Ash entered the office of Giovanni to receive the information he had been summoned for. He opened the door and stood to attention. "Reporting for duty father." he saluted.
Giovanni looked up from his paperwork and nodded. "At ease son." Ash relaxed. "Congratulations on winning that battle." Ash looked exhilarated at the praise. "I know that you must be tired after such a battle so go get lunch and some rest."
Sensing that he was dismissed, Ash bowed and headed for the cafeteria. The same hostility that he felt at breakfast greeted him again. Once more, there was no line to get food so he loaded his plate and went back out to his oak tree. This time, the teddyursa was waiting for him. When it saw him, it waved and motioned into with its paw to something in the woods. Ash sat down looking slightly puzzled but soon enough, a stantler walked out. Ash smiled and put his tray on the ground. "Take what you want, I have plenty." Feeling content just watching them eat, he took an apple and sat against the tree and fell asleep in its shade.
While he was asleep, he had another dream. This time he saw people. Ash felt like they knew him, though they had no faces. As they faded into the distance, a new form took their place. This shadowy figure filled Ash with the same emptiness he'd been feeling all day. The shape approached Ash and started licking his cheek. "Stop that." he murmured and the licking stopped but someone started nudging him instead. The shadowy figure faded and Ash groggily opened his eyes. As his vision swam back into focus, the first thing he saw was a stantler. Ash jerked upward in surprise forgetting that he fell asleep under a tree. "Ouch!" he cried as his head scraped against the tree's rough bark. While he rubbed his head, he looked around to view his companions. Crowded around the tree were many types of forest pokemon. There was the stantler that had awoken him, the teddyursa he had met first, a hoothoot, a zigzagoon, an oddish, and an ivysaur. Ash felt a sense of peace for the first time since he woke up that morning and just sat there with his new forest friends staring at the stars.