Chapter Text
Soft piano music drifted through the wide living room of Clemont’s penthouse. Icicle lights had been looped along the walls, their glow catching on polished glass and silver trays, while trailing fake vines softened the sharp modern edges of the room. Waiters moved between clusters of guests with champagne flutes and tiny plates of food that looked far too delicate to satisfy anyone with an actual appetite.
It was, by any reasonable measure, a very upscale birthday party.
Clemont had insisted it was necessary.
Not because he enjoyed watching important people laugh too loudly over expensive appetizers, and not because he had any particular fondness for polished shoes, designer suits, or the sort of conversations where everyone seemed to be complimenting one another while quietly measuring rank. He threw this party once a year because Lumiose expected it of him. He was the Lumiose City Gym Leader, the golden boy of the capital. He had a lot of people to impress, even if he did not care much about impressing them. Once a year, he threw a big bash to ensure his “friends” were happy.
Bonnie understood that, even if she rolled her eyes at it. She moved through the room with frightening efficiency, fixing a crooked centerpiece with one hand, redirecting a waiter with the other, and smiling sweetly at a councilman who had just asked whether the violinist was available for private events, despite the very obvious fact that there was no violinist and the music was coming from a pianist in the corner.
Clemont, for his part, stood near the center of the room and did his best to look grateful rather than trapped.
His real celebration would come later. After the old money, corporate heirs, League officials, and city sponsors had gone home, Clemont’s actual friends would take over, and then there would be too much food, too many stories, at least one minor explosion from one of his inventions, and the kind of laughter that left people leaning against walls because chairs had become too complicated. Clemont could already imagine it with a weary sort of affection.
That was what happened when your best friend was Ash Ketchum. Adventure followed Ash with the persistence of a wild Pokémon that had decided he looked interesting. It had followed him across regions, through tournaments, into forests, onto mountaintops, and, more than once, directly into Clemont’s carefully organized life. Clemont had once thought his future had been planned for him by his family name, his city, and the expectations that came with both. Ash had walked beside him long enough to teach him, without ever meaning to, that a life could belong to the person living it.
Clemont looked around the living room, trying to scan the crowd for the familiar tuft of black, raven hair he knew so well. Instead, his eyes landed on one of his other best friends.
She stood across the room in a gorgeous dress, one hand curled lightly around a glass of wine as she politely batted off the advances of one of Clemont’s acquaintances, Tierno. It was the sort of scene Serena had learned to survive with grace, smiling just enough to remain kind while giving nothing away. She had been projected into society’s eye from a young age as the daughter of Grace, the champion Rhyhorn racer, and now, with her own career rising before her, she carried even more attention than she had ever asked for.
She was a beautiful young lady with the world at her feet, but Clemont had always thought her beauty came as much from her heart as from anything else. Serena had a beautiful soul, one that only added to her outward beauty. She was one of the kindest people he had ever had the opportunity to meet, and though she carried herself with elegance, there was nothing cold or untouchable about her. Like Clemont, she was humble and tended to shy away from gatherings like these, especially the ones filled with people who thought they owned society, along with everyone’s beliefs.
It was only because it was Clemont’s twenty-eighth birthday that she was even here.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling some of the tiredness she felt. She had just come off tour with Palermo. She was performing and producing her own shows now, and the workload had doubled. Her tour had ended in Lumiose City, and she was looking forward to six months of vacation before her new projects began. She would have preferred to sleep first, but as soon as she arrived in the city, she had been carted off to Clemont’s penthouse for the ritzy party.
Serena took another sip of champagne, letting the piano music settle over the noise of the party, only for a sudden commotion near the door to break through the room.
Conversations paused almost instantly. Heads turned. A few guests shifted aside with stiff, offended movements, the sort of people who believed a formal party should be entered quietly and with no evidence that the outside world existed at all.
Serena rolled her eyes at the sight before her.
Of course it would be him, and of course he would be late, because Ash Ketchum couldn’t be on time for anything.
Apparently, he had entered the room and bumped into a waitress while simultaneously knocking over an expensive vase Clemont’s mother had given him. With reflexes only he could have possessed, he managed to catch the falling waitress and the vase, but he had to let the tray fall to its crushing death, creating the ruckus on the floor.
With everyone staring at him, he winked at the waitress, setting her and the vase upright before casually saying, “Two outta three isn’t so bad.”
Everyone gave polite laughs before resuming the party. Bonnie came up to him, shaking her head as she fixed his tie, obviously berating him on his tardiness. Serena couldn’t help but watch.
After Bonnie’s fussing, Clemont came up to him and gently clasped him on the back, greeting his good friend.
“Glad you could make it, man,” the birthday boy grinned, and Serena marveled—not for the first time—just how old they all were now. She found it a little depressing. She heard Ash laugh.
“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world, right, Pikachu?” Ash asked the little mouse.
“Pika Pika,” Pikachu greeted, blushing as he fixed his little bowtie.
The little Pokémon had hardly finished his words when he noticed something. He immediately leapt off his trainer and ran across the room. Ash noticed, but he immediately understood what was happening. He took a deep breath and prepared for hell, because he knew exactly who Pikachu was heading toward.
Serena was facing the bar, getting another drink.
“Stronger, barkeep,” she ordered gently, feeling the stress build behind her polite smile.
Before she could take a sip, a familiar weight landed on her shoulder, knocking her slightly off balance. The surprise lasted only a second. Then her entire face softened, and she smiled gloriously before turning toward the Pokémon she already knew was there.
“Pikachu!” she exclaimed, immediately nuzzling him. “My, look at you! Looking handsome as ever. Such a nice bowtie.”
She took him into her arms, nuzzling his furry cheek.
“Pikaa!” Pikachu said, using his word for her name.
“Serena,” she heard from behind her.
At first Serena didn’t turn around. It was important she remained cordial—she’d promised Clemont she wouldn’t lose it on Ash this time, especially after the barbecue last year, when Clemont had finally put his foot down on their squabbling.
Finally, she spared him a glance.
“Mr. Ketchum,” Serena began, her voice arranged into something almost polite as her gaze traveled over his suit. “I see you cleaned yourself up. Though I admit, after that entrance, I was left to wonder whether you had come to ruin another one of my dresses, or merely to assure the room that civilization remains optional for you.”
Pikachu, clearly unwilling to take sides, was already busy munching on a sandwich Serena had given him.
Ash’s eyes narrowed, though the corner of his mouth twitched. “I see you’re still in the business of making everything about yourself. How’s that going by the way? Is that a satisfying way to live?”
“You tell me,” Serena returned, glaring at him over the rim of her glass. “You seem to have dedicated yourself to the study of entering a room with the least possible dignity and the greatest possible disturbance. Oh well, I guess everyone must have a talent. By all means, Mr. Ketchum, continue making a fool of yourself. You have always been rather good at that.”
“Okay then!” Dawn swept in before either of them could say anything worse, Piplup riding proudly on her shoulder as she grabbed both of her friends. They had started to look less like party guests and more like two people preparing to attack each other in front of witnesses. “Aren’t we all having a good time!”
“Yay,” they chorused together, shooting scathing looks at each other.
Dawn winked at Clemont, who looked ready to come over and see what was going on. She showed him that she had the situation under control and gestured for him to continue speaking with Brock and Cilan.
“Now, how about we don’t forget that it is your best friend’s birthday, with a bunch of old farts who would love nothing more than to see a former Kalos Queen and Kanto’s Champion go at each other, and not in the attractive way. Hmm?” Dawn said, pinching them both in warning and keeping them in line while never losing her smile. “Right, there we go. Good.”
She released Ash and grasped Serena before dragging her to where May, Misty, and Bonnie stood. Pikachu waved goodbye to Ash, going along with Serena. Ash sighed before being caught by Professor Sycamore, who quickly pulled him into an excited conversation about Mega Evolution.
Ash sighed, but before he could follow or retreat, Professor Sycamore caught him and immediately pulled him into an excited conversation about Mega Evolution.
“Well, three minutes is a new record,” May quipped as Serena arrived.
“For them to start arguing, or for them not to attempt to kill each other?” Misty snickered.
“Both,” Bonnie and May said together.
Serena sighed at their teasing. She adjusted Pikachu in her arms and against her shoulder, his yellow fur bringing out the blue of her dress. The gesture was tender despite the irritation still sitting in her face. She was exhausted, and there was very little fight left in her, though Ash had an irritating talent for finding whatever remained.
“Forget it,” she said. “I’m just tired, and the wine is bringing it out.”
“I don’t get it, though,” May said, playing with the Budew she had gotten from her boyfriend, Drew. “Why the hostility? You and Ash are, like, the nicest people I know. Both incredible and sweet. Why, when he comes near you or you’re around him, do you act like Jessie when Seviper bit her hair off?”
“I resent that, twerpette,” Jessie interjected as she passed by on her way to dance with James.
The ladies rolled their eyes because they knew exactly how Jessie was.
It was also, unfortunately, an accurate comparison.
Serena shook her head. For a moment, she looked across the room, where Ash had already gathered attention without trying. People stood near him in loose clusters, wanting a word, a laugh, a story, a piece of the skilled trainer everyone admired. Even now, after the tray, after the vase, after the late entrance, he had slipped easily into the room as though the chaos had been a door opened specially for him.
Serena looked down at her champagne and decided to be honest.
“When we were younger, I…I kissed him,” Serena began, recounting the story to her small group of friends. “After we traveled together.”
Everyone except Bonnie gasped, “What?! You kissed Ash?!”
Serena nodded. The party had grown livelier again around them, but the circle of girls seemed to draw inward.
“I was trying to tell him thank you for everything, and to prove to myself that I could be brave and strong. I had a crush on him the whole time we traveled together, and so I even promised him I’d improve myself and become a more attractive woman next time he saw me.” She gave a bitter laugh and looked down into her glass. “I told him he was my goal. I was only fifteen,” Serena added quickly, as if to say how silly she had been for making such a big deal out of a stupid crush. “Anyway, he didn’t say anything at the time, but we left on good terms. Or at least I thought we did.”
And then, five years ago, they had run into each other in Snowpoint City.
Serena paused, the bright room blurring for a moment beneath the weight of an old, cold memory.
She had been there during her Showcase tour in Sinnoh. Ash had been there on some kind of League duty, though she could no longer remember the exact reason. A meeting, a ceremony, some official event that required him to wear a jacket and accept praise from people who had once doubted him. At first, when they ran into each other, it had been friendly and warm, just like always. He had smiled when he saw her. She had smiled back before she could think better of it. For a few minutes, standing near the glass doors of the event hall while snow gathered along the steps outside, Serena had almost believed the years between them had done nothing cruel.
But then…
Serena sighed. It didn’t matter. “Anyway, we had a big fight,” she decided to spare everyone—and herself—the details. “I don’t know. It was stupid and immature.”
From then on, whenever they met, they communicated in angry retorts and wounded little remarks, each one pretending to be nothing more than a joke. Over time, Serena hated herself for not fixing it sooner. Then the years kept passing, pulling them farther apart until regret hardened into bitterness. The things he had said…the things she had said…all of it sat between them now, too old to ignore and too painful to touch. They only remained in each other’s circle because of the friends they shared, especially Clemont and Bonnie.
Suddenly, Serena’s Poké Ball popped open, revealing Sylveon. Ash’s Pikachu immediately jumped down to greet her, and the two of them scurried off toward the rest of the Pokémon. Piplup and Budew abandoned their trainers without shame and followed after them.
“Would you like to fix it?” Dawn heard herself asking.
The question came out softer than she meant it to. She had met Serena through Pokémon Contests after traveling with Ash, and though the girls had known there was tension between Serena and Ash, they had never truly known what had happened. They had also never asked, which now seemed like one of those polite choices people made when they were younger and later realized might not have been kindness at all.
“Sometimes I do. Sometimes my heart and brain are like, you miss him, talk to him, and then my ego and pride are like, no, it’s been too long. Things were said, and I don’t know if there is any coming back from it.” Serena tried to sound like the bigger person, but there was too much weariness in her voice for it to fully land.
“Sure, sure, if you want to look at it in a more mature kind of way…” Bonnie began, appearing to accept Serena’s answer before giving her real thought. “To me...I think you are attracted to him.”
She smirked as she drank from her flute of champagne, clearly enjoying the awestruck look on Serena’s face.
Serena’s expression shifted into something very much like an angry little Litten before she leaned in and whispered fiercely, “What! Bonnie! No! I said I had a crush on him! Had! Past tense!”
She folded her arms and pouted.
Bonnie shrugged. “Words and actions tell two different stories, Serena.”
Misty, Dawn, and May nodded along, agreeing with Bonnie. They all could see it. The entire time Serena had been talking about Ash, her eyes had barely left him as he spoke with Gary and Barry.
“If it’s any consolation, I think Ash is the same.”
With that, Bonnie winked and darted off to where Clemont stood, returning to her duties as hostess. The rest of the group slowly followed suit, dispersing back into the party and leaving Serena alone with her thoughts.
Serena wasn’t sure.
One thing was certain. Ash Ketchum was a unique man, and somehow, Serena could not shake him out of her life.
Funnily enough, Ash would probably say the same thing about her.