Hello everyone! It's good to be back, even if it is a short reunion. So I know that most of you did not like the ending to the first Inner Strength. Know that I made it for a few reasons, which one of them was because I did have a few ideas for a sequel. However due to some recent incidents it has been extremely hard for me to jot down these ideas. Now that I was able to finally write down what I had in mind, I'm not exactly sure if I'm even going to be able to continue it, let alone finish it.

Since no one cares to read my profile before submitting comments on my stories, I'll explain this here: I have enlisted in the United States army. Obviously once I get shipped off I will not have any time on my hands to really do anything besides what the military wants me to do, which is why no one should expect me to finish this story.

Now I do not mind other people writing down their ideas for a sequel, I really don't. Just know that all OFFICIAL work will be right here in this story under my penname. If you think you can write a chapter to this story better than me and show it to me, then I may concider placing it as the offical story page itself (all credit WILL go to the author that wrote said chapter).

Finally before going off to this story please know that life has not been good with me and I have not written anything since the last chapter of Inner Strength. Obviously things are not going to flow well and sentences may not be completely grammatically correct. Give me some slack and enjoy what I was able to jot down.

God bless!

Inner Strength: Time Heals

Part one

Your time is here, little one.

It's time to wake up. It's time to start your own journey.

It's time for you to change the world.

For better, or for worse. . .

So now wake up, little one.

Your time has come.

The first thought that popped into my head was just a simple word: What? That had to have been the weirdest dream I have ever had, and I have had my share of weird dreams.

I didn't bother to open my eyes, even though I was awake. Instead I first went through my waking up routine: stretch out my arms and legs, let out a good long yawn, and then scratch the top of my head. Only then did I rub my eyes until they finally opened, the sleep in my eyes always getting in the way.

The sun blazed into my room as I opened up my eyes, shining directly in my face. I had to cover my eyes with one of my arms just to avoid myself from growing blind. Usually the sunlight would wake me up, either that or Uncle would walk in and shake me awake. I must have been dead tired last night to sleep in for so long.

I didn't think much of it and hopped out of bed, my feet landing on the cold tile floor. A slight shiver crawled from my feet up to my spine after feeling the tiles. Uncle says that it's more "sanitary" to have these kinds of floors, but I still remember the day when I got to try carpets and oh man do I already miss the feeling of that against my toes.

Well I guess wishers can't be choosers. As I walked over to the door to my bedroom, I tried to remember what day it was. Was it Tuesday? I could've sworn it was Monday. If it is Tuesday then that means I have class today, but if it's Monday then that means that I get to see Grandpa.

Reaching up, I grab the doorknob to my room and turn it. I never liked being short, makes everything harder for me but at least I am tall enough to reach the knob. Pushing the door open, I walk out of my room and into my uncle's workplace.

My uncle is this big science wiz, it's his job and it's his life. For as long as I can remember he's been busy with his work: researching this and researching that, studying this and studying that. Because it is his life, my uncle lives in his laboratory so he never has to stop working. Since my uncle lives here then so do I. It's not exactly a bad thing; it does have its ups and downs, but it just gets so boring here. The few times my uncle isn't working, he's busy giving me lessons in class.

That's another thing he loves to do: teach. My uncle likes to call me a "genius" and that I have some kind of "gift". I don't know about any of that, I never understand half of the things that old man talks about anyway. I do okay in math, I have always had trouble with writing, and science I'm only interested when it's a topic I like. Luckily for me, my uncle researches Pokemon, which is what he loves to talk about and is my favorite topic to hear about. My uncle says I get that from my father.

Walking out to his laboratory, I was surprised to not see my uncle working. Usually he would already be up and toiling around his workplace, but today I found him sitting in front of one of the flat screen monitors watching what looked to be the news.

"Several reports have been coming in about multiple bank robberies happening all around the globe, resulting in a universal freeze on banking accounts. The Veridian National Bank, United Banking, and the Lee Harvey Bank have all claimed that customers may access their accounts once they have, and I quote, 'regain control of the situation'. Coming to you live from Cerulean City, here is-"

I never pay too much attention to the news. It's the same thing every day: bad guys doing this, weather doing that. Shifting my attention from the monitor to my uncle, I made my way over to the old scientist. Whatever was on the news really had his attention; the man didn't even hear me walk up next to him. I had to clear my throat loudly to announce my presence.

The old man blinked then turned around in his swivel chair and smiled when he saw me. "Well good morning! How did you sleep?"

I shrugged softly. "Okay I guess, but I had the weirdest dream ever."

"Oh? Was it a nightmare?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "It wasn't bad, exactly, it was just . . . different, I guess."

"Ah I see. We all get those kinds of dreams now and then," said my uncle. He turned back to the monitor, turned it off, then turned back to face me. "Alright, do you know what day it is?"

I shook my head again. "No . . . it's Tuesday, isn't it?" I let out a sigh. I was not in the mood for another lecture from Uncle. "What are we talking about today?"

My uncle looked surprised at me. He leaned down on his chair to look at me straight in the eye. "You really don't know what day it is? Today is a very special day for you."

For an instant there, my uncle was sounding exactly like my dream from the night before. Again I shook my head, though I did so in a more hesitant way. My uncle leaned back up in his chair and stood up.

"How could you forget? Today is your birthday, my dear child."

I blinked. Was it really? Did I really lose track of time that I forgot my own birthday?

Uncle smiled again, kneeling down to my level. "You look surprised," he said.

"Well . . . I just . . ."

The old man let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "Oh don't worry about it. Here, I got you a cake, but your grandfather wants to see you before I give it to you. You know where to find him, correct?"

My grandpa wanted to see me? Now after hearing that today was my birthday, I was getting excited. Maybe Grandpa got me a present or something; and the sound of cake . . . oh my mouth was already starting to water from the mere thought of it. I quickly nodded to my uncle, telling him that I knew where to find Grandpa, and ran out the back before the old man could say anything back.

Today was my birthday! I can't believe that I actually forgot about it! I was immediately filled with excitement about the day: no class, no work, eating cake all day, and maybe even getting something from Grandpa! Today was going to be a great day, no doubt about it.

Running up to the back door, I nearly pounced up at the doorknob, turning it as I was moving forward. Flinging the door open, I lunged outside, not even bothering to close the door behind me. The laboratory's back yard was placed for all of the Pokemon that was being studied or being held for other trainers or scientists to stay. Any other day when my lessons were done, I would spend some time with the Pokemon and with my mom, but today I was too excited. I could always talk to the Pokemon another time.

Leaping over the fence that bordered the Pokemon area, I ran towards the river of the town. Grandpa was always at the river; for some reason he liked staying there. We would always meet there so I knew the path to the river by heart.

Sure enough, as I came up to the river's head I saw my grandpa meditating at its edge. Running up to my grandfather's side, I poked his arm while saying, "Hey Grandpa! You wanted to see me?"

I knew he didn't like me messing with him while he was meditating, but I loved to do it. I could even see a hint of a smile along his face when I poked him.

My grandpa sat cross-legged on the ground with his arms on either of his bent knees, his eyes closed all the while. For a moment or two, the only part of his body that moved was his chest from his breathing, but soon Grandpa let out a loud yawn and stretched out his legs. From there he rubbed his eyes and looked over at me, smiling softly.

"You know you shouldn't do that," he said to me, still smiling even though he was trying to sound serious.

"I know, I know, but I'm excited!" I explained, bouncing up and down a bit. "What do you do out here all day anyhow?"

My grandpa shrugged, looking out into the river. "I just . . . think, I guess."

"Think about what?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Again my grandfather shrugged his shoulders. "About everything, really. I don't get to do this with other people of my kind, so I do it whenever I can by myself."

"You act like you're a dying species, Grandpa."

"Perhaps I am," chuckled Grandpa. He smiled again and turned his body to face me. "I take it that Oak told you to see me?"

I nodded my head excitedly. "Yep, he told me you had something for me."

My grandpa made a face that looked like he was raising an eyebrow. "He did? I told that man that I wanted to see you, not that I wanted to give you something."

At that, my excitement depleted. "Oh . . . so you're not going to give me a present?"

For about a second, my grandpa looked as if he was going to apologize for not giving me anything, but just like that he smiled. "I never said that I wasn't going to give you something either, now did I?"

"Wait, so then do I get a present or not?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my grandfather.

He smiled at me and gave a sarcastic shrug. "What if I just want to tell my grandson 'happy birthday'?" After that he gave a soft laugh, extending his arms out towards me. "Give your grandpa a hug and I might give you something."

I smiled back and embraced my grandfather, my short little arms not even able to completely wrap around his body. We stayed in that hug for a few seconds, even when I let go of my grandfather, he still held onto me tightly. "Um . . . Grandpa? You can let go of me now."

"Oh, sorry!" he said, finally releasing me from his arms. "I just can't believe how much you have grown. Already ten years old!"

"I know," I said, smiling up at him. "If Uncle would let me, I could go out and start training Pokemon like those people on TV."

My grandpa let out a soft sigh, nodding his head. "Well Oak knows what he is doing. He worries about you, plus you still have much more to learn from him."

"But I can learn so much more if I'm out there!" I complained. "I'm tired of sitting here, Grandpa. Today I'm ten years old and I felt like I haven't done anything with my life yet."

My grandfather let out another sigh and placed one of his black paws on my back. "It's okay, I know the feeling. You are still so young and the world is a big place. Don't worry, your time will come." I wanted to say something back to that, maybe to add on to what he said, but my grandfather rose up his other paw to my face to hush me. "Alright now do you want your present?"

My face lit up with a smile as I eagerly nodded my head, already making assumptions as to what the present could be.

Grandpa smiled back and told me to close my eyes and hold my arms out. I did so and waiting for something. I could hear some ruffling against the grass, and then I felt something pressed into one of my paws.

"Alright, open up your eyes, Xander."

I opened my eyes and looked down at my paws. It was a flower, a pink flower, but it looked as if it was made out of glass. I looked at it closer, turning it to its side, and I could barely see a feint blue glow at its center.

Before I could ask what it was, my grandfather spoke. "Use this whenever you need to talk to me. If anything happens, for whatever reason, use this and I will know how to find you and I can talk to you no matter how far away you are."

I looked up at my grandfather, then back down at the flower. "What is it?"

"It's a very rare flower, one that uses Aura. Lucario such as me sometimes use them to record messages or record certain instances in their lives. I, however, found a flower that somehow helps Aura users with their communication," explained my grandfather.

I turned the flower over, looking closely at the glowing blue center it had. "Well . . . wow, I don't know what to say, Grandpa. Thank you so much!" I went up to him and gave him a hug, still holding onto the flower as I embraced my Lucario grandfather.

Grandpa returned the hug to me, then let go of me to look straight into my eyes. "Alright now go have some fun, but be sure to be back at Oak's before sundown, alright? You don't want to miss out on your cake, do you?"

I shook my head, thanking my grandfather again for the present. I moved away from my grandpa and turned around to head back to my uncle's lab, holding the flower in my arms as I walked back.

After I put the flower in my bedroom, the rest of the day went by pretty quickly, or so that's what it felt like. I guess that tends to happen when you are having fun: time flies by. Of course I got to eat my cake, but only after I had to sit through my uncle singing the Happy Birthday song. The cake was vanilla, my favorite flavor of course. After I ate almost all of the cake, Uncle allowed me to go play with the Pokemon on the reserve, which was where I spent just about the majority of my day.

I always love playing with the Pokemon there. For some reason, I feel like I relate to the Pokemon more than anyone else, especially more than my uncle. I could spend all of my life with these wonderful creatures; just playing with them and talking to them.

However the one Pokemon I always look forward to is my mom, whom I had to see before it got too late. My mother was always the loving kind, though sometimes a little too loving. I can't tell you how long she wants to hug me whenever we meet up on the reserve; it almost gets a little embarrassing when around the other Pokemon.

I looked for her around the field after I waved goodbye to a group of Eevee I was just playing with. Finding my mom was sometimes as hard as finding a needle in a haystack, though I guess it's because she is green.

"Bay!" I turned towards the sound. Sure enough, it came from my mother. The Bayleef was laying herself down on the grass, calling out to me once she spotted me. I ran over to her, told her hi, and gave her a hug. She returned the hug, using her vines as a means of doing so, then licked me on my forehead.

"Mom! Stop that," I said, wiping the saliva off of my head.

She giggled a bit and then just gave me another lick, much to my annoyance. "I have to make you look at least somewhat good, Xan," she said, smiling brightly to me.

I wiped my head again and looked up to her. "Aren't you going to tell me 'happy birthday'?"

My mother smiled again and wrapped her vines around my body for another hug. "Happy birthday, Xander. You are growing too fast for me to keep up."

I returned the hug, rubbing my cheek against her long neck. "Thanks, Mom."

She rubbed her check against the top of my head. I could hear her throat hum as she showed me this affection, warming me up. When we finally parted, she crossed her front two legs and laid her head on them, still looking at me. "So tell me, Xander: what do you want for your birthday?"

"What do I want? I don't know," I said, sitting myself down to think about it. "Can I ask for another cake?"

My mother giggled at that and shook her head. "No, darling. You shouldn't be eating so much unhealthy stuff anyhow. Now come on, tell your mother what you would like."

Something that I would like? I stopped to think about it. I love getting presents, but I never did really want anything in particular.

No . . . I take that back. There is something that I have always wanted to know.

"Mom, could you tell me how my dad died?"

This question, similar to all of the other times I have asked it, brought my mother's face down to an almost depressing look. "We have talked about this, Xan. You know I don't like to discuss it."

"I do know, but . . . there has to be more to it, right? There has to be more than just a car wreck."

"I'm sorry, my son, but that is the story. I wish there was more to it too, but that's just how it was," explained my mother.

I stood myself up and looked at my mom straight into the eyes. She, as always, looked away from me whenever this topic was brought up. "Stop lying to me, Mom. I know you are hiding something. Why can't you just tell me? Why can't anyone tell me?"

She shook her head, still looking away from me. "I'm sorry, Xander, but I can't."

"So there is more!" I exclaimed. "He didn't die in a car wreck, did he? How did it really happen? Who was he? What was he like?"

I would've asked more questions, but I stopped as I saw my mother burst into tears. She was crying and shaking her head, as if she was fighting a thought away. See looked back up at me, eyes filled with tears, and said, "You are so special, Xander. So very special."

"You have told me this," I said, trying to not sound demanding. "But please, Mom, tell me about my dad. I'm ten years old now and I still don't know anything! Please, Mom."

My mom closed her eyes, trying her best to hold back any more tears. She sniffled a few times, took in a deep breath, and then stood her neck up to look down at me. "You are a very special being, Xander. You have abilities that you don't even know about and you have potential that is beyond my imagination."

I blinked a few times at hearing this. "What . . . what are you talking about, Mom? I want to hear about my dad."

"I am not your mother," she said, taking in another deep breath. "Your real mother is the one that is dead."

This took me by surprise. I mean, I could sense that there was a difference from me and my mother, but to hear this from her knocked me off guard. For a few seconds I was speechless, I didn't know what to say or what to do. Then it hit me: my real mother is dead, so then does that mean that my father is still alive? I asked my "mother" this along with asking for more information about my real mother.

But the Bayleef just shook her head. "I have already said too much. However, I will tell you this, my son." She leaned her head back down and towards me, almost pressing her nose against my own from being so close. "You are not human, but you are not a Pokemon either, Xander."

"Wh-what?" I stammered. I wasn't human? "But . . . Uncle told me-"

"Look at your hands, Xander. What do you see?" she interrupted, nudging my arms.

I pulled up my paws and opened them up. "I see my paws," I said.

"Humans do not have paws, sweetheart, and they are never yellow."

"But . . . Uncle told me that it was-"

"Do not believe everything from your uncle," she interrupted again, shaking her head. "He tells you these things in order to protect you and keep you safe." The Bayleef took in a deep breath. "On the outside, sweetheart, you look like a Pokemon; a Pichu to be exact. That is why you have not grown much, because your body is at its fullest height."

"I'm . . . I'm a Pichu?" I asked. I looked down at my paws, but more closely now. Uncle once taught me about Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu, but only once and never again. I never even got to see a picture of what one looked like. So then . . . could it be true? "But . . . how?"

"You are special, Xander. On the outside you are a Pokemon, but on the inside you are a human. You have learned so much that I cannot even comprehend it, and your eyes." She stopped when she said that. She leaned her head so that she could look straight into my eyes. "You have his eyes. Every time I see you, you remind me of him, my Ash."

"Ash?" I asked. "Who is Ash?"

The Bayleef that I formally called my mother looked off into the sky, ignoring my question. "It's getting late. It's time for you to go to bed now, Xander."

"But I still have so many questions!" I begged her. The Bayleef did not answer, but just pushed me away with her head, continuously telling me to go to bed.

Ash . . . who could that be? The name sounded somewhat familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere before. I can't imagine where, though.

I waved good night to my uncle and walked into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. "Boy what a day," I said to myself, walking over to my bed. Reaching over for the covers, I pulled them back, but paused as my eyes came upon a small red box with a red bow on top of it. Another present?

Curious, I grabbed the box, took off the bow, and ripped it open. I looked inside to see an old black Pokedex sitting on the very bottom. Pulling out the Pokedex, I looked it over: it was in the shape of a rectangle, had the blue camera lens on its top, and had a flap to open it. I opened the Pokedex and as soon as I did the device started talking to me.

"Hello Xander Taran Ketchum, my name is Dexter." The Pokedex spoke in a monotone computer voice, taking slight pauses between each word as it spoke.

"It knows my name?" I said, astonished. This must be a gift from Uncle; he probably programmed it to already have my name in it. "Well hello there, Dexter. Um, how are you?"

But the device didn't say anything back. I suppose it was stupid to think that I could actually have a conversation with a computer, but I felt like I was supposed to say something back. I looked along the device's insides, examining the countless buttons it had along with the blank screen in the middle.

Then a thought came up to me. I remembered what my mom had told me just earlier. . .

I pointed the Pokedex at myself and held it still. For a few seconds nothing happened, the black Pokedex just stayed quiet. I turned the Pokedex back around and looked at the screen, and sure enough it began talking as if it was waiting for me to watch it.

"Pichu: the tiny mouse Pokemon, pre-evolved form of Pikachu. The electric pouches on its cheeks are still small. They cannot store much electricity yet."

My paws began to shake a bit as soon as Dexter said the word "Pichu". So it is true, I have been a Pokemon this whole time and never knew about it.

"They lied to me," I whispered to myself, my paws still shaking as I held onto the Pokedex. Mom told me that I was human, that I was still a little boy growing up that was born with a fascination towards Pokemon. Grandpa told me that I was a kid with special parents, that everyone else had parents like mine. Uncle even tried to sound scientific about it; he explained that I would be having a growth spurt soon and that the children in this area all had yellow skin when they were my age. "They lied to me!"

Anger swelled up inside of me. I gripped onto the Pokedex and threw it against the wall in my fury. A loud crack emitted from the wall, already telling me that my present was broken.

As soon as I threw the Pokedex, I regretted it. Walking over to where it fell, I saw that it was broken in half, some of the plastic pieces scattered around. I got down and tried to scoop it all up into my paws, cleaning up the mess, but one of the pieces must've had a sharp edge to it for it cut into one of my fingers. Yelping quietly in pain, I dropped what was left of the Pokedex and looked at my finger. It was bleeding, the cut clearly going through my skin. I popped the finger into my mouth and sucked on the blood, hoping that my saliva would make the pain go away faster.

I didn't bother trying to pick up the Pokedex again; mainly for fear that I might cut myself again. I would have to go get a broom or something, but I just wanted to go to bed. I could always do this tomorrow.

With that, I headed off to bed and went to sleep, occasionally sucking on my finger whenever it started to hurt.

I opened my eyes, but everything was dark. I closed my eyes, but it was just as dark as opening them. Were my eyes really closed or were they open?

"Xander."

I knew that voice. That was the one from my dream! Quickly, I turned myself around, hoping that my eyes were actually open. There in front of me was this tall figure that was completely covered in a black cloak and a black hood. I could only guess from the stature and the shape of this person that he was a man, though I could not see his face at all. Every part of his body was covered in something, making everything about him concealed.

"Who are you?" was the first thing to come out of my mouth but was soon followed by "Where am I?" and "How did I get here?"

"I go by many names," said the hooded man, moving his hands behind his back. "You can call me Artemis. As for where this is: this is my own conscious mind; I have brought you here to speak with you."

"I'm in your head?" I asked, looking around. "But how did you bring me here? How is this even possible?"

"Whenever you fall asleep, your body moves from the conscious state to a subconscious state. I, in simple terms, got a hold of your conscious mind and brought it here in my own so that we may speak. To go into explanation about how this is all possible would be too much for you to understand; the mere ability to do this is not explainable, as in there are no words that I could use to express it."

I crossed my arms as I looked up at the figure. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Why, like I said before: I wanted to speak with you. As for whom I am: I have told you that as well, I am Artemis. I have spoken with you before."

My eyes grew wide from this confirmation. "So that was you in my dream!"

The hooded man nodded. "Yes, and this is what I want to talk to you about. You have no doubt learned some new things about yourself, have you not?"

I tilted my head to the side slightly. "I might have."

"Then this should not be of surprise to you: you are not a Pokemon, Xander, but neither are you a human. You are, should we say, something in between."

I blinked in disbelief. "How do you know this? How do you know about me?"

"In a way, I am your father, but not by blood. If it wasn't for me, then you would have never existed. Your very DNA was a creation by my hands alone." I had opened my mouth to object to such a claim, but Artemis waved his hand and continued on. "You may not believe me now, but we are getting off topic. You have a very important task ahead of you, little one."

"A task?" I asked, crossing my arms again. "Why should I do anything for you?"

"Oh, it is not for me, little one, it is a task that this world needs for you to do."

"The whole world? Right, yeah okay if that were true then why don't you do it? You are the one claiming to be a god and whatnot, saying that you 'created' me. If you're as powerful as you say you are then why don't you go and save the world?" I asked, happy with my response.

Artemis shook his hooded head. "This is not a task for me. I seek knowledge and nothing more. You will give me great knowledge by completing this task; for if I were to embark on this then I would learn nothing. Now listen and listen closely, little one." With a wave of his hand, a small white orb floated out of the black ground, popping up as if it had been waiting to expose some light into the darkness. The orb floated towards me and as it came closer I could make out soft images in its light.

The first images that I could see showed four small weeds in a huge garden, each evenly placed across the massive field. One weed had little red flowers spurting from it, one had blue flowers along it, one had black flowers on it, and the last weed had gray flowers on it.

"Now there will be four organizations that will seek to harm this world, some of which you may have already heard of from before. These organizations may seem like a small weed, pestering around to become an inconvenience, but do not be fooled for like the weeds that they are they will grow quickly and become more powerful." As Artemis said that, the weeds in the image started to grow taller and wider, soon crowding out the massive field before my eyes. "Already these organizations are strong and mighty, having had time on their side to recuperate and rebuild. Each of these organizations wants one thing: power, however there is only so much power to gain." As the weeds continued to grow outwards, they began to bump into each other. Some of the weeds tried to grow on top of the other with their roots while other weeds branched out, looking as if they were stabbing the other weeds with their wines. "They will want to destroy each other, but in doing so will destroy everything else in their path." As the weeds fought, their roots kept growing, killing all of the other flowers and plants in the massive garden, draining them from their water or stabbing through their stems with their massive roots and vines. Before long the entire garden was covered with the four weeds.

I looked away from the orb, trying my best not to picture the plants as people. "This can't be true. You have to do something; you can't just let people die like this! If you know what is going to happen then stop it before it happens!"

"This, I am afraid, is inevitable," said Artemis, moving the orb away from my face. "I once thought that I could stop it, but in doing so all I found I could do was delay it. The world will be engulfed in war, but let that not distract you. Remember: this cannot be changed, war is not an option. You will have moments were it will seem that you can stop this war from happening, but you must stay vigilant; do not tread away from your path."

"You're telling me to not stop this war?" I asked, bewildered a bit from all of the information. "If a war is happening, then of course I want to stop it! War kills people! People will die if I completely ignore very chance I am given to stop this war."

Again Artemis shook his hooded head. "I tell you once more: this war is inevitable. Trying to stop it will only use up time and energy. Your task is not in this war, but it is in the outcome of it."

The white orb floated upwards above Artemis's head, then exploded into the air, filling up what would've been the ceiling with an image of a starry night. In the middle of that night sky was a small black dot. I watched it closely and noticed that the dot began to grow. The black dot grew wider and wider until the whole night sky was engulfed in darkness, then the rest of the image also blackened out.

"A black hole," I said, looking back down at Artemis. "Are you saying that this war will bring a black hole?"

Artemis nodded his head. "If nothing is done then a black hole will destroy this world and many others. During this war an organization (at this time I do not know which) will grow desperate and will seek other ways of destroying their enemies. They will find a way to create their own artificial black hole and will defeat their opponents, but in their greed will destroy everything they had been fighting for as well. This is what you must avoid, little one. The war may be inevitable but the black hole can be stopped, you must find a way to stop this future from becoming present."

"Me? But why me? I'm just a Pichu, I just turned ten years old! I can't stop a black hole!" I complained. "Why can't you do this?"

"I have told you: I seek knowledge. If I were to take on this task then I would learn nothing from it, but if you embark on this quest then there will be much to learn from your travels."

"You're telling me that you will let hundreds of people die so you can learn something rather than saving them?" My paws curled up into fists. This guy was crazy! If all of this was true, then this man was insane. He could care less about the lives of others when it came to his stupid obsession over learning something.

Artemis made a movement with his body that I couldn't make out. Did he sigh? "If you embark on this quest then not only will I learn from it but you shall learn from it as well. This journey will teach you about yourself and your heritage."

My paws uncurled themselves. What did he mean by that? "My heritage?" I asked.

"I knew your father, Xander. He is still alive and well." At hearing this, my heart began to race. So it was true: my father is alive! "You will meet him when you take on this task, however I do warn you not to become distracted from learning about his whereabouts. Remember: your task is to find this organization and stop it from creating a black hole, not to stop this war from coming and not to find your father. Doing so will only cost you time, which is very limited as it is."

"Then what about my mother?" I asked. I remembered what Bayleaf had told me about my real mother, but I was hoping that it was not true. "Will you tell me where she is?"

Artemis stayed quiet for a moment and then made that same movement as before. "She passed away long ago, young Xander."

At that my hope diminished. My mom is dead . . . I never got to even meet her. I don't know anything about her except for the fact that she died. "Was it . . . painful?" I asked, taking in a deep breath.

Artemis tilted his head slightly to the side. "Was what painful?"

I took in a deep breath, trying my best to control myself as I talked. "Her death . . . did she suffer?"

Artemis took a few steps closer to me and laid a hand against my head. "She died trying to save you and your father, little one."

I let out my held breath, feeling my eyes starting to water up. I closed them shut and wiped them dry, taking in a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down.

The hooded man kneeled down in front of me, shifting his hand from the top of my head over to my shoulder. "It is time for you to go now, Xander. Remember what I have said before, for if I have not said it enough then I will say it once more: this upcoming war is inevitable, as in it cannot be stopped. You will come across parts in your journey where it will seem like you can stop this war and save many lives, but know that they are only distractions and will lead to nothing more than wasting precious time. Also know that you will meet your father, but do not search for him for you will not find him; instead let him come to you. However, when you do meet with your father, know that he will not recognize you. You may tell him that you are his son, but he will deny it for he does not know about you. Finally, the last thing for you to know is that you have great potential. The abilities stored inside of your body can make even Arceus tremble in fear; however the only way you can use these abilities is to activate them."

I took in another breath, wiping my eyes clean one last time before answering. "Activate them? How do I do that?"

"Electricity," said Artemis, patting my shoulder firmly with his gloved hand.

"But I haven't learned how to use electricity. I don't even know how to battle yet, I just found out that I'm a Pichu!"

"Do not worry, little one. If you need any help, you have your grandfather's flower. Keep it with you always; it has more use to it than the Lucario knows of." Artemis stood up and turned around. He took a few steps away until I shouted at him to stop.

"You're putting too much responsibility on me!" I complained to the man. "What if I can't do this? What if I fail?"

The hooded man took a few more steps, then turned back around to face. He gave me a small wave then placed both of his arms behind his back. "If you fail, Xander, then all life in the universe will cease to exist."

And with that, Artemis brought up one of his hands and snapped his fingers.

Remember the black Pokédex.

Use it only when you need it most, for it can only be used once.

Again, I know there were some things wrong but please give me some slack. I may try to make another chapter, but there are no promises! Also, if you do think you can write chapter 2 to Inner Strength: Time Heals then please write it and send it to me in via note or email but please do this before I write the second chapter. Obviously if chapter 2 has been put up then that means that no one else should be still writing chapter 2!

I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement, it is because of you that I have wirtten this. God bless us all and God bless America.