TEEN: Mirror Adventures: A Tragedy of False Smiles [Anime Mirrorverse AU]

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Ah, it’s always good to see a returning reader! Welcome back, and I’m glad that you’ve been enjoying Mirror Adventures so far.

As an overall note, I’m also happy that everyone seems to appreciate Daisy and Leaf being here. They do often pop up a lot in anime-based fanfiction (Leaf especially), but I wanted to write them in something that‘s a bit closer to actual anime canon (even as it’s, again, not a direct play-by-play of anime canon except with mirror characters). Daisy in particular was going to be quite different from how she ultimately turned out, with her current incarnation actually being a very last-minute change. (And I’m pretty sure that everyone else would’ve have, haha… one of these days I’ll have to post some behind-the-scenes stuff so that I can show her what she could’ve been). Both her and Leaf are going to be going through some serious character arcs throughout this story, and you’ll already kind of see the first seeds of those being planted for Daisy and Leaf in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively. And later chapters will be quite the rollercoaster ride for one of the two especially.

As for the scene break thing, I’ve been playing with that for a while, actually. I believe that there’s an official “line break” function here, but that’s boring; asterisks have character, haha! How I’m currently doing it probably isn’t ideal in the spacing department, admittedly, but I tried adding spaces in-between previously and I found them to be too extreme for my tastes. Perhaps experimenting in BBcode will provide a more satisfactory answer to this (I’ve found it especially useful for… other projects that I’ve been working on here, let’s just say).

Finally, as for what’s in store for you in later chapters, all I’ve got to say is that you’re in for one hell of a ride for some of the crazier chapters that are coming up, and that there will plenty of world- and lore-building that I imagine might really be interesting for someone like you. You seem to really like the character aspect of Pokémon in particular, and I’ve got ideas of them in spades here, being someone who enjoys seeing lesser-known characters get the spotlight especially. If you’re familiar with XY-era character lore in particular, you’ll be in for a real treat here (although you can be sure that characters from all sagas are going to be represented well here). I hope to see you around here again soon in any case!

 

[System Error]

As part of the last day, let's finally read this novella chapter.

- Well Serena is pretty hyper aggressive here, gung-hoing a Pokemon.
- But she actually caught it? And uses Ash's catchphrase too.
- Shoutouts to tomato sauce.
- Even in the Mirror Universe, kids being jerks is a constant.
- That scene with the unknown girl is nice, though it seems we only get half a name and a surname for now.
- This teacher pretty much giving a villain speech.
- Jesus, Serena going IN. Almost too sharp for her age.
- Camille? Isn't that a MAN'S name?
- Ms. Green and not Mrs. huh?
- Well the bullying in this next scene borders on if not is over-the-top. I couldn't take it seriously due to how excessive it was.
- Fistfight!
- Finally, getting a proper name. Although why no one could pronunce it...
- I played my old Game Boy recently, for the novelty. It too had a lot of scratches.
- Wow Ms. Green going full edgy insane rant over time.
- It seems it runs in the family too. Although maybe from later indications Leaf was being forced.
- The infamous ten badges joke...
- How dinky is this shack of a school? Or how giant are Venusaurs in this setting?
- She can't believe she penned that out? Why didn't she white it out? Obviously she wanted to say it.
- Suddenly, scene shift not to find out what happened with Serena but with new characters. I was not expecting Tracey but I can dig it. Rose though, uh oh. Hopefully Mirror is ineffectual or otherwise good.

Pretty insanely long chapter that probably could've been split up, really. It made a lot of progress, and yet also didn't seem to go too far at the same time. Biggest strides coming with Serena giving her a sideplot, whereas Ash stays mostly the same or at least takes little steps. Still, all in all, nice giant-ass read, even if I had to put my speedreading skills to work to get it done in any timely fashion. Meant I probably glossed over some smaller details I might've when fine combing, but still, got most of it!

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

@System Error
Hello and welcome back to Mirror Adventures! Glad that you were able to go through my, um… short story’s worth of a chapter in relatively short order for the challenge, haha. And that it was enjoyable despite that. Comments as usual below:

Well Serena is pretty hyper aggressive here, gung-hoing a Pokemon.

Serena’s an aggressive girl, haha! Or rather, she’s a girl who knows what she wants and how to get it. I wanted to start out the chapter with instant action and high stakes — Serena catches her first Pokémon, literally! — that draws the reader in, especially given how the previous chapter ended.

This teacher pretty much giving a villain speech.

Well, as Serena accurately points out, he’s a bully. And a grown one, at that. And in school, what’s a greater villain than that? Unfortunately for him, Serena is an even bigger bully, haha. That said, is there really any such thing as a good bully? I mean, although Serena certainly has the moral high ground here, she does seem to be really enjoying paying assholery unto assholery, isn’t she? A rather disturbing trait for a ten-year-old girl to have and indulge in, perhaps, but then Serena is no ordinary girl, for better or worse. She has her reasons for acting that way, some more subconscious than others.

That scene with the unknown girl is nice, though it seems we only get half a name and a surname for now.

Yeah, I really enjoy getting to write other people besides Ash and Serena, actually. Speaking of the latter, I wanted to emphasize here that not everyone can be a Serena, or even a particularly good student for whatever reason that may be. And in this girl’s case, her reason is something that she can’t really control; not without help, anyway. But of course, in real life, help is not something that’s easily received or even thought about in any positive or meaningful way from the powers that be. The Mirror World is unfortunately no exception to this rule, as it’s not a utopia. It can’t be, as humans exist, and thus evil and ignorance must also exist, too. But my thoughts about the idea of the Pokémon world — let alone the Mirror World — as a utopia are probably a story best told another time. There’ll be plenty of opportunities to discuss that within the story itself, in any case!

Ms. Green and not Mrs. huh?

Yeah, very deliberate there, haha. Let’s just say that this series’ grand tradition of absent fathers hasn’t changed with in Mirror World. Although of course why is the question, isn’t it. Or does it even matter? We’ll see, won’t we?

Well the bullying in this next scene borders on if not is over-the-top. I couldn't take it seriously due to how excessive it was.

I wonder if this is a case of reality being stranger than fiction here? Because I could’ve made this a lot worse, I think. Is it the dialogue, maybe? Kayleigh is admittedly more than a little “extra” (for reasons).

Fistfight!

Well, I had to have something to justify Serena’s reputation, haha. But yeah, not good for either Serena or Kayleigh there. It’s actually kind of sad to see two girls devolve into that, actually, but to Serena’s credit, she tried. Kayleigh has issues, needless to say.

Finally, getting a proper name. Although why no one could pronunce it...

Ah, so it looks like I didn’t make things quite as clear here as I could’ve. I thought that their hair descriptions would be enough; oh well. Here’s the thing… they’re actually two completely different people! The first girl that Serena was talking to in class is the one with the last name of “Bernier” and the alternate name of “Alouette”, as revealed by that youngster that Serena sweats later on. The second girl with the Game Go that’s being bullied by Kayleigh and the other kid is “Amelia”. The key thing that I thought would distinguish the two is the mention of first girl’s hair going down just past her shoulders and being “off-black”, while Amelia’s is said to be quite a bit longer and “raven-black”. Amelia is also quite a bit more aggressive, if more in desperation than anything else, being willing to charge one of her bullies to get her Game Go back before Kayleigh shuts her down; first girl is a bit too meek to pull that off right now, I think. It seems that I didn’t telegraph these things hard enough, though, so it looks like a re-write might be in order…

As for why Serena couldn’t pronounce Amelia’s name at first, there’s actually some interesting real life history behind that. Amelia is a canon character, and although the spelling of her name is identical between the English dub and the Japanese original, their pronunciations are actually completely different! Which is important because the name Amelia, in its most well-known Western form (the original is “Amalia” from Germanic or Hebrew, depending on who you ask), is primarily associated with Italian, and from there it’s changed quite a bit both spelling-wise and phonetically as it moved through other cultures and their own languages. In the English dub, Amelia is pronounced the way that the average American is likely to: “eh-MEE-lee-a”. But in the Japanese original, it’s instead pronounced “アメリア” (or “a-MEH-ri-a”), which is closer to the Italian way (“a-MEH-lya”) in an obvious attempt at authenticity. Especially since the French pronounce it similarly if not identically, and thus, so do Kalosians. Also remember that Serena comes from the Pokémon equivalent of the Kansai region of Japan and has only lived in Kalos for a relatively short amount of time. Thus, she might not be completely familiar with foreign names, let alone those from the Pokémon equivalent of France. There’s actually a lot of history about languages in the Mirror World and how that may affect how people like Serena approach names among other things, but that’s something that’ll be explored more in depth much later.

I played my old Game Boy recently, for the novelty. It too had a lot of scratches.

The main thing that stood out to me during my own last go-round with a Game Boy was the distinct lack of a backlight. That brought me back, let me tell you (not in a good way, haha). I wonder if perhaps the Mirror World’s technology is enough for a Game Go from over a decade ago to have a decent backlight on it without having the battery life of a Game Gear. Nah, probably not. Sorry, Amelia!

Wow Ms. Green going full edgy insane rant over time.

Most definitely taking advantage of her full discretion as a League-appointed instructor, isn’t she? Let’s hope that an official doesn’t walk in to someone crying during a particularly hard lecture or something. Then again, I think they all learned their lesson from that and the other student who annoyed Ms. Green, don’t you think? We’ll see, anyway!

It seems it runs in the family too. Although maybe from later indications Leaf was being forced.

Perhaps from a certain definition of “forced”. As Leaf says, she’s the “Pride of Pallet”. Who, or what, defines what that means, exactly?

The infamous ten badges joke...

Yeah, I went there, haha. It’s one of those things that I just found amusing and threw it in, and I figured that Leaf would be the best fit for that given the semi-legendary status she has in Pallet Town.

How dinky is this shack of a school? Or how giant are Venusaurs in this setting?

Well, it’s literally just a house. And somehow I doubt that Pallet Town houses were made on a particularly high budget, haha…

I actually looked up the height for Venusaur in reference to this scene, and it checked out, kind of. 6’7” is their official height, or about slightly lower than that of an average door. The ceiling of a not-particularly modern house would probably be eight or nine feet, I think. If the house is on the lower side of that scale, then Venusaur fits, barely. But if it yawns or otherwise stretches its body out, like it did in this scene, well…

She can't believe she penned that out? Why didn't she white it out? Obviously she wanted to say it.

Serena has a reputation to maintain, haha. But seriously speaking, I’d like to imagine that Serena is someone who’s very serious about penmanship. Remember that her handwriting is described as small yet meticulous. And in a later description, that it’s all in pen. Why not just use a pencil? I think that it’s purposeful on her part; she’s the kind of girl that would rather tear up a draft and write a new one than have a bunch of scratch-outs or erase marks everywhere (bad for trees, but hey, there are plenty of those in the Pokémon world, haha). Which is perhaps kind of contrary to what some might expect from a “country girl” with all of the (often inaccurate) assumptions that come with that. You might also notice that her Kansai dialect is missing from this letter? Now, naturally, if she were writing in Japanese, there would almost certainly be plenty of Kansai-ben there, but of course English the written word is very different from English spoken with an accent, let alone actual Kansai-ben Japanese, spoken or otherwise. Things like this will, again, be explored in detail in later.

Suddenly, scene shift not to find out what happened with Serena but with new characters. I was not expecting Tracey but I can dig it. Rose though, uh oh. Hopefully Mirror is ineffectual or otherwise good.

Ha, this scene happens to be the one I referenced in this post. I was originally going to save it — and its characters, notably a particularly important one — for much, much later. But then I started getting ideas going through my head, and then a scene. What you saw there is the result! I wanted something that referenced the larger plot going on behind the scenes of what Ash and Serena are going through, not only because they’ll be… not so behind the scenes within short order, but also because I wanted a path to their impending appearance in Pallet Town as Delia makes reference to in the beginning of this chapter. I wonder if you’ve figured out who the other two characters are besides Rose and Tracey? In any case, expect to see all of them again very soon!

Pretty insanely long chapter that probably could've been split up, really. It made a lot of progress, and yet also didn't seem to go too far at the same time. Biggest strides coming with Serena giving her a sideplot, whereas Ash stays mostly the same or at least takes little steps.

That’s probably a fair assessment of this chapter, really. A lot of the stuff here is set-up for future chapters: the Pokémon Battle School, Serena’s last day of that, the introduction of people like Camille, first girl, Kayleigh, Amelia, and so on. The next chapter will have some more of this, but I hope that it’ll push one character’s journey forward in a fairly significant way. And that the chapter after that will do the same for another character. I also hope to see you there, as always!

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

Mother's Day special, haha! The latest chapter of Mirror Adventures: A Tragedy of False Smiles is once again available below.

This chapter is rated TEEN. Specific content warnings are provided in the tag below (note that some of them may contain spoilers):

Spoiler: Content Warnings

Language including the occasional strong swear (including some f-bombs), mentions of blood, and implications of bullying and abuse.

* * * * * * *
[Chapter 5]
A Mother's Embrace… Enter Mirror Grace and the Château de Radiance!​

"I-I—"

"Serena, I said what in the world are you doing?" the new arrival repeated, a woman with short brown hair and remarkably similar blue eyes to said person she was addressing. "Did you just beat up that poor girl?"

"I-It's not like—!"

"Serena. Just let her go, please."

After a moment's pause, she did just that, causing Kayleigh to fall back to the ground with a painful-sounding thump!. Serena then slowly, awkwardly backed off as the woman approached Kayleigh, who raised her head to meet her with a groan.

"I apologize on behalf of my daughter," said the woman. "Now, my name is Grace. I'm sure you might recognize me? I'm the same Grace you're probably thinking of: the famous Rhyhorn racer. And who might you be, dear?"

"K-Kayleigh…"

"Kayleigh?" Grace repeated, before bending down to her and giving her a rather strange stare into her eyes, as if examining them. "Forgive me, but you don't really look like a Kayleigh to me."

"W-Watashi wa Kaori," Kayleigh spurt out all of a sudden. "Yoshida Kaori. K-Kayleigh."

"Ah, that explains a lot!" Grace cheerfully replied, before sitting herself down to meet Kayleigh at eye level. "Now then, where do you live?"

"Q-Quinzième… the Fifthteenth…" Kayleigh stuttered, her eyes drifting away from Grace towards the ground with that particular answer.

"Heh, that explains a lot, too," Grace replied. "I'm guessing that, well… whatever happened between you and my daughter is going to be really hard for someone like you to take of, right? Even a broken nose can cost a whole lot to fix, yeah?"

"I-I—" Kayleigh tried to speak, but before she could, Grace was already in her handbag, from which she pulled out a checkbook, and then a pen.

"Give me a second," Grace said, mostly to herself as she rather furiously scribbled something into the checkbook. About half a minute later, she finished, tearing out the check and presenting it to Kayleigh.

"I think that about thirty thousand Poké should handle that?" said Grace. "Or maybe more like sixty thousand. I'll make sure you get the other half, so long as we can all just forget that any of this ever happened, yeah? Can you do that?"

Kayleigh nodded, reaching for the check before Grace abruptly pulled it back.

"Remember this," she said, right before presenting the check to Kayleigh again. The latter carefully took it, a rather anxious look washing over her face as she did so.

"Lovely!" said Grace. "Now, I suppose you know what number to call in situations like this. You should go do that. Serena!"

Serena jumped at her mother's voice, startled but already knowing what she wanted as she turned to the large black limousine parked on the street.

The long march to the limo was an awkward one for her, and a silent one. She did not look back at Kayleigh as she got into the back seat along with her mother, with the cold, plush leather seats cushioning her aching bones as she laid her back there. The doors automatically closed soon after, leaving the two alone in the enclosed, private space.

"You know where to go," Grace piped up towards the front of the limo, after which Serena felt the car shift into gear and drive away. And with that, Grace turned around to Serena, the latter resisting the urge to look away as the former stared her down.

It was then that Grace's face morphed into a wide, incredulous, almost teasing smile.

"Again, Serena?"

"W-What!? She started it!"

"Serena, does it really matter who started it? I mean, look at the mess you've just made! Again! I mean, you're totally gonna bankrupt me if you keep this up!"

Serena couldn't believe that her mother was still smiling after saying all of that.

"But Mom, we're fuckin' rich—"

"Language~!" Grace interrupted in an almost sing-song voice, wagging a finger at Serena.

"I-I— ugh!" Serena grunted in annoyance before continuing on. "I mean, you just gave her thirty thousand Pokédollars, Mom! I think that's more than half the guys at my school have to spend in a year. I bet she'll be doin' just fine with that…"

"…even if she doesn't deserve it, the punk…" she muttered under her breath.

"And do you expect someone to swoop in with thirty thousand Pokédollars every time you get into a scuffle, Serena?"

"N-No, but—"

"Serena, you've got to learn how to just let things go without getting into fights all the time! I mean, really—"

"I-I literally didn't do anythin'!" Serena shouted. "Like I said, she started it! She was bullyin' this… poor girl, I guess… and then I tried to stop her before she pounced on me like some wild Pokémon or somethin'! She was totally crazy!"

"You were…!?" Grace spurted out in surprise, before a proverbial lightbulb soon flashed in her eyes. "Ah, so that's what it was! Tried to be the hero again, I see! Well, Serena, I'm afraid that's what tends to happen when you get yourself involved in business that you shouldn't. I know that you want to swoop in and save the day and all, but you could've just called a teacher and let them handle it. That's what you should've done, really."

"Yeah, and any of that crowd that was watchin' the whole thing shoulda called a teacher too," said Serena. "Just shows how totally useless everyone at that school is."

"Wow, you sure do have a grudge against that school, don't you?" Grace remarked. "Tell me, is it really that bad?"

"You have no idea," Serena said bitterly, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Serena, I really think that your anger clouds your judgement a lot—"

"Didn't I just tell you that there were a whole bunch of people there already!? No one was gonna come! So I had to take care of it myself. Or are you sayin' that I shoulda just let that girl bully her?"

"Serena, I see no reason why calling a teacher wouldn't have just solved everything. It's a school filled with professionals who are paid to do their job. Someone has to care over there. The whole world's not your enemy."

"Is it now?" Serena replied. "Why don't you tell that to the paparazzi who follow us around everywhere, yeah? To the people who be writin' all those bullshit stories about me all the time, huh!?"

"Language—"

"Maybe if we were still in Johto we wouldn't be dealin' with any of this crap at all!" Serena screamed at her mother. "I wish we never even came to this hellhole!"

Almost as if on cue, the limo stopped right then and there, jolting Serena into silence. The car door next to Grace opened seemingly on its own right thereafter, beckoning her to exit.

"I think that you could use a breather, Serena," said Grace as she stepped out of the limo. "It looks like you've had a really long day."

No shit, Serena barely refrained from saying, before stepping out of the limo herself.

The one who opened the car door ended up being a gloved tuxedo-clad man, who gave a greeting of "good evening, Miss Grace" as Serena crossed his way. Serena responded with a mere mumble as she hastily strutted forward towards a nearby sidewalk crossing through an immaculately cut flat of green. The sidewalk then led to a large marble staircase, which itself led to what had become a most familiar sight for Serena over the years.

Said sight was the Château de Radiance. It was, by far, the largest house that Serena had ever seen, and most certainly the largest that she had ever been to in person… let alone lived in. Two large, heavy doors invited Serena inside as she marched up the stairs, anchored by two massive stone columns, along with multiple tall windows as far as the eyes could see both on each side of her and above her. The house itself was painted a radiant pearl white that seemed to defy the elements and even time itself, earning it its most apt name.

Yes, this was her house, alright.

But it'll never be my home, declared Serena as she reached the doors, walking through them before they were both slammed shut behind her.

* * * * * * *​

The main hall of the Château de Radiance was nearly as exquisite as its exterior. A brown-accented marble staircase was flanked by multiple massive windows in the front and beautiful sculpting on the sides, which led the way to more stairs going in the other direction towards a wide balcony looking over below. A pearl white chandelier hung over everything from dozens of feet above, while a nearly-as-brightly colored arch served as the ceiling, which together enveloped everything within the hall with great warmth and light.

It all stood in stark contrast to the state of the girl who just burst through the pair of tall entrance doors and out of the thunderous, raging rain outside. Covered from head to toe in mounds upon mounds of mud, dirt and water soiled the otherwise immaculate marble floors with every hard, hurried step that she took, straight towards the staircase.

"Where is she!?" the girl shouted as she began her hasty climb, her voice loud yet at the same time rather cracked; weak, even.

"Miss Serena, what on earth happened!?" a young adult woman with long brown hair cried out, emerging out from one of the side doors near the bottom of the staircase. "Was there an accident, or—"

"Where is she!?" Serena shouted again as she reached the top, ignoring the concerned pleas of the young woman below. "Where's my grandma!?"

"Miss Serena, is that blood on you!?" the young woman remarked, prompting Serena to hastily wipe off a trickle that she felt running down the side of her mouth. "Did someone hurt you!?"

"I don't need your help, Elise!" Serena screamed at her. "I don't need any of yall's help, or for any of y'all to do anythin', except tell me where my grandma is!"

"M-Master Grace's room, miss," Elise stammered out, having recoiled a bit. "But please, let us help you—"

She was again ignored.

An extended march across a long, dark carpeted hallway led Serena to a certain door; a familiar one. It was ajar, the bright yellow light from the room within shining out as if beckoning Serena there.

But something else within that room would've almost certainly beckoned her there anyway.

"Are we really going to have this conversation again, mother!?" came a shout from beyond the door.

"Yes, we are," came the much calmer counter, belonging to an obviously older woman. "I've told you time and time again, she isn't ready for this. Hell, you're not ready for this. So how on earth could she, that poor child? But of course, you just had to go out and chase that damn dream of yours, even after—"

"After what? Having a kid!? But you're the one who told me—"

"Yes, I did. But you made your choice. And there is such a thing as takin' responsibility for your choices, Saki."

"D-Don't you dare call me that… you don't control me anymore, mother!"

"Control… dear God, if only you knew what control is. If only you could see it. But I'm simply tellin' you like it is, Saki, and as always—"

"You think that you would be a better mom, don't you!? That's what it always comes down to with you, right? You're just so much better than I am! But you don't know her; you don't know me; you don't know anyone, or anything! Nothing but your tiny little world where everything has to play by your rules! Just like everyone else at that hellhole—"

"If everyone is sayin' that you're doing something wrong, then perhaps it would be wise to heed what they have to say."

"Screw you," came an especially pointed reply. "Screw you and your hick philosophy; your backwards bullshit! Thank God I got out of there when I had the chance! I should've left sooner, before you could poison my Serena with your nonsense."

"Hmph," was the older woman's simple, quiet response. "You know that Serena needs someone who'll be there for her, right? Who'll love and support her, no matter what?"

"And you think that I don't love and support her? That all of this was about me? That I would want my daughter to grow up in dirt!? Screw. You. Get out of my house, get out of my life, and get the hell away from my Serena! I swear to God, as long as I draw breath, she is never going back there!"

It was then that the door burst open, revealing Serena's presence. She could feel another trickle of blood fall from the side of her mouth just as both of the room's occupants stared wide-eyed at her, clearly taking in her disheveled, worn-down appearance.

"T-They…" Serena tried to say to them, failing to get the words out. "T-They—"

No more words were needed for a certain someone, who silenced her with a tight yet gentle embrace.

"Grandma…"

"Oh, Serena!"

How she wished that she could stay like this forever…

"Serena…?"

But then she heard another voice calling her name.

"Serena!"

* * * * * * *​

"H-Huh!?"

"Your room's on the other side of the hall, silly."

Serena blinked. She was still in front of her mother's bedroom door, but she now wondered, with some puzzlement, how exactly she even found herself there in the first place.

"O-Oh, right…" was her tentative, awkward response. How embarrassing…

"Don't worry," said Grace. "I've already got them preparing a bath for you. So just slip in there and let your troubles wash away, OK?"

"S-Sure," was all Serena was able to say, before she, again rather tentatively and awkwardly, turned around towards her room.

* * * * * * *​

It wasn't long before Serena found herself laying inside a large porcelain tub, with the warm, sud-filled water reaching right up to her neck. She had taken a shower not long beforehand where her hair and body was stripped of all of the dirt and mud she had accumulated throughout the day, allowing the tub water to take on a pristine, picturesque appearance as it soothed Serena's aching bones.

"May I come in, Miss Serena?"

A calm, soft, and measured voice sounded from behind the bathroom door. Serena recognized its owner instantly as…

Elise.

"O-Oh, yes, of course!" said Serena, just before the door opened in response.

The young woman named Elise appeared at the doorway, carrying a dark towel and robe in her hands. She herself was fitted in a long, closely fitting black-and-white dress, signifying her role in the house as maid.

"I hope that you're feeling better now, Miss Grace," said Elise, again in that calm, soft, and measured voice.

"I-I, well…"

Serena searched in her mind for something snarky to say, given all she had been through today that the admittedly nice bath couldn't quite wash away as easily as her mother said that it would.

But then, to her rather great surprise, she came up empty.

"Yeah," replied Serena, in total straight-faced honesty. "I really do."

This may not be her home, Serena remarked to herself, but she could certainly appreciate some of its creature comforts.

"Black robe for my black eye," quipped Serena, pointing to a swollen mass around her right eye where a certain someone had struck it. "You know me too well, don'tcha Elise?"

She didn't answer, but her face seemed to as Serena saw it twitch a little bit.

"It's OK for you to laugh, y'know! 'Master Grace' isn't here."

Serena had chosen the fanciest accent she could think of for those last words there, rather unconvincingly. It was at this point that she could see the traces of a wild smile appear on Elise's face; one that she was clearly suppressing.

"C'mon, Elise; you know you want to!"

It was then that a single, stifled laugh burst out of her, right before she cleared her throat and forced herself back to her usual stoic expression… or the closest thing to it that her still-laughing face could muster, rather.

"L-Let me know if there's, ahaha, anything else you need, Miss Grace."

"Sure thing," said Serena, just as Elise turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her to provide Serena with peace and privacy once more.

* * * * * * *​

Serena came out of the bathroom a little while later, dressed in her black robe indeed matching her very black eye. The door led into her bedroom, an amazingly large space whose namesake queen-sized bed — adorned with soft white silk sheets — took up but a tiny section of the room next to a series of windows. Said windows reached up to the ceiling, an extremely high one that practically resembled an art piece by itself with its elaborate floral-themed sculpting. The floor was almost equally as interesting, consisting nearly entirely of a large, thick red-and-beige rug that warmly caressed Serena's feet and toes as she walked over to a long oak desk next to her bed, where various pencils, pens, and papers were neatly placed and organized.

Sitting down in a nearby office chair, Serena then grabbed one of the papers along with a black pen, preparing to engage in a most important matter of business that she had been putting off for quite some time now, but not anymore.

Ash.

There was so much that she wanted to say to him, after so long. And yet…

Why the hell can't I write anything!?

No matter how hard she tried, she found herself completely empty of words to put on paper, even as she had plenty to say in her heart. Again.

"Goddammit!" screamed Serena as she took the paper and crunched it up into a ball before tossing it into a nearby trash can, the home of many other failed writing attempts where it landed on top of. "Nothing's going right for me today, is it!?"

She then burst out of her seat and jumped into her nearby bed, landing face first. She didn't even bother adjusting herself from what was becoming an increasingly uncomfortable position for her, and if anything she found herself burying her head even deeper into the bedsheets, as if to block out the world around her.

"Why…" Serena moaned, before she soon felt herself slip into a deep sleep.

* * * * * * *​

She isn't comin', is she?

A crash of thunder sounded as if to answer Serena, accentuating the relentless rain and dark blue skies that she could see right in front of her. The barn roof above her shielded not only her from the worst of it, but also the half-eaten cake cradled in her hands.

Maybe it's the weather, Serena told herself, even as she became convinced that it explained more of her own state of mind right now than anything else.

About a minute later, she gave a long sigh and turned away, having grown tired of the same old sights and sounds, and of the little sprinkles of water that kept hitting her face. She laid herself down on a patch of dirt in the middle of the barn, laying her cake down next to her before staring at it wistfully… or as much of it she could see in the darkness, at least.

Happy birthday to me.

It was then that she heard something swoop down towards her, before feeling something soft, warm, and feathery come close to her chest. She didn't need to see to know what it was — or who it was, rather — and at their presence, she couldn't help but smile… just a little bit, even after everything.

"At least you're here…"

But before either of them could enjoy their reverie, the barn door suddenly opened, flooding everything with a blinding white light.

"Oh, Serena~!"

* * * * * * *​

Goddammit, go away… Serena thought, barely avoiding uttering her annoyance to a certain new arrival who had just opened her bedroom door.

"Serena, there's dinner for you downstairs and—"

Grace stopped, having apparently noticed Serena's most unusual position on her bed.

"You look kind of funny there, Serena. Long day, right? Well, why don't you come downstairs and make it all better with some nice, delicious food?"

Serena didn't respond, remaining stiff and still as ever.

"Serena, you really should go eat something. I had them make your favorite, just for you! C'mon, let's go downstairs."

Still no response, which itself earned a long, heavy sigh in response from Grace.

"Serena, I know that you're awake and that you're ignoring me, but… you know that I love you, right?"

Serena still said nothing.

"Well, if you don't, I want to know this. This house, the Rhyhorn racing, us being in Kalos… it wasn't just for the money or the fame or all of that. It was for you. I wanted, well… something better than what we could get in Johto. A future for us. A future for you. Everything that you could ever want and more. Just remember that, okay?"

Silence, yet again, was Serena's response.

"I hope that you'll understand someday," was Grace's simple reply. "Good night, Serena."

The door then closed with a creak and a thump, leaving Serena in darkness — and in peace — once more.

* * * * * * *​

A long, dreamless sleep marked the rest of Serena's night, leading to a rather weird feeling as she drifted back into consciousness in what felt like just a short time later, greeted by bright morning sunlight.

Or was it? She didn't remember the morning sun looking so dull…

"Good afternoon, Miss Grace," called out a certain calm, soft, and measured voice.

W-What the…!? Afternoon!?

Serena burst out of bed in response to Elise, grabbing for the nearby alarm clock. Indeed, it said:

"5:20 PM…" she muttered, barely believing what she was seeing. "Oh God, why…"

"Perhaps your activities yesterday might have played a role in that, Miss Serena," Elise replied, stoic as ever. "But please, don't overexert yourself so hard in the future. Master Grace will kill me if anything happens to you under my watch."

Serena believed it, and she did begin to feel more than a few aches in her body already just getting out of her bed. Standing up was an even greater challenge, one that she only barely succeeded at doing as she stretched herself out with a pained moan.

"Speaking of which," continued Elise, before taking out a sheet of paper out of one of her pockets, which apparently said something. "Master Grace gave me very specific instructions for you this morning… or, excuse me; this afternoon. She said that… verbatim, I mean:" — she read the paper — "'I know that you wanted to rest today, Serena, so I took the liberty of having the staff prepare a set of clothes for you to wear to a surprise that I have for you tonight, along with something that I want to tell you during that surprise. Enjoy. See you in a little bit, or maybe more. Ha-ha.'"

And with that, she was finished. Serena couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, however… clothes? A set of them? She didn't have clothes like—

"We went and bought them for you," Elise answered for Serena. "This morning, while you were sleeping."

"Y-You… what!?"

"Master Grace told us to put them in the closet," Elise continued, beckoning Serena's eyes to a certain tall door across the room, not far from the bathroom door.

"Should I even ask what I'm about to find in there?" Serena asked Elise. Not expecting an answer — and indeed, not receiving one — Serena made her way slowly to the closet, trying her best to ignore her aching bones as Elise followed her. It took her about half a minute for her to reach the door, which she then proceeded to open.

Serena's closet was a very large room; one almost as big as the bedroom that it was attached to. It could easily hold anything that she desired in any quantity that she could imagine, but her inspirations had been always been rather humble, even in Kalos. Thus, said closet was typically empty, save for a few scant clothes that she wore more of less over and over again.

Her closet, however, was most certainly not empty now.

"U-Um, Elise?" Serena stammered out, staring in awe at the rows upon rows of clothes of every type and color hung up together in every nook and cranny of the room, making the space look something akin to a exploded rainbow. "Just how many of you guys were out there doing this?"

"Please don't worry about that, Miss Serena," Elise insisted, even if her tired-looking face seemingly begged for Serena to worry about that. "Just think about which ones you want to keep."

Holy shit, Serena cursed to herself as she turned back to the unthinkable amount of clothes that she now had to pick from. Mom literally bought the whole store. Literally! But fuck anyone else who wanted these, I guess…

Knowing that her mother was most likely in control of the palette as much as the purse here, so to speak, Serena dreaded what kind of monstrosities she was about to find in her closest now; things that she wouldn't be caught dead in. Still, given the sheer amount of stuff that she had to choose from, she was hopeful that she would find at least one diamond in the rough that she could tolerate, or maybe even enjoy. However…

"No… no… hell no… are you kiddin' me?"

This — and many quite vulgar variants thereof — ended up being Serena's refrain for the better part of an hour as her search continued, to no avail.

"Save me, Elise," Serena begged her, who had continued to stand there watching for as long as Serena had been searching. She was simultaneously joking yet dead, desperately serious.

Surprisingly, however, Elise actually did seem to have something in mind.

"Try over there, Miss Serena," Elise said, pointing to a tiny corner that Serena had seemingly yet to explore. Combing through clothes that she was sure that she had already seen at least two or three times before, Serena wondered what in the world Elise was talking about, until…

"Whoa… no way!"

She was now holding a long black-and-white dress, not unlike the one that Elise was wearing but… cooler. Or at least Serena thought so. It was absolutely everything that she could ever want in a dress… and it didn't take long for her to realize that this was not her mother's work; it couldn't be.

Serena turned around to Elise, incredulous. "Did you…?"

Elise's simple, shy smile was all the answer that Serena needed. She couldn't help but smile back as she was overcome with joy, gratitude, and… excitement.

"Thank you, Elise! This… is fuckin' perfect!"

* * * * * * *​

She came down to the main hall in a large, puffy white dress.

Grace was waiting for her downstairs, and upon seeing her daughter in that dress, she was visibly squeeing, bouncing up and down like a Spoink on a sugar high.

"Ooh, I was hoping that you were going to choose that one!" she squealed, running over to Serena to give her a massive bear hug. "I think you look so beautiful in that, Serena!"

I know, Serena answered her silently. That's exactly why I chose it.

"Now, for that surprise!" said Grace as she released Serena from her hug. "I know that school has been rough on you this year, so I want to celebrate you tonight! How about a trip to a fancy restaurant downtown, all on me?"

* * * * * * *​

A short limo ride later led Serena and Grace to said restaurant, its lights shining bright and rather invintingly in the dark of the night. The place was familiar to Serena, but the only thing that she actually knew about it was that it was a very expensive restaurant — even by Kalos standards — and that it almost always served only a very certain kind of clientele.

"Geez, does anyone have any decorum anymore?" Grace remarked as she and Serena exited the limo, having taken an interest in the various people making their way inside, or even just passing by. "I mean, just look, Serena! Everyone's on their cell phones. Everyone!"

"Literally everyone, Mom?"

"No, of course not, silly! But you know what I mean. Hey, I'm sure that when you become a teenager you'll be doing the exact same thing, won't you? Haha…"

"I'm pretty sure that's not gonna happen," Serena replied with a frown. Grace opened up her mouth to respond—

"Shall we find a seat for you two?" said a woman who had just come up to them from the front doors.

"Oh, yes; of course!" said Grace, as the woman led her and Serena inside.

Much like their house, the inside of the restaurant was a very luxurious affair, with features such as stone columns and elaborate sculpting on the walls and ceilings being both commonplace and very conspicious. It was a very wide open space, with most of the lighting coming from the very high chandeliers above. This, along with a darker color scheme skewing more towards red above all else, created a rather darkly intimate atmosphere, all in all.

Eventually, the woman pointed Serena and Grace towards a nearby table right in the middle of the restaurant: a cozy yet also roomy one perfect for two.

"We'll service you two shortly," said the woman, leaving Grace and Serena alone as they sat themselves down into the seats. Once they did, Serena gave a quizzical stare to her mother, who looked back expectantly.

"So what's the real reason why we're here, Mom?"

"The… 'real' reason, Serena?" said Grace, somewhat taken aback at that question that she clearly was not expecting from her. "To celebrate the end of school for you, of course!"

"No, I mean the real reason," Serena repeated. "C'mon, you always take me to places like this when you're about to drop a bomb on me or somethin'! So what is it?"

"OK, OK, you've got me!" said Grace with a laugh. "This really is about celebrating you, Serena, but I do have some big news to share with you here, too."

"Which would be…?"

"Well… a couple of weeks from now, we're going to have a very, very special guest over at the house. And we're going to host a big party for them!"

"A party…!?"

"That's right!" Grace said excitedly, as if expecting Serena to jump for joy right along with her. She most certainly did not.

"Okey-dokey, then. Who's coming, exactly?"

"Well, Serena… have you ever heard of the Aether Foundation?"

Aether… that name actually did ring a bell, she thought.

"Yeah… aren't they the kind of organization that says that they do one thing when they're really doing somethin' else, sometimes some really shady stuff?"

At that, Grace let out a massive laugh, one that she had to cover her hand over her mouth to stifle.

"Oh, Serena! You are always so cheeky, ahaha! I almost can't believe that you're my daughter sometimes. No, they are most certainly not a shady organization! They're a conservation group, working for the welfare of all the Pokémon in the world. That's about as respectable as it gets, don't you think?"

Serena scoffed. "But they're from Alola, right? Maybe they should focus on the welfare of the humans in their own region first. You know, since half of the people there are on—"

"Shhhhhhh!!!!!!!" Grace shushed Serena, swerving frantically around her as if spotting for anyone who might have heard her. "Please, Serena; this isn't the place for that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, I bet," Serena almost laughed. "I'm sure everyone here's got more important things to worry about, like which suit or dress to wear or somethin'."

To that, Grace gave a sigh, mixed in with what almost seemed like a laugh of her own.

"Speaking of that firecracker attitude of yours, ahaha…" — her face then turned serious — "I want you to be polite to these people when they're here, Serena. No, truthfully, I need you to be. There are a lot of opportunities for us here with this party, so we need to make a good impression—"

"So I'm an embarrassment to you, then."

Silence, as Grace suddenly found herself lost for words.

"Of course I am," said Serena, her voice breaking a little. "I mean, I-I know that I'm not a good person, but—"

"Serena," Grace cut her off, having finally found her words. "Listen to me… you are absolutely not an embarrassment to me. And you are not a bad person. At all. That said… it's true; your reputation isn't the greatest. And it's also true that a lot of that is… what's the word that you used? Ah, right! I won't repeat it here, ahaha, but you know. At the same time, well… let's just say that I really can't swoop in with a check literally every time you do something wrong, Serena. I wish I could; I really do. But with some things it's just impossible. Things pile up after a while, and you know how the press can be—"

"So what I am supposed to do!?" yelled Serena, almost to the point of catching stares from her fellow diners. "I can't just be someone that I'm not! I'm no phony! Is this party really that important, Mom!?"

Grace paused, apparently looking for the right words to say once more.

"I promise you that it is, Serena," Grace eventually replied. "In fact, I promise you that it'll even be a little fun. You won't have to act. I'll make sure that you're prepared for everything, alright? You don't have to worry at all."

And that seemed to be the end of that, Serena thought, as she felt utterly unconvinced that she did not, in fact, have to worry. In any case, there seemed to be no way out of this one for her. Damn!

"It's funny," Grace continued all of a sudden, "I can't help but recall something else that I was supposed to tell you—"

"Welcome to our restaurant!" a voice called out next to them, belonging to a man with a very fancy black outfit on; the manager, if Serena had to guess. "We're always glad to see returning customers, Miss Grace. Shall we get you both menus for the evening?"

"That would be wonderful," said Grace, to which the man obliged as he took out two menus and placed them in front of Grace and Serena. "We'll be ready shortly."

"Yes, ma'am," said the man as he walked away, leaving the two alone again.

"Maybe some food will make you feel better," Grace told Serena with a smile. "Like I said, we're here to celebrate you, too! So go ahead and order what you like, OK?"

"I suppose," was Serena's distant-sounding reply as she began scanning the seemingly inscrutable menu; one that was large enough to cover her entire face twice over.

This isn't exactly the first restaurant I woulda chose… she thought to herself, appearing thoroughly bored by even the massive amount of options on display, from pretty much every category of food that she could imagine.

Including…

"Wait a minute, is that meat!?"

"Meat?"

"Look!" Serena pointed at a seemingly random spot on the menu. "That says 'chicken' right there! So they be cookin' Pokémon over here, is that right?"

"Pokémon, dear?"

"Don't look at me like that! Where else do you get meat from? I mean, you've gotta be kiddin' me right now! There's no way in hell I'm ever eating a Pokémo—"

"Serena, relax!" Grace pleaded, taking several anxious stares at the crowd before turning around to her daughter. "It's not real meat!"

"N-Not… real… meat? Then how in the—"

"We did used to cook Pokémon," said Grace, "before Poké Balls. Before you and I were even born. I'm sure you've learned in school about hunter-gatherers and stuff, so it was like that. You know, a survival thing. That was thousands of years ago."

"And what about fifty years ago, when they were sellin' meat on the menu at these very restaurants?" said Serena. "Or do you think I don't read or somethin'?"

Grace seemed to be stunned into silence for a moment at what Serena just said, before she quickly cleared her throat and continued on.

"W-Well, yes, there were some places that did that. But now, thanks to technology, we don't do that anymore. This meat here… it's synthesized meat, Serena. Not real. The only thing real about it is that it came from the DNA of a Farfetch'd. That's it. It's all made from a machine, not some butchery or anything like that."

"So you still needed to kill that one Farfetch'd, then," replied Serena with a frown. "Disgustin'."

"No one said that they had to kill a Farfetch'd, Serena."

"No one said that they didn't, either. Betcha that means that they did."

Grace sighed. "Serena, if you don't like the meat, then just don't order it. I mean geez, you really can be quite stubborn sometimes! But some things in life just can't be helped, you know? Shikata nai, right?"

"I don't think that's what shikata nai means."

"Oh, whatever!" said Grace with a smile, even as Serena kept frowning. "Just choose something, alright? We don't want to keep the waiter waiting, haha."

"Whatever," Serena breathed out, right as she began rushing through the menu for anything, anything, other than something with "chicken" in it.

"Speaking of choosing," Grace continued all of a sudden, "you've really got to start thinking about what you're going to do once summer's over, Serena!"

"I already know what I wanna do, Mom!" Serena spat back, sharply jerking the menu down as she met furious eyes with Grace. "I wanna be a Pokémon Trainer!"

"Don't you think that's a bit… childish of a goal, Serena?"

"You always, always say that!"

"Well, yeah. I mean, most kids your age start thinking about other things…"

"But I'm not 'most kids', Mom! I'm Serena!"

"Yes, yes, you're your own girl, I know. But just because you're doing something that other kids are doing doesn't mean that you won't be Serena."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Oh, Serena…"

"Fine, then," Serena moaned, palming her head against her fingers in annoyance. "What would you have me be, exactly?"

"Well, how about a Scout?" Grace replied. "You know a lot about Pokémon, right? I'm sure you'd make a really good Scout!"

"There's no way in hell I'm ever gonna become a Scout."

"Language… okay, what about a Pokémon Doctor?"

"So that I can be stuck in school for years again? No way!"

"Hmm… a breeder, then, maybe?"

"I mean, maybe… but that's not what I'm thinkin' about right now!"

"Don't you think you should be, though? Your future's impor—"

"I told you I already know what I wanna be! Why can't you just accept that!?"

"Serena, all I want is for—"

"I-I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" a small, tentative voice suddenly called out behind Serena.

"Oh God, no!" said Serena, turning her head to the arrival. "You just came and saved the—"

She froze. This person… this girl, with long dark hair, scrawny-looking arms, and those anxious, violet-blue eyes… the last time she saw them…

U-Um… t-thank you! Bye!

It was her.

"—talk about this later… Serena? Serena?"

"W-What!?"

"Earth to Serena," her mother repeated, almost laughing at her. "You look like you just saw a ghost or something! Are you alright?"

"U-Um, yeah," Serena replied, staring blankly at her mother for a moment before quickly turning back to… no, she still couldn't believe that it was her…

"I guess that you're, um, here for our order, ahaha…?"

"U-Um, yeah…"

Amelia’s her name, right? Serena tried to recall, as the girl barely managed to keep eye contact with either Serena or Grace, or even seemingly engage with the pair at all.

"W-What can I, um, get for you two?" she finally managed to muster up.

"I'll have the Saturday special right here," said Grace, pointing at a certain spot on the menu. Amelia was too petrified to move her head there, but she acknowledged her with a nod.

"And you, Sere— u-um…!” Amelia made a very conspicuous stop before continuing. “I mean, w-what would you like?"

"U-Um, just a ranch salad is fine," replied Serena, having only just managed to compose herself.

"Are you absolutely sure about that, Serena?" asked Grace; Serena only barely managed to suppress a sigh at her. "You know that a growing girl like you needs her protein, right?"

"I'm sure," Serena replied simply, before back turning to Amelia. "Ranch salad."

"So, u-um, the Saturday special and a ranch salad. I-I'll… go ahead and get that started for you guys…"

"Thank you, my dear," said Grace, prompting Amelia to leave the table with more than a little haste.

Almost immediately after that, Grace turned swiftly to her daughter, making her flinch a little.

"W-Well Mom," Serena tried to change the subject, "I-I was thinkin' that—"

"How do you know her, Serena?"

Goddammit…!

"I know you know her," Grace went on, "or at least that she knows you. Maybe. So what's up?"

"She, um, w-well…"

Serena sighed as she gave up trying to embellish anything.

"…just goes to my school. Her name's Amelia. We don't talk a lot, but she, um… knows who I am. Which probably isn't too surprisin', is it…"

Painful as it was, that all actually came out much better than expected, Serena realized. Doubly so when she saw her mother's face shift into a big, laugh-filled smile.

"I know that you're a terrible liar, Serena," said Grace, still with her smile. "So don't worry, I believe you; ahaha! But… that's not why I asked."

"It's… not?"

Grace shook her head, her face turning serious now.

"Are you absolutely sure that she goes to your school, Serena?"

"U-Um, why wouldn't she?" replied Serena, honestly having no idea why not.

"Because that girl," Grace replied, "is very, very famous. Or rather, her family is."

"Wait, famous!? What do you mean famous!?"

"Well…" Grace seemed to be searching for the right words to start with. "I suppose you're too young for them to have taught you about Altomare yet, right?"

"A-Altomare!?"

"Yes. It was, a long time ago, its own sovereign nation. You know, just like Kalos or Kanto or any other region. It was ruled by a king and a queen, with a whole royal family and everything."

"Thanks for the history lesson, Mom," said Serena with a frown. "I know what Altomare is. But what does that have to do with her?"

"Well, you see," Grace began, "her family was quite infamous. They were in with the royal family, who asked them for favors. Favors for which they were paid a lot of money. That's how they gained their wealth. And, in the end, how they lost it. After all, no king and queen and, well… you can guess what happened to them after that."

"And you know all of this, how?" Serena questioned.

"I've met people who knew them," said Grace. "Their story was kind of sad, so they talked about it a lot for a while. And they especially talked a lot about that girl. How she lost everything and was forced to fend for herself out in the streets. How everyone felt so sorry for her. I felt sorry for her too, but…"

"But what?" asked Serena, to which Grace paused with a sigh and another rather serious look on her face, as if thinking about something.

"It's complicated," she ultimately replied. "Speaking of which…"

She then went into her handbag, pulling out her phone.

"A cell phone?" Serena remarked as a certain other conversation with her mother sprung to mind. "Whatever happened to 'decorum'?"

"This is an emergency," said Grace, flipping the phone open. "I have to protect that girl."

"Protect…? What do you mean?"

"I'm going to file a complaint against this place."

"W-What!? Why?"

"Serena, you've seen her. She's probably no older than you are. That's way too young for her to be working in a place like this. She's being exploited, the poor girl. I have to report them."

"But doesn't that mean they'll just kick her out into the street again? How does that help her?"

"Oh, Serena. Do you really think I'd just let that happen to her? More than likely, they'll send her to a shelter or a children's home where she'll be around people who actually have her best interests at heart. She'll be safe there, instead of this place where they're probably paying her pennies for a hard day's work. Seriously, I can't believe that this place would do something like that! It's disgusting, and there's no way that I'm going to let that stand. Not on my watch."

And with that, Grace proceeded to dial a number into the phone. She got about halfway when—

"U-Um, Saturday special and a ranch salad for you two?"

Both Grace and Serena looked up to see Amelia next to them, holding their completed orders tall on a large platter.

"Impressive timing as always from this place, ahaha," said Grace as she stopped and returned the phone to her bag. "Thank you, my dear, but I'm sorry. We've decided that we no longer want to eat here tonight."

'We?' Who the hell's 'we'? Serena thought as Amelia herself appeared very taken aback from what she had just heard from Grace, leaving her nearly lost for words.

"O-Oh, w-well then… I-I guess I'll just… g-go get the check, then…"

"That won't be necessary," said Grace.

"But, um… our policy says that the customer has to pay once the food's come out," said Amelia. "Y-You know, since someone took the time to make it—"

"Excuse me!?"

"H-Huh…!?" Amelia uttered, flinching at the new, much sharper tone that had just come out of Grace's voice, and at her new, much more furious face to match.

"In all of the years that I've come to this restaurant," said Grace, her voice measured but no less pointed, "I have never heard of such a thing. I don't understand. Can't you at least make an exception for a loyal customer?"

"I-I'm sorry, I can't. Other people have, u-um, asked for the same thing. We just can't make any exceptions anymore."

"I see. So this is how you treat someone who's spent thousands of Pokédollars at your restaurant, is that right? When I could've gone anywhere else that actually treats its customers with respect, is that correct? Unbelievable. This place really has gone to hell, hasn't it?"

"I-I—"

"The manager, please. I need to have a long talk with him."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," said Amelia before she quickly turned back around, taking the food with her.

"Damn, did she steal your Rhyhorn or somethin'?" Serena couldn't help but ask, having been completely stunned by what she just witnessed.

"No, Serena," replied Grace, taking a deep breath. "That was… out of character of me. I'm just so pissed off at this place, that's all. Made me lose my cool there for a minute. But don't you worry. Your mom's about to take care of all of this. Just as soon as that manager gets here…"

Serena was surprised to feel her heart race all of a sudden, and it was then that a certain thought came to her mind. A thoroughly insane one.

"Um, Mom? Can I use the restroom? I've, um, really gotta go all of a sudden."

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course."

And with that, Serena got up from the table and walked towards the restrooms on the other side of the restaurant. But just as she reached the doors, she turned elsewhere, looking for the kitchens.

A few doors later, Serena found herself at the end of a long, large room filled with crates and various scattered kitchen equipment. Near the middle of the room, she spotted Amelia standing there, flanked on either side by a Dratini with an unusual purple coat — likely being what was called a "Shiny" Pokémon, Serena realized — and a relatively normal, if also rather mangy-looking, Eevee.

"Her mom was, like, so crazy!" Amelia said to her Pokémon. "I mean, who would ever turn down delicious food like this, right?"

Her Pokémon audibly agreed as they stared ravenously at a massive meal's worth of food in front of them, which indeed happened to be the very same set of dishes that Grace had rejected mere moments ago.

"Oh well! More for us. Dig in, guys!"

They wasted absolutely no time doing so. Dratini cooed its name while pointing its tail towards the food, inviting Amelia over to eat with them.

"Oh, no! It's all for you two! And I've gotta get back soon anyway, so…"

A worried look came upon Eevee's face as it pawed at its trainer's scrawny arms, its meaning clear.

"It's alright, Eevee!" Amelia replied, gently stroking its head to comfort it. "A growing boy like you needs this more than I—"

"Eevuii!" the Pokémon suddenly shouted, having just spotted Serena from the peripherals of his eyes.

Uh-oh! Serena thought as Amelia followed Eevee's gaze behind her, where she saw…

"A-Aaah—!"

"Shh!" Serena quickly hushed her, before being greeted with a low growl from Amelia's Eevee as he tensed up into what almost appeared to be a battle stance.

"It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt ya!" said Serena. "I just really need to talk to you about somethin'!"

A few more gentle strokes from Amelia calmed Eevee down, even as she herself kept her eyes rather anxiously locked to Serena's for several silent moments before she found the words to speak.

"Y-You… you beat up that girl!"

"It couldn't be helped," replied Serena. "It was either her or me. You saw what happened! That girl wasn't even listenin' to anythin' I was sayin' to her! She's got some serious problems, that's for damn sure."

"Y-Yeah, she does, but… oh my God, your eye!"

"I know, I know! It's fine. I've had worse than that, lemme tell you."

"I-It's swollen…"

"Don't worry about me! Look, my mom over there is Saki Grace. You know, the famous Rhyhorn racer. That one. She knows that you're not supposed to be here, and she's about to get you kicked out!"

"Oh no… oh no! I didn't mean to get everyone in trouble!"

"Them? Looks like they're the ones gettin' you into trouble! Aren't you a bit too young to be doin' this kinda stuff anyway?"

"N-No, I'm not a hire! I volunteered."

"Volunteered!?"

"I-It's just… we were living on the street for the longest time and they found us one day. They took care of us, but I didn't want to stay here just leeching off of them all that time, so yeah… I, um, volunteered."

"That's still more than a lil' shady," said Serena. "They coulda said no!"

Amelia shrugged.

"Look, no matter what, you've gotta get outta here! If they find you, Mom says that they're gonna take you a shelter."

Amelia gasped at that last word, fear flooding into her eyes which Serena picked up on instantly.

"Thought so," said Serena. "You don't wanna go back to a place like that, do you?"

Amelia shook her head.

"Alright, then you've gotta listen to everythin' that I'm about to tell you, OK? Everythin'."

Amelia nodded, looking intently at Serena.

"OK. So, if there's a backdoor or somethin' that you can get outta here with, use that. Don't bring anythin' with ya, just go. Alright? Then, you've gotta—"

"Wait, are you saying that we have to leave right now!?"

"Yes, right now!" said Serena. "Listen, Mom knows people. They'll come runnin' the minute she opens up her phone! There's no time for you to waste!"

"B-But we can't just walk down the Sixth like that! And at night!? We'd stick out like a sore thumb! Who knows what would happen if they saw us down there!"

"OK, but no one's around in the alleyways!"

"The alleyways…!? Are you crazy!?"

"It's not like the slums!" said Serena. "I-I mean, I have no idea what the slums are like, but they aren't any shady people out in the middle of the night where I live. At least, not out on the street. No one'll see you, and even if they do, no one'll care!"

"But where are we even going to go!?"

"To the one place no one'll expect you to be," she answered. "My place."

"Y-Your house!? But that's, like, a mansion with gates and guards and stuff, right? How are we—"

"There's a way in," replied Serena. "My house is one of those ol' ones with a bunch of secret passageways and stuff. I use one of 'em all the time whenever I get tired of my mom, or if I just wanna get out for a while. It's kinda short, but it's juuuuuuust big enough for someone like you to fit through. All I've gotta do is open it up for ya!"

"I-I don't know… are you sure that this is really a good—"

"Amelia!" a voice suddenly called out from the distance.

"Hide!" Serena told Amelia, which the former promptly did behind a stack of crates nearby. The latter tentatively followed suit with her Pokémon close behind, making their way next to Serena just as a middle-aged man entered the space.

"Amelia? There's someone, um… very important who wants to see you. It's urgent! Where are you? Amelia…!?"

As Serena studied the man, she could hear Amelia breathing rather heavier than usual next to her before the latter turned around to meet anxious eyes with her.

"Y-You'll be there when we're there, right?" she whispered to Serena. "And you're sure that no one else knows about this… secret doorway?"

"I'm probably the only one who's opened that door in a hundred years!" Serena whispered back. "Trust me."

Amelia gave her a tentative nod just as the man headed back towards where he came from. Serena could see her shaking a little bit, her eyes watering all the while.

"O-OK… where do we need to go?"

Serena opened up her mouth to answer, but then something else came to her mind.

"Actually, I've got a better idea. Can your Eevee, um… sniff me for a second?"

Both Amelia and Eevee knew exactly what she was thinking about, but the latter appeared rather taken aback by the idea. He ultimately deferred to his trainer, however, who gave him a nod of approval. He then tentatively extended his nose towards Serena, who extended her hand to Eevee in kind before he then gave it a series of deep, thorough sniffs. He quickly pulled back once he finished, acting as if he had just caught wind of a Skunktank or some similarly unpleasant creature.

"So now you'll be able to find me," said Serena, ignoring Eevee. "Which means that you'll be able to find that door! Then all you've gotta do is wait for me. Got it?"

Amelia nodded, but a tentative look defined her face as she stared down at her Pokémon, and then back at Serena before addressing her one last time.

"I-I'm gonna leave now. Please don't make me regret this…"

"I won't," replied Serena.

And with that, Amelia got up from her hiding spot, looking nervously behind and front of her before aiming her eyes towards the nearby exit sign. After a moment of two's hesitation, she then turned to her Pokémon.

"We've gotta go," she told them. "I'm so sorry, guys…"

With both Dratini and Eevee nodding in affirmation as Amelia wiped what appeared to be tears from her eyes, they all then headed towards the exit, falling out of Serena's sight not long after as they went through the door.

* * * * * * *​

"So you're telling me that she's just magically not here all of a sudden!?" Grace's voice rang out through the restaurant, loud enough for even Serena — hidden just out of her mother's sight — to hear clearly several feet away.

"I looked for her everywhere, ma'am. I can't find her!"

"That's very strange, and very convenient for you. I can't say that I'm convinced."

"You can call the police and have them scan every last inch of this place. I'm telling you, she's not here!"

"Unbelievable. We won't be returning to this restaurant, that's for sure. But this isn't the last you'll be hearing from me, either. That is also for sure."

"Ma'am, I—"

"We'll be leaving now. And we will most definitely not be leaving a check. I'm not going to patronize a place like this with my money."

"Y-Yes, ma'am. Have a good night."

"Same to you."

The manager turned away with a noticeable stiffness in his step after that, just as Serena began making her way back to the table. It didn't take long for Grace to spot her.

"That was a mighty long bathroom break there, Serena," said Grace with a frown.

"Well, I guess my stomach had a lot to do after someone kicked the shit out of it," replied Serena as she sat back down. "Shikata nai, right? Now can we get the hell outta here?"

To Serena's surprise, Grace actually gave a small laugh at her words.

"I'm not even going to mention all of that language there, Serena. But you know, I'm actually really surprised at you there! You seemed so disappointed when I said that we were leaving earlier. But yes, by all means, let's get out of there. We can go to another restaurant—"

"No thanks," Serena quickly made her feelings clear, her heart skipping a beat as the thought of Amelia and her Pokémon waiting outside in the dark for her crossed her mind. "I just wanna go home now."

"Really? Not even for dessert? This is so unlike you, Serena!"

"I lost my appetite," Serena replied. "Getting your ass kicked tends to do that to you."

"Alright, now I'm going to have to call you out on that little Kalosian there, little lady!" said Grace. "But I get it. It's been a busy day today, hasn't it? So sure. Let's go home. We'll make our own dinner, haha!"

You mean you'll be makin' your own dinner, Serena thought to herself as she and her mother got up from their seats, making their way out soon after.

* * * * * * *​

"It's been sooooooo long since I've made something, Serena~!" Grace practically sung as she and Serena entered through the front door of their home. "We can do spaghetti, or lasagna, or— hey, where are you going?"

"To bed," said Serena, having already made it halfway up the staircase.

"Oh, but Serena! I had so much planned while we were in the limo—"

"My body has other plans," replied Serena as she soothed her still-sore stomach. "I'm pooped as hell right now, so I'm going to bed. Good night, Mom."

"Langu—"

She stopped as Serena made her way to the top of the staircase, having ignored her.

"Ooh, you're no fun! I guess I'll just have to eat that lovely lasagna without you, then! If you change your mind—"

Serena had already slammed her bedroom door shut before she could finish.

Hell no I won't, Serena declared to herself as she approached her bed. I'm on a mission! Amelia and her Pokémon are countin' on me!

Sleepiness was already beginning to take hold of Serena, however. Looking at the clock at her bedside, she could see the current time: 9:00 PM.

Geez, after all of that time and it's barely past sunset! That means Mom's gonna be awake for a while, dammit. Looks like I've gotta hit the hay for now…

Setting her alarm to two hours later — 11:00 PM — Serena then collapsed on top of her bed in exhaustion, not even bothering to switch out of her massive white dress as darkness took over her.

I'm sorry, Amelia. Please wait for me…

That was the last thing that came to her mind before she fell into a deep sleep.

* * * * * * *​

"O-Ow!"

"Fletchling~!" a certain bird Pokémon greeted, redundant as it was with the sharp beak that had just woken Serena up. It was completely dark in her room with all of the lights having been turned off; not by her or Fletchling, of course.

Mom, she knew. That must mean she's asleep now…

She couldn't help but sniff the air for a certain food item.

No lasagna. Damn…

Not that she would've gone downstairs for that right now anyway; indeed, she was on a mission. Looking to her clock to see the time, she gasped at what she saw — 11:30 PM!? — before turning a grateful eye to Fletchling.

"You're a real ace, you know that?" Serena told her, to which she gave a sharp little chirp as if in agreement. Serena couldn't help but laugh a little at her Pokémon's confidence before she opened a nearby drawer for a pair of pajamas, or for anything more comfortable than the large white dress that she still had on.

"Wanna keep lookout?" she asked Fletchling as she found a satisfactory plain gray sweatshirt along with a matching pair of sweatpants. "You've gotta be quiet, though! No one can know what we're doin'. Got it?"

With a deft, graceful leap and a light flapping of her wings, Fletchling glided through the air towards the bedroom door, arriving there with nary a sound.

"Good girl," said Serena with a smile as she slowly, carefully opened the bedroom door, letting Fletchling out. Serena made sure to close the door with just as much care before she proceed to change and prepare for her mission.

* * * * * * *​

A wave of chill air struck Serena as she opened a certain door: the large, heavy hatch door that led to her house, and outside of it. The latter being, of course, where she was now in the name of completing her mission. And straight ahead of her, she could see that she was indeed about to complete it.

Amelia and her Pokémon were but a few feet away, the former shivering as she held Eevee in her arms close to her body as if trying to warm him, or perhaps the other way around.

"Eevuii~!" Amelia's Eevee cried out as he spotted Serena, squirming restlessly in his trainer's arms as she turned to her.

"W-What took you so long!?" said Amelia through chattering teeth.

"I'm sorry!" said Serena. "I had to wait until my mom went to sleep! If she saw you—"

"It's alright, it's alright!" Amelia insisted. "It's just… I thought that you weren't going to come at all for a while."

"Like I said, you can trust me! I'm a girl of my word! Now let's get you outta this cold!"

Amelia nodded, after which she strode towards the hatch with Eevee still in her arms; Serena let them enter first with Dratini following close behind. Serena herself entered last, taking one last look outside to fish out any eavesdroppers — she found none — before closing the hatch door shut and sealing it behind her.

"This… is… insane…" said Amelia as her wide eyes darted about the large dirt tunnel, taking in everything around her as she walked. "How did they even build this thing? Why did they even build it?"

Serena shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just glad that it's here! Best part of the house, in my opinion."

"I know they used to build secret passageways in castles so that people could escape in case they got invaded or something," said Amelia. "Maybe they made this one for the war or something? You know, the last one?"

"Nah, that's way too soon," replied Serena. "This house is over a hundred years old! But maybe you're onto somethin' there. Coulda been another war, a long time ago. Maybe somebody invaded Kalos a hundred years ago or somethin'. Who knows?"

"I wouldn't know," said Amelia. "My history's, um… a bit rusty, since I haven't been to school in a while or anything…"

Serena then began to wonder what she had been doing at her school in that case, right before she reached the end of the passageway with what appeared to be a dead end.

"Um, is this it?" asked Amelia, staring in confusion at the seemingly blank wall in front of her.

"Yep! Give me a sec…"

And then, with a push, the wall revealed itself to be a door, which creaked a little as Serena slowly, carefully opened it.

"Stay quiet, alright?" said Serena, to which Amelia nodded as everyone went through the door. Serena then pushed the door closed, revealing said "door" to actually be a large wooden bookshelf attached to a metallic base.

"So that's the secret passageway…" whispered Serena as she reached for a switch hidden at the back of one of the higher shelves, which she needed a nearby stepstool to reach. Turning the switch to seal the door shut, she then moved a nearby book in front of it, a very large black one whose spine revealed its title: The Art of War, by Sunzi.

"…and that's how you get in and out," she added, before motioning Amelia and the others to follow her. "Now let's go!"

Serena and the others walked quietly through the room, which revealed itself to be a library filled with many more bookshelves than the one they had just walked out of. Moonlight from nearby windows illuminated each shelf that was filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes, although many of them appeared to be quite literally collecting dust there, as if they hadn't been touched for as long as the library itself existed.

A door at the other end led out of the library and into a long, dark hallway. Amelia and her Pokémon, who couldn't make heads or tails of their new surroundings, relied on Serena to lead the way, who confidently strode through the almost labyrinthine halls as if she had known their paths all of her life.

After going up a flight of stairs, their path soon regressed into a simple straight line down a hallway with an array of seemingly identical doors on one side, or at least as anyone could tell in the darkness.

"All of these rooms here are guest rooms," whispered Serena, supposing that Amelia and the others had no idea where they were even walking at this point. "So if Mom threw a party or somethin', this is where everybody would stay."

"I see," Amelia replied under her breath, right before Serena stopped at a particular door.

"And this… is your room!"

"M-My room!?"

As if on cue, brightness then flashed into Amelia's eyes as everything became flooded with light, revealing a cozy bedroom space with a large window looking out towards the forest trees behind the mansion, a door leading to a private bathroom, and a massive queen-sized bed fitted with white silk covers and a quartet of large, fluffy pillows.

Amelia looked like she was going to burst at the grand sight in front of her, and at those two simple words: her room. Even Eevee couldn't hide his own genuine surprise at what he was seeing, while Dratini was already dancing around in the air in obvious delight as their own little response to the proceedings.

"N-No… n-no way… I-I can't possibly—"

"Sure you can!" said Serena, grinning nearly like a madwoman at Amelia's reaction. "This is all yours! Your room."

"B-But I couldn't possibly impose on you like that, Serena!"

"Oh, it ain't a problem at all!" Serena replied. "You see, this house is so big, there's whole parts of it that Mom and I don't even touch. And since there ain't any parties comin' up anytime soon or anythin', this is one of 'em. So just make yourself at home! But…"

"Huh?"

"There's one catch." Serena's face became serious all of a sudden. "You can't leave this room, for any reason. Actually, you can leave the house if you want. I mean, of course you can! But you can't let Mom see you. Ever. If she does, it's all over. And you know what that means, right?"

Amelia nodded, her frightened face making it clear that she very much understood what that meant.

"If we leave, it'll only be when she's gone," she said.

"Good idea," replied Serena. "I'll let you know whenever she goes away. But for now, why don't you get under those covers and take a nice, long rest?"

"B-But wouldn't it be improper for me to not at least change into something more—"

"Amelia, don't worry about it! Don't worry about anythin'. Just rest."

"I-I… I-I…"

She couldn't get the words out. Eventually, she settled for a simple:

"T-Thank you…"

…before she made her way over to the bed. She gingerly sat herself at the edge for a few moments before she, with some hesitation, made her way under the covers. With some deep breaths, she relaxed and slowly allowed herself to bask in their warmth, clearly becoming taken in by the soft silk caressing her body.

Eevee would join Amelia soon after, nestling his small body close to her chest as she wrapped him in an tight embrace. Finally, Dratini went to join the two as well, laying themselves over Amelia as if in an embrace of their own.

"Sweet dreams, guys," said Serena with a smile, before turning out the light and leaving the three to enjoy their impending sleep in peace.

* * * * * * *​

The next thing Serena remembered was the feeling of her face pressed down hard on top of soft silk bedsheets.

"Ooh…" moaned Serena as she raised her head up to see the walls of her room surrounding her, filled with bright morning sunshine from the nearby window. She groaned upon realizing what had happened, shaking off a strong lingering tiredness from her epic day yesterday.

It was then that she took notice of a vaguely familiar voice — one belonging to a man — cutting hard through the air, loud enough to ring and echo even throughout the hallways upstairs and past her bedroom door.

"That's right, I did this! I made all of this happen! And not a day too soon, too!"

"I'm sorry," another voice — a very, very more familiar one — replied, in a much lower tone. "I don't understand why—"

"Oh yes you do, you weasely little bitch! Somewhere, somewhere deep in there, you knew this was coming! Or did you really think that we wouldn't leave?"

A long pause, before a response came.

"I truly don't understand. We paid you well. We treated you well. Why would you want to leave?"

The next thing Serena heard was a series of hurried footsteps, followed by the swift opening of the front door.

"No amount of money is worth this bullshit. Goodbye… Miss Grace."

…followed promptly by the equally swift — and very loud — slamming of it.

Damn, he just made me look a Girl Scout! Serena thought, before wondering what that all meant. Her mind soon went elsewhere, however, as she began thinking about what she should do next. Knowing that Amelia's side of the mansion was isolated enough from the front that one could hear a pin drop over there even on Grace's busiest days, Serena figured that Amelia had been undisturbed by all of that ruckus, even as she did began to wonder how her night went in her new room.

But it was then that Serena remembered someone else who she had been thinking a lot about lately.

Ash… the letter!

And with that, she knew exactly what she was going to do next.

Jumping out from her bed in a flash, Serena strode over to her desk and crouched down below to take a certain crumpled piece of paper out from the top of the nearby trash can. A twinge of guilt came over Serena as she un-crumpled the paper and attempted to iron it out with her hands on the desk.

"Ash, please forgive me for this…" Serena muttered to herself as she found that her efforts were increasingly in vain. Sighing, she wondered if she should just write an entirely new letter from scratch on another piece of paper, even as the mere thought of that made her groan inside.

"No," said Serena, before she took her pen and pressed it down to the paper. "I'm just gonna write this…"

And with a deep breath, she began to do exactly that, jotting down the very first thing that came to her mind.

Dear Ash,

Why—

She stopped, reconsidering what she was about to write before another idea took over.

…we haven't talked in a while. I don't want to start off this letter on a bad note, but I want to ask you something really important. Something that I never wanted to ask you.

Am I still your friend?

I haven't gotten a letter back from you in over a year. Not since last April. As in last year last April. I don't understand.

Did something I write make you cry?

Are you afraid that I'm going to get mad at you about something?

Are you not getting my letters for some reason?

Or do you just hate me?

I know that I'm not the nicest person ever. I never have been. But like I said, I'm just too strong for my own good sometimes. Even with people who are supposed to be my friends. I guess that's why I don't really have any. No one except you, Ash. And although you never say it, I know that I've said some things that have probably made me a really crappy friend.

But I'll let you be the ultimate judge of that, Ash.

I'm not going to write any more letters after this. Instead, I'm going to wait for you. If you don't write back to me after this, then I'll know how you really feel about me. And that's OK. I don't deserve someone as nice as you for a friend anyway. And you deserve so much more than someone like me.

But if this is the last time that I get to speak to you, then I want to say this. I'm guessing that you passed trainer's school and that you're on your journey now. Scratch that, I know that you passed it. Because I know that you're stronger than you think you are. Yeah, I'm sure you've never heard that from me before, right? And maybe you don't really believe me at this point. Maybe you never really did. But it's true. Maybe you think that you're just a weak little crybaby who won't get anywhere. And maybe you are kind of a crybaby, yeah? But I'll tell you a little secret, Ash. Something that I've never told anyone but you. The truth is—

Serena stopped again, exhausted by everything she had just written without pause.

"I can't do this," Serena sighed to herself as the last of her adrenaline left her, having been swiftly replaced by an overwhelming sense of defeat. "He's not even going to read it…"

She then reached for the letter, preparing to crush it in the grip of her hand once more.

"Fletching~?" a familiar voice called out from above, prompting a surprised Serena to crane her head upwards at the bird Pokémon staring down at her from the windowpane. An expectant face from the latter greeted the former.

With that, Serena found herself hovering her pen over the paper for a few tense moments, before she pressed it down to the paper again.

Maybe you think that I'm this super-strong girl who's so perfect and isn't afraid of anything. But the truth is, just because I'm strong doesn't mean that I'm perfect, or that I'm not afraid of anything. In fact, there are a lot of things that I'm afraid of, and a lot of things that make me imperfect. But they're not what you might think. We're all imperfect in some way, you know? Your biggest weakness is that you don't believe in yourself, and my biggest weakness is that I hurt people who are close to me, even when I don't want to. I don't know how I'm going to fix that, or how you're going to fix your problems. But they don't make you any less likely to become a Pokémon Master any more than my problems make me any less likely to become one. We're the same. So the next time you feel like crying, remember that.

I'm sorry that we couldn't be rivals, and I'm sorry that I couldn't be a better friend to you. But although I know it won't make up for anything, I at least want to do this for you, so that I know that you'll be alright, and so that I know that you'll reach that dream of yours. And so, I just want to tell you…

She paused, before the perfect words finally came to mind for her.

…that I believe in you, Ash. And that I forever will.

Good luck out there.

Your friend always,
Serena

Satisfied as she could be, Serena folded up the letter and grabbed an envelope that she proceeded to place the letter in, before scribbling an address on the front. She then turned to Fletchling, who again looked at her expectantly.

"One last time for me, buddy?"

Fletchling seemed rather confused by that statement, and by the wistful look on her trainer's face as she said it. But she obliged nonetheless, grabbing the envelope by her beak before flying out the open window with it.

Please write back to me, Ash.

It was then that she caught a whiff of something downstairs. And almost as if on cue…

"Oh, Serena~!" called a certain voice from behind her door. "I've got a surprise for you!"

* * * * * * *​

"Lemme guess, lasagna for breakfast?" Serena quipped as she approached the kitchen quarters, mildly annoyed at the interruption yet intrigued enough by the smell to come downstairs without complaint anyway.

Said smell, of course, wasn't lasagna. It was instead the distinctive smell of pancakes, prepared by none other than Grace at the stovetop.

"Uh, Mom? Are you cookin' something!?"

"Why so surprised, Serena?" Grace laughed, before her face suddenly turned serious.

"I suppose that I should explain myself," she went on. "To make a long story short, it would seem as though the entire staff has just up and left us. It's kind of like that dominoes thing, you know? One falls, and then the other ones follow? Yeah, it's like that, all right."

She frowned visibly at that last sentence especially.

"But whatever! Shikata nai, right? Good riddance to bad rubbish, or at least I think is what they say here, ahahaha!"

I think that's what they say in Galar, Serena wanted to say, before refraining from doing so.

"So~!" said Grace, a smile now returning to her face. "That just means we'll have to pick up the slack ourselves for a while! Which I just did with these little pancakes here. I haven't made these in ages, so you're going to have to tell me what you think, Serena!"

It was then that Grace scooped a pancake out from the griddle and plopped it onto a waiting plate on the kitchen table. Tempted by the smell — a rich aroma of the finest flour and milk all in one — Serena moved forward to see what her mother had in store for her, only to greeted by a smiling pancake, dotted eyes and all.

She couldn't help but smile back at the sight.

Damn! You've got me this time, Mom…

Serena then took a seat and grabbed a nearby fork, before promptly cutting herself a piece of pancake and sticking it in her mouth. It didn't take long for her to form an opinion, nor for Grace to form an opinion of her daughter's opinion as she watched.

"Pretty awesome, right?"

"It… tastes like a pancake," Serena replied after the last piece left her mouth. "A really good pancake, but…"

"Oh, Serena!" Grace laughed. "You just never give me any—"

"Sorry to interrupt, Master Grace," a voice suddenly cut in, "but our guest is about to arrive within the next five minutes!"

For all of its urgency, the voice was remarkably calm, soft, and measured. Serena recognized its owner instantly as…

"E-Elise!?"

Serena was simultaneously unsurprised yet very surprised to see her standing there next to her mother, who she quickly turned to with the obvious question.

"But I thought that—!?"

"Everyone except for Elise," said Grace with a smile. "Apparently, some good deeds do go unpunished, ahaha!"

Elise gave Serena a rather shy wave and a smile in response, just as the latter observed another surprise on her: a long yellow sweater and pink shirt combo in lieu of her usual black-and-white maid outfit, with her now-shoulder length hair partly tied in the back with a large blue bow. It looked almost more fit for a night out on the town than a meetup with her employer.

"I told her that we don't need to use those stuffy outfits anymore," said Grace, having apparently read the question right off of her daughter's utterly shocked face. "So I guess that's one good thing that came out of this, huh Elise?"

Grace then extended her free hand out and pulled Elise into a miniature bear hug; one that the latter appeared rather startled to receive.

"I-I suppose, yes…" replied Elise, looking somewhat uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Geez, Mom; you're about to suffocate her to death!" said Serena, having cringed more than a little at the sight of it all. "Let her go already!"

"Oh, sorry!" said Grace as she let go of Elise, whose heroically stoic expression to everything couldn't quite hide the quick flash of relief that also showed there. "I forgot that you still have a job to do. More than ever, ahaha! Could you tend to the door, please? We don't exactly have anyone there anymore, but I still want to keep our reputation of professionalism here; you know what I mean?"

Elise nodded. "I'll go ahead and do that, Master Grace," she said, before striding with some urgency towards the main hall. For expediency or to get as far away from the possibility of another hug from Grace as possible, Serena couldn't tell.

"I hope you're plannin' on payin' Elise more for all of that work she's gonna have to— w-wait, someone's supposed to be coming here!?"

"Ah, that's what I forgot to tell you last night!" said Grace with a finger snap. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but not quite like this, ahaha. Yes, Serena; someone's about to be visiting us. Someone very important, and very famous. More famous than us, even! You are never going to guess who it is!"

"Probably the President of Kalos or somethin', right?" Serena quipped, not entirely jokingly; they were actually one of the least outlandish guesses on her mind. "I suppose that's one way for you to make me wear one of those silly dresses."

"Oh, Serena!" Grace replied with a cheeky, mischievous smile. "What's the point of a surprise if you guess it before it's not a surprise anymore?"

Serena sighed. "It's the President, isn't it?"

Grace maintained her coy smile. "You'll see…"

Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang at nearly that very moment.

"Yes, it's them, Master Grace," called Elise's voice from the front, swiftly answering the obvious, unspoken question.

"Alright, then!" Grace called back to her. "Let them in, please!"

Serena could hear the door creak open, and it was then that her cheekiness was replaced by a creeping sense of anticipation. Who could this person possibly be?

"Helloooooo, everyoneeeeee!~♪"

That one line alone prompted Serena to burst straight out of her chair, nearly knocking over the table and everything on it in the process.

"No…!" hissed Serena, every inch of her tightening up like coils as she marched out of the kitchen and towards the main hall.

"Serena…!" Grace called out with clear concern in her voice, but it was far too late for her to stop Serena — or to tell Elise to do the same — as her eyes swerved wildly towards the front door, and towards the one who just entered through it.

It wasn't more than a moment later that Serena's eyes exploded in shock as she recognized the visitor instantly. And with that, came a scream that could be heard in every hall and every room:

"Aww, hell no!"

[chapter end]​