Pokemon: Rise of The Shield

Chapter 1: Breaking Denseness

After a long flight from the Kalos region, Ash Ketchum was back in the Kanto Region and was on his back home to Pallet Town. Alongside him were his number 1 partner Pikachu as well as Serena, who had recently become his girlfriend. How did that happen you ask? Well...

Flashback(1 week ago)

Ash was feeling really down about losing the Kalos League, what made it hurt more was that he made to the Finals. He felt like he was finally going to win, but alas, fate had different plans for him that day and it really depressed Ash. Serena had noticed Ash's behavior and knew she needed to do something to change it, but there was only one thing she could think of to get him out of that state: confess her feelings for him. She knew she had to do this; she had waited long enough to tell him, it was either now or never and she went with now. She went to Ash's room and knocked on the door.

"Ash, it's Serena, can I come in?"

There was a long moment before Serena got a response in which Ash opened the door and let her come in. Serena noticed that Ash was still in that depressed state and that Pikachu was saddened to see his best friend in such a state. He had tried to get him out of it, but couldn't.

Ash went back to his bed and lied down, almost as if he forgot Serena was here. That's when she spoke.

"Ash, please stop acting this way. You know that Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu and me hate seeing you like this. Besides, I'm sure you'll win a pokemon league soon."

Ash had gone from depressed to annoyed by Serena's sentence and decided to tell her about a previous Pokemon League match that still haunts him to this day.

Ash sat up on the bed and looker Serena dead in the eye. "Really Serena? You say that as if it was the 1st pokemon league i've ever participated in. It wasn't, it was my 6th and each one had ended badly for me!"

Serena eyes widened when Ash starting yelling, but he didn't stop after that.

"Let me tell you about my very 1st pokemon league. I made it to the top 16, but I could've made it further. I was battling a newly made friend named Ritchie. He took out my Squirtle and Pikachu. I was down to my last pokemon and I chose my Charizard. At the time, he wasn't listening to me. Hell, the only reason it managed to beat his 2nd pokemon was because he provoked him. Then Ritchie sent out his last pokemon, which was a Pikachu. Just when Pikachu was about to attack, Charizard layed down in the middle of the field as if it were taking a nap! I tried to get to attack, but he wouldn't listen. The ref ruled charizard unable to battle and gave the match to Ritchie. That Serena, was the most embarrising day of my life!"

Serena was shocked; she had no idea that Ash went through such a humiliating defeat. In her eyes, he was always this great trainer, but when she heard that story, she really had no clue what to say to him.

"Ash, I..." Serena said before Ash lifted up his hand, signaling that he wasn't done talking.

"Everytime I get knocked out of a league, I always think back to that one match, where if I was a better trainer, I could've won. I always hide behind a smile after a loss and say I'll be alright, but i'm not." Ash said as tears started to form in his eyes. "I'm sick and tired of losing league after league and coming so close to winning them. It's made me think that I'm just an embaressment to Pallet Town and that I should just give up on my dream of being a pokemon master."

Both Serena and Pikachu were both stunned by what he just said. Pikachu was about to zap his trainer, but Serena beat him to the punch and was about to slap Ash, hoping to get to come back to his senses when he said one more sentence.

"I'm sick of being an embaressment to you as well, Serena." Ash said with tears now flowing down his face.

Serena stop dead in her tracks as if she was ran right smack into a brick wall. She wasn't sure if Ash actually said that or if her mind was playing tricks on her, so she made sure she heard correctly. "What did you say, Ash?" she said, unsurely.

Ash stood up and looked right into her ocean blue eyes. "You heard correct, Serena." Ash said with Serena in shock that Ash said that, but before she could question him further, Ash went on.

"Actually, since I just told you all that, there's something else I want to tell you." Serena's heart started to beat rapidly; did Ash feel the same that she did?

"You see, ever since I invited you to travel with me, i've started feeling this weird feeling that i've never felt before. I wasn't sure what this feeling was and why it was towards you, I mean, i've traveled with you girls before and never felt like this. But the more time we traveled, the more and more that feeling grew. After a chat with my mom recently, I finally realized what that feeling is and I don't know how you're going to react to it, but i'm going to tell you anyway because you deserve to know." Ash then took a deep breath and said "Serena, I..I...I love you."

Serena's gasped as her hand went over her mouth as tears formed in her eyes; she couldn't believe that A) Ash had been the one to confess to her and not the other way around and B) The trainer she had been crushing from the moment she met him at Prof. Oak's summer camp all those years ago just confessd to her. Pikachu looked at this with disbelief; it looked like a scene some writer would write for a crappy FanFiction story, but...nah, that would never happen.

After a long minute of silence, Ash broke the silence. "If you don't feel the same, then that's alright, but just know that no matter what, I will always love y-" that was all Ash got out as Serena planted her lips onto his. She was done waiting and wanted to show Ash just how much she loved him back. Ash eyes widened when Serena started kissing him, but after a moment, he closed his eyes and returned the kiss with as much passion as Serena. Both were enjoying their first kiss together and didn't want it to end, but the need for air forced them to seperate.

Serena then spoke. "Ash, I don't care if you finish 1st, 2nd or dead last in any pokemon league you've ever competed in. You are the kindest, sweetest and the most wonderful person I have ever met. I love you Ash, always have, always will and nothing will ever change that." she said sweetly.

Hearing those words, Ash felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders, knowing that no matter if he never won a pokemon league in his life, if he never became champion of a region, and if he never became a pokemon master, he would always have her in his life, and for the 1st time since he lost the Kalos League, he smiled.

"Thank you Serena" he said. "So, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will Ash!" she said and after she said that, they shared another kiss together and in Ash's mind, winning or losing a pokemon league was the farthest thing from his thoughts as he was just happy to finally be with the girl he loved.

End Flashback

After that moment, Serena wanted to go with Ash wherever he wanted to go to next, and after getting Serena's mom's approval and permission as well as saying goodbye to Clemont and Bonnie, the two made their way to Pallet Town. The plan was to relax in Pallet for a few days while the two thought about what region to travel next. Ash hadn't heard anything about a new region yet, so maybe he could re-travel one of the other regions with Serena. Another thing he wanted to do was to start training Serena in pokemon battles; he saw a lot of potential in Serena and thought that maybe if he trained her, it would help her in finding a path. Besides, he had already trained both May and Dawn(more so May) in battles and look at how their careers as Co-Ordinatiors are going. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the view of Pallet.

"Well, here we are Serena, Pallet Town." Ash said

"Oh wow, it's been so long since i've been here. You know what, it closely resembles Vaniville Town." Serena said as she was remembering that camp again and also passing by Pallet on the way to the camp.

Ash, almost like he was reading her mind said "Don't worry, you'll see the old camp grounds a little bit later. But for now, let's go to my house and relax for a bit."

"OK, Ash" Serena said as the two made their way to his house with Ash resisting the urge to run there like he normally would and instead opted to just walking a leisurly pace while holding hands with Serena.

After a few minutes, the two had arrived at Ash's house and went to the door and knocked it, waiting for a response. While waiting, Ash was preparing himself for the inevitable embarrassment from his mom. He didn't get a lot of time as the door open as Delia saw her son and went right to hug him.

"Oh Ash, you're back!" she cried happily while tighting the grip she had on her son. "I watched the conference, you were just wonderful."

Ash meanwhile was having trouble breathing. "Mom...Can't...Breath..." he got out as Delia released her hold on him. That's when Delia noticed Serena. "And who might this young lady be, Ash?"

Ash knew that question would be asked and he braced himself because he was sure he was going to die of embarrassment. "Mom, this is Serena, one of the people I traveled with around Kalos... and she's also my girlfriend." Ash said.

Delia lit up and once again hugged Ash. "OOOOHHHH! My Ashy has finally got himself a girlfriend! I thought I never live to see this day!"

Ash had surprisingly not died from embarrassment like he thought he would and screamed "MOOOOOOOOM! Stop embarrassing me! Besides, you already knew about Serena. Remember when I last called you?"

"I know Ash, I just couldn't contain myself. It's a pleasure to meet you Serena."

"Pleasure to meet you as well Mrs. Ketchum."

"Oh please sweetie, just call me Delia." she said as the two ladies shared a quick hug.

"So Ash, do you already have plans as to where you're going next?" Delia asked her son.

Ash replied "Not yet mom. At the moment, Serena and I are going to relax here for a few days while we decide what to do." as the three had walked into the house.

"Well, I guess I better start preparing for dinner since I assume that Serena will be staying with us for a while. You can have the guest room upstairs, sweetie. Ash will show you where it is." Delia said as she went into the kitchen to do what she does best: cook one hell of a meal for Ash.

Meanwhile, after showing Serena the guest room and dropping off her stuff, the two went into Ash's room as he went to place his Kalos badges with the others.

Serena was impressed with how many badges Ash had won over the years. "Wow Ash, just how many gym badges do you have?" she asked.

Ash said "I have the ones from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and now Kalos regions. I also have 4 gym badges from the Orange Islands. So in total, 52. Speaking of the Orange Islands, here's the trophy I recieved when I won the Orange League."

Serena was looking at the trophy, but was also confused by Ash's words. "Ash, I thought you said you've never won a pokemon league before."

"Well, the Orange League isn't considered an official Pokemon League, so I haven't, much to my irritation."

Serena, noticing Ash getting upset at her mentioning Pokemon Leagues quickly changed the subject. "Hey what's that?" she said as she pointed towards a plaque.

"Oh that's the plaque I received for conquering the Kanto Battle Frontier."

"Battle Frontier?" Serena questioned

"It's basically like gym battles, but much more difficult. I was actually the 1st person to conquer the Frontier. The owner of the frontier, a man named Scott, offered me a spot to become what they are called Frontier Brains, but I declined because I still had plenty of traveling to do. But still, I don't regret doing it, otherwise I wouldn't have many of my friends or wouldn't have reunited with you." Ash said with saying that last part as sweetly as he could.

Having heard that, Serena went to him and the two shared a short, but passionate kiss.

When the two seperated, Serena said "I love you, Ash."

"I love you too, Serena. Now, how about we go over to Prof. Oak's and you can see what other pokemon I got?"

"Sounds great, Ash." Serena said as the two went downstairs, told Delia where they were going and started walking to Prof. Oak's lab minus Pikachu as he decided to stay and relax back at the house.

The two had arrived at the lab and Ash introduced Serena to the Proffesor and Tracey. Right after that, Ash told Serena that he wanted to see some of his pokemon, so he went outside to the ranch. Serena was both annoyed and mostly confused as to why Ash didn't invite her as well; she wanted to see what other pokemon Ash had caught throughtout his journey. She would soon get her answer as Ash called for her from outside

"Hey Serena, could you come out here please?"

Serena did so and noticed Ash standing next to, for lack of better words, a large reptile.

"Hey, Serena. Come on over. Say hello to one of the pokemon I caught in Hoenn: Sceptile."

'Tile' he said as if he was saying hello.

Serena was a little scared of Sceptile, but quickly pushed that fear to the side. "Hi Sceptile, it's nice to meet you. Now then..." she said as she look right at Ash while placing her hands on her hips. "I know you wanted to see your pokemon, but why on earth didn't you invite me, Ash Ketchum?!"

Ash looked rather calm, despite Serena yelling at him. "Serena, it because I wanted to talk to Sceptile for a few minutes and now, I want to show you something." he said as he took Serena's hand. "Can you lead the way, Sceptile?"

'Tile' he said this time saying yes.

The three had walked for a few minutes when they went into a forest part of the ranch. Serena was still confused as to what Ash wanted to show her, though. Her thoughts were interrupted when they just stopped dead in their tracks.

Ash then spoke. "Thanks for the help Sceptile".

'Tile Sceptile'

Ash spoke once more. "Now Serena, do you recognize where we are?" he asked

Serena, still confused as too why they were here responded "No why are we.." was all she got out until she started looking around and then in one moment everything clicked and in her mind, she was reliving a very special memory.

She then spoke up. "ASH! You actually found the exact same spot where we met?!" she screamed.

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it was mostly thanks to Sceptile that I was able to find this spot and quickly too, so I didn't have to keep you waiting."

"Oh, thank you so much Sceptile"

'Sceptile'

"And thank you, Ash. This was very thoughtful of you to do." she said as she then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Ash blushed from the contact, which Serena found really cute.

"Yo-You're welcome. Serena. Now about we relax here for a while?"

"Sounds wonderful, Ash"

The two sat down by a tree while Sceptile wander off back to see Ash's pokemon, since even Ash shouldn't get lost here. The two sat in silence, just enjoying the moment together. There was little to no room between the two as they were sitting as close to each other as they possibly could with their backs against a tree. Serena then broke the silence.

"Ash, i'm so grateful I met you here all those years ago. Grateful that I got to see you again, grateful that I got to travel with you, and grateful that we became boyfriend/girlfriend. You're the best thing to happen to me, Ash. I love you with all my heart." she said.

"I love you too, Serena. I always will and nothing will ever change that." Ash responded as they kissed which turned into a passionate make-out session. For Ash, he had never been happier in his life, not even when he beat Gary in the Silver Conference, when he beat Paul in the Lily of the Valley Conference, when he beat Trip in the Unova League(A/N I forgot what the conference name was), when he won the Orange League and when he conquered the Battle Frontier. Ash could say without a doubt this was one of, if not the, best days of his life. If only he knew what was to come tomorrow, as it would be the worst day in his life.

End of Chapter 1

As you guys can probably guess, next chapter will be the betrayal. Now I'm gonna have a little contest here. There will be 3 people that won't turn on Ash. 1 of them is a former traveling companion(No it's not Clemont or Bonnie, they're still in Kalos and Serena is a given, so she doesn't count either.) and the other 2 are former rivals. Whoever can guess who they are 1st will get a shotout in the next chapter. (Basically, if someone gets one of them right, but not the other two, they get a shoutout, you guys get the idea.) If you don't have an FF account, you don't qualify. Now I gotta work on S.C.R, so make sure you guys leave a review and tell me what you thought of it and until next time, this is nWoreviewer or nWore for short sighing out.