AN: A fun game I like to play when reading a thing is to guess the author's influences. See if you can guess which three pieces of media I was thinking of while writing this. Hint: one's a movie, one's a TV series, and one's an anime.

A whole lot about the story took shape as I was writing this chapter, both in the chapter itself and in the background document I keep to make sure I know what I'm doing. The trick now is going to be not changing my mind about what I've decided, because that happens a lot.

As always, enjoy, and please leave a review if you have any thoughts. I love hearing them.

Ash had spent the better part of his life in the presence of Pokemon. Though his primary reputation was as a trainer and battler, those in the community also knew him to be an authority on Pokemon behavior, biology, and taxonomy. This had happened mostly by accident: when you dedicate your life to finding, befriending, catching, training, and battling Pokemon - when you shun the comforts of home, the promise of a family and the subtle allure of the mundane - what you end up with is an extensive practical education in the field.

As such, he'd encountered more Pokemon species variants than almost anyone else his age: a myriad of shiny Pokemon, sexual dimorphic forms, Eeveelutions, regional varieties, almost every pattern of Spinda, and he even had a Sneasler back at Oak's lab. He'd seen bizarre mutations, met fascinating hybrids, and trained strange beasts from worlds beyond this one.

He was used to what's out of the ordinary - excited by it, no less. Every new discovery was part of the journey, and he leapt at the chance to share his experiences with anyone who'd ask.

Owing to a moderately-traumatic experience very early on in his journey, though, Ash had one type of Pokemon variant that never excited him to see: Giant Pokemon. Perhaps part of it had to do with the primal human fear of things bigger than they should be. Or it could have been as simple as a healthy respect for that which could eat a person without much difficulty. Likely a cocktail of reasons, all of them good ones. Giant Pokemon terrified him.

Above them, perched across a narrow stretch of the canyon walls - its left foot on the west side and right foot on the east - was the largest Hydreigon Ash had ever seen. Each of its three heads was the size of an SUV, and he could not tell at a glance which one of them looked hungrier. This was not going to be a battle.

Misty had - wisely - already recalled Forretress, and Pikachu was quick to leap back up on Ash's shoulder.

"Ash–"

"I know!"

He'd never run this fast in his life. Good thing, too: the ground he'd just been standing on evaporated behind him as the giant Hydreigon fired a three-headed Dragon Pulse. Literally the only advantage Ash and Misty had was that the dragon did not know how to lead its shots. He did not think the two of them were quick enough on foot for it to matter very long.

Ash focused his attention on Misty as they made their mad sprint, not interested in letting her out of his sight. In his head, once he did then she'd be as good as dead, and he could not deal with the idea of that. So, against her advice, he reached for his Pokeballs.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, noticing that he'd needed to slow down. He felt his back get warm and heard the screech of another Dragon Pulse behind them. Time was running out.

"Something stupid," he shouted, a crazed, terrified grin across his face. "Charizard! Dragonite!"

He hurled both Pokeballs out of one hand, desperately hoping that this trick-throw would land right. Charizard's opened in front of him, and Dragonite's just behind Misty. Not good enough, dammit.

"Dragonite," he ordered, "get her out of here! It can't chase both of us!"

"What?!"

Charizard and Dragonite noticed one another first - exchanging a nod - their trainer second, and the Hydreigon last. They got the picture pretty quickly. Charizard waited the half-second for Ash to catch up to him and leap on his back before erupting off the ground with velocity heretofore unheard of, and Dragonite immediately grabbed Misty in her arms and took off up and east. They were both out of sight within seconds.

Ash turned around on Charizard to see who the Hydreigon had decided to give its attention to. He grinned in triumph, seeing it hesitate in its choosing before noticing his one-finger salute. Rudeness must be a universal language, because the beast made up its mind fast after that.

"Fly, Charizard! Lead it down the canyon!"

Normally, Charizard would balk at the idea of fleeing, but the lizard seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. He also appeared to have found an element of competitive fun in leading the Hydreigon on a chase. Under friendlier circumstances, Ash might have too. But as another Dragon Pulse shot past them, it was all he could do not to pass out.

A flock of Spearow scattered to the winds as Charizard zoomed by, keeping his altitude low in an attempt to get the monstrous Pokemon behind them to crash into the ground in its pursuit. The great beast was fast for its size, and kept pace with Ash and Charizard without much difficulty. It was also smarter than he would have liked: instead of taking the bait, it was content to take pot-shots at them from a hundred feet up. They needed to adjust.

"Climb! Climb!"

Charizard obeyed, banking up hard and forcing the Hydreigon to adjust its aim. He roared with mad excitement, relishing the thrill of these life-or-death odds. Ash wished that he shared his Pokemon's enthusiasm, but even with the gallons of adrenaline pumping through his body, the mood of the moment was "terror." Still - a tiny little voice reminded him that this was the opposite of ennui.

The canyon narrowed and twisted right, then left. Charizard had no problem banking to match it, but when Ash looked back he saw the dragon behind them more than able to match them for maneuverability - though not temperament.

See, the Hydreigon was starting to get frustrated, and increased the frequency of its attacks as Charizard twirled through the air ahead of it. Instead of concentrating all its Pulses into one blast, it began filling the air with series of three smaller ones at a time - effectively launching an anti-aircraft salvo at the smaller Pokemon. It was harder to avoid, and Charizard growled with exertion trying to stay ahead of Hydreigon's attempts to kill them.

Suppressing the urge to panic, Ash noticed something: a gap in their pursuer's attacks. Every sixth blast, the beast stopped to catch its breath for a few seconds. A plan began to form.

"Get ready for my signal," he commanded, and Charizard nodded with an audacious grin - the Pokemon could tell this was going to be good.

The Hyrdreigon fired once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. Six.

"CHARIZARD DRAGONBREATH NOW!"

Charizard whipped around and unleashed the most powerful Dragonbreath attack he'd managed in years, dead-on at the Hydreigon's primary head. Gotcha.

Screaming in pain at the super-effective attack and paralyzed from the shock, the great dragon lost altitude fast, plummeting to the canyon floor and crash-landing with a three-throated screech of pain and frustration.

Ash heard the screeching continue as he and Charizard made their escape - the Dragonbreath had not been enough to faint it. He'd pick another day to be a chooser, though. Today he was a beggar, and he'd gotten his alms and then some.

A cave carved out of the canyon wall appeared on their right, and Ash directed Charizard into it: the Hydreigon, he figured, would not stay down forever. Best to hide and outlast whatever hunt it had planned.

They landed hard, sliding in from the mouth of the cave to its dark interior. Charizard had not been given a chance to recover from the flight to Pallet Town. And neither had Ash - the second he dismounted, both his legs failed him and he collapsed in a heap on the cave floor. Pikachu jumped off of him just in time to avoid getting squished, and with the last of his strength Ash let the rest of his team minus Dragonite out of their Pokeballs to take turns keeping watch - they knew the drill. Ash drifted off, happy to even be alive and even happier to know he'd kept Misty safe.

A dreamless sleep. Even his subconscious needed the rest. The cave floor should have been horribly uncomfortable, but Ash's body did not notice. This hadn't even been his first near-death experience this month - the life of a trainer with less sense than average - but it had definitely been the most terrifying one in years. And moments like this one took it out of him in ways he worried he would never get back.

He awoke to footsteps. Instinct told him to be on-guard, but his Pokemon already were, and when he opened his eyes they seemed unbothered. Only now did his body realize how rocky and uneven the ground was, and he heard all sorts of fascinating noises as he picked himself up.

"Who's there?" he asked.

His sense of smell kicked back in, and it was delighted to meet the aroma of fire and curry. It seemed he was finally in for a nice surprise.

"The most grateful guy you'll ever meet," came the reply. Ash knew this voice. His heart swelled with joy as he turned to find his old friend hunched over a cooking fire in a cave nook not far away.

"Brock!"

Ash could have cried. This was the first good news he'd received in days. And though he'd seen Brock the most recently of all his friends, he rushed towards the doctor like it had been fifteen years.

Brock had only moments to prepare himself for the bear hug coming barreling towards him from across the cave. Pikachu, who'd encountered him several hours ago, looked up from the fire where he was warming his hands to watch the collision.

It was glorious. Ash hit Brock like he was carrying a football, laughing with unrestrained glee and knocking the wind out of his poor old friend.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ash, after taking a second to calm down. "And why the hell didn't you call me before you left?"

Brock peeled Ash off of him and went into his vest for a familiar-looking envelope. It was the least surprising thing he could have done at this point.

"Someone hand-delivered this to my bedroom while I was asleep one night," said Brock. He craned his neck to check on the curry he had simmering and continued. "It was an invitation. Whoever wrote it mentioned some things I'm…pretty raw about, and I wondered what it could mean. And how they knew."

"We're working on that one," said Ash, brushing himself off.

"We?"

"I uh–" Ash stammered for a second. "What I mean to say is that I, um. I came here with Misty."

Brock lit up like a Christmas tree. In years past, nothing had given the frequently-single Pokemon doctor more pleasure than living vicariously through his two best friends. In the years since Ash had left and cut himself off from most of his circle, the most frequent topic of conversation between the two of them had been "So when are you going to patch things up?" The answer was usually "Oh my god would you please stop," and just as often "Never. Maybe never."

"Oh?" Brock made a big show of holding his chin as he sidled up to Ash. "I should have waited before leaving to find this place. Clearly I missed some important developments."

"Brock, this is serious," said Ash, lowering the brim of his hat over his eyes in an effort to self-soothe. "You're not the only one who was dumb enough to come out here alone. Lorelai did too. And honestly, probably others."

"So Lorelai's here, is she?" Brock turned away, stroking his beard. Ash didn't like how hard he seemed to be thinking. "It could be she's in need of a rescue."

"Man, you were in need of a rescue," said Ash, arms half-raised in bemusement. "Where did you even find this cave?"

"I had Steelix dig it for us when we ran into that Hydreigon out there," explained Brock. "I haven't figured out what to do next. Earlier today I heard it going absolutely nuts - was that you? How'd you make it out in one piece?"

"I'm a Pokemon Master, that's how," Ash said with a cocky grin. "Now let's find Lorelai and get the hell out of here. I wonder where Misty ended up."

Ash grabbed his Rotom phone. The little ghost's face appeared on the screen, in a state of mild frustration.

"I can't get a signal out here, boss," it said. He frowned, putting the phone away.

"Where'd she go?" Brock asked. "You two haven't been quarreling, have you?"

"Well, yes, we have," Ash said, "but that's besides the point. She's with Dragonite. And Forretress."

Brock breathed a sigh of relief. Ash didn't know how they got separated, but he knew just how much his friend loved his Pokemon. He suspected that Brock had been wearing a brave face about Forretress' absence. Ash was certainly doing so about Dragonite - even though he knew she was in good hands.

"Hey, I wanted to show you something," said Brock, spooning some curry into a bowl and handing it to Ash. "You can bring dinner with you. It's not far."

The two of them tiptoed further down into the cave, Pikachu lighting the way with his tail aglow, until they got to a part of the cave that looked far, far older than the freshly-dug section Steelix had created. And as Ash looked around, he noticed…masonry? The floors and walls became tiled, and he realized that they were not in a cave anymore but a ruin.

Ash ran up to one of the walls, tracing his fingers over the strange carvings. He became overwhelmed with a deeply familiar feeling, as though this was not the first time he'd been in these ruins. Of course that could not be, but he wondered if he'd seen something like this elsewhere in his travels. He winced in minor annoyance: there were at least a dozen experts on ancient cultures and legends in his contacts. And here he was with no signal. Not many cell towers on a drowned island.

"I wish Cynthia were here," he mused.

"Me too," replied Brock, thinking about something else. Ash turned back to look at him, eyes narrowed in exasperation.

"Brock, I can guarantee that she has never once wished you were there in the same way you wish she were here," said Ash, finding a bit of his old sass. "Think of this as a good thing. Let it free you."

Brock's eyes glazed over in sadness and disappointment - he was not thinking of it as a good thing. Sometimes Ash wondered why he even tried. There was a ritual in his life - a cycle. It lasted three weeks and recurred every two months. On the first week, Brock would tell him about the new woman he was in love with. On the second week, he'd outline how he was going to woo her. And on the third week, he would soliloquize in despair about how he'd failed.

"If I showed her these ruins, maybe…" said Brock to no-one in particular, tottering about ahead of him. Ash wasn't sure how to explain to Brock that he suspected the once and future Sinnoh Champion did not prefer the company of men. He very much doubted that the doctor would understand.

Something itched in his brain for a moment. But only for a moment. He ignored it.

Turning his attention back to the faded etchings on the wall, Ash picked out a symbol he recognized: a ring, with a bar and two finials extending out from it to the right. Inside the ring: a single dot.

"Unown…" said Ash, entranced. "Outside of Johto?"

This got Brock's attention, who snapped out of his lonely daze and rushed over to confirm Ash's findings. The two of them spent a few minutes trying to decipher the Unown script, but with only limited success: though the letters were familiar, the script was written in a language neither of them quite understood. And most of it was faded to the point that they could only find one legible full sentence:

"NON POTES REDIRE"

They both made a mental note to perhaps ask Cynthia what it meant next time they saw her. The way Ash figured, they had a few days before she and her cadre of other trainers set out from Vermillion to Seven Island.

"Oh, wait," Ash mumbled to himself. "That Hydreigon…"

Okay, new goal: figure out how to subdue the giant Hydreigon. Cynthia is powerful, but she has no idea what she's walking into.

And Ash knew as well as anyone that even the strongest trainers get unlucky sometimes. Someone could be killed. No. Not again, and not here.

"The Hydreigon doesn't worry me so much," said Brock, who seemed to finally be thinking about something relevant. "We've handled worse. But these ruins? I can't shake the feeling that whoever brought us here might know about them. And the Unown always spell trouble."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ash, trying not to make himself laugh. "They spell all sorts of things."

"Oh, go to hell," Brock said, stifling laughter of his own and turning away. "Why don't you have any kids you can tell that one to?"

Just like that, Ash was sad now. It wasn't Brock's fault - only Misty and Serena knew what a sore subject kids were to him. There'd been conversations with no clear resolution, and then things had ended. He wasn't in the mood to elucidate, so instead he just turned towards the direction of the cave mouth.

"Misty and Lorelai are still out there," he said, nodding for Pikachu to come light the way back. "I know they can take care of themselves, but I don't want to delay trying to find them because we got distracted by some old rocks. Uh, no offense."

Brock cringed at himself, probably sensing that he'd said something wrong. Shaking his head, he followed Ash out to where the cooking fire was simmering.

When they got there, they found Lucario and Blissey serving curry to all of the Pokemon not able to serve themselves. Decidueye, Samurott and Charizard all sat in a small circle with their food - the three of them were a clique if Ash had ever seen one. Raichu and Toxicroak babbled on at one another while Comfey tended to Steelix and Crobat's wounds they'd sustained during Brock's run-in with the Hydreigon. Neither Ash nor Brock could help but smile, proud of their friends and what they'd accomplished together.

The itchy feeling in his brain returned, and he became aware of another presence standing at the mouth of the cave. He squinted, trying to get a good look, but it was dark out, and the light from the cooking fire only provided enough illumination to confirm that someone was there.

"Hey! Misty, Lorelai, is that one of you?"

Whoever it was, they said nothing. Ash couldn't even be sure that they were looking at him. But for some reason, he was sure he knew them. Brock noticed, too, and waved to their new guest.

"Come on in! There's curry, and I don't know when that Hydreigon's coming back," said Brock. Still no response from the figure. "Are you okay?"

The visitor finally moved, turning their head back to look at Ash, Brock and their teams. Then, at some point during the time Ash spent blinking his eyes, they were gone. A chill blew through the cave.

Brock and Ash looked at one another, perplexed and concerned. Ash was almost inclined to believe he'd just experienced a stress-induced hallucination, but that couldn't be right - Brock had seen them too.

"What…just happened?" asked Brock. "Did you see them leave? I didn't see them leave."

Ash shook his head, walking in silence to the cave mouth and looking down into the canyon below once he got there.

"I…I know them."