Sorry about the long wait guys! Yeah, heh. It's nearly the holidays so hopefully I'll be able to update the story more often then!

The third chapter of the story... In this chapter, the real story begins!

Chapter 3: Unexpected Encounter

"..."

A whisper.

"Hey..."

What is this?

"Come..."

Where am I? W-what's happening?!

"Help is required..."

I was staring at empty space. No, not empty. Just colourful. A colourful area. So vibrant. All around me. And I could see my reflection. Yet I couldn't see myself...

"Will you accept this call for help?"

I had no idea what it what was talking about. Whatever 'it' was. This is probably all just some weird dream.

"He needs your help."

Now it was getting serious.

"He really does. And he misses you."

Wait, was it talking about...

"He may not return if you do not go."

I finally knew that this was not actually just a dream. It was a dream, but... In a way, it was real. It was reality.

"So what will you do? Will you come and help?"

I tried to nod. But I wasn't there. My reflection nodded.

I noticed something in my reflection change. It didn't stop. It kept changing. Then, in that instant, I knew what was going on.

The reflection kept changing for a while. Then it stopped.

"Just know that you must be careful. It's a dangerous world."

Suddenly, darkness began to surround me.

And I think I lost consciousness.

-?-

"We're here. We are really actually here."

"That's right."

Here stood a Turtwig, a Pikachu and a Grovyle.

"It's a Kangaskhan statue. We should store some stuff before we go..." The Pikachu looked to the ground. "This trip will be really dangerous."

The Grovyle nodded. "It will. But we have prepared, all this time, for this moment."

"Grovyle..." The Turtwig nudged Grovyle, to get his attention.

"Yes?" It seems that the Grovyle's name was Grovyle.

"I think... Shouldn't we return to Treasure Town first? Just... Just to say one last goodbye to everyone, just in case... You know..."

Grovyle sighed. "If you really want to, we can."

"Pikachu, do you think we should return?" The Turtwig asked.

"I think we should."

They all stood there for a moment, wondering about what would happen to them. Grovyle motioned towards Lapras, and they walked over to her.

"You want to return?" She asked.

Grovyle nodded.

"Alright. Hop on."

-The Beach-

They hopped off of Lapras' back, onto the smooth sand, and walked to Treasure Town. First, they walked over to Kangaskhan's storage, and took out some items that would be vital on their adventure; Apples, Oran Berries, some status-heal berries, some stat-enhancing gear, and a couple of other things.

They then headed to Wigglytuff's Guild. They walked through the familiar entrance which was a giant model of Wigglytuff's head, then climbed down the wooden steps. Looking around the whole room, it seemed that there was no one here! They descended further down.

This is where everyone was, sitting or standing around, talking to each other. Some talked in worried voices, fretting about the fate of the world; others were excitedly chattering about what kind of adventure they thought that the trio would have to experience.

Corphish was the first to notice the three soon-to-be world-savers enter the room.

"Hey hey! Grovyle, Pikachu and Lachlan are back!"

Bidoof looked over and spoke in a cheerful voice. "Yup yup! It's definitely them!"

"Oh my gosh! They've returned!" Sunflora squealed.

"Hello, everyone..." Lachlan said, and noticed that Wigglytuff and Chatot were not present. He knew that they would be in the guildmaster's room, and glanced at the doorway. Grovyle noticed Lachlan do this.

He said, "We should go and check on Chatot." People shuffled out of their way to give them a clear path to Wigglytuff's room.

As they walked inside, they were greeted with the sight of Wigglytuff and Chimecho taking to each other, with Chatot laying nearby.

"He'll be up soon," Chimecho was saying.

"I really hope so..." Wigglytuff then turned and saw the three coming in.

"Hello, Grovyle, Pikachu, Lachlan," he greeted them warmly, but they could tell that he was still uneasy about what had happened to Chatot.

"Hello, Guildmaster!" Pikachu looked over to Chatot. "He does look like he'll be okay."

Lachlan nodded. "We just returned to... Say one one last goodbye. Just in case this is the final time..."

"Hey, I'm sure you guys can do it! Remember that we will be here, cheering you on!" Chimecho encouraged.

Wigglytuff smiled. "Chimecho is right. Just believe in yourselves. You'll be fine."

"Thanks," Grovyle said. "We should say goodbye to the others and leave. Time is running out."

As they walked out of the doorway, Wigglytuff wished them good luck.

-The Beach-

"Ugh..." I groaned.

"Wher- pah!" I coughed out some sand that had somehow ended up in my mouth.

I suddenly felt the soft texture of sand underneath me. I could hear the gentle splashing of waves slapping the sand. Some of the spray wet me. The sun was casting warmth over my body at the same time.

Slowly, I began to open my eyes. I then sat myself up. It was definitely sand and waves. A beach. To my left I could see a cave, and to my right, I could see the beach extending into a footpath. I wondered where it lead.

And then I wondered where I was. "Hm..."

I pondered it for a bit, when I finally remembered what had happened before. That weird... Place, with that whispering voice. The one asking for help.

And I had accepted it.

"But... This is a dream, right?" I thought. "I don't think it could be real."

I began to think out loud. "No, if it were real I would have been in my bed right now." But something else was different. It was something about how I spoke. Not how I talked. Not the way I talked. It wasn't the accent, either...

It was, well, basically what I sounded like. I didn't have my normal voice. It was a bit like... I wasn't sure. How could I explain it? Raspy? Not exactly. That was a bit too over the top. At the same time, it wasn't a sweet, soothing voice. Not even... A human kind of voice. It was like some sort of creature's voice. I thought of talking animals, from books, and movies, and other things I had read or seen, and gave a small chuckle.

But that didn't sound like my normal voice either... I sat there, puzzled.

That dream said that... 'He' needs me, 'he' misses me... Who was it talking about...?

That was something to think about later. The problem at hand seemed more important. "I think I know what's going on, but I really don't want it to be true," I thought fearfully. I had a look at my hand. It wasn't mine.

-Treasure Town-

*Lachlan's POV*

We were sure to say goodbye to everyone. Many of them wished us good luck.

When we got to the Kecleons, we said goodbye to them as we did with everyone else, and then they did something else- they actually gave us some bonus supplies for free!

We thanked them and headed towards the beach. As we walked closer, I could feel something different. I wasn't sure about it, but I thought that it was just me, so I kept it to myself. But I thought I could feel someone else's presence, maybe, at the beach. I shook my head and tried to dismiss the feeling. It didn't go away.

Grovyle noticed me shake my head. "Everything okay?" He asked in his gruff voice.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"He sure is watchful," I thought.

I could tell Pikachu was a bit nervous, from his facial expression to the way he walked. We got to the beach after a bit more walking. The ocean looked calm and mostly flat.

And there I spotted it.

A worried-looking Pokemon, sitting down, staring at his hand, a Charmander. The other two also saw this Pokemon. We dashed over to him.

"Are you... okay?" Pikachu asked. In the exact same way that he had, when I first got here. The same comforting tone. The same 'confused' tension. The same feeling, the feeling that he was going to make friends with a random stranger who had shown up out of nowhere

The Charmander looked at us and stared, as if he had seen a ghost, or an alien. Or some other random species.

He let out a loud scream. "AAHHH!"

The same reaction I had. The reason why I had reacted like that was because I was scared, and confused.

The reason why? Because I had seen a Pokemon, when I was a human, living in a human world. And then I had randomly appeared here. With a Pokemon talking to me.

"Uh..." I was unsure about what to say. Pikachu was onto it.

"Hey there! No need to shout. You might disturb some Pokemon. What's your name?"

The Charmander just stared at us, with a blank look. After about 20 seconds, he finally spoke.

"Uh, m-my name is D-Dylan," he stuttered nervously, and gave a small smile.

The moment he said his name, I felt something, for an instant. It was a feeling of familiarity, that I had known this person. That I do know this person. But it was only for an instant. I didn't know why.

"Hello Dylan," I managed to say.

"Hi..."

I decided to introduce myself, by telling him my name. "My name is Lachlan."

"Hi Lachlan."

Just then, there was a call from behind us.

"Time is running out, we don't have any more time to stand and talk. We need to go now!"

It was Lapras.

"I'll come with you... Wherever you're going."

This took me by surprise. I gave Dylan a look of amazement. "Really?!"

"Whatever! We've got to get going guys!" Grovyle hurried us.

"Yeah! Come on guys!" Pikachu was already waiting with Lapras.

"Let's go then." So we ran towards Lapras, hopped on, and prepared to return to the Hidden Land.

The end of this chapter. What do you think will happen next? Are you excited for the next chapter? Don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you guys soon!