Adventure's Past

Chapter 22 - Serena

Appalled.

That's the word that described Serena, who stared at the group that had just appeared at the café. Clemont, Bonnie, and Chloe, all looked at her in equal shock, not knowing what to think or say. Ash looked on in curiosity and embarrassment as no words were spoken. Even Pikachu, who now sat in Bonnie's arms, was shocked, silent, and confused.

Serena wasn't so annoyed and frustrated upon seeing the group at first. She was somewhat happy to see the three after so long. However, it took her a few seconds to put the pieces together and realize that the only reason those three were here was most likely because of Ash, someone who she couldn't stand right now.

The three walked forward into the building, speechless, causing Serena to take a few steps back. She bumped into Ash and flinched as she did so. "Sorry," he muttered, stepping away from the group and sitting down at a table. She looked over at each person, taking in their presence one by one.

There all of them were, in the tiny little café. The desire to speak lingered heavily, but the understanding of the implications of doing so took precedence. No one dared say what was on their mind; that is until a younger blonde aspiring Pokemon trainer blurted something out.

"Why don't you talk to us anymore?" Bonnie asked abruptly. Her question had relaxed everyone in the room, as the tension had been growing every silent second that passed. Clemont shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Of course, she asks such a dumb question." Serena frowned and looked at Bonnie, who was visibly angry at Serena.

"I've been busy with Kalos Queen stuff," she lied through her teeth. "There are lots of things that I need to take care of." Chloe pierced through Serena with her eyes and muttered to herself, "That's not true. Not even a little bit." Bonnie must've heard Chloe, as she turned to her and asked, "What'd you say?"

Serena looked over at Chloe as she stared at Serena angrily. "I said that's not true," she stated louder and firmer. "Not even a little bit." Ash, who was trying to stay out of the conversation but still was curious about what Chloe meant, blurted, "What do you mean it's not true? Is she not the Kalos Queen?"

"No, she is," Chloe answered. "But she's lying about the fact that she's got to do stuff because there hasn't been a single challenge for the title in three years." Ash walked over to the group and looked at Serena. "Wait, so you've been Kalos Queen for three years because you haven't let anyone else challenge you for the title?" He asked, flabbergasted.

Serena felt trapped; her breathing struggled as she stared at the people accusing her. "You promised you were gonna become Kalos Queen alongside me, but you left and did every Performance without me. Do you realize what happened? I stopped going to Performances because I was so unmotivated to continue," Chloe explained angrily to Serena, who frown and gulped, stressed.

"You promised me, too," Clemont said emotionless, staring straight into the ground. Everyone noticed his disposition, given that he had been completely silent. Serena seemed uncomfortable as Clemont said this, something Ash noticed and pointed out. "Serena, do you know what he's talking about?"

"She should," Clemont said a bit louder, but overall extremely calm and calculating. Bonnie seemed to know exactly what Clemont was talking about, as she grabbed her brother's arm and squeezed it. "You see, Chespin started acting angry around three years ago; the same time that Serena left," he began explaining.

"At first, I didn't know what was wrong. I went to Nurse Joy, who tried every berry and medicine she could, but nothing worked. It got so bad that we had to restrain him to make sure he didn't damage anything." His voice cracked as he explained, telling Ash and Chloe, the two who didn't know about this, that Clemont must've had a horrible experience with this.