Serena's POV-7 years old-Vaniville Town, Kalos

I don't know what just happened, all I know is that I ran, I ran away from them. I never thought I would do this, but how was I supposed to know they were fighting?! They never showed any signs of hatred, only love around me, but I guess they got sick of hiding. Sick of faking to love each other. Sick of me.

So I ran, as fast as I could, I didn't care where, I just did. An instinct, maybe. I looked up, realizing my surroundings. I was lost. My legs collapsed from underneath me. Trees surrounded me, bushes making me feel crowded. I couldn't stand it, I was gone, never to be seen again. Well, at least my parents won't be fighting, their problem is gone forever.

I sat there, motionless for a few seconds, a tear slowly made its way down my cheek. Then another on the opposite side, with the thought I had in mind, I burst into tears. I was going to sit here for the rest of my life, nobody will find me in time, my head slouched and I stared at the ground.

I heard bushes around me move, but I ignored it, It's only a Pokémon. I thought to myself.

The noise got louder, and I looked up, a scared look on my face.

A boy about my age popped out of the bushes and looked at me.

"Hey! Are you okay?" He asked, running to my side.

"No.." I sniffled. "I'll never be okay ever again." I started to cry again.

"Well, tell me everything."

"Everything?"

He nodded. "From the very beginning."

I finally looked up at him, not knowing who he was.

He then held out his hand. "Don't give up 'till it's over!" He exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"Who are you?" I asked, hesitantly taking his hand.

He reached forward, taking me by surprise and pulled me into a small hug.

He then held me out at arms length, smiling once more.

"I'm Ash Ketchum."

I looked at him, he had Raven-black hair with a green-ish shine to it, some dark brown eyes, a marking that looked like a sideways 'Z' under each eye, a red shirt with a yellow design that looks like a Pokéball on the lower left part on it, some blue shorts that were rolled up, and red shoes with black lines on them.

"Hey, where are your parents?" Ash asked.

Sniffling, I managed to say, "They're the reason I'm here."

"Oh. Well that's not good." He said, looking at the ground.

"No, it isn't, but I can't be there anymore, that's why I ran. I ran away from them so they can be happy."

"Nu-uh, they're probably worried sick because their pretty daughter ran off." He replied, looking up with a weird smile on his face.

I smiled and laughed at his attempt to cheer me up. "I'm not pretty." I reply, returning my frown and looking back to the ground.

"Nooooooo, please smile, I love the way it looks on you." He said, lifting up my chin and smiling.

I guessed then and there that smiles are contagious, because at this moment, I had one plastered on my face

"There's the smile!" He exclaimed, and if it's possible, his grin grew even wider.

"Yeah, but I'm still lost in the woods, and I don't know where to go."

"Well, follow me!" He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to where he popped out of the bushes.

A couple minutes later, we appeared in a different city, this certainly wasn't Vaniville...

"Here we are! Aquacorde Town!" Ash exclaimed.

"Aqua...corde?" I questioned.

"Yeah! I'm visiting here for quite a while."

"Do you know how long?"

"Uh, well, I just said 'quite a while'.. But in estimitation, maybe a year.."

"'Estimitation'? Do you mean 'estimation'?" I giggled.

He rubbed his free index finger under his nose. "Yeah..."

He then continued to run with my hand in his, and what seemed like seconds later, we were at a cabin.

"Mom! I'm back!" Ash shouted.

"Welcome back honey! Ho-Oh my! Ash, who's this?"

"This is my new friend, uh, what's your name?" He asked with a tilted head and a confused look.

"M-My n-n-name is S-Sere..." My voice faded out.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, what's your name?"

"Sere..."

"Your... name is Sere?" Ash's mom asked me.

I shook my head. "S-Serena." I said faintly.

"Your name is Serena?" I nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Serena."

Ash cheered loudly, making me jump.

"Wow!" He shouted. "Your name is pretty! Just like you!"

"Awwweee!" Ash's mom squealed loudly. We let go of each other's hands and covered our ears.

"Mom! Shoooosh!" Ash scolded his mom.

Mrs. Ketchum stopped squealing and glared at her son with her arms crossed, Ash returned the glare along with the pose.

"Alright." She said, throwing her hands into the air with closed eyes.

I looked at them and giggled. "You two are silly."

"Yeah, I guess we are." She replied, looking out the window.

"Oh, Serena, it's getting late. Why don't you go home?" Mrs. Ketchum said.

"I can't and don't want to." I replied.

"What do you mean by 'can't' and 'don't want to'?"

"Oh yeah.. I told you to tell me everything, you didn't tell me anything." Ash said, looking at me.

"Well, I don't want to because my parents are fighting, and can't because I live in Vaniville." I say.

"You can stay here tonight! Mom, can she? Can she?" Ash asked as he grabbed his moms arm and jumped up and down.

"Well, she doesn't have any other choice..." Mrs. Ketchum replied.

"Yaaaaaaay!" Ash exclaimed, letting go of his mom and grabbed my hand once more, dragging me to a room not too far.

"You can sleep with me in my bed!" Ash shouted.

"Well, she can, but she needs to get cleaned up first." Ash's mom said, poking her head into the room.

"Okay!" I say, hoping she had a bathtub, that would help a lot more than a shower, I don't know how to work those.

"Where is the bathroom, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"Sweetie, call me mom." She said, waving her hand up and down.

"Okay, mom, where's the bathroom?" I repeat.

"Oh, it's right there." She pointed behind her to a door, almost exactly in front of Ash's door.

"Okay, thank you!" I say, bowing to her.

"Serena, you still need pajamas." 'Mom' said to me.

"Yeah, you can't sleep in what you wore today, that needs to be washed." Ash said.

"Well, I don't have anything else.."

"No worries, I have something you can sleep in." Mom said.

"May I have a towel?" I ask.

"They're already in there, now hurry up, you need some sleep. You've been through a lot today."

-Shower Time Skip-

I grab my towel and dry my feet off first, then I dry my hair and put it in a low ponytail. I see that some chonies and pajamas are picked out, I put everything on and take my hair out of the ponytail. I grabbed my towel and hung it over the wall of the tub to dry and walked out of the bathroom. Mom walked into the bathroom and almost immediately walked out, but when I saw her confused face, I also became confused.

"Mom? What's wrong?" I ask.

"Everything is so... Neat and put back in there, it's almost like nobody was in there at all." She replies.

"Well, that's how I was raised. To be a neat, polite, clean lady." I say.

She shook her head and picked me up. "Thank you." She said to me.

A couple seconds later, a screaming Ash ran up to mom.

"What is it Ash?" Mom asked him.

He stopped screaming and asked, "Can I have Serena back?"

She laughed. "Of course." She put me down and Ash tackled me.

He sniffed me and said, "You smell good."

I laughed in return.

"Okay, you two. Time to go to bed." Mom told us.

"Okay!" Ash said and ran onto his bed.

"That's weird..." Mom said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"He's never this obedient."

"What's that mean?"

"It means he never listens. Ever."

"Oh." I reply.

She shook her head once more. "Okay, you two, it's time to go to bed." She said to me.

"Okay." I said as I walked over to Ash's bed.

I went under the covers and felt hands wrap around my arms. I smiled, and curled up next to Ash. He was so warm.

My day went from bad to good because of Ash, and I'm happy that I ran away.

I started to close my eyes, and as soon as I did, I heard Ash whisper something, but I don't know what it was. Not long after, I fell asleep.

Today wasn't all that bad.