Lullaby

"How could you say that Ash is dead?" said the enraged boy slamming his fist onto Officer Jenny desk.

The boy, Clemont, was out of himself; the always calm blond genius had lost it. You can ask why.

Well, the new that was circulating all around the region and also out there pissed him off. There was no clear evidence about Ash death. He, Goh and Bonnie managed to watch the tape of the security cameras last night, and the only thing they found out was that in the moment the light hit the Kantonean trainer, he disappeared together with Pikachu and Greninja.

The main thing which made them think that their friend was still alive was the hat. It was struck by the light as well but was completely fine.

However, the police could not find anything more and this led them to the tragic statement about the raven-haired trainer.

"You know why we did that, Gym leader Clemont. There is no sign of him in this world; even your most complex device to track down people failed. What should we think about it?"

"…. Nothing…"

Containing the loud sobs that were escaping his mouth, he left the police station and was met by Goh and Bonnie, quite destroyed from the events.

"It's over, isn't it?" Goh said, Clemont nodded. At that, Bonnie ran away crying all what was left of her tears.

Clemont didn't follow her, knowing that she should calm herself down, and anyway, he wasn't sure to be able to cheer her up while inside he was breaking as well.

"I think I need to tell someone what happened" Goh said releasing the Pokèmon from Ash belt.

When Talonflame, Lucario, Sirfetch'd, Gengar and Lycanrock appeared from their Pokè balls they were confused not seeing their best friend.

"Hi guys, I have something to tell you… Uh, that's quite hard… Ash is gone… forever"

Reality hit them… yesterday dinner was the last time they saw their trainer… And there was no tomorrow.

Talonflame, Gengar and Lycanrock were completely stunned and then they hugged each other crying out loud to find some comfort.

Sirfetch'd let go of his sword to cry hidden behind his shield while Lucario was different.

He was reaching out for his trainer aura and what he found was surprising, but could not explain to the two trainers since they couldn't comprehend him like Ash was able to.

"Lucario wants to tell us something… but it's impossible for us to understand…"

"You know, maybe we can find some help"

"Like me, twoips?"

It was Meowth, the Alley cat Pokèmon from Team Rocket followed by Jessie and James who looked like they had cried all the night.

"Lucario is saying that the OG twoip aura is still somewhere. He is far from this world but still alive" translated Meowth with gleaming eyes.

Everyone turned to face Lucario, and a loud cheer exploded between the Pokèmon. Even Team Rocket looked much better.

They probably will never admit it, but they liked Ash, they were there since the start of his journey and got to care in their own way about the boy and his trusty Pikachu.

Watching him disappear that night made their heats break and the only thing they wanted now was to see Ash again.

"What are you waiting for, science twerp and catch twerp?? We have to find the twerp!!"

.......................................................................................

Ash, Pikachu and Greninja were now trying to set up a camp for the night. They didn't have anything, so they had to search for berries to eat, wood for the fire and also find a spot to sleep.

The boy was lost in his world that evening, realizing that he didn't know what to do in reality and also what to expect from the locals.

After a real poor dinner, the trio decided to go to sleep.

They had to sleep on the grass, quite uncomfortable but this allowed them to watch the starry night:

"Look, how many stars!!! I've never seen a sky light this before!"

"Pikaaaa!!", "ninjaaa!".

It was beautiful but also a bit scary considering that vortex over Mount Coronet.

"Why can't we go just right there and see what's going on?" thought Ash, but again, Arceus knew it better. If he had told him to start his quest by befriending the locals, Ash was sure that the God of Pokèmon had a plan of some kind.

"Oh mann, What about the others? Goh will be upset as hell. Not counting Mom and the other Pokèmon… Pikachu, Greninja, here we are completely alone. No friends, no PWC, nothing… We only have each others. From a point of view, it is awesome. We are together in the wild like the old days, but also scary, knowing that we don't know anything about this world and even if we will ever be able to come back to our time."

"Pikapi, pika chuchu pi" answered the mouse caressing Ash's face with his paw while Greninja had put his own paw on his shoulder to comfort his trainer.

"You know? You are right. Maybe I'm overthinking. I shouldn't let this go over my head. We must move. And something will happen. And, in a matter of nothing, we will be back to our world and our friends. But we can do this only together, because we are a family!" Ash exclaimed extending his arm up in the air.

Pikachu and Greninja followed their trainer before finally lay down in the grass again.

Ash started to caress Pikachu's fur earning a delightful sigh:

"Buddy, wanna teach our lullaby to Greninja?", "Chaaaa"

Greninja looked at the duo with curiosity and, understanding what was going to happen, reached out his arm to find a leaf with which whistle a melody.

"Close your tired eyes…. The gentle breeze"

"Pikachuuu"

"And" "Pika pika"

"The twinkling stars" "Pikaaa"

"The gentle breeze..." "Pika pika pikaaa"

"And" "Pikaaa", "The twinkling stars" "Pikaaachu", " Dararararaaa" " Pikaaa", " Green"

And with that, the trio gave in to sleep, humming that lullaby, so comforting yet so nostalgic.

In the spot our boy Ash was singing with his family, in the modern days Sinnoh there was the Sandgem Pokèmon center.

And it is here that Serena and Dawn were sleeping after a long day at the beach.

The Honey blonde performer hadn't changed that much since her Kalos days. She grew up in a beautiful woman, but the same thing could be said for her roommate Dawn.

She met her at the end of her Hoenn Journey, before heading back home and was persuaded from the bluenette to give a shot to the Sinnoh Contest circuit.

She had accepted, wanting to travel more and caught by Dawn's charm and manners. Serena saw in her so much of Ash that she wanted to go with her to Sinnoh to improve much further before coming home to reclaim the title of Kalos Queen.

After the holiday season, she met up with Dawn in Snowpoint and entered her first contest, loosing to Dawn's battle strategies.

She was outplayed by the bluenette counter shield tactic, and her use of the battlefield completely crushed every way to regain momentum in the battle.

She was left speechless. And again, Dawn's approach to the battle was something so much resembling Ash's battle style, that she felt thrilled at the idea of travelling with such an amazing trainer.

Dawn admitted that all she had learnt was due to a special friend of hers.

Serena tried to tease her about this "special friend", but she answered nothing, only saying that He was a sort of role model for her and that he was out there trying his best to achieve his dreams.

During her tale, Dawn's pearly eyes were glistening, and she had a wide smile. It was like she was dreaming.

So, Serena also told her about the boy she followed during her Kalos journey and who saved her back when they were kids.

She explained how she had never had a dream, about how she started her journey only to find the boy from his past after seeing him jumping down from Prism Tower to save his Pikachu on TV.

She went on saying that the boy didn't recognise her but helped her all the way until she discovered her dream and up to the Master Class.

She omitted her crush on said boy and their farewell, but Dawn could catch Serena's feeling for him from the way she was speaking and from watching her dreamy blue eyes.

Anyway, they quickly dismissed the conversation and resumed their travel together.

In the room, silence filled the air while the two girls were sleeping.

Serena was dreaming, but it was odd. She was dreaming about Ash singing a lullaby with Pikachu while Greninja was whistling the melody with a leaf.

Serena woke up…

"What was that dream?"

Deciding to clear her mind, she exited the room and went down to the hall and then outside.

She heard music, like someone singing … it was the lullaby again. Watching around she didn't see anything, but the song was still there.

Fascinated by this, she sat on the bench calling Braixen out and started to listen to the voices singing…A man and a Pikachu with some other Pokèmon whistling.

She was deeply absorbed by the lullaby when she heard a voice:

"Here you are miss!", "Pi, pilup".

"Hey Dawn, I wanted to take some fresh air but then..."

"You heard the boy and a Pikachu singing a lullaby"

"Yes, but I don't know where they are"

"They are not here… I asked Nurse Joy if she heard something, but she didn't"

"It's like we are the only two who can hear that"

"I guess it is", she chuckled at the absurdity of the thought.

Dawn sat on the bench, Piplup on her lap, and they listened to the mysterious boy singing.

At a certain point, the song ended, leaving the two girls surprised but also at peace.

It was heart-warming listening to what they were sure was a touching moment between trainer and Pokèmon. It made the two girls' hearts at bliss.

Dawn got up, with arms under her back, head up to the sky and dreaming eyes, a graceful smile on her face and entered the Pokèmon center.

Serena stayed there for some other moment, before heading inside too.

When she entered the hall Dawn was nowhere in sight, so the Kalosean girl thought she was back in their room.

Passing by the cafeteria, she heard a girl breaking down in tears.

She approached the girl and found there Dawn, her eyes red and completely lifeless, crying so loud to alert Nurse Joy.

She jumped: "Dawn!! What's the problem?" she exclaimed with worry and concern, her heart beating faster.

Between her cries and sobbing, Dawn held her trembling arm and pointed the Television hanging from a column.

Serena's world stopped there, everything became black and white. She read the title of the article:

"Lily of the Valley semi-finalist Ash Ketchum found dead in Lumiouse city, Kalos"

And then it was the void.