Dawn didn't know what to feel at the moment. It had been almost three days since Ash went missing and she didn't know whether to cry or get angry. How was she going to break the news to Mrs. Ketchum? Oh lord, that poor woman probably was going to have a heart attack. Anxiety and guilt gripped her heart as she went into the Pokecenter with Brock. Nurse Joy looked up at them and slowly shook her head, while glancing at a tray of pokeballs sitting on her desk.
Brock exhaled and hung his head, "Still hasn't shown up huh?"
"I'm sure that he'll come. As you said, Ash isn't the type to abandon his pokemon," Joy reassured the two.
Dawn could feel herself tearing up again, her puffy red eyes stinging from the new wave of tears. "I should have never fought with him! Brock, what if he got hurt because of me!? What if it was all my fault!?" She sobbed, her hands tightly gripping her skirt.
Brock immediately went to comfort her, "It's not your fault Dawn, Ash was acting really weird anyway. Maybe he just left to blow off some steam from losing? I'm sure he's fine."
"We should call Mrs. Ketchum just in case, I don't think she knows yet," she sniffled.
"Alright, I'll talk to her. You get some rest, we've been searching all night and I know you're exhausted."
"No, I want to be there. It's my fault for pushing him away."
Brock nodded as he dialed the familiar number to the Ketchum residence. It rang a few times before going to the answering machine. Huh, odd. He tried again and got the same monotone voice asking him to leave a message after the tone.
"She's not picking up?" Dawn asked confused.
"She's probably at Professor Oak's. I'll give him a call to see if she's there," Brock replied while dialing another number. This time someone did pick up.
"Oh, hello Brock. When are you coming? I'm sure Ash would have liked to get here as fast as possible...where is he anyway?"
"Umm...about that," Dawn started, but was cut off by Brock. "Professor Oak, why are you in a suit?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Today's the funeral."
"FUNERAL!? But Ash only went missing two days ago and we haven't told anyone!" Brock and Dawn yelled into the receiver.
"MISSING!? What are you guys talking about?" Oak shouted back.
"Ash ran away from us after we got in a fight two days ago. He was acting really weird after his loss with Paul and we tried to get him to tell us why. But he snapped at us and ran away. He hasn't come back yet and his pokemon are still at the pokecenter. We decided to call Mrs. Ketchum to let her know but she isn't picking up," Dawn spoke softly.
Oak's face suddenly looked really tired. "Delia Ketchum died in a fire started by a mysterious group of people two days ago. Today is the funeral."
Brock and Dawn were shell shocked as they stared at the screen. Mrs. Ketchum...was dead? Dawn couldn't take it anymore and fled out the pokecenter doors, her eyes glistening with tears.
"This is horrible, first Delia has passed away and now Ash is missing?" Oak moaned.
"Oh god...please pay our respects in our stead. We still have to find Ash and bring him home."
"Have you filed a missing person's report?"
"We were going to do that after letting his mother know, but…"
"Yes, do it now. The funeral will go on and I'll put flowers on her grave for you, but find Ash. He gets in all sorts of trouble and I wouldn't want anything to happen to him."
Brock nodded seriously and ended the video call. He waved goodbye to Nurse Joy before trying to find an Officer Jenny patrolling the grounds. Dawn wasn't anywhere near the center so he figured that she had to be in their room.
A few minutes later, he found the teal haired police officer, resisting the overpowering urge to profess his undying love to her.
"Officer Jenny! Officer Jenny!" He called out while running to her.
"Hmm...what is it?" She asked turning around. Her arcanine paused and sat obediently, waiting for its master to continue walking.
"My friend went missing a few days ago. I came to file a missing person's report."
"All right! Let's head on back to the station, Arcanine. We'll let the other Jennys take care of the rest of patrol." Arcanine barked and stood up.
"Did your friend get involved in some shady business?"
"No! Ash isn't like that. We fight off Team Rocket all the time."
"Really? Isn't it dangerous to go against such a large criminal organization?"
Brock smiled fondly, reminiscing as he replied, "Ash always comes out on top. No matter what, his luck comes through for him."
"But don't go looking for trouble...there are some things in the world that you can't be ready for."
Brock nodded seriously at the officer's words as they walked through the station doors.
"All right. What's your friend's name, age, occupation if he has one, any relative, where he was last seen, contact number, describe his personality normally and if anything was weird days prior to disappearance. Did he have any trouble with the law during any point of time in his life?"
"Ashura Satoshi Ketchum. He's 16 and is a pokemon trainer. He...has no relatives to take care of him though, his mother died two days ago," Brock started.
"Really? Interesting…"
"He was with me and Dawn, another friend of ours, when we got into a fight and he ran away."
"What was the fight about?"
"He was pushing us away and being really moody. When we asked him, he said it was none of our business and ran away. Now we know that it was his mother that caused the mood change."
"I see, I see...do you have a number that we can reach you with or someone responsible for him? Write it down here," Jenny said passing a clipboard with blocks of information filled out and a pen and motioned to where he should write Professor Oak's number.
"We'll see what we can do Brock, but if he's out of the region, there's nothing we can do. We'd have to transfer the case and that would be extremely difficult. Let's hope that he shows up soon, but until then we'll send out a few alerts and broadcast it."
Brock nodded, thankful for her services. "Thank you Officer Jenny, We'll let you know if something else pops up."
"Alright Brock, take care," Jenny grinned while saluting.
Brock sighed and walked away, now to find Dawn.
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"Hello Ash."
Ash took a step back. Then two more steps. Then he tripped and fell to the ground, he had no idea where the voice in his head was coming from. It was somewhat familiar, but voices in his head had always spelled out trouble before. Pikachu seemed to have already figured it out, judging by the fact that he was laughing at Ash's misfortune.
Lucario stepped forward, and extended his hand to Ash, "Here, let me help you."
Ash didn't respond for a few seconds, but eventually went wide-eyed, "Wait, Lucario, are you the voice in my head?"
Lucario nodded, and Pikachu continued to laugh, only pausing to say something that Ash figured was extremely snide.
Ash gripped Lucario's paw, and hoisted himself upright, "Hey Lucario, what just happened? And how can I perfectly understand you? I can't even understand Pikachu that well, and I've known him for 6 years!"
As Pikachu took his customary spot on Ash's shoulder, Lucario responded, "We created an aura bond, it allows the parties involved to feel each other's emotions, some memories and well being. It forces us to show what we truly feel or think, so a closer bond is formed. And as for understanding me, we are currently communicating with Aura, which can create a telepathic network between two beings. I am extending this network to Pikachu, but eventually you will be able to extend the network to all of your pokemon."
As Pikachu squeaked out a reply, Ash's mind was running at a mile a minute. Why did his aura suddenly calm down? When will he be able create a network? Will he be able to speak with the rest of his pokemon? Eventually, he calmed down enough to make conversation.
"So, seeing as we are now Aura partners, do you mind if I catch you? You can stay outside of the pokeball if you like, but it's mostly an anti-theft mechanism."
"It would be my honor. And I would like to stay outside, please."
Ash took an empty pokeball from his belt, noting that he had forgot to get his pokemon from the Pokecenter, and tossed it at Lucario. Not even 3 wobbles later it chimed, signaling that Lucario had been caught.
Lucario immediately emerged, and bowed to Ash. Ash raised an eyebrow, while Pikachu titled his head.
"I am honored to serve as your Pokemon and your Aura guide, master."
Pikachu, for the second time, fell to the ground laughing. Ash, on the other hand, looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Please Lucario, don't call me master. We are friends."
"Certainly, master."
"Please stop."
"Never."
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While training her pokemon, Cynthia realised that Ash still hasn't picked up his pokeballs. She cursed under her breath. How would she get past Nurse Joy and Professor Oak? Recalling all of her pokemon, she made her way over to the pokemon center.
"Hello Nurse Joy, I'm here for trainer Ash Ketchum's pokemon. He has been missing for over 24 hours and his pokemon must be turned over to the league and be taken care of. Once he is found, we shall determine whether he is stable enough and return his companions to him." Cynthia confidently spoke, authority shining through her words.
Nurse Joy looked at her skeptically but turned the tray of pokeballs over. "Of course, will the pokemon be okay? And Pikachu is missing as well…"
"Pikachu is still being tracked down and his other pokemon from the ranch are in our custody. The pokemon will be taken care of well and we will try to keep them as happy as possible." Cynthia almost felt bad about lying right through her teeth, but it had to be done.
She placed the pokeballs in a separate tote bag and returned the tray to Nurse Joy. "If he has left any personal possessions, I have to collect those as well."
"He hasn't left any here, I will check with his companions if they have anything."
"Thanks Nurse Joy."
Cynthia held the bag full of pokeballs and made her way back to the hotel room. She packed her things and sent a message to Ash's pokedex letting him know that she was going to her Unova summerhouse.
The Sinnoh league had ended, so Cynthia had to return to her duties. There were new ruins discovered in Unova so she could keep away from Sinnoh for a while. Even though Ash looked different, he was still identifiable to friends and family and she could tell he doesn't want to face them yet. She was worried about what they were going to do after that though...they would cross that bridge when they get to it.
She called her butler and requested two rooms to be prepared for them as she got into her jeep. She phoned her elite four to let them know she wasn't going to be in the region for a while as she drove to the port. She couldn't wait to train Ash, he was an interesting trainer and his pokemon were strong. With his new powers, who knew what he could do and how his battling style could change. An interesting protege indeed.