Chapter 103: Ash is Missing?

In their own dimension, two legendary beings clashed, the pocket dimension being the only place where they could let loose their full power without disrupting their creator's world. Dialga and Palkia broke apart, glaring down at each other with intense hatred. Despite their injuries, they still insisted on fighting each other, wanting nothing more than to tear the other apart.

"Dialga!"

The Temporal Pokemon gave a mighty battle cry, his signature move speeding towards his mortal enemy.

"Palkia!"

Not wanting to be outdone, Palka used his own special move, the two attacks colliding in a big explosion. Unbeknownst to either of them, their fight would have major consequences for things to come.

"Pika Pi! Pika Pi!"

Lillie woke, not because of the morning sun on her face, but by the frantic cries of Pikachu. Snowy also stirred awake, concerned for her friend.

"Something's not right, Snowy. Come on!"

"Vul!"

The two quickly ran to the common room, where they found Pikachu frantically running all over the place. Surprisingly, Ash was nowhere to be seen.

"Pikachu? Where's Ash?"

Pikachu stopped, and gazed up at Lillie with an expression Lillie had never seen on the Mon's face before: utter terror. That, combined with the fact that Ash was nowhere to be seen, made Lillie know something was wrong.

"Lillie? Is everything alright?"

"We heard Pikachu's cries. Where's Ash?"

"I…I don't know."

"Maybe he just went out for a walk?"

But Lillie shook her head.

"No, not without Pikachu! He never goes anywhere without him."

"Pika."

Chloe saw Pikachu's worried expression, and knelt down to meet him at eye level.

"Hey, it's alright. Ash wouldn't have gone that far without you. Let's go check the park, maybe he wanted to get some early training in and didn't want to wake you?"

Pikachu nodded, but his expression didn't change. But when they reached the park, they found something more troubling. Not only was Ash gone, but so were Dragonite and Lucario. The rest of his team was there, looking for their missing members.

"Guys? You haven't seen Ash anywhere, have you?"

The four shook their head, serving to only make them worry even more. Just then, Professor Cerise entered the park.

"Dad, have you seen Ash?"

"No, but there's someone on the phone asking for him. She said her name is Johanna?"

This made everyone confused.

"Johanna? Isn't that a famous Coordinator?"

"I think so, but what would she want with Ash?"

Then Chloe thought of something.

"Wait a minute! Dawn said her mom's name was Johanna. Maybe that's who it is!"

"Do you think she might know something?"

"Only one way to find out!"

Heading to the conference phone, they found Dawn's mother waiting for them onscreen, looking very worried.

"Where's Ash? Dawn told me he was staying here."

"We'd like to know that ourselves. Is something wrong?"

"Have any of you seen Dawn? She told me she'd call after her latest Contest, but I hadn't heard anything from her. I'd hoped maybe she'd gone to visit you."

"I'm sorry, Miss Johanna, but we haven't seen her either."

"Oh…oh no."

"Miss, would it be alright if we come to visit? Something tells me that this is no coincidence."

"Please do."

The three of them boarded the next ferry to Twinleaf Town, where Johanna met them. Together, they headed to the police station.

"So both Ash and Dawn are missing?"

"Yes! We last saw Ash last night, but this morning he'd completely disappeared."

"Dawn was on TV just yesterday hosting a Pokemon Contest. She told me she'd call this morning, but I haven't heard from her! I'd already called the Pokemon Center in Veilstone, and they confirmed she never checked out."

Officer Jenny bit her lip.

"Do they have any enemies? Anyone who might want to hurt them?"

"Ash has Team Rocket, but not even they could make him disappear in the dead of night."

"Dawn has a few rivals, but none of them would want her dead!"

The Officer wrote everything down, before sighing.

"I'm afraid that's not a lot to go off of, but I'll do my best. I'll put out a missing persons report, and send it out to all of the police stations in Kanto and Sinnoh. Don't worry, we'll find them!"

But despite the Officer's assurance, the quartet couldn't help but worry. With no other options, they returned to Johanna's house, dejected.

"I hope they're alright."

"Hey, come on!" Goh said, trying to lighten up the mood. "They're tough, and capable of taking care of themselves. As long as they're together, they'll be fine! No need to worry."

But even as he said that, he couldn't help but worry. Suddenly, a huge robotic arm broke through the window and grabbed Pikachu, dragging him back out.

"Oh, not now!"

"Don't those three ever give up?"

Immediately, the three of them ran out the door, finding Jessie, James, and Meowth waiting for them.

"Really, right now?"

"Prepare for trouble, of course right now!"

"And make it double, because we're not one to throw in the towel!"

"To protect the world fro-"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"What is it, Meowth?"

"Where's the twerp! The one we've been chasing all these years!"

It was only then that Jessie and James took notice of the fact that Ash was nowhere to be seen.

"Meowth's right, he's missing!"

"Alright, what's the big idea? We came all the way here to steal Pikachu, the least he can do is show up!"

"Ash is missing! We haven't seen him since last night."

Jessie and James's faces fell.

"James, let Pikachu go."

"Are you sure, Jessie?"

"It's not the same without him. Besides, it looks like they've been through enough for one day."

James sighed, and complied.

"You're right, not even we're that heartless."

Pikachu dropped to the ground, his face still sullen. Meowth gave him a few gentle pats on the head, trying to cheer him up.

"Take care, old pal. I'm sure he'll turn up."

"Pika."

With that, the three criminals left, leaving our heroes to stew in their thoughts.

Later that night, Lillie got ready for bed, Johanna being more than happy to let them use her guest rooms. But despite how tired she was she couldn't rest, her mind still on Ash. Taking out her locket, she stared at the picture inside.

"Please be safe, Ash."

"Pika?"
Lillie turned around, to find Pikachu looking up at her timidly. The Electric Mouse Pokemon lifted up his arms, giving her a pleading look.

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

"Pi," Pikachu whimpered. Lillie smiled, and gently scooped him up into a hug.

"Of course you can. I could use the company, too."

Pikachu smiled, and licked her cheek as a show of appreciation.

"Now come on, let's get to sleep."

"Pi!"

Lillie gently carried Pikachu over to the bed, and held him in her arms as she lay down. Snowy jumped into it and curled up at the foot of the bed, her tails gently resting on Lillie's legs as she slept.

"Good night, Pikachu. Good night, Snowy."

"Pika."

"Vul."

Pikachu slowly fell asleep, but Lillie stayed up a little longer, gently stroking his fur as she thought about Ash.

"I promise Ash, as long as you're gone, I'll keep Pikachu safe. But please come back to me!"