Pallet Town was peaceful.
Ash's mother was long-gone by now, having passed away, at the ripe old age of 97. Samuel, hardy as the old professor had been, had died even before then at 103. Gary was still around, but he'd retired up in Snowpoint, where he'd set up base with the girl of his dreams. All of his other companions over the years had settled down, had children, and all that jazz. Ash himself had no kids, but the Pokemon at Oak's lab - He still called it that, even after it had been passed onto him - were his entire life.
Hauling the bag of Pokemon food off the ground, Ash begin his thrice-daily routine of dishing out food for the residents of the lab's fields. This time, though, there was a difference.
The Pokemon, rather than chowing down immediately, all gathered around their caretaker of fifty years. In the distance, he could sense several powerful auras - the legendary Pokemon he had met over the years, no doubt.
Today, Ash had some bad news, and the Pokemon already knew. They were smart like that. Ash's Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder, and he pulled off his old, old League Expo hat and put it on his companion's head like old times. The mouse's once-yellow coat had dimmed over the years to a pale gray, and the pouches now constantly leaked a fairly large amount of his frankly massive reserves, but he was energetic as he had ever been. His trainer had been somehow linked to him, and now they knew that neither would die until both were ready.
Ash decided to get right to the point. "Everyone, I have something to tell you, and I know it won't be easy for you to hear." Several of the more mature creatures lowered their heads in sorrow, and he smiled sadly. "I don't think I'll be living much longer, so this will be my last visit here. I know I've helped you sort things out between yourselves, so you'll be perfectly fine without me, but I just wanted to-"
Here he broke off, tears running down his face as Pikachu cried with him. "I'm sorry, guys, this just reminds me of- of Samuel too much. I..." he took a moment to steady himself and continued. "I was terrified, and so angry. I wondered how he could possibly just lay down and die so willingly, and leave so many people who needed him. But I-I think I finally-"
He broke down again, and this time it took him several minutes to match his breathing with Pikachu's, helping him concentrate enough to carry on. "Please, don't be angry at me, okay? Don't make the same mistake that I made. It might not look like it, but I'm... I'm so scared to go. I don't want to leave my children behind. My beautiful... Come and give your old man a hug, everyone..."
They did. The cranidos, stantler, seviper, mudkip, rhyperior, and so many more circled him. And they hugged him.
Right until his dying breath.
This was originally meant to be the start of a fully fledged fanfic, but I'm leaving it as this.
My grandpa died earlier in the year, and my mother told me that he'd seemed ready to leave. I was given the option to go and see him in hospital, when it wasn't clear if he'd die, but I watched the pets instead so that the rest of my family, who were closer to him than me, could spend more time with him. He died from a heart attack the next day.
I regret it so much.
I just wanted to try and see things from his point of view. I'm crying even as I write this.
So that's why I made such a short, pointless fic. Thanks for reading.