Thank you for joining me here at the beginning. This is a project I've been working on for the past several months, playing at the back of my mind even as I worked on other things. The structure is going to be a bit different, so please allow me to explain before we get started.

One Who Chases is a series of stories that can be read separately, as each of them will have their own contained narrative, but as you read them, you will see the pieces of the mystery come together as the connecting thread that leads to the true ending becomes more and more evident. As such, though this story, Chaser and the Temple of Stone, will only be six chapters long, the series will be much longer. Please make sure to follow me, the Author, in order to stay up to date with as it goes on! Thank you very much in advance.

As far as when this story takes place, it occurs just before JN89, "ディアルガ＆パルキア！時空大異変！！" "Dialga Palkia! The Space-time Cataclysm!". I'll add the the dub's title as soon as it's known.

I will keep my thoughts for this first book to myself until we reach it's ending. For now, thank you very much for reading.

"That's the wrong answer."

"Wait, seriously? I just double-checked it!"

"Yeah. The date is way off what the book says, Goh."

"Aw, man…!"

Goh groaned as he sat his face against the open book on the table. As his nostrils filled with the scent of ink and paper, the girl standing over him sighed at his antics. As she stared down at him with her emerald eyes, her tightly bound braid of maroon hair swayed behind her as she shook her head. Her face was contorted into a mask of pleasantry as she lifted his face off the book and began turning the page.

Goh knew, though, that behind that mask, his childhood friend was disappointed with him, and after he had spent the last several days explaining just how far ahead he was in his studies, he could see why.

"Now come on, Goh," she said. "Where's that confidence gone? I'm sure you know this."

He sighed. "No… no I don't." There were far more important things to him in this world than learning about the dead language of a long-forgotten civilization, even if that civilization supposedly acted as the foundation of his homeland's own writing system and culture.

She sighed. "Well… I guess if you clearly don't remember, I can help you," she said. "Now sit up and look here."

Goh sat up as she leaned over the book, her braid dangling in front of his face. A scent of cherry blossoms wafted into his senses, but he dared not touch her prized hair.

"It's on this page here, under this section," she said, going through the textbook with her index finger. "Can you see the answer now?"

"Chloe, don't you think it'd be easier just to tell me?" he asked, not bothering to look up from the page or her braid.

Chloe shook her head, her braid swaying in Goh's vision in front of him. "Honestly, how old are you that you're still expecting me to do your homework for you?"

"Just because I'm fourteen doesn't mean I can't get help from my friends, right?" he asked, though his question wasn't directed towards Chloe, but at his other friend, who was idly chewing on an apple.

This friend looked up at the two of them, and the look on his face said that he hadn't been paying close attention to the conversation, but with how Chloe and Goh were both glaring at him, he didn't exactly have a lot of wiggle room. "I-uh… I mean, yeah! Friends helpin' friends is really important, right, Pikachu?"

This young man turned his attention away from Goh and towards the ground. Sitting in a small circle, chattering amongst themselves, were the Pikachu this young man spoke to and three other strange creatures. Pikachu was covered from head to toe in bright yellow fur, with red cheeks, black tips at the ends of his ears, and a jagged, lightning-bolt shaped tail. Across from him was a small green chimp who carried a stick in his leafy hair. And next to the chimp and Pikachu both were a small brown puppy with a fold of yellow fur around his neck and a brown fox-like creature with fluffy fur around her neck and a bushy, brush-like tail.

These creatures were called Pocket Monsters, or Pokémon for short. Pokémon were the mysterious creatures that inhabited the world Goh, Chloe, and their friends lived in. They were living beings who lived alongside people, but also away and apart from them. Pokémon lived in every corner of this world, from the top of the highest mountain, to the bottom of the deepest crevice in the ocean, and just about everywhere in between. No matter where Goh would be, there were sure to be Pokémon there waiting for him to catch and battle. And while Pikachu and the others were three different kinds of Pokémon, there were many, many more in the world to see. How many kinds were there in the world? 800? 900? The only thing Goh knew about that for sure was that no one knew every kind of Pokémon. At least, not yet.

Goh was a research fellow who went out doing groundbreaking work as he strived to learn more about these Pokémon, which was one reason why he wasn't interested in wasting his time with all this school work. He wasn't a scholar who sat in an office, pouring over books for one tiny detail. He was exploring the world, meeting new people and, most importantly to him, catching new Pokémon.

In his own personal Pokémon Index, or Pokédex, Goh had registered only 100 different kinds of Pokémon so far. But even that many was far from his ultimate goal - a completed, perfect Pokédex with every kind of Pokémon in the world registered to it. Even considering how far he was from his goal, 100 kinds wasn't a small number. Certainly it was an impressive foothold for one who had started training Pokémon less than a year ago. But even so, his friend had been training Pokémon and traveling the world for about four years by the time that Goh even got started. It was a world Goh still felt on the very cusps of.

But it was a world far and away more interesting to him than the world of schooling and academia that Chloe was attempting to draw him into.

Pikachu looked at his partner and shook his head. "Pikapi, pikapika pikachu." he said dismissively, as if to tell him that he should be honest about not knowing what they were talking about.

"Sometimes I wonder if Pikachu is the trainer and Ash is the Pokémon," Chloe said, dismissively.

Ash chuckled. "He does train me a bit, doesn't he?" he joked.

Chloe turned her attention back towards Goh. "Alright, have you found the answer yet?"

Goh put his face back down into the book. He hadn't even been looking for the answer. "Cmon, Chloe…! Why is it even important that I do this stupid homework if I'm gonna ace the test anyway? That's all that counts towards my grades at the end."

His attempt to sway Chloe with logic was doomed to fail from the start. She shook her head at him, sighing. "Because there are some things you need to learn properly to become a well-rounded, reasonable adult," she said as though she was instructing someone much younger than she was. "You're always talking big about how mature you are, but you're spending way more time whining than it would take to actually do the work. It's kinda sad, really."

Goh sat up, looking to Ash for some sort of support in his endeavor to dodge school work. "But you haven't gone to school in a long time, right Ash? You don't need this kinda stuff when you're out being a Pokémon Trainer, right?"

Ash coughed. "Well, I uh…" he said, scratching his cheek. "I did go to the Pokémon School in Alola for about half a year…" he said.

Chloe grinned with a smile that reminded Goh of how his Darmanitan would look when he pulled off a successful prank. "Oh really?" she said, turning her smug face back towards Goh's. "I guess if Ash here can go to school and work hard, then it should be a breeze for you, right?"

He groaned. "C'mon, Ash, you're supposed to be on my side in this…" he said.

Ash took another bite from his apple, chewing slowly to avoid answering any more questions.

Chloe leaned over the book Goh was resting his chin on, her braid now dancing across the pages of the book. Goh watched the braid bob, and the scent of cherry blossoms that seemed to be infused in it once again entered his senses. "Well, that's a tough break, Goh," she said, "but I guess you're not able to get away without doing the worksheets this time."

"But I already do so much work around here," he continued his protests, as fruitless as they were seeming. "I help out your dad with his work, I take care of all my Pokémon, and on top of all of that I still go to school for my tests! If I don't do a few worksheets, it won't kill me. It'll hardly matter since they're not even most of my grade."

She tutted at him. "The world is way bigger than my dad's little laboratory," she said. "And you need to learn these things if you're going to make your way in it." Her tone was light and teasing, and Goh reflexively put a hand over his forehead as though she would flick him there, as she usually would.

"But it's just a worksheet. There's way more important things in the world than that."

"Like what?" She asked wryly, as though she wasn't expecting him to come up with a good answer.

Goh puffed out his chest. "I'm waiting for my next Trial Mission from Danika and Professor Amaranth after all, aren't I? I'm going to get my next Token and get even closer to getting chosen for Project Mew."

"And here's that unfounded confidence again," Chloe sighed. "Why can't you be this confident when you're answering questions for school?"

As Goh began his retort, he was cut off by Ash's laughter. "Man, you guys have to be really close to fight over something like homework."

"What do you mean by that?" Chloe asked, turning her attention to him.

"I mean, it's just homework, isn't it? It can't be a big deal. But you guys are treating this like it's gonna be this huge problem if you can't get the other to see your way, you know?"

Pikachu hopped from the ground to Ash's shoulder, smiling as he did. Ash handed Pikachu the partially eaten apple, and the mouse began to nibble on it himself.

Rather than consider the implications of Ash's words, Goh focused on their meaning. "Ha, you see? Even Ash thinks homework isn't important."

Chloe averted her eyes. "Of course you're the one taking academic advice from a guy who has to count on his fingers."

"Ash is really smart," Goh said, shrugging. "You just can't see it because you've always got your nose in a book."

"Said the guy who just had his nose literally in a book," Chloe replied sarcastically.

He could tell Chloe was getting irritated with the constant banter between the two of them, but there was a part of Goh that relished seeing her flustered. He couldn't quite put a finger on why, but anything that made her give him more of her attention had a certain appeal to it.

She shrugged. "Oh well, maybe if you're not doing anything difficult, I can see if Dad has any actual hard work for you to do."

Goh waved off her threat. "You wouldn't do anything like that," he said, waving off her concern.

She cupped her hands around her mouth before cheekily shouting "Oh, Dad-"

Just as she was calling out, their game was interrupted by Goh's phone beginning to beep and vibrate in his pocket. Everyone fell silent as Goh checked his phone, tapping the Rotom Phone awake and scrolling through his notifications.

"...! It's here!"

Chloe leaned over Goh's shoulder, causing him to once more smell cherry blossoms. Ever since she started wearing the fragrance, it was something he had slowly associated more and more with her. "What's here?" she asked.

Ash stood up from his seat and stepped around as well, leaning over Goh's other shoulder, with Pikachu also looking on.

"It's my next Trial Mission! I knew Professor Amaranth wouldn't fail me!" he said, triumphant. "I wonder what choices I'll have this time…" he said in a sing-song tone, scrolling down to see that variety of missions lined up. "...Huh?"

Displayed on the screen of his phone was only one mission with the following description:

'Not every Trial will present you a choice of what mission to take. Use your knowledge, intuition, and will to overcome the following mission: gain entry to and investigate the temple dedicated to the Evolution Pokémon Eevee, located on Evolution Mountain.'

Goh read out the description to his friends, feeling more confused as the description went on.

"Gain entry to it?" Chloe asked. "What sort of temple do you have to gain entry to?"

Her question was sudden, but significant.

"I'm… not sure," Goh said, shrugging. "I've never even heard of Evolution Mountain."

Their squabbling only a few moments ago was quickly forgotten. That was how it was with the two of them, having been friends since they were small.

Ash rubbed his chin. "Evolution mountain…" he said, repeating the words to himself, as though he was trying to jog his own memory.

"Pikapi," Pikachu said as though he, too, remembered where this place was.

"I think I ended up stopping there once on my journey," Ash said. "Or at a town nearby, anyway.

"There's a town nearby this Evolution Mountain place?" Goh asked, raising an eyebrow.

From the floor, Grookey and Eevee stared at each other, listening quietly to the conversation above.

"Stone Town is it's name."

Inside the high-tech laboratory, an older man in a lab coat tapped a button on his remote, manipulating the holographic projection that emerged from the ground. Floating on the grid of light, a window opened that displayed an image of a town that reminded Goh of his visits to Pallet Town. It was a small town that looked to be ripped out of the pages of his history books. Even from the images however, Goh could tell that Stone Town wasn't like the typical Kantonian village that dotted the region's vast countryside. There was a great deal of wealth that flowed through the town, leaving it's imprint on the elaborate facades of buildings and the great manor that seemed to stand in the middle of it. "It gets its name from the town's main export: evolution stones."

The man speaking was the father Chloe had threatened to tattle to about Goh only moments before. Goh knew him more as Chloe's dad than he did as Professor Cerise, the Genius Professor. Known across the world as one of Professor Oak's brightest pupils, he had recently upgraded from his smaller, more limited lab into a much larger research facility from which he wished to learn about Pokémon all over the world. It was an incredible undertaking, and one Goh now found himself part of.

He had more than a few opportunities to spend time with the man over the years at his previous laboratory before the mansion they were now standing in was renovated into the institute it now was. He was a kind, fair, somewhat eccentric man who bought the building on sale since it was being haunted. Goh always looked up to him and past his quirks, even as Chloe could be somewhat exhausted with how protective her father could be of her at times.

He certainly had no issues sending Goh and Ash headlong into danger, at least.

"'Evolution stones'?" Chloe parroted, looking at the holographic displays wide-eyed. "You mean like the stones that Eevee can use to evolve?"

"That's right. Stone Town is famous for them," said Chrysa, turning in her chair to face the middle of the room. A woman with long dark hair, Chrysa was the freshest face among the three adults who worked in the Cerise Institute. Goh knew her as a somewhat serious, passionate woman with several niche interests and a penchant for Psyduck, the Duck Pokémon. "The mines they have there may be the biggest distributor of evolutionary stones in all of Kanto."

"They mine them out of the ground?" Chloe was continuously surprised.

"Well, it's not like Mount Moon with its Moon Stones," the man next to Chrysa said. He used a hand to scratch his head, covered with unkempt blonde hair. Goh knew him as Ren, and he was the more familiar of the two of Professor Cerise's assistants by far, having been a research student under the Professor while he was still in school. Ren tapped the keyboard a few times and images of stones appeared on the screen. They had various patterns, one looking like crystalized fire, one looking like water with bubbles visible inside the crystalline structure. One was a pale green with a bright yellow lightning bolt in the middle. "Mainly it's Thunder Stones, Fire Stones, and Water Stones, though they've also found Leaf and Ice Stones in the mines, too."

"Since Eevee has evolutions of all those types, it's not exactly surprising that some ancient people would have created a temple to honor Eevee in its various evolutionary forms," Professor Cerise said to his research fellows and daughter. "Perhaps they thought that it was thanks to Eevee that the stones were so abundant in the area?"

"Are there any records of this temple, Professor?" Goh asked.

"Unfortunately, Stone Town isn't exactly a main stop for many people traveling around Kanto," he said. "Our information on it is actually quite limited, and so if there is a temple, it may be better to head there to gather information, to see if anyone else knows anything more about it."

Goh nodded. "That does make sense," he said, stroking his chin in thought. He turned to Ash. "And you've been in that area before, right?"

He nodded. "Only once, while my friends and I were lost, trying to find a way to Cinnabar Island."

"You didn't just take a ferry?" It seemed a pretty reasonable thing to ask from Goh's perspective.

Ash could only laugh mirthlessly. "Well, you know… we didn't exactly have a good map back then…"

"If you got as close as the town but didn't see it, it must be either forgotten or very small, no more than a shrine…" Goh said, returning to his thinking. "I guess the best thing to do would be for us to head to Stone Town and check it out, then."

Professor Cerise nodded. "Good luck, you two. I'll be here wishing for your success."

Goh nodded and opened his mouth to thank him, but he didn't get a chance before he was interrupted.

"Wait a second," Chloe said. "What's the rush? Don't I get a moment to decide if I want to come?"

Goh smirked at her confidently. "I thought you would be busy doing homework for school," he said. "Isn't that what you told me? Those are the things you need to learn properly to become a well-rounded, reasonable adult?"

Chloe flushed, embarrassment heating her face. Once again they had flipped positions and now she was on the defensive. That thrill at seeing her flustered came rushing back to him.

She sighed, relenting. "Fine. You win. This is much better than just doing worksheets, okay? I admit it."

"That's all I wanted," he said, chuckling. "Now… you wanted to go with us to this temple?"

"Of course I do," she said. "They built it to honor Eevee, right? There might be some really interesting things we can learn there about Eevee's evolutions! You'd like to go, too, right, Eevee?"

She turned her attention to her Pokémon, who was sitting obediently by her feet. "Eievui!"

Goh felt Ash throw his arm over his shoulder. "Hey, the more the merrier, right? I think it'd be awesome if she came along."

Goh looked to Ash, frowning at the thought that he would ever tell his friend not to come. "Of course," he said, nodding. "Let's go to Stone Town!"

"Grooki!"

"Pika!"

The Pokémon joined in the cheer, raising their voices together.