Ash finished packing his bags and went to bed in the early hours of the morning.

Serena had woken up at the middle of the night and started remembering the day she had. We join her in her room as she thinks about it.

With Serena

Serena fluttered her eyes open and looked at the clock on the wall opposite her. It read 1:13am. Serena wasn't feeling sleepy anymore for some reason. She sat up on her bead and looked around her room. That's when her eyes landed on her bag. It was right beside her hed so she decided to have a look through it. As soon as she opened it, she was met with a yellow box. Serena's eyes widened at the sight of the box.

"His gift..." she whispered to herself.

She took the box out and held it in front of her. Suddenly, she got a flashback of Ash kissing Miette and tears welled up in her eyes. It was painful because she honestly thought that Ash liked her back. Ash had always treated her nicely. He had always made her feel important and special. It hurt Serena knowing that it was all an illusion.

The box and the ribbon inside of it was a gift by Ash. It reminded Serena of all the special moments she had shared with Ash, from their very first encounter on the first day of the year to the moment when he jumped off a cliff for her. It also reminded her of the constant help and support he provided her as she trained and rehearsed her performance routines. Each special memory bought her pain. Pain knowing that Ash couldn't be hers. Instead, he chose the one who made her life hell.

Just thinking about that caused anger to build up in Serena. Ash knew very well what Miette had done to her, and he still decided to choose Miette. That's what it made it even more painful than it should have been.

The more she held onto that box and looked at it, the more she was reminded of the terrible things Miette had done to her. So, to get rid of that pain, Serena closed her eyes and threw the box across her room as tears streamed down her face. The box flew across the room and toppled over a stack of books as Serena whimpered and sobbed. She felt betrayed by Ash. Serena knew that Ash and her weren't officially together, however, they had come to a mutual agreement that they were best friends. It hurt Serena to know that her 'best friend' decided that it was a good idea to make out with Miette right in front of her. He didn't even stop when she called out his name.

Serena was deep in thought as she sat up and curled up into a ball on her bed. She wanted to be with Ash, but couldn't knowing what he did. Miette was the one person she had hated. She couldn't handle the fact that Miette had taken Ash away from her.

Soon, Serena started feeling sleepy again, however, she decided to use the bathroom before going to bed.

After using the bathroom and coming back into her room, she noticed the stack of books on the floor. They had always been on the very corner of her bookcase. Serena knelt down onto the half-a-dozen or so books on the floor and started picking them up. As she was picking them up, a certain book caught her eye.

The book in question was slightly larger than A4 and was very dusty. It looked like it hadn't been opened in 4-5 years. What caught her attention, though, was the fact that the book had a relatively thick bookmark.

Serena picked the book up and inspected it from the outside. The fancy patters and the nameless cover inferred that it was a Photo Album. Serena opened the book to the page with the bookmark, and sure enough, it was a Photo Album.

That, however, wasn't the most important thing to Serena night now. What really caught her eye was the bookmark. The bookmark wasn't actually a bookmark. Instead, it was a handkerchief. Serena picked it up and unfolded it. It was a Pearl white handkerchief with a blue border on the bottom edge. Right on the bottom left-hand corner was a small embroidery of a Pokeball.

Serena looked at the handkerchief in awe. She didn't know where it came from, however, it felt special to her. She felt like that was a quite a significant backstory to the handkerchief. Just looking at the handkerchief reminded her of when Ash tied one on her sprained ankle... which was still slightly sore.

Serena tore her gaze away from the handkerchief and looked at the Photo Album. She wanted to see if she could find anything about the handkerchief in the pictures inside the album.

She looked at the first photo in front of her, and it was a photo of around 20 kids. They were all lined up to take a picture. Serena looked though the picture to find her, and of course, she did. She was wearing her light pink sundress and her straw hat. It bought a smile to her face. She looked so happy. She was... blushing?

Serena looked at the photo in bewilderment, until she saw that she was holding hands with someone. She followed the linked hands up to the person's face. As soon as she saw the face, she froze.

Messy Raven hair, Auburn eyes, tanned skin, Z-marks under the eyes and that signature grin.

"A-Ash?..." she whispered to herself.

Her breathing became uneven and she started sweating a little. She was extremely confused now. She looked at her and then at Ash. She noticed that she had a handkerchief around her knee. Serena couldn't figure out what was going on.

'Have I met Ash before?' she asked herself.

She then started flipping the pages.

The next pages contained photos of her and Ash again. There were photos of her and Ash running through a field. Another photo of Ash falling onto the floor and Serena laughing at him. There was one photo of Ash giving her a piggy-back ride. A photo of them sitting on a bench together sharing a sandwich.

Serena noticed one trait though. In every single photo, there was a huge smile plastered on Serena's face. She looked extremely happy.

The next photo, however, had a massive impact on her. It was a photo of a teary eyed Serena sitting down next to a young Ash who had a Poliwag on his lap.

As soon as Serena saw that photo, a lot of things suddenly came back to her.

The Summer Camp in Pallet Town. She was lost. The Poliwag gumped out of the bush. She was startled and she fell over, thus grazing her knee. Ash then came out of the same bush.

The she remembered fragments of the conversation she had with Ash right there.

"Hey, are you alright? Hi, I'm Ash! Who are you?"

"This'll make it better."

"Don't give up until the end!"

Serena's eyes widened.

'That was Ash!' she thought to herself.

Serena then remembered when he tied the handkerchief around her bruised knee and then took her back to camp, hand in hand.

Serena remembered how they always played together... just like Ash told her in that cave all those months ago. They were the best of friends. They really did spend every waking hour together. The remaining photos in the album told the same story. Almost all the remaining photos were of her and Ash. With each passing photo, the smile on her face grew wider and wider. She forgot about all her problems and reminisced the time she spent with Ash when she was older. It all came flowing back to her. All her memories were crystal clear now, she remembered everything.

Then she got to the final photo in the album. It was a heartwarming one, however, at the same time, it was heartbreaking.

In that photo, young Serena was tightly embracing a young Ash. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were tear stained. Ash was visibly upset too. The signature grin wasn't there anymore. Instead, it was replaced by a frown. The same frown she saw during most of Ash's battle yesterday.

Serena now remembered this day vividly as the day her and Ash parted ways. She returned to Kalos while Ash stayed in Kanto.

She remembered the conversation she had with Ash just before she left. And she remembered the promise she made with him... the promise to never forget each other and the promise to meet again.

Serena felt horrible knowing that she broke that promise.She felt horrible knowing that she completely forgot about Ash. The least time she had touched that book was around 5 years ago... so it was no surprise that she forgot.

However, while on the topic of Ash, the vision of Ash kissing Miette again played though her head and this time, it hurt a lot more.

It hurt knowing that Ash lost may have lost the feelings that he had for her. She regretted forgetting about Ash. If she had just remembered, they could have been together by now. Ash had already confessed his feeling towards her countless times, albeit indirectly. However, what hurt Serena the most, after remembering everything, is that fact that Ash gave up on her. Miette had confessed her feelings to him countless times and Ash had confessed his feelings to Serena countless times. It just seemed to Serena that Serena was too slow.

Now, Serena was angry at herself. She was angry because she forgot about Ash. She was also hurt by Ash's actions. She was hurt that Ash gave up on her.

Serena closed the photo album and put it away. She was subconsciously holding onto the handkerchief though. It just felt so natural to her that she didn't even notice that it was there. She went back to her bed and tried not to think about anything. She fell asleep while still clutching onto that handkerchief.

Serena woke up and looked at the clock again. As soon as she saw the time, she shot up immediately. It was already 8:30... and the first lesson was Maths with Prof. Rowan. No one dared to be late to that class. If anyone was, Rowan would bite their head off, figuratively speaking.

Serena immediately jumped out of her bed. Hats when she noticed that she was still holding onto that handkerchief. In pure panic, she shoved the piece of cloth in the closest thing she could find... her school bag. Serena then got out of her pyjamas and jumped into the shower and got ready. She changed back into her everyday clothes and shoved Ash's gift back into the bag too.

She then ran down the stairs to be greeted by Grace.

"Serena, you're still here?" asked Grace.

"Weren't you supposed to leave like an hour ago?" she continued.

"Yeah... I guess I overslept!" replied Serena while scratching the back of her head.

Serena then looked at the clock again and saw that it was 8:55. Lessons started at 9. She slot all hope until Grace spoke up again.

Grace signed and then started.

"Don't worry, I know what to do." she said as she pulled out a Pokeball.

Serena just watched in confusion until Grace called the Pokemon out of the Pokeball.

"Come on out dear." she said as she tossed the Pokeball in the air.

As soon as she did so, a small squinty-eyed yellow bipedal Pokemon materialised in front of Serena.

"Abra." it squeaked.

"M-Mom... where did you get an Abra?" asked Serena.

"There's no time to explain. Abra, please teleport Serena to her classroom and the teleport back to me." said Grace with a smile.

Abra looked at Grace. It smiled and then nodded.

In a flash, Serena was teleported to to her classroom and Abra teleported back to Grace. Serena noticed that she was the only student in the classroom right now. The only other person in the classroom was Prof. Rowan who was giving her a weird look.

"Did you just teleport here?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Umm... yeah..." replied Serena.

Prof. Rowan just sighed and shook his head while whispering to himself.

"Kids these days..."

Serena decided to ignore Rowan. She had more concerning thoughts in her mind... like how she would act around Ash and how Ash would act around her now. She dreaded the moment Ash was to walk in from that door.

As she was in thought, the door opened... and in came all of her friends. She was waiting for Ash to walk in too, however, he never did. Gary, Paul, Dawn, Misty, May, Drew, Barry, Kenny etc were all here. There were more people too. In fact, by the time the class started, the only people not there were Ash, Calem, Miette and Shauna.

Dawn gave Serena a puzzled look as she sat next to her.

"Serena, where's Ash?" asked Dawn.

"Yeah, I thought he would be here with you. Both you and Ashy-Boy never came for breakfast... so I thought that he would be with you." continued Gary.

"I... don't know." replied Serena quietly as she looked at the table.

Although Serena didn't want to be, she was worried about Ash now. No matter how bad things got, she knew he would never skip a meal. She then thought about it a little and then something clicked in in her head. She immediately frowned. Miette wasn't there and Ash wasn't there. It was obvious that he was with Miette.

Dawn and Gary both noticed this. Dawn was concerned for her friend so she decided to talk to her.

"Serena what's wro-" she started but was cut short by the door slamming open.

Everybody's attention went to the door, including Serena's. There stood a heavily breathing, very tired and very sweaty Calem. He was struggling to breathe properly.

Calem then lifted his head and scanned the room. He stopped when his eyes met Serena.

"Serena... we need... to talk..." said Calem between breaths.

Calem's face showed dread and panic. Serena knew that it was a serious subject, however, she didn't know what he was going to talk about.

Serena looked at Rowan. Rowan also seemed to notice the urgency in Calem's face. He nodded to Serena. Serena immediately got off of her seat and walked out of her room.

As soon as she walked out, Calem shut the classroom door. Serena was startled by Calem's actions, however, she was even more taken back by the voice she heard next.

"Serena?" she heard.

It was a squeaky, slightly nasal female voice. It was a voice Serena knew very well and had learnt to hate... even more especially after yesterday's event. Serena turned her head to face the girl.

"What do you want Miette?!" she hissed.

Miette looked to the ground. She was teary eyed and had bags under her eyes. She looked very messy, almost as if she hadn't slept at all.

"Serena, you need to calm down and listen to us. This is important." said Calem from behind her.

Serena was surprised by the way Miette looked and acted. If she knew Miette, she knew that she liked to look her best. She was also very stuck up. She never looked at the ground and talked so quietly. Something must have happened. Serena hesitated a little, however, she let them talk.

"What is it?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"Well... what you saw yesterday... was all a misunderstanding." said Miette with her head drooped down. Her hands were behind her back and she looked extremely scared.

Miette's words hit her like a truck.

"What... What do you mean?" asked Serena.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear what they had to say next.

At that moment, both Calem and Miette took turns in explaining how what Serena saw yesterday took weeks of planning.

Calem explained that he had redeveloped feelings for her and tried to separate her and Ash through battle. He also told her that Ash's loss yesterday meant that Ash is not the Champion of Alola anymore. Calem then explained that he now realises that he loves Shauna. Shauna means more to him than anyone else ever has and regrets taking part in this. He also told her that he played no part in Miette's plan.

Those words stung Serena. Ash had told her that it was a dream come true for him that he was the Champion of a region now. He took pride in it. The fact that he wasn't the Champion anymore meant that the dream he was living was stripped off of him.

Miette than spoke up. She told Serena how she got Ash to kiss her. She told her about sleep powder and Psychic. She told Serena that sleep powder hadn't worked and Ash saw everything.

Her initial plan was to make Serena see it without Ash realising. Doing so, Serena would start hating Ash immediately, thus demoralising him for the battle. Ash would lose the battle and he would return to Alola. Then, Miette could have Ash all for herself, however, Ash saw everything and now, Ash hates her.

As soon as Miette explained her plan, she felt a stinging sensation on her left cheek. She looked up to see a teary eyed Serena giving her a death glare.

"You did what?!" asked Serena with lethal amount of venom in her voice.

Miette felt even worse now, however, she apologised and started talking again. She told Serena about how Ash reacted after she left. The things he said to her. How cold he was acting and how unhappy he looked. Miette then told Serena that she wanted to see Ash happy again. That's way she came to find Serena... along with Calem.

As everything was cleared up, Serena started feeling extremely upset about the whole situation. Just before the battle yesterday, she had completely broken Ash. That explained why all of that happened during the battle. Serena knew that Ash lost the battle because of what happened between them just before the battle. She felt extremely guilty and wanted to apologise to Ash immediately. That's when she remembered something.

She though Ash was with Miette, however, it was now clear that he wasn't with her. Serena looked at Calem and Miette and started confronting them.

"Where's Ash now?" she asked.

Calem immediately felt a lump in his throat.

"We... don't know. No one has seen him after yesterday's battle." replied Calem.

Suddenly, Shauna came out of nowhere.

"Guys, I couldn't find Ash anywhere." she yelled to the three.

Serena grew even more concerned now. She knew that she had to find Ash. She was expecting the worst right now. Tears were streaming down her face as she ran towards Ash's dorm.

"Serena!" Calem yelled. Serena, however, didn't stop.

Calem looked at Miette.

"Go into the classroom and tell them about Ash. Shauna, come with me." he commanded.

Miette nodded and went into the classroom to let everybody know that Ash hasn't been seen since yesterday. Shauna and Calem ran after Serena towards Ash's dorm.

After a couple of minutes of running, Serena reached Ash's room. She started banging her fists onto the door.

"ASH! ASH, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!" she yelled.

She received no replies. Calem and Shauna had caught up with her.

Serena tried again. This time, she banged her fists even harder.

"ASH!!" she yelled.

Again, no reply.

Serena was sobbing really had.

"Serena, step aside." said Calem.

Shauna pulled Serena away and started to comfort her. Calem, however, did what he did with Shauna's door yesterday.

He used his whole body weight and barged the door multiple times until it broke open. This was the second door Calem had broken in two days.

As soon as the door opened, Calem, Shauna and Serena ran into the room. All of them were surprised by the state of them room. There was nothing in it. No books, no bags, no food, no Pokemon, no Pokeballs. The bed was empty and so were the wardrobes and drawers.

"Ash isn't here..." whispered Calem.

"Then where is he?" asked Serena.

Calem thought for a moment, then, as realisation struck him, his eyes widened and his mind went into a frenzy.

"He couldn't have already..." said Calem to himself.

"Couldn't have what?" asked Serena as she grew concerned. The fact that she was left in the dark was very uncomfortable to her. She wanted to know what Calem was talking about.

"Ash has probably left for Alola already..." replied Calem.

As soon as Serena heard that, she broke down again. She lost all hope and gave up. She wanted to say she was sorry. She never got to properly thank Ash for all her has done for her. She never got to fully appreciate Ash. As she was thinking that, a certain catchphrase suddenly flashed in her mind.

"Don't give up until the end!" she whispered to herself as she put on a determined look.

"Ash can't have left already. He must still be somewhere in school." said Serena as she ran out of Ash's room.

Calem and Shauna looked at each other. They knew that they had to help Serena look for Ash. They too ran out of Ash's room and started running around the school like crazy.

As Calem was running, he noticed that Gary and the rest were out of their lesson too. Gary explained that Prof. Rowan had ended the class so that they could all go look for Ash. Calem then explained the situation to them and everybody spread out and started looking for Ash.

Serena, however, had a gut feeling that she was following. Ash had taught her to follow that gut feeling, because, it is more often right than not. Serena ran out of the dorms and ran to the main road out of KIT. It was the road that linked the KIT to Lumiose City.

Serena ran as fast as her legs could take her. She rounded corner after corner... until she rounded one final corner. She stopped at the sight infront of her.

Right there, was a saloon car parked beside the road. A relatively short old man was standing next to the car as Ash was loading a suitcase into it. Serena caught her breath, snapped back to her senses and decided that it was now or never.

Ash hadn't noticed Serena. His eyes were lifeless and leaving Serena and all his friends behind hurt him pretty bad. He didn't want to, however, he knew it was his only choice. After all, he had a dream and he wanted to follow it. He lifted his suitcase into the boot and was about to close it, but stopped when he heard a voice.

"Ash!"

Ash's eyes widened. He could recognise that voice anywhere. It was a voice he longed to hear. A voice he couldn't get enough of. Ash faced the direction the voice game from. His breath hitched as soon as he saw who it was.

"S-Serena?" he asked.

Serena was still panting heavily. She was standing straight as their eyes met.

As soon as Serena saw Ash's eyes, she felt a pang of hurt. She felt guilty knowing that she was the source of his pain.

"Ash... I'm sorry." said Serena as she looked to the ground. She started tearing up.

Ash hadn't expected an apology. He felt that it was his fault for being so gullible to Miette and her tricks. However, he knew what he had to do right now. He spoke up.

"It's a little too late Serena..." said Ash as she looked away from her. He then turned around and started walking towards the passenger seat of the car.

Serena's head immediately shot up.

'No... this can't be happening!' she thought to herself.

She then instinctively spoke up.

"Almost 11 years ago. Professor Oak's Summer Camp in Pallet Town, in Kanto. I met you Ash Ketchum." she said while smiling at him.

Ash immediately stopped and turned around to face her. He started reevaluating his choices and questioning his decision.

Was this enough to make Ash stay?

End of Chapter 22.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know that you guys had to wait a long time for her to remember him, but I think this fits quite well.

Also, a lot of you have asked for a sequel... and there will probably be one! I'll confirm it after this book is finished.

Well, next chapter, we'll find out the fate of Ash and Serena in this book.

That's where I'll see you again, in the next chapter!

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And, Happy New Year 2017!

2016 was nice to me.

Some amazing things happened in 2016. I like looking back at the good things. I always makes me feel happy.

I did very well in my first year of University and I'm in my second year now.

Next, I got back into Pokemon. As a child, I used to watch Pokemon a lot. I spent 6 years in a third world country before moving to the UK. Pokemon was one of those Anime that made my childhood a lot more fun that it would have been. Coming back to watch Pokemon this year, I got to relive my childhood again. It also helped me make new memories. The Anime has been with me since I was very little... and I think I'm completely addicted to it now.

The next good thing that happened was Amourshipping became canon. I don't think I can every forget how I reacted when Serena kissed Ash. I came home from Uni all tired and hungry. I turned my laptop on and it was all over my Recommended section. Since it was already spoiled for me, I decided to watch the clips. It was such an amazing feeling.

Thanks to Pokemon and Amourshipping, I joined Wattpad. I got to write stories and share them with you guys. I met amazing authors and read some fantastic stories.

We have lost quite a few people in 2016 and I think it is quite appropriate for us to remember them now. I am quite new, so I don't know anyone other than ShineOfSylveon. I never got to know her properly, however, I know that she was a really loved and respect author here on Wattpad. She is in a better place now and that's what I think matters the most.

2016 has been really good to me. I hope it has been good to you guys too. However, I hope that 2017 will be even better for all of us. I hope 2017 will be the best year of all our lives.

So, I wish all you guys a very Happy New Year!