I can't tell yo how (many times I've done this) sorry I am that I haven't had the time or inspiration to bring this to you sooner. Thanks for being there, though!

Ash's Pikachu leapt up onto his shoulder. "Uhh... Why shouldn't I be alive?"

The question threw me for a second. "But... but you went down with the S.S. Anne!"

"Yeah, I did, but..."

"Are you a ghost or something?"

"There aren't any ghosts, only Ghost-type pokemon. Anyway, we were trapped in an-"

"Wait, then explain to me how I fought a ghostly Marowak?"

"Well, that was probably-"

"Still though, how are you even alive?"

Ash took a deep breath. "The S.S. Anne capsized and Misty, Brock and I were asleep, so-"

"Oh, yeah, Misty and Brock. Where are they? Shouldn't they be with you?"

"They're off taking a break. So anyhow, the ship went down and we were trapped in an air pocket. Team Rocket was there too, and-"

"What? So they're back, too? Not sure how to feel about that..."

"-So we ended up working together to escape to the surface. We were trapped on a raft and we were about to eat James' Magikarp but it evolved instead. It got all angry and a bunch of others popped up and blew us away to an island where we got separated from our pokemon and-"

"Breathe, Ash." I interrupted.

"Right. Anyway, there were these giant pokemon, and it turned out it was actually a theme park-"

"So you trashed it."

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Let's just say you don't want Officer Jenny to know it was you who did that."

Ash paled. "Right."

Suddenly the full weight of what I had just learned hit me. Ash was alive. In fact, Ash was completely normal and safe. For that matter, he had caught up with me. Or I had caught up with him.

"All this time, I thought you were dead."

"I can't imagine how weird you feel right now, Joe."

Awkward silence.

"Hey, how about a battle? I've gotten way stronger. Jynx." we said in unison. "You don't even have one, do you? Jynx again. Challenge accepted."

And so it was on. Ash started with Pikachu, naturally. Logically, I sent out Tank, since he's a Ground-type.

"Pikachu! Quick Attack!" Ash called.

"Tank! Use Horn Drill!"

Pikachu lashed out at lightning speed, flipping around and whacking Tank with his tail. Tank wheeled and charged as Pikachu slowed down, but crashed into a tree when the electric rodent dodged out of the way.

"Pikachu! Use Quick Attack again, but this time combine it with Agility!"

"Tank, use Rock Blast!"

Tank wasn't so slow on the uptake this time, sending a large rock Pikachu's way before he could react. Predictably, Pikachu still twisted out of the way and zigzagged at my heavy, rocky battler. Tank only managed two more follow-ups before Pikachu's attack sent him flying. Another tree was crushed by his landing.

"What? I thought your Pikachu didn't like you that much!" I exclaimed, exasperated.

"We've grown kinda close," Ash said. "Now use Slam!"

"Tank, use Horn Attack, but wait till he gets close!"

Despite following orders, Tank got hit again without managing to touch Pikachu. His little yellow attacker was just too fast. The process repeated, depleting Tank's energy little by little, until he collapsed, unable to fight. Pikachu breathed hard, ready for more.

"Okay, enough playing around. Tank, return. Bossplant, you're next!"

Bossplant tore out of his pokeball. "Now, use Vine Whip!"

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

Bossplant shot out his vines, lashing and snapping them at Pikachu. Several of the strikes were dodged easily, but a few landed, throwing Pikachu off-balance. Finally, Bossplant wrapped him up and hoisted him into the air. Then it was Pikachu's turn. Pressing his cheeks, he unleashed a jolt of electricity into Bossplant. My Venusaur cried out in pain, dropping his foe. At least he was thinking strategically; Pikachu was dropped upwards. When he came back down, he landed hard.

"Okay, Bossplant, that's enough. Go, Wraith!" Wraith popped out of his ball, took one look at Ash, and laughed his head off.

"...What's so funny?" Ash asked. Then he felt his head. "Hey!"

Somehow Wraith had taken his hat and put it on himself. "Gas! Lygasgas." he commanded, imitating Ash. Pikachu shook his head.

"It's not working, Wraith. Just use Curse already." Wraith sighed and performed the move, dropping Ash's hat in the process. Pikachu returned the hat to its rightful owner and used Thundershock. Suddenly Wraith didn't look too good.

"Okay, Wraith! You can fight later. Bossplant, come back out!" I called. Bossplant reappeared. "Bossplant! Use Sleep Powder!" I called.

"Pikachu, Slam!"

Bossplant took the hit and put Pikachu to sleep. After that, we just stalled till Pikachu woke up. He landed one more hit before the Curse finished him.

"Good job, Pikachu. Go, Charizard!" Ash called.

"Hey, you have a Charizard, too! Uhh... Bossplant, use Stun Spore."

Ash's Charizard took one look at Bossplant and curled up for a nap. He casually blew fire over his shoulder, searing Bossplant's attack into useless flakes of char.

"Okay, change of tactics. Use Vine Whip." I decided.

"Charizard, what are you doing? Get up!"

My Venusaur hammered blows down on Charizard, agitating him severely. He got so angry that he stood up and Fire Blasted Bossplant. Happy that my Starter was KO'd, he curled up again and continued sleeping.

I decided to quit ignoring type advantage. I had underestimated Ash, and Tank and Bossplant had paid for it. "Okay, Bossplant, return. Go, Hydro Gun. Hydro Pump."

My large turtle came out of his ball and complied with my command, pumping out a high-pressure blast of water. Charizard didn't know what hit him. He would have if he wasn't sleeping.

Ash's next pokemon was Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto landed a Quick Attack before being knocked down by a Rapid Spin. Hydro Gun used Dig to avoid a Sand Attack, then fired off a Hydro Pump when he came up. Taking another two Quick Attacks, he then nailed Pidgeotto with a finishing Skull Bash.

Bulbasaur was next. I had Hydro Gun use Dig to avoid the first blow, but Bulbasaur used that time to charge up a Solarbeam. Hydro Gun's attack landed, but Bulbasaur survived and greeted his foe with a Grass-type beam of pure solar energy. Hydro Gun was knocked out.

Not one to lose easily, I sent out my own Charizard.

"Ash, say hi to Ash again." I said. Both Ashs gave me a confused look. Then Charizard Ash's attention was pulled back to the task at hand by a defiant Vine Whip.

"Ash, you know what to do." I told my Charizard.

"Yes I do," replied the Trainer Ash. "Bulbasaur, Stun Spore!"

I scratched my head as Bulbasaur's spores were burned away, doing nothing to my Charizard. "Wait, I was talking to my Charizard. That would just be weird if I was telling YOU that..."

"Come to think of it, yeah... Dang, Bulbasaur! Nooo!" Ash(trainer) replied, withdrawing his fainted Starter. "Okay, Squirtle! Your turn!"

"Ash, use Dig!" I called.

"What? But Squirtle doesn't know that move!" Ash replied, as the other Ash tunneled and Squirtle waited for an order.

"You know what, I'll just call him Charizard now. Charizard, Slash." My charizard had landed the Dig attack, and Squirtle used Withdraw without being told to resist the Slash attack.

"But that's what I call mine!" Trainer Ash replied. "Squirtle, use Bubblebeam!"

"Charizard! Wing Attack!" Charizard spun in the air and slammed into Squirtle with his wings. Squirtle was pummeling him with massive bubbles the whole time.

As tough as Squirtle was, it couldn't shake that final blow. Ash returned his fallen turtle to his ball. "Good battle." he said.

"You fought well, Ash."

"Which one?" asked my human friend.

"Both of you." My Charizard turned and grinned. He was panting a little, and his tail flame burned low.

"I think we should head off to the pokemon center now." I said, returning my Charizard to his ball.

"Or you could head to the fountain that flows, but not with water." spoke up a new voice. We turned.

Suddenly Ash looked tired. "More riddles, Blaine? I already guessed where your gym was."

"Right, right," grinned the newcomer, "but can Joseph guess?" said the old man who was apparently Blaine. He had white hair to match his gentlemanly hat and lab coat.

"Wait, how did you know my name?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, I have my ways." Blaine replied.

"...Uhhh, that sounds a bit stalkerish." I pointed out.

"No, no. I have seen the news of your squabbles with Team Rocket. But we digress. Have you guessed where my gym-"

He got no farther, because he was rudely interrupted.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people withi-"

"You just interrupted a guy!" I, well, interrupted, cutting off Team Rocket's dramatic entrance. "From now on, these guy's name is taboo. What do you want, Team Rocket? Let's get this over with."

Team Rocket glared, and Meowth complained about how he didn't get to do his part. James took point.

"We are simple folk with simple needs. We'll just take your pokemon while they're weak and you can't use them on us."

It was Jesse's turn. "Meet our newest thieving wonder. The Grabaratus!"

"I'm pretty sure that name's been used-" I mumbled, as Meowth pulled a cloth off the machine Jesse was referring to.

"This thing's foolproof!" Meowth declared, pulling the lever on the side.

"It wouldn't be wise to test that," Blaine joked.

"Hold on, that might mean WE'RE the fools," Ash realized.

"And you are!" Jesse and James cried in unison, as tentacle-like arms with grabbing hands on the ends wiggled out of the spherical machine. They clutched at Ash's backpack and my belt, managing to pull away a few Pokeballs while we tried to avoid them.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Give them back!"

"Oh yeah?" James crowed, "And how will you stop us?"

I managed to snatch one of my pokeballs back as the arm holding it retreated.

Blaine smirked, batting aside an arm and pulling a pokeball out of his lab coat in the same motion.

"The one who taunts must fear, for they are about to suffer an attack!" Blaine said.

I was about to point out that wasn't a riddle, then decided it would be best to let Blaine have his fun.

"Arcanine, Go. Fire Blast!"

It was all over, just like that. The Grabaratus blew up when the flames engulfed it, and the explosion sent Team Rocket flying. They yelled their trademark "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" before rising out of view. The stolen pokeballs rained down, one hitting me on the head and a few popping open.

"Well, they sure left a mess," I grumbled, searching around for our pokeballs. After sorting out who's were who's, Ash and I put them back where they belonged. Blaine returned his Arcanine to its ball.

"They'll be back. They're a tenacious bunch." Blaine pointed out. "Now where were we... Oh yes, have you guessed where my gym is?"

"Fountain... not water... Poison, maybe? No, that's Koga, and he didn't have any fountains... Ah! I've got it! It's a volcano! I read that Cinnabar is a volcanic island!"

Blaine had looked amused as I mumbled to myself, then grinned as I guessed it.

"Correct. You'll find it where the moss grows from here."

"Wait, moss doesn't grow in volcanoes, it- oh, wait. Some kinds of moss grow on the north sides of trees. That means north of here."

Blaine nodded again. "Also a little to the end of life." he said conversationally.

"What?! both Ash and I exclaimed.

"What, 'what?'" Blaine asked, his expression unreadable past his glasses. "It's a harmless puzzle."

"Oh. Jynx again," we responded, pointing at each other with the last bit.

"Let's see... we're talking about direction, right? Okay... hmmm... End of life... how does that relate to a direction?"

Ash shrugged. "Your riddle, not mine."

Blaine spoke up. "To be precise, it's MY riddle, posed to him."

I struggled with the riddle for a little bit, until Blaine had to go check on his gym. Misty and Brock showed up a few minute after.

I asked Brock about Blaine and he laughed. "That guy's pretty much a sphinx. Always has a riddle for you." I'd read up on the current Kanto gym leaders. This was no news to me. But it did spark a memory...

"Wait, I think I've got it. There's another riddle about a thing and the number of legs it walks on, from the legend of the sphinx. The thing was a man, and his life was compared to a day. The sun goes down in the west, or the comparative end of life! The gym is north and a little west of here!"

"Well I could have told you that!" Brock said, causing to Misty roll her eyes. "We just figured out some of his riddles this morning!"

"Come on, Ash," Misty said, changing the subject, "If you're going to take on Blaine, we need to train first."

With that we parted ways and headed to different parts of the island. I thought training was a grand idea. And so I let out my team and started a week of rigorous training.

Alright, I think that's a terrible place to stop, but if I continued, this chapter would drag on forever so it's for the best. Again, I'm really sorry I haven't been able to type this up sooner. I've been all sorts of busy. Unfortunately, I fear that I can't keep writing for much longer. I'm getting more and more busy and my family places a great demand on the computer. :(

Hopefully more soon,

Pokelegend