: Trainer's School, Melemele Island :

After a tiring victory against some of the Ultra Beasts, Ash and his friends returned to their usual routine. Ash decided to stay in Alola a bit longer to train his Infernape with a special kind of Z-Move, which can only be performed by Infernape, using one of the rarest Z-Crystals, the Infernium Z.

After a lot of training and with the help of many friends, Ash and Infernape successfully executed the Z-Move, The Ten Thousand Degree Fire Fist. The Pokémon Trainer's School was not the same after the battles of the Alola League. The students were more serious and hardworking, as were their Pokémon.

One day, Lillie and Sophocles were having a full-on Pokémon battle with all of their Pokémon. While this was happening, Professor Kukui arrived, searching for Ash. Ash quickly noticed his presence and turned to him.

"Professor Kukui, Alola, when did you come?" Ash asked the professor.

"Just arrived," he replied, "Hey Ash, Principal Oak wants to see you." Ash immediately walked to Oak's office room and knocked on the door before entering.

"Alola, Ash!" Principal Oak, who looked very similar to his cousin Professor Oak from Pallet Town greeted Ash, "My boy, we've noticed a change in weather over the Kalos region, and determined it's because of an ultra-wormhole. Lusamine wants the Ultra Guardians to go to Kalos and check on the problem."

"Kalos?" Ash whispered to himself.

"The Ultra Guardians must leave for the Kalos region as soon as possible. Lusamine will make sure you reach there fast. Inform your friends and if you're all ready, you could leave by tonight," Oak said.

"Okay, Principal Oak," the boy left the room, remembering two figures, a blue silhouette and a pink silhouette. The girl he couldn't meet in Hoenn, maybe she was in Kalos.

: Hoenn Region :

"Good luck, Serena," Palermo told a young girl, "I won't be able to come to see the Master Class, but you have to win this one for me."

"I will. After all, I had to go through the Pokémon Showcases again," the honey-coloured-haired girl replied.

"Tell me one thing, are you sure you want to do this?" Palermo questioned the girl.

"Yes," the girl replied, holding onto a blue ribbon tied to her dress.

"Okay then, if you insist. But remember, you have to start over again. With that said, all the best, girl," Palermo left in her car, smiling and waving at the girl.

"Bye-bye," the girl replied and waved towards the car. She then turned towards the airport and walked in.

POKÉMON ORIGINAL THEME SONG

: Lumiose City Airport :

The plane from Hoenn lands at Lumiose City Airport, its tires screeching onto the runway. Serena disembarks from the plane, holding her ribbon and thinks to herself, "Will he come?" as she walks towards the check-out counter. A boy wearing a light blue jumpsuit is standing there waiting for her.

"Hey Serena," Clemont greets her with a smile, taking her bags from her hands. His Aipom arm picks up the heavier bags.

"Hey Clemont," Serena greets him back with a smile.

"Long time, huh?" He says, looking at her. Since their last encounter, she has become quite beautiful.

"Yes," she smiles, tilting her head. She searches around for some time and then looks back at Clemont, almost crying.

"Searching for him, aren't you?" Clemont says, looking at the girl helplessly.

"Hmph," she looks down and starts to sob.

"Don't cry, Serena," Clemont tries to calm her down.

Meanwhile, two eyes are watching them from the shadows. The two eyes shift their gaze towards a landing helicopter from Alola, knowing that he is going to come.

: A Hotel in Lumiose City :

"Gang, we're here. Our operation will begin soon. We should be meeting our Kalos representative soon. Until then, enjoy yourselves," Burnet says as she turns and walks towards Professor Kukui. Ash is unpacking his stuff in his room. Behind a few items, he comes across a Pokéball, this particular one belongs to an old pal. He then looks at Pikachu and signals him to sit on his shoulders and the two go out.

"Hey, Ash, where are you going?" the professors ask in unison.

"To meet an old friend of mine. Inform the others, Professor Kukui, and Professor Burnet," Ash says, leaving and waving at them.

: Flashback :

"Ash, thank you. I'm glad I came with you. You're the kind of person I want to be," Serena said as the Lumiose siblings giggled. "Next time we meet, you're going to like the person I've grown into," she added before leaving.

"Awesome!" Ash replied, making a fist.

"See ya," Serena left down the escalator, but before completely going down, she turned back. "Hey Ash, there's just one more thing," she ran back up.

When she reached the top and was close enough to Ash, she leaned forward and pecked Ash on the lips. Again, this time she goes down facing Ash, "Thank you!" and with that, she left.

: Back to the present :

"Did she tell me that I was her goal?" Ash wonders, increasing the pace of his running. Within a few minutes, he stood in front of the magnificent Lumiose Gym, better known as the Prism Tower. "Long time buddy," Ash thinks to himself, before entering the Lumiose gym. He enters the Prism tower and stands in front of the Gym doors.

"Are you here for a gym battle?" A familiar voice asks Ash.

"Yes," Ash replies.

"How many gym badges do you have?" the voice questions him again.

"Considering I'm already done with the Kalos league once," Ash thinks to himself, and then talks to the voice, "EIGHT!"

"If you want to enter the Kalos League, eight badges are sufficient enough. Do you still want to battle?"

"Yes, let's see if you can defeat the runner-up," He says scratching the back of his neck.

Clemont and Serena just arrived there from the airport, Clemont took so much effort into convincing Serena that it took him nearly an hour to calm her down. As they enter the tower, Clemont sees Ash talking but couldn't recognize him. Of course, the shorts stood out. But for Serena, the case is different, she recognizes him just by seeing him. Before Clemont understood it was his old friend, Serena runs for him and hugs him from the back. Ash recognized the touch, her special touch, his heart skipped a beat, and her warm breath was flowing over his shoulders. A red blush could be seen creeping up his face.

"Se...Serena..." Ash spoke as the Gym door opened, and out came Clembot, and next to it was Bonnie and her Dedenne.

"Ash..., I knew you'd come," Serena says, trying to control her tears.

"Clemont, you said you were going to the airport to pick Serena up, where'd this guy come from?" Bonnie asks Clemont, pointing at Ash and then back at his shorts. "Seriously Ash, where'd you find those shorts?"

"Oh! Hi Bonnie," Serena says, breaking the hug.

"Hey Bonnie, I've come here for a job, dropped by so that I could meet you guys," He turns towards Serena. "But, you being here is a surprise. Hey Serena, how have you been?"

"Great Ash, thanks for asking. I've been looking at all your battles, and rooting for all your wins," Serena tells Ash shyly.

"Wow, that makes sense. That's why I get the jolt of excitement all of a sudden," Ash says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"By the way, Mr Ketchum, I realized you haven't been reading my letters!" Serena says, realizing something. Something struck Ash.

"What! You have the Master Class today?" Ash asks her in shock.

"Well, I do, and you have come here for a completely different purpose other than that!" Serena says, angrily.

"I didn't know, Serena," Ash says, trying to convince her.

"I did write a letter to you," she replies.

"Letter? Which address do you write those to?" Ash asks.

"Professor Oak, of course!" Serena says.

"Oh, come on! He doesn't even read his letters properly, and secondly, I haven't been in Pallet Town since maybe eternity," Ash says, feeling bad.

"Guys, why don't we just go in and talk?" Clemont interrupts, sweatdropping.

"Yeah, come on in you two," Bonnie says, grabbing both Ash and Serena by their hands.

"We'll prepare lunch, and you two, wait here," Clemont says, leaving with Bonnie and Clembot. Pikachu has also gone to play with Dedenne.

"Serena!" Ash tries to speak to the angry girl, but no response. "Serena!" Ash calls her again but still silent. "SERENA!" he shouts, and she turns around a bit, but is still angry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Three years have passed since we last met. I've come for you. When I went to Hoenn, I looked for you but I could never find you," he said as Serena completely faced Ash. Ash now moves closer to her and pecks her on the lips. "I've wanted to give you something," he now starts to walk away from her, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"A...Ash!" she calls after him, Ash turns back, and Serena runs for him. "I should be the one to say sorry, not you," she hugs him. And now, they look into each other's eyes and lock themselves in a kiss. When they break the kiss Ash, looks at Serena and observes the ribbon he gave her as a gift.

"You still wear that," Ash says, pointing at the ribbon.

"Yes, Ash," She replies, looking at him and smiling. The two talk for some time, when finally, Clemont comes out.

"Hey guys, lunch is ready! Let's dig in," Clemont calls after his two friends.

"Shall we eat then?" Ash says, spreading his hand to Serena and asking her.

"Cha! Real smooth," Serena replies, blushing and smiling.

The gang then have their lunch, Bonnie tells them that now she's a Pokémon trainer, Ash informs them that he's now an Ultra Guardian, and Serena and Bonnie go back into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Wait! What the fuck? Ash, you're... you're an Ultra Guardian?" Clemont asks Ash, surprised.

"Umm, yes, why do you ask?" Ash replies.

"I'm the UGR, short for Ultra Guardian Representative of the Kalos region. Speaking of which, I should be meeting Professor Burnet by now," Clemont says, hitting his head with his hand.

"Let's go then," Ash says, standing up. "Bonnie, Serena, meet you guys later. And, Serena, all the best," Ash says, winking at Serena. The two boys then leave.

STAND TALL INSTRUMENTAL