As she stood on the sandy shore, she tried to recall the last time she'd been human. The last time she'd walked, rather than swam. That memory too had faded as the years passed. She walked slowly down the beach, reveling in the feel of the sand beneath her bare feet. She would cherish the memories this time, strengthen for the long wait in the depths.
Kay had no doubts that she would be banished again, because she knew they would fail. They always failed. No matter how many times they repeated the Re-birth.
Because they had forgotten their purpose. It too had drifted away with the currents of time.
Her eyes fell upon a sleeping figure. Her brother, Gi. She smiled and knelt beside him.
"It is time for the Teaching, Brother Gi," she murmured.
The red headed boy blinked uncertainly into the blinding light of the sun before nodding with a sigh. He too knew the futility of this.
They sat there for long moments, both wanting to remember this, not wanting to return to the depths where they would again be enemies--Land and Sea at war.
Then Gi gasped and sat up straight, the languidity of before gone. "He's gone..."
Kay gasped as she felt it too.
On the other side of the world, two mysterious pokemon keened in surprise and dismay. Silver looked at his parents questioningly, and whimpered, wondering what they were so sad about.
High above a village in Johto, highlighted by the moon, another pokemon frowned and stared off into the distance. The boy, Ash, ever present in his subconscious had disappeared. Death? Mewtwo looked down at the sleeping village. That would be unacceptable.
Bulbasaur woke up with a jerk, and looked around. Bayleef was crying piteously and several of Ash's other pokemon were shifting around uneasily. Something had happened to their friend and trainer. Bulbasaur waddled off to find Professor Oak.
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Cassidy scowled as the alarm inside the small submarine began ringing shrilly, indicating that there was resistance on the line. The blond turned to her green haired companion who was attempting to compensate.
"Must have caught on a rock or something," Butch guessed in his scratchy voice, "Or a pokemon."
"Well get rid of it, whatever it is!" Cassidy ordered, her eyes narrowed in anger, "those two hoighty toighty Rocket Elites will kick our butts if we don't bring that amulet back."
Butch shrugged slightly. It was a well known fact that Cassidy grew jealous of any Rocket member that was more beautiful than she was and had a better position. Still, that's why they had agreed to become the Jewel Sister's apprentices. Team Rocket assassins were paid big bucks, especially since they were rarely ever sent on stupid missions like this.
"We don't even know if it's here, Cass," he reasoned, "for all we know it could simply be a rock that's been sitting here for centuries."
They had special sensors fitted to the submarine, that were able to tell the age of an object within two hours. That was the first drawback, the amount of time they had to sit around and wait as they passed over each and every bump that didn't move in the lake. The second drawback was that they couldn't see outside.
"I don't care! Just reel it in and lets get going!" Cassidy was on the verge of a temper tantrum, and from experience Butch knew that it wasn't going to be pretty.
So, he quickly adjusted the line tension and began pulling against the resistance. At first, it looked as though the extra object they'd snagged was going to win the struggle, but then slowly and surely the line began dragging back towards the submarine. Butch grinned and gave Cassidy the thumbs up. The woman relaxed at this and even smiled back.
Of course, as the laws of the universe dictated--at least it had for them lately--when things started going right, they were inevitably going to go wrong. The proximity alarms rang loud and unexpected, just before a strange spike of energy blasted the sub's engines and sent it soaring up out of the water.
It hit the ground and slid several feet before crashing into a pomeg berry tree. Shaken and bruised, Butch clambored out of the wreckage and looked around. Cassidy was standing straight up, her blond hair singed and standing up on end. Her face was red, and a vein was pulsing at her temple. Butch scrambled to his feet and walked over to see what she was staring at.
Four pokemon stood bristling and ready to fight, three that the Johto and Kanto bred Rockets didn't recognize. The fourth was a very familiar yellow furred pikachu. Butch practically groaned as he looked around for the brats that owned these pokemon, reaching automatically for the pokeball at his waist. However, he was stopped by an hand on his arm.
"The brats aren't around," Cassidy said, her eyes sparkling, "let's teach them what it means to mess with Team Rocket."
Before either of them could react however, the pikachu let loose with a shocking attack, managing to singe the already bruised and battered bodies of the two Team Rocket goons. Butch howled with anger and tossed the pokeball. In a flash of red a zangoose appeared, all four feet on the ground and ready to attack.
"Go Zangoose, use quick attack!" Butch ordered. The normal type pokemon rushed at the four, knocking the unknown grass type aside. Butch grinned and cheered, glad he had taken the time to catch the pokemon.
The pikachu growled low in its throat and came back with a quick attack of its own. Far more powerful than Zangoose, the attack caused the cat-like pokemon to be flung back into a tree, effectively knocking it out. Butch scowled and reached for the other pokeball that wasn't there.
Cursing, he turned to go back to the sub to get the object that must have been dropped in the crash, when the sound of thudding bodies made him stop. He looked back at the battle scene and gaped. The four pokemon lay on the ground, blood pooling around them with Cassidy standing over them, a triumphant, yet slightly insane, grin on her face and a gun, silencer on, in her hand.
"That'll teach those brats," she told him, before walking calmly over to the sub and picking up a small wooden box that still dripped water, from the slackened line and began walking in the direction the Jewel Sisters had set up their camp.
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A strange, musty scent mixed with the smell of something sweet filled the air, making Ash's nostrils twitch. Breathing in deeply, he opened his eyes slowly and found himself looking up the nose of an unknown pokemon. It must not have been a threat though, or Pikachu would have woken him.
Ash sat up groggily, but then cried out as a sharp pain lanced through his right hand. The creature snorted and backed up a few paces, its hooves making small indentations in the soft dirt he was lying in. Tears filled Ash's eyes and he brought the hand up for closer inspection, expecting to find a cut or a thorn, or something else along those lines.
What he saw made him blink several times through the salty droplets so that he could make sure his vision wasn't playing tricks on him. However, the strange mark was still emprinted on his hand, as though burned on. Fitting since the center lines depicted a flame. Ash frowned as the pain subsided. It looked almost as though he'd been branded with a badge of some sort.
Shaking his head, he looked around to see what Brock would think of this and found his frown going even deeper when he realized that he was all alone. That wasn't the only strange thing. He could have sworn they had been camping in a forest; this place was in the middle of a large grassy plain.
And, his heart stopped at this realization, he was wearing only his underwear, and his pokemon were nowhere to be seen. Panicking, Ash jumped to his feet, making the strange pokemon jump and back up even further, its eyes wide and white with fright. Ash didn't have time to calm it down though, because he had to find his pokemon.
"Pikachu!" he called, straining his ears to hear the welcoming answer of his best friend. The first thought on his mind was Team Rocket...but why would they steal his clothes too? "Treeko! Corphish! Taillow! Where are you! Brock! May! Max!"
He repeated his calls, but soon tired, his hand throbbing with each beat of his heart. He tripped over a rock, stubbing his bare toe and fell to his knees. Tears of anguish and frustration filled his eyes and he pounded on the ground with his fists, ignoring the pain. Finally, his energy was spent, and he slumped to the ground, one cheek resting in the cool grass.
Memories slowly returned, but they only served to depress him even more. Whatever that red flash of light had been, must have transported him to this other place. He'd never see Pikachu and the others again.
Grass rustled just out of his range of vision, and he lifted his head slightly to see the new pokemon standing and staring at him. It looked almost like a rapidash, but was a reddish brown and didn't have flames for a mane and tail. Ash sat up and smiled, never one to be down in the dumps for long, holding his hand out.
"Hey there," he said, keeping his voice soft and even, "I don't have my pokedex with me, so I don't know what to call you."
The creatures ears pricked forward, curiosity evident in its expression. Ash remained where he was and waited, talking in soft low tones, telling it of his adventures--and misadventures. Slowly but surely the creature walked towards him and lowered its head. Ash grinned and gently pet the nose. The creature closed its eyes and butted his hand with its head, begging for more.
Ash couldn't help but laugh. "Well, you look like a rapidash, but I don't think I'll call you that," he murmured, scratching it between the ears, "how about...Red?" The creature made a strange whuffling noise that Ash took to be ascent and he grinned. "Okay, Red it is!"
As the moments flew by, Ash began to feel heartened once more. With this pokemon at his side, he would figure out where he was, and--after finding some new clothes--go find his friends.
tbc....