Author's Note:

Okay...I know...you are probably looking at the pairing for this story and saying, "NO WAY WTF NO!" And to that I say, "Yeah, I totally agree." Remember when I did that pearlshipping oneshot a few months back...yeah...I made other bets too. This one is from a hockey pool I set up on Twitter, the prize being a oneshot. So, the winner, Ashton, requested a Serena x Alain story (not sure what the shipping name is). I keep my word...even if it takes a while, so I did it. Don't worry, though, it's subtle. Nothing too crazy.

This is set during the first Mega Evolution special, and the idea is Serena takes Mairin's place, so she witnesses Alain's battle and...off we go. So...I hope you can enjoy it for what it is. If you have no interest, no need to read.

The Fires of a New Journey:

It was a beautiful day in the Kalos region, just a little south of Lumiose City, off the path of Route Four. Pokemon flew around the trees, burrowed under ground, ran through the bushes, and soared in the blue skies. In a shallow pond, brightly lit by the sun, water Pokemon were splashing around, enjoying the weather and the company of their companions. The only sounds that could be heard, were the happy cries of Pokemon, or the soft rustle of leaves as a light, warm breeze blew by

For one young trainer, the beauty of that day was only magnified by the new journey and the new opportunity in front of her. Serena, a young girl with long, honey-blonde hair, lifted off her red fedora as she stood still, taking in the warm breeze as it blew over her, causing her red skirt to ripple as she spun around, embracing her freedom. She rushed forward towards the nearby pond, where a few Pokemon paused to look at her, her own eyes staring at the water as it showed her smiling face looking back.

After a moment, she took a step back, her smile widening as she watched the Pokemon that had been studying her quickly join their friends in the middle of the pond again, splashing away happily. Watching the happy Pokemon, Serena decided to call out her own, the only one she had, to join in on her happy break. "Come on out, Fennekin!" she sang out, the pokeball flashing a bright light in front of her, before a red and yellow fox-like Pokemon emerged.

"Fen fennekin!" the Fox Pokemon cried out happily, jumping forward as Serena knelt down to embrace her new partner that she'd only just received from Professor Sycamore in Lumiose City.

"Fennekin, I'm so glad that we get to go on this journey together!" Serena exclaimed happily. "I'm sure you and I will become really great friends, and maybe you can even help me find Ash! Professor Sycamore did say he probably went this way."

"Fennekin!" Fennekin answered, nodding and smiling, before nuzzling close to Serena, clearly happy to have been chosen by the girl as a partner.

Serena smiled, sitting back as she watched Fennekin turn around, the fire type deciding to explore a little around their rest stop, curiously sniffing around a hole where a small rabbit-like Pokemon had burrowed into. As she watched her new Pokemon, Serena carefully positioned herself upright against a tree, taking off her backpack and pulling out her PokeDex. She had scanned Fennekin earlier, but now that she was out in the open, she realized there would be many more Pokemon to see and learn about, so she decided to learn as much as possible.

She scanned a few Pokemon, learning about the small rabbit-like Pokemon that Fennekin had actually managed to find, now seemingly playing with it. It was a Bunnelby, and apparently it had very powerful ears, which were used for digging. It almost made Serena nervous as she noticed Fennekin curiously sniffing at the Digging Pokemon's ears, but she quickly realized it appeared to be a very sociable Pokemon.

As she scanned some of the other Pokemon, fascinated by all there was to learn about them, Serena couldn't help but realize what she'd been missing out on all these years. As much as she loved her mother, Serena knew that Rhyhorn racing had been an unrealistic expectation for a career, and her mother had pushed it on her since before she could even remember. But now, barely into her journey as a Pokemon Trainer, Serena was free to just experience all there was to know about the Pokemon world. She could learn about all the different types of Pokemon, what their activities were, what kinds of habitats they lived in and above all, how they interacted with people just like her. Already, she felt close to Fennekin, and from what she could see, some of the Pokemon in this meadow seemed fairly comfortable in her presence.

When she'd been back home, her only experiences with Pokemon really only involved Fletchling waking her up in the morning and Rhyhorn throwing her off its back during their training sessions. If it wasn't for that Pokemon Summer Camp in Kanto when she was a little kid, Serena wasn't sure she'd be prepared for the journey she'd set out on. She was definitely looking forward to seeing the boy who had helped her out one day during that camp, although as she sat there in that clearing, thinking about her mother's training, she knew that he wasn't the only reason she'd decided to set out on this journey.

As her thoughts drifted to some of the new possibilities in front of her, Serena's eyelids grew heavy, the quiet meadow and the sounds of the playing Pokemon relaxing her and lulling her to sleep. In her dreams, she was travelling all around Kalos, finding new Pokemon, learning how to catch and train them, trying out all kinds of new activities. It was a never-ending list of things she could do, and each was just as exciting as the last. She could see herself doing anything, and as long as she had Fennekin with her, she would never be lonely. Maybe she didn't need to be in that much of a rush to find Ash after all.

She wasn't sure how long she slept for, but when Serena's eyes opened, she found Fennekin staring back at her, pawing her legs. For a moment, Serena just stared back, unsure of what Fennekin wanted, before giving her head a little shake to wake herself up a bit. Then, she noticed the fear in Fennekin's eyes. The Fox Pokemon quickly looked behind the tree Serena was sitting up against, and the honey-blonde turned around curiously, wondering just what Fennekin was staring at. She was stunned as she noticed thick, black smoke billowing into the air just over the trees. A moment later, she was sure she heard a loud crashing sound and some kind of explosion. What's happening? she thought, quickly standing up and trying to hear better.

"Let's go make sure nobody's hurt!" Serena quickly told Fennekin, the Fox Pokemon nodding as Serena grabbed her things and the two broke out into a run, heading into the trees to make their way towards the smoke and loud crashing noises.

The noises only grew louder as they approached, and Serena grew increasingly worried as she felt the ground shake while she ran. She was tempted to recall Fennekin back into her pokeball, but she wasn't sure if she'd need her Pokemon's help in case there was some kind of threat outside these trees. Up ahead, she noticed some more smoke billowing into the air, and she and Fennekin quickly picked up their pace, the two of them running out and quickly hiding behind some bushes as they peaked out to see what was going on in the clearing in front of them.

The first thing Serena felt, was a sense of relief. There didn't seem to be some kind of disaster going on, where the forest was in danger. Although, what she did see did make her jaw drop. As she noticed a cloud of smoke dissipating, two Pokemon and their trainers, presumably in the middle of a battle, were revealed. Nearest to Serena, was slightly older boy, with black hair and baggy black clothes, wearing a blue scarf. Opposite to him, was a blonde girl, wearing a purple and black vest and a skirt of the same colour.

What was strange about these two, though, were their Pokemon. Serena and Fennekin exchanged a curious glance, before the former pulled out her PokeDex, first scanning the white-furred Pokemon with large white wings and a black horn. According to the PokeDex, it was a Pokemon named Absol, however Serena noticed that the picture shown on the device was definitely not the same Pokemon. She quickly scanned the other Pokemon, again getting an unfamiliar picture for the Pokemon scanned, the PokeDex describing the black dragon-like Pokemon with a blue underside, dark blue wings and blue flames as a Charizard, which was an orange colour in the picture on the PokeDex.

Serena had no idea what was going on with these two Pokemon, but she was definitely curious to see if they were different in any way, and she and Fennekin continued to watch, wondering what they would find out. It definitely looked, and had sounded, like these two had been having a heated battle, and Serena was interested to see how it would play out. She had yet to see or be involved in one just yet, the most interesting thing she'd seen being the incident with Garchomp in Lumiose City. And she'd only seen that on TV.

"Dragon Claw, let's gooo!" the boy suddenly shouted, snapping Serena's attention back to the clearing, watching as the boy thrust his arm out as he made the command.

Serena winced as the Charizard spread its arms, its claws glowing bright green, the power of its prepared attack creating a gust of wind that nearly knocked Serena and Fennekin on their backsides. They managed to hold on, though, watching as the Charizard flew into the air, before quickly diving down towards the Absol in front of them.

"Quick, dodge!" the blonde girl yelled, eyes narrowed in focus. It was almost too late, though, the attack smashing into the ground in front of the dark type, the force creating an explosion of dust and smoke that fired into the air as the Absol appeared to be thrown back. A few seconds later, after nearly falling over again, Serena caught sight of the Absol, wincing as it stood behind its trainer, the ground ripped up between the two Pokemon. The girl looked stunned, staring ahead at the Charizard with wide eyes. "So much power..." she muttered.

"All right, use Flamethrower!" the boy ordered next, appearing like he wanted to wrap this battle up quickly, sensing he had the advantage.

The Charizard roared loudly, puffing out its chest as it prepared the attack. Serena's eyes felt like they were popping out of her head as she watched the massive blue flames rip into the ground, shooting another cloud of smoke into the air as it seemed to make a path towards Absol, before striking the Disaster Pokemon head on. As surprised as she was by the attack, though, Serena was even more surprised to see the Pokemon still standing behind the blonde girl, who smiled.

"Absol, way to hang in there!" she complimented, holding up a fist as she looked back. "Now Dark Pulse!" she yelled, pointing ahead at the Charizard.

"Sol!" the dark type cried out, before running forward, the ground shaking once again from the power of it. It then leaped into the air above Charizard, looking like it was ready to deliver the powerful strike head on.

"All right, use Blast Burn!" the boy suddenly ordered, not looking the least bit worried by the attacking Absol.

Serena immediately knew she needed to hold on tight, and she held on to Fennekin as well, watching as the Charizard's body was surrounded by the bright, blue flames. It roared loudly, ignoring the purple beam of energy that rocketed towards it, before slamming its large, powerful fist into the ground. Then, just as the Dark Pulse was about to hit, blue flames exploded up out of the ground, straining against the black and purple energy, before pulsing outward, the colouring of the flames becoming a regular red and orange. The Dark Pulse evaporated as flames continued to explode out of the ground, creating a path as they rushed towards the stunned Absol. A moment later, the attack exploded against the dark type, Serena and Fennekin both wincing as they heard it cry out in pain, barely able to hold their ground from the explosion up ahead.

After a few moments, they were able to see clearly again, and Serena's jaw dropped as she saw the two Pokemon glaring at one another. Then, the Absol dropped, its trainer calling out to it in concern. Serena gasped as she noticed a glow around its body, the Pokemon suddenly becoming a little smaller, its wings fading away. She then quickly looked over to the Charizard, the boy congratulating it on its battle as it proudly looked up into the sky. She exchanged another surprised look with Fennekin as its form changed as well, now looking orange in colour, just like the PokeDex had shown.

"What is this, Fennekin?" Serena whispered, staring out at the two Pokemon, unable to believe what she'd seen. "Did they evolve? But then...why did they change back?"

"Fen fennekin," Fennekin said back, looking just as surprised and confused.

Serena then looked back towards the clearing, noticing the boy and his Charizard approaching their opponents, the girl congratulating her Absol on its effort and petting it. "We'll battle again someday," the boy said quietly as the girl looked back up towards him.

"Are you always doing this?" she asked, a pained smile on her face. "Searching for the strongest battles?"

"Charizard and I plan to defeat every mega evolved Pokemon that we can find," he answered, his tone very serious. "And stand at the summit."

Mega evolved? Serena thought, sitting back as she looked up at the sky. She wondered what that could mean. She was sure she remembered hearing something about that when she was at Sycamore's lab. Maybe this boy knew the Professor. Of course, they definitely seemed like very different people. As she watched the two trainers part ways, the boy heading off down the path of a small river, Serena couldn't help but wonder about the rest of his statement. Defeat every mega evolved Pokemon...if they're all that powerful, how could he ever hope to do that?

"I wonder what this mega evolution stuff is about, Fennekin," Serena said, looking at her fire type, who smiled, seeming just as curious. "It looks like it could be really interesting to learn about." She thought for a moment, looking out towards the path that the boy had gone down. "Maybe we could ask him?" she suggested, pointing in the direction he'd gone down.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin agreed, nodding as she leaped out of the bushes, Serena following along behind her.

It took a little longer than expected to find him than Serena had thought. She supposed this boy and his Charizard had probably been travelling quite a long time to be as powerful as they appeared to be in that battle, so they likely moved much quicker than she and her Fennekin did. However, they did eventually spot two figures up ahead, resting by the river, the boy sitting on a rock and talking to his Charizard.

Serena suddenly felt a little awkward watching them, though, and she and Fennekin quickly darted behind a rock to watch for a moment. She realized they were probably quite tired after their battle, and decided it probably wasn't best to disturb them at this moment. She knew she and Fennekin would likely be exhausted if they'd even tried to do a fraction of what had gone on in that clearing.

"They were strong," the boy was saying to his Charizard, as he was eating. "Mega Absol's been raised well." He paused, tossing some food over to Charizard before looking on at the river thoughtfully, eating some more before he closed his eyes. "I know you're hiding over there," he suddenly said, making Serena's heart almost stop. "How about coming out?"

Serena and Fennekin froze for a moment, looking at one another with wide eyes. Who was this guy? How had he managed to figure out they were there? She realized he was probably pretty experienced with spotting things that others normally wouldn't. It was probably some kind of battling technique. He didn't sound hostile, though, so after another moment, and a deep breath, Serena and Fennekin finally stepped out from behind their rock.

"Um...hello," Serena said awkwardly, blushing as she fiddled with her hair, Fennekin bowing her head awkwardly next to her. "Sorry...I..."

"What do you want?" the boy asked suddenly, sitting up as he looked at her.

"Nothing!" Serena squeaked, holding her hands up. "Nothing...I mean...I just...I saw that battle that you had in that clearing back there."

The boy tilted his head as Serena took a few steps forward, looking confused. "Do you want to have a battle?" he asked.

"No, it's not that!" Serena almost shouted, her heart racing again. "No, definitely not. I just started my journey, and I'm not even sure if I want to do things like battling. I was just...I was just interested when I saw your battle. Your Charizard...and that Absol. They were so different."

The boy smiled, looking over at his Charizard. "I guess they're just rookies," he said, his Charizard roaring and smiling.

Serena smiled as well, realizing that she didn't need to be so nervous. "My name's Serena," she said, gesturing to herself, before looking down at her Fennekin, "and this is Fennekin, my first Pokemon that I just received from Professor Sycamore." She noticed the boy's eyes shift at the sound of the name, but ignored it as she continued her introduction. "I started my journey a couple of days ago so I could get away from my mother's Rhyhorn racing. I saw an old friend of mine named Ash on TV saving Professor Sycamore's Garchomp from Prism Tower, so I was heading off to Santalune City to find him."

"Garchomp?" the boy asked, looking surprised.

"Huh...yeah, Professor Sycamore's Garchomp was attacking the city," Serena said, feeling somewhat happy to have the boy's ear for the moment. "I think there were some Pokemon thieves that were hurting it and then Ash, the friend I'm looking for, helped to save it by climbing up Prism Tower. He and his Pikachu managed to calm it down, before Pikachu fell. Then Ash jumped down to save it, before some hero, I think they're called Blaziken Mask, saved them."

The boy seemed somewhat impressed by the story, smiling as he looked down in thought. "Hmm," he murmured, shifting on the rock he was sitting on.

"So what's your name?" Serena asked after a moment, realizing he wasn't saying anything else.

"I'm Alain, and this is Charizard," the boy, Alain, said, petting his Charizard. "We're travelling together to master Mega Evolution.

"Mega Evolution..." Serena murmured, taking a few more steps forward to see Charizard a little closer, while Fennekin went right up to it, the Fox Pokemon introducing herself happily to her fellow fire type, who bowed low, looking curiously at the smaller Pokemon. "So that was what you were using in that battle, right? Is it like normal evolution?"

"It's a change in form, but it's only temporary since it contains so much power," Alain explained, looking slightly uncomfortable as Serena sat down on a rock underneath his. "What you saw in the battle was Mega Absol and Mega Charizard. Each Pokemon holds a stone that works only with its species, while the trainer has what's called a Key Stone, which can connect to any of these stones. However, a strong bond between the trainer and Pokemon is necessary for the mega evolution to take place."

Serena's mouth opened in surprise at that, looking at Alain's Charizard, and then back at him. "So you two must be really close, then, right?"

"Yes, Charizard and I have been together since I was little. We're best friends," Alain said, smiling at the Flame Pokemon.

He was silent after that, looking like he was deep in thought. Serena stayed silent as well, Fennekin returning to her side as she waited for Alain to say something else. Then, after a couple more minutes of silence, she couldn't help but speak up again. "Are you thinking of your journey with your Charizard?" she asked, smiling back up at Alain.

"Huh? Well...sort of. Professory Sycamore, really. I used to be his assistant," he explained, dropping down from his spot on the rock and walking a few steps away.

"Why would Professor Sycamore's assistant go out on a journey?" Serena asked, standing up as well and looking curiously at the boy.

"It's...private," he muttered, as a ringing sound suddenly came from his pocket. He pulled out a device, listening as some voice spoke to him. It was too quiet for Serena to hear, but she was sure she heard something about a "destination". Alain suddenly turned around when he was finished looking at the strange device and put it away. "Charizard, return," he said quickly, recalling the fire type back into its pokeball. He then quickly turned around, not even looking at Serena as he began walking away.

"Wait...I wanted to ask you a couple more things," Serena said quietly, although Alain didn't seem to hear, walking away, appearing to focused on whatever the voice from his device had said.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin quickly called out, looking up at Serena, before nodding her head in the direction Alain had gone. "Fen!"

Serena smiled at that, nodding in agreement. "Right! I want to find out as well. Let's go, Fennekin!" she said, as she set off to follow the boy. For now, Serena could forget about Ash. This just seemed like too big of a learning opportunity to pass up. And this boy, Alain, was very intriguing.

Once again, Serena and Fennekin were hard pressed to keep up with Alain. In fact, if they hadn't managed to spot the path he'd gone down, Serena was sure she would have never found him. Fennekin also helped a few times, managing to catch their scent. They both still felt fairly lost, though, especially when they followed the path out to another small clearing that appeared to lead into ruins of some kind, the entrance looking very dark and intimidating.

"Where did he go?" Serena asked Fennekin. Fortunately, a moment later, she noticed someone emerging from the entrance of the ruins, spotting Alain's face immediately. "Hey, there you are!" she said excitedly, taking a few steps forward.

"You again," he stated, sounding somewhat bored. He started to walk out, looking like he was heading back to the forest, when a sound from up above caused both he and Serena to look up in surprise.

"Just a minute!" a loud voice boomed out, a man appearing from over top of the ruins, holding an umbrella in his hands. He was a very large man, dressed strangely in a fur coat. He leaped down, landing just a few feet in front of Serena and Alain. "Is that a mega stone?" he asked in his deep voice, looking across at Alain. "I have my orders to bring that back with me."

Alain was silent a moment, before looking to his side at Serena. "Go hide over there," he said, gesturing to a spot behind some rocks. It looked safe enough, so she quickly nodded, her and Fennekin quickly scrambling over to hide, before peeking over to watch what was about to happen, as the man called out a challenge for the mega stone. "What if I refuse?" Alain called out in answer.

The man didn't seem to concerned by that, calling out a Garchomp, referring to it as "Garchoo" while Alain answered back by calling out his Charizard. Serena was suddenly very worried for Alain and Charizard, immediately sensing this match was more dangerous than the one she'd watched previously. Please Alain, you can do this, she said to herself.

She watched quietly as Alain called out his Pokemon, he and the other trainer, the man calling himself "Dragon Tamer Remo", facing off, ready to battle and deciding to mega evolve their Pokemon immediately. Serena was surprised as Alain called his Charizard a dragon type, Remo taunting him as he did so. Alain didn't seem bothered, though, apparently quite confident in his words.

As both trainers held their key stones up, Serena's eyes lit up excitedly, watching as the lights extended out from the different stones, enveloping the Pokemon and their trainers. Suddenly, Charizard and Garchoo seemed to grow larger, Alain's Charizard once again becoming black and blue in colour, while Garchoo's blade-like arms grew wider and spikes emerged along his chest, along with dozens more razor sharp teeth forming in his mouth. As fascinating as it was to see, it was also terrifying.

She and Fennekin both winced once again as the ground shook, Garchoo striking Charizard with a vicious Dragon Rush, while Charizard responded with a powerful Flamethrower. The seemed to shake as the Flamethrower hit, the power of both attacks making Serena doubt this would be a very long battle. A moment later, they were up in the air, clashing powerfully with Dual Chop and Dragon Claw. Serena held on tight to Fennekin, silently cheering on Charizard as he and Garchoo exchanged blows. Then, finally, both Pokemon descended back to the ground, hitting it hard and splitting apart, rising back up to glare at one another, each panting heavily. However, Serena and Fennekin were able to give a huge sigh of relief as they watched Garchoo drop to the ground, his form changing back to normal.

Serena and Fennekin moved over a little, getting a better view as both trainers stepped towards their Pokemon. Alain spoke up, getting Remo's attention. "Now you see, when Charizard mega evolves, it becomes both a fire and dragon type."

"Wow...he won again," Serena whispered to Fennekin, unable to move as she watched the boy walk away. A moment later, Remo sighed in resignation, before he too left with his Garchomp. Serena waited another minute before she decided to head off, hoping she wouldn't have to run into Remo as she made her way towards the path Alain had gone down.

This time, she managed to catch up with him much faster than before, surprised to see him walking a little slower. She told herself it was because he was waiting for her, but she couldn't really be too convinced about that. She slowed her pace as she got within a few feet of him, and then immediately stopped as he abruptly turned around.

"Why are you following me?" he asked, giving her a serious look.

"I'm just...I just...I'm curious about what you're doing," Serena managed to get out, suddenly realizing that she seemed to be very motivated to follow this boy.

"I thought you were looking for your friend," Alain said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Well...I...I don't actually know him other than meeting him once. I'd like to find him at some point, but I'm really interested in what I saw you doing. I'm curious about Mega Evolution, and what you and others can do with it." She felt a blush coming to her face. "Could you help me? I don't know that much about Pokemon other than Rhyhorn."

"I'm too busy for that kind of thing," Alain muttered, turning away.

Serena wasn't sure what to say, feeling a pit in her stomach as she noticed his feet start to move. Why she wanted to spend some more time with him, she couldn't be sure, but she knew she needed to figure something out. She heard a buzzing sound to her left, and noticed a large black and yellow bee-like Pokemon, with wings near its head and red eyes. It seemed to be hovering over some flowers, before it looked up, locking eyes on Serena, who quickly scanned it with her PokeDex, realizing it was a Vespiquen. Maybe if I...

"Fennekin, let's catch that Vespiquen!" Serena told her fire type, the Fox Pokemon nodding in agreement, seemingly understanding what she was getting at. "Use Ember!"

"FeeennEKIN!" Fennekin cried out, sending a few small fireballs in the direction of the Beehive Pokemon. Out of the corner of her eye, Serena noticed Alain stopping, turning to watch as she took on the bug and flying type. Fennekin's attack struck the Vespiquen in the chest, sending it staggering back as it cried out in pain. Its red eyes flashed angrily, definitely looking like it was going to deliver a counterattack.

Then, suddenly, it rushed forward, pulling back an arm as it approached Fennekin, before slashing down, striking the Fox Pokemon along the side and sending it rolling away. However, as the Vespiquen seemed to be about to attack again, its body suddenly seized up, flames shooting out along it. It cried out in pain once again, dropping to the ground.

"You should attack again and then throw your pokeball," Alain suggested quickly. "A Pokemon that's burned will be easier to catch, and you've got an opportunity to weaken it a little more."

"Right!" Serena nodded, pointing ahead as Fennekin got to her feet. "Fennekin, use Scratch!"

"Fen!" Fennekin cried out, charging towards the wincing Vespiquen and slashing back it it, sending it back to the ground as it tried to stand, a few more flames shooting up and causing it to shout in pain.

"Pokeball go!" Serena shouted, throwing her pokeball out towards the Vespiquen, watching as it sailed through the air, before hitting it, enveloping it in a red light, and pulling it inside. She, Fennekin and Alain were silent as they watched the pokeball shake. Serena was stunned at how well it had gone, smiling excitedly as the pokeball shook a third time and dinged, signalling the capture was complete. "Hooray! Good job, Fennekin!"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin smiled, following as Serena rushed towards the pokeball and held it up towards Alain.

"Thank you for your help!" she said, walking back towards him.

"You caught it yourself," Alain muttered, actually looking somewhat impressed. "Was that your first one?" Serena nodded, pocketing the pokeball, feeling rather proud of herself. "Impressive first catch. Vespiquen can be pretty tough. Usually they scare off new trainers."

"I was safe with you, though, right," Serena pointed out, winking at the boy, who looked away awkwardly.

"I suppose so," he said, sighing. "All right then, let's get going."

"What?"

"You'll need to get that Vespiquen to a Pokemon Centre since it's burned. I'll take you there." He then paused, turning away, almost as if to avoid eye contact. "After that...we'll see."

Serena watched Alain walk ahead for a few moments, looking down at Fennekin as realization hit her. "Are you okay with a little change in plans, Fennekin?" she asked, suddenly excited about this new opportunity in front of her. She had been excited about seeing Ash again, and maybe she would see him again at some point, but this...this just seemed like a great opportunity. And Alain had already helped her catch a Pokemon. She was sure she could learn so much more.

As Fennekin nodded, seeming happy to do whatever Serena was interested in, the two of them quickly set off after Alain, smiling as they embraced the reality of their new journey.

Author's Note:

And that's that. That was very wrong, but hopefully it wasn't too torturous to read if you gave it a go. Objectively speaking, I thought it was an interesting idea to go with Serena meeting Alain while on the way to meet Ash. Kind of tough to make it logical that she'd go out of her way to follow Alain, but hopefully that worked out well enough. I thought her catching Vespiquen was a good way to kind of show her journey with Alain, and how she'd gain his respect, would be different, considering she ran away from one in the anime.

Anyways, that's that. One more bet oneshot to go. Another pearlshipping one in the next few days.

Hope you enjoyed, Ashton.