Pokémon Legacy: Come Back to Me

Chapter Forty-Four

"Has anyone seen Dawn?" Gary asked at breakfast the next morning.

"No, not since yesterday." Serena said, looking up from her fruit.

"She took off with some brown-haired guy with a Floatzel." Clemont informed them.

"Kenny? Sinnoh Kenny?" Ash asked, looking at Gary. He knew they had met before.

"Maybe." Gary replied.

"All I know is that I saw them leaving the Pokémon center last night when I went to the kitchen for a snack." Clemont muttered, going back to his breakfast.

Serena let out a relieved sigh. Dawn was out of her life, at least for now. Hopefully it stayed that way. She glanced up at Naomi, who gave her a small, relieved smile, letting Serena know that she understands how relieved she must feel. Serena loved her best friend to death.

"Ash? You have a call." A maid of the palace had come into the room. Ash nodded and followed the maid out.

He was led to the living room, where the computers were hooked to one wall. He saw that there was a video of his mom and the professor on the one furthest from the door.

"Hey mom, Professor Sycamore." Ash greeted them, sitting down at the monitor.

"Hi baby!" His mom exclaimed, causing Ash to blush slightly from embarrassment. He was 20 and his mother still called him baby.

"Hello Ash." The professor gave him a kindly smile.

"Happy birthday sweetheart!" His mom said, before Ash could say anything. Oh shit.

"I totally forgot it was my birthday today." Ash muttered, laughing sheepishly.

"Oh Ash." Delia said.

"Happy birthday Ash." Professor sycamore said also. "Also, your mom and I wanted to say congratulations on your win at the Tournament."

"And congratulations for Serena too! Kalos Queen and a proposal! Ash, why didn't you tell me you were going to propose?" There it was. The reprimand, masked by the friendly congrats call. Ash chuckled at his mother's predictability. Professor Sycamore had excused himself a little bit ago, so it was just Ash and his mom now.

"Sorry mom. I didn't really know I was going to propose until a few weeks ago, when we were trying to find her."

"You could've told me when you called us after to tell us you and Serena were okay." His mom said, raising a stern eyebrow.

"Serena was with me mom."

"So? You could've had her go somewhere else and you could've told me quickly."

"You think I was going to let her out of my sight right after that whole disaster? I'm barely okay with this call right now without being able to see her."

"I'm sorry honey, I just would've liked to know before, and not be surprised when I saw it on TV." Delia just sounded a little hurt now, but she seemed to understand why she wasn't told beforehand. "But the next time you think about making anymore huge, life-changing decisions, I want to know beforehand, okay mister?" Ash chuckled.

"Yes mom." He said. "Would you like to talk to Serena?" Delia nodded. Ash turned to a palace maid and asked her to go bring Serena to him.

"Does Serena know it's your birthday?"

"No. I don't think I've ever told her." Ash replied. Serena appeared a moment later and walked over.

"Hi Ms. Ketchum!" Serena chirped.