Pichu Star: Thanks. Though, I also looked over bits of the older chapters and I noticed where the tenses were off, though, those were basically typos. Spelled correctly, but not correctly in the way that I wanted them. But, I'm sure that this chapter doesn't have at least many problems.
Chris Bennett: Thanks. I appreciate it.
Author's Notes: Well, it's been a while since I last worked on this. Hopefully I won't have much difficulty keeping the drive to finish this fic. Anyway, I guarantee you that this fic will be completed. I just can't guarantee how long it'll take me. Also, any guesses at how it'll end are always welcome. It won't change how I have it planned, but I just like to see how others are thinking that this will end. Anyway, onto the next chapter!
Verbal Dialogue – "Dialogue"
Telepathy Dialogue – Dialogue
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Bill couldn't believe this. He searched through all of his files that he had as quickly as he could. He couldn't find anything of even reports of a Dragonite this large. The largest ever recorded wasn't even close to half of this one's height. Bill knew that this was one of the biggest discoveries of the century. He wasn't even sure that this discovery could even be topped, but he had a feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg. He knew that he needed to let all the professors in all of the regions know about this. And for some reason, Bill couldn't be certain exactly; this Dragonite had really taken a liking to him. It was almost as if it considered him its friend.
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Jack followed the Blazeon. For whatever reason, the Blazeon wanted Jack to follow it. Jack figured that it would be good to indulge the pokemon since they wouldn't be living beyond today anyway. Even with just one of the sealed ones, the island would be uninhabited by the end of the day. Although, something just didn't feel right, and Jack was certain that that feeling had something to do with why the Blazeon was so excited. Jack wasn't sure, but he wondered if the Metallic ball really had been lost for all time. Jack shook his head. Even if it had been found, there wouldn't be enough time to bring it to the island before it was destroyed, so it really wasn't a concern of his.
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Will woke up slowly. He shook the groggy feeling that was the lazy part of him wanting to sleep some more. Will knew that he needed to leave and enter the seal as quickly as he could. Will motioned to the rest of the group that they were to remain until he returned. After a few deep breaths, and a very light breakfast, Will took a step through the seal.
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Ash hurried as he made his way through the sealed chamber. Ash wasn't sure why, but the island was shaking. Hard. Ash wondered if the volcano was finally waking up after being inactive for so long, or if it was something else. Either way, Ash knew that the sealed ones were on the move. He knew that if he took the passage that he had taken on his way through the first time, he wouldn't live to see Misty or May again. Although the upside of that would be that he wouldn't have to figure out which one he liked more, but he knew that both would be really sad of his loss, and he didn't even want to consider how devastated his mother would be. Ash sighed. This was just how things needed to be, he guessed. Ash grabbed a pokeball from his belt and called out, "Primeape!"
Primeape appeared and Ash didn't have to say anything to it, because Ash was able to somehow communicate what he wanted in the split second that Primeape had been out. Primeape then went to work on pummeling it's way through the stone walls. Ash was surprised at how thin they were. It was almost as if the area had been constructed before the mountain had existed. Ash wanted to think more on it, but he knew that he didn't have enough time right now to consider that possibility. Ash hurried through the mountain as quickly as he could; hoping that he wouldn't trip and fall. Because he knew, without knowing how, that both Gamma and Delta would be on top of him before he could make it to the exit any other way. Ash realized the reason why the entire area around him was shaking. The sealed ones were getting closer. Ash hoped that he wouldn't have to find out how big they were, he just hoped that he'd just be able to assume that they were both just incredibly heavy for their size.
Shortly after they had started, Ash could tell that they were nearly at the cave where Misty and the others were waiting for him to return. As they got to a path in which Ash knew that Primeape wouldn't be able to smash through, Ash recalled Primeape without missing a beat of his pace. Suddenly the ceiling of the cave started to crash down behind Ash. Ash wondered if that was one of the sealed ones right behind him. He didn't have the nerve to look. He just dove towards the edge of the seal. And slid through with the teeth of Gamma snapping right behind him, up to the edge of the seal.
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Misty and May leapt towards Ash as he slid through the seal. They would have made it to his side if the jaws of an enormous beast hadn't slammed into the edge of the seal right behind him. After a few moments the beast disappeared. It was several minutes before they were able to move towards Ash. Even though the surrounding area was still shaking, it seemed to have dissipated a little. Mark and Sara both were off to the side, keeping to themselves, though Brock could tell that they were surprised by something. He wasn't sure what, and in any case, he was quite sure that none of them were going to like it. As Brock decided to ask them what it was, Brock noticed a light coming towards them from the tunnel that they had come in through. As he turned, he saw a strange pokemon, that he assumed had at one point been an Eevee, but couldn't be sure, and another boy running after.
Everyone else seemed to have noticed the light and Mark called out, "Jack what are you doing here?"
"Blazeon wanted me to follow it," came the reply. "I'm not sure why, but it also seems pretty excited about something."
Mark and Sara both looked at the 'Blazeon.' Brock had to admit it definitely was one excited pokemon, but he wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. After all, every pokemon gets excited from time to time, right?
"Yeah, that's really strange," Sara said, frowning slightly. "Even the Beta said that he'd lived quite a long time and they didn't even think that it had been in the caves on it's own before."
"But it still lead me here with no directions given to it. It's almost as if it's been here before."
Brock couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something thing that he didn't like about Jack. It was something more than what he didn't like about Sara and Mark. Those two Brock didn't trust, but there was just something about Jack that made Brock want to tell him to just get lost. Brock shook his head. He decided that he should see if there was something that he could do to help Ash.
Misty was making Ash rest with his head in her lap. May was furious, and Brock suspected that he knew what was making her furious. Brock was about to say something when the seal seemed to just explode and all they could feel was a sudden burst of wind coming from the sealed portion of the caverns, and just by looking they could tell that the seal was gone. Without even moving to make sure that their guess was right. For some reason, the seal had failed, even after Ash was able to restore the seal to it to its peak of strength. Whatever had happened, Brock knew that it wasn't good.
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Will waited until his senses could adjust to the inside of the seal. He could tell that it was almost a completely different world just by looking, since everything seemed to be tinted a little red. Will also got the feeling that something really powerful lived down in here. Will really felt like leaving, just because of whatever was living here was making him more terrified than he had ever been in his life. Will assumed that it was the feeling of being close to something that nothing could stop, except a seal that would be destroyed as soon as he caught one of them. Will also could feel the ground shaking slightly. Will moved through the cavern, and soon came to an area that really was strange to Will. It seemed like at one point this cavern was inhabited and was customized into a dwelling. Will shrugged the thought off. Whatever had been here once had obviously been long since lost to the past. Will knew that nothing came of learning about the past. It was something that was best forgotten.
Will turned around a few bends in the cave and he suddenly was face to face with a very large pokemon. Will assumed this was one of the sealed ones, and was half surprised to find it asleep. Will shook his head, surprised at how easy this would be, He didn't think that it would be quite so simple, but he was never one to return a gift unless he got something more in return, and he was sure that this was the best his situation would get. Will threw the Crystalline ball and it struck the pokemon, sucking it in. Will waited for the ball to shake, but when it just seemed to melt into a regular pokeball, Will lightly tapped it with his hand, trying to figure out what was going on, if it was safe to pick up. Will was so focused on the ball, that he didn't even realize that his surroundings were starting to really shake. The red tint of his vision was also gone, but he didn't even realize it. Finally, Will was satisfied that he had successfully caught one of those sealed ones. Finally Will noticed the cave rumbling, and noticed that the red tinting had gone away. Will wasn't sure what to make of it, but the wall next to him seemed to explode, knocking Will to the side, as well as knocking him out. Which also saved his life, as Gamma moved down the corridor, towards where it could get out, and where there were plenty of creatures to destroy.
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Mark and Sara were trying to create a way for Ash to be carried out of the mountain, when a very strong gust of wind came from where the sealed ones resided. Mark and Sara had to calm down, Brock was very helpful with that, although he couldn't figure out what had upset them so much. May moved towards the seal, but stopped. "I think the seal's gone," May said.
Ash opened his eyes, unnoticed by anyone and he could feel the difference in the air. He knew what he had to do. Even though he didn't have any idea how he actually knew. Ash struggled to get up, and he was standing by the time that anyone noticed that he was conscious.
"Ash you need to rest!" Misty cried.
Ash turned to Misty and replied, "There's something that I need to do. I think that I'm the only one who can, and if I don't, she'll die."
Without saying anything else and without giving anyone else a chance to say anything, Ash took off towards the unsealed portion of the mountain. Where the statue that he saw resided. It took Ash a while to realize it, but he eventually noticed that he had a companion this time. Ash wasn't sure what the pokemon was, but he figured that it was a friendly pokemon, since it hadn't already tried to attack him. Ash felt the ground start to rumble, but it didn't feel like one of the sealed ones getting closer, but rather that the entire mountain was rumbling. Ash realized with horror that the volcano was starting to come to life.
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Will shook his head as he got up slowly. Although he didn't feel much different, his head was pounding hard. Will knew that he'd been knocked into the wall, but he wasn't sure by what, although he guessed that it was the other sealed one that had caused him to lose consciousness. It took Will a moment to remember about the sealed one that he had caught, but as he released it, he saw a Rhyhorn come out. Will couldn't understand it. He knew that he had caught an extremely large pokemon, but for whatever reason, it had become a simple Rhyhorn. Will laughed at his own ignorance. That stupid bird knew this would happen, Will thought. I was always being used. I don't even think that he expected me to stay alive. Will sat down and wondered what his options were.
After thinking for a bit, he knew that whatever he was going to do, he'd first need to gather his team up and then he could start to figure out a plan for attack. Whatever happened to him, he was going to eliminate that bird for using him so thoroughly. However, when Will got back to where he had told his team to wait, he could only stare as he saw his entire team, some of them friends of his, all dead. The carnage was visible through most of the cave. Will wasn't even sure if he wanted to live now after seeing that, but he knew that he'd first need to avenge his comrades. It wasn't until later that Will began to wonder how this failure would affect him. Maybe he should capture that stupid bird and present it to Giovannii. Then he might be able to turn this failure into something of just an expensive endeavor. Very expensive.
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Ash would have missed several of the turns, but Ash would be tugged by the glowing pokemon next to him. Whatever that statue is, Ash could tell that it was probably important to that pokemon. Though, Ash wondered exactly how it was important, but he knew that he needed to hurry and he couldn't afford to make a wrong turn. Suddenly another rumbling occurred and Ash saw a large crack forming along the cave where he was walking. Ash didn't let it slow him down, he just knew that he needed to continue, even if he got hurt. As boulders started to fall from the ceiling, Ash wondered if he really had made the right choice to come alone, but as some of the larger rocks came near to hitting him, a blast of electricity connected with them, breaking them apart. Ash then knew that Pikachu was with him as well. Ash continued to hurry on, and he eventually made it to where the statue was; however, there was no more statue. There was just an ugly bird, and a young girl.
Ash paused, not certain what to do. However, the pokemon that had come with him trotted over to the girl, and nudged her with its head. The girl stirred and moved into a sitting position. She looked around, then turned to Ash. She said something that Ash couldn't understand. Not only is she from another time, but she doesn't understand my language, Ash thought to himself. Ash could only think of one thing to do. Ash moved over and helped the girl get up, not bothering to say anything, because he knew that she wouldn't understand anyway. However, as soon as he started to walk her away from where the bird was, she said something and pointed to the bird. Ash could only assume that she was refusing to go until he did something to help the bird. Ash thought for a moment, then called out his Primeape and told it to carry the bird.
They continued to make their way through the caves slowly, but another rumbling sound, different from the ones that let Ash know that the volcano was going to erupt, let them know that there was something else around. Ash quickly pulled out the G/S ball and kept it ready. Ash wasn't really sure how this would work, but he knew that he would at least need to try, because even if something wasn't likely to work, it at least was better than doing nothing. Ash continued to move towards where the others were waiting, while hoping that the reason why the seal broke was because of the other being captured and not because it just disappeared on it's own.
As Ash turned another bend, he saw the pokemon staring right at him. Ash called out to Pikachu without even thinking. "Pikachu! Thundershock!"
Pikachu sent out an electric shock, but there didn't seem to be any effect, Ash knew then that if he didn't use the ball now, he'd never be able to use it. Ash threw the ball, hoping against hope that it would work. And to Ash's surprise it actually pulled the pokemon in and it didn't even blink to show that the pokemon was fighting. It just seemed to melt into a regular pokeball. Ash tentatively picked up the ball, not sure if the pokemon would suddenly burst out or something, but it seemed to hold. Ash then pocketed the ball and finished moving through the cave to where everyone else was waiting; deciding to wait on trying to answer the questions that kept popping up in his mind.
Though, he couldn't help but wonder why the girl ran over to Brock when she saw him. Ash could only guess that if the girl was Milikia, then Brock might be the reincarnation of her friend Alan. However, with the language barrier that they had currently, there wasn't any real way that Ash could tell if she was or not. Ash only hoped that they would be able to figure out a way around that problem. The trip out of the cave was a little eventful, but only because of the tremors that were announcing the eruption of the volcano that would occur soon.
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Author's Notes: Well, this took a lot longer than I had intended, but that's just how things go, eh? Anyway, there'll just be a short epilogue next. I should have that up within the week; at least if I don't have many problems with stuff going on. Anyway, let me know what you thought of it, and if you have to flame, then bring on the flames!