Ash woke up early the next morning, excited. They were going to start travelling again and he was finally going to get his eighth gym badge. He stood up and stretched. He saw Pikachu get up from where he'd been sleeping next to Ash. "Good morning, Pikachu." Ash said happily.

"Pikachu." Pikachu smiled.

Ash got changed and left the room quietly, careful not to disturb anyone, especially Serena. He glanced quickly at her before leaving the room and smiled to himself. She's cute when she sleeps. He went downstairs with Pikachu to go eat and to see his Pokemon.

He wolfed down his food quickly, then he and Pikachu went outside to the courtyard, so all the Pokemon could eat. Ash put out their bowls of food and sat down with Pikachu. He watched as Greninja and Delphox ate together, sitting very closely. He looked at Pikachu. "So, Pikachu," he said, "are you ready to get our eighth badge?"

Pikachu pumped his fist. "Pi!" He said confidently.

Ash jumped up excitedly. "Awesome!" He yelled. "Well then I think we should do some special training before the others get up. We wanna be in tip top shape for the Snowbelle gym."

Pikachu nodded and Ash's other Pokemon excitedly murmured agreement as well. They all wolfed down their food quickly, surprising the other Pokemon, and stood ready for Ash's orders.

"Alright." Ash said. "How about some one on one exhibitions?" He looked around at his Pokemon. "Noivern and Pidgeot?" He looked at his two biggest flying Pokemon. Each of them nodded and gave the other a quick look, sizing the other up. "Great, Pidgeot, you go the other side and Noivern, you stay here."

"Pidgaw!" Pidgeot said and he flew over to the other side of the courtyard. Noivern moved to his position as well.

"Alright, Pidgeot, use gust. Noivern, use boomburst." Each responded immediately. Pidgeot's wings flapped rapidly and Noivern's ears glowed blue and he sent the loud blast to his opponent. The gust attack made Noivern lose his balance in midair though and his attack went towards the Pokemon centre. "Pikachu! Quick, use thunderbolt to deflect!"

"Chu!" Pikachu launched his electrical energy at the boomburst waves and just managed to stop the attack from blasting a hole in the building.

Ash sighed in relief. "Whoa...that was close."

A window opened up above and Ash looked up to see a furious looking Serena. "Ash! Do you need to make loud explosions this early in the morning?"

Ash scratched his head nervously. "Um...sorry. I...was training."

Serena shook her head, looking exasperated. Bonnie appeared next to her, with Squishy on one shoulder and Dedenne on the other. "Did he blow anything up?" She asked.

Ash frowned. "No...Pikachu deflected it."

Serena sighed. "Yeah...it only sounded like he blew something up." She looked at Bonnie. "Well, I guess we'd better go down then." They turned away from the window.

Ash looked at Pidgeot and Noivern who had landed behind him. He smiled. "Awesome job, you two!" He congratulated them. "Those attacks were really powerful!" The two Pokemon looked at each other and then back at Ash with happy expressions. "I can't wait to get Noivern into his first gym battle." Ash said. "And Pidgeot, it'll be awesome to get you in one again. Last time would've been Viridian City. You were awesome there."

They continued to train while waiting for the others to get ready, eat and come outside. They tried to be quieter, by using more physical attacks. Ash had Hawlucha and Greninja swap karate chop and cut attacks. They both seemed to enjoy it, as they had a pretty good rivalry. Pidgeot and Talonflame tested out double edge and brave bird. Talonflame was doing pretty well, considering the size disadvantage. Noivern practised diving at Pikachu and Pikachu would attempt to jump and get onto Noivern's back. When Pikachu managed to do it, Ash thought of when Pikachu got onto Latios' back in his battle with Tobias in the Sinnoh League. He frowned. He still hated how he had gone so far in that league, only to get totally trounced.

"I have to be better." He said. He thought of the Unova League as well. He'd decided to only use his Unova Pokemon that time, but the strategy hadn't been successful and he'd lost to a good, but still much less experienced trainer. "I'll need everyone this time."

Serena, Bonnie and Clemont walked outside to where Ash and his Pokemon were training. Serena could see that all of the Pokemon were hard at work. She looked at Ash and noticed he was watching Pikachu, who was sparring with Noivern, with a look of frustration and disappointment on his face.

She went over to him, ignoring Bonnie's quiet giggle. "Ash?" She asked. "Are you ok? I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."

Ash looked at her surprised, having not noticed her and the others walking out of the Pokemon centre. He smiled. "I'm fine...just thinking about the Kalos League." He gave her a quick hug. "And don't feel bad for yelling. I shouldn't have used such loud attacks."

"So, are we gonna go?" Bonnie called to them.

Serena nodded to her and then looked back at Ash. "Ready to go win your eighth badge?"

He smiled. "Yeah." Then he looked like he was thinking and gave her an odd look. "I was thinking of making a call first."

Serena looked at him confused. "A call? To who?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him, heading back towards the Pokemon centre entrance. "To Pallet Town."

Bonnie and Clemont followed as Ash pulled Serena towards the phone. "What's going on?" Clemont asked, sounding concerned.

"Nothing." Ash said. "I'm just making a call back home." He sat on half the seat in front of the phone so that Serena could sit on the other half. "We'll call my mom first I guess." He said. He dialled the number and the phone rang.

Serena was nervous. She hadn't even thought of telling her mom about her and Ash. And the idea that she was about to meet Ash's mom was getting her nerves going pretty good. She looked at Ash nervously as the phone rang. He glanced quickly at her and gave her hand a quick squeeze and smiled.

"Mime!" A strange Pokemon had answered the phone and was staring at them on the video monitor. He looked a little like a clown and he was holding a broomstick, apparently having been sweeping.

"Hi Mr. Mime!" Ash said happily. "How's it going?"

"Mime!" Mr. Mime smiled. "Mime?" He pointed to somewhere outside of what the video monitor showed.

"Yeah, please." Ash said. "If she's not busy."

As they waited for Mr. Mime to find Ash's mom, which is what Serena assumed was happening, Clemont asked, "What was that Pokemon?"

"That was Mr. Mime." Ash said happily. "He helps my mom out with some of the house chores."

After a minute or so, a woman appeared on screen. She had brown hair and looked about the same age as Serena's mom. She had a kind face and it lit up as soon as she saw Ash. "Oh! My little boy! Ash, how are you?"

Ash gave a nervous look to his friends, but smiled at his mom. "I'm good. Really good. I'm sorry I haven't called in so long, but it's been pretty crazy here."

Ash's mom gave him a look like she didn't believe that there was no opportunity to call, but apparently decided to ignore the subject. She looked at Serena, Bonnie and Clemont. "So, are these your new friends?" She asked happily.

"Yeah." Ash said and introduced each of them one by one. "Clemont's an inventor and makes really cool inventions. He's also the gym leader of Lumiose City. Bonnie is his little sister. And this is-"

Ash's mom's eyes widened. "Oh!" She squeaked. She reached over to what must have been a shelf next to the phone. She pulled off something that looked like a framed picture. She held it up so that everyone could see. "You wouldn't happen to be this little girl would you?" She pointed to the picture and Serena leaned forward, recognizing it completely. It was a picture from the summer camp at Professor Oak's. Serena and Ash were standing next to each other. Serena was looking at Ash, who was smiling at the camera. She noticed how young they both looked. "You're that nice girl Serena. I remember Oak saying you were from Kalos." Ash's mom put the photo down.

Serena smiled. "Yeah, that's me."

"Well," Ash's mom said happily. "I'm very glad to see you again, Serena. And it's very nice to meet you, Clemont and Bonnie. I'm Delia." She leaned forward, looking excited. "So, Ash, how many badges have you got?"

Ash held up his badge case. "I've got seven. I just need one more." Serena noticed the pride in his voice.

Delia put her hands up in a little cheer pose. "Oh, I'm so happy. You'll have to call Professor Oak and tell him. You'll need to have him get all your Pokemon ready."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, if I'm gonna win, I'll need help from all of them."

Delia smiled. "So where are you now?" She asked. "Are you about to do your last gym battle?"

Ash shook his head. "We're in Gloria City. Serena's been doing these things called Pokemon showcases to become Kalos Queen. We've been here the last few days for the Masterclass."

Delia looked delighted and impressed. "Oh wow." She looked at Serena. "How did you do?"

Serena blushed. "Well, unfortunately I lost, but Ash definitely did his best to help me. He actually put off his last gym battle for us to come here."

Delia's eyes widened excitedly. "Oh...Ash that's so sweet. You're such a good boy."

Ash blushed. "Uh..." He said nervously. "Well...itwas the Masterclass."

Bonnie leaned forward. "You do know why he did that though, right Mrs. Ketchum?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

Clemont sighed. "Bonnie..." He said exasperated.

Delia looked confused and then she smiled. "Ash...oh I'm so happy. Oh look at you two, sitting so close together. You're so cute."

Serena blushed and she saw Ash do so too out of the corner of her eye. She gave Bonnie a quick glare, but Bonnie shrugged at her. "You couldn't just talk about showcases and gym battles the whole time." She pointed out.

Ash scratched his head nervously. Pikachu, who had been on the floor, jumped up onto Ash's shoulder and smiled at Delia. Then he jumped over onto Serena's shoulder and nuzzled her. Delia laughed and smiled. "Well, I agree with Pikachu. You two are a great match."

Ash sighed and gave a weak laugh. "Right." He looked at Serena and then smiled and said more confidently. "Yeah, we are."

Delia squealed in excitement. "Oh I'm so proud of you! You've grown up so much. Now, I'd better let you go. Make sure to call Professor Oak. And..." Serena saw Ash's eyes widen in fear, like he knew what his mother was about to say. "Make sure to wear clean underwear, ok?" Everyone, but Ash laughed at that. Delia said goodbye and then she hung up.

Ash looked at Serena. "That wasn't so bad." He said, with a look of relief. "Except for that last part, of course."

Serena smiled. "Yeah that was cool. You're mom is really nice." She paused. "So are you calling Professor Oak now?"

Ash stared blankly at her and then shook his head. "Uh...yeah." He looked embarrassed and Serena realized he was just enjoying looking at her. He dialled the phone number and waited.

The phone rang a couple of times and then Professor Oak, who Serena recognized, appeared on screen. He had a Rotom next to him. "Ash!" He said excitedly. "It's good to see you."

"You, too Professor Oak." Ash said. "How's it going?"

"Oh very well." Oak said. "I've been getting a lot of interesting data from your Pokedex. Professor Sycamore linked the information to me, so I've been able to get a lot of interesting information from the Pokemon you've been seeing in Kalos."

Ash looked surprised, but he smiled. "Cool. Actually, you might be interested in having a look at a strange Pokemon we came across a little while ago that's been travelling with us. The Pokedex couldn't even scan it. Professor Sycamore said he'd never seen or heard of it."

Oak's eyes got a gleam of excitement, but then he looked at Serena, Bonnie and Clemont. "Well, first I think it would be nice to meet your friends here." He looked at Serena. "Have we met before young lady?"

Serena smiled. "Yeah. I'm Serena. I went to your summer camp a few years ago."

Recognition hit Oak's face. "Oh yes. You're the girl that got lost in the forest, correct?"

Serena looked down a little sadly, upset that Oak's memory of her was of her being a scared little girl. "Um...yeah." She said quietly.

Oak smiled. "Yes, but after that you were one of the finest campers. You and Ash were a great team. Looks like you are once again." This made Serena smile.

Bonnie giggled. "Oh definitely."

Clemont nudged his sister. "Stop it Bonnie."

Oak looked up at them. "And who might you two be?"

Ash introduced them. "Clemont is the Lumiose City gym leader and an inventor. Bonnie is his little sister."

Bonnie picked up Squishy out of her bag,while Dedenne hopped onto her head. "This is Dedenne." She looked up at Dedenne who did his characteristic greeting. Then she looked at Squishy. "And this is Squishy." She said, holding up the little green Pokemon. Squishy looked nervously at Professor Oak.

"Oh...wow...that is an interesting Pokemon." He leaned forward in interest. "I'll definitely need to talk to Sycamore about this." He said, more to himself than the others.

"So, Professor Oak, I wanted to tell you something." Ash said. Serena expected him to show Oak the badge case, but instead Ash continued talking. She saw him blush and look a little nervous. "Um...you mentioned how Serena and I were a good team back at camp...and..."

Oak smiled. "Come on now Ash," he said, "I know you well enough to see you acting differently with Serena. I'm very happy for you. I expect your mother is as well?"

Ash smiled nervously. "Uh...yeah."

Oak waved his hand as if to end the subject. "No need to be awkward now. I won't pry. Now, how have your gym battles been going?"

Ash looked relieved and Serena felt the same way. She liked that Professor Oak was being so nonchalant about the whole thing. This time, Ash did hold up his badge case. "One more to go." He said happily.

Oak clapped his hands together happily. "Well done, my boy." He said. "Now where is your last stop?"

"Snowbelle City." Ash said. "Know anything about it?"

Oak nodded. "I do, actually." He thought for a moment. "I've met the gym leader from there before. Now...what was it that his gym specialized in?" Serena could sense Ash tensing in excitement. "Ah...yes. Wulfric was his name and he specializes in ice type Pokemon."

Ash nodded thoughtfully. "Ice type...well Talonflame will come in handy with his flame charge, but other than that, things could be kind of tough."

Oak looked thoughtfully. "Well don't forget you've got Charizard, Quilava, Torkoal, Infernape and Pignite."

Ash smiled. "I'll definitely use them in the Kalos League, but I've gotta give the Pokemon I've got here, a chance to win the badges. That's how I roll."

Oak nodded. "Yes, well I'll make sure your Pokemon are training hard. Bulbasaur usually keeps them in check so he should be able to help."

Serena was really interested to hear about some of Ash's other Pokemon. She leaned forward. "How many Pokemon does Ash keep with you, Professor?" She asked.

Oak thought for a moment. "Hm...well there's quite a few, I suppose. A wide range, too, considering the amount of places he's been. Now, I'll only count Tauros as one, but he's got thirty of those. I guess Ash has about-"

Ash interrupted and proudly said. "Thirty-two different Pokemon. Thirty tauros and thirty-one others. Squirtle's training with Officer Jenny and Primeape's training with Anthony." He looked really happy, talking about his Pokemon. "Add them all up and just count Tauros as one, and I've got forty. Oh...that reminds me, Professor, Pidgeot's back. He flew here from Kanto to find me."

Oak smiled. "Wow, that's truly remarkable, Ash. I-" He looked outside quickly, appearing alarmed. "Oh dear, your Heracross is attempting to eat Bulbasaur's back again. I'd better go stop him. Too bad...I'd like to hear more about Pidgeot." He looked at Ash. "Good luck, Ash. Looking forward to hearing from you again."

"Bye." Everyone said, as Oak hung up.

Serena looked at Ash and saw him smiling. "I didn't know you had so many Pokemon." She said, noticing a hint of unintended irritation in her voice.

Ash looked a little guilty. "Yeah...well...I'd prefer you meet them all when I get to the Kalos League." He said, then he smiled. "Then you can meet them all in person." He looked at Pikachu, who was still on Serena's shoulder, and then outside where his other Pokemon were waiting. "And I've gotta focus on these guys right now. My Kalos team is gonna win the badges." He pumped his fist. "Then the entireteam is gonna win the Kalos League."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

Clemont laughed. "And we're all gonna be cheering you on, Ash."

Bonnie jumped excitedly up and down. "Oh I can't wait to see all your Pokemon!" She looked at Ash. "You'd better win your eighth badge."

"No problem." Ash said. He looked at Serena and she realized he was hoping for her to say something encouraging.

"I'm with you." She said, looking him in the eyes. "I'm part of your team."

"Yeah," Bonnie said, "a two person team."

Serena smiled. She could tell that Bonnie was happy for her. "So, what's your plan for Snowbelle's gym then?" She said, looking back at Ash.

Ash shrugged. "Ice types can get kind of complicated, even for fire types. My Charizard got hit with a nasty ice beam once." He looked outside at his Pokemon, thinking.

Clemont nudged Ash. "Come on, Ash," he said, "you always come up with something."

Ash smiled. "I guess sometimes it's better to go in without a plan at all. That's always fun."

Clemont sighed. "That's not what I meant." He said, exasperated.

Serena laughed. "That's just Ash's style, though. Take things as they come and never give up."

Bonnie giggled. "Yeah, and it's fun watching Ash's battles when he does that. And remember, Clemont, you planned forever beforeyour battle with Ash, but he still beat you."

Clemont blushed. "I thought that was a good battle."

Ash nodded. "It was a good battle." He said. "But, I think what Bonnie means is that sometimes no matter how much you plan, sometimes you've just gotta let things fall into place." He looked at Serena. "And sometimes things fall into place perfectly."

Serena blushed and smiled. "They sure do." She said.

Ash gave her a questioning look. "So are we going to call your mom?"

Serena blushed and then looked at the phone nervously, as if it had dialled her mom's number on its own. "I guess so." She finally squeaked. She dialled the number, her hand shaking as she did so.

After a couple of rings, her mother, Grace, appeared on screen. "Serena!" She yelled happily. She looked at the others. "And Ash, Bonnie and Clemont. How are you all?" They all greeted her back and then she looked at Serena. "Serena, you were so amazing during your showcase. I'm so proud of you. Everyone in Vaniville Town loves you. There's lots of nice boys that are dying to meet you."

Serena's eyes widened. She felt Ash tighten up next to her. That was clearly something he didn't want to hear. And as flattering as it was, she wasn't too interested either. "Um...actually, mom...that's kind of why I called."

Grace looked confused. Apparently she wasn't going to figure it out as quickly as Delia and Professor Oak. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Serena could feel her cheeks burning like fire. She glanced at Ash. "Well...the boys in Vaniville...I'm not interested." She was really embarrassed. Her voice seemed to have become more high pitched the more she talked.

Grace still looked confused though. "Why not? There are some very handsome ones and they all were very impressed with your performances. Now, they may not be as talented as someone like Ash, but at least they do seem quite nice. I'm sure one of them-"

Serena had been about to interrupt but to her surprise, Ash spoke up. "Um...sorry, but Grace...I don't think that's gonna happen." Serena looked at him gratefully. He was now blushing a lot as well.

Finally, Serena's mom seemed to get something was up. She looked at Ash and then at Serena, her mouth widening in surprise. Then she smiled. "This is wonderful!" She yelled, causing everyone to jump in surprise. "Ash, you have no idea how much I've been hoping for this. I suspected for awhile that Serena had a crush on you, but I've been so worried you didn't feel the same way. You're exactly the kind of young man a mother wants her daughter to meet."

As much as Ash blushed and laughed nervously, Serena noticed that he seemed a little proud of what her mother was saying. "Well...uh thanks." Ash managed to say.

Serena decided they needed to move on before things got more awkward. "Anyways mom, what's up? Anything new?"

Grace thought for a moment. "Well, not really, but I am glad you called, because there was something I was thinking about." She leaned forward. "I noticed that the Kalos League doesn't start for quite some time still and that Ash will likely have eight badges long before he needs to register. I wanted to invite all of you to stay here while you wait for it to start. Ash can use the Rhyhorn field for his training."

Before Serena could answer, Ash did. "That sounds great!" He said excitedly. "That would be perfect. And maybe we could try some more Rhyhorn racing too."

Grace smiled. "Sure." Then she narrowed her eyes. "Just remember...separate rooms."

Serena immediately covered her face with her hands and groaned with embarrassment. Then she heard Ash do a characteristic oblivious, "huh?" She looked at him and saw him staring blankly at Grace. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Serena and her mom looked at each other. They both had to laugh. Ash's clueless questions were too much sometimes. Grace managed to stop laughing and looked at Serena. "I think this will work." She said, gesturing to Ash. "Now I'd better go. Goodbye everyone." She waved, while everyone said goodbye and then hung up.

Ash still looked confused, but apparently decided to forget about the whole thing. "Alright," he said, "it's time to go." He held up his badge case and looked at his badges. "This thing feels too light, so let's get that last badge."

"Pi-pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

"Snowbelle City, here we come!" Serena said happily.