There he stood. His hands by his sides. His straight mouth and thoughtful eyes. Recalling the last happy memory.

"Congrats, Alain!", he remarked as they shook hands.

A large golden trophy was handed to him, his name carved into it. Although he never really cared much about winning, he was nothing short of merry. Even Ash, despite such a close loss, seemed to be enjoying the moment.

Why? Just why? 

Red, deadly vines emerged from the ground, inducing fear upon the brief celebration. His victory was forgotten as he found himself sprinting alongside the runner-up, desperate to survive.

There had to be something he could've done to stop it. 

"Alain, what's going on!"

"Alain, you've got to listen!"

"This isn't the Alain I know!"

To think that the last words exchanged between them were said in panic and distress. To think that in Ash's last moments, he was angry at him.

"Battle me, Lysandre!"

"AAAAAAAH!"

"Don't stop, Alain!"

The world was saved at the cost of his suffering. His painful death. 

Alain clenched his fists, driving them into the wall. The more frustration he channeled into the concrete, the more the room shook.

"Stupid...Lysandre..."

He finally stopped when he felt the blood trickling down his knuckles. His eyelids were sealed down, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. His teeth grating against each other so violently it overlooked the constant trembling.

"No, Ash...", he whispered, almost tearing up, "He didn't deserve this..."

"I know he didn't, Alain", spoke a familiar voice.

"Then why...why did it have to end like this, Professor? All I wanted to do was protect you and Mairin"

"I know. How selfish of you"

His eyes widened.

"W...What?"

"You'd do anything to protect me and Mairin, not giving a care in the world what happens to anyone else as a result"

He seemed to be surrounded by loud wind. Sounds he couldn't describe echoed around him.

"B-But I..."

"Clearly, you didn't care, Alain, because now an innocent young boy is dead because of you. Maybe next time you'll be more selfless, like he was"

"Professor...?"

"Yep, that's me", answered an approaching voice.

The wind seemed to die out, as did the strange sounds he was apparently hearing on his own. Since when was he sitting on the ground outside? He turned to see the Professor trudging across the leaves, looking quite concerned for him.

"Wait...I thought I was in my room? Am I going crazy?"

"Trust me, you're not the only one", Sycamore kindly informed, offering him a hand, "Serena's still in denial, and it's hard to explain everything to Bonnie. Let's just go back inside where the leaves won't swirl around on their own, okay? Maybe then you'll be able to think properly"

Alain let the Professor help him up. As they made their way closer to the doors of the lab, he suddenly stopped, keeping his hands behind his back. Alain waited for a moment before he spoke.

"Oh, and Alain. Do refrain from punching the walls. This lab is messy enough as it is without you tearing it down"

Slowly looking away from his back and to his surroundings, he was suddenly back in his room, the dents in the wall as he'd remembered them. Far too unsettled to speak, he stood completely still, hoping this was some sort of dream. Yet he usually knew. He was usually so sure of what was happening, hence why he lost it when he realized how Lysandre had taken advantage of him.

"Never mind talking to yourself"

Before he could reiterate, the Professor was stepping out of the room, his coat brushing against Bonnie's arm as she appeared at the doorway.

"Alain? I'm trying to draw a picture of all of us, since we can't take one with Ash because he's not here again for some reason, but I need to see what your trophy looks like. That's weird. I thought it'd be in your room"

Alain was puzzled, instantly forgetting his strange encounters beforehand.

"But it is in my room", he retaliated, turning his neck.

The girl was right. The place he last remembered seeing the trophy was empty. He frantically stood up, pacing around to look for it. Only when he looked near the door, he caught sight of the girl who...suddenly had red hair?

"M-Mairin?! But I thought..."

"You lost your trophy? Wow pretty irresponsible, Alain"

Voices calling his name, it was ringing in his ears. Everything was spinning, although it was already fading out. Fading in was a safe voice he dearly knew. Before he knew it, the Professor was stood there, shaking him and repeating his name, panicking almost as much as he was.

"Alain? Alain! Hey, snap out of it!"

The Professor's wide eyes weren't enough to distract him from the breeze caressing him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Wait, what?"

"You've been talking to yourself for ages! I came in when I heard what I assumed was you punching the wall, but instead I find you moving around in weird ways, questioning where you are and talking to Mairin when she isn't even there! Never mind having imaginary conversations with me; at least I'm in the room!"

"Professor...I..."

"Look, Alain. I know it's hard. We're all trying our best to cope with this. But you're one of the oldest here, okay? So just try to keep it together as much as you can, alright? Now, I need to go try and deal with Serena"

The Professor reassuringly tapped his shoulder one more time before heading out, patting the head of Mairin as she came in, holding a large piece of gold.

"Alain? Bonnie had your trophy 'cause she was using it to draw a picture of everyone. Just thought I'd give it back"

Alain froze for a second before gulping and reluctantly taking the trophy from her.

"It's so windy outside, there's wind inside the lab, too", she remarked as she left.

Alain stood paralyzed as he thought. The Professor was right. After all, he was the new Champion of Kalos, so whether he liked it or not, he had to put on a brave face. He went to put the trophy back, facing the wall to try and clear his mind. Facing that untouched, flawless wall.

----------

Current residents of the lab sat down together to have dinner. They couldn't decide whether a conversation was more comfortable than silence. Clemont turned to his sister. The girl was obliviously coloring away, bright crayons in hand.

"Bonnie", he started, "Remember before when you needed to see the trophy? Where'd you get it if it wasn't in Alain's room?"

Alain couldn't help but listen in on the conversation. As did Serena, who only came out of her room to the exception of eating. Ash liked to do that. And he would once he came back.

"Ash gave it to me"

The entire room, who'd been listening since the first word, stopped and stared at her. Clemont's eyes darted around in his uncomfortable position.

"Bonnie...Ash isn't here"

"He was"

"When?"

That was when Alain remembered.

"I'm trying to draw a picture of all of us, since we can't take one with Ash because he's not here again for some reason"

Again? Again? If he understood her correctly, that must've meant Ash was there at some point. That would explain how she got the trophy. But it would still make more sense that the girl was simply sputtering nonsense seeing as the person she claimed to give it to her was deceased.

"He gave it to me so I could finish my picture"

"I told you!", Serena screamed, drawing attention to herself, "I told you all Ash is still here! I knew it!"

"No he's not!", Sawyer yelled, erupting with tears, "He's not! Ash is gone! And it really hurts to say that, but you denying it isn't making things any better!"

"I'm not denying anything. It's true! He's coming back! Whether this is just a dream, or it's all of you who are in denial, Ash is not-..."

She failed to say it. Dead. She failed to say it because she knew, deep down inside her aching heart, that it was true.

Before she could even try, a sharp hand collided with her face. Shauna was leaning towards her with her hand in the air, also shedding tears.

"Dead. You can't say it, can you? You know it's true", she uttered, lowering her hand as she slowly leaned back, "You know he's gone, Serena. I'm your best friend, I know you. I saw it in your eyes at the funeral. As much as it hurt, you looked at that coffin and you knew there and then it was all real"

She stopped for a moment, needing to restrain herself from breaking down in front of a dozen people.

"So why...", she continued, "Why are you doing this? What's the point of living like this, lying to yourself like this when you know? When you know that eventually you'll realize all along that he's really gone, and he's not coming back. Whatever you do, he's not coming back, Serena. So just...just STOP BEING SO PATHETIC AND FEELING SO SORRY FOR YOURSELF THAT YOU HAVE TO PRETEND IT'S NOT REAL. JUST STOP!...Because maybe if you get over this now...you might learn to love again"

Serena's face expression stayed the same, as if she was deaf to all those words she didn't want to hear.

"But he is here...I saw him, Shauna. Ash isn't gone. He's here. I've been talking to him and visiting him"

The brunette didn't care about what she looked like in front of everyone else anymore. She was sick of dragging herself along with such a hopeless cause.

"Well, if you're not even going to listen to me...then I'm sorry, Serena, but I can't help you if you aren't even going to try to help yourself. And if all you wanna do is ignore the reality of it instead of facing it like everyone else, and be in your own little world, then I can't be a part of that world. I can't be friends with someone who ignores me because she can't stand the fact that I come with real life"

She dramatically tossed her food at her former friend, stomping to her feet and making her way out of the room. Serena's dress had been tarnished with dark colors.

"...Clemont...?", Bonnie murmured, looking to her older brother for answers.

Clemont said nothing, only urging her to be quiet for the time being.

Eyes made their way back to Serena, holding a napkin near her clean dress.

"How did you get that out so quickly?", Tierno questioned.

The fire in his heart that burned passionately for her beauty was desperately struggling to stay alive.

"Ash did it for me", she answered without missing a beat.

And just like that, the fire went out in a huff of smoke. Her physical features were mildly attractive, but who she was as a person was a whole different story. A selfish girl who was willing to detach herself from reality and the people who cared for her so she didn't have to be in pain.

"Shauna was right...I don't know how I ever fell for you. I was starting to think for a second maybe I should give you a chance, but no. You're hopeless", he trembled as he stood up, tracing Shauna's steps.

"Okay, I think we're all exhausted", the Professor sighed, "You guys can go to sleep. I'll clean this up"

They all gradually left except from Bonnie, the Professor and Alain.

"Professor, are you sure you don't want any help?", Alain offered the miserable man.

"No, it's fine, Alain. You should probably head off to bed, too. I don't want you seeing things again tomorrow"

He nodded and obediently began to make his way to his room. Something cluttered on the ground, triggering his natural response to turn around and look at it. By the time he did, Bonnie's head was to the side, as if she was facing someone.

"Thanks, Ash!", she thanked the air as a crayon fell into her hand.

He was about to openly question it when he swore he saw the Professor mumble, "No problem".

Pausing for a second to think, he shook his head, reminding himself that it was important he didn't freak out and that he was most likely just tired.

The Professor would probably be tired too, even having help with the cleaning up after Bonnie went to bed.