♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 (𝔸𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘) ♛

Chapter 24: GRAND LEAGUE

Chapter 24: Grand League

Vaniville Town, 5 years since Ash and Serena's parting.

The day Ash Ketchum registered as a Pokémon Trainer for the Indigo Grand League under the name 'Red'.

Serena was getting ready for her first day in Pokémon Academy of Lumiose, a quite recently established school for Trainers. The other one being in Santalune City.

Unlike Kanto, other regions did not have an examination for young Trainers to start their journey at the age of 10. Whenever aspiring Trainers asked why, the professors always gave the same answer:

"There is no Professor Oak here."

The whole reason Kanto even had said examination in the first place was because of Samuel Oak, a name famous in the world. And so, Pokémon Trainers starting their adventures at the age of 15-16 became the norm as well as common sense.

Trainer School were for children aged 5 to 9, while Academies were for 10 to 16-year-olds.

Before Serena leaves for school, she would always take a walk within the forest of Vaniville Town. The ambience was nostalgic and soothed her.

The girl had been doing such a routine ever since she was separated from a certain raven-haired boy. Hoping that one day, he might come find her again.

Of course, it did not matter. Because she would always remember his promise to her.

"Red…," she muttered softly, pulling out a blue handkerchief.

And then, the girl left for school, the handkerchief tied to her wrist.

"Hey, hey, Serena!" a brunette cried out from the school's bus.

The girl was Shauna, her first friend in Kalos.

After returning to Vaniville Town, Serena had to attend Trainer School. There, she met Shauna and quickly became good friends. Although heartbroken parting with Ash, she still made tremendous efforts in making friends.

The boy had helped shape her from a shy timid girl into sociable one. And she would not betray that growth and regress back to the pitiful child in the past.

Then came 3 other boys.

Calem, Trevor and Tierno.

-A black-haired boy with a rather cocky attitude but an overall good friend.

-An orange-haired boy with a gift for photography.

-And a large boy with a dancing habit.

Together, these 5 formed a friend group.

Serena would usually smile when she was with her friends, but from time to time, she would stare vacantly into the air with a sorrowful vibe. However, this gave the complete opposite reaction from her peers.

They saw a beautiful girl with an aloof expression, completely unapproachable with those frosty blue eyes. Thus, a moniker of 'Ice Queen' was given to her as a result.

Serena was completely oblivious to that fact and questioned why her schoolmates tend to avoid her.

Each day passed after her debut in Pokémon Academy.

Admirers of the 'Ice Queen' grew as well. Tierno being one of them.

And as far as anyone was concerned, he had the highest chance since Serena was her friend. But Calem and Shauna knew.

That the honey-blonde's heart belonged to another.

When she returned home, she would usually practice Rhyhorn racing with her mother, Grace. Even though she did not like it, the girl put up with it since it was good exercise.