♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 (𝔸𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘) ♛

Chaoter 23: A BEAUTIFUL DREAM

But since her mother was busy with work, no one read for her.

Because she was alone.

Which was what prompted Grace to attend her in the summer camp.

This alone made Serena harbour resentment towards her mother.

But she had no choice. And so, she begrudgingly relented to her mother's wishes.

"Alright, kids. Our first task for today is Pokémon searching," Oak announced to the young campers.

The excitable children cheered and listened closely at his instructions.

"Bring back a Pokémon in the forest with a badge and you will be awarded points," he explained while showing them a golden badge.

With that, the children split into groups and ran into the forest.

All except two.

But the girl was shy and retreated into her thoughts, her straw hat covering her face as she walked into the forest with her head down.

Not even noticing a certain raven-haired boy talking to Oak.

Serena did not want to participate in the competition and decided to find a secluded spot in the forest until it was time to go back.

However, the honey-blonde realized that this was not the forest she was familiar with, and so, got lost quickly.

Her anxiety was at an all-time high and she began trembling. The tiniest noise caused her to jump.

While she was finding a path back to Pallet Town, a Poliwag jumped in fron of her, causing her to fall to a small open clearing.

Resting her back on a trunk, she found that she had sprained her knee. The pain too much for a little girl such as herself.

Combining her anxiety at its peak, the fear of being lost among unknown woods as well as pain from her injury, she let out a cry for her mother.

"Mommy!"

She whimpered with tears in her eyes.

'I shouldn't have come to this camp!' she thought, regretting her decision.

'I want to go home…,' she sniffled at the thought and her whimpers got louder.

A rustling was heard in front of her.

"Hey, Poli…"

Poliwag hopped in front of her before hopping off again.

As if it had done its job.

Serena then faced forward, drying her eyes.

A raven-haired boy stood in front of her.

Sunlight illuminating his features.

Unruly black hair.

Lightning shaped marks on each cheek.

And the most beautiful red eyes that took her breath away.

Blue meets red.

Red meets blue.

Both shared the same expression.

"Hey, my name's Ash. What's yours?" the boy asked.

"Serena," the girl answered.

And so began her ever-lasting encounter.

Unlike the other boys his age, Ash was leagues ahead in maturity due to Delia Ketchum's passing.

Because of this, the boy forced himself to mature mentally.