[Serena POV]

We sat at one of the tables in the restaurant while Ash went in the working area. As I sat there a waiter walked to us. “What would you like to have miss?” He asked, “Oh no, I just came here with my friend. I don't need anything yet. Thank you for asking.” I replied, he smiled. “Very well, please tell us if you decide. I-huh? Pikachu? What are you doing here?” He asked when he noticed Pikachu sitting in my lap.

Pikachu looked up at him and cheered up, “Pikachu pi.” He squealed. “Uhh.. I don't understand you.” The waiter spoke with a bored expression. “Well I came here with Ash. He told Pikachu to stay with me.” I replied, hits eyes widened when I told him this. “Really?! Well uhh, I must go attend other customers. It was nice meeting you.” He said and walked away, leaving me confused. I looked down at Pikachu who was giving me a knowing look. This made me even more confused.

Then I saw Ash, he was taking order at one of the tables. I just say there and watched Ash taking orders and serving them. He was returning from a table when he reached near my table. He noticed me and gave a smile, then he asked, “you didn't order anything?” “No, I didn't really bring money with me.” I replied sheepishly. “What? That's not an excuse. You can order anything you wish. I'll pay.” He said, “I can't do that. I-” “nonsense, I'm coming back after few moments till then you can decide anything from this.” He said as he handed me a menu and walked off.

I read the menu, there were many kinds of dishes. But they were really expensive since this was a very classy restaurant. I felt very uneasy in this situation. After some time I finally selected one sweet dish from the menu.

Just after that Ash came back. “So did you decide anything?” “Uhh, I think I'll go with… err the Soufflé.” I replied hesitantly. “Alright. anything else?” “Umm, no…” “drinks maybe?” He asked, I thought for a moment. “nah, just water will do.” I replied, he more then down. “Alright, one plate Soufflé coming right up.” Then he walked back to kitchen.

---Time skip---

We have arrived at Ash's home. The Soufflé I ate was really amazing I can still feel the taste in my mouth even after so much time. Next time I'll make sure to bring some money with me so that I can enjoy the delicious food without any worries.

Right now we are sitting in his room. He's in the bathroom. I was sitting on his bed petting Pikachu. When he came out we went to the living room to work on our assignment.

“So, finally today will finish your bio data then we can start working on the presentation.” I said as I took my notepad. “okay, so… let's start.” I asked him questions about his personal characteristics and his likes and dislikes. Then we moved into his family and friends, this topic turned out to be really small… Since he had no parents since he was five so he didn't anything about them, and friends? He had none except me.

Then moving onto his trainer info. “now, I'll be needing your Pokedex for this one.” I said, Ash gave me a before look. “Do you really need it, I mean I can recite my info to you.” He said nervously, something told me that he didn't want me to know something important. “No can do, for this we need the info given by the Pokedex only. So give it to me.” I said, he sighed in defeat and gave his Pokedex.

I opened it and listened to whatever it said, I noted the important info on the notepad. Ash sat quiet the whole time. It made me suspicious. But I ignored it and continued my work. After that when it was time to write down the Pokemon names… “Pokemons owned: Pikachu, Snorlax, Sceptile, Infernape, Torterra, Lycanroc, Greninja and Charizard.” The Pokedex spoke, I was stunned. He had such strong Pokemons. Was he embarrassed about this?

I looked up at him, he wasn't looking towards me. He had his head turned away. “You have a… Greninja?” I asked in shock. I was hoping that this was the same Greninja that saved me that time. Ash slowly turned his head to me. “Yeah…?” He replied in semi-confusion. “Can I meet him?” I asked, “No… I mean, he's not here at the moment.” He replied, I was disappointed. “Why do you ask?” he gave a questioning look. “Well, it was once a Greninja saved me from a group of thugs. It was weird to see a Greninja in Lumiose, I mean Froakie are native to Kalos… but I never met a trainer having a Greninja. So I thought it was the same-” “yeah, it's him.” “Huh?” I looked at Ash. “It's the same greninja who saved you that day. Actually I was passing by when it happened and I sent him to save you.” He told, I was surprised. “Even though at that time I used to bully you.” I said, I was feeling guilty.

“I always go for what is right. I don't let my past and feelings get my way doing what should be done, even if it means helping my own enemy.” He spoke. I was impressed by his attitude. “Thanks.” I said softly. He have me a warm smile. “Yo’welcome.”

“Well now that I think of it, I have seen some of these Pokemons lurking in the forest. Are they all yours?” I asked, “yeah, all of them roam freely in this forest. I don't like to keep them in captivity.” He replied. “Hmm.. that's really nice.” I said, then another question popped in my head. “Hey Ash, I never saw your Charizard anywhere around here. I was wondering how much strong is he seeing all your Pokemons are so tough.”

Ash looked at me nervously, “He lives in the denser part of the forest. He doesn't like being social.” He replied. “Hmm… well let's move on. So, what's next?” I said as I thought about other data we need for the assignment. “My achievements?” Ash replied, “ok… So let's see your Pokedex…” “Ash Ketchum's Achievements: All badges from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Orange Archeopteryx. Completed the Alolan trials. Defeated the Frontier Battle Pyramid. Won 5 out of 6 friendly battles with the champions of Kanto-Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and Orange Archeopteryx.”

I stared at Ash with a blank expression, I didn't know what to say. Ash gave me a sheepish smile, “errr.. just write I have all badges from Kanto and Johto. Forget the rest..” he spoke nervously. I took a moment to process everything then, “but why? You've achieved more than anyone can really do at such a young age. I bet your the only one who has done all this in our school. You've gotta tell this to everyone. You've already proven that you're the best battler. I'm sure everyone will love you as who you really are not who you pretend to be. Please, you've got to open up.” I blurted out. Ash shook his head. “I'm sorry but I can't, I quit battling a long time ago. I just can't do it anymore. I'm sorry…” he spoke with his head bent down.

“Why?..” I sighed softly with concern. I could hear some sniffs from Ash, this concerned me that something was definitely troubling him. “I-I've lost one of my best Pokemons, I c-can't bear to lose a-another.” He spoke with shaking voice and taking deep breaths. I was confused and unaware of the situation. “I don't understand? What happened?” I asked softly.

“Everything was going really good. People liked me, young trainers admired me. But there were some who were jealous of me. They didn't want me to keep on being a trainer. They all had formed an ally against me. One day I found myself, cornered by all of them when I was passing by a forest in Unova. I had no chance of escape except to fight my way out. I took out all of my Pokemons. Pikachu, Charizard, Snorlax, Torterra, Greninja and… P-Pidgeot. I was handicapped in a 6 to 39 battle. But I tried my best to win. I was so messed up in that battle that I could not focus on each one of my Pokemon. Somehow I missed that my Pidgeot was having difficulty with some Pokemons. By the time I realised it, I was late. Those Pokemons ripped my Pidgeot in front of my eyes. The blood curdling cry that came from my Pokemon was more painful than I would feel when I would be dying. I can't forget that image in a million years. That day I decided that if me being a trainer would cause pain to my Pokemon then I'm not doing it. I asked the Pokemon league board to remove each and every information about me from the trainers database and declare me as a cheater. Of course this cause a big revolt against me among the trainers but that eventually calmed down and everyone forgot about me.” His voice was wavering and venomous at the same time. “I'm so sorry for your Pidgeot… but why didn't you report against those trainers to the police?” I asked, “I couldn't, their leader was from a big criminal organization that threatened to kill all of mine as well as my friends Pokemon. I couldn't let that happen at any cost.” He replied with utter sadness.

I felt really sorry for him. Losing a friend is painful but losing a best friend is worse. I couldn't see Ash so sad, he was crying softly with his face buried in his palms. I got up from my place and went up to him. Slowly taking my position next to him, I Placed my hand on his shoulders and stroked them softly. “I'm sorry I made you recall such a dark memory.” I whispered to him softly while rubbing his back.

Ash wiped his tears and stood up. “I'll be back after some time.” He said and went to his room. Pikachu walked after him. I sat there thinking about nothing. That horrible experience made me feel scared. After some time Ash came back.

To be continued...

Hey, I *cough*cough* finally got time to update one story. *Cough* sorry, I'm actually sick and *cough*cough* I'm resting. So I thought I could do some writing work. But that was a bad idea, because*cough* now my eyes are burning. Gotta rest more.

Good bye.