"This is Pallet Town?"

Melody blinked, staring at the scene before her. Brock and Misty weren't joking when they'd mentioned Pallet Town didn't look like the rest of the cities. A paved roadway cut through the small town, branching off here and there for side roads, but for the most part, Pallet Town was covered in lush green grass.

"I told you it looked different," Misty said, shaking her head. "What did you expect?"

"Something more along the lines of Fuchsia City," Melody shook her head, thinking back to the small city they'd briefly visited.

Down the hill and to their right were a variety of smaller homes, a handful looking more like farmhouses to Melody. To their left was one lone home atop another hill, the homes' acres separated by short fences. That must be Professor Oak's place, she thought idly.

Melody cast a sidelong glance at Mrs. Ketchum, idly wondering what the red-haired woman was thinking about. For a brief moment, she wanted to ask her what she was thinking about, how odd it must have been to find her sons' friends alive and joining her in the trip home to Pallet. At the same time, Melody felt a pang of pity for the woman – she was facing her son's death once again, a glimmer of hope he might still be alive somewhere.

"Where should we head first?" Melody asked, breaking the silence. Her first thought was visiting the Professor's lab, but that was Brock and Misty's call.

Brock and Misty paused, casting a glance at one another, their minds racing. Melody glanced at the two, catching their slight reaction, before glancing up at the cloudless sky, the sun directly overhead.

"If you're alright with it," Mrs. Ketchum said, speaking for the first time in a while. "We might as well go and pick up Krabby, and then you'll be," she shook her head, putting her emotions back in order. "Then, you'll be free to go to Cinnabar when you want."

Brock mumbled in agreement, Misty nodding as she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder, speechless. Melody watched the trio, briefly thinking that she could just disappear and they wouldn't even notice . . .

"Come on, dere leavin' without us," Meowth said, starting after the three. "I tink the last time we was here . . . was when we's tried ta swipe de starters . . ." Meowth mused, mostly to himself.

Melody shook her head, catching Meowth's last sentence. "You were quite the criminal, huh? Who would have thought Jessilina had a rebellious side." Just the thought made her grin.

"You's don't know da half of it, kid." Meowth said, shaking his head.

Pallet Town was relatively quite this early in the morning, something Melody had found interesting. If she was back home on the Shamouti Islands, everyone was up and moving by five a.m. heading out for their boats, the market; the early bird gets the worm, explained her Island perfectly.

"Is everyone really still sleeping?" Melody asked eventually as they veered off the main street, Professor's Oak's lab ahead. "It's already eight a.m." she added, looking at her watch.

Mrs. Ketchum smiled slightly. "It's a small town charm, there's no need to be up at the crack of dawn."

"Not even on the day you choose your Pokemon," Misty grinned slightly, shaking her head. "Honestly, he . . . wait . . . he still owes me a bike!"

Brock let out a laugh at Misty's explanation. "You're still thinking about that?"

Misty grinned, shaking her head. "Not really, I'd actually forgotten about it. Hmm," she trailed off. "It's hard to think about different my life would have been if I hadn't gone fishing that day . . ."

Melody frowned, her hands shoved in her pockets, she was tired of being ignored. "What are you going to say to this Professor when you see him?" she said, interjecting herself into the conversation.

"I'm . . . not sure," Misty mumbled. "What do you say to someone you only met through a video screen?"

Brock shrugged, equally as lost as Misty was. "I hadn't thought about it yet."

"Dey already know you's alive though," Meowth said, glancing up at Brock.

"Oh, let me do the talking then!" Melody chirped, grinning up at them. "I promise to give you an entrance if you want –"

"No," Misty said, deadpanned. "You seem too energetic –"

"Kinda like Jessie was," Meowth said, shaking his head.

"I'm not like Jessilina!" Melody said, whirling around on Meowth. "That's just . . . no way."

"I think I see a resemblance right there –"

"I see it to," Misty nodded. "Jessie was always the one to snap on Meowth –"

"Not you too!" Melody whined, turning on the two. "It's not funny, stop laughing!"

But, somehow she found herself laughing at it too, the tension that the looming building was creating momentarily defused.

"Pika!"

"Guys . . ." came Mrs. Ketchum's voice.

The three teenagers stopped, glancing over their shoulders' at the red-haired woman, pausing at the sight before them.

They were no more than forty steps from the door of Oak's lab, where Mrs. Ketchum stood, Pikachu at her feet. What caught their attention though was the sight behind her. The heavy wooden door was already open, an older man with graying hair standing in the doorframe, papers tucked underneath his arm.

Brock and Misty's comments died on their tongues, staring at the Professor Ash was constantly calling. Melody, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow, the pieces all falling together. "Oh! So this is Professor Oak!"

Professor Oak glanced from Delia to the three teenagers with a Meowth, confusion written across his features. "Delia, what's going on here?" He glanced back at her, briefly catching sight of something yellow, moving at her feet.

"Is that . . .?" Realization dawned on him as he glanced from the electrical rodent to the teens standing on his lawn. "It can't be; it's not possible."

Melody smiled slightly; no doubt this would be hard to comprehend after coming to terms with the previous outcome.

"Professor Oak," Delia said, trying to find the right words. "It seems that . . ." she shook her head.

"Besides Brock, half the trainers on board survived," Melody said, breaking the silence, as she walked up the worn path. She smiled slightly as she came to a stop before the Professor, sticking her hand out. "My name's Melody Lino, I wasn't on board the St. Anne," she added, seeing Professor Oak trying to place the name. "But I'm sure you recognize them . . ." she trailed off, pointing to the two behind her.

"Hello Professor," Brock said, suddenly professional.

"We're finally meeting you in person," Misty said awkwardly, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Melody rolled her eyes. "As touching as this is, I suggest we move this inside. Quiet town or not, people are going to eventually come outside."

Professor Oak nodded, his dark eyes glancing at the two previously deceased teens. "Yes, you're quite right," he muttered, moving aside, ushering them inside. "It seems there's more to this story then originally believed . . ."

# # #

Cole knew something was wrong, the silence deafening.

Pausing mid-step, he glanced around his surroundings, darkness pressing against him.

"May?" he called, his voice echoing against the cave wall. "Max?"

In his mind, he counted to ten – no answer reverberating back to him.

"Come on guys – this isn't funny!"

Silence was his only answer, the sounds of Pokemon scraping against the cave walls his only answer.

"Great," Cole muttered, rolling his eyes. "The path must have split back there."

For a moment, he considered retracing his steps, he could find out where the path split, and go from there . . . but what if the path split in more than one way?

He wasn't sure, but standing there in the darkness, alone, he found his mind jumping from one scenario to another. Cole could feel the folded up map of Dewford he'd purchased at the PokeMart useless without . . .

Charmander, his subconscious thought, the salamander coming to mind.

"A Charmander . . . why?"

The sky had been darkening all day, rain coming down in sheets; a Charmander sat on the rock, huddled under a leaf –

They were in trouble, they were at a dead end with no where to turn, the only way out was up. Only Fire Spin could help them . . .

"What . . .?" Cole shook his head, dispelling the thoughts. "Why am I thinking about," he paused momentarily, thinking back to one thought.

Them. Them – why was he dreaming in the plural tense?

Closing his eyes, he ran a hand through his hair, there never was a 'them', not until he met Duplica and Anabel.

"I'm holding you responsible for my bike!"

"Say -, why is that girl following us?"

"We're blasting off again!"

"Just who are you?" Cole muttered, shaking his head.

Who were those people? He hadn't thought about those disembodied bodies since that first week Ericka found him – wait, found him?

"No, I don't want to think about it," Cole muttered, shaking his head. "No, everything's the way it's supposed to be – I left home for a reason."

His eyes widened – home?

Home was Celadon City . . . the dorm at the Pokemon Academy . . .

"What's happening?" Cole mumbled to himself, running a hand over his face.

Why was he picturing grassy hills, the scent of the ocean, and there was a big event . . . something he was late for?

Cole sighed, closing his eyes in the darkness. He could almost picture it . . . there was an older woman there, her red hair tied back, another kid with – was it brown? – hair, and – if only he could picture them clearer; their features blurred.

"Is that . . . my mom?"

"You've got the wrong person," a voice said, interrupting Cole's conversation.

Cole jumped, so lost in thought he didn't hear the footsteps. "Ha ha, very funny May. I'm surprised you two could keep quiet that long . . ."

"Ah, so you must be the other kid that they were talking about," the person mused to themselves, shaking their head. "Those two almost walked into a manhole half an hour ago, that's one drop you don't want to make."

"You saw May and Max?"

"What're kids your age thinking running around Granite Cave without a flashlight or a Pokemon's help," the person replied, shaking his head. "Stunts like that are going to get you killed."

Cole sighed, rolling his eyes at the lecture. "I have a Pokemon and a Stone Badge." He knew what he was doing.

"I see," the person said slowly. "And, where is this Pokemon, may I ask? Pokemon don't generally like it when their trainers do reckless things that could be solved easily."

"It's a -" Cole paused momentarily, where had Pikachu come from? "It's an Aipom."

"That knows Flash, I presume."

" . . ." Cole gritted his teeth, what was it with this person? "I haven't beaten the Dewford Gym yet – that's why I'm here, we're training."

"Without Flash, you're looking to lose yourself in this maze," Fumbling with something in their pocket, the person pulled out a flashlight, turning it on moments later. "You've been rather fortunate – see that?" they trained their flashlight down the way Cole had just come from. "You missed that manhole there, and there's another one just up ahead," the flashlight flicked around, showing the other hole, thirty paces ahead. "Those are the only way off this level, but, I'm sure a fall from this height would end your summer vacation early."

"I see," Cole said slowly, inwardly cursing himself. "You said you ran into May and Max, did they -?"

"Almost," the person said, the flashlight flicking off, casting them back into darkness. The most Cole managed to glimpse was blue hair before darkness engulfed him again. "With all the activity going on in this cave tonight, I can pretty much assume that I'm not going to find what I'm looking for; no doubt the Pokemon has gone into hiding. Another lead coming up empty," they mused, pulling something from their backpack. "Hold this."

Cole frowned, feeling around in front of him, trying to find whatever it was being held out to him. "It would be helpful if you're flashlight was still on," he grumbled, his fingers finding the offered item moments later.

The next thing Cole knew, he was standing outside the Granite Cave, a worn rope clutched in his hands. "How . . .?" He was staring at the entrance of the cave, the waves lapping against the shore.

"Cole!" May's voice sounded from behind him. "I see you made it too."

Shaking his head, Cole turned around on his heel, his eyes locating his travelling companions. May was sitting on a large outcropping of rock, leaning back on her palms, staring at the sky. Max was sitting beside her, rooting through his backpack for something.

"I'm guessing you met the same person as us," Max said, nodding at the rope in Cole's hand. "That was how we got here too."

"Rather rude, huh?" May said, stretching her arms over her head. "I mean really, he just handed us a rope and we get spirited away? I want to march back in there, just for the heck of it!"

Cole grinned, making his way through the tall grass. "I bet you would. Why not come back tomorrow night then – we'll have Flash by then."

May nodded, jumping down from the rocks. "Perhaps you're right!" She glanced over at the cave entrance, Skitty's Pokeball in her hand. "We're not afraid."

Cole laughed, ruffling her hair. "Tough girl, huh?"

"Say," Max interrupted, forcing his way between the two. "Did you get a good look at who it was?"

Frowning, Cole shook his head. "Nope, all I saw a flash of blue hair before they turned their flashlight off."

"Told you!" Max said, rolling his eyes at May. "I told her I was pretty sure it was Steven Stone – he's pretty important in Hoenn," Max added for Cole's benefit.

"Yeah, and Cole said he had blue hair, the Dewford Gym Leader has blue hair too," May said, shrugging. "How do you know it wasn't him doing some late night training?"

"Why would anyone do that?" Max said, shaking his head.

"Same reason we did," May quipped, playfully pushing him. "Honestly!"

Max shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets, the Pokemon Center appearing as they rounded the corner, leaving the deserted shore behind. "How would you know all that about Gym Leaders anyway? You were never interested back home."

"I ran into him on the beach earlier, he was surfing," May shrugged. "Some of the other girls were talking about him and whatnot."

Cole let out a laugh, the sound echoing through the night. "You were checking him out, weren't you?"

"What?!" May shouted, eyes widening slightly. "No way, you've got it all wrong!" she insisted, waving her hands before her.

"You're blushing," Cole quipped, grinning over his shoulder. "May you've got a –" he didn't get to finish as May drove her elbow into his side, eyes narrowed.

# # #

Jessilina glanced down at her map, a frown on her features.

She was standing on the outskirts of Vermillion City, staring at the Diglett's Cave, a Pokeball in hand. She could do this.

Once out of sight from the Marina, Jessilina had set off at a jog, her mind focused on getting out of the city's limits. Once out of the city, she paused as she came face-to-face with a fork in the road.

Route 11 stretched out before her, the route hugging the coast line until it reached Fuchsia City. In the corner of her mind, her subconscious mentioned that the Laramie Ranch was located off of Route 15 – what if they recognized her?

A cave was to her left, the wooden sign calling it Diglett's Cave. Consulting her map, she frowned, glaring at the stretched, printed out map. She hadn't bothered to write down every detail, the words on the map blurred to the point she had re-wrote a majority of the town's names.

"Route 11 it is . . ." she mumbled, shaking her head.

Heading out onto the grassy plains, she shoved her hands in her pockets, staying on the path, taking in her surroundings as she went.

"Hey you!" Jessilina jumped, the voice coming out of nowhere, a kid popping out of the tall grass moments later. "My Rattata is the top percentile of Rattata – let me show you!"

"Huh?" Jessilina raised an eyebrow, staring at the youngster. "Are you talking to me?"

Just who was this kid? She glanced down at the Pokemon the youngster had released, a purple and white rodent staring up at her. That's it? she thought subconsciously, not what she had expected.

"Ah, I see!" The youngster said, drawing Jessilina's eye again. "You're so frightened by my fantastic Rattata that you're unable to send out your own Pokemon. I see how it is, I congratulate you on recognizing this."

"I doubt that," Jessilina said, the youngster recalling their Rattata and disappearing back into the tall grass. "I just don't have a Pokemon."

"Did I just hear you right, kid?"

Jessilina jumped at the sudden booming voice. Is this what she left the Orange Islands for – to get called at every few steps? Running the words over in her mind though, she frowned, drawing herself up to her full height. She wasn't a kid – she was nearly seventeen!

"You ain't got a Pokemon?"

"Obviously," Jessilina grumbled, turning on her heel. "Otherwise I'd be . . ." she trailed off, glancing at the person before her. It was vague, but she recognized him. She noticed that he was dressed in darker coloured clothes; his blonde hair was sticking up in various directions. "Otherwise I'd have won that fight." she finished, shaking her head.

"You ain't gonna last long out here," he commented, Pokeball's hanging from his belt. "You'd be better off in the cities."

Jessilina frowned, crossing her arms over her shoulder. "I know what I'm doing," she said, brushing him aside. "Staying in the city won't accomplish what I need," she added, holding his gaze.

To her surprise the blonde let out a booming laugh, shaking their head at her words. "'Atta girl, ain't gonna get anywhere waiting around – take this."

Jessilina blinked, surprise etched across her face as he tossed a Pokeball in her direction. Raising an eyebrow, Jessilina glanced at the circular ball, her thoughts muddled. "What?"

"I'm goin' after a prize better than that guy," the person said, pulling sunglasses out from their pockets. "It's not nearly electric enough for me."

Jessilina blinked, staring at him. "Thanks . . . I guess?"

"Head through that there cave, it'll take you to Pewter City and the Boulder Badge. Don't think for one second though that the Vermillion Gym will go easy on you – I aim to win."

"I want to go to Cinnabar Island."

"You ain't strong enough to take on Blaine yet; he'd make mince meat out of ya," the person, Lt. Surge, said with another booming laugh. "Ya got your work cut out for ya, kid."

"I challenge you then," Jessilina said, not knowing where the words came from. "I'm not a rookie . . ."

Jessilina stood there in silence as Lt. Surge let out his booming laugh, shaking his head at her words. "Pewter City, kid." was all he said, turning on his heel, walking away from her, calling forth a Pokemon (Raichu) as he left.

After consulting her map, Jessilina realized that the cave Lt. Surge pointed to ended in the eastern side of Kanto. She wanted to avoid running into Karol who knew she was heading to Fuchsia City – Jessilina feeling that Karol was going to come after her – and heading in the opposite direction could prove useful.

The map showed that by going North from Pewter City, she would eventually wind up in Pallet Town. Sure, the map showed that Pallet Town was relatively small – renowned for someone living there – with no ferry system to get her to Cinnabar.

She bit down on her lip, undecided.

Rolling the Pokeball over in her hands, she glanced over her shoulder, Vermillion behind her. How long had it been since she had left Karol? How long would it be until Karol separated ways from Officer Jenny? Sighing, Jessilina glanced at the Pokeball in hand, and shaking her head, tossed the Pokeball in the air.

"Come on out!" She said, watching the ball arc through the sky.

"Licky!"

Jessilina raised an eyebrow, staring at the creature. The creature was pink, its stomach striped pink and yellow, its black eyes staring intently at her. What caught Jessilina's eye though was its tongue, the object protruding from its mouth. Idly, she wondered how the creature didn't trip over its own tongue.

"Is this why he wanted to get rid of it?" she muttered, glaring over her shoulder at the city. "What is your name, anyway?" she said, turning her attention back to the creature, its eyes intent on her.

"Licky, Lickitung!"

"Licki . . . tung?" Jessilina said, trying the name out for herself. "Well, alright then, Lickitung . . . we're going to Pewter City."

Without another word, Jessilina turned on her heel, beckoning the creature to follow her. She needed to put some distance between herself and Karol, the last thing she needed was to run into her at an ill-timed moment. It would just be her luck if Karol caught up with her in Fuchsia, joining her on the ferry to Cinnabar.

"Maybe I should have just given her the map," Jessilina said idly to herself, starting into the Diglett's Cave, the ground sloping under her feet. "That way I wouldn't be constantly looking for her."

If Melody saw her with Karol through Cinnabar's crowd, the brunette would disappear again in the blink of an eye. Something she didn't want to happen – Melody had the answers she needed; her thoughts straying to the picture in her backpack. It was unfocused, the crowd around them blurred, the presumed deceased son of the Morgan's gripping her hand, dragging her away from the cameraman in order to disappear in the crowd.

James, she thought idly. Was he really dead?

Was she . . . she shook her head.

She wanted her missing memories back.

"What am I going to about Pallet Town though?" she mumbled to herself, storing her map in her back pocket, Lickitung walking beside her. "We have no way to get to Cinnabar . . . unless, is there a chance you know how to Surf?"

"Lic – Licky!"

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Jessilina sighed.

Steal one, came to her mind, out of nowhere, making her stop in her tracks.

Steal one? Steal someone else's Pokemon? Why would she do something like that . . .?

# # #

Nurse Joy hummed lightly to herself, putting the clipboards used throughout the day back in their correct spot.

The foyer of the Pokemon Center was relatively quite for a change, giving the pink-haired nurse a chance to catch up on the work that kept building up.

While she was helpful for the help her Chansey's gave her, there were certain things the Pokemon couldn't help her with. While they were great when it came to dealing with sick and injured Pokemon, who knew Nurse Joy wasn't their trainer, she missed interacting with people.

The only people she really got to interact with were her clients; who usually thrust their Pokeballs in her face, urging her to heel them quickly before they retreated to the benches to flip through their Pokedex's or phone home.

Lost in thought, she jumped as she heard her computer make a sound, notifying her that she had an e-mail.

Her cerulean eyes glanced at the clock hanging on the far wall; it was just after noon.

Knowing her Chansey's could take care of things for the moment, Nurse Joy pulled the computer chair out, sinking down into it. Dragging her mouse across the screen, she opened up her e-mail browser, quickly locating the new e-mail.

She noticed that it was sent from Officer Jenny and marked Important.

Opening up the e-mail, Nurse Joy scanned the e-mail, reading it quickly. From what she could gather, it seemed that someone from just off the coast of Vermillion had runaway from home and was last seen in the Vermillion area, a couple weeks prior.

"That's never good . . ." Nurse Joy mused, shaking her head.

It wasn't the first time it had happened. Some parents were against their sons and daughters heading off into the world alone at the age of ten and chose instead to keep them home. In most cases, the runaway would wind up at a Gym with a Pokemon they had somehow managed to capture and eventually turn up at the Pokemon Center.

Since the Pewter City Gym was located nearby, no doubt the trainer would be headed to Pewter, if they hadn't already been here. There was the odd case where the trainer thought the Viridian Gym was the first Gym and wound up over their head.

Pushing her bangs back, Nurse Joy clicked on the photo attachment, a photo opening up moments' later, making Nurse Joy pause.

She knew that girl; she'd been there mere hours ago.

"Please tell me you have a room available?" a brunette said, leaning against the counter. "Can you believe my traveling companion made me walk here from Fuchsia City today – and we were in Lavender Town hours before that!"

. . .

"It looks like she might not be coming," she said, distracted, handing the key in to Nurse Joy. The clock overhead proclaimed it was coming up to five a.m. "It might just be the two of us . . ." she trailed off, glancing down at her Meowth.

If memory served her correctly; that was the room with all the activity – the guest in the next room complaining about her the next morning.

Closing her eyes, Nurse Joy leaned back in her chair, trying to remember all the faces she had seen in the past twenty-four hours. Slowly, the pieces were coming to her – there was a red-haired girl with her, a Pikachu on her shoulder, although she seemed distracted at the time talking about the Pewter Gym.

It had struck her as odd at the time, the two girls returned hours later, with two additional people trailing behind them – both people instantly recognizable.

The first was Brock Slate, who had been all over the news due to him somehow surviving the Trainer Cruise in Vermillion and returning home a year later. And the other, although less-known as she refused to appear on television, was Delia Ketchum, her son having past away in the Vermillion Bay Incident as well.

Her question at the time was why?

It didn't surprise her at first to see Delia Ketchum; no doubt the woman wanted to confirm for herself that someone had survived that incident.

"But why would they be . . .?" Nurse Joy trailed off, frowning at her computer screen; Melody's picture looking back at her.

Brock Slate, Delia Ketchum, a run-away, and a red-haired girl, Nurse Joy thought, frowning.

Her cerulean eyes glanced at the picture again; the girl in question, Officer Jenny having called her Melody, having left the Center in the early hours of the morning. She had left saying that she was apparently continuing the journey alone from then on, and Nurse Joy didn't think anything past that. But, thinking back now, she recalled seeing Brock leave the Center, Delia Ketchum and the red-haired girl leaving moments later; none returning to her knowledge.

Nurse Joy shook her head, dispelling the thoughts as she dragged the mouse across the screen, clicking Reply. Her hands rested on the keyboard, the words she wanted to say forming in her mind and she found the red-haired girl reappearing in her mind.

The same thought kept running through her mind – Brock Slate, Delia Ketchum, and . . . and who?

Nothing connected them except the Vermillion Bay Incident . . .

Minimizing her e-mail program, Nurse Joy clicked on another icon, her document page loading, file folders littering her screen. Scrolling through the endless list – she really needed to clean this out sometime – she eventually found the Archived Files, the folder holding important documents regarding to all of Kanto

She knew the document was in there; and within moments she found the document title she was looking for, the computer loading the information regarding the initial report of missing people in the Vermillion Bay Incident.

Their names and pictures, if available, were mentioned in the article: the heir to the Morgan fortune, two Trainers (without a photo present), and two Gym Leaders – Brock Slate and Misty Williams.

Everyone knew what the Gym Leaders looked like; but the writer of the article included their official Leader photo; Brock stared at the camera, his Geodude behind him, and Misty, the red-haired girl was smiling, flashing a peace sign at the camera.

Nurse Joy paused, staring at the photo. It was slight, but there was a resemblance to the girl with the Pikachu, talking intently about the Pewter Gym. "It can't be . . .!"

Had Misty Williams survived as well?

Hadn't she heard Melody tell her Meowth that they were going to go meet someone?

Could it be possible . . . had those trainers somehow survived?

It was hard to believe . . . but . . .

"Nurse Joy? Are you okay?"

Nurse Joy jumped, pushing her thoughts away as she turned away from the computer, smiling at the trainer. "Welcome to the Pokemon Center, do your Pokemon need healing?"

Just like that, the e-mail from Officer Jenny was forgotten as she took the offered Pokeballs, however, her thoughts were a mile away.

# # #