The Eighteen

Chapter 1

November 31, 2002. Evening. Kalos Region Prison.

Darkness.

That was all that the man could see, with the faintest outline of light from around the corner. The whole block was covered in it, except for that faint pulsing light. The man looked up through the cell bars and saw another man holding a lantern, while navigating the prison block. The man's face was hidden from view, as the lantern did not manage to light up that area of the man's body.

"Are you Lysandre?", asked the second man, with a menacing British accent.

The man stared at him, fear in his eyes, but nevertheless confidently stroked his orange hair.

"Yes, that's me. What do you want?", asked the former businessman.

The man with the lantern stood calmly and threw a business card quickly through the cell bars. Lysandre caught it and looked down to read what the note said, and was met with confusion.

Team Rainbow Rocket

"What is this?", the orange-haired man asked, with visible confusion on his face.

The man looked right into Lysandre's face after that. The lantern had finally managed to reveal the man's face, and the former businessman let out a quiet gasp of surprise.

"A business proposition.", stated the man.

Lysandre's facial expression changed to one of understanding, and he managed to sit up straight. There were only two options here. Either deny his offer and stay in this accursed prison, or accept and be back into the world. He thought about it for a moment, and came to a clear decision on what he wanted to do.

"I'm in."

"Good. I knew you would see it that way." The man took a key from his pocket and inserted it into the cell lock. The bar door slid open, and a staggering Lysandre walked out of the cell for the first time in weeks.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?!", shouted the voice of a nearby prison guard. The man looked in that direction, and threw an object down the hall. He could hear a small explosion and a distinct 'thump' on the floor as he started to walk away.

"You'll find out soon enough."

November 31, 2002. Pidgeot Airlines Flight K51. Evening.

A 16 year-old young man sat in his plane seat, and stared out into the dark sky. Since the plane was so far up in the air, he could barely see anything out of the window besides lots of clouds. Now that his Kalos journey was over, he could finally be back home and enjoy being in one place for a while.

"Pika!", came the cry of a small Electric Mouse Pokemon, as he pointed in the direction of the window and out into the sky.

"What is it, Pikachu?". Ash Ketchum looked out the window and saw what his buddy was pointing to. "Woah, that cloud looks so cool!", the boy said a little too overenthusiastically. The other passengers took a quick look at the source of the loud sound earlier, but soon went back to doing their own things.

As Ash continued to sit on the plane, with Pikachu right besides him, he began to reminisce about the past adventures that the two of them had shared. From being with Brock and Misty, all the way up to his Kalos adventures with Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie. Meanwhile, his focus shifted towards Serena, who was one of his best friends. When she kissed him back at the airport, he didn't know how to respond to that…

November 31, 2002. Lumiose Airport, Terminal 3. Afternoon.

"Attention. Latias Airlines Flight H71 will finish boarding soon. Ticket holders who have not boarded yet, please proceed to the gate immediately", rang the monotonal voice of the airport PA system. Serena quickly ran over to the escalator, then turned around to face Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie.

"Kay, it's time to go!", said Serena. "Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, you've all given me so very much, more than I could say!" "Give us a call once in a while!", said Clemont, while Bonnie responded with "Yeah, you can be sure that we'll all come and visit you!".

Serena chuckled and continued on. "Ash,thank you. I'm glad I came with you. You're the kind of person I wanna be!" "Next time we meet, you're gonna like the person I've grown into, stated Serena.

"Awesome!", Ash exclaimed enthusiastically.

A silent moment passed, and Serena began to walk onto the escalator. "See you!", she said, while getting on the first steps of the escalator. As she was waiting to get off, she quickly made a decision that she would stand by. As she looked up at Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie at the top of the escalator, she shouted "Hey Ash! There's just one more thing!".

She ran up the escalator and at the moment she reached the top, it was as almost time itself was still. She quickly leaned in and gave her crush a quick peck on the lips, and then leaned back as the escalator carried her downward to her flight gate. Ash just stood there with a confused expression on his face, while Clemont and Bonnie's jaws had dropped in surprise.

"Thank you!", yelled Serena as she started walking toward her flight gate, with her next journey in Hoenn already in her mind. Ash, however, didn't know what to make of this, and just stood at the top of the escalator with visible confusion on his face until Clemont and Bonnie regained their senses and went over to him. "Ash, are you ok?", asked Bonnie. "Yeah… I guess…", he mused.

November 31, 2002. Pidgeot Airlines Flight K51. Evening.

Ash continued to think to himself as he wondered what had happened earlier at the airport. He couldn't understand for the life of him why Serena kissed him. If she really liked him, then that would explain all those times when Serena was acting nervous around him… Ash didn't know what to think of it. It was a good thing he was planning on settling down in Pallet Town for a while before he headed off on his next journey. He would have more time to go over this situation at home.

As Ash was remembering all the great moments he had in Kalos with his friends, a voice rang out through the PA system. "We are cleared for landing in Viridian City Airport. We are expected to set down in approximately 30 minutes." As the passengers heard this, they soon got ready to set down in Kanto.

"Wow, I can't believe we're almost home! Right, Pikachu?", said Ash while looking in his partner Pokemon's face.

"Pika-chu!", replied Pikachu cheerily as they continued to look into the sky and wonder about what would happen in the near future for themselves.

This is my first fanfiction, so be warned for bad writing and mistakes at times. Feel free to review, and constructive criticism is appreciated. I don't own Pokemon or any of its associated properties and licenses.