(All right. Hopefully my edits to this chapter makes it a smoother read. I moved the facts that were before the epilogue into the actual storyline, and encourage new readers to be patient and try to read through what you can. I don't mind skimming, since this first chapter has a lot of monotony, but keep in mind it does get better as I get a chance to get into the storyline as well as... well, I don't want to spoil it. As always, I own nothing of pokemon, or else i'd be quite rich and wouldn't need to steal money from people who like writing about my stuff and making it even more well liked... so go eat your own eula corporates =p. Loyal fans don't want to steal from you so return the favor!)

(I also add I realize I haven't quite got ash appropriately pegged at first. Its been a while since I've dealt with Ash and some of my memories have been reverted to what I remember when he started. This will be addressed, but I've started over too many times and I really need to just keep rolling and see how far I go storyline wise.)

Epilogue

"Everything is ready sir."

"Are you sure? We don't want another screw-up like the last time now do we?"

"No! Of course not! I have personally overseen the calculations and equipment. There is no possible way this would fail."

"Let's hope so, for your sake. Otherwise, it will be the worse for you."

The man shuddered from his position in front of the screen. He prayed it would not be visible. He looked up and saw, thankfully, that it had gone blank. He breathed a sigh of relief. The scientist straightened his white lab-coat, and stepped out of the room to where others were assembling huge machinery.

For what purpose this strange equipment was to be used, no one knew. He made sure of that. Even those who were putting the machines together had to be carefully supervised; and anyone who broke even the smallest piece would await terrible retribution from their leader. All that was known to them was that the punishment would be something that would always remind them of this day.

The scientist thought to himself, 'so, it has begun. I hope Giovanni knows what he's doing...'

It was about 6:30 AM on Monday. This boy went about taking care of his duties in the house: showering, checking the garbage can, eating, and all the things of that nature. By 7:05, he was standing at the end of the driveway, waiting for the bus. Not needing to wait long, he stood under the awning of his high school at around 7:30. Nothing was different that shouldn't have been as he walked up to the doors. As he approached them, it seemed like the lights were dimmed; not just inside the building, but even the sun seemed more dingy than beforehand. Taking no notice of this as of yet, attributing it to fatigue, he went forward to open one of the doors. For some reason, when he went through the doorway, he noticed that he was alone in the entryway. It seemed rather odd to him, but he did not want to be marked as tardy for his class; so, he stepped through the second set of doors, despite the pounding in his chest and the near-absolute darkness. He only was able to take one safe step, the next set him falling through the air, flailing wildy as he screamed out in mindless terror.

It is spring in Pallet town as Ash trains hard to keep in shape and be ready for the next challenge he would be able to undertake. He had no tournaments to compete in, at least anywhere close. He was on the outskirts of Viridian Forest when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Not being able to resist, he called to Pikachu and headed toward the area of what had caught his attention. As he moved forward, he was rewarded with a sight of a pink form of a ditto, which changed to match that of a bellsprout which was by a tree further away from the two. Ash smiled to himself as he realized just how lucky he was at finding this rare of a pokemon in a casual run for training. He smiled to Pikachu on his shoulder, who nodded to him, and they went after it, charging headlong and shouting their challenge.

He was falling and that scared him. He almost surprised himself as the thought came to his mind that, it wasn't necessarily the falling that scared him, only hitting the ground that was sure to be coming up to meet him. He continued to flail about in the darkness, and for the first few seconds, the darkness was absolute. Then the darkness gradually grew distant as light filtered in. From what he could see when that light filtered in, he would have preferred the darkness. He saw a wide forest stretching out for miles on one side, which was currently at his left, and to his right, he saw a grassy plain. As he fell, he began to despair. Thoughts rushed through his mind like how he wished he could have applied himself more, how he would have liked to say goodbye. He had closed his eyes and tried to relax, and let his death rush past him in an instant without pain when he would hit that field. Time seemed to halt for him even though the wind whipped through his ears like a tornado. Unknowingly, a small amount of pressure hit him on the side, hardly noticeable. As soon as it hit though, there was a change in direction from the wind. Instead of pulling him up, it pulled him to his right. He did not struggle; for he was too intent in preventing what was obviously the inevitable. Just as suddenly as any of this absurdity started, it was over. A complete silence came upon him and it was welcomed gladly in his heart, but something was still not right. He noticed gravity was still in effect, but he was not falling. He was floating, but still upright. As he started to try to understand his surroundings, he felt his weariness over worrying about his fate and soon was asleep. Without realizing it, seeming very natural at the time, curled into a ball with his head at his knees; all the while, he was unaware of the cocoon that was enveloping him.

Ash knew that Pikachu could handle itself, but he still called out attacks where he saw fit. For some reason, the ditto stayed as a bellsprout, and then he remembered that the electricity didn't affect it at all. As Pikachu attacked, it found itself hard pressed to fight back and figure out a way to escape at the same time. Pikachu dodged many of the incoming attacks and then launched a headbut at it, which threw it flying. Ash, for a split moment, wondered why it didn't try to root itself in the ground, but remembered what he was trying to do. Pulling a pokeball out of his pocket, he readied it. As soon as it hit the ground, he threw the pokeball, ignorant of the whistling sound that was growing louder by the second. All his mind focused on was catching that rare pokemon. He watched it fly right on target, which was only about 30 feet away, and as his hopes ran higher, something fell right in the way, and by the time he realized it, there was nothing there other than the pokeball lying on the ground. The ditto got back up, saw a beedril in the distance, turned into it and flew off. Frustrated, he started with his training again, getting his pokemon to fight each other and compete in different ways. He just managed to get everyone started, when the pokeball that had failed him and he forgot to pick up opened and revealed its contents, an egg.

He approached it somewhat slowly, looking it over, not realizing at first what it was. It was oddly colored since it was a deep blue color and some lighter blue specks on its shell, with just hints of green in the light blue. It was about half as tall as pikachu, and about half as round. Pikachu walked up to it, touched it, and looked up at Ash.

"pika pi?"

Ash picked up the egg, surprised at the size of it. Then his dissapointment turned to glee as he got an idea.

"Hey pikachu! Think Misty'd be jealous of this?"

"Pika!" He said back nodding, and then climbed up to Ash's shoulder to ride.

Ash called all his other pokemon he was training back, except for the two that refused to, in order to walk by him. Ash went to walk back to Pallet in order to ask professor Oak to figure out what was in it, with his cyndaquil and grovyle walking next to him.

It took him until just before dinner would have been served before he got home. He walked up Professor Oak's driveway, and noticed a car parked outside. Curious on who it was, he went in without ringing the doorbell or knocking. Without needing to go far, he found Professor Oak in the living room, talking with Misty.

"Hey Ash, what 'cha got?" she said after noticing him.

"I found an egg! And its mine!" Ash said to them beaming. As he said it he remembered something, "hey guys, could you go home and tell my mom I'm on my way?" Grovyle and cyndaquil agreed and started to walk out and to his home.

"So you know what it is?" Misty asked him curiously from her seat.

"Ummm... no?" He said, starting to have second doubts about sharing it with Misty now. He started realizing she had something up her sleeve.

"So what are you planing on doing with it?" She asked as she got up from the seat she was on, standing up and slightly to one side.

"Well... hatch it of course." He had to bite his lip a little to keep from saying duh. He didn't know what she had up her sleeve but he knows already he's not going to like it.

"Tell you what Ash," She said as she walked over and picked it up out of his hands, "I'll take this egg, and I'll forget about that bike you still have to replace."

"Hey! I said I would replace it eventually!"

"Well guess what... that's now, or should I tell your mom about this? I've waited six years for that bike Ash..." She said as Oak stood up and already started to greet him.

"Hello again Ash. I have to admit though, Misty's right. You do owe her; don't make me speak with your mom. I highly doubt she would like the idea that you've not paid back what you owe for six years."

"But I..."

"But nothing Ash..." Oak said. Ash gave an inward sigh, which came out audibly, and nodded, turning to walk out and home.

"I really wish I didn't have to do that... But he does owe me for my bike." She said while holding it.

"Didn't you end up with his last egg, when he won it in a battle?"

"He cheated! He tickled my psyduck."

"I don't recall any sort of rule against it. I still say it was a low blow." Oak said and then gave a pause. "Do you want me to scan it and tell you what it'll hatch into?"

"No, that's ok. I'll think of this as a present from ash... and that's always a surprise." She walked outside carrying the egg in her arm.. She went to a store before heading to Delilah's home.

No longer is Pallet the ten houses and Oak's lab. Misty walked down the street noticing how more people have moved to houses nearby, though she suspected part of it was due to Oak's fame. Due to the government support of Oak's research though, the number of people living nearby wasn't allowed to grow beyond 200 residencies or 800 people, or else there'd be heavier fines, or Oak would have to leave to someplace away from everyone if the situation worsened.

Like the town she has become so familiar to, Misty had changed. She has grown to become a fine young woman of 18 years. Her training to look the part of a gym leader, though, has hardened her muscles and given her a slight degree of masculinity. She is not as afraid to show her feminine side anymore, like when she had traveled with Ash like in years past, but no one dared to get on her bad side. Her hair was still as orange as ever, but she had grown weary of the ponytail-like thing on her head and has become acclimated to wearing her hair down more often. She might wear hair-clips on the front sides of her hair to keep it out of her face, but disliked doing much more than what was needed for her hair now.

Misty picked up some flour and other supplies for Delilah so she could help with making dinner at the local store. As she picked up those supplies, she walked down the sales isle. One thing caught her attention was on a waist high shelf. There were accessories designed to hold eggs.

The only design left was the kind where the carrier had a strap over one shoulder and down to the belt of the other side and held the egg squarely at her side. She tested the material, and noticed that it was soft, yet firm. She wanted to keep the egg with her, but wanted to test to see how well it would hold heat, so Misty put her hand on the inside of the holder and within about a couple minutes of holding it as she looked at it, her hand felt quite warm. It would be perfect for the job.

She took the carrier to the register and paid for it. Since it was going under an out of stock sale, she only had to pay 500 as opposed to its original 2000. Although it had left her touch for a good half a minute, it was still almost as warm as when she last held it.

Satisfied with it for the time being, she put on the egg carrier and put it in place, and then proceeded to carry the groceries to Ash's home. As soon as she walked in, she smelled the food being cooked and sighed.

"Delilah! I told you I wanted to be here to help with that!" She called out as she set the groceries on the table.

"But as was hungry, and I figured I could get it started." Delilah responded back with a smile. Misty simply shook her head.

"Do you need help with any of it?"

"Well I expect you're hungry, so you can help eat it. Go on... I've already got it going. I can finish." She said as she shooed Misty out of the kitchen.

As the food finished cooking, Misty made some small chat with Delilah about how her life was going and she replied in the same. It wasn't even after five more minutes had passed, when Ash got done washing for dinner and rushed down the stairs loudly to sit at his spot at the table. At that point, Misty got up to help Delilah set up the table and put the food out.

Even though Misty was trying to help set out the food as well as she could, she noticed she had to hang the egg carrier, which was still holding the egg, on her seat so she didn't accidentally break it. Ash, as always, had a hard time holding back when it came to food, but somehow he managed to not touch the food until everyone sat down.

"Pikachu, come on up, I've got a special dish ready for you" Delilah called to him with a smile. Pikachu quite readily came up onto the table and seeing his plate with some of his favorite foods, covered in cheese, he hugged delilah quite happily and started digging in.

"I'm stuffed. Thanks Delilah." Misty said with a contented sigh as they finished their meal.

"Cant... eat... any...more..." Ash said groaning, already seeming to have gained a few pounds just from eating that food.

"I will never understand where you put it all..." Misty said with an exasperated expression.

"He is a growing boy." Delilah said.

"Yeah... in one direction... out." She muttered under her breath. Then in a louder voice, "well, I'm going to the guest room. I won't make it back to cerulean before dark, so I'll stay here for the night."

"I figured as much. Its nice of you to visit. You really need to stop being such a stranger..." Delilah said back, before turning to take care of Ash and his aftereffects of eating so much.

The next morning, Misty headed up the road back toward Cerulean to resume her duties as a gym leader, and Ash went back to his field where he had his pokemon do some mock battles with each other for training. He wasn't at it for very long when his bayleef came along to him, tackling him and smothering him with affection like her first days as a bayleef before showing him a note from Oak wrapped to her neck.

"Well its nice to see you too bayleef! What's this?" he said as he reached up to read the letter.

"Dear ash,

Please come over to my lab after you're done training. I have something I'd like to show you.

Oak"

"Well, sounds like fun. You guys ready?" he called out. He got several voices of approval, including a very vigorous one from bayleef, to which he chuckled and said, "Ok ok, I got the point... come on." And after he recalled the rest of his team aside from pikachu and bayleef, he headed to the lab. He found Oak to be researching, as always, pictures of some slabs that had some markings on them.

"You wanted to see me professor?" Ash asked him.

"Ah, yes. What do you make of this?" Oak says as he motioned for Ash to come closer and look.

Ash walked forward, gave it a few seconds look and said, "I don't know," with a shrug. Oak gave an inward sigh, looked down for a second and then looked at the screen.

"I've been working with a couple archaeologists on this project, they think they're onto something. They found a stone slab that appears to be a door with this writing on it, and it will not open."

"... so?" Ash said cluelessly.

"This writing doesn't match anything we've ever known in the entire course of history... and it doesn't seem to be related. The pattern is too different from anything that we have written. This could explain so many things about our past if we found out what it was saying. Maybe its a new pokemon or a new-" Oak started saying before Ash interrupted.

"A new Pokemon! I have to have it! Where is it? I'll get it!"

"Now hold on Ash! I can't tell you. We have to find out more about it before you just go after it."

"But why? I could just go there and-"

"No." he said sternly. "We don't know anything and for all we know it could just be a love poem."

"oh..."

"Besides, you'll probably prefer to train a bit more until you're ready to take it on... it could be tough..." Oak said somewhat seriously, hoping Ash's desire to win the first time will outdo his impatience.

"All right... I'm gonna go back out... don't you dare let them capture it without me!" He started to call out as he went down the stairs and out the door before Oak could muster the breath to reply. Oak smiled and shook his head.

"And after all these years I hoped that he'd calm down... Heh... who am I kidding! this is ash we're talking about, not to mention he's probably hit puberty..." He shakes his head more and then gets back to work, smiling as he does.