The Battle of Bonds

Chapter 23: Splitting Up...

(Ash POV)
    As I walked down the shady streets that was once the central area of Lumiose City, I thought to myself many thoughts. What did the thieves want? Why did they choose Professor Sycamore of all professors? And how will this effect the war? All these questions flooded my mind as dark clouds began to roll in. It was supposed to storm tonight, meaning water would fill the lab as a result of the hole in it. Pikachu was sleeping in my backpack as we kept walking down the streets. I could hear smaller Pokémon run on the hard cold concrete. It was eerie...
      I walked to a familiar spot I've been to too many times. It was where I first battled Clemont. It was a public battlefield. I sat on the bench looking down at my hat. Tons of dust particles were on it. And part of it was burnt. I felt a drop on my face. And soon it began to rain. Hard. I didn't even grab the umbrella from my backpack. I just sat in the rain. I tried remembering what the News said... That my team was trying to stop Team Red... What are the odds of that happening. My army is tiny compared to the other two. The Citizens of Kalos all stayed with their side, and barely any have joined. The rain kept falling onto my hair making it wet and cold. Lumiose Tower wasn't even lit. It was dark. To think this was a popular city now seems like a Ghost Town. Yet this ain't Lavender Town. No Ghost haunts these streets. Well... As far as I know...
I got on my Rotomphone and began searching the news. All I could see is the Diantha Missing Headlines. I tried calling her, and I got nothing. I tried calling AZ to see if he knew anything. No response. It was currently 11:32 P.M, I wonder if he's sleeping. Finally, I had the courage to check the deaths of this war headline. Now a total of 2,000 people have died. I looked at the images to see towns with tons of shields and other things to protect the people on the streets. You could see people putting helmets on themselves and Pokémon. Not to mention pictures of Officer Jennies and Nurse Joys struggling. The fact N is staying quiet was also worrying. I kept reading the subheadings and captions. All while the rain poured onto my rotomphone. The more I looked at the news, the more guilt I felt.
At around midnight, after 30 minutes of looking at the news, I began to walk back to the lab. Except I might've forgotten where it is. My phone at this point was way to wet to even type on, and the streets were way dark to even look down. So I was just aimlessly trying to find a building. Not to mention the silence... It was eerie... Wait I already said that. Yet the silence wasn't something I was used to. At minimum I would hear a Pokémon making its noise, but there was nothing here. It was like a black abyss. A black void even. My footsteps would echo down the streets, And you could hear each and every drop of water fall onto the streets. Despite that, I kept walking. Although I will admit I got really cold. I could even feel Pikachu shivering in my backpack violently. The wind had picked up...

And the rain kept hiding my tears.
The wind made it hard to hear my sobbing.
The world was split up. So was my heart.
My feelings... Did they even matter... No.

Eventually, I found the lab. Although my vision felt like I was trying to look through vantablack. When I walked in, I saw Professor sleeping in an office chair. Professor was clearly wet like he had just dived into a swimming pool and gotten out. I grabbed a rain jacket and put it over him. The computers were short circuiting, and I could see Gary feeding his Umbreon. Which that Umbreon was just about the only thing in the lab that was a light. Gary soon noticed me and waved...
"Ashy-boy, can you tell Gold not to go..." Gold stayed with fear in his voice.
"What do you mean by, not to go?" I questioned him.
Gary shrugged and pointed upstairs. He was telling me to go and question Gold myself, because Gary is too lazy to just come out and say it -_-. So I went to go check on my general. I walked up the broken stairs that had its boards torn up by the thieves most likely. It creaked which actually woke up Pikachu. I walked to the room I haven't been in for quite a bit actually. I could hear Gold inside moving things, and underneath the door I could see Explotaro's Flames emitting a nice light. I slowly turned the knob and opened the door slowly...
Explotaro shot a flamethrower right by my head! It thankfully it the wall, but Explotaro began to growl at me. "Explotaro! What are you doing!?! Down Boy! Down! Sorry Ash..." Gold yelled. I could see Explotaro's Face change immediately. I see Gold packing a ton of things in a bag. Not to mention I notice that the ticket that'll take you anywhere is on the floor laying there. "Gold, where are you going? Gary sai..." I tried to ask before I got interrupted. "I'm going to Johto to find my family and friends. This picture has their faces crossed out. I must know what they did to them. I'm sorry Ash, but this is kinda personal..." Gold explained while closing his bag up. Gold soon out his hand on my right shoulder. "I didn't want to leave you... Especially after what those thieves did to this place... But... I can't not know what happened to them. Especially after, you know... What that elite trainer A..." I paused Gold right there. I stayed silent the whole time, but I couldn't hold it in. I had my cap down since you could probably see tears rolling down my face if I didn't. "It's ok Gold... Find your family... I understand the situation... I'll be fine, just... when will you return..." I said trying to sound natural and not sad. Gold just shrugged and picked up his bag.
"I'll have to leave now however... I wanna arrive there early tomorrow morning..." Gold explained. I needless to say could feel more tears run down my face. "Ash, I'll make sure to keep you updated. Maybe, Idk. If I don't respond for 2 days in a row come look for me... Please..." Gold told me. He patted the left side of his leg and Explotaro came to his side. "Don't die Gold out there." I told him. He smiled and walked away. I could hear him say farewell to Gary. I looked out the window to see him walking down the streets holding an umbrella. Eventually I couldn't see him anymore. I could feel Pikachu rub against my leg. So I just began to lay on the floor. Eventually I feel asleep in the cold, soaking wet.