This document is Copyright (C) 2000 Runt(fionacat@hotmail.com). All rights reserved.
No profit on the part of the author is made from this document, and this document is used
only for entertainment purposes. If there is any legal problems with this document,
please contact the author to make arrangements to amend these legal difficulties.
Pikachu, Meowth, Brock, Ash, Misty, Jessie, James, Gary and all other related Pokémon characters
or items are (C) and TM to Nintendo and Game Freaks.
This work may be freely distributed in any media as long as no money is charged for the
document itself. It may be included on any archive collection under the same terms.
It is highly recommended that you read "A Pokémon Tail" to make any sort of sense of
this story. To understand the entire background to what's going on try reading
"Master Meowth", "The Pokémon Gym" and "A Pokémon Tail" or steal my brain for a few hours.
But I digress, to recap very quickly what has happened so far;
Ash was on his way home to Pallet Town to see his mom but was caught in a vicious
rainstorm forcing him to seek shelter in a small hut where he was challenged by
Meowth and a mysterious trainer simply known as Fee. [Master Meowth]
When Ash finally reached Pallet Town he found much to his horror that Team Rocket
had kidnapped his mother with the help of Fee.
Tranquillised Ash awoke to find himself in a strange maze with Meowth.
Wondering around the maze they came across a pokeball that only responded to Meowth and
contained a Rattata capable of producing a Flame-thrower attack.
On escaping the maze Ash was confirmed as a new Gym Leader being Guardian of the Co-operation
badge. [The Pokemon Gym]
Returning triumphantly to Pallet Town and supervising the building of the new gym Ash lost
his first battle as the gym leader to Meowth with his super powered Rattata.
Fee and his master arrived at Ash's gym and revealed an interesting fact. [A Pokemon Tail]
"I...i...i....i...um...i....i..." Stuttered Fee in shock.
"You can't be??" Mew prompted smiling slightly at Fee.
"Yes that is it, I...i....i.....I just Master..." Fee stammered.
"But it is right." Mew said placing one of it's spindly arms on Fee.
Brock nodded, "Yes I'm not sure how but that is what the facts point to."
"But Master, I...I... Why can't I remember it?" Fee asked sobbing slightly clutching his
tail for comfort.
"Go put your human suit on Fee, it's in the boot." Mew directed looking away from Fee
purposefully.
"At once Master." Fee sighed before standing and leaving the room.
"I'm confused," Ash stated echoing the bemused look on his face. He waited for Fee to
close the door fully before continuing. "You are saying Fee used to be a person?"
Mew nodded, "That is as best as I can figure."
"How?" Ash asked simply. "I mean I remember when Bill became a Pokemon but he didn't grow
fur and a tail."
"Yes Bill, well that was interesting to say the least. However Bill was still Bill if your
heroic action had not interceded then Bill may indeed have changed." Mew replied.
"Really?!" Ash exclaimed in questioning.
Mew shrugged and looked towards Professor Oak.
"It is entirely possible, however there is no research on the subject." Professor Oak replied.
"Indeed there is not, this is why I require your expert help." Mew said smiling at Ash.
"ME?!" Ash exclaimed in shock, "What can I do?"
"Well how can I put this kindly..." Mew pondered aloud, "To be blunt when you are given a
task some interesting things happen. You find strange and unusual things that nobody would
expect." Mew explained.
"How do you mean?" Ash asked aggressively.
"I mean it as a complement. To put it in simple terms you are lucky." Mew clarified.
"Oh." Ash blushed now understanding. "Well I guess I'd be happy to help if I can..."
"What if, this is what I've always been." Fee said aloud to nobody in particular. "I mean,
it's possible I could be nothing more then this. Just a simple pokemon after all I try to
resist my Master's commands but I can't."
"But that could just be his psychic powers, he is the most powerful psychic pokemon around." Fee
sighed retorting to himself.
"It could be, yes but why would he do that. Perhaps I have just reconditioned myself to
accepting commands from a master." Fee added.
Fee stopped at the boot of the car and dug out the human suit he was so used to wearing, it
sat limply in his hands the legs swaying aimlessly in the slight breeze.
"Where did I get you from?" Fee suddenly questioned the suit. "I can't ever remember being
given you and if I have always been like this surely you couldn't grow with me."
Fee placed his hindpaws into the feet of the suit and the wiggled his toes slightly smiling
at the effect.
Pulling the suit up and over his head he adjusted it carefully to fit exactly his strange
feline features.
Pawing slightly at the hair on top of his human suit Fee eventually was fully suited up
and looked at himself in the poor reflection of the polished car surface.
He was troubled by the reflection even more now, the human visage reflected back from the
car surface was at least two foot taller then he was without the suit, his fluffy tail
just vanished into apparently nowhere concealed he presumed somewhere behind the dark
blue dungarees on the human costume.
The most worrying thing about the reflection was that he could tell his eyes where the wrong
colour, he guessed they were blue just now but knew they should be hazel.
"Did I forget who I am? Did I run from something or someone and never return?" Fee asked
quietly.
Fee shuffled back to Ash's office and smiled when he passed Cheryl the assistant from the
Pokemon evaluation board.
"Hey... I still think you make a neat cat." Said Cheryl smiled at Fee.
Fee half-smiled back at Cheryl and added, "Thank you Cheryl, you make a very good human."
Cheryl giggled and continued on down the hall in the opposite direction.
"I just wish I could say the same about myself..." Fee whispered to himself as he knocked on
the door before entering.
"Ahh Fee! Good to see you back again." Mew commented motioning Fee over.
"That is some suit." Ash breathed a little too loudly.
Fee glanced towards Ash then back to Mew, "Master... Where did I get this costume from?" He
suddenly asked.
Mew frowned slightly and motioned for Fee to sit. Fee sat quietly on the floor and looked up
towards Mew sitting on the table.
"I'm afraid I do not know where you got the costume from Fee, it was with you when I
found your pokeball." Mew slowly stated.
"But..." Brock interjected, "That means Fee was human whilst inside the pokeball!"
Mew didn't move to acknowledge this but everyone in the room knew it was true just by
the way he didn't move.
"Is that possible professor Oak?" Misty asked breaking the silence.
Professor Oak thought about it for a short while then nodded, "In theory a human could
be captured in a pokeball, they would have to be unconscious however and it would have to
be a very special pokeball."
Mew gently lifted the pokeball with his tail and passed it to professor Oak.
"This however..." Professor Oak started examining the pokeball, "Is almost a standard
pokeball."
"Almost?" Misty asked probing for more information.
Professor Oak nodded, "Almost, it has the speech translator on it and some simple extra
circuitry that I assume would be used to keep such a complex lifeform inside the pokeball
safely."
Mew confirmed professor Oak's suspicion, "That is indeed my work, the first time I freed
Fee from the pokeball it was impossible to get him to return safely. I put the extra circuitry
in to make it safe for him."
"Where did you find Fee?" Ash suddenly interrupted.
Mew scratched his head for a second, "It's best to just show you." Mew said jumping off the
desk.
"Master?" Fee asked gently.
"Yes, you get to visit your home at last Fee." Mew grinned looking up to Fee.
Leading the way back to the car Mew danced slightly along the ground as he saw Cheryl
in a gym office.
Skulking past the door quietly he motioned to Ash to explain what was happening.
"Ahhh! Cheryl, I'm going to have to leave for a short while." Ash stuttered.
"Master Ash, Those three who where here earlier and won the badge, they are back..." Cheryl
said nodding her head to where behind Ash was.
"Oh... No....." Ash sighed before turning.
"I'm ready for double trouble already!!" Ash shouted towards where he assumed Jessie and
James would be lurking only to find empty space.
Looking around quickly Ash saw no sign of Team Rocket.
"Cheryl?" Ash asked turning back to his receptionist only to see Meowth sitting in the chair
typing on the typewriter.
"Sorry twerp, she's on a coffee break try again!" Meowth cackled.
Mew peaked in around the door briefly and smiled nodding slightly.
"Excellent, Meowth if you and the rest of Team Rocket would like to join us we will be
requiring your help as well." Mew announced loudly.
Meowth fell out of the chair mostly at hearing Mew talk but also a little to do with what
he had said.
"Why would we want to help the twerps?" A plant pot with a distinctive Jessie like voice
asked the filing cabinet.
"Maybe we can bag ourselves some super-rare pokemon..." The filling cabinet replied with
a James like voice.
"That's a plan." Meowth cackled releasing Jessie and James from their respective hiding places.
Ash smiled weakly and stuttered, "I think there is a limo waiting."
Squeezing into the limo Ash, Brock, Misty, Professor Oak, Pikachu, Mew, Fee, Meowth, Jessie
and James looked around awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do.
"Tea anyone?" Mew asked breaking the tension clumsily.
Ash nodded tentatively before replying, "Yes, why not."
"So where are we heading?" Brock asked Mew.
"It's not so much a place, more a vision of a place." Mew tried explaining.
"How do you mean?" Brock enquired.
"It's what is known as a soft place." Mew replied.
"What's a soft place?" Misty interrupted.
"It's hard to explain, it's a place which is soft to be blunt. Time, space everything
blurs around there." Mew noted the worry evident in his voice.
Professor Oak nodded, "I've heard rumours of these soft places, even talk of some very rare
pokemon emerging from them. It's completely possible that Fee somehow fell into one of these
soft places and was changed into what he is now."
"How do we feature in this?" James asked suddenly.
Mew smiled an evil little smile, "That's something you will find out later."
James gulped loudly at that, "I'm not so sure I want to go on this trip."
Jessie nodded and agreed, "Even the rarest pokemon of all isn't worth this."
Mew nodded, "Tell you what, stay with these twerps as you call them and I'll present myself
to Giovanni."
"Wait! You can't do that!!" Ash shouted.
"I agree, that would be a poor choice of actions." Professor Oak added.
"Sometimes we just have to do what we are told." Mew sighed. "Anyway, we are there."
"Where? How can we be anywhere? We haven't driven anywhere..." James protested.
"I never said we would drive there, why drive when you can teleport." Mew retorted.
"So can you tell us where we are now?" Misty asked.
Mew shook his head, "No I can not, and you, Ash and Brock must stay here."
"I thought we were here to help." Ash complained.
Mew smiled and nodded, "You will help. For now however only myself and team rocket are
needed. You will know when to help."
Ash frowned and shrugged.
"You know what's going to happen." Misty whispered gently to Mew.
"I only know what has happened, what will occur is still uncertain." Mew enigmatically replied.
"Mew, good luck out there. I have bad feeling you may need it." Brock added.
"Fee, I must ask something of you which you will hate." Mew slowly said.
"Yes Master?" Fee tentatively questioned, "I think I know what you need."
Mew nodded and raised a pokeball pointing it towards Fee.
"Fee, return." Mew called out loudly.
Fee saw the beam of red light pour from the pokeball towards him, he felt the warmth of
the light surge through his body. A warm tranquil calm flowed through his body, every
part of him was relaxed.
Fee felt his body become light and almost transparent as he soared towards the pokeball
he was gripped for the briefest second by panic until a new warmth and a feeling of
security.
Mew held the pokeball carefully in his pawed hand.
"I'm not sure who to give this too." Mew admitted looking to Jessie and James.
"Hey, I'll keep a hold of him." Meowth offered.
Mew handed the pokeball with Fee inside to Meowth carefully.
"Take care of him..." Mew gently said.
"Aren't you coming?" Jessie suddenly asked in panic.
Mew shook his head.
"WHAT?!" James shouted in disbelief.
"I can not go out there." Mew stated bluntly.
Jessie sighed and grabbed James, "Let's just get this over with quickly so we can get in the
good books of the boss."
"Now that's a plan." Meowth cackled pushing James towards the door.
"I want to go home..." James cried unhappily.
Brock opened the door as Jessie and Meowth pushed James out of the car and quickly followed
themselves before Brock pulled the door closed again.
"What was that all about?" Ash asked obviously confused.
"They are about to find out where we are..." Mew stated.
"Can you tell us now where we are?" Misty again asked.
Mew nodded and with a serious demeanour replied, "We are at the edge of the world."
Jessie, James and Meowth looked around the bleak environment, mere moments ago they had been
in Pallet Town now they were in a completely desertified area, devoid of anything but sand as
far as they could see.
"Nice, it's the world's biggest litter tray..." Meowth commented.
"I hate to mention this..." James started.
"But you want to go home?" Jessie finished.
"No, the car is gone is what I was going to say but going home sounds better..." James replied.
"WHAT?!" Jessie screeched suddenly turning to look where the car had been, it had indeed
vanished leaving the trio standing alone in a desert.
"He tricked us!" Meowth complained.
"Well we have his precious pokemon, maybe he knows what is going on." Jessie said motioning
towards Meowth.
"Go Fee!" Meowth shouted throwing the pokeball into the air.
Fee suddenly felt a shunt in his body as the warmth vanished rapidly, light poured in from
all over forcing him to twitch in pain.
He could feel the cool breeze brush against him and he knew he was no longer safe inside the
pokeball.
"Hey Fee!" Jessie shouted as Meowth pounced towards Fee with claws unsheathed.
Fee screamed in terror and raised his arms to protect him.
"Where are we?!" Meowth demanded pawing at Fee's arms angrily.
"I don't know!" Fee shouted back, "I was inside the pokeball."
Meowth backed down.
"What are you doing, ruff him up until he tells us." Jessie shouted.
"It's no use, I know what it's like inside those things. He couldn't even tell you how
long he was in there for." Meowth sadly countered.
Fee nodded still terrified, "It's true."
Jessie sighed and kicked the sand aggressively.
"Any ideas what now then?" James asked sobbing slightly.
"I've been here..." Fee stuttered.
"Then you do know where we are?" Jessie asked peering at Fee.
"I think so, this is where Mew found me." Fee answered, "This is what he called the edge of the
world."
Back in the car Mew tried to explain more about soft places.
"This is the main soft place, it's what has been called the edge of the world because it is
nothing but an endless desert if you are inside it." Mew started explaining.
"Try imagining you were only the size of Caterpie..." Mew said demonstrating the size with his
paws.
"Eeeeeew! Bugs!!" Misty interrupted.
Mew sighed and continued, "Now think about a human size, whilst you are the size of the
Caterpie everything would be much bigger including distances."
"You are speaking about relativity." Professor Oak explained.
"Yes, that is correct Professor. Now soft places have a similar effect, they make everything
at least seem to be relatively much larger then it really is." Mew finished.
"How much larger?" Brock asked.
"If I was to use the same scale, the Caterpie would be about the size of a full stop." Mew
admitted.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do here?" Jessie asked generally.
Fee shrugged "There are a lot of questions I could find answers to here."
"How can you find an answer out here?" Jessie sniggered.
"What would you like answered?" Fee smiled back at Jessie.
"Let's go for you first then, what are you?" Jessie asked looking at Fee.
Fee sat down on the ground and lifted up a hand full of sand.
"This won't work." He suddenly stated before taking off the human costume.
Sitting down on the ground again he took a paw full of sand and slowly let it flow back
to the ground.
"What am I?" Fee asked whispering to the sand as it fell.
The sky shifted slightly overhead as a distinctive image formed.
"What..." Jessie stammered looking at the image.
"Welcome to the edge of the world." The wind whispered to Jessie, James, Meowth and Fee.
The image in the sky reformed and skewed slightly into the of Giovanni.
"You fools! Why have you still not captured that Pikachu?!" The image boomed loudly.
"We..we are right on it boss!" James suddenly stammered upwards to the ghostly Giovanni.
"Fee teleport us out of here!" Jessie commanded.
"Sure." Fee sighed and watched as team rocket fizzled and blinked out of existence.
"And now for you..." Giovanni boomed loudly.
Ash winced slightly in pain, "I think I need lunch..." He complained.
Mew shook his head, "That would be your cue to help."
"Oh, I'll be going then." Ash giggled.
"You may want to take Pikachu, there is someone who would love to meet him." Mew noted.
Ash nodded and scooped up Pikachu.
"Pikapi." Pikachu shrilled happily.
Ash opened the door carefully and stepped outside.
"Ash! Over here!" The familiar voice of Fee cried.
Ash looked over to where the voice had shouted only to see Fee sitting in his cat form
with a ghostly human standing beside him.
"Fee, who's that?" Ash asked looking at the ghostly figure.
The ghostly figure smiled and motioned Ash to come closer.
"Ash, it's me." The figure spoke softly barely louder then the gentle breeze.
"Dad?" Ash stammered peering at the figure.
The figure laughed and nodded, "Yes Ash."
"Where are you?" Ash asked.
"That's a hard one, see this place is everywhere at the same time." Fee interrupted.
"I'm at home just now, where are you, and who's that with you?" Ash's dad asked.
Fee whispered to Ash, "Tell him about Pikachu but not where you are."
"Dad, this is my best friend Pikachu!" Ash happily exclaimed holding up Pikachu for his
dad.
"Pika pikapika pika." Pikachu said waving at Ash's dad.
"Well it was great to see you again Ash, I hope you get back from school for summer quickly."
Ash's dad said.
Ash gulped slightly and nodded, "I love you dad."
The figure of Ash's father faded as his words drifted past, "I love you too Ash."
Wiping away the tears ash hugged Pikachu slightly tighter.
"Where was my dad talking from?" Ash asked Fee.
"I'm not sure, the past sometime. Do you ever remember him mentioning to look after Pikachu?"
Fee replied shrugging as he did.
Ash concentrated and nodded, "Yeah, it was when I was seven. I didn't know what he was talking
about."
Fee smiled and noted, "Now you do."
Meowth greedily rubbed his paws together and then slapped Jessie and James again.
"WAKE UP!" He screeched.
Both of them refused to respond to Meowth's persistence.
Meowth sighed and looked around, he was in a large stone room with a statue of every
pokemon he'd ever heard of a whole load he'd never heard of.
The only light came from a strange fountain in the middle of the room.
Meowth sighed and slid down the rock face towards the fountain, hoping to get some water
and wake up Jessie and James with it.
Meowth approached the fountain and placed his paw in the cool water as he did so the water
changed colour to a light yellow.
The water from the fountain shot up into the air and trickled down gently onto each of the
pokemon statues in the room slowly turning them from stone into real pokemon.
Meowth looked around in panic at first then realised exactly what he had done.
"Legend is..." He said trying to remember the story his mom had told him, "That al pokemon
came from one place at the same time except us Meowths we came first and the first Meowth
in the world cried tears of golden water brining life to all the pokemon in the world.
With his task completed the first Meowth, the first pokemon vanished."
Meowth cried with laughter at the realisation of this, "Me, creator and nobody to
share it with."
"I best bring team rocket back now, I'm not quite sure where I put them." Fee noted to Ash
Concentrating carefully Fee found the image of team rocket forming in front of him before
suddenly the unconscious forms of Jessie and James appeared with Meowth laughing loudly.
"Have fun?" Ash prompted towards Meowth.
Meowth laughed louder and nodded.
"So what now?" Ash asked cautiously.
Fee shrugged, "I'm not sure I thought I would find some answers but it refuses to talk to me."
"How do you mean?" said Ash.
"Well your dad, that was a message for you. Team rocket saw their boss Giovanni and I've even
got a message for Brock, Misty and Professor Oak. But nothing for me." Fee sighed unhappily.
"Maybe it's just saving the best for last." Ash said trying to comfort Fee.
"Mewmew." The wind whispered quietly.
"You just might be right there Ash." Fee exclaimed happily watching carefully.
Fee waited watching the sky for a change, listening to the wind for any words.
He waited for what seemed like hours, the hot sun beating down relentlessly.
Fee hit the sand aggressively with his paw.
"See, it just doesn't talk to me." Fee spat angrily.
"What did the wind say earlier?" Ash asked.
"Nothing." Meowth interrupted suddenly ceasing his taunting of the unconscious Jessie and James.
Fee nodded and confirmed this, "That was it's exact words as Mew, just Nothing"
Ash shrugged, "Maybe it wants to keep you safe from the truth?"
Fee sighed, "I don't want to be safe. I've been safe for ten years."
"What about before then?" Ash asked.
"Before what?" Fee retorted.
"Well before ten years ago." Ash said.
"I...I...I...I don't know." Fee answered, "I am unsure why I know it was ten years ago."
"Hey, Fee I didn't see you." Meowth interjected.
Fee smirked slightly, "You wouldn't have, I bet there was no Togepi either."
Meowth thought carefully, "Actually there was, I think there were about two hundred."
"Where did you go? I know I sent you to a pokemon hall but don't know which one." Fee said
panicking slightly.
"Not a hall Fee, The hall." Meowth laughed.
"The hall?" Ash asked.
"Pokemon myth, most pokemon believe they came from one place. Trouble is nobody can agree
where so wild pokemon fight to prove they are right." Fee quickly answered, "But Meowth
there is no way I could have ... ... Oh my, we are still in the soft place."
Meowth nodded and grinned widely, "Right on the edge of the Earth."
"They've been gone quite some time." Misty noted checking the display in the Limo.
Brock nodded, "I'm getting worried about them."
"I must admit, I did not expect it to take so long." Mew added.
"Mind if I ask a stupid question?" Misty enquired.
"There are no stupid questions but folks do keep trying, ask away." Mew offered.
"The pokeball Fee had, it was the one with all the fancy translation equipment, so how come you
can still talk." Misty asked.
"I can still talk..." Mew echoed.
Misty nodded, "You can still talk."
"He still talk!" Togepi suddenly chirped which send Professor Oak scrambling for his notebook.
"Togepi!! You can talk to!!" Misty shouted excitedly.
"Togepi talk!" Togepi chirped again.
"Something may have gone wrong..." Mew sighed.
Fee held his head trying to stay calm, "This makes no sense, you Meowth of team rocket are
responsible for creating all pokemon?"
"Apparently so!" Meowth purred.
"Nah, he didn't do nothing." Pikachu interjected.
"Pikachu?" Ash said staring in disbelief at Pikachu.
"Yeah Ash?" Pikachu replied.
"Oh... my..." Fee stuttered.
Meowth blinked, "Hey rat since when could you talk?!"
"Since always." Pikachu answered.
"I get." Fee mumbled.
"When you did the introduce pokemon to the world thing, you spoke didn't you." Fee sighed.
"Yeah." Meowth confirmed, "That was a bad idea I take it."
Fee shook his head, "Nah completely altering reality is never a bad plan."
"Altering reality? What are you talking about Fee?" Ash demanded to know.
"Well it's like this, when the pokemon woke up they hear Meowth here speaking Human, however
many generations of pokemon later and lookie, all pokemon learnt to speak Human." Fee explained.
"I'll have to go fix it." Fee sighed.
"Why?" Ash said tickling Pikachu slightly, "I think pokemon being able to talk Human is
a great idea."
"Sadly that is not how things are supposed to be." Fee sighed.
Concentrating on himself Fee could feel reality slipping away, the desert faded into the
same stone room Meowth had been in but there was no sign of team rocket and all the statues
where still sitting there.
"So just dip paw in fountain, check." Fee said to himself and rushed towards the fountain.
Extending his paw carefully into the fountain Fee watched as the water changed to a glittering
gold and turned the pokemon statues into real pokemon.
Fee looked around in awe at all the different pokemon, he could count two hundred and fifty
different types, some he had never seen before.
What bothered him however was the fact there was no Fee type pokemon, despite there being
many unique pokemon around.
Fee once again could feel the familiar slipping away of teleport as he arrived back with
Ash, Meowth and the still unconscious Jessie and James at the edge of the Earth.
"Fixed it." Fee announced blandly.
"You have! What did you fix?" Ash asked.
Fee laughed a little and shrugged, "I dunno but it's fixed now."
"Um Fee." Meowth said in shock.
"Yes Young Master Meowth?" Fee asked.
"Your arm is well..." Meowth said stopping before reaching an explanation.
Fee looked at his arm, the left arm which he had dipped into the fountain was no longer
furry. It was a normal human arm.
| 15:23 || Pokéorigins || 15th May 2000 |
Dedicated to: Animators everywhere, for everything I've learnt.
Special thanks to:
DavidMouse, for introducing me to Pokemon.
Ed, for allowing Pikachu the Malkavian.
No$GMB, for enabling me to play Pokemon Gold, even if I couldn't understand most of it.
Everyone on irc.wtower.net (#Warnercafe, #Watertower and #Toonplay)
Everyone on irc.yiff.org (#Uk and #Furry)
Everyone on Furry.org:8888 (WCOTP and other places)
*hugs* to Acmemouse, OkkayWeener, NakkoSqrl, rhia, Mintaka, Davidmouse, Taperlass, P3, Chilly,
Tony_Fox, Billobv and NeuCoyote as well as anyone else from #Toonplay
Oh and Glis, but only because he worships the Monkey.
The last words
So where does the story go from here? It split into two; Ash and Team Rocket continue
onward in "Beyond all that" whereas Fee is left "Finding Roots".
Not to worry however because you can read the short "Interlude" before the story splits and
additionally look out for the "PokeFAQs" which will answer a whole load of questions.
