Chapter Five: The Unknown Reigon

"Lilly! Lilly! Please wake up, oh please wake up!" Storm's voice cried in anguish.

"She's breathin'." A gruff voice I didn't recognize said. "She'll be all right."

"How do you know? Oh Lilly, Lilly!" Storm cried.

"She needs rest, laddie." The voice said.

"I just wish she'd open her eyes......I'm so scared....." Storm whimpered.

"She'll be fine, don't wurry." The voice said. I let out a small groan.

"Wha-what was that?" Storm asked.

"Ah reckon it's yer little friend." The voice said.

"Lilly, Lilly! Are you okay? Speak to me, or at least open your eyes!" Storm cried. I slowly opened my eyes.

"St-Storm?" I asked. Then I went into a coughing fit.

"Lilly! You're okay!" Storm said. I coughed up some salt water.

"What happened....? How come I'm alive....?" I asked once my coughing swelled down. I looked back at Storm. There was a tall, middle-aged man with a black beard and shoulder-length black hair. "And who's he?"

"Ah'm Black. Joseph Black. And you are....?" The man said.

"I'm Lilly Fairbanks." I said.

"A good name for a 'andsome young lass." Joseph Black said.

"Um......Black? Where exactly is this place?" I asked, not knowing what to call the man.

"Ah don't care what yeh call me." Joseph Black said, as if reading my mind. "Just Joseph will do fine. Of course, 'Hey You' works too." Joseph laughed.

"Well........where is this place?" Storm asked.

"Eh, ah really dunno. Somewhere in the south. It's an interesting place, 'ere. No humans 'cept yours truly to mah knowledge. Mostly pokémon." Joseph said.

"Hmmm. Well, how did you get here?" Storm asked.

"Weeeeeell, ah got shipwrecked. 'Spect you did too. Where were yeh headed?" Joseph asked.

"Kanto." I said.

"Ahhh, Kanto. Beautiful place, that is. Ah wuz born there." Joseph said.

"Really?" Storm asked.

"Yup. It was a great place. I chose Charmander as mah starter pokémon." Joseph said.

"Do you still have it?" I asked eagerly.

"Yup. Except it's a Charizard now. Charizard, come out." Joseph said, throwing his pokéball up into the air.

"CHAAAAAAAR!" Joseph's Charizard roared.

"Wow........" I said, staring up at Charizard. "He's humongous! You sure trained him well."

"Weeeeeell, there's a ton of pokémon in this place, so it's not all that hard." Joseph said, patting his Charizard.

"I see. Maybe we can try to train our pokémon a little bit before getting off this island." Storm said.

"AHEM!!!! STORM!!!! SHAYMIN!!!!!" I snapped.

"OH NO!!! I completely forgot! Ughhhhh.....I can't believe I forgot......" Storm muttered.

"Shaymin? What Shaymin?" Joseph asked.

"My Shaymin. My Shaymin has Grisadea Disease, and I have to find the elixir berry." I said.

"Grisadea Disease? Turrible, Turrible disease." Joseph said, shaking his head. "Mah friend's Shaymin had it. He went off searching for the elixir berry....and never returned."

"Never....returned....?" I asked.

"Nope, never. And in the meanwhile, the poor Shaymin was havin' a high fevah, vomiting, and dizzy spells until finally it died two weeks after mah friend ran off teh try teh find the berry." Joseph said.

"My Shaymin......." I muttered.

"It's turrible. That Shaymin must mean a lot to yeh." Joseph said.

"She does....she was my very first pokémon....." I said.

"Is." Storm corrected. I nodded.

"Right." I said and gave Storm a grateful smile.

"Well, the first thing yeh should do is find a way ter get off this island." Joseph said.

"Well.....aren't you going to help us?" I asked.

"Well, ah've got other things to do on this island. Don't ferget, you owe me, Storm, laddie-me-luck, cuz ah saved yeh." Joseph said and stalked off, his Charizard right behind him.