Chapter 2

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"And the winner of this year's Grand Festival, and the newest Top Coordinator in Hoenn is.... Serena Yvonne!"

Serena couldn't believe it. Her Sylveon had beat her opponent's bellossom and she won the Hoenn Grand Festival! "Yeah! We did it Sylveon! Come on out everybody!" Serena released her Pancham, Braixen, and recently caught Swablu to celebrate as confetti rained down on the stadium. She and her pokemon hugged and grinned. "Thank you all so much! I couldn't have gotten here without each and every one of you!" The audience roared as she thanked her pokemon. She had finally achived her goal in Hoenn and could go back home to Kalos. She was looking foward to seeing her mom again. 

"I present to you, the Ribbon Cup!" Serena graciously accepted the trophy, and gave it to her pokemon. Swablu made itself comfortable in the cup while Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon held it up. Serena laughed in excitement, proud to see had far she and her pokemon had come.


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Later that day, after giving her pokemon to Nurse Joy, Serena called her Mom at the pokemon center. 

"Hi Mom!"

"Serena! I saw the whole thing on TV. You were fantastic! I'm sorry I couldn't be there to see it live." Serena's Mom gave her daughter a proud smile.

"Don't worry about it Mom! My pokemon and I are so excited! We had a great time here in Hoenn, and we learned a lot, but I can't wait to get home and see you again, especially since the Master Class is coming up soon! Pokemon coordinating is great, but I love performing the most." 

"Oh right, that reminds me," Grace left the screen shortly and returened with an envelope. "This letter came for you a couple of days ago," She said. "It's an invintation from a school in Kalos. They invited you to study there!"

"Really? I didn't apply to a school!" Serena was suprised. "Did you apply for me?" She highly doubted her Mom would since Serena had been journeying, but it wasn't as if Pancham filled out an application for her.

"No, honey, the school's website says it selects young trainers based on capibility, regardless on if they fill out an application. It looks like a really prestigious school!" Her Mom smiled, impressed her daughter had managed to catch the eye of such a prestigious (but largely state-funded) academy.

"That's amazing! Can you read the invintation to me?"

Grace read the invintation letter out loud, skipping through some parts when she realised how long it took to read aloud. "Because of your talents in pokemon performing and coordinating, bla bla bla, you have been accepted to the Kalos Institute of Pokemon, K.I.P.  Bla bla bla, basically it's a really prestigious boarding school in Lumiose City! Do you think you'd want to enroll?"

Serena thought about this for a moment. "Lumiose city? That's kinda far from home... But it seems like it's a really great oppurtunity! And I could visit Clemont and Bonnie all the time! I think I would want to go!"

Grace smiled. Her little girl was all grown up and making her own decisions. "If that's what you want, I'll send a reply. In a little less than two weeks, they'll send you a plane ticket to the lumiose city airport. In the meantime, we can practice your rhyhorn racing!"

Serena sweatdropped. "Mom, you know I don't like it!"

Grace laughed. "I know sweetheart. But rhyhorn loves you! We both can't wait to see you tomorrow."

"I can't wait to see you, either. Bye!"

"Bye honey!"

Serena ended the call. Her flight was going to leave in a couple of hours, so she thanked Nurse Joy, picked up her pokemon, and headed towards the airport.  She could easily take a bus, but she enjoyed walking through Hoenn's streets and looking at the shops. "A pokemon school, huh?" As she walked past a cute corner resturant, she thought about what she might encounter at this pokemon school. If the school's for talented trainers, maybe I'll see Ash again! No, no, that's just wishful thinking. I still wish I told him the way I felt before he left. Maybe Clemont got an invintation. He's a strong trainer, and he has Clembot to take care of the gym. I wonder if Shauna and Miette will be there. Maybe Trevor and Tierno? Or Alain? I'm sure he got an invintation, but I don't know if he'd accept since he's at the lab with Professor Sycamore and Mairin. And besides the people, what will it be like? Will the dorms be for two people or four? And what about- 

Serena was so swept up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the girl standing in front of her until it was too late. "Whoa!" Both Serena and the girl she ran into went crashing onto the sidewalk. "Oof!" The girl landed hard. Serena scurried up and quickly apologised. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" 

The girl Serena landed on looked up. Serena saw she had bright blue eyes, blue hair, and a pokeball in her hand. "No need to worry! Accidents happen!" Serena offered her a hand and helped the girl up. "I'm Dawn. What's your name?"

Serena was glad Dawn wasn't upset. "I'm Serena!"

Dawn's face lit up. "Oh, you're Serena! I thought I recognised you from somewhere! You won the Grand Festival!"

Serena was suprised. Dawn had recognised her? "Yeah, I did, but it was only thanks to my pokemon!"

Dawn smiled. "Of course! Pokemon can take you to new heights! I participated in the Grand Festival too, but I lost to Lauren in the semi-finals. I was really impressed at how you beat her bellosom in the finals, the way your sylveon used dazzling gleam to cause damage and make a pretty spectacle was so smart!"

Serena smiled. "Thank you! So where are you headed, Dawn?"

"I'm heading to the airport. I need to catch a flight home."

"Really? Me too! We can go together!"

"Sounds great!"

Serena and Dawn walked towards the airport together, looking in stores and sharing stories of their past travels, while somehow avoiding the topic of Ash. They quickly became friends. After an hour of walking, they finally approached the airport, and the converation started to shift.

"... And my Mom said I got invited to a school in Kalos!" Finished Serena

Dawn's jaw dropped. "Kalos Institute of Pokemon?!?"

Now it was Serena's turn to be suprised. "Yeah, how did you know?"

Dawn grinned. "Because I got invited too! This is great! We're gonna be going to the same school!"

Serena smiled. "What luck! That's great news!"

As they entered the airport, they had to split up since their flights were leaving in different sections. They quickly exchanged rotom-phone numbers and said their goodbyes.

As Serena's plane took off, she thought about everything that had happened that day, from winning the Hoenn Grand Festival, Getting accepted into K.I.P., and meeting Dawn. I might not know if Ash or Shauna will be at the pokemon school, but at least I know I'll have one friend. Serena watched the sun sink under the horizion and grew even more excited for the coming events.

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