Ash kept squeezing out the berry's juices until it finally dried up. He considered asking Pikachu to take out another, but he could feel Banette's weight shifting, and decided to loosen his hold on it enough to give it a chance to move.

"Feeling better?" He asked Banette, wiping off the remaining juices on his hand with his shorts. He can just get it cleaned later anyway-

He glanced at Trip. And as he listened to his explanation, that did got Ash to feel even more sympathy towards the Pokemon. Being far from home... Could it be...

"Could it be that you... you were drifted here too?" Ash frowned for a moment, but then put up a smile. "Yeah, I can totally understand that. I was scared too when I learned I'd be stuck here for a long while, never knowing when I'd be able to come back home. It felt like the world around me just stopped when I thought about it."

"Pikaachu..." The Mouse Pokemon cooed as he brushed his cheek against his arm.

"Yeah..." It was either the one or the other. But he still hadn't gotten a very clear picture yet of Banette's situation. And since it calmed down significantly, it was probably a good time to finally ask more from it.

"Maybe you can tell us about it now?" Ash remained friendly and sat on the ground next to Banette, maintaining an equal eye level with the Pokemon. "Like what happened before you got here."

"Pikachu Pika-pika!" We might be able to help, Pikachu added.

Although he did try as he sat and listened, ultimately he just couldn't quite make out what Banette was saying. All he could tell was that it had a lot to say, and he frowned wishing he was able to do more.

Fortunately for Ash he may have gotten his wish after hearing Frillish's offer.

"Really!?" Ash looked at Trip excitedly before shifting his gaze to Frillish, "Yeah, please do! It'd definitely help!"

Ash shook his head.

"Nah, not from something, but towards something." There's a determined look on his face. "The reason I went on a journey is because I want to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master! And if I want to get there, I'm gonna catch them, battle them, meet every Pokemon I find!"

Pikachu circled around and cried out in support of Ash's goals, having been by his side for so long.

"What about you, Banette? Is there something you wanna run towards to?"

"Well... no, not like that. I'm not that kind of Pokemon Trainer."

That got Ash to think for a moment. As much as he said about wanting to be a Pokemon Master, in actuality he hasn't exactly quite put into words about what it is to him. That the word "Master" in its foreign language still elude him somewhat He does have a vague image that's pictured in his head however. He hummed, before continuing.

"But wouldn't you get lonely if you don't want to meet anyone? Are you okay with that?"

It was a pretty innocent question, as the thought of Banette being all sad and alone didn't sit well with Ash that much. Especially with what it had been through.

And Banette would get a pitying look from Ash.

"...Well, you aren't alone right now." Ash reassured, "I'm here with you, and so is Pikachu and Lampent! You've got friends walking by your side right now!"

"Pikapi pika-pikachu-pi!" Ash would never leave a friend behind! Pikachu reacted defensively at Banette.

Meanwhile with Ash, a sigh escaped his lips. To hear that Banette wouldn't change its mind about trusting humans kind of stung him. But hey, it was willing to befriend Pikachu and Lampent which merely lessened the blow a small bit, so there's that. Trying to get Banette to open up to him more however was going to be a bigger challenge than he thought.

Ash thought back to what Banette said.

"I wonder, did something happen between the two of you before he left you?" he asked. There were a few missing pieces of information he realized, and he needed to hear from Banette for a clue or two.

Banette earned a look of contempt from the Mouse Pokemon. It was clear on Pikachu's face that he was mildly offended by Banette's words. Though it's not like Banette knew what kind of person Ash is, and the lengths he would go to reach out to anyone, especially the Pokemon he meets.

Meanwhile, Ash listened attentively to Banette's story. And it's from there that he picked something that caught his ears. They sound similarly to the case of him and Pikachu. And from how Banette talked about its Trainer, it sounded like they genuinely cared for one another. We had each other, it said. Now, Ash continued to wonder...

"So like, he's gone? All of a sudden?" He questioned. He didn't want to doubt Banette, but there's one part of the story that he couldn't help but scrutinize at. Did Banette's Trainer really, truly left it behind willingly?

"...The way I see it, I think maybe, he didn't mean to leave you behind." Ash then continued, "He... might have been taken away, by whatever brought us here in the first place."

He recalled stories from the locals in the island, from Professor Banyan too -- how there are people who were drifted in would eventually get drifted back to their home worlds. It was a hope he held on to while in his stay in Ultern.