"𝓦𝓱𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓲'𝓿𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾,𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓲 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵.𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓲 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮? 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓲 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵"
                                                   -𝒯𝒽𝑒 ℬ𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can feel my heart longing for your sunlight to embrace my soul, since it is no longer shielded by clouds or walls. I want you to be with me again, I want to say your name without fear. Yes, seeing you will make me cry but those tears will be tears of joy. I wonder, however, are you really there?”

The night quickly came and went as the morning sun stretched out through the large window that took over a wall of my room, urging me to awaken to a new day.

"Wake up Serena, we have to get ready."

Even now after these three months I still feel empty without him saying those words to me or me saying them to him. Still, today wasn't one of those days where I could just ponder it as I had important things to do which I was reminded off as I heard a knock on my door.

"Serena, it's time to get ready! We have a big day planned today!"

"O-oh Yes! Of course! I'll be ready in an hour!"

"Okay Princess, if you need anything we'll be waiting!"

Hehe, it was just like a fairy tale... Anyways, I need to get ready. After all, staring at the ceiling all day wasn't an option today. As I stood up I almost instantly fell to the ground as all my legs were very sore from my performance last night. I could barely stand up straight on them from how weak they were.

"Ahh... Woah Serena... once step at a time..." slowly I found my footing, preparing myself for the day ahead. If I was correct, today was the second Trial where the Knights had to collect a Pumkaboo from the woods and bring it back to me... It sounded simple enough but, then again, I didn't know what was in those woods so for all I knew it was just a mess of impassible vines and roots.

Before I knew it I was back in my fancy dress being wheeled off to the edge of the forest where the remaining ten Knights stood behind a line, awaiting for the time to come. As I passed by in my carriage they bowed to me, making me blush some more. It doesn't matter how often this happens I'll never grow accustomed to it which is probably for the best since after tomorrow my role as a princess is over.

It appeared that this time, a young woman was the MC for this event. As I shakily walked over to my booth I watched closely, my attention being squarely on the cloaked boy called satoshi. The competition took place near a dark forest with a large cliff by it, seemingly having many dark caves.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the second trial! The Pumkaboo hunt! My name is Maple and I am proud to present our remaining ten Knights!" The crowd cheered, all of them seemingly excited. "During the duration of the hunt each Knight will be followed by a Fletchling with a camera attached to its leg. This way we can not only see our lovely Knights in action but also ensure no cheating is occurring. Now, does our beautiful Princess have words for our knights?"

There was my cue, so again I stood and spoke," My brave and loyal knights, making this far has proven your physical abilities... Now you must test your courage and brave the dark forest and retrieve for me a Pumkaboo of top quality. For you, my Knights, I offer my prayers for your safety within the woods... May fate be on your side!" As I sit the crowd cheers, waiting in anticipation for the trial to begin.

"Excellent! As our Princess said Knights you will venture forth into the woods... each of you will be provided 5 specialised pokeballs for capturing Pumkaboo. If you run out of pokeballs without capturing a  you are eliminated. Each Knight has a time limit of 1 hour! If a Knight is not back here before the hour then they too will be eliminated. At the end of the competition all Pumkaboo will be returned to the wild. Now, if there are no further questions the trial will start in 3...2...1 GO GO GO!"

The Knights run as fast as they possibly could, scattering into the woods with Fletchling right behind them. From here we could watch them on a large screen placed outside. As me and the crowd watch, off in the distance a familiar, Meowth shaped hot air balloon begins to make its way to town.
__________________________________________

"Argh! We've been looking for these twerps for MONTHS, where are they!?" Yelled and always annoyed Jessie as she sat in the bottom of the balloon.

"Jessie's right! We've been looking for them forever! Where could they be?!" complained James as he lightly brushes his Inkay with a soft brush.

"Hey don't worry about you two. Wes bound to find them! Just keep your eye pe-"As Meowth spoke he notices something that catches his attention, "Oh look yous two, looks like there's a festival going on." Instantly Jessie and James stood up to see what Meowth spoke of.

"Hmm... it looks like it's the Autumn Festival... "James pulls out his little scanner and looks it over, relaying information from it to his teammates.

"Apparently, since long ago this town has had this festival as a tradition... They even have a Princess and Prince..."

"Hmm... interesting..."

"Looks like a big group of people are over there..." Meowth looks through some binoculars he had, looking around the crowd to see if there was something of interest, "Hmm... doesn't look like anything interesting it goi- Hm?" As he scans the area he finds Serena dressed in a fancy dress in a booth which instantly perks his attention. "Hey you two, look at this. Looks like the short haired Twerp is here!"

Both Jessie and James look through their Binoculars, spotting her as well. "What's with the fancy get up?" Asked Jessie, slightly jealous that Serena would wear such an amazingly beautiful gown and seemingly got the royal treatment.

"I would assume that she's the Princess for this year... for the three days of the Festival she's treated as if she were a real Princess."

Meowth and James noticed as Jessie watched her getting pampered. she became more and more angry and jealous, suddenly yelling out in rage. "SHE gets to be a PRINCESS!? That twerp wouldn't know how to be a princess if one came over and hit her on the head! Meowth, James! We're going!"

"B-but wh-"

A fire brewed behind Jessie as she laughed. "I'll show those ingrates what REAL Princess material looks like!" Intimidated by the frightening woman the two quickly did as she wished, turning the balloon to head in the direction of the crowd.
___________________________________________

I however was unaware they headed in my direction as I watched the hunt closely. Satoshi had climbed to the top of a tree to get a vantage point of the area, scanning the entirety of the forest when I noticed he looked at something off in the distance. Instantly he jumps down from the tree and runs back towards the start line for some reason which confused me until I heard a large explosion from a Psybeam attack destroy half the stage and following it came the motto I hated to hear above all else.

"Prepare for trouble this festival is lame"

"And make it double its Jessie's turn to play"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite all people within our nation"

"To denounce the evil of a terrible lead"

To reach to the stars that let Jessie win"

"James"

"Team rocket blasts off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or prepare for a Royal fight"

"Meowth, that's right"

"Wobbuffet!"

I jumped to my feet, nearly falling over but somehow managing to keep my ground. "Team Rocket?! What are you doing here?!" Jessie gives me an enraged look as she yells at everyone.

"Do you honestly think SHE is a good Princess?! I WOULD BE A BETTER PRINCESS IF I HAD MY ARMS TIED BEHIND MY BACK!" Miss Mayor stood up, glaring at the team of troublemakers.

"Only the person who wins the Showcase in this town can be the Princess! And even if you had won, there is no way I would allow such a horrible, selfish person like you to be our festival Princess! Leave now or you'll regret it!" Jessie laughs in a very evil manner, glaring right back down at the elderly woman.

"Like an old Hag, you can do anything to stop me! If I can't be Princess no one can! Go Pumkaboo! Use a Shadow ball!"

"This is low... even for us..." Mumbles James as he goes along with Jessie's rampage. "Inkay, use Psybeam, full power!"

"You said it bub..." says Meowth as he pushes a button, activating a cannon from the bottom of the balloon, blasting it straight at the stadium of panicking people. Quickly the organisers leaped into action, letting out their pokemon and having them use defensive moves as the People ran for safety. Pancham, Delphox and Eevee all popped from their poke balls in order to protect me from the chaos, shielding me with their attacks.

"How dare you... HOW DARE YOU RUIN OUR FESTIVAL WITH its MAIN POKEMON!" Miss Mayor pulls three pokeballs from her purse, throwing them out.

"Fangs! Phantom! Choque! I choose you!" From the three Pokeballs came A Crobat, an Aegislash and an Electross, all seemingly very high level. "How about you let this 'Old Hag' teach an ugly Gasbag like you what true beauty is all about! Fangs! Fly in close and use Confuse Ray!"

Following Miss Mayor's command the Crobat flew up to their balloon faster than what my eyes could keep up with. It moved so fast it left after images. Its speed was outrageous as just its movements seem to confuse Inkay and Pumkaboo. By the time Crobat stood still long enough for them to attack it, it was already too late as Crobat had put them into a confusion. "Now, Use Cross poison! Take them out!"

Crobat's wings turned inky purple as he heads straight for the two confused pokemon when suddenly Wobbuffet jumps out in front of them and uses a counter which doubles his damage back onto him. However, Crobat was at such a high level it took down Wobbuffet with it as the poor Pokemon fell to the ground. Thankfully, Miss Mayor managed to catch her Crobat safely.

"Good job Fangs my dearie. You take a long rest..."

The panic began to spread as the wild pokemon within the forest began to rampage like crazy, attacking everything in sight. Thankfully, with Delphox, Pancham and Eevee at my side they were able to keep them from hurting anyone. Suddenly, before any of us could react Jessie activated the Cannon again, sending the blast straight at the panicking crowd of people.

"Phantom! Use the King's Shield!" Miss Mayor's Aegislash summons his shield, using its defence to protect the people by taking the blast. However, thanks to its durable shield it took no damage. "Choque! Use Acid Spray!" Her slithery Electross levitates up to the balloon, not as quickly as Crobat did of course but with its thin body it was able to easily dodge any incoming attacks the confused Inkay and Pumkaboo were able to launch. Once it was close enough it launched a lime green slime which melted half the basket upon contact.

"Shoot them down, Choque! Flame Claw!" I was surprised to hear that attack since I never heard of it. It appeared Electross was going to use Crush Claw but suddenly, it lights its own claws on fire with Flamethrower, turning the red flames blue as the Electross flew up and not only took out both Inkay and Pumkaboo in one hit but also punched a hole in the balloon.

"Checkmate "As the balloon flies off from the puncture hole Meowth accidently pushes a button which shoots another beam from the cannon straight for me.

Delphox, Pancham and Eevee still struggled with the wild pokemon so I was unprotected, caught in the line of fire. The moment that only lasted seconds seemed to pass in slow motion as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn't move, my legs felt like they were glued to the ground. Aegislash managed to block most of the blast by protecting me but some of the blast was still able to get through. It seemed that Aegislash turned to try and protect me when...

Suddenly, I hear a voice yell out my name... a very familiar voice... His voice.

"Serena!" I felt someone tackle me away from the blast, forcing me to hit the ground as that someone shielded me with their body. In the flash I could feel someone pick me up in their arms and I could see shreds of brown cloth get blown in the wind as I'm carried away. All around us I could hear the sounds of collapsing as the blast broke the foundation of the stadium, making it fall all around us. In fear I close my eyes shut, clinging to the person who carried me. All I remember after that was hearing the sounds of things falling and then... Everything went dark.

Several minutes pass before I open my eyes again, realising I was inside a cave, looking up I see the cloaked boy holding me in his arms as he falls to his knees. I could only see the bottom half of his face from where I was but I could see he was in great pain. "A-ah?! Are you okay?!" I quickly asked, moving out of his arms so I was on my knees in front of him.

From here not only could I tell we were trapped in here by the falling debris but also that the cloaked boy was severely injured. The back part of his cloak and clothes were completely signed off with his back sustaining severe burns. His arms had many slash marks and bruises on them. "... Hnnn..." He seemed hesitant to talk to me but at the moment I was so overtaken with worry I couldn't take it. I just suddenly burst out without a single thought.

"What in the world were you thinking?! Aegislash would have protected me! Why did you do something so reckless?! You can't do things like that without thinking, Ash!...Ah..." I gasped as that name passed my lips, leaving the area completely silent for a long while as I tried to process why I would say his name now of all times. Just hearing myself say his name made me feel something very odd inside my heart.

However, me just saying his name on accident wouldn't be the only shock I would receive today as I hear the cloaked boy chuckle slightly under his hood. That laugh, at first I thought maybe I was imagining it since I just spoke his name and was now thinking of him but the more I heard it the more I was sure. Slowly I reached out for the hood, peeling it back until I could see his face, clear as day in front of me.

"I guess... I couldn't hide it from you long...hu Serena...?" My hands trembled as I finished peeling the rest of the cloak away from him. In my shock, confusion and overwhelming overflow of other emotion I just stared at him with wide eyes, unable to say anything but a single word.

"Ash?"

Moments passed in silence as I tried to process who was in front of me, flashing a big, goofy and slightly painful smile at me. Yes, this was him... it was him... it was...

I could feel my eyes begin to water as the shock, pain, confusion, relief and overwhelming joy hit me like a bomb. Without wasting even a second I clung onto him in a tight hug and began to sob into his chest uncontrollably from the wild and violent storm brewing within me. It was like something within me just broke and unleashed the held back tears upon my eyes and heart. All I could do was yell and cry into his arms.

If I could have seen Ash's face now past the tears that fogged my vision I would have seen a look of great guilt, pain and regret as he pulled me close to him in a tight hug, refusing to let me go free as small tears fell down his face as well. He felt so horrible for causing me to cry like this, he hated himself for it and yet he couldn't release me. He feared if he so much as loosened his hold on me I would vanish and I shared his sentiment, grabbing onto his burned clothing.

It was beyond my comprehension that he was here now, with me, after all this time apart. I had thought I had torn my heart from him but it seemed that no matter what, my heart would always crave for him.

A few minutes of us crying passed, only to be broken once I found my voice to speak to him but still refusing to let go as I spoke. "A...Ash... What are you... doing here...? Why were you... wearing that cloak?...Why?" Softly, I could feel Ash rest his head on mine, letting me lean my head gently on his chest where I could hear his heartbeat.

"Well... you said that I... could come after you if I... shared your feelings... you wrote that in the note you left me... and... well... I wanted to win this competition so I could be with you...Since I know how much you like this kind of stuff..." He hugged me tighter, seemingly having an emotional moment of his own.

"I'm so sorry Serena... I... never wanted to hurt you..." This, right here, felt so right... I couldn't deny it, my feelings for Ash hadn't wavered at all and having him here with me just made my heart sing arias of joy and dance a ballet of utter happiness.

"Serena... I promise... I'll tell you everything once I win and become your prince... Please... just wait a little longer. Okay...?"

Before I could reply I heard the debris being shuffled aside as people began to dig us out from the cave.

We are free.

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

Thank you! for reading have a nice day!

See you soon with another one

Until byee guys! 😁