Shout out to Empire-of-PokeJapan, of DeviantART, for the artwork above.

Author's Update Note (11/26/18) : Hey guys. In case you were wondering what happened to the chapter where Trevor introduces his family to the group, well I deleted it because it was a distraction from the main plot and I wanted to maintain focus on the main plot.

Symbol Note: *---* = Play music selection

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"Well, that was very anti-climactic," Max stated as the group exited out of the elite suite and into the atrium.

"That's for sure," Dawn added. "Besides Trevor and Ritchie's battle, along with the first part of Paul's battle with Aaron, the rest of the battles were kind of boring. Tobias and his Darkrai are stronger than ever." She shivered as she visualized the pitch-black Pokémon standing in front of his shadowy trainer.

"Yeah, no joke," Brock interjected. "Something snapped in Sakaki's head too. He crushed his opponent. Their battle, along with Trevor and Aaron's, tomorrow will be very interesting."

"Yeah, maybe," Trevor responded as he was carrying a sleeping Ashley, on his back, with Pichu and Charmander, following behind them. "Although, I do hope that Aaron can handle an opponent, like me."

"Hey, you never know," Max responded. "That's what we said about Aaron when he faced Iris, and now, she's back in Unova, while he's in the Semifinals."

---

The group was now walking through the Silph Village, along a lighted pathway that leads them to the hotel, which stood above the path and shined in the dark. Whispers could be heard from various conversations, from other small groups, that walked along the path, that's surrounding the friends. They continued to walk along until May noticed something.

She turned and noticed that the group was missing someone. "Hey Dawn, wasn't Serena walking right beside you?"

Dawn looked to her right and noticed that Serena was nowhere to be seen. She yelped as she turned and scanned the crowd, for their missing friend. "Where could she have gone?"

The rest of the group turned and also began to frantically search for their missing friend, but only to hear the laughter of two professors, along with Trevor and Brittany, towards the front of the party.

"Guys, this isn't something to laugh about! Serena could be in serious danger!" Clemont snapped.

"Come on, guys. Where do you think she would be right now?" Gary asked as a grin appeared across his lips.

The group continued to glare at the young professor before Professor Oak decided to step in. His laughter died down. He took another breath, to control himself.

"What Gary is trying to say is that Serena will be just fine. Take a look for yourselves, if you don't believe me." He then turned and pointed to a spot, further down, in front of them.

The group look passed the group of four, in front of them, and smiled at what they noticed. Standing toward the edge of the pathway, was Serena, with her arms behind her back. She was swaying, back and forth, on her feet. From their angle, they could barely show a small blush on her face. Standing across from her was Aaron, dressed in his normal attire. He had a hand in his pocket, while the other one, was waving to and fro, as he talked. On his shoulder, Pikachu could be seen with a smile, while Lucario was leaning on a lamppost, that was a little behind his trainer. The Aura Pokémon was also seen smiling, as he took in the view of the couple before him.

The group made their way to the trainer and performer. The pair didn't notice the group approaching them, as they continued talking until finally, Dawn let out a soft cough. Both Ash and Serena jumped a little, before turning to the group.

"Oh! Hey guys," Serena said as she took one hand from behind her back and waved. "What's up?"

"Well, besides worrying sick about you, we're doing fine!" Dawn said firmly before a playful tone arose into her voice. "But not as fine as you two seem to be doing." The rest of the group laughed. Both Ash and Serena's heads fell to the ground in embarrassment.

"It's ok," May interjected. She shifted to Serena's side away from Ash and intertwined her arm with Serena's. "It's alright, as long as you invite your new boy toy to dinner. We're headed to that cute café, which we ate at, on the night that we first arrived! You'll love it, Serena!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Plus, it will give us time to get to know Aaron more. I'm sure you have more stories, like one of you and Lucario. We'd love to hear more of them!" Clemont exclaimed.

"Well I-I . . . "Ash stuttered while trying to find a way out of this invitation. He had already eaten, for the night. Also, he really wanted to spend more alone time with Serena.

"Now hold on there, guys!" Trevor announced.

The group looked at him, with confused eyes, as he moved in front of Ash, with only one hand up, since the other hand was still holding onto Ashley, who was sleeping on his back.

"Don't you think that these two might want some time alone?"

He turned and gave Ash a wink. Ash took a sigh of relief, as Trevor turned back to the rest of the group.

"Now, come on. Let's get something to eat and give these two lovebirds some peace and quiet, for a change."

Dawn and May groaned as they saw the rest of the group nod. They looked at each other and sighed again, before turning back to Serena.

"Fine, but we expect you tell us everything, this time!" May said in a playful, but serious tone.

"Yeah," Dawn said while pointing to Serena. "No more leaving us in the dark. Especially about something as important as this."

May let go of Serena and the two coordinators quickly ran, to catch up with the group that had started walking to Saffron City. Ash and Serena laughed at the two coordinators, as they watched the group turn a corner, and now, were out of sight.

Ash turned back to see Serena, who was now staring at him. His heart skipped a beat, as he noticed her blue eyes shining, thanks to the lamppost that they were under. He snapped back to reality and took one of her hands in his.

"Come on. Let's go for a walk." He turned to his faithful Pokémon. "I assume you guys know how to use this." he turned to Lucario and handed him the electronic key card, to their room, "and I also trust that you two will stay out of trouble. Got it?"

Pikachu and Lucario gave a chirp and a bark of approval. Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder to Lucario's, as the pair turned and walked toward the entrance of the hotel.

"Those two are something else, aren't they?" Serena giggled at the two Pokémon.

"Yeah. They're quite the team." Ash chuckled. "Pikachu's job was to basically make sure that Lucario stayed out of trouble when he was a young Riolu. He now has his work cut out for him, but now, I would say that they're more like partners in crime."

The young couple began to walk from the path and into the forest. Serena dug her head into Ash's shoulder, as her outside arm hooked with Ash's. Ash's thumb gently went back and forth, over the top of Serena's hand, which was still intertwined with his own. The pair walked in silence, while often letting out a sigh of content. They didn't need to say anything. The fact that they're able to hold each other again, was more than enough for them both.

*---*

Eventually, they reached the same clearing, which they had met in, twice before. Ash chuckled, as he noticed the view it gave. Serena felt the vibration of the chuckle and looked up.

"What's so funny?" she questioned.

Ash kept his gaze on the scenery. He stopped chuckling and gave another sigh of content. "It's just funny how we always seem to find ourselves at the same clearing, over and over again."

Serena chuckled as she began to think about the different times that they had been to the clearing. "Well, of course," she said playfully. "We are a couple, after all, and this is a very romantic location." She yelped softly, as Ash pulled his arm from her grip.

He slowly made his way behind her, He wrapped his arms around the front of Serena's shoulders, and then, pulled her close to him.

"Yeah, you're right," he whispered softly into her ear. "It's really beautiful out here. Almost as beautiful as you."

Serena giggled softly. She brought both hands up and gently grabbed onto his arms, before resting her head back against his chest. "I missed you so much, Ash."

"I missed you too, Serena."

The couple stood in the clearing, for what felt like hours. Both were feeling comfortable, until a gust of wind came by, which made them realized how cold and late it was.

"I guess we have to go back, huh?" Serena asked disappointed that their alone time, together, had to come to an end. She didn't want it to be over. For once, she felt happy and serene.

"Yeah, I guess we do." Ash looked down and could notice the disappointment, in his lover's eyes. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. "Hey, you want to do something fun?"

"What do you have in mind?" Serena asked perplexed. She looked up and saw a smile, dancing in Ash's eyes.

"This," Ash threw a Pokéball in the air to reveal his loyal bird Pokémon, Pidgeot.

The bird squawked, before landing in front of the couple. Ash could hear Serena squeal a little, as she watched the Pokémon come out, and now, she was beginning to jump up and down.

"You said you wanted to go for another ride again, so why not now?" Ash chuckled.

"Yes, yes, yes!" She shouted.

Ash let her go, as she took a step toward the Kanto bird before another gust of wind came. She stopped and shivered.

"It's freezing out here," she said as she rubbed her arms, while her teeth chattered.

Again, Ash had an answer. He took off his jacket, to show the black shirt that he wore underneath, and his raven hair, which was under his hood. He took the jacket and slipped it over Serena's shoulders. "Better?"

Again, Serena giggled, as she slipped her arms into the sleeves and zipped the jacket up. It was big for her, but it kept her warm. She looked at Ash. "Almost," she said. She reached up and slid his mask down, before kissing him, once more, on the lips. "There, now I'm better."

Ash smiled as he passed the performer and jumped on Pidgeot's back. He turned and offered his hand to Serena. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

Serena grabbed his hand, as she ascended onto the bird and took a seat behind Ash. She wrapped both hands, around his waist, and rested her head on his back. She smiled, as she felt one of his hands lightly gripping the top of her own.

Pidgeot soared to the sky and glided smoothly through the air. After a bit, Serena could see the hotel come into view and her heart sunk in her chest. She grabbed Ash a little tighter. "Please, can we keep going?"

"Will, that make you happy?" Ash responded.

He smiled, as he felt her head nod into his back.

"Yes, it would," she answered.

Pidgeot continued to fly around the skies of Saffron City, effortlessly gliding through the air, as the couple, on his back, enjoyed the peaceful ride. For Ash, he felt all the anxiety of the tournament, of Giovanni and Team Rocket, and of the last five years, disappeared into the night.

I can't wait to do this, every night.

He lightly tightened his grip, on Serena's hand, and heard a sigh of content, from behind him. He smiled, as he turned back and witnessed the moon shining brightly in the night sky.