where the heart lies
Home.
For most of the peculiar little group, a rather foreign concept.
Alto Mare, certainly, remained a thriving and vibrant city. But they all felt it, especially the city's guardian herself. There was nothing there - and nothing to there.
For Pikachu, home was on the road with Ash. He'd never known anything else, never wanted anything else. It made Dawn curious, how Ash had found such unswerving loyalty - again.
For the rest, changing demographics had condemned many of the small, homely towns they once knew to the same fate as Pallet. Depopulation, then inevitable obscurity. Twinleaf Town had escaped for the time being, perhaps only because of the Coordinators' Museum that had been established within its boundaries. Tourists, aspiring coordinators and rookie trainers from all over Sinnoh and even other, foreign lands were drawn to its humble premises. For now, they granted Twinleaf a stay of execution.
Interestingly enough, the very one who had unknowingly contributed so much to the museum - as had her mother, of course - did not know of its existence. When she was last in Sinnoh - home - Twinleaf was still flourishing, the museum little more than an idea in the minds of a few. Now - she would be saddened if she ever learned - it seemed as though the museum was the entire town..
The lords of the weather were kind when the group crossed the sea to Kanto. Not even the slightest trace of a cloud appeared over their heads the entire way. Perhaps, an apology for the storm off Alto Mare? More than likely not - these deities were more capricious than Emotion herself. She had been like a leaf in the wind, but they were the wind itself.
Pallet used to be quite close to seaport they disembarked from. For the spry youngsters that they seemingly were, it was hardly a day's walk before they reached the formerly iconic split in the road between paths to Pallet and Pewter. Now there was only one well-paved route curving to the right. Trees and grasses had reclaimed the left path, but the old footprints still visible in sparser patches of grass belied its true history.
With a faint, distant smile on his face, Ash stepped away from the other two to examine the faded white sign before them. Unsurprisingly, it was still taller than he was - even if he reached up, he could scarcely touch the top of the sign. The arrow pointing towards Pallet had been painted over long ago, but the dark letters were still visible under the layer of white.
In a somewhat hazy voice, he said, "It's… this way, I guess. Let's go."
Still unsure of his intentions, they followed him without a word. He had been behaving ever more erratically during the trek towards Pallet - Dawn could've sworn she felt vestiges of happiness in him from time to time. Perhaps it was the sense of returning to a long-lost home? She didn't know. She didn't mind - only the teacher hated not knowing.
The sky grew ever darker as they forged on, as night fell over the endless hills of Kanto. They had been walking for another hour when Ash abruptly halted. Following closely behind him, Latias was unable to stop in time and knocked him over. Her eyes widened in surprise and she bent over apologetically, extending a hand to the fallen boy.
On seeing her horrified expression, he hastened to mollify her. "No need to worry," he mumbled, standing up. "I was just thinking… I think we're almost there."
After looking around, they both gave him a confused glance. Though it was quite dark at this point, they could still see no signs of any human presence in the hills surrounding them - not even the empty houses of an abandoned town. He inferred as much from their expressions.
"Look," he said, and pointed into the distance. A tiny prick of light could be seen high over a distant hill. "That must be the old lab," he continued, as though that cleared everything up. "Let's hurry up."
They soon reached the hill. The light was evidently located at the top of a antiquated windmill, part of a larger complex of sophisticated looking buildings. From their vantage point, they could see Pallet Town in its abandoned entirety - house after empty house, acres of fields left unplowed for decades. But what caught - and held - their attention were the clearly artificial lights that were inside the windmill-complex. Someone, it seemed, was still home.
They found an old man standing by the open door. Ash gave a small grunt of recognition when he saw the man. His companions, however, were bewildered. What sort of person lived alone on the edge of a dead town? Dawn decided to speak up.
"Sir…" she called. Ash cut her off with a swift glare, but the damage was done. The man turned around with a startled look. But when he set his eyes on Ash, his eyes twinkled and his entire expression seemed to shift into one of… recognition?
"Well, well," the old man said in a reedy voice. "I thought I'd never live to see the day… if it isn't Ashy-boy. You know, I think you've gotten a bit taller."
"You know I haven't," Ash snapped in reply. "And how many times do I have to tell you to not call me that!"
The old man pretended not to hear him. "Oh, are those friends of yours, hiding back there? This is momentous! Why, you simply must invite them inside at once!"
"I don't have friends," Ash retorted grimly, but with uncertainty evident in his tone.
The man ignored him and set about herding the small group through his door. He took a particular interest in Latias and peered at her shrewdly. "Hmm. You look new. Who are you?"
She offered a nervous smile and edged away slowly, trying to catch Ash's attention. The boy seemed to notice her plight and moved to head the old man off. "Gar-, sorry, -Professor. She's just a… friend. You don't… you don't have to bother her."
The man turned to stare at Ash. His cheerful voice turned stern. "That's a load of drivel, Ketchum, and we both know that. You wouldn't just bring any old person to here of all places, in the middle of nowhere, would you? So - what are you all here for? Finally decided to help me with my research?"
Ash shuddered and took a step back. "O-of course not! Go find someone else to be your lab rattatas. Not us - we're not freaks!"
The old man - professor, as Ash called him - looked visibly disappointed, even crestfallen. "Oh… Then - what's your problem?"
Without the slightest hint of amusement, Ash looked up at him. "My problem? Can't believe you haven't figur-"
"Stop that!" the professor cried irritably.
"Fine, fine," Ash muttered. His voice grew even lower. "The problem. Well - it's me."
Changelog
5/13/17: hesitantly posting ch.7; ch.6 modified slightly more than syntactically this time
AN: this chapter feels strange - maybe a bit out-of-place? it might get re-written at some point.
