Serena's POV

My eyes slowly opened as I heard the chirps of Fletchlings and Pidgeys. I could tell that it was morning now so I shifted my gaze around a little. I was a bit confused at first as I didn't recognise my surroundings but soon remembered what happened last night. It bought a smile to my face. As I started moving around a little, I realised that my head was lying on something rather soft. I slowly got up and looked at what I was lying at and I immediately blushed a deep shade of pink. I don't know how, but it seems like my head fell of Ash's shoulder and landed on his thighs sometime during the night. Thankfully, Ash was still asleep so he didn't have the chance to experience that awkward situation. Pikachu was curled up into a ball next to Ash too while Ash was still sleeping upright just like last night.

I got up onto my feet and didn't feel as weak as yesterday. I could do with some food, but other than that, everything else seemed to be fine. I looked around the cave and found that the walls were relatively high and there wasn't anything other than rocks and a bit of moss inside the cave itself. There was a bit of yellow light seeping in through entrance of the cave which meant that the sun had only recently risen and since it was Autumn, that means that it was probably around 6:30 - 7:00 in the morning. As I was pondering that, I felt something rub against my leg.

"Chaaaa~"

I looked down to see Pikachu looking up at me giving me a smile. I picked him up gently and cradled him like a baby.

"Good Morning to you too, Pikachu!" I said giving him a smile.

He got off of my arms and climbed up to my shoulder and nuzzled his cheek against mine. I couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

He then jumped off my shoulder and poked my leg while pointing at Ash. He then gave me a mischevious grin. I started to panic a little.

'What? Does Pikachu know too!?'

But, to my relief, he ran towards Ash and stood about a meter away from him. I was intrigued but what Pikachu was doing so I just stood there and watched.

He then started sparking his cheeks, said "Pikaaaa" and then jumped around 3 feet into the air.

"Oh, no..." I said to myself as I guessed what was coming next. Why would Pikachu even shock Ash? And sure enough...

"CHUUUUUUUU!!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH PIKACHU!!" screamed Ash as he himself jumped 3 feet into the air because of the sudden shock.

Pikachu just sat there sniggering at Ash's pain while I made my way towards Ash.

"OH MY ARCEUS ASH! Are you okay?"

He then looked at me and smiled. He was just shocked by, probably, the strongest Pikachu in the world and he just smiles?

"I'm fine Serena. Don't worry. I'm used to it." he then gave me a sheepish grin.

I was a bit confused by Ash's reply.

"Wh-What do you mean?" 

"Oh, well, you see, Pikachu is like my alarm clock. He always wakes up at the exact same time and always shocks me at 7 in the morning."

I raised an eyebrow and continued.

"So... that's Pikachu's way of waking you up?"

He then nods.

I couldn't help but giggle at the relationship between the two. Even though they are trainer and Pokemon, they act like the best of friends.

I then started walking towards the entrance/exit of the cave. I walked outside and what I saw took my breath away.

The cave we were staying in happened to be on a cliff face, right next to a river bank. The river from yesterday seemed so much calmer now and you could see water type Pokemon swimming in the clear blue water. The rain must have caused it to flow that fast yesterday. The trees well relatively tall and all the leaves were arranged in a beautiful combination of Yellow, Orange and Brown. The Autumn sun's rays were making their way from behind the trees and were scattered by the time they made it to our cave. The only noise that could be heard were the sound of the flowing water and the rustling of the leaves in the breeze. There was a slight mist which added some extra sense of majesty to an already awe-inspiring scenery.

I was trying to take in every bit of what I saw, but was interrupted by a voice behind be.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it is..." I replied without looking back at him. I was looking at the scenery ahead and couldn't help but smile at its sheer beauty. I had never seen anything like this before. The only forests I have even been to were Santalune Forest and the forest I went to when I was very little.

He then came and stood next to me.

Ash's POV

I went and stood next to her. My training area was only 10 minutes' walk away from here so I was used to the scenery. I could understand Serena's reaction though. Mine was very similar the first time I saw it. It did look very beautiful in Autumn though. There was a better place up on to of the cliff where the scenery was even more breathtaking. I turned towards Serena to tell her about it but the words refused to come out. All I could do was gaze at the sight in front of me.

There stood Serena. Her Cerulean eyes were shifting from one tree to another, as if admiring every nook and cranny of the Deciduous trees in her line of sight. Her short Honey Blonde hair swayed gently in the breeze as she swiped the strands away from her face and placed them behind her ear. Her elegant smile radiated serenity. I just couldn't shift my gaze. The rays of sunlight never touching her but were passing though either side of her making her seem divine rather than mortal. She did seem like some form of goddess after all. My breath had left me the moment I turned to look at her. All I could do now was stare at and admire the living, breathing embodiment of every word that is the synonym of 'beautiful'.

She seemed even than when I first saw her all those years ago in Viridian Forest during Summer Camp.

Suddenly, Serena turned to look at me. Her eyes widened, she blushed and immediately looked somewhere else. I was a bit surprised by her reaction. I was about to ask her what was wrong but she spoke up first.

"Y-You're drooling..."

That's when I fully came to my senses. My mouth was definitely agape and there was definitely something dribbling from the corner of my mouth. My jaw as dropped and I guess I forgot to swallow while staring at her...

'Way to go Ash... Way to go!'

I quickly closed my mouth, wiped the drool away and apologised while scratching the back of my head in embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry Serena... I d-don't know what I was doing..."

She then... giggled? Well, I wasn't expecting that.

"It's alright Ash!" she said while smiling at me.

"Anyway, its probably time to head back. We need to get changed and go to school today!" she said.

"Yeah, lets go." I said as I started walking towards the school.

"Hang on, how do you know that its that way?" she asked.

"I train in this forest almost everyday. I know where we are right now."

"So... you knew about this place and didn't bother to tell me?" she asked sounding a bit annoyed.

"Well, I didn't think people would be interested in walking into a forest just to watch the sunrise or the sunset." I replied honestly.

She shrugged as she understood what I was talking about. She than came and walked beside me.

We had small conversations on the way back to school.

"Hey Serena, how about a 1-on-1 battle after school today? It will be good training for me and it will help me understand you and your battling style a bit better."

"Sure, that will be fun." she replied.

"I'm pretty sure that there is a battle after school today in the battlefield though." she continued. She sounded a bit disappointed.

"How about having a battle in my training area? It is quite quiet and as long as you don't run off like you did yesterday, it should be quite safe too." I asked while chuckling a little.

"Hey!!" she said as she crossed her arms, pouted and turned away from me.

I couldn't help but giggle at her childishness.

"I'm sorry. I know you didn't mean to."

She then smiled at me.

"You know, I feel like I know you from somewhere. Like I've known you before you joined KIT. I know it sounds crazy..." said Serena.

As soon as she said that, my hear skipped a beat.

'Is she starting to remember? I thought she completely forgot amout me but there's still hope!'

I mentally fist pumped.

"You never know Serena... you never know." I then gave her a cheeky grin as she looked at me in bewilderment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked me.

I didn't reply to her question. I wanted her to figure it out herself one day so I changed the subject.

"Look! I can see the school! Last one there is a rotten Exeggcute!" I say as I start running.

"How old are you?" Serena asked rhetorically while giggling. But then, I think her competitive nature took over. "And that's not fair. You had a head start!" she shouted as she started running after me.

By then time we got back to our dorms, it was already 7:45. After taking a shower and getting changed, it was 8:15. I quickly ran to the cafeteria because I had missed dinner once again. Once I got inside, I saw Serena sitting with all our friends. She looked a bit flustered and everybody was grinning and talking to her. I just shrugged and got breakfast and walked towards the table when suddenly, the village idiot bellowed...

"ASHY-BOY! OVER HERE!" said Gary while wildly waving his arms.

I just sighed at his antics and continued walking towards the table. Almost everybody had mischevious smiles on their faces... everybody except Paul and Serena. Paul just looked disappointed at everybody while Serena's face was now dark crimson.

"What's up guys?"

"Oh... nothing much. We should be asking you that actually. You know... since we haven't seen you or Serena since after school yesterday." said Drew while smirking. The girls broke out into giggles.

I now felt my cheeks heat up and understood why Serena was blushing madly earlier. I knew I couldn't tell them that we spent the night together in a cave out in the wilderness so I had to make something up... and fast.

"O-Oh... It m-must have been a coincidence!"

"Ohhh... really?" asked Misty sarcastically.

I then glanced at Serena and she had a worried look on her face. She then took a deep breath and started talking.

"Guys, C-Calem broke up with me."

That took me by surprise. Everybody's smiles turned into a frown. I knew this already but I still found it very upsetting... not because Calem and Serena broke up but because Serena put herself in such an awful, painful position just to get me out of an awkward situation.

Everybody was now silent so Serena continued.

"I ran off crying into the forest and I found Ash training."

And that's when I realised that she was going to tell them the truth. I felt guilty for trying to lie to my friends.

She then continued to tell then everything from falling off the cliff, almost drowning, spending the night in a cave and coming back this morning. I noticed that as her story progresses, her frown turned into a smile.

This time, everybody was sympathetic towards the two of us. They must have thought that it was a horrible night for us, but, for me, spending time with Serena made the night as comfortable as, if not, more comfortable than any other ordinary night.

"So... Ash jumped after you into the river? Seems like something only Ash Ketchum would do!" Clemont said which caused laughter to commence among the group.

"Guys, I'm hosting a Halloween party at my house and all of you have to come!!" said Dawn.

This seemed to have brightened up the mood a lot more. Dawn then stated that we have to come in dressed as Pokemon which everybody found a little strange but still agreed to.

We just sat there and finished our breakfast. After that, we headed back to our classes again.

No one's POV

Everybody headed to Maths with Prof. Rowan.

"Alright class, settle down!" yelled the Prof. from the front of the room.

After everybody calmed down, he continued talking.

"Today, we have two new students joining us. I know that they are joining in the middle of the term, but still, let's make them feel welcome!" he said.

As soon as he said that, two people came into the room.

One was a boy, about the same height as Ash. He had blue eyes but had messy dark hair similar to Ash's and wore dark clothes along with a blue scarf.

"Hi, I'm Alain! I hope we can be great friends!" said Alain.

Ash immediately looked up and smiled at him. Ash and Alain had a great relationship as rivals during the end of his journey in Kalos. Ash had lost to Alain in the final but he didn't take it to heart. Ash knew that if anything, Alain helped him grow into a better trainer. However, as Ash looked at Alain, he noticed that Alain was looking at someone else... it was Serena. Ash wasn't sure if he was just paranoid or something but he didn't want Alain to have anything to do with Serena.

Serena, on the other hand, new Alain quite well. She met Alain through the person standing next to him.

The next person was a girl.

She was quite short and wore colourful clothes consisting of a Green and orange hat, Yellow/light green shirt, 3/4 trousers with suspenders. She had Burgundy hair and had Auburn eyes similar to Ash's.

"Hello, my name is Mairin! It's nice to meet you all!" she said while smiling.

Ash had met Mairin too. They met during the Kalos League when Clemont lost Chespin and Mairin found him. Alain and Mairin seemed very close to Ash. During the awful events that took place in Kalos just over 3 years ago, Ash and Alain had fought together to stop Lysandre. He had used Mairin's Chespin to form a stone Zygarde.

Serena, on the other hand, knew Mairin all too well. They met around 2 years ago in Professor Sycamore's lab when Serena went to get her very first Pokemon, Fenneken. That's where she met Alain too. Alain and Mairin have been in a relationship together for just under 3 years.

After the introduction, the lesson started. After a bunch of calculations, the lesson was over. Soon enough, the next three lessons were over too and it was lunch time.

Ash was still bothered by Alain looking at Serena. Alain, on the other hand, wasn't even thinking about Serena in that way. He was just happy to see people he actually knew so he smiled at the sight of Ash, Serena and Clemont. Ash had just horribly misinterpreted it.

During lunch, Ash dragged Alain to the side as he didn't want another repeat of Calem and he wanted to stop anything from brewing before anything actually happened. They then started talking.

"Hey Ash. Its been a long time since I last saw you. How's it going?" asked Alain.

"Well, everything is going fine. Its a bit difficult getting settled into a completely new environment but I have friends who help me every step of the way so its all good." replied Ash.

"So... why did you call me out here?" asked Alain.

They were out on a field, just standing there and talking.

"Well... I have a favour to ask of you." replied Ash.

"What is it?" asked Alain. He was now interested.

"Well... I don't know how to put this but... please don't like Serena..." replied Ash.

"... What?" replied Alain. Now he was completely confused. He had no idea what Ash just said.

"Well... you see... I saw the way you looked at Serena this morning...." hesitated Ash.

Alain now completely understood what was going on and a smirk grew on his face. He had no interest in Serena but he wanted to mess with Ash a little.

"Well... I understand what you're saying Ash but you better start working quicker. It would be a shame if someone were to take her away from you." replied Alain while giving Ash a devious grin and walking away.

Ash was now panicking and all flustered. He was stood there in shock. He didn't want this to happen. Horrible thoughts were going through his head right now. It was only yesterday that Ash got a chance with Serena and now, he already has competition. Ash groaned at his misfortune as he went back to the cafeteria for lunch. There, he noticed that Alain and Mairin had joined their table and Alain was conversing with Serena. As Ash walked in, Alain noticed him and looked up at him while smirking. Ash just glared back at him. Serena noticed this and asked Alain about it.

"What was that all about?" asked Serena with a worried tone in her voice. Alain was one of her best friends and she really, really liked Ash so she wanted them to get along.

"Oh... nothing." replied Alain nonchalantly.

Eventually, Lunch ended along with the remaining four lessons.

Alain saw Ash and Serena leave together and walk towards the forest and smiled at the sight. He knew both Ash and Serena really well and thought that the looked great together. Their personalities complemented each other. Ash was brave, reckless yet very loving. Serena was king, sweet and caring. Ash seemed to give confidence to people around him and Alain believed that confidence was the only thing Serena really lacked. Serena, on the other hand, seemed to make everybody around her happy and cheerful. Alain believed that after everything Ash has done and been through, he really deserved someone like Serena.

As Alain headed to the battlefield to battle Calem, Mairin headed back to her own dorm. Ash and Serena headed to the woods to have their match.

End of Chapter 11.

I've realised that I haven't really done anything with other ships. I have only played around with Amour so far. I'll be adding in Ikari, Ego and Contest soon though.

I felt bad for doing this to Ash but I felt like I had to. Serena suffered a lot in the Anime because of Miette and now, I think it is Ash's turn.

Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. We are around half way though the book now... I think. Thanks for all your kinds words, comments, votes, views etc. They mean a lot to me.

The next chapter will probably be out on Saturday. I only ever get time to write on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays so please bear with me while this happens. I'm not really fast at typing either and I sometimes struggle to come up with words to use in certain situations so it does take me quite a while to write a chapter. This one took me 3 hours -_-'

Anyways...

See you in the next chapter!