Ash stared at the contents of the vending machine while it quietly hummed. He shrugged and tapped one of the buttons at random. After several thuds, a can of orange juice appeared. He grabbed it from the retrieval bin and added it to the collection in his arm. He walked across the clean, white floor of the Pokémon Center to his friends who were all sitting around a table near a large window. As he handed the drinks out he glanced up to the television above them. They were given a bird's-eye view of a house crumbling as flames engulfed it. Water Pokémon were doing their best to put it out.

"Terrible, isn't it?" Korrina asked. "Reports of these kinds of things have become more and more common lately."

Latias and Serena looked up at the screen as well. Serena nodded with a frown.

"It's true. The first incident was a couple months ago. A house in Vaniville town was burnt down."

"Isn't that your hometown?" Ash asked curiously.

Serena nodded.

"So far no one has been hurt, but it's only a matter of time now."

Ash plopped down beside Latias, as Serena, and Korrina, began discussing possible motives behind the destruction. He swiveled his orange juice around in thought. What purpose was there to burning the homes down? Were the perpetrators stealing items and burning down the houses as to erase their footprints or were they simply hungry for destruction?

"Or is it a distraction from a bigger plan."

The thought flashed across his mind and he immediately thought of Lysandre. Was he behind the houses burning down? Is he distracting the public so he can sneak by with something larger? These thoughts and theories flooded Ash's mind one-by-one. He rubbed his head as he felt the telltale signs of a headache.

"Are you ok?" Latias whispered.

Ash was about to nod his head when he remembered his recent skydiving experience. He hesitated and finally shook his head.

"I'm getting another headache." He replied.

Latias frowned. If this was like his last one then she could expect him to fall over at any moment. Their minds were still bridged, but a little hazy at the same time. In fact, it felt as if they were about to disconnect.

"You should rest for now. I'm sure the other two will think you're tired from the battle."

Ash took one last look at the television and nodded in agreement. He set his can down on the table and laid down with his head on Latias' lap.

"This is not what I meant!"she exclaimed telepathically as a blush rose to her face.

Korrina glared at him and turned away muttering something about lovebirds and not having time to find a boyfriend. Serena laughed at her and that was as much as Ash remembered before he was drawn into a world of dreams. Memories of his old adventures flashed by. Some of them slowed down for him to reminisce. Eventually he found himself on a port. He waited for the scene to change, but it never did. The only sounds he could hear were the waves slapping against the dock. He turned around and found his body was void of any kind of fatigue. He examined his surroundings and confirmed the familiar sensation he had when he looked out onto the ocean. He was standing on the docks of Alto Mare, but something was off. Nobody was present other than himself. He stepped forward and the ground made waves as his foot made contact. He stared at it in wonder and took another step forward. He could see the waves, but they appeared to have no actual effect on him.

"This isn't a memory. This is…"

What was it? He brought his hand to his chin and began thinking. It did feel kind of similar to Latios' recreation of the Garden inside the Soul Dew, but that was about it. He shrugged slightly and pushed forward to explore some more. He wandered down the alleyways and side streets looking for a certain wall. It wasn't long before he found it. He slowly strode through it, hands in pocket. He smiled as he found himself in the garden. It did feel quite eerie with there being no noise. Almost immediately after thinking about it, a wind picked up and the trees began to sway. Ash looked around in surprise.

"That was quite the coincidence."

He walked across the garden and sat underneath the tree where he had first met Latias. He sat there for a while simply relaxing. It's been a couple of days since he'd been able to simply sit back and do nothing. After remembering how fun travelling with friends was, he forgot just how equally nice it was to just relax.

"I could get used to this."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Wait, am I sleeping inside a dream? I'm pretty sure there's a movie based on that kind of thing. What was it called again? Wait, what was that?"

Ash opened his eyes and quickly glanced around. He was positive he had heard something. He strained his ears and listened carefully. There it was again! It sounded like a voice calling out for someone, but there was no general direction. It sounded like it was coming from all around him. The voice steadily got closer and soon, the world around him began shaking. Ash held onto the tree for dear life and closed his eyes.

"It was nice knowing you, Mr. Tree!"

"ASH!"

Ash's eyes shot open and he yelped as he flung himself off the bed. Latias hovered over him and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. She smiled as she took his arm and peeled him off of the floor.

"I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction."She said as she brushed some dust off his shirt.

"Where are we?" he mumbled groggily.

"We're back in the Tower of Mastery. Nobody could wake you up so we had Charizard carry you back. You've been asleep for a few hours now."

"A few hours? It hardly felt like 10 minutes for me." Ash said stretching his arms.

Latias frowned slightly as Ash walked over to the desk and turned on the lamp.

"To be honest, I was kind of worried. I was afraid the headache had something to do with it."

Ash chuckled as he sorted through the books.

"It wasn't that major, but it might have had something to do with it. I certainly experienced something new."

"Something new?"

Ash nodded and paused as he thought about how to describe it.

"It was… Can you imagine Alto Mare with no people and almost no noise? It was a surreal experience, that's for sure. It felt calm and a little eerie at the same time. Even the Garden was there."

"That sounds like a psychic dimension."

"A psychic what?"

"A psychic dimension. I never told you about it because it never seemed that important. It's a world created by a Psychic-type Pokémon for it to inhabit as its physical body sleeps."

Ash listened carefully and crunched the information.

"Are you sure it's a psychic dimension?" he asked, unsure of the information.

Latias nodded.

"Brother told me about it before you came to Alto Mare. He even told me he was working on making his own. Apparently it's a representation of the Garden with his own spin on it."

This confused Ash a bit. He had seen Latios' garden, but he figured that was simply a representation of it made by the Soul Dew. Maybe the Soul Dew was normally void of anything and simply allowed the host of it to create whatever scenery it desired. This would make more sense due to Latios' strong attachment to the Garden. If anything, he based the Garden in the Soul Dew off of the Garden from his psychic dimension. Ash shook his head before it became cluttered full of more theories and thoughts. He could just ask Latios the next time he met him.

"Serena wanted me to tell you that she won't be coming with us when we leave." Latias said as she used her psychic powers to rearrange the books on the shelf.

"Why not? This book goes there."

"Mr. Gurkinn asked her to travel to a town called Couriway. Apparently some diggers from that company he mentioned found a Key Stone, but due to circumstances with the local Pokémon, it's difficult to send through mail. She's going to retrieve it for him."

"When does she leave?"

"She already has."

"She has?! But it's almost midnight!"

"She wanted to leave as soon as possible. Before she left, she gave me a couple of things to give to you. They're on the counter."

Ash walked over to the counter and looked at the two objects. One was a Town map that Ash instantly knew would be a saving grace and the other was a Holo Caster. He picked the device up and examined it. He found the power button and turned it on. As soon as he did, a holographic image of a mailbox popped up with the number one on it. He fiddled with the controls and eventually discovered the base mechanics of the device. He tapped on the mailbox icon and a holographic image of Serena popped up.

"If you're watching this, then I've probably already left for Couriway. I would have said good-bye in person, but you were sleeping like a Snorlax! Anyways, I'm leaving you and Latias with a Town map and this Holo Caster. You don't have to worry about returning it to me, that's an extra I received a while back as a gift. My number is saved in the contacts so if you ever want to talk, feel free to call. I guess this is it for now. Oh! Wait! One more thing! Latias told me you guys were going to Geosenge! It's not too far from Shalour, but be careful in Reflection cave. The Pokémon aren't too powerful, but the cave itself is like a natural mirror maze. Goodbye, and good luck! Let's meet up sometime later!"

The holographic Serena smiled and waved before disappearing. Ash tucked the Holo Caster away in his vest pocket and sighed.

"Miss her already?"Latias teased.

Ash chuckled and nodded.

"Just a little. It was nice seeing an old friend, but we all have our separate ways I suppose."

"I'm sure we'll see her again." She replied before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

She returned to organizing books as Ash sat down at the desk and began the arduous task of researching once more. They continued their activities in silence, relishing each other's presence in the quiet room. Ash thought about how relaxing it had felt in the dream world and smiled as he compared it to his time with Latias.

"Doesn't even hold a candle to this." He muttered to himself with a light smile.