Prologue

Somewhere in the Johto Region

There wasn't much noise coming from the vast passages in the Ruins of Alph. Besides the constant soft clicking of cameras, shuffling footsteps and the occasional hum of wonder from one of the numerous research assistants, Professor Spencer Hale felt at ease as he went about gazing speculatively at a section of wall they had uncovered today. He was absolutely mystified by the ancient culture depicted in front of him and he briefly wondered what new discovery the team might reveal about them today. He needn't wonder too much though as his eyes suddenly trained themselves upon a very modern looking figure among the ancient glyphs. His eyes widened in shock as he dusted of a few fragments of rock to get a clearer view. His sudden audible gasp drew the attention of his right hand man Schuyler.

"What is it Professor?" he asked curiously, pausing momentarily in his photography. "Schuyler could you hand me my Xtransceiver?" Professor Hale asked urgently. Schuyler dutifully passed him the device and waited until the Professor moved out of the way before resuming his picture taking.

Meanwhile in the peaceful town of Pallet

"Samuel," a woman sighed indignantly, "How many times must I remind you not to drink tea in your lab?" Professor Samuel Oak looked up guiltily from behind the brim of his cup. Delia Ketchum folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow. "Need I remind you what happened last time you decided to use one of the research papers as a coaster?" Professor Oak laughed sheepishly as he tried not to remember the event Delia was referring to. "No need for that," he began, "I'm all done now." And with that he tried to subtly gulp down the remaining half of his hot tea while rolling slowly out of Delia's eyeshot. Delia shook her head at his antics. "How does Tracey deal with you?" She wondered aloud. Professor Oak grinned at his supposed triumph and placed the cup onto an empty bench before wheeling back to his computer. "You can ask him when he gets back."

Delia strolled further into the lab and was about to ask something else when his computer screen began to flash. Professor Oak turned on his speakers and murmured, "I wonder who this could be." He quickly clicked answer and his eyes widened in surprise as the face of his friend and former student flashed onscreen. "Why Spencer!" he exclaimed. "This certainly is a surprise, what can I do for you?" Spencer's visage smiled back at him and responded, "Hello Professor, I hope I'm not disturbing you." Delia suddenly appeared at Professor Oak's side and smiled brightly at the screen. "Hi Spencer! How are you? Oh it's been a while since I've seen you all. How are Annie and Molly?" Spencer laughed and took her questions in his stride. "Oh I'm very well. It's good to see you Delia. Haha, they're both great." Delia smiled widened. "That's wonderful. You must let me know when you're all in the neighbourhood soon." Spencer nodded at his old classmate then continued, "Certainly, though that's not why I called." Professor Oak coughed and Delia smiled sheepishly at him, realising the topic may have gone off just a little bit. "Right, sorry."

Spencer turned his attention back to Professor Oak, a serious expression gracing his face. "Professor," he began, "As you know I'm currently researching the ancient civilizations as depicted in the Ruins of Alph." Professor Oak nodded and motioned for him to continue. "Yes well, today I stumbled across something very strange on one of the walls." He turned the device around to show them exactly what he meant. "As you can see, something definitely doesn't belong here. Have you ever seen something this before?" Professor Oak leaned forward as the camera began to focus on the tablet. He strained his eyes for a moment when suddenly he gasped. "Oh my!" He exclaimed, leaning back and blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "What is it Professor?" asked Delia curiously. Spencer's face reappeared on screen as he repeated her question. "I'm absolutely certain," began Professor Oak, still quite shocked, "That glyph is of the G.S Ball. I definitely recognise it. After all, I did get the opportunity to personally examine it. But those ruins are from ancient civilizations. What on Earth is it doing there?" Spencer was about to reply to that remark when suddenly, a great crash was heard from somewhere behind him. "What the-" he was cut off by a shrill call. "Murkrow use Haze!" Professor Oak and Delia watched in alarm as the screen was suddenly obscured by thick purple smoke and various people coughing violently. "Spencer! Are you alright? What's going on?" Their questions went unanswered as another voice called out, "Okay Sandslash! Use Slash on that wall!" There was a lot of commotion heard on the other side before the voice was heard again, "Alright, let's get out of here!" There was another crash before a weak voice could be heard saying, "Go Pidgeotto, use Gust." The two in the lab watched as the smoke was cleared and various people heaved themselves off of the floor as they caught their breath.

"What was that? Is everyone alright?" Professor Oak exclaimed and the younger man. Spencer righted the device and they saw him gasp. "They've taken the tablet! They just removed that vital piece from the wall!" He looked around in distress. "Did anyone see who they were?" Most of the despondent researchers shook their heads before one of them nodded his. "I think they were Rocket grunts. They're the ones with the big R on their uniform yes?" Spencer frowned. "What could team Rocket want with a piece of ancient history?" He hung his head. "Oh who cares what they want! We'll never be able to analyse the entire set now! "

"Actually Professor," came Schuyler's voice having composed himself. "We've got them all on camera. I've been photographing each set as we've progressed down this hall." Spencer let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness for that. All hope isn't lost after all." He turned to the rest of the team. "Alright, lets evacuate now. After all that commotion this passage may no longer be stable enough to work in." He turned back to the camera seriously. "I may need more of your help with this Professor. If Team Rocket wanted these ruins they must be up to something sinister. Maybe if we can decipher it first, we may be able to figure out their plan." Professor Oak nodded in agreement. "Of course. There's no telling what those fiends must be up to. You send me those pictures as soon as you can and I'll call you as soon as we have something." Spencer nodded his affirmative before bidding his former teacher and classmate farewell.

""We"?" asked Delia, eyebrow again arched at the Professor. He nodded, "Well if Team Rocket is up to something I'm going to need both of my top students to help figure out those ruins. And you were always much faster than Spencer at tracking down information." Delia laughed softly and went to the extensive bookshelf to gather some texts as Professor Oak's computer flashed to show he had received the email. This really took her back.

Three hours later

Professor Oak and Delia sat down before his screen once more as the Professor called up their colleague in this mission. Almost immediately Spencer appeared onscreen though this time from within his own lab. "Have you deciphered it all?" He asked urgently. "More or less," Oak replied. "Some pictures didn't come through at quite as high resolution as we hoped but we've managed to figure out most of it." Spencer nodded. "Excellent! Yes we've pretty much cracked it as well." "Alright then let's compare notes."

Delia cleared her throat as Spencer shuffled his pages in order to compare their stories. She began. "These ruins tell the tale of a great mystery that captured the people of the time. The first few tablets told of how the people and the Pokémon lived in harmony with one another for many years and some Pokémon interacted with them often. One of them in particular was very special in that it was the only one of its kind that they had seen and that this Pokémon had the incredible ability to travel through time." Spencer nodded in agreement. "Yes that's what we have so far, please continue."

"This mystical Pokémon enthralled the people as it seemed to keep the land at peace. One day however, when the Pokémon came back through time, it brought with it a savage monster and two very unfamiliar strangers. The monster began to wreak havoc on the land until the Pokémon managed to calm it into a deep slumber at the bottom of the sea. The people praised the Pokémon for allowing peace to rein the land once more. But while there was peace among the people and the land once again, the two men from the future began to fight. Their fighting escalated one day to the point where the Pokémon tried to intervene but then, as the one man tried to stop him; the other hurled a strange object at the Pokémon and managed to capture it inside. The man stood triumphant while the other collapsed in grief. But the man was not pleased for long because as he soon found out, he could not release the Pokémon from the object. Thus the two men were doomed to spend the rest of their days in a time where they didn't belong and the one lived out his life as part of the local tribe while the other, consumed by his obsession, withered away trying to unlock the Pokémon from the mysterious G.S Ball. "

Spencer looked up from his sheets. "Is that right?" Delia nodded. "Though now the question remains, what does Team Rocket plan on doing with this story?" Professor Oak looked contemplative for a moment before saying, "I suppose the obvious direction would be they're planning on finding this mythical beast and using it for whatever heinous scheme they have planned."

"But what about the G.S Ball? They would be after that too so they could release that Pokémon and use it to control the monster. Do you know where it is?" Spencer asked. Professor Oak scratched his chin thoughtfully. "If memory serves, I sent the ball to Kurt in Azalea Town."

"Excellent," said Spencer, "Then we can contact him and ask him to transfer it to us for safe keeping." Professor Oak shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. As Professor Ivy and I learnt, the G.S Ball cannot be transported through the regular Poke Ball transfer system. It has to be moved physically."

"Hmm… I see," said Spencer. "I would gladly send a team to retrieve it but I don't think it's wise to do that. If Team Rocket were able to ambush our excavation, who's to say they won't hijack our retrieval team?"

"Is it not better to keep this information as quiet as possible?" asked Delia worriedly. "If Team Rocket comes to know that Kurt has the G.S Ball, wouldn't he be in serious danger?" Spencer nodded from the other line. "I think we all agree we need to get that ball you where it would be safest without Team Rocket being able to intercept it."

Professor Oak scratched his chin thoughtfully. Delia could see he was formulating a plan and so reassured her old friend. "It's going to be alright Spencer. He looks like he has a plan. We'll keep you updated so take care now. Oh! And give my regards to Annie!" Spencer gave a smile of relief before saying farewell to the pair once again.

Delia didn't say anything else. She had faith that Professor Oak knew what to do and so began to clear up the mess their research had made. Professor Oak meanwhile was contemplating what the plan of action was. He knew he himself couldn't just up and leave the lab right now so who could he send on this retrieval task. He gazed out at the window as a flock of Pidgey flew past and sighed as he knew what must be done.

'But I can't help this feeling that this journey isn't going to be as simple as it seems…'

To be continued…

AN: What do you think? Does it sound a bit too Farfetch'd? This is an idea that's been in the pipelines for a while. There's a lot already worked out but some input would be greatly appreciated...hint-hint…

~DQ