Chapter 21

"Pika pikapi kachu pi."

The boy rolls his eyes at his pokemon lecturing him again. "Stop it, Pika."

"Pikapi!"

"We're fine without them."

"Pi pichu pikapi pikachu pi pika kachu pipika pi chu."

"I don't still hate Ash." denies the boy, but when Pika shocks him with a weak thunderbolt, Dillon glares at his mouse. "Stop it."

"Pi!"

Groaning, the boy throws his hands up in defeat. "Okay! Maybe you're right! Maybe I am still mad at my dad? Maybe I do still need to talk to him!"

Nodding, Pika hops off of Dillon's shoulder and sprints back in the direction they just came from. Letting out an annoyed breath, Dillon knows Pika is right. They need all the help they can get to find Amy. Also, Dillon doesn't know his way around this region nor are his pokemon strong enough yet.

When he follows Pika, to his surprise, the group isn't too far away. It seems like they have set up camp for the night and were expecting his arrival because Pika is currently chatting with them. Biting the inside of his cheek, Dillon knows he needs to apologize for his words and ask for their help.

Sighing, he looks at the group. "I wanna apologize for everything I said and did." He awkwardly scratches the back of his head. "I…" He closes his eyes in frustration at the words that won't leave his mouth.

Fortunately for him, Clemont pats his shoulder. "It's okay, Dillon. I get it. I'd be scared too if Bonnie was kidnapped."

The future teen gives him a grateful small smile. "Thanks, Clemont."

"Pikapi!" Pika scolds his trainer again, making Dillon narrow his eyes at the knowing mouse.

"I, uh, would like your help finding Amy." Dillon awkwardly looks at the group again. "I'll try and control my anger better, but I don't know this region, so I'll need the help."

Grinning widely, Ash replies, "Of course we'll help you, Dillon!"

Although Serena isn't a fan of this angry teen, she isn't going to argue against her group of friends, especially her crush. "Yeah, Dillon. We'll help you."

Later that night, everyone is asleep except for Dillon who is still lost in thought by the low campfire. He's sitting alone gazing at the flames while thinking of how to save Amy and get home. What if he never goes home? No. He will. Ash said Celebi always returns people to where they belong, so Dillon and Amy will go home.

Home. He closes his eyes and sighs. Cerulean City hadn't felt like a home since Ash left; however, Dillon doesn't have anywhere else he calls home. Kanto is his home, he knows that. It's where his family and friends are, besides for Granite who is in Hoenn. Letting out a breath, Dillon furrows his brows. He really should visit home once he gets back to his time instead of neglecting his mother too.

"Mind if I sit?"

The voice makes the boy open his eyes to glance over at the new arrival. Letting out a grunt, Dillon gives Ash permission to sit beside him. The two gaze at the small fire until Dillon finally asks, "Couldn't sleep?"

With a sheepish smile on his face, Ash scratches the back of his head. "Yeah." After a few silent minutes, Ash says, "We'll help you get your sister back, and we'll make sure you get home."

"Thanks."

Ash glances over at Dillon. The Pallet Town boy has noticed that Dillon doesn't say much, but it seems like Dillon is tormented by his thoughts. "You should get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

Shrugging, Dillon's gaze remains on the embers. "I'll be fine."

Ash nods before wiping his hands on his jeans. "Okay. Well, I'll be going to slee-"

"What ever happened to her?"

Dillon's abrupt question makes Ash turn back to face him. "Who?"

"Mo-your friend from Cerulean City?" Dillon is glad he caught himself before digging himself into a deeper hole. He hopes Ash is as oblivious as he is in the future, else these questions may ruin history.

Ash's face breaks out in a warm nostalgic grin. The last time he spoke to her was a few years ago when he and his Hoenn friends traveled through Kanto for the Battle Frontier. "I heard she's one of the strongest Kanto gym leaders now."

"When's the last time you spoke to her?"

Ash frowns because he knows it's been years. "We're both busy, but we're still great friends."

"Don't you miss her?" It irks Dillon to hear how nonchalant Ash is about his friendship with Misty. Dillon knows his mother was constantly waiting for Ash's phonecalls while he was traveling. She felt neglected and always waited for him while he was off forgetting about her. However, it seems like Ash believes that he and Misty are just great friends who don't talk much.

Sighing, Dillon closes his eyes in frustration because he's doing the same thing with his friends. He isn't contacting them because he doesn't want to be a burden. Now, though, he's so focused on his travels that he forgets. Furrowing his brows, he makes a mental note to call them once he's able to. They deserve more from him, especially if his father did the same thing to his mother.

"Yes." Ash admits. "I miss all of my friends."

Dillon opens his eyes to let out a low chuckle. Of course oblivious Ash would say this. "What about Misty?"

"Do you know her?" Ash curiously asks. Earlier, Dillon didn't answer Ash's question, and he keeps asking about her. This is unusual unless Dillon knows something. "Does something happen to her in the future?" Ash worriedly looks at him.

Sighing, Dillon stands up to head to sleep. "Nah. She's good. Happily married with 3 kids. Successful gym leader. An even better mother."

Once Dillon is gone, Ash's attention turns to the smoke coming from the firepit. Misty gets married? With kids? Well, Ash always expected everyone would grow up and do that someday, but he hasn't thought about it much. Right now, he's just trying to be a Pokemon Master. However, who does Misty marry? Does she already have a boyfriend? A faint blush tints his face as he thinks about his childhood friend. Shaking his head, Ash opts to sleep away the eventful day. He'll find out who Misty marries someday.

20 Years Later

Jane has been very worried because her friends haven't returned at all. She was hopeful that they'd be here when she woke up, but they're still gone, especially with her contest starting soon. She hasn't been able to reach either of their pokenavs, and she really needs them at her contest today. With all of the competition, Jane is nervous.

"Pom!" Aipom worriedly says to his trainer while riding on her head. If Dillon and Amy don't contact her by the time the contest ends, Jane will file a police report after the contest. Right now, she needs to get to the contest hall since she's waited long enough.

By the time she shows up, the lobby is already packed. She's led to the back with the rest of the contestants, which is way more than those she saw in Azalea Town. Checking her pokenav once more, Jane remains hopeful of a missed call or text from her friends, though all she has are loving encouraging texts from her parents who she called last night.

Sighing, Jane knows she should be spending these precious minutes getting her Pokemon ready for the contest, but the feeling in her gut doesn't sit well with her. It's not like both Amy and Dillon to go missing and not contact her or even respond to her. Something must have happened to them. Who called Dillon yesterday? And why didn't Amy come back from the Daycare Center?

Spotting a familiar Houndoom, Jane hurriedly makes her way over to the last person she wants to speak with. Nevertheless, he's the only one she knows who may know where her friends are. She pushes through the crowd of contestants, many of whom are girls admiring him. "Romeo!"

Said boy looks over at the annoying voice as his Houndoom curiously watches the two. Other girls around are glaring at Jane, but Jane doesn't care. She has bigger problems than Romeo's fangirls. "Hey, Jane." As much as Jane irks Romeo, he's learned from yesterday that she isn't too bad.

"Have you heard from the Ketchums?" Jane worriedly asks him.

Romeo raises a confused eyebrow at her. Why would the Ketchums contact him? Uncle Ash and Aunt Misty don't really call him. "Why?"

Jane's frantic violet eyes meet Romeo's emerald orbs. "I haven't seen or heard from them since before we saw each other yesterday." She gulps. "I'm scared something happened to them."

"Did you try calling?" Romeo asks as he pulls out his pokenav to go to Amy's contact. He now understands that Jane is talking about the Ketchum siblings and not the Ketchum parents.

"I did, and I keep getting sent straight to voicemail." Taking in a shaky breath, she adds, "I'm scared, Romeo. Dillon left because he got a call yesterday, and he never answers calls. That's the last time I saw or heard from him. He said Amy went to the daycare center yesterday morning, but she never came back." In a nervous whisper, Jane closes in on Romeo. "Do you think Team Rocket got them?"

Yesterday, Team Rocket did ask for Dillon. Maybe they got to Amy to use as bait for Dillon? Or maybe they got Dillon yesterday? Or maybe they got both Amy and Dillon? Whatever the case, Jane knows this is unlike her friends.

When Romeo is sent straight to voicemail after a couple of calls, he returns Jane's gaze. It's unlike Amy to not answer if someone calls multiple times. "I think they're in trouble." He agrees with Jane, as much as it annoys him to do so. However, this is for Amy, even if Romeo dislikes Dillon. Romeo can't let anything happen to his younger cousin.

Turning to Houndoom, Romeo pulls out a pokeball. "We have things to do, Houndoom." The black dog nods obediently before being engulfed in a red light.

"What are you doing?" Jane asks in confusion.

"Contests can wait. Lives can't." Romeo tells her while walking past her. "I'm gonna find my cousins. You can do whatever you want."

Briskly following him as people whisper about the pair, Jane knowingly remarks, "If anything, I came to you for help. So this was my idea."

Despite the situation, Romeo can't help but smirk at her. "You asked me for help."

Rolling her eyes, Jane replies, "I'll tell you my plans before I act this time." She's referring back to his comment yesterday after Salamence saved her from a fall. Both teens blush as they leave the crowded contest hall.

Of course, Romeo is getting lots of stares because everyone expects the young Hayden to be competing. Calling out Salamence, Romeo hops on before offering Jane a hand. The girl takes it to get on behind him, and the dragon takes off into the sky. "Just don't do anything stupid today."

Ignoring his comment, Jane asks, "Where are we going?"

"You said Amy went to the Daycare Center, right? We'll check there first." As much as Romeo wants to avoid seeing Vee, he needs to make sure Amy is okay. Plus, he has no idea where Dillon could have gone. Romeo isn't too concerned about his older cousin though.

"Do you think Dillon went looking for her? Is that why he got that mysterious call yesterday?" Jane questions.

Shrugging, the boy replies, "Maybe. We'll find out once we get to the daycare center."

20 years ago

"I know who you are."

Dillon curiously looks at the blonde boy walking beside him. Everyone else is walking a distance in front of them. Dillon raises a confused eyebrow at Clemont. "What?"

"I was thinking about everything you told us yesterday, and I heard your conversation with Ash last night." Clemont speaks matter of factly.

"It's not good to eavesdrop." Dillon replies, though he is annoyed that Clemont did that.

Clemont's gaze doesn't waver from Dillon. "You've been saying weird things yesterday-"

"What's your point?" Dillon snaps, making Pika worriedly stop walking to glance at the two. He only continues when Dillon walks past him. Dillon doesn't want to draw any suspicions from the group, so he's trying to act as normal as possible.

"You're Misty Waterflower's son."

The raven haired boy turns his head in shock. This Clemont guy is either really good at guessing or really smart. "No, I'm n-"

"And Ash's." Clemont knowingly adds. The blonde boy smiles when he sees Dillon's brows furrow.

Turning his attention back to the route so that the group ahead doesn't notice anything, Dillon mutters, "Are you gonna tell them?"

Clemont shakes his head. "No. I don't want to mess with history."

Dillon lets out a relieved breath along with Pika who now hops onto his trainer's shoulder. After some time, Dillon's heart beat has slowed down enough for him to ask, "How'd you know?"

Clemont gives the future teen a smile. "You look just like Ash. And when he said he has a friend in Cerulean City who's the female gym leader, and then you said your last name was Kay. And you seem to be saying a lot of personal things to Ash who doesn't understand, and-"

"Okay. I get it. You're sharp." Dillon groans. Just because his father is dense, that doesn't mean the people he traveled with are too. Mew. Dillon should know this because his mother and Uncle Brock aren't dense. Frowning at the back of Ash's head in front of them, Dillon says, "He can't find out."

"I won't tell anyone." Clemont promises. "But I am curious…"

"Why Misty and not Serena?" Dillon sees the blonde boy blush slightly at the name of the second girl. When Clemont weakly nods, Dillon replies, "I don't know. My parents don't tell me that stuff and I don't ask." He shrugs. "But I know my mom considers Serena her biggest rival for A-my dad."

After some time, Clemont tells Dillon, "I notice you call him by his name more than referring to him as your father."

Chuckling, Dillon keeps his gaze ahead while Pika worriedly looks at him. "It's a long story. You'll find out in 20 years."

"Is it because he left you before?" Dillon did say that yesterday when pinning Ash against a tree.

This time, the boy does stop in his tracks. Letting out a long breath, Dillon replies, "Look. I'm not trying to change history."

Clemont faces him while also stopping. "Why? Why not let me tell him in the future so that he doesn't leave you guys?"

A flash of light blue hair hits Dillon's mind making him give Clemont a tight smile. "He needs to be a bad dad so that I'm happy." Dillon's smile then grows into a nostalgic grin, which makes him wish he could look at his pokenav lockscreen picture. "It's the reason I've made the bestest friends I could ever ask for."

Before Clemont can question Dillon further, Bonnie's voice from ahead gets their attention. "C'mon, slowpokes! We have to find Amy!"

Nodding, Dillon turns to quickly catch up, so Clemont reluctantly follows. The blonde boy really wants to know what the future is like, but Dillon is right. They can't be playing with history like this.

Later that evening, Clemont stops them all from walking any further. "I think we're here!" He whispers in excitement.

"What makes you say that?" Dillon asks.

Clemont shows him the device he just made last night. "I made this machine that detects remnants of Celebi and time traveling. I used you to create it, but now, the machine is detecting more futuristic particles."

"So you think we found Amy?" Serena questions her friend.

Ash, who is standing beside her, looks over her shoulder to glance at Clemont's device, which makes Serena blush. "Wow. That's neat, Clemont! Your inventions are so awesome!"

"That's my big brother!" Bonnie grins proudly.

Shaking his head, Dillon returns his attention to the dense brush ahead. "Where is she then?" He doesn't care about this device. He needs to find Amy and go back home.

"It says she shouldn't be too far, but that means Team Flare isn't either." Clemont says while pointing in the direction Dillon is looking towards.

"Let's get her." Dillon mutters and walks, though Ash grabs him back.

"We need a plan."

"I have a plan." Dillon replies in annoyance. They've had this whole day of walking to think of a plan. Has no one been using their brain?

Frustrated with Dillon's attitude, Serena asks, "What's your plan."

The future boy isn't a fan of Serena due to reasons she doesn't know about. However, he can't just ignore her. Shrugging, he motions to his pokeballs. "My pokemon and I will get her out."

"You can't do it alone! You only have 4 pokemon!" Bonnie knowingly tells him.

"Fine." Dillon reluctantly says with his hands up in mock defeat. "I have another plan that involves all of you. That is, if you're not too scared?"

"No way! We said we'd help you rescue your sister!" Ash quickly tells him. "What's the plan?"

20 years later

"Vee will be very sad she missed you." the daycare man says. His granddaughter had left earlier this morning to make it to the contest hall in time to watch Romeo compete.

The Hoenn native feels relieved to know that he missed seeing her today. He really must be lucky. When Romeo and Jane arrived at the daycare center, they were informed that Amy came to drop off Larvitar who ran away. Dillon showed up eventually in search of her too before also running off. The daycare couple assumes they must have gone to Ilex Forest since they're chasing Larvitar who would run towards nature rather than a city.

"Thank you for your help! Tell her I say hi." Romeo smiles with his usual charm at the couple.

"We'll do anything we can to help you, Romeo! You've done so much for us." the daycare lady gratefully replies.

Jane is still in disbelief at how kind Romeo is to this elderly couple. Just who exactly is Romeo? He seems more complicated than Jane expected. While Romeo hates Dillon and is rude to Jane, Amy loves him. He also seems to care a lot about her that he just abandoned the contest without a second thought, and he's even teaming up with Jane to search for Amy and Dillon. Maybe Jane misjudged him?

She blushes while thinking about their teamwork yesterday. Romeo had allowed her to ride on Salamence, he helped her rescue their Pokemon, and he caught her when she fell from the net. He is reliable, although very annoying. So far today, Romeo hasn't been quite as irritating as he used to be. If anything, his serious demeanor while searching for his cousins makes Jane see a different side to him.

"Oh, Romeo." The daycare man puts out a pokeball to the confused boy. "Sunkern wants to be with you. She's been lonely ever since you left."

Flustered, Romeo puts his hands up in front of him. "I can't-"

"We insist." The daycare lady pushes the pokeball closer to him. "Sunkern is happier with you. We want her to be happy."

"I-" When Romeo notices the sharp looks from the couple, he chuckles awkwardly. Extending out a hand, he picks up the pokeball. "Thank you. I'll take great care of her."

"We expect nothing less from you!" The daycare man grins. "Good luck finding those friends of yours!"

"Thank you!" Jane smiles and waves at them. The young teens then leave the center where Romeo calls out Salamence. "Hey, Romeo?"

The boy gets on Salamence and quizzically looks at Jane. Noticing her nervous gaze and her shifty feet, he says, "I'm sure they're fine. They're Ketchums."

Shaking her head, Jane finally meets his confused gaze. "No." She swallows a lump in her throat. "I just wanna apologize for assuming you expected something in return from these people after you rescued Sunkern."

Romeo's face flushes in embarrassment from her apology. "Uh. It's fine. We didn't know each other too well then." He used to think she was just Dillon's annoying fangirl. However, Jane has proven to be more than that. She's a surprisingly courageous girl when it comes to her Pokemon.

Nodding weakly, Jane finally gets on Salamence too. The dragon type takes to the sky towards Ilex Forest. "Thanks for helping me find them, Romeo."

His blush returns from her soft voice and breath hitting the back of his neck. "They're my family. I should look out for them too."

Giggling, Jane gazes at the back of his head. "I guess we'll be competing against each other next weekend instead then."

The boy can't help but chuckle too. "Yeah. Now I have another week stuck in the same city with you and Dillon."

"I still don't get why you hate him."

"I don't hate him." Romeo reminds her. "I just don't like him."

"Why?"

"Ask him." Romeo doesn't like thinking about his terrible cousin.

"He says he used to be mean to all of you, but he doesn't know what he did to you specifically." Jane doesn't understand why Romeo is so upset at Dillon when Dillon isn't mad at him. Also, Jane has learned that she misjudged Romeo too soon, so she wants to learn about him. He's interesting and he's shown himself to be a trusted ally, despite his annoyance.

Frowning, Romeo sees they are still a distance from the forest. Thus, they might as well pass the time with a conversation, nothing like when they first traveled together last week. "He went back on his word." Romeo then proceeds to explain how he and his other cousins were supposed to travel with Dillon once Dillon was 15. However, Dillon went back on their childhood plan, causing everyone to wait an extra year to travel, where they all traveled separately.

"There must've been a reason why he did that." Jane insists. The Dillon she knows wouldn't go back on his promise like that.

"He was a selfish asshole back then." Romeo angrily mutters.

"He's not that anymore." Jane knowingly replies.

"He's never apologized for that though. We were all counting on him. Just because he's changed, it doesn't mean that he can just reset all his wrongs he's done!" Salamence's roar makes Romeo let out a breath to calm down. Anything relating to Dillon always irritates the boy.

Seeing the anger Romeo has about this, Jane says, "You should tell him how you feel."

Romeo chuckles. "As if." He doubts Dillon will care. Dillon never cared.

"Hey! Let's change our bet!" Jane smiles.

Romeo turns his head slightly to look at her. "What?"

"If I win next week, you tell Dillon how you feel." Jane is switching her part of the deal because she doesn't feel like she needs an apology from Romeo anymore. If anything, she owed him one, which she gave him at the daycare center.

As if remembering the deal, Romeo nods. "Oh yeah. And if I win, you tell Dillon your feelings." He smirks and flicks his hair when he notices Jane blush.

"Fine." grumbles the girl.

"It's a bet then." Romeo then returns his attention to the sky ahead. Jane isn't so bad. This is different from when he was forced to travel with her. Letting out a nervous breath, Romeo really hopes Amy is okay. He is relieved to know she only ran after a pokemon rather than get captured by Team Rocket.