After the new trio was formed, Ash and the others stayed on Penggan Island for a while before taking Lapras to set off for their next destination.
Their destination was, of course, Asia Island in the Orange Archipelago.
But traveling from Penggan Island to Asia Island is not something that can be accomplished in a short time. They need to make continuous stops along the way to rest.
Actually, if they challenged the Southern Cross Star, they could go straight to Asia Island, but Ash hardly has the time for that challenge. Although for him now, facing that challenge shouldn't be too difficult.
Rather than tackling the Southern Cross Star, their pressing tasks are to find Little Lugia's parents, Lapras's group, and discover Cynthia's whereabouts.
Ash also informed Serena about the search for Lugia, after all, Serena joined the team, and he would naturally not keep it from her, just as he was transparent with Brock when he joined.
However, when Brock first joined, Ash hadn't revealed the Rainbow Wing matter to him, yet now with Serena's arrival, he directly told her about Little Lugia and their quest to find Lugia.
This wasn't Ash being swayed by appearance, but because their current goal is to find Lugia, there was no need to conceal this from Serena. Besides, upon initially meeting Serena, Ash and Misty felt very trusting towards this little girl they just encountered.
Her character was such that she wouldn't harbor any ill intentions or desires towards a Legendary Beast.
And upon knowing Ash's goal to search for Lugia, Serena was initially dumbfounded, not out of shock, but because she really didn't know what Pokemon Lugia was.
She later learned that Lugia's counterparts are the God of Life Xerneas and the God of Death Yveltal in their Kalos Region, and that's when she was truly astonished.
Even though Serena is a newbie Trainer, how could she not know about those legends circulating in the Kalos Region? And Ash not only possesses one but also aims to find another. Is this really Ash's experience?
No wonder Ash mentioned taking her to see grand sights; isn't this a grand sight? Whose first journey involves meeting Legendary Beasts or directly heading to them? (Ash: Yes, it's precisely me.)
Learning the purpose of this trip, Serena became even more nervous. She worried whether being a novice would hold Ash back, fearing that if she caused Ash to miss his objective, she might bear guilt over this all her life.
To this, Ash and Misty both reassured her that it was okay; everyone starts as a newbie, right? Despite Ash being impressive now, truthfully, he's only traveled for under a year, so reaching this point was purely due to... purely because he grows at a faster speed.
In reality, he's still a newbie, just like Serena.
These were Ash's comforting words to Serena. Although the comfort seemed better left unsaid, it somewhat eased Serena's tense mood.
...
Three days later, Ash and the others arrived on a new island, called Penggan Island, which sounded similar to their previous location but was a completely different place.
This island is famous for its crystal crafts; street vendors display lifelike crystal sculptures with various designs, all modeled after Pokemon.
Misty and Serena, upon seeing those crystal sculptures on the roadside, found it hard to move forward as girls always have a soft spot for shining things, not to mention these crystals were so well-crafted.
Since they were here to rest and recuperate, they might as well buy some crystals to send home as decorations — local specialties, even if they're not edible~
"Serena, how do you like this Poliwhirl sculpture? Look at those markings, it's just like the swirl on Poliwhirl!"
"Mm-hmm, it's beautiful. Misty, you really like Water Type Pokemon, don't you~"
"Yes, I aspire to become the Water Type Pokemon Master!" Misty exclaimed confidently while holding the Poliwhirl crystal sculpture.
"Having one's own goals is wonderful…" Serena's eyes shimmered with an indescribable color. She envied Misty for having her own life goals, whereas she still felt lost about what she wanted to do in the future.
...
Over these three days, though afloat on the sea, they stopped at an island as a transit station each day. However, apart from Penggan Island, the other islands were deserted.
On those deserted islands, Ash and Misty would train their Pokemon, and Serena naturally joined in. But she barely kept up with the intensity of their training.
Not even mentioning Ash; the intensity of his Pokemon's training is far beyond what normal Pokemon can endure, and Ash himself even trains alongside them. This peculiar behavior was the first time Serena had seen such a thing. Prior TV shows never mentioned trainers had to train together with Pokemon.