"S-Serena... Ash has told me before about how you two met, but the way boys see things is different from the way we girls see them."
"Since we're not sleepy yet, why don't we chat for a while? We can each tell the story of how we met Ash. What do you think?"
On Serena's large pink bed, the three girls were curled up together beneath the blankets, all wearing cute cartoon pajamas as they whispered to one another.
"Sure! ×2"
Neither Clarissa nor Misty refused.
After all, sharing their stories would be a good way for the three girls to understand each other better and quickly bring them closer together.
"Since I was the one who suggested it, I'll go first."
Serena was slightly embarrassed as she said this.
The subject was rather private, after all. Although she was no longer as shy as she had been half a year ago, talking about something like this with Clarissa and Misty still brought a faint blush to her cheeks.
"You probably already know this, M-Misty, but Ash and I first met half a year ago at Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp."
"Back then, I was extremely shy. Even though Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor lived in the same town as me, because I was so timid, I had never really interacted with them before that Pokémon Summer Camp. We certainly weren't close."
"And I didn't even volunteer to attend that Summer Camp. My mother signed me up without asking me because she wanted to change my timid and shy personality."
"Not only did she sign me up for the Pokémon Summer Camp, she also volunteered me as an exchange student to Kanto."
"At the time, I was absolutely terrified. But deep down, I also wanted to change the timid and shy side of myself. With my father's encouragement, I ultimately decided to go."
"And that Pokémon Summer Camp really did change my personality... and it changed my life."
"After arriving at the Summer Camp, I first became acquainted with Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor, who lived in the same town as me and were also going to Kanto as exchange students."
"After we arrived in Pallet Town, we discovered that we had reached the camp before the local students from the various cities of Kanto. Since the Summer Camp wasn't going to begin on the day we arrived, Professor Oak arranged temporary homestays for us."
"He divided the Kalos exchange students into groups of two and arranged for each pair to stay with a student family in Pallet Town."
When she recalled traveling to Kanto as an exchange student six months earlier, Serena's face was filled with nostalgia.
Under the blankets, Clarissa and Misty quietly listened to her story without interrupting.
For now, they were simply acting as listeners, allowing Serena to tell her story at her own pace.
"In Pallet Town, Shauna and I were assigned to stay at Green's house, while Tierno and Trevor were assigned to stay at Ash's house."
"Because Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor were already fairly familiar with one another, and because Ash, Green, and Gary had grown up together as childhood friends, we visited one another's homes and introduced everyone to each other."
"Before long, the seven of us gradually became friends."
"In fact, when our group of Kalos exchange students first arrived in Pallet Town, practically the entire town came to the entrance to welcome us."
"And Ash was the only person who arrived late because he'd overslept."
"Even then, he managed to leave a deep impression on me and all the other Kalos exchange students."
"As we spent more time together, I discovered that Ash was actually the leader among the children of Pallet Town."
"He had an outstanding ability to lead others, but at the same time, he was incredibly warmhearted. He always took care of the people around him and somehow managed to think of everything."
"For someone like me, who was timid and shy at the time, Ash became someone I admired."
"I wanted to become like him—to be confident and cheerful, to have his outstanding leadership ability, and to possess his remarkable social skills."
"Ash was like a little sun."
"Even when he stood silently among a crowd, without making exaggerated gestures or deliberately trying to attract attention like some of the other boys his age, he would still become the center of attention."
"He was simply the kind of person everyone naturally noticed."
"And the longer you spent around him, the more dazzling he seemed."
"At the same time, he became warmer, kinder, and more trustworthy."
"During Professor Oak's Summer Camp, I wasn't actually the only girl who had a good impression of Ash."
"Many of the other female students also had feelings for him."
"And once the Summer Camp officially began, Ash continued to achieve one astonishing result after another, while constantly helping everyone around him."
"Their initial good impressions gradually developed into secret crushes and admiration."
"Perhaps because I was timid and shy, and perhaps because I happened to enter Ash's small circle of friends through Shauna and the others, I received even more help from him during the Summer Camp."
"During the opening challenge, he taught me about Pokémon battles and personally guided me."
"During the Fishing Competition, he helped me catch a huge Water-type Pokémon so I could earn a high score."
"During the late-night Courage Test, he even volunteered to team up with me..."
"With Ash's help, my Summer Camp scores remained near the top of the rankings."
"At the same time, surrounded by his light, my personality gradually became more cheerful and confident."
"But without anyone else knowing, I was also becoming increasingly dependent on Ash."
"I admired him more and more... and I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with him."
"Ash didn't just make me more confident and outgoing."
"Before the Summer Camp ended, with his guidance, I also managed to discover what I truly wanted to do with my life."
"Ash changed my life."
"I had an endless amount of gratitude toward him."
"He possessed everything I admired and longed for."
"And because of that, I fell deeply in love with him, like a moth drawn helplessly toward a flame."
"Near the end of the Summer Camp, I had already become much more confident and outgoing."
"Actually, I was planning to confess my feelings to him."
"I learned that Ash had gone into the forest outside the camp to observe wild Pokémon, so I deliberately went looking for him."
"But unfortunately... I ended up getting lost in the forest."
"So my first attempt at confessing my feelings failed."
"And when I became completely lost and terrified, at the moment when I felt the most helpless..."
"Ash appeared before me like a brave knight rescuing a princess from a terrifying dragon."
"He found me and led me safely out of the forest."
Serena's voice gradually softened as she reached this part of her story.
The memories from that time had already become some of the most precious memories in her life.
And now, lying beside her were the two girls who had become Ash's other girlfriends.
For the first time, Serena was opening her heart and telling them everything about how she had fallen in love with him.
The story, however, was far from over.