"But by then, the summer camp was already nearing its end. I kept encouraging myself and finally managed to gather enough courage again, but by the time I was ready, the summer camp had officially come to an end."
"The campers boarded the buses. After briefly saying goodbye to their host families at the entrance of Pallet Town, everyone was about to leave."
"Originally, with so many people watching, I didn't have the courage to confess to Ash. But I don't know whether it was because we were about to part ways, or because my feelings for Ash had simply become too strong."
"At the very last moment, just as the bus was about to leave, with all one hundred summer camp students and the townspeople of Pallet Town watching in shock, I ran off the bus, kissed Ash on the cheek, confessed my feelings, and promised that we would travel together in the future."
"Mom and Dad had sent me to Kanto for the summer camp because they wanted me to overcome my timid and shy personality. But neither of them expected that I would change so completely."
"When they saw that scene during the live broadcast on television, Mom was so shocked that she dropped the cup of tea in her hand. I was absolutely mortified when I thought back on it afterward, too."
"But I don't regret it. On the contrary, I'm truly grateful that I summoned all my courage and made that decision back then."
"Perhaps, from an outsider's perspective, what I did was a little impulsive or even somewhat reckless. But that very action allowed me to obtain the happy love that girls all over the world would envy."
"Being able to be together with Ash is happiness that I gained by using all my courage and all the luck I had in my entire life. I am the luckiest and happiest girl in the world."
Under the covers, Serena's little face was flushed red, her eyes shining brightly. As she recounted her story to Clarissa and Misty, there was a sweetness and emotion in both her expression and voice that the two girls found completely unfamiliar yet deeply moving.
"After we returned to our respective regions and were separated by distance, every day after Ash finished everything he had to do and returned home, he would video-call me. We would tell each other what we had done that day and what progress we had made."
"Everyone says long-distance relationships are extremely difficult, but I think we've been doing pretty well. I'm happy every day. And before that, Gary's sister, Daisy Oak, gave Ash a Cleffa."
"Ash knew that when the Pokémon summer camp ended, I had chosen to leave behind the Clefairy that had accompanied me throughout the camp. He knew how reluctant and heartbroken I had been about it, so after specifically obtaining Sister Daisy's permission, he decided to give the Cleffa to me so that I could take care of and raise it."
In front of her two new "best friends," Serena sweetly recounted all the little moments she had shared with Ash.
After finishing the entire story of their relationship, Serena finally turned toward Clarissa and Misty, who had been listening to her story with rapt attention.
"So, Clarissa, Misty... how did the two of you meet Ash?"
"I'll go first."
Seeing that Serena was asking purely out of curiosity and had no trace of interrogation or hostility in her voice, Clarissa turned to glance at Misty before beginning to tell her own story.
"Actually, just like you, Serena, my connection with Ash also began because of Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp half a year ago."
"You already know that the summer camp was originally a closed event. At the beginning, there weren't even any television crews inside broadcasting it live."
"It wasn't until the second day after the camp officially began, during the 'Fishing Competition' evaluation, that something happened involving that student named Goh, who had a terrible character and questionable morals."
"During the fishing competition, he cheated by using the Magikarp he had received after entering the summer camp. As a result, he attracted and hooked a Gyarados, only to end up being attacked and injured by it."
"A camper getting injured during the summer camp, especially because the Alliance staff had failed to properly screen the area and had overlooked that Gyarados, caused the campers' parents and the public to demand answers. Only then did the Goldenrod City television station send news crews into the camp to broadcast the event live."
"After the Gyarados attack, a huge number of people began watching the summer camp broadcasts. You could say that the entire Kanto region was paying close attention to everything happening inside the camp."
"I was also a devoted viewer of that broadcast. I practically camped out in front of the television all day watching it. So, Serena, I knew about everything that happened between you and Ash during the summer camp."
"Of course, I didn't experience it firsthand like you did, so I don't know every little detail. But I did know quite a lot. For example, even you didn't realize it yourself, but you had already fallen for Ash from the very beginning."
"Watching how Ash took care of you, watching all those little moments between the two of you... I was constantly shipping you together. But I don't know why, the more I shipped you two, the more envious I became."
"Sometimes I even regretted it. I wondered why I hadn't signed up for the summer camp back then. If I had, perhaps I could have met Ash earlier."
"Through the summer camp's television broadcast, just as I was beginning to fall for Ash, the elders of the Joy family also noticed him—a handsome young man with excellent character, extraordinary talent, and the ability to wield healing psychic powers."
"The Joy family is a neutral family. The girls of our family traditionally choose their husbands from men born into ordinary commoner families. Someone like Ash, whose family background is clean and respectable while also being outstanding in practically every other aspect, is naturally extremely attractive in the eyes of the various upper-class families and corporate powers."
"Not to mention that Ash possessed healing psychic powers that were enough to make the entire Joy family take notice. And since I had already fallen for him as well, immediately after the summer camp ended..."
"Our Joy family asked Professor Oak's granddaughter Daisy Oak, who happened to be visiting the Joy family at the time, to act as a matchmaker and convey an invitation for marriage to Ash. And the person our family intended to become engaged to Ash was me."
At this point, Clarissa's face was completely flushed, and her voice became much quieter.
Serena and Misty, who had been listening to her story, were both stunned.
Although they had already heard Ash talk about how he and Clarissa had first met, Ash had always started the story from the point when the two of them underwent medical training together at the Pokémon Center in Viridian City.
Neither Serena nor Misty had known that Ash and Clarissa had once nearly become engaged.
This was the first time they had heard about it.
When Serena had been telling the story of her relationship with Ash earlier, she had secretly felt a little proud. She had been the first to meet Ash, and she believed the bond between them was especially deep.
But now, after learning that Ash and Clarissa had actually gone as far as discussing an engagement, Serena couldn't help feeling a strange wave of envy.
She and Ash were still officially in the dating stage, while Ash and Clarissa had already reached the point of discussing marriage.
There was no reason for her to compare herself like this.
Yet emotionally, Serena couldn't help feeling as though she had just suffered a crushing blow from an entirely different level.
The sourness in her heart was difficult to suppress.
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T/N:
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