Ash didn't understand. Less than 10 minutes ago he had been sleeping, his only worry about how to get to Goldenrod City, which was where he was supposed to pick up the Fire-type Pokemon he had traded for his Cyndaquil. The trainer he had made the trade with, had promised the Pokemon would be most definitely worth his Cyndaquil, but he had to pick it up himself.

Now his problems were too numerous to count, not the least of which was the Flamethrower coming straight at him. He yelped, throwing his hands in front of his face to protect himself, though it was kind of futile, but then a stream of water flew through the air, neutralizing it.

"Thanks, umm, whoever," he gasped, assuming Misty had let out one of her Water Pokemon. That was too close.

Now the three figures stepped into the clearing. Two of them were humans, men, and the other was a Magmar who had shot the Flamethrower.

Pikachu was immediately tensed and ready for battle. He glared at the Magmar, ready to seriously beat on the one who meant his trainer harm. Sparks erupted from his cheeks, and he snarled at the three figures.

Ash blinked in surprise. Sure, Pikachu was always ready for a battle, but never this intense or this eager. It was kind of strange. But then again, this night was already far from normal, so what was one more little thing?

He peeked at the figures. The Magmar's flames helped to illuminate them. He could immediately see that they were NOT Team Rocket, for they wore non-descript black clothing. One of them looked to be about 25, and the other looked very young, only 17 or 18. And they were looking right at him.

"What to do you want? Who ARE you?" Ash asked, cringed at the quiver in his voice. Misty, eyes huge, clutching Togepi tightly to her, said nothing.

"Want? We want you of course, little Experiment. We were on our way back to headquarters, but then we sensed you. Too bad for you. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there could not be a worse place to be right about now."

"Huh...?" Ash didn't understand. {Little Experiment? Is he talking about one of my Pokemon? Or...me? I don't understand.}

"Well, boy, come on. If you come quietly maybe we won't kill your friend, or maybe even your Pokemon," the older man continued to speak. He had dark hair, and was tall, but that was all Ash could tell.

{Kill?!?! He would kill Misty, and Togepi, and Pikachu. I cannot let him do that.}

_Ash, don't listen to him! He will only kill us after he has taken you! This is not the best way for you to learn, but now you must fight! I will explain later!_

Ash whirled around. It was that weird voice again. Not the one who had woken him up, but he other, who had said something about evil coming. Where was the voice?

_Ash?_

Ash looked down in front of him. There was only Pikachu, who was looking at him intently, "Pikachu, you're...the one talking to me?"

_I am. And your abilities will become stronger, until you will be able to communicate with us all. But talk later. We must get rid of these..intruders first._

"Right," That was something he could handle. Battling. Talking Pokemon, not as much, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Lava, Flamethrower!"

Fire and Lightning met in the center of the clearing, forming a ball of energy. Both Pokemon trying to get the upper hand, neither succeeding. The ball became larger and larger, neither Pokemon willing to give in.

Then the ball reached its breaking point, exploding in the clearing. Ash and Misty threw themselves to the ground, as the blast exploded above them. The two men on the opposite side of the clearing did the same. Unfortunately, the Pokemon had no time to evade the blast, and were engulfed by it.

"Pikachu...!!!"

Ash waited desperately for the smoke to clear. He had to know if Pikachu was alright. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer, and ran into the clearing. Trying to peer desperately through the smoke, he suddenly noticed that it was clearing away. And not naturally, either, More like someone-or something-was blowing it away.

He looked up. A large bird was framed against the moon. Its powerful wings easily blew away the smoke, revealing two fallen Pokemon.

Ash, finally seeing Pikachu, ran towards it. He gently picked Pikachu up, wincing at the blood that dripped through his fingers. Pikachu, bloody and battered, groaned slightly. It was bad. Really bad.

_Ash..._

"Shhh, don't talk, you're going to be okay. We just, umm, gotta get you a...Super-potion. Yeah, and then you'll, you'll be okay."

_Not this time..._

Ash stared in horror at his Pikachu, secretly knowing that anything would be pointless, but knowing he needed to try anyways. Suddenly he felt...something surging up in him. Half-remembered voices and memories surged. But there was no time for that now. He knew what he had to do.

Holding Pikachu in his arms, he let..whatever it was inside of him come out. A pale, goldish-silver light flowed out of his hands and into Pikachu. He could feel Pikachu getting better. He knew what has wrong with him, and how to fix it. His energy rushed around inside Pikachu, repairing broken bones and torn organs. Soon, Pikachu looked as healthy as he had before the battle.

Misty was staring at him awed, "Ash...what...have you done?"

"I-I'm not sure. I think..I healed him. I don't know how though," Ash looked over at the Magmar. His trainer, the younger of the two people, was kneeling over him, looked shocked.

"Lava?....Lava? You're gonna be okay. You did your best. La...Lava?"

Ash, seeing the broken expression on the boy's face, got up. He had tried to kill him, threatened all those close to him, but he was still a person. And he obviously cared deeply for his Pokemon. Whatever this, gift of Ash's was, he might as well use it while it lasted.

He walked over to the fallen Magmar. His trainer, seeing him approach, glared at him and immediately stood in front of his Pokemon. The other man quickly pulled out a gun, and trained it on Ash.

"You come one step closer and I will blow your fuckin' brains out," he snarled.

"No, leave him be. If he can help Lava, leave him alone!"

The older man, startled, looked at his colleague, "What are you saying? Look at him. He's a powerful Experiment. You just let walk him over here, and he could blow us all up. You may be an inexperienced Morgulle, so I'll let that go. We have to take him, NOW!!"

{Morgulle? There's that word again. The word that the voice said. The voice...warned me about them. Good thing too. If it hadn't, Misty and Pikachu and the others would be dead, and I'd be taken off by these...Morgulle. I think they want me for these new abilities I have. Great. More problems.}

He knelt down to the Magmar. He could see that its trainer was physically restraining the other one, his love for his Pokemon coming even before his job. The same gold-silver light flowed into the Magma, and in a moment, it was healed as well.

Blinking blearily, it looked around, confused, then fixing its gaze on Ash.

_You helped me? You healed me? The other Experiments, they cared nothing for us. So why you?_

"Because..I couldn't let you just die. That's not right. You're alive too, but...why are you trying to get me? What did I ever do to you guys?"

But the time for talk had run out. No longer able to restrain his larger counterpart, Lava's trainer was thrown against a tree. The Magmar immediately ran over to its trainer.

"Damn it, Davihd! The boss is definitely going to hear about this! You're dead meat. And so's your precious Magmar!"

"That is enough!"

The beings assembled in the torn-up clearing turned as one. Out of the forest came yet another person. Ash tensed, uncertain, but there was something about this person that felt..safe and..familiar.

It was a girl, of medium height. She was built rather gracefully, and had shoulder-length blonde hair. There looked to be streaks of another color as well, but it was too dark to tell. A Pidgeot stood by her side. Ash recognized it as the same one who had blown the smoke away.

She glared at the men, "Morgulle." The word was said with the utmost loathing, "I should have known. Preying on another hapless Experiment? Get out of here, before I lose my patience with you scum."

The two of the stared at her, not really knowing what to do. An Espeon and a Houndoom walked out of the darkness, coming to stand beside her. From the other side of the clearing, a Scizor and a Raichu stepped out. And finally, a Dragonair, eyes glowing softly, slithered into the moonlight.

The younger one, Davihd, needed no second chance, scrambling to his feet. His Magmar close on his heels. They took of in the opposite direction they had appeared to be going.

After a moment, the other one left too, on a different way than Davihd, "This is not over, little Experiment! Little..Ash! Yes I know your name. And I will catch you. That I promise..." his voice fading into the night.

"What..? What was that?" Misty, still clutching Togepi as if she was the last link to her sanity, looked drained.

The girl looked over at Misty, as if noticing her for the first time, "I will explain later. But although the Morgulle is gone for now, he will be back. With stronger allies. The boy...I think he got a taste of the Morgulle and didn't like it too much. Let's go. I know a safe place."

Misty glared at her, "And we can trust you why? How do we know you aren't one of those...Morgulle things too? Trying to trick us?"

"Ask your friend. He knows I am no Morgulle. Don't you, Ash?"

The two of the looked at Ash. He stared at the mysterious girl. He knew, somehow he just knew that she could be trusted. There was something about her...

"No...no, you are not an enemy. But that does not mean that you are a friend. Lead us where you may, but betray us, and things will not go well."

"You are not in a position do make such claims, but very well. Let us go. And my name is Arie, by the way. I know you are Ash."

I am. And this is Misty, and her Togepi."

Arie nodded at them, "This is Wingwhir," she said patting the Pidgeot on the back, "And these"-she motioned to the Houndoom and Espeon by her side-"are Shadowflame and Esper. The Scizor is Hammerblade, the Raichu, Thunderbolt-"

_And I am Dracona._ the Dragonair finished.

_He can understand us, Arie_ she said, turning to her friend, _His abilities are not strong, they have only recently manifested themselves, but as Esper said, he has great potential._

Misty, not being able to understand the Dragonair, just shook her head. It was around 3 in the morning by that time, and now she was really tired. They were just outside of Azalea Town now, it would be about a 4 hour hike. And the terrain wasn't particularly comfortable either. Suddenly she remembered something she had seen-or thought she had seen-during the battle.

"Ash, how did you manage to let Snapper out so fast to combat that Flamethrower? I didn't even see him."

Ash, who had been following Arie and her Pokemon into the woods, stopped and looked at Misty, "What do you mean? I thought you had let one of your Water Pokemon out. I was just going to thank you for that. I didn't let Snapper out."

Misty gaped at him, "But if it wasn't ma and it wasn't you, then...who?"

Ash turned to Arie's nearest Pokemon, Thunderbolt, who was walking beside Pikachu, "Thunderbolt, did one of you shoot a Water Gun when that Magmar fired."

_Water Gun? No, it was not us. We were a ways away, when Esper sensed the Morgulle. We figured you may be in trouble and came to help. We were arriving just as that battle was ending, not too soon I see._

"But...if it wasn't one of you, and it wasn't Snapper, and it wasn't one of Misty's Pokemon ,then who was it?"

_Ash, I saw who it was._ said Pikachu.

"Who was it?"

_You._

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Dragon of the Elements: Hah! Chapter 2 is done! I was going to make it longer, but felt this was the best place to stop. I finally thought up a decent summary, so I changed that! I am having so much fun writing this!

EarthDragon: Review THIS INSTANT!!!!!

Element: Earth, behave. But listen to her.