A/N: Pokemon PreSpecial is cowritten by me (Swiftstream) and CuddleyEeveeM. The fic is based on the Manga version of Pokemon, Pokemon Special, except this is before it, so it's kind of like a prequel to Special.

Summary: Blue and Silver have finally escaped from the Mask of Ice, and are on a mission to search for their parents. But the journey is harder than they thought when they are pursued by the remaining Mask Children, the Mask of Ice himself, and Team Rocket. (title might change)

Disclaimer: We do not own this chapter! This was originally written by Coronis from Serebii. We just edited it so nothing from the future of this prologue is mentioned.

Pokemon PreSpecial

Chapter One: Escape!!

Evening has fallen upon Johto. In a mountainous region, three buildings surrounded by an invisible barrier stand atop a small hill edged with steep cliffs. As the alarm goes off, men dressed in black with masks over their faces hurry about on the rooftops, and frantically scan the area with giant searchlights. Struggling to stay hidden in the shadows, Blue pulls Silver along and dashes around the corner of the tower-like building.

The two children, together with their Pokemon, Jigglypuff and Sneasel, flatten themselves against the wall to catch their breath, and peek through the slanted holes on their masks to see that the searchlights have been directed away from them. Blue makes sure that Silver is alright, and says they would need to take off their masks before leaving the place.

Counting down from three, Blue and Silver peels the masks off each other's faces, and throw themselves into a nearby bush. Blue lets out a sigh of relief as she is finally free of Mask of Ice's constraints, and remarks that the masked man is definitely in a weakened state that day. She turns around to see Silver's face for the very first time, and compliments on his nice features. She pats him gently on the cheek, and tells him that they have no time to lose…

Blue digs into her pocket to pull out a hand-drawn map of the place, and reassures that Silver understands their escape route that night. Having passed by the residential and training blocks, they are now behind the tallest building near the edge of the small hill top. However, the whole area is guarded by a barrier generated by psychic Pokemon, and the only way out is through the underground tunnels which are connected to an adjacent mountain..

Blue quickly finds the entrance to the tunnels among the bushes, and proceeds to move aside the heavy lid. The two children slowly descend along an iron ladder, and soon reach the bottom. As they cautiously move along the walls, Blue remarks that they will have to count on luck from then on as she has no idea which is the correct path among the maze-like design of the tunnels. One thing she is certain however, that they will need to pass through the chamber of the masked man at some point if they've found the right way out.

Just then, the two hear voices of pursuit, and quickly make a run for their lives. Unfortunately, the other four Masked Children, Shum, Cart, Will and Karen manage to catch up with them, and send out their Pokemon to attack. Blue frantically turns her face away while covering Silver's at the same time, telling him not to let the others see their real looks. Cart's Hounder and Will's Natu deliver an ember, psychic combo, and Shum's Meowth and Karen's Eevee lunge forward for a scratch and bite. The combined attacks hit Silver directly on his left leg, and the young boy cries out in pain. Blue hurriedly hits the fire emergency button on the wall, and a sprinkler on the ceiling sends out a thick cloud of smoke to fill the room.

Shum, Cart, Will and Karen get stunned momentarily and choke on the dense gas, and Blue grabs the chance to yank Silver away. As the smoke clears, the four Masked Children hurry after Blue and Silver, but soon discover that the tunnel leads to a dead end with a pink wall. Will grunts that he did see the two coming this way, and Shum begins to question his words. Karen decides to try another tunnel, and the four turn around and continue their search.

Gradually, the pink wall deflates and turns out to be Blue's Jigglypuff. Blue grins as she wipes a sweat off her forehead, and is glad to have lost their pursuers. She ushers Silver to keep going, and remarks that they should be able to locate the exit very soon. Suddenly, the silhouette of Mask of Ice materializes in front of them, and the two draw back in fear. On a closer look, they realize that it is just a giant ice sculpure of Mask of Ice and the six Masked Children, and Blue knows that they have arrived at the masked man's chamber.

Silver gets worried and wonders where Mask of Ice is. Blue reveals that the masked man is in fact resting right behind the curtain on the far end of the room, but assures Silver that the man is too weak to move about. She explains that once in several months, Mask of Ice will experience a day of weakness, and this very night that they've chosen to escape happens to be one of those days…

As Blue and Silver make their way across the masked man's chamber, Blue remarks that the escape was only part of her plan, and begins searching around on Mask of Ice's desk. She soon locates the Rainbow and Silver Wings on a pen-stand, and quickly picks up the two glittering feathers. She turns around to grin at Silver, and chuckles that she will take the items away with her. Resuming their way along the tunnel on the other side of the room, Blue and Silver gradually see light ahead, and know that their life in the world outside is finally about to begin...