Chapter Text
The Last Day Forever.
By Relisted_
Ash groggily opened his eyes.
"...huh?"
The ceiling was wooden.
There was a small crack in one of the beams.
Somebody dropped a plate downstairs.
Bonnie laughed.
Ash gave a confused look.
"Di-did that already happen?"
"Pika?"
Pikachu tilted his head.
Ash shrugged.
"Guess what buddy, I had a real weird dream."
By breakfast
Bonnie spilled some jam.
Clemont apologised even though it wasn't his fault.
Serena laughed and said,
"Looks like we're ending our journey as clumsily as we began it."
Ash snapped his head towards her.
"Ash? What’s wrong? Somethin on my face??"
"Yo-you said that already."
"I did?"
"Yes,no uh I dunno."
He seemed genuinely confused.
"You said it already."
The train pulled away from Lumiose City at exactly 11:42.
Ash kept an eye on the clock and it ticked away.
11:42.
11:43.
He sighed.
"Guess I was just imagining stuff."
The farewells arrived.
The hugs.
The tears from Bonnie, and the promises from Clemont, and the nervous smile from Serena.
The escalator moved.
She leaned forwards and placed her lips on his.
The world melted to green, and everything vanished.
Ash groggily opened his eyes.
"...huh?"
Wooden ceiling.
Crack in the beam.
Plate downstairs.
Bonnie laughing.
"no…"
Loop two.
Ash ran outside before breakfast.
He collided with an invisible green barrier surrounding the inn fifteen feet from the door.
"Ow! What is this??"
Tiny giggles echoed from the trees.
A small pink and green creature peeked from behind a branch.
"Celebi!"
It waved at him.
Ash pointed dramatically.
"YOU!"
"Cel?"
It quickly vanished.
Loop four.
Ash cornered Celebi.
"You have to let me out!"
It spun in circles.
Ash gestured wildly.
"I have people to see! Gyms to challenge! Regions to explore!"
Celebi clapped.
"cele.“
“Hey!Don’t clap at me! This isn’t a game!”
Loop seven.
Ash tried to fight it.
Pikachu's thunderbolt vaporized a park bench, and Officer Jenny was surprisingly understanding.
Loop twelve.
Ash decided to enjoy his day.
He spent more time with people, and learned about things, and helped out, and talked.
The day was perfect, and the kiss arrived, and the world flashed green.
Loop twenty-three.
"Okay," Ash rubbed his temples letting out a big groan.
"I officially hate this!!!"
It became routine.
Breakfast, the jam, the train, the farewells, the kiss, the green light, the ceiling. Repeat.
Around loop forty
Ash became suddenly aware of something.
He was changing.
Not physically anyway, but emotionally.
Every conversation had already happened.
Every joke had already been made.
Every battle had already been won.
Even his excitement had been memorized..
Loop fifty-one.
Ash sat alone atop Prism Tower before anyone else had awoken.
"Who.Am. I?"
The thought struck him as odd, even as he thought it.
He always knew who he was.
He wanted to become a Pokemon Master.
It was simple, easy, obvious,but
What exactly did that mean?
If tomorrow ever dawned, and no one remembered anything, and all of his accomplishments vanished, then what?
"pika."
Pikachu climbed up onto his lap. Letting out a deep yawn as he got comfortable.
"pika."
Ash gave a sad smile.
"At least you’re here buddy"
"Pi?"
"...cele."
No response.
“Oh right, you don’t remember.”
Ash began his tests.
"Hey Clemont, can I ask a personal question?”
"Um, sure Ash, what’s up?" said Clemont being slightly thrown off by Ash’s directness.
"What's the scariest thing for you?"
"Ghost Pokemon!" said Bonnie.
Serena laughed, but Ash didn't.
Loop sixty-eight.
"So..." Serena sat next to him.
"Youve been acting off all day."
"I've been through this same stupid day sixty-eight times!!"
"Uhm, that's oddly specific, and doesn’t answer my question but what do you mean ‘been through’?"
"I know where Bonnie trips."
Bonnie tripped.
"I know where Clemont drops his wrench."
*CLANG!*
"I know you will ask me if something's wrong."
Serena slowly set down her sandwich.
"...ash"
"yeah?"
"...that's the least convincing excuse you've ever given."
Loop seventy-one.
He proved it.
He knew everything, every word that would be said, every motion that would be made, every wingflap of every Wingull.
Serena stared at him.
"...that's impossible, right?"
"I know."
"You're serious? This isn’t a bit?"
"I know and it’s not."
"you've actually done this before?"
"Seventy One times. To be exact."
She gently took his hand.
"sounds lonely."
Ash laughed, but it was a broken sound.
"...yeah."
After that, she began believing him.
Sometimes it took an hour, sometimes five minutes, and in loop ninety-four, it took thirty seconds.
“You have that look."
"What look?"
"The ‘I've seen the end of the universe’ look."
Ash lets out a forced chuckle.
"Is it that obvious?"
"A little."
They began spending the loop together, because if they weren't going to enjoy it, then what was the point? Right?
Loop one hundred and eight.
They climbed up Prism Tower and watched the sunset.
"Hey Ash, uhm I wanted to tell you something."
Ash looked over at her.
"I know."
She suddenly burst into a cold sweat.
"K-know wh-what?."
Ash gave her that signature toothy grin she loved.
"That you like me."
"Aw man!! I really hate that the universe stole my dramatic confession!!"
Ash rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry, you can try again if ya want.”
“Ash Ketchum, don’t you dare patronize me.”
She retorted with a small pout with the blush still evoking that she loved every second of this.
Loop one hundred and four.
Serena said it differently.
Loop one hundred and fifteen, she said it in Kalosian.
Loop one hundred and nineteen, she tried pretending she didn't like him, but she exploded after 3 minutes.
"UGHHH!! I CAN'T EVEN LIE DIFFERENTLY ANYMORE!!"
Loop one hundred and thirty one.
"So..." Ash pushed around his dessert.
"I think I love you too."
Serena blinked at him.
“Oh.Okay. wait…what??!?"
"I said-"
"I heard you!"
She looked affronted.
"You can't just casually confess Ash!!!"
"I've had about a hundred and thirty one days to think about it soooo…"
"That's actually a good point."
The first kiss they shared willingly happened in loop one hundred and thirty eight, and it was awkward and sweet, and Pikachu stood in shock with his ears covering his eyes, and Bonnie squeaked because she happened to be walking by the tree at the wrong time, and "well," Serena giggled, "guess that happened."
"...yeah."
"still looping?"
"Meh probably."
Green flash.
And on and on it went, and sometimes they kissed, and sometimes they didn't, and sometimes they fought, and sometimes they sat together, but it was all real, because no matter what, it was a day better than anyone else would have.
Loop 201, Ash stopped announcing it.
loop 247, he forgot what month it was.
loop 312, he forgot what sleep was, technically he slept every night, but it didn’t actually do anything for his relief.
loop 389, he found Celebi again, it was humming, making flowers grow, and he didn't yell, because he was too tired to care.
"...please."
Celebi turned over to the exhausted raven-haired boy.
"cel?"
"I don't even care if tomorrow hurts.
I don't care if I never become champion.
I jus-I just want there to be a tomorrow."
The little legendary tilted it head as if trying to understand him.
“I don’t care if I lose.”
It looked somewhat sad, and then it vanished, and nothing happened, really, except Ash sleeping through the night for the first time in a long while.
loop 463, Ash stopped introducing himself, because, really,
did it matter anymore?
He knew everyone, and no one knew him.
loop 512, Serena found Ash sitting in the train station hours before anyone else arrived.
"...ash."
"...serena."
"You forgot to put your shoes on."
"...huh."
He looked down at his bare feet.
"I uh walked all the way here."
she sat next to him, putting her hand in his naturally intertwining and asked,
"Do you remember my favorite color?"
"Blue,like the ribbon I gave you”
She instinctively put a hand over the ribbon. Ash asked his own question.
“My favorite Poké Puff flavor?”
“Strawberry."
Serena responded as if she was asked if the sky was blue.
“Where was my first showcase?"
"Santalune."
Ash now sharing the honey blonde’s matter of fact tone.
"My first loss?"
"yeah…"
"My first win?"
"yeah..."
"My dream?"
"To make people smile."
She nodded.
"Then try to remember this too."
She leaned against his shoulder.
"You aren't just the boy who wants to become a Pokemon Master."
“Yeah? What else am I?”
"You're the person who helps people.
The person who cheers everybody up.
The person who would spend five hundred days trying to save some random stranger.”
Ash stayed silent.
“Even if nobody remembers…”
She smiled.
you still become that person everyday."
She gave him a small peck on the cheek.
“And I know you’ll figure a way out of this, the Ash Ketchum I love wouldn’t let some stupid time loop keep him down!”
Ash cried quietly, because she wouldn't remember saying it. She never did.
loop 601, Ash finally asked the question.
"if this ever ends..."
Serena looked at him.
"...would you still like me?"
She giggled at the ridiculous question, and said,
"Ash.”
“...yeah?”
“I've apparently fallen in love with you over six hundred variations of the same day.”
“Oh.”
"So I think the odds are pretty good."
When the kiss arrived that night, Ash didn't panic, and he kissed her back, and held it for as long as he could memorize, because he knew it would be gone soon.
Green light consumed the world.
Idiotic wooden ceiling.
Irritating crack in the beam.
Plate downstairs.
Bonnie laughing.
Ash looked up at the roof letting out a deep sigh.
"Morning."
For the first time, he didn't get up.
He just laid there, and listened,and wondered if that was all he would ever be.
Not a trainer.
Not a champion.
Not even a friend.
Just,
the boy who lived one day better than anyone else could remember.
Downstairs, someone knocked on his door.
"Ash?" Serena called.
"Breakfast!"
He squeezed his eyes hard before slowly getting up.
"...coming."
He stood, and smiled because she deserved that much at least, and opened the door to the last day.