Disclaimer: Same as always. I own Lily and nothing else.

Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers. My review count is slowly getting up there. I've always wanted to have one of those stories with a ton of reviews, like the ones I see a lot on this site. Maybe I still have the chance for my dream to be realized! Hooray!

sapphireplusle: Thank you! I'm glad you like Celebi's way of talking. It kind of reminds me of Elmo when I read it now, but I hadn't thought of that at the time. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please continue to let me know what you think!

Tony Dark: Well, I'm glad you like the story. I was a bit confused when I read your review, though. Last time you said I succeeded in surprising you, and then this time you said what I did was predictable and you were expecting it! But, oh well. At least you like the story enough to still be reading it. Thank you for reading and for reviewing!

ChibiYugiYasha: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you like it!

Scarred Dragonia: I was wondering when I'd hear from you! Thanks for the review and the info. By the way, I just got your review as I was finishing this up before posting it. You just barely got into this chapter! Hooray for you!

I want to add a special thanks to a new friend of mine. You know who you are! This chapter is dedicated to you! Enjoy! And don't worry, I am smiling!

PART THREE: LILY AND ASH -- 2001

Chapter One: Back to the Past

"Who are you? And what are you doing in here?"

Lily blinked in the sudden light. She looked around. She was still in her room, but it didn't look the same. It was a baby's room. What's more, a boy was standing in front of her, staring at her. He was the person who'd asked the question.

"Uh…I don't know," she said lamely. Then she took another look at the boy. "Is your name Gary?"

"Yes, it is. And your name would be…?"

"Um, it's…Lillian," she said, proud of herself for thinking of a fake name that was still close to her real one.

"Lillian, huh? And how is it that you happen to be in my aunt's room?"

"I, uh, had an Abra that used Teleport, but I guess it messed up."

"Hey, what's that? Isn't that a Celebi? How did you get a Celebi?" Gary asked.

"My parents gave her to me for my birthday," Lily said. "She was my first Pokemon."

"Boy, I'd sure like to have your parents! All I got for my first Pokemon was an Eevee." Gary paused. "Hey, Lillian, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"What happened to your face?"

"Oh, that." Her hand went to her cheek self-consciously. "I…got attacked by a vicious Pokemon while I was chasing a runaway baby carriage." She waited to see if he bought her story.

"Yeah right," Gary said. "What really happened?"

"That's the truth!"

"You're a liar."

"Yeah, well, you're arrogant."

"How would you know? I've never even met you before!"

"Uh, gotta go! Bye!" Lily raced out of the room.

"And just who might you be?"

Lily looked up and saw her mother standing there. She just barely stopped herself from saying something to give herself away. "I-I…I'm sorry! I'm in the wrong house! I'll let myself out!"

She was out the door before Delia had time to say anything else. As she ran across the yard she looked back to make sure no one was following her, and as she did, she ran into someone.

"Are you all right?"

Lily looked up into the face of her father. She couldn't think of anything to say. She turned back to see that her mother had come out of the house. Delia looked worried. She walked up to Lily. "Are you lost, dear?"

Lily shook her head. She knew exactly where she was. After a minute, she realized that they expected her to say something. "I, uh, ran away from home."

"What's your name? Do your parents know where you are?" her mother asked.

"Yes, I can honestly say they do," Lily said. "And my name is Lillian."

Delia turned to Professor Oak. "Samuel, we'll have to call her parents to come get her. They're probably worried." She looked really sad. Lily wondered if it was because of Ash. If so, it would mean Lily had come to a time after he'd been kidnapped, but how long after? A day? A week? She'd thought she would go save him from Giovanni, but now she wondered if she should have come to a time before he got kidnapped and keep it from happening instead. Well, it was too late now, unless she had Celebi time travel again. She didn't know if that was such a good idea, though.

"You can't call my parents," Lily said to her mother.

"I'm afraid we have to, dear. Don't you want to go home?"

"I mean you won't be able to call my parents. They're, um, out of town."

"Well, then," said Delia, "you'll have to stay with us until your parents get back."

"That's very nice of you," Lily said. "But I'm on a mission. I've got to go."

"You're not going anywhere. It's getting dark. What kind of people would we be if we let you go off on your own at night?"

"But I do it all the time at home," Lily protested. That wasn't exactly true, but it didn't matter.

"Maybe your parents aren't very responsible, but we are."

Lily hid a smile at that. "Well, I guess it can wait 'til morning." She looked around. "Uh-oh. Where's my Pokemon? I must have left her in the house."

They all went inside. Celebi was in the kitchen, eating everything she could get her hands on.

"Celebi! Stop that!" Lily screamed.

Celebi looked up. 'Time travel takes a lot of energy. Celebi was hungry.'

Professor Oak came into the room. "A Celebi?! Where did you get it?"

"From my parents. I'm sorry Celebi ate everything and made such a mess. She hasn't been with me very long. I'll clean everything up, and I have some money—"

"Don't worry about it. Celebi can have whatever she wants. We have plenty. And I'll take care of the mess," said Professor Oak. "Would you permit me to study Celebi a little bit while you're here?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't mind if she doesn't. Celebi?"

Celebi nodded her consent.

Professor Oak smiled. "Wonderful. It will greatly help my research."

Lily remembered that she wasn't supposed to know any of these people. "Do you research Pokemon a lot?" she asked.

"Oh, yes. I've been a Pokemon researcher for a long time. By the way, I'm Professor Samuel Oak."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said. She held out her hand, and he shook it. It felt weird to Lily, shaking hands with her own father.

"You know, it's strange, but I feel like I know you," Professor Oak said. "Maybe it's because you remind me of my wife—the woman you met outside—when she was younger."

"I do?" Lily wasn't aware she resembled her mother.

He nodded. Suddenly Delia came into the room. "Well, Lillian, you can have the guest room." She turned to her husband. "Brock agreed to sleep in Gary's room for now."

Just then Lily heard a baby's cry.

"Lily must be awake," said Delia. "I'll go get her. Lillian, would you like to see the baby?"

Like any other person would be, Lily was curious to see herself as a baby. She followed her mother to the nursery. The baby Lily was in her crib, screaming. Her mother picked her up.

"Lillian, this is Lily. She's just a little over a month old. You can hold her if you want to. But sit in the rocking chair first."

Lily sat down and Delia handed her the baby. Lily looked down into her own eyes. It felt really strange to be holding herself in her arms.

"She's beautiful," she murmured. "And I just know she'll get more beautiful as she gets older."

"You're very lovely yourself, Lillian," Delia said. "There's something about you that reminds me of myself. We look like we could be mother and daughter!"

Lily giggled.

"Well, anyway, I hope Lily looks as much like me at your age as you do."

Baby Lily started crying. Lily handed her over to her mother so she could be fed. Then she got out of the chair so her mother could sit down.

"Thank you, Lillian. You're such a polite girl. Are you hungry? You can have whatever you want from the kitchen."

"I'm okay, thanks. But I am a little tired."

"Gary!" Delia called. "Would you please show Lillian to her room?"

Gary came to the doorway. "Fine. Come on!" he said rudely.

"Gary! Don't be rude!" Delia exclaimed.

"Oh, it's all right. He's always like that. I'm used to it," Lily said without thinking.

"You two know each other already?"

"I've never seen her before in my life," Gary said.

Lily realized she'd messed up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking of someone else who looks like you, Gary." Nice save! She thought.

"Oh. Okay. This way," Gary said. He led her to the guest room. "Here it is. If you ran away from home, how come you didn't take anything with you?"

"Because I'm an idiot, I guess. Where's my Celebi?"

"She went to the lab with my grandfather. Did you know he's the top Pokemon researcher in the world?"

"Um, no, I didn't," she said, feigning surprise. "That's so cool! I actually got to meet the top Pokemon researcher of the whole world! And the baby, Lily, is so adorable! She looks just like me when I was a baby."

"She is pretty cute," said Gary. "Anyway, I guess I'll be going to bed too. Good night."

"Good night, Gary."

He left and Lily got ready for bed. There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Lily called. A red-haired girl stepped into the room.

"Hi, I'm Misty. They told me there was a girl here. What's your name?"

"Lillian." So this was Misty. She sure looked different.

"What happened to your face?"

"I fell. Spread the word for me, will you? That way I won't have to repeat myself a million times."

Misty laughed. "You're funny. Ash would like you. He's a friend of mine, and he's Lily's brother." She looked sad. "But he's gone. He was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped! That's terrible! Can't the police do anything?"

"Well, they're trying, but so far they haven't been able to find him. I'm really scared!" Misty started to cry. Lily hugged her.

"Don't worry," she said. "Ash will be home before you know it."

Okay, that's all for now. This has to be one of the worst chapters I've ever written! A thousand apologies, everyone! It won't always be this bad! At least, I hope it won't always be this bad… I'm just kidding! I'll try to do better in the future. Anyway, please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks!