Ash spent the rest of the day chilling with his team.
They knew something was... off. Nothing blatantly obvious. But the way... he would skip a beat, drift off for a brief moment, flash a smile that would dissipate the second he thought no one was looking.
Something was on his mind.
That night, instead of going to sleep, Ash went back to Cerise Park with Pikachu; back to the place where his memory had left off. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know if he wanted to know.
He replayed the nightmare that had been on repeat in his mind all day.
Why had Greninja left him to fall into the pool?
After the dream, he had gone here. Then there was that terrible sensation that hit him from out of nowhere, and the sharp ringing...
He could hear Greninja calling out to him from out of the depths of his memory.
"gre- gre- GRENINJA!"
The memory faded out.
Ash folded his arms on the balcony railing and rested his chin. His eyes settled into the night sky above, looking through to infinite space beyond; the only place father than wherever the answer to his questions lay.
"Pikachu, I'm worried about Greninja."
Pikachu stood by his partner's side, concerned and silent.
Ash stared into space, becoming oblivious to the hush of the river below, the slight chill of the night, and his partner's stares.
He was like that for a long time, until time itself blurred into subjective reality.
Once, Ash muttered to Pikachu,
"I think I'm going to go to Kalos."
Pikachu, who had cuddled himself up into a sleeping yellow fluff, opened one eye and raised question to what Ash had said.
"...chu?"
Ash looked over to Pikachu and realized with a pang of guilt how long he'd been out there. He scooped up the sleepy Pikachu and carried him off to their dorm.
"Heh, sorry to keep you out here so long. Don't worry about it, just go back to sleep."
He walked quietly into the dorm room, trying to open/close the door as soundlessly as he could while still holding Pikachu.
Ash got into his bed and lovingly set his best friend down beside him, covering him gently with the blanket.
"G'night buddy."
Smiling to himself, Ash was comforted knowing that Pikachu was safe and well right next to him. It made him wonder if the worst was already over.
Maybe... he was going to be okay.
•.•.••.•.•
Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
Goh's phone was going off.
"Ash... it's time to get uuUUuup-"
"errrrr... i know, i know..."
"...then do it."
"i don't wannaaaaa..."
Somehow Ash had actually fallen asleep, and the blue light of morning was shining in through the windows.
Ash adjusted himse-
-THUD
This woke up Pikachu who sprang to his feet on high alert.
"Pi-kapi?"
Now Goh and Raboot were awake, leaning over the rail of the top bunk to see what had made the noise.
Ash was lying stunned on the floor. Goh started laughing;
"Ha haaa! I knew you were the type to fall out of bed! That's why I'm top bunk!"
Ash mumbled some fierce gibberish with his nose to the hardwood floor.
Pretty soon he and Goh were brushing their teeth in the bathroom.
Ash gurgled to Goh:
"I cun bruff moi teff ffaster thun u!"
(I can brush my teeth faster than you!)
Goh gurgled back:
"Wall, I cun gesh mine cleanorfsh thun u!"
(Well, I can get mine cleaner than you!)
It was just another normal day. The research fellows were bickering, Raboot was sighing, and Pikachu was just excited to watch.
Once done getting ready, Ash and Goh clamored into the kitchen with their partners close behind. Prof. Cerise cheerily greeted them from the table:
"Good morning, you two!"
"Good morning, Professor!"
Everyone got their breakfast, and people and pokémon all sat down to eat together. The usual chatter was started up by Ash.
"Say, Goh, I was just thinking..."
"What?"
"You know how Kecleon is the only pokémon with the ability Color Change?"
"Oh yeah! Kecleon can change its attack type to be the same as the last move used on it! They can also use it to blend in to their surroundings!"
"Yeah. So I was thinking, what if there are actually more pokémon with Color Change, but they're just invisible!"
"Hmm... that's an interesting theory." Goh nodded in approval.
Prof. Cerise chimed in.
"And there are pokémon like Sobble who can also disappear! Plus other pokémon with mysterious abilities that we couldn't even imagine! Maybe there are even miniature pokémon all around us!"
Chloe, who had slipped in for a moment to get some food, slipped out again rolling her eyes. Her dad was acting like a little kid along with the two bumbling boys.
Ash and Goh both grinned with stars in their eyes.
"So cool!"
Goh stood up.
"And there's all the pokémon from space!"
Prof. Cerise stood up.
"And the pokémon from other dimensions!"
Ash stood up.
"And the pokémon from-"
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
Ash turned his head sharply to see where the dripping sound was coming from.
"-Kalos." he whispered.
Mr. Mime was pouring some pantomimed orange juice with realistic sounds and the pitcher had gone empty.
The dream. He remembered now.
Goh and Cerise both stared at Ash.
Greninja. He needed to find Greninja!
"Ash, are you doing okay?" Prof. Cerise was saying.
"Do you need anything?" Goh tallied.
"Maybe you should sit down?"
Ash broke from his daze just in time to reassure them both.
"What? No! ...Yes? I'm all good. I just remembered something, is all. Really."
Goh and Cerise looked at each other, then at Ash.
Prof. Cerise sighed.
"Guess we're still worked up about your trip to the Pokémon Center."
Ash laughed nervously.
"Heh heh... Um, Professor? About the thing I remembered... it was something I was going to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Could Goh and I go to Kalos for the next research trip?"
"I don't see why not. Is there anything particular you wanted to go see?"
"Uh no... umm... it's just..."
"There's plenty to study! Kalos is full of history! Take for example, its legends! Like the famous legend of X, Y, and Z, and even lesser known legends from small towns like Ninja Village. They have a legend of a Greninja-"
"-Yes! That one. I heard that, er, there's a greninja like the one in the legend roaming around Kalos with Zygarde."
Goh suspiciously looked at Ash.
"How would you know about that?"
"Mm?! Uh, um..."
Prof. Cerise sat back down at the table.
"Well that settles it. Next trip is to Ninja Village, Kalos."
The research fellows sat back down as well. Ash seemed relieved.
"Alright! Let's finish up, then off to Kalos!"
He started scarfing down his food. Prof. Cerise lifted his hands in an apologetic way.
"Oh, I didn't mean today."
Ash choked on his breakfast. He quickly swallowed it and drank some orange juice- real orange juice. He clanked his cup on the table.
"What?!"
Prof. Cerise gave Ash a worried look.
"Today's your second day back. I think you should take it easy for a bit. You can go to Kalos in a couple of days."
Goh, ever observant, noticed that instead of looking bummed Ash seemed to grow nervous.
"Okay, what's the real reason you want to go to Kalos?"
Ash stared at Goh in surprise.
"Is this about that greninja from your dream? You said he was from Kalos."
Something clicked in Goh's mind and he was hit with a light bulb.
"Is the greninja traveling with Zygarde that greninja?!"
Ash started babbling and Goh knew he had hit the mark.
Professor Cerise wasn't there that night when Ash had explained his dream so he didn't know what Goh was talking about.
"A dream about a greninja? What's this about?"
Goh explained: "The night we took Ash to the Pokémon Center he told me about a weird dream he had. Said something about a greninja he knew and... a lot of water...?"
Ash sighed.
"Yeah, there was a lot of water and I saw Greninja. Then he disappeared and I fell into the water. And after I woke up, I heard him calling me, right before I..."
Everyone went silent.
"Look, Ash. I want to believe you, but for all we know that could've been a hallucination."
Ash looked earnestly at Professor Cerise and pleaded:
"Please, I've got to go to Kalos! I need to find Greninja and make sure he's okay!"
Prof. Cerise was taken aback by the intensity of emotion he saw in Ash. Either his friend Greninja was in big trouble...
Or Ash was insane.
This kid was strange. He found a pokémon egg- or rather it found him- that wouldn't hatch. The very next day a Riolu was on his team. He talked about hearing the voices of pokémon; and not just any pokémon, no. Legendaries like Lugia. He had a gift with pokémon, and not just the Pikachu he was inseparable with.
For some reason, Cerise was inclined to believe that Ash wasn't crazy. So he did. He took a deep breath.
"Ok."
Ash smiled and ran to go get his backpack. Goh called after him,
"Hey Ash! You forgot to eat your-"
Goh sighed. Ash was long gone.
Prof. Cerise thought to himself that he'd better have made the right decision.
Chrysa breezed in.
"Professor, someone's here to see Ash."
"Oh, he just went to- wait. Who?"