with a special chapter on Christmas Day! And the book with have a two part companion peice that will be posed on the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So stay tuned for more updates!

Singing off,
Mika