𝒳

The gentle trot of feet on stone rang through the streets of Alto Mare, mingling with the sound of distant canals and the muted hum of the city itself. In the center of it all was Ash, Pikachu, and Bianca— The party of three steadily making their way across town, an unyielding silence standing in the air between them.

Ash stared forward at his guide, lips pursed in thought after their awkward encounter a few minutes ago. He'd managed to get a few words out of her, but now it was back to the silent treatment it seemed.

"Pikapi, chu Pikachu?"

"I'm not sure what's going on either, buddy— But I'm gonna find out." Shaking his head, Ash picked up the pace, joining Bianca's side after a moment and exchanging a glance with the girl. "So, what's up?"

"Not much." Her answer was curt, carrying with it her obvious impatience. When Ash refused to back off, however, she sighed. "Ash, it's 11 PM, it's cold, I'm in my pajamas and I just had to bail you out of jail. You can forgive me for not being in the best mood, yeah?"

"Well, when you put it like that." Ash scratched his head as he gave an awkward laugh, the reasoning checking out in his mind. Suddenly sheepish, he took a half-step back, giving Bianca space.

That wasn't enough it seemed.

Bianca sighed.

"What are you even doing here, Ash?" The question was firm and her frustration palpable. It put Ash on the defense almost instantly.

"What do you mean? We're just visiting you guys!" he replied, stopping for a moment before moving again. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his voice, yet still Bianca squinted and scrutinized each word. After a moment though she shook her head.

"Even the rowdiest tourists don't usually get arrested," she muttered, before sighing loudly. "I'm sorry, it's just, when it comes to the city, I get a bit antsy around your type— Pokémon Trainers."

There was something in her words, something subtle and unsaid. Ash, however, wasn't one for subtlety, not when he felt the need to defend himself.

"Hey, I'm not just any old trainer. I'm Ash Ketchum!" he declared, picking up the pace and following her around a corner. His assured claims seemed to have little effect on Bianca, however, as she continued walking. Furrowing his brow, Ash called out. "And, I'm your friend."

This time, Bianca did respond.

"Ash, we met one time four years ago. I appreciate everything you did for Alto Mare, but I barely know you."

"Pika!?"

The air became deathly quiet, a gulf forming between Ash and his supposed friend in an instant. He was left now with only his thoughts, and the words Bianca had given him. In the silence, he thought them over.

He knew what Bianca said was technically correct, that the two of them never really got to know each other very well. Yet, it didn't feel right. In his heart, he knew they were friends, and he had to prove it. Somehow.

An idea came to his mind.

"Bianca… Bianca, I wanna show you something."

"What is it?" For a moment it looked like Bianca wouldn't pay Ash the courtesy of looking, keeping her gaze pointed forward. Soon though, she shook her head and relented. When she turned, what she found made her freeze.

In Ash's hands was a picture, a portrait, that was both familiar and not. It depicted the very two she was looking at, Ash and Pikachu, in a moment that felt more like a dream than a memory now. The sight of it brought her to a complete stop, for one simple reason.

She was the picture's artist.

"I'm not just some random trainer— I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm your friend," Ash declared, his words strong and firm and confident in a way that befuddled Bianca. As if saying it with enough gusto would make it true. "You guys made this for me, gave it to me. You can't say we're not friends. I don't accept that."

Like that, the two were at an impasse— Ash's passionate declaration against Bianca's asserted indifference. His claim demanded an answer, one Bianca struggled to come up with. She stood there, her eyes trained onto the picture, and to how gently Ash held it forward.

Then, she laughed.

Her stance loosened, her shoulders relaxed, and she looked onto Ash with a face far more befitting a friend than a stranger.

"Come on, my grandad will wanna see you."

𝒳

"Welcome to Alto Mare!"

"Oh hey, Lorenzo! It's so good to— Whoa!"

Despite his slow and stodgy appearance, Bianca's grandfather was a titan of a man, with arms that hammered wood and lifted gondolas. Ash barely had a moment to get through the door before he was swept off his feet and hoisted into the air.

"Pikapi!?"

"Ahaha! Tell me, my boy! When were you planning on letting us know you were coming to visit! You could've called!" Lorenzo guffawed, squeezing Ash in a tight bear hug, before depositing him back onto his feet while he laughed. Ash had to pause and collect his bearings before he could answer.

"We wanted to! Until we sorta realized we didn't actually have a number to call, ya know?" Glancing back, Ash caught Pikachu walking in behind him, Bianca at his heel. Turning away would be his mistake, however, as Lorenzo slammed his palm into Ash's back and gave another laugh. "Man, after Bianca, I didn't expect you to be so excited to see us!"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu concurred, leaping up to take his place on Ash's shoulder.

"Well, of course I am! Why, I'm welcoming in the savior of my home!" With a merry skip to his step, Lorenzo moved away, strolling past Bianca to a small kitchenette in the corner. Almost immediately his arms got to work. "Now, you must've traveled long and far to get here, and had a few bumps along the way. Why don't we pay you boys the courtesy and get you all well and fed!"

"Ah man, we'd love to! We're starving!" Ash paused then, a moment of hesitancy in his step that Pikachu seemed to notice. Before his partner could raise a question, however, Ash spoke up once more. "It's just, we've been in town for a while, and—"

Ash could see Bianca fold her arms. She knew what he was getting at, and it seemed Lorenzo did so too.

"You wish to see Latias." He spoke the name without a hint of hesitation, even while his hands continued to chop vegetables and stir pots. "Am I correct?"

"Heh, yep!" Ash nodded, an odd feeling welling in his chest for a moment. Hearing the name just said aloud, it almost felt weird.

"Well! I certainly won't stop you. Bianca can take you there right now—" Lorenzo punctuated his words with a nod towards his granddaughter, who sighed and stood up from the futon she'd crashed onto. "Although, to meet an old friend on an empty stomach is…"

Flashing a devilish smile, Lorenzo stepped forward, carrying with him the fruit of his labor: A pan of creamy, buttery rice topped with mushrooms and cheese.

"Perhaps I could offer you boys a small meal before you head out?"

Ash's stomach rumbled at the sight of the lavish risotto. Just like that, his self-restraint had fallen like a house of cards.

"Well, if it's just a small meal."

𝒵

Ash's small meal had quickly turned into a rather hefty feast, as neither he nor Pikachu had gotten a bite to eat in many hours. So with the entire contents of Bianca's fridge splayed out before them, the two quickly became quite occupied.

That left Lorenzo and Bianca to themselves, watching the two gorge while they sat nearby. After some time, Bianca asked her grandfather a question.

"So, why do you think he's back?" It was a short and terse inquiry, said just quietly enough to keep from being overheard. It made Lorenzo furrow his brow.

"Need there be a reason?"

"There's always a reason." Bianca pushed, glancing away and looking at her grandfather. Her arms were folded and a hint of apprehension stood in her expression. "He hasn't called, hasn't written, and now he's shown up out of nowhere."

"You would have had to have given him a number, for him to be able to call," Lorenzo answered, a chuckle to his voice and a glint to his eyes. Bianca couldn't find a response to that. So she just pursed her lips and sighed, before glancing back at the two.

After a quiet moment stood, Lorenzo leaned over and whispered.

"You do the past a disservice by refusing to let go of it, Bianca," he said, making her nearly freeze as he spoke. "A disservice to the past, and to yourself."

Bianca's brows furrowed, her expression turned, and her eyes fell from staring at Ash, to the ground at her feet. Only one word was coming to her mind now, and it was a rather unsatisfying one at that.

"Maybe."

𝒳

Ash never had a great sense of direction.

To him, a city like Alto Mare was basically a maze with no exit. He could travel its alleyways for days before he ever got close to his destination. It's why to him it was amazing to watch Bianca turn those winding paths into straightforward roads. She guided him and Pikachu past tight city streets and long canal bridges, on the way to their destination.

Seeing Bianca like that, it reminded him of something, something from his last time visiting the city. Ash's mind turned to when Latias guided him down these same routes.

"Well, here we are."

Ash snapped to attention, before he blinked and realized they'd come to a stop. At his back was a wall of overgrown foliage, and in front of him a truly astonishing sight— A familiar intersection.

"Talk about deja vu."

Where it seemed that every speck and inch of Alto Mare had changed in some way over the years, the crossroads the trio stood at then seemed frozen in time. Stepping forward, Ash watched as a memory played out before his very eyes.

"Pikapi, kachu, pi?"

"I know right? I'm half expecting those two Pidgeys to still be here." Ash's eyes hung on the sight of a bird fountain, still trickling with water for the local Pokémon. The stone hadn't been worn at all.

"The space near the entrance has that effect on people. Feels like time's going at a snail's pace, yeah?" Forging ahead, Bianca quickly arrived at the other end of the intersection, stopping by a wall that too was familiar. She looked up to the night sky peaking overhead, before shaking her head. "This is as far as I go. Latias is inside."

Her declaration snapped Ash and Pikachu from their reminiscing, as they quickly followed.

"Oh? Don't wanna come say hi?" Joining her side, Ash came to a stop at the brick wall. His hand traced the stone, almost feeling it before the illusion gave way to his fingers.

Bianca yawned.

"Nope. Not all of us have the infinite energy you two do." She stretched, another yawn rolling under her voice as she stepped away. "Besides, I'm sure she'll want some privacy while saying hi."

Cocking a brow, Ash turned and watched as she strolled away. "What's that supposed to—?"

"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu snickered out a call— Good idea! Just like that, Ash's partner leapt off of his shoulder and onto Bianca's. "Pikapi, Kapika, chuuuu~!"

"Eh? What do you mean good luck!"

Bianca smirked and began walking off, Pikachu cackling on her shoulder. All the while, Ash could only just stare as the two left him behind.

Rolling his eyes, Ash turned back and faced the wall again. Before he stepped forward, he let a mutter roll under his breath.

"What's up with those two?"

𝒳

If the entrance to Latias's home brought Ash pause, then the actual thing froze him still.

Before him laid the Garden, a sanctuary hidden deep in the heart of Alto Mare. Though he'd never forgotten the serene space in his years away, he couldn't help but stop and stare upon it now.

Thick trees, older than Ash could even begin to conceive of, stretched far and out into the distance, their wide, waving leaves forming a canopy overhead. Streaks of moonlight flowed from on high, resting gently on rolling fields of grass and stone walkways, which connected one end of the Garden to another.

Collecting himself, Ash began to trek forward.

It was quiet, very quiet. Though he could not see a soul, he could just about hear the distant murmurs of sleeping Pokémon. The sound came under the trickle of the garden's flowing stream. Beyond that, there was not a whisper to be heard.

Until something rang out in the distance.

"Huh? What was—?" Ash had definitely heard something. It was too distinct for him to have missed it in all this quiet. To his ears, it sounded like a great weight falling onto the ground. Then, a moment later, another sound came.

Was that, a hum?

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!"

Ash came to a sudden stop, his gaze scanning across the landscape of the garden, searching for the source of the apparent humming. It was like the slow rev of—

"A jet." A smile broke through Ash's confusion, as he locked onto a sight in the distance: Billowing dust, and a red blur. "Latias!"

In a burst of sudden speed, Ash flew forward, racing across the stone path to meet his friend. After all the talk and distractions and detours, the time was actually, really here.

"—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!" The red blur grew faster.

He was going to meet up with Latias! They were going to finally catch up! All that separated them now was a hundred or so feet!

"—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!" The red blur grew bigger in Ash's sights.

Any second now, they'd meet in the middle. Any second now, he'd get to see her face-to-face. Any second now—

Ash's mind paused, a half-formed thought developing in his head. As he watched the red blur grow faster and bigger, that thought came to fruition.

"Isn't she going a bit too—?"

"—Aaaaaaash!"

With a great, thundering boom, the red blur slammed into Ash, sending both him and her tumbling through the air and towards a stretch of grass in the distance. Moments after Ash's feet left the ground, his whole body touched back down, before going into an uncontrolled roll.

"Ow—! How—! Sonnova—!" He might've gone rolling for another minute more, if it wasn't for a very well-placed tree bringing him to a sudden stop. With that subsequent crash, dust and dirt blew up from the ground below, whilst leaves rained down from above. Ash rubbed his skull as he quickly came to. "Ugggggggh."

"Oooooow…" It seemed he wasn't alone in his pain, as his partner-in-crash-landings laid in a heap near him, nursing her own aches and bruises. Seeing her, Ash began to speak before he could think.

"Who taught you how to fly?" Despite his rather grumpy front, Ash couldn't hide the smile growing on his face, nor the rising tone in his voice. Sitting up, he chuckled, watching the dust between them slowly fade. "There's another option than just accelerating you know."

The heaped pile that was Latias shook with half a laugh, as she too began to recover from the collision. Her head raised off the ground as she turned, and when she did, the last of the dust cleared. The two locked eyes.

A still, silent moment stood between the two, before Ash crossed the divide.

"I'm really, really happy to see you again."

Latias beamed.

"I can't believe you're here."

With that, Ash paused, before the next few words tumbled out of his mouth.

"Latias, did you just talk!?"