A/N:

To those of you wondering, I'm really sorry it took me a while to upload this chapter. My Notes app on my iPhone crashed, and since that's where I write most if not all of my stories and chapters, it took me a while to get it up and running again. I also had to get rid of a few (a lot) entries on the app, so I had to transfer them to my Quotev account on saved drafts, then install a backup for the app, set it on iCloud, and then rewrite and copy/paste everything back on, which took almost a day to complete.

Also, I might not update this story in a little bit, considering I started school a few days ago. School and studying are my priorities now, not updating this. This doesn't mean I'm quitting this story, it just means there'll be longer waits in between chapters. But I'll try to update as soon as I can. I have huge plans for this story, and I can't wait until they're published up here.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me on this. It really means a whole lot to me!

Also, sorry if this chapter kinda sucks. I felt like nothing really major happened in this episodes, plus it's one of my least favorites, so it's probably just a filler chapter.

By the way, could anyone explain to me what a filler chapter is? Sorry!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything related to Pokémon, but I do own my character, Alice.

Chapter 21
The Lost World of Gothitelle!

As the three of us walk through the forest, Cilan looks at his electronic map. "There's a rather large bridge up ahead," he informs us.

I look over his shoulder to peer at the map. "Large, huh?"

"It is," he tells me. "Actually, it's the biggest bridge in the Unova region. It's called the Skyarrow Bridge."

Iris's eyes sparkle with admiration. "I'll bet the view from the top of it must be incredible!"

"And once we cross over it, we're in Castelia City!" Cilan adds.

My eyes and Pikachu's eyes widen. "Pika?" he asks excitedly.

A smile breaks out across my face. "Then let's get across that bridge right away!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agrees.

Once we're out of the forest, I'm able to see a huge white bridge a little way into the distance. My jaw drops. "'Rather large'? It's giant!"

Cilan smiles. "And we know what's on the other side!"

"Castelia City!" Iris gasps.

My eye catches sight of a small building near the bridge. I turn to my friends. "I'm gonna run over there and call Professor Juniper."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cheers.

I start running over to the building, wishing Iris and Cilan would hurry up. "C'mon, hurry!" Suddenly, I slam into something. "Ow!" I open my eyes and straighten up, only to realize the something I bumped into was a someone. The woman I supposedly bumped into stares at me, smiling. "Oh, sorry about that," I mumble. I hold the door of the building open for her. "Well, after you."

She gives me a friendly smile. "Why, thank you very much!" She walks in, and I let the door go once she's inside.

My face turns red with embarrassment as I hear Iris and Cilan run up beside me. "Alice, you are still such a little kid!" Iris chides me. I blush even darker.

"You really should try to calm down," Cilan agrees.

I turn to them, smiling nervously. "Hey, I'm excited! I can't really help it. Anyway, I'll call Professor Juniper."

Once we're inside the building, I set myself up with the phone and call Professor Juniper. She smiles when she sees me, and after a few exchanged words between us, I decide to bring up my latest topic.

"I just got a Sewaddle," I proudly inform her. "Isn't that cool, Professor?"

She gives me a warm smile. "That's great! Okay Alice, I got all the data I need from the Pidove you sent me. So, if I send it back to you, then could you send me your Sewaddle?"

I nod vigorously. "Sure!"

"Thanks a lot, Alice!" she thanks me. "I can't wait for your next catch."

I place Sewaddle's Poké Ball on the small platform next to the phone, and almost immediately, it's sucked up in a green light. Another Poké Ball is replaced with Sewaddle's, and I'm guessing it's Pidove's.

Taking the Poké Ball, I smile. "Pidove, welcome back!" I turn back to my friends, who're standing on either side of me. "'Kay, let's go." I turn to leave, but a familiar face catches my attention. "Hey, look! It's the woman I almost ran into." Sure enough, the woman I bumped into is staring at a few pictures on the wall.

Iris raises an eyebrow. "Almost?! You practically slammed into her!" She sighs. "What a kid!"

I ignore her and walk over to the woman, my eyes trailing over to the photos on the wall. They're photos of a boat in water, and a bridge under construction.

"These are from before the bridge was built," Cilan tells me.

"There was a boat back then," Iris adds.

The woman smiles, but I see a faint trace of sadness on her face. "They called it a water taxi. It regularly made runs across the river."

Iris gasps in amazement. "Wow! That's amazing! Do you live around here?"

The woman seems slightly taken aback. "Oh, no. Well, not exactly. Goodbye!" With that, she walks away from us, leaving me and possibly Iris and Cilan confused.

I turn to them. "Then I say we go too."

Iris nods. "Right!"

The three of us walk out of the building, only to be met with thick clouds of fog. "What's up with this fog all of a sudden?" I murmur.

"It rolled in quick," Iris comments.

The sound of a scooter skidding to a stop erupts from behind us. "So, the fog's come up once again," a female voice says.

I turn around and smile. "Officer Jenny! Hi!" I haven't seen any Officer Jennys since the incident in the Dream Yard and Striaton City.

She returns the smile. "Hi!" She gets off her scooter. "See, this area is well-known for its fog, and has been for a long time. Hang on just a minute." She prepares to throw a Poké Ball. "Alright, Swanna, let's go!" She throws it, and a beautiful white bird appears in a brilliant blue light.

"It's a Swanna!" Cilan gasps.

I take out my Pokédex. "Swanna?"

Swanna, the White Bird Pokémon, and the evolved form of Ducklett. Because of its long, powerful neck, Swanna can deliver forceful attacks with its beak.

"Now Swanna, Defog, let's go!" Jenny commands. Swanna flaps its large white wings to clear the fog. After a minute, the fog doesn't clear up, which causes Jenny to look confused. "That's strange..." Suddenly, a car drives past us. "No! Cars are not allowed to pass through when it's foggy! Stop! Stop!" She and Swanna chase after the car, which makes the three of us laugh.

"So, now what?" Cilan questions.

I turn back towards the large bridge in front of us. "We know Castelia City's just on the other side. We can't just stop here and do nothing."

"Guess you're right," Iris agrees.

The three of us start walking on the bridge, hoping the fog'll clear up, but to no avail. "The fog just keeps getting thicker and thicker," Iris murmurs.

"I can't see anything," I mutter, my vision almost clouded completely by the fog.

"Neither can I," Cilan says.

"Now, you stay close to me, okay Axew?" Iris tells him.

He nods. "Axew."

Suddenly, a glowing pink beam of energy shoots at us, and the three of us barely have time to jump out of the way. "Whoa! What was that?!" Iris gasps.

"That was Psybeam!" Cilan answers.

"Where did it come from?!" I look up to see a long, black shape hovering above us.

It glares at us through dangerously slanted eyes. "Gothi gothitelle!"

"It's a Gothitelle!" Cilan gasps.

"Gothitelle?!" In a flash, my Pokédex is out.

Gothitelle, the Astral Body Pokémon. Gothitelle's psychic power is so great that it is said to warp space around it, and distort reality in the process.

"But why would Gothitelle attack us?" I ask, looking up from the electronic device and slipping it back in my pocket.

Gothitelle lowers itself lower to the ground and holds out a hand threateningly, almost as if it was daring us to come closer. "Gothitelle!"

"Come on!" I try to reason with it. "We just wanna cross the bridge!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu protests.

"Gothi!" Another Psybeam attack shoots from its hand, and the three of us are forced to scatter out of the way. I land on my side, feeling the cold surface of the bridge hit my skin. "Gothitelle..."

"Gothitelle really doesn't want us to cross," Cilan murmurs.

I glare, standing up. "Well, then I'll just have to change Gothitelle's mind!" I reach to my belt and unhook a Poké Ball. "Snivy, I choose you!" I throw the Poké Ball, and Snivy appears, ready for a battle. "Snivy, use Leaf Blade!"

She jumps up and spins in the air, her tail glowing as she prepares to strike her opponent. Suddenly, Gothitelle holds out its hand and creates a barrier between it and Snivy, blocking the Leaf Blade attack.

"That's Protect!" Cilan gasps.

I grit my teeth together as Gothitelle fires another Psybeam at Snivy. "Snivy, use Leaf Storm!" The two attacks collide, but suddenly, the three of us, along with Pikachu, Axew and Snivy, are clouded in whiteness.

"What's going on?!" Cilan yells.

I'm about to yell back to him when suddenly I feel the ground from under me give out, sending me, my Pokémon and my friends down a white pit.

I finally fall down in a sitting position, groaning. I straighten up and hold up Snivy's Poké Ball, who's payed sprawled out on my lap, weak from the battle she just had.

"Snivy, return." She returns to her Poké Ball, and that's when I stand up. I look around to see we've landed on a hill. "Does anyone know what just happened?"

"The only thing I remember is being surrounded by a really strange light," Iris says, walking up to stand by me.

I look to the side to see a large white bridge under construction. For some reason, it looks oddly familiar... "Check it out..."

"There's a bridge being built," Cilan says.

I start to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Hey guys, where are we anyway?"

"Do you need a ride?" a girl's voice calls. We look to see a little girl waving to us from a boat. "We'll get you across on the water taxi. C'mon! We're leaving real soon!"

I blink. "Water taxi?" I murmur to myself.

"Should we go?" Iris asks, turning to us.

"Well, I say yes," Cilan tells us. "Maybe it'll give us more of an idea of what's going on."

I nod in agreement. "Yeah."

The three of us walk down the hill and towards the boat. Once we reach it, the girl gives me a small slip of paper. "Here. Thank you very much!" She turns away. "Gothitelle! We have new customers. Show them around, please!"

A Gothitelle turns around to face us, a smile plastered on its face. "Gothitelle!"

Iris leans towards me and Cilan. "Is that the same Gothitelle?"

"Strange... That Gothitelle looks different somehow," Cilan whispers back.

"Now what?" Iris hisses.

I take Pikachu in my arms. "Let's get on board."

Holding Pikachu tightly, we step on the boat and sit down on one of the seats. I realize other people are on the boat, too.

The little girl gets on the boat with Gothitelle. "Alright Gothitelle, it's time."

Gothitelle smiles. "Gothitelle." Its eyes glow, and suddenly, the rope tied around the dock unties itself.

My lips part in amazement. "Hey, that's Psychic! Wow..."

"Pika," Pikachu whispers, shifting slightly in my arms.

The girl turns to a man in the front of the boat. "Captain, preparation's complete!"

The man turns and smiles at her. "Good." He takes a small microphone and speaks into it. "Hi, folks! We're sorry to keep you waiting, but were all set to cast off."

With that, the boat starts to slowly swim off, carrying us across the river at a steady speed. Soon, the little girl and Gothitelle come up to Iris and I.

"Would any of you care for some juice or some snacks?" she asks politely, carrying a small box around her neck with juice boxes, berries and cookies.

Iris and I look at each other and nod, taking some. I hand a berry to Pikachu and take a cookie for myself.

"Tasty..." I murmur, too busy eating the yummy cookie.

"Pika!" my baby agrees, cooing as he takes each bite of the berry.

"Axew axew!" Axew adds, munching on a berry as well.

"Did you make these?" Iris asks her.

The girl nods as she gives two women some snacks. "I sure did!"

"Good for you," the younger woman compliments. "They're great!"

The older woman turns to the captain. "Captain? I hear that the water taxi's going to close." The girl's expression slightly falters.

"That would be a terrible shame," the younger woman comments.

The captain looks over to the two women and then back to the front of the boat. "Well, there's not much I can do about it," he sighs.

Suddenly, Cilan leans down next to Iris and I, whispering. "I'm sure of it! That has got to be the Skyarrow Bridge!" He motions over to the bridge under construction.

Iris raises her eyebrow. "Huh? But this bridge isn't even finished yet!"

"We've somehow been transported to a world where the Skyarrow Bridge is still under construction!" he explains.

Iris and I gasp. "You mean we've traveled through time into the past?" Iris asks.

"Perhaps...but there could be other explanations..." His voice trails off.

"What do you mean?" Iris prompts.

My attention shifts over to the girl and the Gothitelle, sitting on one of the seats in the boat. "Here's your snack." She hands Gothitelle a berry, and the two start eating their snacks.

Once the boat reaches the other side of the river, we get out, the girl calling after us, "Thank you for coming!"

"Gothitelle!" Gothitelle calls.

We're not even off the dock when I suddenly freeze. "Wait a sec—this can't be right!" I recognize the buildings around us and run up the hill nearby. I stop once I reach the top and look down. Sure enough, I see the familiar setting of the time before we got on the boat. "I think we're back where we started!"

"But it doesn't make sense; she said we were going to the other side!" Iris points out.

I look up to Pikachu, who's now perched on my head. "Pikachu, what's going on?" He shrugs and stares at me with those cute, black beady eyes of his.

"I think...we're stuck in some kind of loop," Cilan suggests, turning to us.

"What do you mean, 'loop'?" Iris questions.

"No matter how many times we ride on that boat, well always end up right back where we started!" he explains.

Iris and I gasp in disbelief, but we're forced to accept it's true. The three of us sit on the hill, staring down at the water taxi.

"Now what?" Iris mutters.

"Beats me," I mumble back, picking at little blades of grass in the ground.

My eyes shift down to the dock, where I watch the girl with a cart near a shed. "Gothitelle! We need to stock up on some more juice since we sold all we had!" Gothitelle's eyes glow, and the doors fly open. Three boxes of juice float out of the shed and stack themselves onto the cart. Once it's full with boxes of juice, the girl and Gothitelle wheel the cart back to the boat.

Cilan suddenly speaks. "I have a thought: Perhaps we should find out about Gothitelle."

I nod and stand up. "Good idea!"

The three of us walk down the hill towards the boat. "Hi, again!" I say, catching the girl's attention.

She turns around. "Oh, it's the customers from before!"

"My name is Alice," I introduce myself, "and this is my partner, Pikachu."

Pikachu smiles. "Pikachu!"

"Hello! I'm Iris," Iris says cheerfully.

"Yew ax axew," Axew greets.

"My name is Cilan," Cilan introduces himself.

The girl smiles. "My name's Sally. Of course, you know Gothitelle."

"You help out with the water taxi," Cilan says to her. "Excellent!"

Sally nods. "That's 'cause my daddy's the water taxi captain!"

He smiles. "Of course! We heard the water taxi was closing, so we wanted to have a ride on it at least once more."

"It just so happens lots of other customers say the same thing!" Sally tells us. "Isn't that right, Gothitelle?" The Pokémon beside her nods and smiles.

"Is Gothitelle your Pokémon?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "You see, Gothitelle was living around the area as a wild Pokémon, but one day, Gothitelle just started helping us out! Gothitelle and I are quite the team, you know. It's the best!" She gives the creature a quick but warm and loving hug. "We've got a lot to do, so we'll see you later. Bye!" She runs off, Gothitelle right behind her.

Once we're sitting back on the top of the hill, I sigh, looking down at the boat. "Everything seems pretty normal to me," I mutter.

"Yeah, just a little girl and a Pokémon," Iris concludes. "I have to tell you, that Gothitelle looks really happy!"

I smile as I look at Gothitelle smiling at Sally. I realize the look Gothitelle is giving Sally is the same look Pikachu gives me—full of love and friendship. Just the thought of the bond between Pikachu and I causes me to rub his head between his ears. He coos in delight. "Yeah..."

Cilan suddenly turns to me. "It's possible we're in a world that Gothitelle created!"

I tilt my head. "But Cilan, how could Gothitelle do that?"

"Gothitelle actually has the power to warp space," he explains, "and I believe we've gotten lost in the world that's been created as a result! You may find this difficult to believe, but I'm thinking Gothitelle is the driving force behind the fog, especially considering that Swanna's Defog wasn't able to eliminate it!"

Pikachu and I look at each other before turning back to him. "Um...I guess that makes sense..." I'll admit it—I'm not too bright when it comes to these "thinking-critically" problems.

Cilan continues. "My theory is, after the Skyarrow Bridge was completed, there's a strong possibility Sally and Gothitelle moved away from the area." He stands up. "This must be a world of Gothitelle's memories, I'm sure of it!"

Iris keeps her eyes locked on Sally. "You know, all those happy times Gothitelle had with Sally must be some of the dearest memories Gothitelle has."

Cilan nods. "Much like the time we spend with our Pokémon creates many special memories for us, so for the Pokémon as well, the time they spend with their Trainers is just as special to them."

I share another look with Pikachu and smile at him, but the smile soon vanishes. "Wait...these are Gothitelle's dearest memories?" I lean towards Pikachu, so only he can hear me. "They don't seem so great to me," I mutter to him. He flicks a yellow ear in my direction to agree with me.

Iris glares at me. "Well, maybe they're special for Gothitelle! You're such a little kid!"

"Shut up, Iris!" I shoot back, turning away from her and crossing my arms. Pikachu jumps up into my lap and snuggles into me.

"Now, that makes sense," Cilan says, seeming to ignore the small insults Iris and I threw at each other. "They must have a meaning for Gothitelle we simply don't understand!"

We all watch as Gothitelle suddenly leaves Sally and her father, and we watch it disappear into the fog.

I stand up. "C'mon!" With my friends, I run down the hill and follow Gothitelle into the white mist, all of us disappearing into the fog.

We follow Gothitelle onto the bridge, which is still under construction, but that doesn't stop any of us. "Gothitelle, wait up!" I yell as I try to keep up with the creature. "We wanna talk to you! Please, Gothitelle!" It stops and glares at us as we come to a stop.

"You created this world from your memories, correct?" Cilan asks. "Well, we've gotten trapped here on accident!"

"We wanna return to our own world!" I tell it.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu adds.

"We're not saying it isn't a nice world, 'cause it is," Iris adds quickly, "but we need to get back to ours!"

I nod. "She's right! The thing is, we just don't belong in this world."

Gothitelle suddenly whips around and fires a Psybeam at us, and the three of us barely manage to dodge it. "Gothi, gothitelle!"

I stand up again. "Can't you understand?! We're just trying to—" I suck in time to dodge another Psybeam attack, but I fall on my hands and knees, feeling the cold metal of the bridge hit my skin once more.

Cilan turns to me. "Hey Alice, maybe if you have a battle with Gothitelle, we just might learn something to help us get out of here!"

I nod, understanding what he means, and get up once again, grabbing a Poké Ball. "Right! Snivy, I choose you!" I throw it, and Snivy appears again.

Gothitelle uses Psybeam again, but Snivy manages to dodge the blast, jumping on the side of the bridge. Gothitelle shoots again, and Snivy jumps out of the way. The beam of pink energy hits the side of the bridge instead, breaking some parts off.

"Use Vine Whip!" I yell. Snivy leans her head back as two green vines unravel themselves from her neck, lunging for Gothitelle. But the Psychic-type creates a shield of protection between Snivy and itself. "Leaf Blade, let's go!" Snivy's tail glows with amazing power as she prepares to bring it down on Gothitelle, but in a split second, Gothitelle splits into different copies of itself, and Snivy goes right through one. Suddenly, Snivy's surrounded by different copies of Gothitelle, and one hits her with a Psybeam attack. "Snivy, no!" She jumps out and in front of me, breathing heavily. I stare at Gothitelle in amazement. "That power..."

"Gothitelle will do everything possible to protect its memories!" Cilan realizes.

I turn to my grass snake. "Can you go on, Snivy?" She turns to me and nods with nothing but pure determination. "Then use Leaf Storm now!" Snivy surrounds herself with little leaves and sends them towards Gothitelle. Gothitelle uses Protect once more, blocking the leaves and sending them back towards Snivy. I feel the leaves blow past my ears, and my whole body pumps with adrenaline. "Leaf Blade!" Snivy's tail glows, but before she can jump and strike, Gothitelle's eyes glow and the debris from the bridge suddenly float up. I realize Gothitelle prepares to send the debris right at us.

"Gothitelle!" a woman's voice screams. From behind Gothitelle, a woman runs out from the thick fog, panting. She stares at Gothitelle. "Gothitelle, it's me, remember? Yes, you must remember me. I'm Sally."

All four of us gasp in shock.

"Gothitelle?!"

"She's Sally?!"

"Sally from the water taxi?!"

"So she's the little girl?!"

The woman, Sally, smiles at a stunned Gothitelle and comes closer to it. "It's really me, Gothitelle, and I've somehow gotten lost here. It started when I was walking through the fog on the Skyarrow Bridge. Seems to me this world is from your memories, isn't it?" She sadly tells Gothitelle the time the water taxi was closed, and how Sally wiped away the tears Gothitelle shed. "Then we moved to a brand new city where my uncle owned a factory. Later, I decided to go to medical school and study to become a doctor, so I moved into a dormitory there. It wasn't until several years later that Dad told me you had mysteriously disappeared. Now I know that this is where you went. See Gothitelle, I studied very hard, and now I'm a doctor. I go from hospital to hospital working as a doctor in training. And after being assigned to a hospital near here, I came to have a look. I miss this place like you do. We had so much fun together back then. We lived to ride that water taxi, didn't we? Selling tickets together to wonderful people, and snacks and juice, too. It may not seem like much of a lifetime to some, but for us, those memories were, and always will be, so very special. I'm so glad you feel the same way. Life we shared before the bridge was built, I thank you..." Tears start to glisten at the corners of her eyes. "I thank you, so very very much. But the truth is, no matter how hard we wish, we can't turn back the hands of time. I can't, and neither can you."

The tears start to stream down her face, but Gothitelle reaches up and wipes them away. Sally looks up at it, and it smiles. "Gothitelle..." Smiling, Sally takes Gothitelle's hands in her own lovingly.

Suddenly, a strong wind blows past us, and the fog starts to clear. Soon, all of us are standing on the grass.

"Look!" Iris gasps, pointing. "The bridge is finished!"

I can't help but smile at the sight before me. "We're back in our own world!"

Sally looks up, and that's when I realize Gothitelle's nowhere to be found. She suddenly gasps, and I look up. Gothitelle's perched on top of the bridge. "But Gothitelle—"

But Gothitelle just smiles. "Gothitelle..."

Sally smiles with sadness. "Gothitelle, tell me, if I come visit, may I see you again?"

Gothitelle smiles widely and nods. "Gothitelle!" With that, a cloud of mist surrounds Gothitelle, and it disappears in a flash.

Sally looks at the misty cloud with longing. "Dear Gothitelle..."

Cilan smiles. "Well, what do you know? Gothitelle's put its memories to rest by seeing you all grown up."

Sally turns to him. "Do you think so?"

He nods. "I sure do. Once Gothitelle saw how you cherish your time together, it was time to let go."

I turn to Sally. "Cilan's right."

"Pikachu," my buddy says, crawling from my shoulder and into my arms. I rub his head, and he coos in response.

"For sure," Iris adds. "Gothitelle looked really happy, didn't it?"

Sally looks off into the distance once more. "Perhaps. Actually, I'm sure, too."

The sound of a scooter pulling up behind us reaches my ears as Officer Jenny appears. "Looks like the fog has cleared. Huh, isn't it strange?"

I smile nervously. "You could say that if you wanted."

"On the other hand, it's not strange at all," Iris tells her.

Jenny gives us a strange look, but seems to brush the subject off. "Anyways, I'll open the bridge again." She drives off and away from us.

I turn to my friends. "Cool! Let's cross it, quick!"

On the bridge with Sally, Iris says, "To think the water taxi used to pass under here!"

"It is amazing," Sally agrees. "Thank you all for everything."

I smile. "No problem."

"Being able to see what it was like before the bridge was built was really wonderful," Iris says sweetly. "We'll never forget it!"

Sally smiles at us. "It's like a dream, the memories, hidden within the wisps of a passing fog." She walks away further, but turns back to us. "Goodbye! And thank you again!"

"Bye, Sally!" I yell to her.

"You take good care!" Iris tells her.

"And lots of luck at your new job!" Cilan calls to her.

As she walks out of my sight, I hug Pikachu tighter. "So, Pokémon love their memories."

Iris looks at Axew, who's on her shoulder. "We have lots of new memories to make, Axew, don't you think?"

He nods enthusiastically. "Yew!"

I turn to Pikachu in my arms. "Us too, right, buddy?"

He smiles at me. "Pika pika!"

I punch the air, excited. "Castelia City, here we come!" Pikachu yells his name excitedly. "Alright!" I start to run off to the other side of Skyarrow Bridge.

"Hey, wait up!" Iris calls after me. I hear them trying to catch up to me, but I don't let them.

My mind is too full of my upcoming Gym battle at the Castelia City Gym.

So, that's that. I'm sorry if you didn't like it, but I promise the next chapter will be better! Also, for all you AlicexCilan shippers and supporters out there, I have a question to ask you: What do you think, if they became a couple (wink, wink), their song would be? (This question just popped into my head today, and I wanted to see what you guys think.) Thank you all for reading!