The familiar feeling of home settled over Ash as he trudged through the door, the earthy scent of the forest clinging strongly to him and his Pokémon who trailed behind him like weary but satisfied soldiers returning from maneuvers.
Well, mostly satisfied.
Charizard X gave a low grumble, flexing the neck Ash had grabbed earlier, radiating distinct vibes of 'I let you win, you know.'
Charizard Y seemed marginally less perturbed, though he did subtly angle his tail away from Garchomp, perhaps remembering the indignity of being literally dragged down to earth.
Garchomp, on the other hand, practically swaggered.
His chest was puffed out, his usual toothy grin seemed wider, and he radiated an aura of smug victory that was almost palpable.
'Flawless execution,' Garchomp seemed to project, nudging Ash's leg affectionately.
Ash chuckled, ruffling the top of Garchomp's head fin.
"Alright, alright, I know you won, you big land shark.
Great job out there."
He felt the pleasant ache of exertion in his muscles, the lingering thrill of the training exercise buzzing under his skin.
Pushing himself, matching Garchomp's speed, figuring out that trick with X – it felt good.
It felt right.
'Still got it,' he thought with a private grin.
His moment of self-congratulation was shattered by a voice sharp enough to cut through his post-training haze.
"Ash Ketchum!"
He winced, turning towards the sound.
Serena stood framed in the living room doorway, hands planted firmly on her hips, her expression a perfect storm of exasperation and impatience.
One foot tapped a rapid rhythm against the wooden floor, a clear indicator of her dwindling patience.
Her honey-blonde hair seemed to almost crackle with irritation.
"Seriously, Ash! Did you completely forget?" she demanded, her blue eyes narrowing.
"Or did you just decide that wrestling your Charizards in the mud was more important?
Today is the start of Professor Oak's Summer Camp!"
Ash blinked, the mental image of grumpy kids and questionable camp food abruptly replacing visions of training glory.
"Oh, right! The camp," he said, aiming for nonchalant but probably landing somewhere near 'caught red-handed'.
He ran a hand through his sweaty hair, dislodging a few stray leaves.
"Is that today already?
Whoops."
Serena threw her hands up in the air.
"Whoops?
Ash, 'whoops' doesn't quite cover it!
We were supposed to be at the lab helping Professor Oak set up an hour ago!
He probably thinks we've been abducted by aliens!
Or worse, that you spontaneously decided to challenge a random Ursaring you met on the way!"
She took a step closer, wrinkling her nose slightly.
"And look at you!
You're covered in… everything!
Leaves, dirt, is that Garchomp drool?"
Garchomp made an offended noise behind Ash.
'It is not drool!
It is residual awesomeness!'
"Ah, sorry, Serena," Ash offered, trying a sheepish grin that usually worked better on his Mom.
"Training got a little intense.
You know how it is, testing limits, pushing boundaries..."
'...maybe pushing X's patience a bit too far with that paralysis trick,' he mentally amended.
"I know exactly how it is," Serena retorted, though a tiny smile tugged at her lips, betraying her annoyance.
"You get that look in your eye, the Pokémon get fired up, and the concept of time ceases to exist in your immediate vicinity.
Honestly, Ash, if you didn't have me, your Mom, or others to remind you, you'd probably forget your own birthday if a strong enough Pokémon challenged you on the day."
"Hey!
I wouldn't forget my birthday," Ash protested, slightly indignant.
"Mom makes that awesome cake!"
Serena sighed, shaking her head, the exasperation softening slightly into fond resignation.
"Okay, look.
Just… go get cleaned up.
Fast.
Like, Dragonite-using-Extreme-Speed fast.
I already told the others I'd meet them there, but I waited because I had a horrible feeling you'd completely space it."
She leaned in conspiratorially.
"Professor Oak was already starting to mutter about 'unreliable young assistants' when I called him earlier.
We need to get there before he decides to dock our non-existent pay."
She turned with a swish of her skirt.
"Lab.
Ten minutes.
Don't make me send Pangoro back in here to drag you out by the Leg!"
With that parting shot, she was out the door.
Ash watched her go, a faint smile lingering on his face despite the impending doom of camp counselor duty.
He grabbed a towel.
"Okay, team, you guys relax here.
I gotta go face the wrath of Grandpa Oak... and possibly a squadron of hyperactive six-year-olds."
He headed towards the bathroom, peeling off his dirt-stained training jacket.
( You yourself is only seven acting like a adult)
His Pokemon thought with exasperation.
He wasn't exactly dreading the camp, not entirely.
It was just… a commitment.
And corralling kids armed with nets and boundless energy wasn't his ideal way to spend a summer afternoon.
Especially when he could be training, exploring, or even just napping.
'Why did I agree to this again?' he wondered, turning on the shower.
Oh, right.
Grandpa Oak had looked so overwhelmed, Delia had given him 'the look', and Serena had pointed out it might be 'good character development'.
Plus, the Professor did let him use the lab's advanced training facilities whenever he wanted.
'Still, the man needs to loosen the purse strings and hire actual, paid professionals,' Ash mused, scrubbing mud off his arm.
'Does he think camp counselors just magically appear?
Maybe he's trying to breed them using Ditto?'
The thought of Serena's exasperated face brought another memory to the surface, one much older, fuzzier, but still vivid.
'Funny how things work out,' he thought, leaning his head against the cool shower tiles.
'If it weren't for a glitchy Abra and a grumpy Dragonite, maybe Serena wouldn't be here yelling at me about being late for things.'
Thinking about it always felt a little strange.
That day, etched in his memory not just as the day he met Serena, but as the Day of the Very Boring Meeting That He Totally Skipped (And Accidentally Became a Hero).
...
A/N : Just so you know this happened before ash regained his memories
...
(Backstory - Age 2)
The air in Pallet Town buzzed, not just with the usual Pidgey chirps and Rattata rustles, but with a sense of… officialdom.
At least, that's how it might have felt to an adult.
To two-year-old Ash Ketchum, it just felt like a day he was supposed to stay inside and be 'presentable' for some visitors his Mom kept talking about.
Visitors connected to something called an 'engagement'.
Whatever that was, it sounded profoundly less interesting than the Caterpie he'd seen inching its way up the garden fence.
'Meeting?' his toddler brain processed.
'Boring!
Woods?
Woods have bugs!
Woods are fun!'
Meanwhile, miles away, another two-year-old, Serena Yvonne, was experiencing a different kind of buzz – the strange, tingling sensation of teleportation.
At that time Abra teleportations was a relatively new service, hailed as revolutionary but still carrying the faint whiff of unpredictability, like entrusting your mail to a particularly scatterbrained Pidgey.
Her Uncle Sycamore, ever the enthusiast for new technology (and perhaps subtly nudged by parental arrangements back in Kalos), had opted for this cutting-edge travel method to attend the 'engagement meeting' in Pallet Town.
'Uncle says this is important,' Serena thought, clutching her favorite Fennekin doll.
'And fast!
Faster means we get there sooner.
I hope Professor Oak has macarons.'
The teleport shimmered.
'Weird... like fizzy lemonade in my tummy,' was Serena's last coherent thought before the world resolved itself.
Professor Sycamore materialized smoothly in the designated reception area But...
Serena… didn't.
Somewhere in the Forest Near Pallet Town, perhaps due to an unexpected cosmic ray,
a solar flare, or maybe just the Abra having a sudden craving for a Nanab Berry and momentarily losing focus,
Serena's destination coordinates had undergone a slight, yet significant, alteration.
Instead of the sterile white floor of the company's branch, her tiny feet landed on soft, unfamiliar moss.
Trees.
Towering, ancient, and definitely not in her destination.
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through her initial confusion.
"Uncle?" she called out, her voice a small, trembling squeak.
"Uncle August!
Where are you?"
Only the rustling leaves answered.
'This isn't right!
This isn't the place!
Where did he go?!'
Tears welled, hot and fast.
The woods, moments before just scenery glimpsed from a distance, now seemed immense, swallowing her whole.
Dark shapes lurked in the shadows between trunks, and every snapping twig sounded like a monster approaching.
'Mommy!
Uncle!
I'm lost!'
She stumbled backwards, tripped over a hidden root, and landed with a soft thump on the damp earth, scraping her knee.
The small sting was nothing compared to the terror tightening its grip on her heart.
She buried her face in her Fennekin doll and sobbed.
Oblivious to the dimensional displacement drama unfolding nearby, Ash Ketchum was having a grand time.
Having successfully executed Operation: Escape the Boring Meeting via the Back Door, he was deep in his natural habitat – the woods bordering his house.
His current mission: convincing a rather stubborn Pidgey that high-fives were a perfectly acceptable form of interspecies greeting.
"Come on, just tap my hand!
Like this!" he chirped, demonstrating enthusiastically.
The Pidgey merely ruffled its feathers and eyed the wiggling fingers suspiciously.
High above, circling patiently, Professor Oak's Dragonite sighed – a deep, rumbling sound barely audible over the wind.
Tasked with the perpetually challenging job of keeping young Ash out of serious trouble without stifling his… enthusiasm, Dragonite had seen it all.
Tree climbing escapades, ill-advised attempts to 'cuddle' grumpy Mankey, sharing snacks with wild Pokémon – it was a full-time job.
'Honestly, this child,' Dragonite thought, its ancient eyes scanning the woods with practiced vigilance.
'Never a dull moment.
At least he hasn't tried to ride a Tauros again this week.'
Then, a faint sound cut through the usual forest noises.
A high-pitched, distressed cry.
Ash paused his Pidgey-diplomacy efforts.
"Huh?
What was that?"
He looked up at his guardian.
"Dragonite, did you hear that?
Sounds like someone's really sad."
Dragonite had already pinpointed the source, its keen hearing easily separating the child's cry from the background chatter of the woods.
With a slight nod to Ash, it banked sharply, gliding towards the sound, Ash scrambling to follow on the ground below, curiosity overriding his previous mission.
'Someone's crying!
Maybe they're lost?
Or maybe they saw a cool bug and got scared!'
As they drew closer, another sound joined the crying – a low, angry buzzing.
A lot of buzzing.
Ash skidded to a halt behind a large oak tree, peering around cautiously.
"Whoa!
Beedrill!"
A whole swarm of them, swirling agitatedly in a small clearing, their stingers glinting ominously.
And right in the middle of their angry dance was the source of the crying – a small girl with honey-blonde hair, huddled on the ground.
'Wow, that's a lot of Beedrill!
Not the friendly Weedle kind!
And they look super mad!
She's right there!'
Serena, looking up through tear-blurred eyes, saw the swarm descending.
The buzzing filled her ears, drowning out her own terrified whimpers.
'Big stingers!
Scary eyes!
Buzzing so loud!
They're going to get me!'
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable.
But the stings never came.
Instead, a mighty roar echoed through the clearing, followed by a powerful gust of wind that felt like it could knock the trees over.
Ash peeked out again, eyes wide with excitement.
Dragonite had landed protectively between the girl and the swarm, its massive form an imposing orange shield.
With another controlled roar and a precise blast of draconic energy – not enough to seriously harm, but certainly enough to send a clear message – the Beedrill scattered, buzzing away in disorganized panic.
"Awesome, Dragonite!" Ash cheered from his hiding spot.
Serena slowly opened her eyes.
The scary yellow bugs were gone.
Standing before her was the biggest, strongest Pokémon she had ever seen.
Its shadow covered her, and somehow, the roaring didn't feel scary anymore; it felt… safe.
The immediate terror subsided, leaving behind shaky fear and confusion.
Dragonite gave a final warning rumble towards the retreating swarm before turning its large, intelligent eyes towards the small human it had just rescued.
Seeing the immediate threat neutralized, Ash dashed out from behind the tree, not with fear, but with focused curiosity.
'She looks really scared,' he observed, taking in the tear tracks on her face and her scraped knee.
'Gotta be brave.
Like Dragonite!'
He stopped a few feet away, standing surprisingly straight for a two-year-old.
He didn't fidget or look away.
'He isn't crying,' Serena noticed through her sniffles.
'He isn't scared at all, even after those Beedrill.'
"Hey," he said.
His voice, though young, held a surprising steadiness, a calm that cut through her remaining fear.
"It's okay now.
See?
Dragonite scared them all away."
He took another step closer, moving with a strange confidence, like he belonged in these woods, right next to the giant dragon.
He held out his hand, palm up.
A clear gesture of help.
He noticed her scraped knee.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his emergency snack – a slightly squashed, perhaps slightly linty, Oran Berry.
"Want a berry?
Makes You feel better."
Serena looked from the giant, powerful Dragonite – his Dragonite, she realized – to the small, messy boy with the oddly calm eyes offering a dubious-looking berry.
He didn't seem scared, or lost, or confused.
He just seemed… sure.
Like facing down a swarm of Beedrill was no big deal.
'Who is he?' she wondered, a little bit awed despite herself.
'He has a Dragonite... and he's not afraid.'
His hand was still outstretched, steady and waiting.
Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out her own small hand and placed it in his.
It felt surprisingly strong and warm.
Maybe… maybe it really was okay now.
That moment Like two threads their Fate converged together.
And...
That was the Day Serena Yvonne fell in love with Ash Ketchum.