The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 3

Serena whimpers softly before she slowly opens her eyes. It takes a moment before she remembers she is in the guest room in Ash's house. Serena sits up and stretches loudly before getting out of bed, changing from her pajamas to her regular clothes and starts walking downstairs. When she makes it to the ground floor, she hears the sound of Delia humming in the kitchen. Serena immediately freezes in place, realizing that Ash's mother is right there. Even though she spoke to her during video calls and briefly saw her last night before she and Ash went to bed, she has never had a one on one conversation with the mother of the boy she deeply cares for. She blushes slightly, feeling suddenly about going over and talk to her until she hears footsteps coming her way, entering the entryway to give Serena a welcoming smile.

"Good morning, Serena," Delia greets warmly. "Did you sleep well?"

Serena quickly brushes off her bashfulness in hopes of Delia not noticing and gives the woman her best friendly smile.

"Yes, I slept wonderfully, Mrs. Ketchum. Thank you," she replies.

"I'm glad," Delia says cheerfully. "I was just on my way to call for you for breakfast."

"Great," Serena says. "Is Ash up yet?"

Delia chuckles with her mouth closed and answers, "No, and I doubt he will be for a while. If there's one thing I've come to expect from my boy whenever he comes home from a journey, it would be how much he tends to sleep most of the morning away once he's back in his bed."

Serena can't help but giggle at Delia's answer before the two of them head back to the kitchen and start having breakfast. The two of them begin swapping stories about Ash and Pikachu as they eat, which results in them having several laughs.

"Really? Pikachu is that addicted to ketchup?" Serena asks in mid-laughter.

"Oh, you would be surprised," Delia giggles. "Have you really not noticed that during your journey in Kalos?"

Serena thinks for a moment and says, "Now that you mention it, I can't recall a time where we had a meal that involved ketchup at all. Not even when Clemont was grilling something whenever we were on the road."

"Well, I always keep a bottle or two in the house for whenever they're here, so you might get the chance to watch Pikachu eat a whole bottle," Delia says.

The two of them giggle again before they sigh and silently go back to their meal. They stay silent for a couple of minutes until Serena speaks again.

"Ash really is an amazing person," she says. "It's incredible all the things he has done just while we were in Kalos to show his love for people and Pokemon."

Delia nods in agreement before she frowns sadly.

"He is," she says softly. "But sometimes I worry about how much he gets into trouble. One day I might hear about him winning a badge or catching another Pokemon, and the next thing I know, I'll find out he's put himself in great danger."

Serena's smile fades and looks at her food glumly.

"I know what you mean," she says. "There were times in Kalos where I was really worried about his life whether he was trying to save a Pokemon, got lost in a blizzard or when Team Flare captured him. I'm proud of how brave and heroic he is, but I can't help but be afraid for him every now and then."

Delia gives the honey blonde girl a sad smile, glad to see how much she understands.

"It is hard, isn't it?" she says. "Seeing him risk his life, and you begin to worry that he might not make it out."

Serena nods.

"I still remember when I saw him on T.V. before I went on my journey," she says. "He was trying to help a rampaging Garchomp on top of Lumiose Tower and didn't hesitate to try to rescue Pikachu when it fell off even though he would have lost his life in the process. I didn't realize it was him until after he and Pikachu were rescued, but after some of the adventures we had, I get uneasy thinking about moments like that."