My world narrowed into just the small space between the two rhyhorn and their riders in front of me. I could hear nothing but the pounding of my rhyhorn's feet against the dirt trail we were following and its labored breathing. We only had a few feet to make our final move so it was now or never.

"Give me everything you've got," I whispered, bending low so I could speak directly into Rhyhorn's ear cavity. My rhyhorn instantly responded, roaring so loudly that my eardrums felt like they would shatter. The other rhyhorns jittered slightly to the side at the intense sound and I snapped the reins firmly. My rhyhorn burst through the barely large enough hole created by the shifted rhyhorns. Throwing its head up, my rhyhorn bellowed once more as we crossed the finish line in first place by a nose.

I pulled my rhyhorn to a stop and lowered the reins slowly. The ringing in my ears was eventually replaced by the sound of cheering and screaming from the crowds lined up around the finish line area. Because Mom said it was important, I lifted one hand and tried to smile at the people who were cheering for me and my rhyhorn. Once that chore was done though, I hopped off of Rhyhorn, circling to face the magnificent creature and rubbed his horn affectionately. His sturdy legs were shaking and his breath was still labored but I could tell he was pleased with our accomplishment.

"Thank you for your hard work," I whispered to him as I inwardly wished that my hearing would have stayed disabled a little longer as people began to chant my name in the stands. Rhyhorn let out a low, happy grumble before sticking its large tongue out and licking my cheek. I wiped off the saliva with a small chuckle and gave him one last pat on the head before I stood and moved towards the winner's circle. A worker would come to take care of the rhyhorn I had raced on so I didn't feel bad leaving him alone.

"Very well done, Serena! I thought I had you there!"

Mom's familiar arm circled my shoulders as her exuberant laugh washed over me. To this day I didn't understand why, but she was always happiest when I beat her in a rhyhorn race. It had taken years of her forcing me through rhyhorn race training before I finally gave in and actually competed in one of the races. To both of our shock, I wiped the floor with the other junior rhyhorn racers and I was quickly promoted to the professional rhyhorn race circuit. By then it didn't matter how much I told my mom that the only thing I liked about rhyhorn racing was designing my riding outfits, she was convinced that I was a prodigy and that I had been born to race rhyhorns.

Even though I hated racing, I really didn't have anything to defend my decision of choosing a different path. I had tried to leave once to become a pokemon trainer, but I hadn't gotten past Vaniville town before Mom came charging after me on a skiddo with another one hot on her tail. She challenged me to a race and said that if I won she wouldn't argue about me becoming a pokemon trainer.

I'd reluctantly agreed, thinking that maybe I could use the skiddo to run away faster, but I got caught up in the heat of the moment and ended up racing her. For the first half of the race, we were pretty neck and neck, but on the last lap of our race Mom's skiddo suddenly sped up and I remembered the tears of frustration that fell from my eyes as I watched her cross the finish line ahead of me. She had declared that I didn't have the drive to become a pokemon trainer and that I should spend my free time practicing my racing skills. Feeling utterly defeated, I followed her back home.

Now I was here. Seventeen years old, poised to become the youngest racer ever to win the Kalos Rhyhorn Racing Championship Cup. It was all I could do to force myself to smile as I faced the crowds of cheering people as I accepted the first place bouquet of flowers and cash prize. Mom stood next to me proudly as the second-place winner of the semi-final race of the Kalos Circuit, which was a racing tournament that spanned several months and was the biggest event in rhyhorn racing in any region.

"Just one more race and you will win the Kalos Cup!" Mom whispered loudly to me as she waved exuberantly at the cheering crowd. I sighed quietly through my nose and waved half-heartedly at the crowd.

Is this really all that life has to offer me? Just race after race of getting dirt tossed into my face? I wondered despondently.

Mom ushered me off the stage after the ceremony was finished and pushed me gently into the passenger seat of her car. She began chattering excitedly as we headed back to Vaniville Town for a week of preparation before the final race was scheduled.

"You really have a gift for working with rhyhorn, Serena! How did you get that rhyhorn to scream like that? I was so shocked I couldn't even keep my rhyhorn from moving to the side," Mom asked in a gushing voice. I turned my eyes to look out the window and shrugged my shoulders slightly.

"I just ask them to give me all they've got," I answered with a small sigh. From the corner of my eye, I saw Mom shake her head with a broad smile.

"Amazing. You would think that the rhyhorn really understands you!" Mom said with a small chuckle. That made me frown slightly and I ducked a little further down my seat, propping my elbow against the door of the car and leaning my cheek into my palm.

"Pokemon can understand us just fine, Mom. You just have to treat them like they're more than just a tool," I muttered into the palm of my hand. Mom continued smiling brightly, meaning she hadn't heard my comment and that was probably for the best. I hated it when we fought. 

Mom was pushy and made me miserable more often than not, but even so, I knew she was doing it because she truly loved rhyhorn racing and wanted to pass that love onto her only daughter. I didn't hate Mom for doing what she had done. Even so, as more and more time passed by I couldn't help but detest myself for not having the strength to tell her that I wanted something more from my life.

I woke up to Mom shaking my shoulder gently. The sky was turning a dull grey color, signaling that we had driven through the night and gotten home just before sunrise. I yawned deeply and stretched my sore muscles before clambering out of the car and heading for my room.

Fletchling, one of my Mom's pokemon, flew through an open window on the top floor to come and greet us happily. I ignored the little flying type, wanting nothing more than to take a shower and wash off the sweat and grime that still seemed to coat every inch of my body. Not for the first time I wished that my mom believed in staying in hotels for the day after a race, but she always insisted on driving home so we could get back to practicing as soon as possible.

With a dejected sigh, I stumbled through our home decorated with multiple ribbons and trophies, most of which were my mom's from her hugely successful career as a rhyhorn racer. Without looking at any of the signs of our past "triumphs" I walked upstairs and locked myself in the bathroom. Thirty minutes later I was finally scrubbed clean and I changed into a pair of short shorts and a loose pajama shirt that was the definition of comfort.

I knew that Mom was planning to sleep until noon before starting the day so I decided to follow her example and go to sleep for a little while longer. As I walked towards my bed, my fingers naturally reached out to brush the little blue handkerchief with a small Pokeball in the corner that I kept at the edge of my writing desk at all times. I knew it was silly of me to keep the old thing for all of these years, but having it nearby was a constant reminder that somewhere in the world I still had one real friend.

The image of a kind boy surfaced in my mind's eye as I sat down on my mattress and brought the handkerchief into my hand to look at it a little closer. When I was really little, around six or seven years old, Mom left me at Professor Oak's pokemon camp for a week as she competed in a rhyhorn race going on in the Kanto region.

When I was there I hadn't known what to do with so many kids around and I eventually wandered off to have some alone time and to get a hold of myself. I got lost though and a noise in the forest frightened me and caused me to trip. When I turned to see what caused the noise a small boy with messy black hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes popped out of the bushes chasing after a poliwag. He had stopped chasing it when he noticed me though and realized that I was hurt.

I had still been a little scared, but his kind smile relaxed me a bit. He tied this handkerchief around my knee, which got scraped when I tripped, and then helped me to stand.

"Don't give up until it's over!" he had said with a confident smile. His words gave me the courage I needed to brave my sore knee and he held my hand until we left the forest. 

For the rest of the week, Ash would always look for me when an activity was starting and asked me to be on his team. There were several times I tried to give him back his handkerchief, but something always interrupted me. Before I knew it, my mom came back to get me and I had to say goodbye to Ash.

"Do you even remember me, Ash?" I asked the handkerchief quietly. Shaking my head at my silliness, I returned the handkerchief to its spot of honor and laid down to try and get some more sleep.

Our week of training passed quickly and I soon found myself following my mom to the registration tent for the annual Kalos Rhyhorn Racing Championship. Reporters surrounded us as we exited the tent and I casually took a small step sideways to put myself behind my mom. She answered all of their questions with a happy and confident expression. It didn't surprise me when she told the reporters that she expected us to claim the first and second spots in the race, but I was surprised when she stepped to the side and told me to give the reporters a statement. I tried to hold back my grimace as I slowly forced myself to move forward and plaster a small, fake smile on my lips.

"Serena! You are the youngest female to ever qualify for the Kalos Circuit. Do you think you have what it takes to win the whole thing?" A reporter shouted out to me. 

Glancing over at my mother, who had trained me tirelessly for my entire life in the art of rhyhorn racing, I turned back to the reporters. I tilted my head slowly, letting my hair that was captured in a high ponytail slide over my shoulder.

"My mom always said that if you get on the back of a rhyhorn without knowing you can win, then you've already lost," I rehearsed from hundreds of memories. 

The reporters clamored for more information, but I had fulfilled my duty and it was going to be time to choose our rhyhorn for the race soon. I took a step back and allowed my mom to finish up the interview.

We were the last ones to gather around the rhyhorn pen filled with rhyhorn carefully bred and raised so that they were the best of the best. The race officials came up and announced that since I had the most wins in the circuit I would be given first pick of the rhyhorns. I could feel the blood running from my face and I quickly tried to explain I didn't need such an honor, but the officials insisted.

With a sigh, I hopped over the wooden fence and slowly made my way towards the herd of rhyhorn. As I got near, almost as one, the entire group of gray pokemon looked up and stared at me. I froze in my tracks and slowly held up my hands.

"Now, hold on..." I began to say, but at the sound of my voice, the entire herd leaped forward and surrounded me. I squealed as the rhyhorn gently pushed me down and began licking me all over. Their large, rough tongues tickled my face and hands and I tried to hold back my laughter as I pushed their snouts away from me.

"I'll never get tired of seeing that," I heard one of the race officials say.

"Rhyhorn have always loved Serena since the day she was born. I don't know what it is, but they always react this way when they see her," my mom's voice explained with a chuckle.

Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, I pushed myself up and shoved against the closest rhyhorns noses to get them to back up. They let out a rumbling laugh as if amused that a twig like me thought she could move them with just a push, but they backed up anyways. I studied the dozens of rhyhorns circling me and glanced briefly back at my mom and the other racers watching me on the other side of the pen.

"Which one of you has the most stamina?" I asked softly, hoping that the other racers wouldn't hear. I knew it wasn't a popular approach, but after spending my whole life with rhyhorn I knew they were incredibly intelligent pokemon and I was certain that they understood me perfectly.

Just as I had hoped, most of the rhyhorn backed off, leaving only three that began stomping their feet and roaring threateningly at each other. After a few seconds of the macho-fest, only one rhyhorn remained and it walked up to me with its head held as high as it could.

"Do you like to race?" I asked, kneeling down to the side of the rhyhorn's head and looking it in one of its large black eyes. Rhyhorn nodded and scraped one of its thick feet across the ground in a gesture of agreement.

"Good. As long as you are happy then I'll guide you as best as I can," I promised quietly. 

Rhyhorn nodded and I stood up to my full height of 5'7" and easily swung myself onto Rhyhorn's back. He immediately followed my gentle nudge towards the gate that would lead us to the tackle shop where I would saddle up Rhyhorn and get him race-ready.

"You're not beating me this time, Starly."

I stiffened and glanced over my shoulder to see Robbie leaning against the gate I had just guided my rhyhorn through. Robbie was a jerk of a human being. He was in his early twenties and had once been in my same position being the youngest racer in a sea of veterans. Unfortunately, his racing style was to push his rhyhorn to its limit and he would often look for dirty ways to win. I had beaten him in every race we had gone up against each other and he had developed an unhealthy obsession with beating me as a result.

"I'm sure you will," I r quietly, hoping that I sounded sincere and he would leave me alone. To my surprise, he didn't shout out a retort and I continued on my way to saddle up my rhyhorn with a relieved sigh.

Once the race was about to begin I crouched low on my rhyhorn's back and took a deep breath. This was always my least favorite part of any race and I could feel my body tense as I closed my mouth and held my breath. The starter pistol banged the beginning of the race and all of the other racers and I kicked our rhyhorns into action. A huge cloud of dust and dirt billowed around me, filling my nose and making me want to sneeze. However, I stubbornly held my breath, because if I sneezed then the dirt would get in my mouth and I hated crunching on sand kernels between my teeth.

After the initial frenzy of the start of the race, I was in my normal middle-of-the-pack position. My racing style was to hold back and run a steady pace with my rhyhorn and slowly gain ground on the other racers so that in the last lap I could call on its reserved energy and pull off the win. My strategy was very different from my mom's straightforward 'start at the front, finish in the front' method, but it worked for me and the rhyhorn I picked.

Even though this was the final race of the Kalos Region Circuit I didn't feel any added pressure. I never went into a race hoping to win, after all, even though that was what I had told the reporters. I just let my rhyhorn run the race it wanted and usually that ended in a victory for both of us. The steady rhythm of my powerful rhyhorn's feet pounding against the ground lulled me into a strange half-conscious state where I could hear and see nothing but my rhyhorn and the path in front of us.

Before I knew it, we were on the last lap of the race and I had guided my rhyhorn into a strong position with only my mom and Robbie in front of me. As we turned the last corner of the track I leaned down and urged my rhyhorn to give me everything he had. With an almost cocky-sounding grunt, my rhyhorn suddenly accelerated more than I would have thought possible for the stocky pokemon.

I gripped Rhyhorn's sides tightly with my legs and felt a small thrill at the increased speed as we charged forward, easily coming up alongside Robbie. A strange sound penetrated the pounding of my rhyhorn's feet and I turned with a frown to look at where it had come from. My eyes widened in shock when I saw Robbie jerk his rhyhorns reins roughly, causing the poor pokemon to lunge to the side and smash its armored head into my rhyhorn's back leg.

I'd never had a dream where I could fly like I had read in books and honestly, I had never even considered what it would be like to fly by myself like a bird pokemon. But when Robbie's rhyhorn crashed into mine, I suddenly found myself launched into the air as the reins ripped out of my grip.

For a few seconds, it felt as if I were swimming in a river so gentle I couldn't even feel the water. But soon gravity laid claim to me and I felt myself dropping away from the sky. My mom's training kicked in instinctively and before I met the earth I twisted. Reaching out I slapped the ground with my hands and then let my arms take the brunt of the impact before the rest of my body followed. I found myself rolling crazily across the grass and when I finally came to a stop the whole world was spinning.

Once my vision had cleared I pushed myself into a sitting position. I winced at the dull ache in my arms and shoulders, but it didn't feel like I had broken anything. Turning around I took off my protective glasses, since one lens had been completely shattered anyways, and looked around for my rhyhorn. My breath caught in my throat when I saw that he was laying a few feet away from me on his side and didn't appear to be moving.

"Rhyhorn," I coughed out. Pushing myself to my feet I stumbled over to the sturdy pokemon and nearly threw up when I saw that his hind leg was bent at an unnatural angle in an obvious break.

"Oh, Rhyhorn!" I cried out sadly, dropping to my knees and crawling over to his large head. When I rested my gloved hands on its horn I sighed in relief when his large right eye fluttered open and he let out a soft "Rhyyy."

"You're going to be okay," I whispered softly, stroking his head gently. "You were absolutely brilliant," I praised him as I tried to keep the tears from escaping my eyes. I thought I saw a corner of his large mouth quirk up in a smile before he closed his right eye once more. 

Swiftly I looked around me and for the first time I realized that there was a mixture of excited cheers and horrified yells and screams as half the audience was looking at my mom who had just crossed the finish line and the rest were looking at me and my poor rhyhorn.

"Nurse Joy! Somebody go get Nurse Joy!" I yelled loudly, although I wasn't sure if my single voice could ever compete with the noise coming from the crowds of fans. I kept my hand firmly on rhyhorn's horn for support as I continued to yell for help.

*     *        *        *         *        *       *       *       *       *       *      *      *        *      *       *        *

"Serena! You'll never guess what I just got you." Mom's voice pierced my quiet reverie as I sat on the porch swing on the front balcony of our home. It had only been a few days since the final race of the Kalos Circuit and I had stubbornly refused to train at all since we got back home.

Mom argued for hours with the race officials that the race should be redone because of Robbie's obvious cheating and nearly killing me in the process. I had been relieved when they told her that, although Robbie would be disqualified for his dishonorable conduct, the race would not be redone. That was fine by me since I didn't care about winning, anyway. While mom ranted and raved about the injustice of it, I stayed in the pokemon center where Nurse Joy was working on my brave rhyhorn until she came out of the operation room to tell me she expected him to make a full recovery.

"What did you get?" I asked without emotion.

"I just registered you to be in the very first Sinnoh Rhyhorn Racing Circuit!" she squealed in delight. My eyes flew open and my back snapped into a ramrod straight position as I turned to look at Mom in disbelief.

"What? But Mom, the Kalos Circuit ended less than a week ago! Don't I deserve a break?" I asked, and I was a little surprised at how petulant my voice came out. It had been a long time since I had bothered to argue with my mom about anything, but this was just cruel.

"When you fall off a rhyhorn you need to just get back up on it! You can't run away just because you got a little scared," Mom stated with an encouraging smile which I returned with a heavy frown.

"I am not scared to ride rhyhorns just because of one crash, Mom. I just really was looking forward to a break!" I exclaimed frustratedly. Mom shook her head and gave me a pity-filled look.

"You don't have to lie to me, Serena. I know how scary your first crash can be. But that's why you need to go to this race! It's going to be good for you," she said with a resolute nod.

"You're not.... Wait. Are you not coming?" I asked as I mentally repeated what Mom just said. Mom sighed heavily and came to sit next to me on the porch swing.

"You know I would if I could, but ever since you started racing I have gotten call after call of parents asking me to teach their children how to rhyhorn race. Starting Monday I am completely booked for the next two and a half months," Mom explained with a sad sigh.

I did my best to mask my rising feelings of cautious excitement by clearing my throat and trying to keep my voice even as I replied, "That's really exciting for you, Mom. I know how much you love training young riders."

"That's true," Mom admitted while giving me a look full of affection. "But I'm sure my students will be disappointed when they find out you won't be there to help."

"And... how long will I be in Sinnoh?" I asked, keeping my voice calm as my mounting ecstasy made my toes curl up and out several times.

"The circuit lasts for a month," Mom said with a small frown. I swallowed quickly, barely believing what I was hearing.

A full month without my mom controlling every second of my day? If I ever see Robbie again I'm going to kiss him, then punch him in the face for hurting my rhyhorn, I thought, laughing inwardly at myself. Quickly I cleared my voice and made sure my face remained impassive.

"Well... if you really think it will help," I said slowly, trying to sound unsure. Just as I thought she would, Mom beamed brightly and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I know it will, sweetheart! You go show those Sinnohan's what rhyhorn racing really looks like!"

Images of evenings spent shopping in high fashion boutiques and mornings where I could sleep in as late as I wanted rushed through my head and I couldn't keep myself from smiling.

"I will, Mom."

A/N What did you think of Serena so far? I know she isn't the fun and bubbly Serena we all know and love but this is an AU. And don't worry, she will become much more Serena-like as the story progresses :)