Disclaimer; I don't own Pokémon

A/N; Time for a new story! I've been working on this for some time now and, as of about a month ago, it is currently complete and in the process of getting edited. Hopefully that means that I'll get it out fairly quickly, but no promises… I tend to forget things and allow time to run away with me. This will be the first book in a series, so I hope you all enjoy.

PLEASE NOTE: At this stage, there is no shipping planned for this story, nor any subsequent stories in this series. HOWEVER, there may be a few moments that may imply shipping, or may outright state that one character has feelings for another. If there is any shipping, it would be Pokéshipping, but I honestly don't want to write a romance. As such, any shipping will be left as implied, and you're all more than welcome to take what you will from anything you read

Chapter One;

There was an odd feeling in the air.

Ash noticed it the moment he woke up that morning. It made him quiet as he listened to something that he couldn't quite understand, and there was such a terrible feeling of wrongness everywhere that he couldn't muster a smile for anything at all, no matter how many times the people around him tried to coax one out of him.

It was how he had managed to find himself here, waiting for Professor Oak's door to open. Worried by her son's odd attitude, Delia had all but shoved him out of the house and dragged him up the road, hoping that being surrounded by his Pokémon might help him.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu said quietly, huddling on Ash's shoulder; he, too, had noticed that something was up with the world today, but he was more worried, right now, about his trainer.

Slowly, Ash raised his hand to rest in on Pikachu's back reassuringly, but he didn't know whether he was trying to comfort the Pokémon or himself. He shuddered slightly, wishing this weird, awful feeling would just go away already.

All of a sudden, the door opened, just as Delia was reaching out to ring the doorbell again. Dishevelled and apologetic, Professor Oak's expression cleared at the sight of them, evidently happy to see them.

"Ash, Delia!" he said joyfully. "What a pleasant surprise to see the both of you! Come on in!"

"Is everything alright, Professor?" Delia asked, eyeing the state he was in.

"Yes, yes, I've just been doing some studies on Electric type Pokémon, and Rotom got a little excited about it all," Professor Oak said with a sheepish laugh. His eyes lit up. "Since you're here, Ash, perhaps I could ask if Pikachu could also help out with the study?"

It took a moment for the words to process as they moved sluggishly through Ash's mind. He blinked and rubbed his forehead.

"…Pikachu?" he asked, brow furrowing. "Uh, sure, if Pikachu's okay with it?"

Professor Oak frowned, gazing at Ash. Now that he looked closer, he could see that there was something not quite right with the young man today. He glanced at Delia, taking in her concerned expression, and he suddenly understood why they were both here.

Luckily, however, he thought that he had the remedy for whatever the problem was.

"Well, we can see about that later," he said, voice perhaps a little too enthusiastic. "It's almost lunch, and I have some guests that stopped by here first, correctly deducing that you would make your way here today, Ash."

Ash's gaze focused a little, and curiosity took over the thoughtful and despondent expression on his face. Delia beamed at Professor Oak in thanks.

"Guests?" Ash asked.

"Come through to the living room," Professor Oak encouraged. "They've only been here for about half an hour, and they're eager to see you."

Ash brightened a little. He wasn't a fool, and he had a feeling that he knew exactly who Professor Oak was talking about; there would be no sense to be so mysterious about Tracey wanting to see him, since the young man was always here. At the very least, he knew who one of his visitors was, because she was the only one he could think of who could possibly be free to travel to see him.

Pikachu all but confirmed it when his face lit up as they got closer, catching a scent that he hadn't smelled in a long while.

"Pikachipi!" he cried as he leapt off Ash's shoulder and dashed the rest of the distance to the living room.

Ash couldn't help but grin, and he quickened his step, arriving just in time to see Pikachu jump into the arms of a very familiar red-head. She looked up and beamed at him.

"Hello, Ash, it's been awhile," Misty said cheerfully. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come by today."

"Nah, I knew he'd get here eventually," another familiar voice said, an arm slinging itself around Ash's shoulders. Ash looked up to grin at Gary Oak. "Though I thought you'd be here already when we arrived!"

"Gary, Misty," Ash said, and words couldn't explain the happiness that he was feeling, temporarily washing away the inexplicable misery that had dogged him since he woke that morning. "It's good to see you both. What are you doing here?"

"My sisters are doing a ballet this week, so the gym is temporarily closed," Misty explained. "I thought I'd come and visit since I heard from your mother that you were home."

"I'm on a short break," Gary added. "So I decided to come home and help Gramps out for a bit. I met Red here on the road."

Misty rolled her eyes. "He caught up to me just outside Viridian City, and I told him that you were back in Pallet Town."

"I'm glad you're both here," Ash said, heart-felt. It had been so long since he had seen any of his old friends. It was always so sad to part with the friends he had made on the road, and encounters like this only served to remind him that goodbyes weren't forever. "Why did you come here to wait for me, Misty?"

"It wasn't really just to wait for you," Misty said with a laugh. "I came to show Tracey how Azumarill is doing."

It took a moment for that sentence to sink in. When it did, Ash's eyes lit up. "Azurill evolved?"

"Sure did," Misty said proudly. "Tracey's Marrill is very proud of her. She's a very good battler."

"She would get a lot of experience at that gym of yours," Gary said, amused. He lowered his arm from Ash's shoulders and stared down at his friend. "Hey, Ash, you alright? You look a little tired."

It was like a switch was flipped. All of a sudden, Ash remembered the strange air that had wrapped around him all day, and his shoulders hunched slightly, making Gary and Misty shared a startled, concerned glance. Pikachu's ears slumped as he stared sadly at his trainer.

"Ash?" Misty asked cautiously.

"Sorry, I just…" Ash's brow furrowed. "Something is really wrong."

"Like what, honey?" Delia asked; she had been standing at the door with Professor Oak, watching the friends' reunion gratefully, but now she stepped forward. This was more than she had gotten out of Ash all morning.

Ash turned a troubled gaze on her. "I don't know. I can't explain it."

"The Pokémon have been acting like something is concerning them, as well," Professor Oak said, frowning. "A good many of them refused to eat this morning."

"Pikachu and Mr Mime were uneasy, too," Delia said, clasping her hands in front of her. "But why is Ash feeling the same way as the Pokémon?"

No one answered, instead looking at each other uneasily. No one, least of all Ash, quite knew what to say to that. Worried, Misty looked down at Pikachu, who was watching his trainer with eyes that seemed to know far more than he was saying. With a jolt, she was reminded of the Orange Islands all of a sudden, during a time when Pikachu had looked like that just before they were thrown into one of their most perilous adventures, one that had the entire world at stake.

Before anyone could say anything, however, the door on the other side of the room was thrown open, making everyone jump. The sight of Tracey rushing into the room, a comically frantic look on his face, was a welcome change from the seriousness that had permeated the room, though Ash barely twitched after his initial start.

"Professor, the Tauros…!" he started, careening to a halt when he noticed that they had two new guests. "Oh, Mrs Ketchum, Ash, I didn't expect to see you!"

"Hello, Tracey," Delia said kindly, smiling at him.

"Is there a problem, Tracey?" Professor Oak asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," Tracey said, grimacing as he was brought back to the initial reason that he had rushed inside. "The Tauros are stampeding; it seems that Charizard and Arcanine were having a mock battle, and they accidentally startled them."

Gary grimaced; it seemed one of his Pokémon was involved in this mess, along with one of Ash's. The two of them were quite powerful, so there was no doubt that their 'mock battle' wouldn't have ended well for anyone that accidentally got in the way.

All of a sudden, there was an explosion from outside, followed by the startled, alarmed cries of various Pokémon. Professor Oak looked sharply at the window as a cloud of dust rushed past.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I think we better find out," Gary said grimly.

Ash didn't answer, he had already turned on his heel and rushed out of the room. All his Pokémon were out there, so there was no way that he was going to turn a blind eye, especially on today of all days.

Not when he had been on tenterhooks the last several hours, just waiting for something to go wrong.

When he burst out onto the preserve, it was to discover that pandemonium had taken control in the moments that Tracey was gone. It wasn't even being caused by Ash's herd of Tauros; he could spy them through the smoke and clouds of dust, huddling together in the way that they normally did only if there was a threat of some sort nearby. He could hear some sort of odd whirring noise, too, though he couldn't see what was causing it.

All of a sudden, a large, rubber arm that was all too familiar shot out of the smoke and grabbed a fleeing Wooper before withdrawing. Ash blinked… and then sighed.

He should have known it was them…

"Excellent work, Meowth," he heard Jessie say approvingly, and he could see the outline of whatever machine it was that they were using today as the air cleared. "This job is a cinch!"

"The only thing that it would make it better was if the twerp and his Pikachu were here," the cat Pokémon lamented.

"Last we saw, the twerp was at home," James said dismissively. "We can go after him once we get these Pokémon."

Well, it seemed like Team Rocket was behind the times; then again, his mother had rushed him out of the house fairly quickly in her attempt to cheer him up. Glancing at his Tauros again, he grinned slightly as he got an idea.

The only thing his friends caught as they rushed outside after him was the back of him as he dashed toward the Tauros; he had rushed off too quickly for them to react in time, and it had been a moment before they had realised that he was already gone. Unlike for Ash, it was immediately apparent to them what was going on. The air had cleared enough that they got a very good view of the fat, Snorlax robot that was scooping up Pokémon and storing them in a fortified, clear container on its back. Through the window on the face of the robot, it was clear to see who was driving the thing.

"Team Rocket!" Misty yelled, furious; after all these years, these idiots were still following Ash around? Despite the fact that she had once taken it as a common occurrence, in much the same way that Ash still did, a long absence from them had made it seem strange when they did appear again. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Look, it's the redheaded twerp!" Meowth cackled. "We haven't seen you in some time!"

"Look at her, ready to release that Pikachu on us," Jessie sneered.

"Boy, Pikachu looks mad, doesn't he?" James commented blithely. "Too bad, we have all your friends and there's nothing you can do about it!"

There was a sudden pause. And then…

"Pikachu?!" the three members of Team Rocket suddenly screeched.

"Wait, what's Pikachu doing here?!" Meowth demanded.

"Pikachu and Ash are here to visit me," Professor Oak said, displeased.

"Wait… then where's the twerp?" James asked, dread in his expression as he exchanged glances with his companions.

"Tauros, use Take Down!"

"I think you're just about to find out," Gary said smugly. "This is what happens when you don't take the herd of thirty Tauros first."

Upon seeing that their trainer was here, the Tauros had been overjoyed to see him, and more than eager to go along with the plan that he had to deal with the commotion. For them, it was simple; all they had to do was ram the robot as hard as they could at the same time. No doubt the robot had been strengthened to deal with all manner of attacks; unfortunately, sheer brute strength had never really factored into the plans.

Riding the Tauros in the lead, Ash's teeth flashed in a vicious grin as he led his Pokémon in the charge, more than ready to deal with the group that were trying to steal all the Pokémon on the preserve. It was the last thing Team Rocket saw of him before the Tauros disappeared into their blind spot.

Seconds later, the entire robot shuddered and, to their alarm, tipped over as the legs were taken out, the metal standing no chance against the powerful attack of thirty Tauros. Team Rocket shrieked, the clear backing of the robot shattering under the impact and releasing all the Pokémon that they had managed to steal before it slammed heavily to the ground in a pile of dented, useless metal.

"Woah," Gary whistled. "Remind me never to get in the way of thirty Tauros."

"The Tauros that Ash trains usually brings back all the knowledge that he has given it, and passes it onto its peers," Professor Oak said with a laugh. "That's why they are all at the same level, as though Ash had trained each of them individually."

"No wonder they all respect Ash as their trainer," Tracey mused. "Even though they don't see him that often, and he rarely uses them, they know that he's the one that passes on some of their strength to them."

"Thanks, Tauros," Ash beamed, leaping down and patting the Tauros he had been riding on the head. He laughed as some of the other Tauros near him startled nuzzling him. "Thanks, all of you, you did great!"

It was nearly ten minutes before he was able to struggle his way out of the herd, all his Tauros wanting to show their affection to him before they'd let him go. By the time he was free, his face was flushed with laughter, and even the sight of Team Rocket having managed to pull themselves from the wreckage couldn't stop the wide grin spreading across his face.

Delia couldn't help but smile. This was why she had ushered him to the preserve; Pokémon would always hold a special place in Ash's heart, and they could do what even people couldn't at the times when he needed most to be held upright. She doubted that whatever was troubling him had gone away, but at least he was able to banish it in the face of the Pokémon that loved him. Even watching Team Rocket slinking away, hoping to be unnoticed, didn't banish her happiness.

As such, she could only laugh harder as she watched Ash stumble free, only to be accosted by an entirely new group of Pokémon, all of them happy to see him. He had only gotten home yesterday, after all, so this was the first time he had managed to make it here after his journey through Kalos.

"Okay, okay!" Ash said with a laugh. "Come on, guys, let me through!"

It took several more moments for Ash to pull himself free from the clutches of his eager Pokémon, and that was only after he had managed to personally greet each one, from the large, powerful Charizard to the small, excitable Gible. Eventually he stumbled out of the group, a large grin on his face.

"Well, you're popular," Gary teased, though he sounded a little relieved that Ash no longer looked so despondent.

"They're just happy to see me back home," Ash said with a smile, rubbing the head of the closest Pokémon to him, which happened to be a Tauros that had pressed close.

"I should let my Pokémon out, too," Misty said with a smile. "Professor, do you mind if I let them swim around in the lake?"

"It isn't a problem, Misty," Professor Oak said with a smile. "Your Pokémon are more than welcome to rest here for now."

"What sort of Pokémon do you have now, Misty?" Ash asked curiously.

"Why don't you come and see," Misty said with a wink.

Ash grinned broadly and, with a few last pats of his Pokémon, scurried after her, eager to see the sorts of Pokémon she had been training during her reign as a gym leader. Delia laughed as she followed with Professor Oak, Tracey and Gary at a more sedate pace; she happened to know which two Pokémon Misty had brought with her, and she thought Ash would be pleased to meet the two of them.

The lake was large and clear, with a few water Pokémon swimming around in its shallows or basking in the sun on the banks. None of them seemed particularly concerned, which made Delia wonder what had been so wrong with Ash that morning. It had been as though he could sense something that even the Pokémon hadn't yet figured out…

"Hey, what's that?"

Ash's loud question attracted her attention back to the present, and she looked ahead to see that Ash was leaning over the lake with a curious look on his face. Misty, who had already pulled out two shrunken Pokéballs, scanned the lake as well.

"What was what?" she asked. "I don't see anything."

"I just saw this huge shadow," Ash said with a small frown. "Did you see it, Pikachu?"

"Pika," Pikachu agreed with a nod.

"I'm not sure what it was," Professor Oak admitted. "I don't believe I have any particularly large Pokémon swimming in the lake right now."

"Wait, I see it too!" Misty said, pointing. "Right there!"

They all looked, but the water was still clear. Misty frowned, frustration on her face.

"It was right there," she said.

"Then it disappeared, right?" Ash asked. The furrow on his brow was back and he rubbed his bare arms as thought for warmth. "You know, this kind of feels familiar…"

And then the water in the lake exploded upward.

Like a tornado of water, it shot up with such force that Delia could feel herself being pushed back slightly. She raised her arms to cover her head, anxiety shooting through her as she heard everyone crying out, trying to squint through the sudden wind to find her son and her friends.

Finally, she managed to locate him, trying to stay upright.

"I know what this is!" she heard him yell. "It's…!"

But that's all he got to say. The spiralling tornado suddenly moved, as though it had a mind of its own, and crashed down straight on top of him. Delia's cry of shock and alarm was lost in the sound, and then the tornado pulled back and sank into the water again, the water slowly stilling until it was as though it had never been disturbed before.

All that was left was a dishevelled Pikachu, who had evidently been knocked from his trainer's shoulder somehow. Delia slowly looked around and then sunk to her knees, barely able to believe what she was seeing.

Ash was gone.

Coming Up; Chapter Two; Ash has disappeared all of a sudden, and strange Pokémon begin to appear on the preserve. Is all this attributed to the strange dread that has plagued Ash all day?