When a life fades away

Goh loved a lot of things. He loved his Pokèmon, his travelling life, his friends Ash and Chloe, his Pokèdex and from time to time, also battling.

One thing he didn't love was to be waken up during the night by an explosion and an earthquake.

"What the fuck???" It was hard to hear him swearing but the stroke he nearly had at that point made the boy go mad.

"Ash, did you hear that?"

No response…

Then he noticed the empty bed and realized that something was off.

"Where did he go? And what happened?"

Turning the light on he saw that Ash's backpack and belt were still there but there was no trace of him, Pikachu but, most importantly, his phone.

"So he is not so idiot, isn't he?" He told to no one in specific since Grookey was more concerned about watching from the window of the room what was happening.

He tried to call him, but a robotic voice left him confused

"This number no longer exists. Check out if you have digited the number correctly and try again"

At first, Goh said nothing, stunned by that message, but the, something clicked inside his brain.

Eyes widening in realization, he took with him Ash's belt, got changed from his pijama and left the room dashing toward the exit before thinking that he didn't know where to go.

Suddenly sounds of sirens came from the street and the only thing he could think in that moment was following them.

"Flygon, I need your help!" said the boy enlarging a Pokè Ball from his own belt and summoning the large dragon Pokèmon.

"We need to follow those Police cars there. Ash could be in real danger!"

"Flyyyyy"

And the duo, plus Grookey, left, his destination being the source of the loud explosion that had put an end to the wonderful dream he was having about catching Mew with only a curve ball.

Meanwhile, Clemont and Bonnie were rushing in the streets although the boy was far behind his sister, tired from the day and also pissed off to have to put on hold his peaceful night.

There were a lot of people now outside, most of them just scared for the light and the explosion while others only interested in the event that had just unfolded.

They finally came to an halt when they saw a large crater fuming and police cars with copes trying to secure the area.

"What happened here?"

"Uh, you must be Clemont, the gym leader"

"I am"

"Well, from what we could see from surveillance cameras, a light came down from the sky and hit the ground creating this hole and the explosion. The streets were quite deserted, but we can't say if someone has been invested by the explosion".

"Holy crap"

"Hey, we found something at the bottom of the hole" a second cop intruded.

"What is it?"

"It's a cap!"

"What? Let me check"

It was a red hat with a white peak and was designed with a black C and inside of that C a green dot.

It was completely fine, as if he hadn't been hit by the beam that had destroyed an entire area of the park.

Although Clemont and Bonnie had already seen that hat, they couldn't put a finger about when.

"How is it possible? A completely intact hat? It wasn't carried by the wind, was it?"

"No, it was there from the start since it was under some rocks"

"And yet, it is nice and clean…Mhh"

From the night a Flygon appeared shouting: "ASHHHH, WHERE ARE YOUUU???"

Realization hit the siblings about the hat while Goh was descending to the ground. Clemont approached the trainer:

"Is this Ash's hat?"

"Yes, it is. Who are you and why you have it? And, what happened here?" answered Goh in a mix of confusion and fear.

"The name's Clemont, I travelled with Ash in Kalos, the hat was at the bottom of this hole. What happened here is not so clear"

"Wait, what?? Where is Ash???"

"I really don't know"

In a moment Bonnie seemed to put the things together: "Wait, if the hat was there, and Ash isn't, could he be…. dead?"

Her beautiful blue eyes were now tearing and her voice was broken.

Her Brother kneeled down and faced her: "We don't know Bonnie, but remember, Ash is strong"

"His phone is no longer active".

This stunned a little Clemont.

"What kind of phone was that?". "A Rotom phone". "That's impossible. If his phone got destroyed in the explosion, it would say that the phone isn't available. The only way for number to not exist, beside the end of the contract, is that his phone has somehow exited every kind of remote connection, like it is on another planet"

"How do you know?"

"I made them"

"Holy moly"

"So you are saying that this Ash guy vanished completely from this world, right?" A cop intervened

"I'm just saying that about the phone. No one saw Ash, so maybe he is still around somewhere" said Clemont, although he had a gut feeling that this wasn't the truth.

"We saw him being hit by the light"

" No wayy!!"

"Yes, we recovered some quality video from the security cameras of that vendor. A boy, a Pikachu and a Greninja"

Clemont, Bonnie and Goh gasped in horror.

The smell of the sea, the sound of waves crashing onto the beach. How blissful this was for Ash.

He felt something touching his shoulder and groaned: "Please Serena, let me sleep 10 more minutes!"

He heard snickering but couldn't care less. He was having one of the best nights of sleep of his entire life.

"Pikaaaa CHUUUU"

A thunderbolt hit him making the boy jump and after a small explosion, he found himself covered in sooth.

"Why Pikachu, I was sleeping so peacefully!!"

" Pikapi!", " Gren"

"Uh?"

It was then that Ash remembered everything; from meeting with Greninja to the light and then the slumber.

"Where are we" He casted his gaze on the surroundings.

He was on a golden beach surrounded by trees and in the distance a massive mountain. Over the top of that a black vortex in the sky.

"Whoaaa, what the hell is that?". "Pika pika" "You are right Pikachu. Clemont's map can tell us where we are"

He reached his pocket, took his phone and opened the map. His eyes widened…. It was a map of the Sinnoh region, and he was supposed to be in Sandgem town.

"Are you bewildered young man?"

"Who's there??! Where am I? Why did you take me to Sinnoh?!"

"Where are you looking? I'm in your head… Nice to meet you again, don't you remember me? I'm Arceus"

"WHAAAAAT?????"

Dawn and Serena turned around, sure that they knew who was screaming, but they saw nothing.

"You heard it to Serena?", "Yes". "Well, maybe we have been under the sun too much"

The two girls were now at the Sandgem beach to relax after a long journey from Snowpoint and had agreed to spend the day resting on the beach with their Pokèmon. Sure, there were a lot of people around them, but it was relaxing anyway. Surely more than walking up and down to cross Mount Coronet.

"Shut up, my boy. I'm speaking to you this way cause I'm weak."

"Weak? You"

"Something is happening that will change the future, something terrible. Right now, even I can't know what's going on, but I know I need your help with this world"

"And my matches? My Pokèmon and friends?"

"They won't exist if we can't restore the balance here. Ash, you are in the past. This is the ancient Sinnoh Region, Hisui!"

For a moment, Ash thought he was passing away for the shock but maintained the ground.

"What, you have to be a little more accurate"

"Of course… This region timeline has been altered by something and a guy that should have had a major importance for the future was murdered by someone. I don't know how and why but I need you to restore this world events. You are the most similar person in a certain way to that guy.

But the most problematic thing is to understand what happened here to change the course of events.

I'm becoming weaker and weaker, and I think this is related to that portal on top of Mount Coronet.

We have to change this world again or else the entire universe will be doomed"

"I'm not sure I have understood" answered Ash touching his chin. "What can I do?"

"The first thing is to befriend the local population, but you have to feign that you don't remember your past world to not alter even more the events and when something will happen to the vortex you will have to investigate. For now, that's all"

"Wait, but will I come back soon to my friends?"

"No"

This shocked once more Ash.

"The time you will spend here is going to be taken from your life future. Your body and mind have an age and we can't separate it from your time…. Yes, that's right… It is right… eheheh"

"Oh shoot, no way, I'm gonna miss the PWC final four!!!"

"I'm sorry to ask you this sacrifice, but you are my only hope"

Ash took a deep breath watching the sky and then turned to face his two only remaining friends.

"Waddaya say?"

They nodded.

"Well, I guess We're in!"

The morning arrived in Lumiouse city, and while the people resumed their normal lives, an announce broke through the most important medias of the region:

"Due to the events occurred this night in the Central Park in Lumiouse City, Police found enough proof to say that a trainer participating the Pokèmon World Coronation series Final 4 Tournament has been convoluted in the explosion. We are sad to announce the death at the young age of 20 of Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town"