New Beginning (Pearlshipping-AshxDawn)

Chapter Fifteen

Supper had long since ended on the night that the Ketchum children had received the shocking news that one of their friends had vanished. It was now nighttime and Alex and Julia were sitting in the living room, waiting for their parents to return home. Trey's parents had said that they would let them know if he turned up, but hours had passed and he hadn't been seen. So, the police had been called and a neighborhood search had been formed to look for him.

Alex and Julia were yawning and fighting to stay awake because it was so late at night, but they were worried about Trey and were waiting for their parents to return. Until then, they wouldn't go to bed.

Finally, the front door opened and Ash and Dawn walked in, noticing that the kids were still awake.

"Did you find him?" Julia asked.

"Or any news?" Alex added.

Dawn shook her head sadly.

"Nobody's found anything and we've searched everywhere. There's nothing more that we can do, it's all up to the police now." Ash said, frowning.

"Why are you two still awake? You should be in bed." Dawn asked.

"We were worried about Trey."

"I know that you're worried, but you two need to get some rest, you have school tomorrow."

Reluctantly, Alex and Julia got up, mumbling an "okay" to their parents. Ash and Dawn hugged and kissed them goodnight before they headed upstairs.

Once the kids were asleep in their beds, Ash and Dawn went to their own room and started talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Do you know why something like this could have happened?" Dawn asked, looking over at Ash.

Ash's expression changed to uncertainty and fear.

"Ash, you can trust me with anything that's on your mind and I'll understand. Like how you were understanding when I talked to you about my concerns regarding Serena." Dawn said, seeing that he may know something and had not told her.

Ash sighed heavily. "For your own safety, you cannot tell anyone what I'm about to say."

What is he about to say? Dawn thought.

"You could be in danger if you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Whatever he's about to say really has him worried. I could be in danger?

Dawn looked at Ash, her face serious. "I swear not to say anything."

"Well...this isn't the first time that this has happened, someone mysteriously disappearing out of nowhere without a trace. It's been going on for the past five months." Ash explained.

"The Elite Four and I have been discussing this in our meetings, but have no idea what's happening, either. People and Pokemon have been disappearing at random. Men, women, children, both males and females, there's no pattern.

"At first, it was happening infrequently and only happening in Sinnoh, but over time, it happened in all of the other regions and more frequently. And what's worse, since there's no pattern, the Elite Four and the police have no way of knowing who could be next, thus, no way to protect anyone. None of the people that they question can give them any leads or help, either. We've also been trying to keep a lid on the whole thing, but it's grown too big.

"Trey is the first person from Twinleaf Town to disappear since everything started. The Elite Four suspect that whoever is behind these disappearances is succeeding because they may have spies posing as regular people across each region that identify potential targets and spy on them to learn where and when is the best time to kidnap them.