Chapter 8: Ash: Serena, Whoever Marries You One Day Will Be Lucky Beyond Words!
A person's values are shaped from a young age.
In the original timeline, Serena wasn't particularly fond of battling Pokémon.
In fact, she didn't even care much about Pokémon in general.
Because of that, her journey was delayed by years.
(We're basing this on a realistic timeline, not the anime logic where Ash travels ten regions and is still ten years old.)
But now, influenced by Ash, Serena had not only started her journey much earlier—
She'd also developed a strong interest in Pokémon battles.
That was the final effect of the butterfly wings Ash had accidentally stirred.
She didn't just start her journey early…
She was traveling with Ash himself!
And now, Ash's ideals and values were slowly taking root in her heart.
That night, after chatting by the campfire, the two returned to their tent to sleep.
Serena had packed quite a bit for her trip—but not a tent.
Originally, her plan was to just sleep in a bag under the stars,
Or stay overnight in towns and cities.
But now that there was a tent—why not use it?
Besides, there were bugs outside!
Ash had initially offered to sleep outside and let Serena use the tent.
He was a guy—why make a girl sleep outdoors?
But Serena flat-out refused.
It was Ash's tent. How could she, as a guest, take it while he slept outside?
And so…
They shared a tent.
The sleeping bags were separate, of course.
Even so, Serena had to muster a lot of courage to invite Ash in.
Compared to the embarrassment of sharing a tent,
She couldn't bear the thought of Ash sleeping alone out in the wild.
Before bed, Ash casually muttered:
"Serena, you've had that gentle wife-and-mother vibe since you were little."
"Whoever marries you in the future… will be so lucky."
And then he immediately fell asleep.
Serena, on the other hand?
She lay there wide awake until deep into the night, heart pounding with shyness and happiness,
Before finally drifting off in a warm daze.
---
The next morning, they woke up as if nothing had happened.
They packed up the tent, cleaned up, made a simple breakfast, and set off again.
Though Serena kept a bit of distance on the road, feeling too shy to walk too close to Ash.
They still chatted normally, but…
That one sentence from Ash the night before had truly rocked her.
He'd just… said it and then fallen asleep?
Did he even understand how much of a bombshell he dropped?
Anyone overhearing that would think he confessed to her!
They didn't really return to their usual closeness until midday, when they reached Viridian City.
Ash had noticed Serena's strange behavior—
But he didn't dwell on it.
Not because he was dense, but because…
They were still just ten years old!
Seriously—what could a ten-year-old do?
Even if their bodies looked like they were fourteen or fifteen,
Even if their minds were maturing faster,
Ten is still ten.
What kind of person starts seriously thinking about romance at ten?
(Well… Gary might. That guy already had like four or five girlfriends… Who knows how long he can last.)
Ahem…
Once they arrived in Viridian City, Ash first went to the Pokémon Center to heal Pikachu and Froakie.
Pikachu didn't really need it—he hadn't fought at all these past few days.
The small fry they encountered weren't even worth him lifting a paw for.
The experience they gave wasn't even as good as Ash doing push-ups!
Besides, Pikachu was wearing custom training weights that Ash had made for him.
Outside of sleeping and eating, he was always doing weighted training.
But for a quasi-Elite like Pikachu, this was nothing.
The real strain came from training moves and physical drills while weighted.
Pikachu trained himself.
Froakie, on the other hand, trained by fighting everything in sight!
Sure, food and rest helped with fatigue,
But internal injuries required the Pokémon Center's advanced healing tech.
And the Pokémon Center?
Their medical devices were full-on black technology.
As long as the Pokémon wasn't dead, they could bring it back from the brink.
Froakie had leveled up rapidly in battle.
In just one day, he had reached Beginner – Intermediate tier.
A full stage up in one day—even in the beginner range—was extremely rare!
This was the terrifying result of Ash's stacked trait synergy.
After getting everyone healed, Ash called Professor Oak and Delia.
He told Oak about encountering Ho-Oh and even sent him a photo.
Even just a photo was a major breakthrough in legendary research.
Professor Oak promised to report this to the League and get Ash a reward.
After that, Ash and Serena spent some time exploring Viridian City.
You really have to admit—cities are way more bustling than towns.
Skyscrapers stood tall, and shopping centers were everywhere.
Ash took the chance to purchase all the supplies they needed.
Serena picked out a few things—perfume, hairbands, elastic ties—just little girl items.
Ash didn't hesitate to pay for them from his own pocket.
To Ash, money was just a number.
Back when he was Professor Oak's assistant,
He had helped with so many research projects that the rewards had made him… well, let's just say very comfortable.
As long as he didn't spend on extremely rare Pokémon equipment,
He had enough money to last a lifetime.
Serena was embarrassed at first.
After all, Ash had been cooking all their meals and now he was even footing the bill.
But she couldn't win against his persistence.
Ash waved it off, saying it wasn't much, and he was happy to do it.
After buying food and some Pokémon items, they headed to Viridian Gym.
This was the closest gym to Pallet Town,
And also one of the strongest gyms in the Kanto region!
The Gym Leader, known as Giovanni the Groundbreaker,
Was said to have strength comparable to the Elite Four.
Even though he might go easy on challengers,
This wasn't a gym for rookie Trainers.
Ash came here purely to see if his quasi-Elite Pikachu could defeat Giovanni.
But when they arrived, the Gym gatekeeper said—
"The Gym Leader isn't in right now."