AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings, readers! Here is chapter 45 of the continuing adventures of Tristan, Hillary, and Pikachu as they continue their journey through the Johto region. This chapter as well as the last one are based off my experiences in the Ruins of Alph, where Unown is discovered. Foster from the anime makes one more appearance in this chapter, albeit a shorter one. this chapter and the previous one's title are based off the song, "To Know the Unknown" from the third Pokémon movie. That song was written and composed by John Siegler and John Loeffler. Lyrics are by Norman J. Grossfield and sung by Innosense. Please feel free to read and leave responsible reviews when you have some free time.

TEASER: Tristan and Hillary end up in the Unown's dimension and find an ailing Unown. Lugia and Mew come to help, but the Unown see them and go on the attack! Will Tristan and Hillary help them understand and find a way to get out of the Unown's dimension in one piece?

Chapter 45: TO KNOW THE UNOWN, PART 2

(Music Cue: Movie Title 2000 Emperor of the Crystal Tower: Entei)

Last time, our heroes arrived at the Ruins of Alph to learn more about some prehistoric Pokémon fossils when Tristan discovered an ancient tile that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Foster, a researcher at the facility, escorted Tristan and Hillary to a nearby chamber where a puzzle had yet to be solved.

Tristan somehow was able to decipher the ancient text that was written above the puzzle.

Working together, Tristan and Hillary managed to solve the puzzle. But as soon as they did, it started lighting up, and so did Tristan's Silver Wing. Shortly thereafter, they both disappeared without a trace.

Lugia, sensing Tristan's disappearance, sought after Mew and Mewtwo for help.

Now the question is: where have Tristan and Hillary disappeared to?

Tristan was the first to slowly regain consciousness, but when he opened his eyes, he noticed that he wasn't where he just was. "Where am I?" He then realized he was floating in mid-air. "Whoa! What's going on?"

Presently, Hillary floated in mid-air right next to him. She was still unconscious.

Then, Pikachu and Togepi floated next to them.

"Hillary, wake up," said Tristan as he gently nudged her.

Hillary slowly opened her eyes and saw that she wasn't where she just was just as Pikachu and Togepi slowly came to. "What happened? Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we ended up in a different dimension," answered Tristan.

"Are you sure?" asked Hillary.

"Right after we solved the puzzle, it and my Silver Wing glowed, somehow transporting us to another world," explained Tristan. "But I have no idea which dimension we ended up in."

Presently, they saw multiple thin lined Pokémon resembling eyes, all representing different letters of the alphabet and chanting.

"What are they?" asked Hillary.

"Let's find out," replied Tristan as he took out his Pokédex and scanned them with it.

"Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown are said to have existed since ancient times. There are many in form and shape, but little is known about this mysterious Pokémon."

"You don't suppose the Unown transported us here after we solved the puzzle, do you?" asked Hillary.

(Music Cue: Unown's Theme)

Suddenly, the Unown turned around, saw them, and quickly flew over to them.

"Whoa, look out!" exclaimed Hillary.

Sure enough, the Unown were approaching at frightening speed and quickly surrounded them. But they didn't look hostile.

"It doesn't look like they want to attack us," said Tristan.

"Then what do they want?" asked Hillary.

Presently, the Unown began flying around them.

"Are they trying to tell us something?" asked Hillary.

"If they are, I don't know what they're saying," replied Tristan.

Suddenly, they started flying off.

"Wait, Unown!" called Hillary. "Where are you going?" She turned to Tristan. "Quick, we've gotta follow them."

"But how?" asked Tristan. "How are we supposed to fly in here?" Then suddenly, Tristan raised his arms and with all his might, flew high in the air. "Hey, I guess that's how. Hey, Hillary, just do what I did, and we'll follow them!"

"Okay!" And Hillary did the same thing, and sure enough, she was flying in the air as well.

"Come on, everyone, let's follow the Unown!" said Tristan as he led Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi to where the Unown were taking them.

As they followed, they could see the dimension in many different colors of purple, blue, and pink.

"This is definitely another world, all right," remarked Hillary.

Presently, the Unown sped ahead.

Tristan, Hillary, Pikachu, and Togepi quickly flew right behind them to try and keep up. Presently, they saw another Unown, which resembled the letter "M"

"Look, Tristan! Another one!" gasped Hillary.

"This place is sure full of them," replied Tristan.

Pikachu and Togepi were just about to agree when they suddenly sensed something. They quickly flew ahead of Tristan and Hillary.

"Wait for us, guys!" called Tristan.

"We're coming, too!" added Hillary as she and Tristan quickly flew after them.

Back in the real world, Lugia had just finished explaining the situation to Mew and Mewtwo. Tristan needs me. I have to make sure he's okay!

I'm sure he's fine, Mewtwo assured it. We may not know exactly where he is, but Mew can take you anywhere.

All right, then let's go! said Lugia.

As Mew grabbed on to Lugia, they both began to glow, and in no time, they both disappeared.

Best of luck, whispered Mewtwo to itself. And it flew away.

Back in the chamber at the Ruins of Alph, Foster and the woman couldn't believe at what just happened.

"Why would those kids disappear without a trace?" asked the woman.

"I don't know," replied Foster. "I'm getting awfully worried about them. What if they disappeared for good? Their family would be worried sick!"

"Now calm down, Foster," said the woman. "I'm sure that wherever they are, they'll be back here."

"Maybe we should get Officer Jenny to help solve this," suggested Foster.

"Good idea," agreed the woman.

Back in the Unown dimension, there was an Unown with its eye closed.

A lot of the Unown had gathered around it and looked very worried.

Pikachu and Togepi stopped just ahead of their Trainers.

"I wonder why the Unown look so worried," said Hillary.

Tristan checked the "M" Unown and felt it. "This Unown feels really hot. It must have a high fever."

"That's why the others wanted us to follow them," said Hillary. "They wanted a someone who knows how to treat Pokémon.

"Of course!" gasped Tristan. "Remember the rhyme that we saw above the puzzle we had solved?"

Hillary remembered the words and said:

"He who solves the puzzle here
Must have a heart that's so sincere...
Then he must help the ones in need
And thus, he shall complete this deed."

"They must've been looking for someone who had a pure heart and asked for help with their sick friend, and summoned us here!" added Tristan.

"Then that explains why your Silver Wing glowed like the puzzle in the Ruins of Alph!" finished Hillary.

Tristan was connecting the dots and saw the ailing Unown. Then he turned to the other Unown. "I think I can help," he said. "But it'll take a little time for this one to recover. Will you let me help your friend?"

The other Unown nodded.

Tristan took off his backpack, clutched it in his arms and struggled to take out his first aid kit while still keeping his unhatched egg safe inside. Quickly, he closed it up again and felt the "M" Unown's forehead. It was very warm to the touch.

"So, what's up?" asked Hillary.

"This Unown's got a pretty high fever," answered Tristan. "It doesn't appear to be too serious, but I need to give it some treatment so its fever can go down."

"What are we gonna do?"

"First of all, it'll need a good, long rest," said Tristan. "Second, it will need this." And he carefully took out a small towel.

"But that's just a dry towel," said Hillary. "How will that help?"

"Maybe if your Squirtle uses Water Gun to moisten it, it could help bring its fever down," suggested Tristan. "Besides, we're several dimensions too far from a Pokémon Center anyway."

"Well, it couldn't hurt," agreed Hillary as she took out Squirtle's Poké Ball. "Squirtle, come on out."

Squirtle emerged from the white light that shot out of it and felt itself slowly spinning in midair.

"Squirtle, we need your help," said Hillary. "Could you gently use Water Gun on this towel to make it wet?"

Squirtle nodded and gently shot its Water Gun at the towel, making it nice and moist.

"Perfect, Squirtle!" said Hillary.

Squirtle gave a happy nod.

Tristan then slipped the towel on the "M" Unown's forehead while he held it close.

Just then, Mew and Lugia appeared close by.

Lugia saw Tristan, Hillary, and their Pokémon floating nearby. Tristan! Hillary!

Tristan and Hillary heard Lugia's voice behind them and quickly turned around.

"It's Lugia!" said Tristan excitedly. "And Mew's with it!"

"They found us!" added Hillary.

Just then, all the Unown glared at Lugia and Mew.

"Uh-oh," said Hillary. "It looks like they didn't expect company."

Tristan could see that Hillary was right, for they started flying toward Lugia and Mew and surrounded them. Still holding the "M" Unown, he and Pikachu flew over in their defense. "Hold on, Unown! Lugia and Mew came to us because we're friends! They wanted to make sure we're okay!"

Even Pikachu and Togepi agreed as they tried to reason with the Unown.

(Music Cue: Lugia Appears (as heard in the Japanese version of "Revelation Lugia"))

But the Unown didn't listen, and charged in for the attack on not only Mew and Lugia, but Tristan as well for allowing them to find him. They continued to fly straight toward him as small white orbs surrounded them.

"Quick, Tristan, you've gotta move now!" cried Hillary.

All the Unown combined their orbs into one powerful giant blast of energy and fired it directly at him, not realizing that he was still holding the "M" Unown tightly in his arms in an effort to protect it.

Pikachu and Togepi shouted for him to get out of the line of fire.

Tristan braced himself and closed his eyes as the blast got closer.

Then Lugia flew right in front of Tristan and surrounded itself in a green aura, successfully blocking the Unown's attack.

Tristan opened his eyes to see that Lugia had used Safeguard to protect him from harm. "Thanks, Lugia."

Anytime, replied Lugia. I'll never let anything harm you as long as I'm here.

(Music Cue: The Moon Stone)

The Unown finally saw that Tristan still held the ailing Unown in his arms and stopped glaring at him, Mew, and Lugia.

"Hey, look!" said Hillary. "The Unown seem to understand!"

Tristan breathed a sigh of relief and said to the Unown, "I promise, these Pokémon would never do anything to hurt you. All they wanted was to make sure I was okay."

All the Unown looked at each other and understood what Tristan said.

It looks like they figured it out, said Lugia. Then it saw the ailing Unown in Tristan's hands. What happened to that little guy?

"This Unown's sick and needs help," answered Tristan. He then turned to the Unown. "Okay, we need to take this Unown out of this dimension for a little while so that we can properly treat it. But I promise as soon as it's better, we will return it to you."

The Unown nodded and understood. They opened a portal in the middle of the dimension and motioned Tristan, Hillary, and their Pokémon friends to go through it.

"Hey, look! A portal!" said Hillary.

"That must be our way out!" agreed Tristan. "Come on, everybody!" And he led everyone through the portal back to the real world.

Just outside the chamber in the Ruins of Alph, Foster and the woman saw the portal opening up in the sky. They saw Tristan, Hillary, and their Pokémon friends fall out of the hole just as it closed and crash-land on the ground into a heap much to Foster and the woman's shock.

"Ow," moaned Hillary. "Remind me never to crash-land like that again."

"Yeah, let's use a softer landing next time," agreed Tristan.

Foster and the woman quickly rushed over.

"Are you both okay?" asked Foster.

Tristan and Hillary slowly picked themselves up and showed them the Unown.

"I've never seen a Pokémon like that," gasped Foster.

"This is an Unown," explained Tristan. "It came from the Unown Dimension just like we did, and it needs some medical care." And he gently placed the "M" Unown on the ground and put the moist towel on its forehead.

The woman was impressed. "These two kids sure have been on many adventures."

Foster agreed.

Several hours later, the "M" Unown opened its eyes and floated in the air, much to Tristan and Hillary's delight. It was feeling much better.

"Unown looks as good as new," remarked Hillary.

"That rest and the moist towel did the trick," agreed Tristan. "I guess the Unown's fever wasn't as serious as we first thought.

The "M" Unown thanked them as the portal opened up in the sky.

The other Unown were seen as the "M" Unown flew closer and closer to the portal.

"The other Unown have come back," said Tristan.

"To take their friend back home," added Hillary.

Sure enough, that's what they were doing, for as the "M" Unown went through the hole, the portal closed, and soon, it disappeared.

(Music Cue: To the Hopeful Sky)

Everyone looked up as the sky cleared up again.

"I wonder what that was all about," said the woman.

Then Foster saw that the passage above the puzzle board had disappeared. "Hey, where'd those words go?"

"It must've vanished after Tristan and Hillary helped that Unown get well again," said the woman.

Tristan and Hillary turned to Lugia and Mew.

"How did you know where to find us?" asked Tristan.

After your Silver Wing alerted me that something was going on at the Ruins of Alph, I flew there as fast as I could go, answered Lugia. Unfortunately, I was too late since you disappeared in that dimension, but fortunately, Mew was able to transport us to where you were. We wanted to make sure that you weren't in any danger.

"Fortunately or unfortunately?" said Tristan. "I'm confused."

I couldn't make up my mind, chuckled Lugia.

"We appreciate your helping us out like that," said Hillary.

Tristan nodded in agreement. "But I wonder...do you think we'll see the Unown again?"

Pikachu and Togepi wondered too as they and their Trainers continued to look up at the sky.

And so, another mystery of the Pokémon world is revealed to our heroes. Could some Pokémon, like the Unown, really come from different dimensions? Could there be more? More mysteries are waiting to be solved in the Pokémon world, so stay tuned.

► TO BE CONTINUED