It wasn't long before the family learned about the proposal. Sonia took it upon herself to call Delia, who was at home with Mimey, Dawn, Piplup, and Grandpa Ramos. Delia and Dawn drove to the city's outskirts, where Ash was training his Pokemon to tell him the news. Later, they came to the hospital, where they scheduled the wedding to take place in the hospital chapel in three days, and Calem asked Ash to be his best man and Pikachu to be the ring bearer.

On the outside, Ash was happy about the news, but his heart was aching on the inside. He knew Calem made it clear that he wanted to change for the better and make Serena happy, but deep down he didn't want Serena to marry his brother. He tried to put the feeling in the back of his mind and go back to training after visiting Calem, but his commands to his Pokemon were sloppy and unfocused, making his Pokemon team, particularly Pikachu, worried about him.

The day after Calem proposed, Ash and Pikachu went to Lumiose stadium to register for the Kalos League. Ash felt butterflies in his stomach when the receptionist scanned his Pokedex and checked his badges before she smiled and told him that he was set to compete. The raven-haired man and his Pokemon partner left the stadium gleefully, thrilled that their dream was coming true, and yet Ash felt like his heart hold back in expressing joy to the fullest.

Ash was on his way home with his truck until he saw a gift shop, and decided to browse through it, thinking he might find a present for the wedding, and to his surprise, he found something that he and Pikachu thought Serena would particularly like. Ash bought the item without giving it a second thought and decided to give it to Serena right away. He drove to the apartment complex with the present in a gift bag, went inside with Pikachu on his shoulder, and went up the stairs to find Tierno walking down with a young woman with curly blonde hair, and wearing a pink tank top, a light blue jacket and torn jeans. Ash and Pikachu looked at Tierno curiously as the woman was holding his arm while they walked down the steps.

"You're looking very nice, Cathy," Tierno said.

"You ain't so bad yourself, Tierno," Cathy said with a kittenish look. "I like your cologne."

"Thanks. It's called 'Johto Man.' It's from Johto," Tierno said.

"Oooo. You don't say," Cathy said.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other, unsure if they saw what they were seeing. Tierno noticed the two of them and stopped walking down the steps with a smirk that he thought made him look cool.

"Yo, you here to see Serena?" He asked.

"Yeah, we are," Ash answered.

"Nice," Tierno said. "She's the hottest lady in the building."

"Excuse me?!" Cathy shrieked, looking like she was going to rip off the arms she was holding.

Tierno turned to Cathy fearfully and quickly said, "I-I-I mean, I thought she was the hottest until I saw you, Cathy."

Cathy's venomous glare melted into a chirpy smile, and she rested her head on Tierno's shoulder.

"Aw, Tierno," she said.

Tierno sighed in relief, and the two of them walked down the stairs again, passing Ash and Pikachu. When the couple was out of sight, Ash let out a sigh and shook his head.

"I just never know what to expect from that guy, Pikachu," he said.

"Pika, Pika," Pikachu said.

The two of them walked up to the second floor, and Ash knocked on Serena's door. He waited for a few seconds before he knocked again in case Serena didn't hear him. When he knocked a third time, he heard Serena let out an irritated growl from the other side of the door.

"I don't want any flowers, I'm not wearing pink underwear, and I do not want to move in with you, Tier -"

As soon as she opened the door, Serena stopped herself in mid-sentence. She was wearing a semi-formal white dress with a large ribbon at the center. Ash smirked and rested his shoulder on the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Well, I don't have any flowers, I'm sure you look cute in pink underwear, but under the circumstances, I most certainly don't think we should move in together," he said.

"A-Ash," Serena said, her cheeks heating up. "I'm sorry. I thought you were Tierno."

"I figured," Ash said. "Luckily for you, he seems to be seeing someone named Cathy."

Serena looked at Ash puzzled and asked, "Cathy from the third floor?"

"I guess," Ash said. "They were kinda lovey-dovey. It was weird to see, really."

"Pikachu," Pikachu said with a nod.

"Huh. Go figure," Serena said. "Well, would you two like to come in?"

"Yes, please," Ash said.

Serena opened the door further, allowing Ash and Pikachu to come in. Pikachu hopped off to play with Fennekin, who was lying down on the couch while Ash and Serena stood a few feet apart from each other, not knowing what to say to each other.

"Um...so is that the wedding dress?" Ash asked.

Serena looked down at her dress and, with a nervous chuckle, said, "Technically, yes. It didn't seem right to go for a real wedding dress since I'm getting married in a hospital."

"Is a sentence you don't hear every day," Ash said.

The two of them snickered at Ash's joke before silence overtook the two of them again. They stared at each other, smiling until Ash cleared his throat and held the gift bag up to Serena.

"Here. This is your wedding gift from me," he said. "Figured it would be best to give it to you now before the presents start piling up."

"Thank you," Serena said.

She took the bag and reached into it to take out a snow globe. She looked curiously at the small statue of a racing stadium inside the globe. There were small figurines of people riding on Rhyhorn on the tracks. Serena then looked at the stadium's side where white words were on the fake grass that said "Lilly of the Valley Rhyhorn Racing Championship 1986. Serena looked at the globe, shocked, and looked up at Ash, who was smiling at her while scratching the bottom of his nose.

"A snow globe of where and when my mom won the Rhyhorn racing championship? H-how did you find this?" Serena asked.

"I was getting myself registered for the Kalos League and decided to head to the gift shop along the way," Ash said. "Crazy dumb luck that I would find this of all things."

Serena continued to look at Ash, shocked for a moment before she smiled sweetly at him. She turned the globe upside down and then turned it back upside so that the fake snow was flying around the globe

"Thank you. You're very sweet, Ash," she said.

"My pleasure," Ash replied with a toothy grin. "I also want to say that Calem is a very lucky guy... though I'm partially obligated to say that because you're going to be my sister-in-law."

Serena gave a light chuckle and said, "That's true. We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on."

"Yeah, we will," Ash said.

The two of them stood still, looking at each other silently for a third time. The only sound that was heard was Pikachu and Fennekin playing. Serena turned her globe upside down and right side up repeatedly without looking at it, and Ash had his pockets in his pants.

"Well, we better get going," Ash said. "Come on, Pikachu."

"Pikachu," Pikachu replied before it climbed back onto Ash's shoulder.

Serena kept her smile and gave a short nod. As Ash opened the door, however, her smile faded, and she realized that she didn't want him to leave. At that moment, it hit Serena that she accepted Calem's proposal without considering how she thought she was feeling about his brother, and yet the thought occurred to her that Ash may not feel the same way she did.

She decided that if there was any time to find out, it had to be now. She rushed over the door and called out Ash, who was already halfway down the stairs.

"Ash."

The raven-haired man stopped and turned to Serena. Serena hesitated for a moment and asked, "I know the wedding is tomorrow, but can you give me any reason why I shouldn't marry your brother?"

Ash and Pikachu paused for a moment and looked down in thought. Pikachu, still standing on his shoulder, looked at its partner, unsure what Ash was going to say. For a brief moment, the edges of his lips curled up, giving Serena hope, but it disappeared, and Ash looked up to her with a fake grin.

"No, I can't," he said. "I stand by that you'll be a great couple."

Serena didn't show discontent on the outside, but her heart felt like it was stabbed with a dagger. Ash took her lack of reaction as a sign that she was okay with his answer, and she didn't have anything else to say.

"Well, see you at the wedding," he said.

"Yeah, see you," Serena said.

Ash turned around, walked down the rest of the stairs, and exited the apartment complex with Pikachu. He opened the side door to his truck for Pikachu to hop onto the seat from his shoulder before getting in on the driver's seat. He put his hands on the wheel and rested his forehead on the wheel with a heavy sigh. Pikachu looked at its partner worryingly and walked over to nudge his elbow with its head. Ash lifted his head up and gave his friend a sad smile.

"I meant what I said, buddy," he said. "She was already engaged to Calem to begin with, and he's willing to take her anywhere in the world. Her dreams are going to come true, and she won't be alone. What reason does she have to not marry him?"

"Pika," Pikachu said sadly.

Ash lightly petted Pikachu's head and said, "it's okay, Pikachu," before he turned on the ignition and drove away.

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

The next day, Serena took a cab to a twenty-story building and took an elevator to the thirteenth floor. She walked to the other side of the floor, where Iris was looking at some papers with reading glasses in her office. Axew was on the floor, happily playing with toys. With a wooden face, Serena walked over to Iris' desk, took out an envelope, and dropped it in front of her boss.

Iris looked at the envelope, confused, and asked, "What is this?"

"It's a wedding invitation," Serena said.

The honey blonde woman turned around and walked toward the exit until Iris opened the envelope and turned to her.

"Wait a minute. This is your wedding invitation," Iris said.

"Yeah? So?" Serena asked, turning to face Iris.

Iris raised her eyebrow and looked at Serena skeptically.

"Who are you marrying?" She asked.

"Calem Ketchum," Serena answered, pointing at the invitation.

Iris looked at the invitation where Calem's name was and turned back to Serena in disbelief.

"Hasn't he only been awake for a few days?" She asked.

"Yes," Serena said plainly.

"And does he think you're engaged just like his family?"

"Yes, and he proposed to me the other day."

"And you said yes?"

"I did."

Confounded with the information her employee gave her, Iris stood up from her seat, walked over to Serena, and put her hands on both sides of Serena's head.

"Serena, first you played along so much that you may have believed that you're a part of the family, you took his brother to New Year's, and now you're marrying a man who you've never spoken to before any of this happened?! Are you insane?!" Iris shouted.

Serena growled in irritation and shouted, "Yes, Iris. I'm insane! Every day, including holidays, I go and sit in a booth for eight hours, and come home to my Fennekin, and then a rich, handsome man said he wants to make me happy, asked me to marry him, and I said yes! Okay, that makes me a raving lunatic!"

"But the wedding is tomorrow," Iris said.

"I know it is tomorrow, Iris!" Serena yelled. "But you know what? I wish it was yesterday because that means today would mean I will be on my honeymoon, I will finally have a stamp on my passport, and it would say Hoenn, or Johto, or Galar, or Unova on it!"

"You don't even know where you're going for your honeymoon?" Iris asked.

"Calem said I can pick where to go after the wedding," Serena answered.

Iris moved her hands away from Serena's head and crossed her arms.

"What about his brother?" She asked.

Serena's glare melted away, and she looked down, dispirited. Iris dropped her skeptical look, as Serena answered with her voice cracking,

"He didn't want me."