The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 22

"YAY, SERENA!"

"De ne, ne!"

"Bonnie, not so loud!"

Ash, Pikachu, and Serena chuckle in amusement as they, Brock, and Dawn are calling the two siblings on a video phone at the Pokemon Center after calling Grace first. Serena has just told her two former companions that she won the Saffron City contest and showed them her new ribbon to prove it.

"I can't help it, Clemont. It's just so exciting!" Bonnie says gleefully. "Already she has a contest ribbon! Before you know it, she'll probably have all the ribbons she needs long before she competes in the Grand Festival!"

Serena chuckles again and says, "Thank you, Bonnie, but let's not take things that far. It was a close match, after all."

"She's right," Dawn says while pointing at herself proudly. "Serena was really good, but she's gonna have to work harder if she wants to have the upper hand against a professional like me again."

"I'm sure she'll do it. I believe in Serena," Bonnie states.

"Yeah, I believe in her, too," Ash says proudly.

"Pikachu," Pikachu says with a smile.

Serena smiles, sweetly at Bonnie and Ash before she gets an idea.

"Oh that's right, you two haven't met my new Pokemon,"

Bonnie's eyes light up in excitement, and she shouts, "New Pokemon? Show me! Show me!"

"Alright," Serena says with a smile as she takes out two Pokeballs. "Poliwag, Absol, come on out."

The two balls open, and Poliwag and Absol appear.

"Awww, they're so cute!" Bonnie squeals. "I just want to come over them and hug and play with them all day!"

"De ne, ne," Dedenne says in agreement.

"Poliwag and Absol would love that," Serena says. "They love to play together, so I know they would really enjoy playing with you and Dedenne."

"Poli, Poli," Poliwag says.

"Sol, Absol," Absol says.

"So Ash, what are you doing on this journey?" Clemont asks.

"I'm going to compete in the Indigo League again," Ash says proudly. "But first, I'm on a quest to have a rematch against the Kanto gyms where I didn't get my badges through winning a battle to show how much I've grown as a trainer since then."

"Huh? So you didn't win your badges through winning battles?" Clemont asks, confused.

"More like earned them either out of pity or because he saved the gym from Team Rocket," Brock says teasingly.

Ash chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his head before he says, "That's why I want to fix that by having a full-on battle against each of the gyms where something like that happened. I already defeated Brock and Misty, I'm going to have a rematch with Sabrina here in Saffron City, and once I'm done with that, I'll have a rematch at the gyms in Celadon City and Viridian City."

Clemont looks at Ash, still confounded about Ash winning his first badges in unorthodox ways. But then he smiles, understanding what his friend is doing.

"I see," he says with a nod. "Well, that sounds like a good thing to do while getting ready to compete again."

As Ash nods back, they hear a bell and Nurse Joy saying, "Serena, Dawn, your Pokemon are ready. Please report to the front desk," through the intercom.