Jay struggled to his feet, Misty supporting him. His entire back throbbed in unison, causing him to let out a small whimper. He could barely see in the gloom, the only light coming from starmie's glowing jewel. What he could see made his heart drop. They were at the bottom of the pit, on the shore of an underground lake. He could barely make out the corpse of the massive rhydon they had fought laying on the shore several meters away from them. A smaller body lay beside it, shattered beyond recognition. Jay realized with a pang in his gut, that Billy had fallen before they had. Misty steadied him then let him go, allowing him to stand on his own.

"So…" He started. "The afterlife is more boring than I thought it would be." His attempt at humour derailed by the severity of the situation.

Misty cracked a smile, visible even in the small amount of light. "We're not dead Jay."

He looked up, any trace of where they had fallen from invisible from their position. "How the fuck did we manage that? We had to have fallen at least a couple hundred meters." He was wondering aloud.

Misty patted her pokemon, stroking one of its points. "Starmie here stopped us. It has psychic powers remember?" The jewel glowed brighter, bathing the pair in purple light. "It levitated us. You still hit the water harder than you'd have wanted to, and you'll probably be bruised to all hell for a few days."

"That would explain the throbbing in my back."

Misty frowned. "We've got to get out of here. The others won't risk climbing down here, they won't think there's a chance. We've got to get out of here ourselves."

"Can your starmie light up any brighter?" Jay asked.

"No, I'm surprised it's even managing this." Misty answered.

"Fuck, we need light."Jay pulled the blade on his hip out of its scabbard. He pulled the bedroll off his pack and wrapped it around the blade. "Is there any oil left in your lantern?"

Misty burst into laughter. "Wouldn't I have lit my lantern if it still worked?" She pulled a flask from her pack. "The lantern smashed so badly it won't light. Luckily I came prepared."

"You prepared for a hundred foot fall into a death pit?"

"Shut up and take the flask." Misty said, handing it to him.

Jay poured the oil out onto the bedroll, soaking it with the liquid. He felt at his hip, relief filling him as he found his pokemon's balls. His growlithe appeared in a flash of red light, lighting the cavern for a moment. "Growlithe, light this up for me." The dog barked a ball of flame, igniting the makeshift torch.

Misty shielded her eyes, the light harsh against her eyes. "At least we have light now."

They looked around, finding a hole in the wall. "Probably an onix tunnel." Jay said. "I don't see any other tunnels." He said while scanning along the wall. "Well, only one choice left to us."

Misty sighed. "Right about that one. Let's get moving."

The pair started towards the tunnel, their pokemon following close behind. They disappeared into the dark, leaving Billy and the rhydon's corpses behind.


Lyra woke with a start, sitting up violently and breathing heavily. Ethan's hand went immediately to her shoulder, confirming her reality. She pushed his hand off her, jerking away.

Ethan frowned at the girl. She still wasn't letting him in. She wasn't even letting her pokemon in, preferring to walk in silence and not even dare to release them from their balls. He knew why she had withdrawn from the world, and he couldn't blame her. "Lee…"

"Will you stop it with that? You know my name, how about using it?" She spat, venom in her voice.

"Lee, you've got to take it easy." The girl shot him a look, disgust clear. "Don't give me that look. You're blaming yourself. I've seen it before." Ethan stared back at her, determined to get through.

"How would you know what I'm thinking? You don't know me." She said.

"We talked every day for a month. Hell, you've barely left my side since I walked into that lab. I know you better than you think I do." Ethan's eyes never wavered, staring into Lyra's with intensity she'd never seen. "You're blaming yourself for not being there. Well I hate to break it down to you, but it wouldn't have changed anything. You could be dead or you could be on the run with them. The point is, we don't know what happened. Blaming yourself won't make anything better. It's just going to make you spiral."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "So am I spiralling?" She asked softly. Her head dropped, defeat setting into her features.

Ethan smiled grimly. "Sorry doll, but you're spiralling harder than I've ever seen. You won't talk to me and won't let your pokemon out. Fuck, you won't even eat. Lee, you're spiralling something fierce." He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "That doesn't mean you can't get better."

He was smiling warmly at her. "How do you know it gets better?" She asked, fear quivering in her voice.

"Because I got better. I've been through this. It doesn't get easier to deal with it, you just get stronger." Ethan answered with a reassuring grin.

"Everyone who cares about me is, at best, fugitives. At worst, they're all dead." She paused, courage wavering. Without warning, she broke down. Ethan pulled her into a hug immediately. "They're all gone…" She was sobbing into Ethan's shoulder, clutching him like her life depended on it. "Everything is gone…"

Ethan pushed her back, holding her at arms length. "I'm not gone Lee. I promised you that, remember?" She nodded. "Good. Now try breathing. In and out, slowly." When the girl slowed her breathing, Ethan smiled again. "Good, good. Just keep breathing for me. Everything's going to be alright."

"Everything's gonna be alright."


"Alright genius, now what?" Gary hissed at Ash. "We're in Cerulean! Now what the fuck was your plan? To hide in an alley all fucking day?"

"I don't fucking know Gary. I didn't count on our only lead to Bill falling into a bottomless pit." Ash hissed back, fury clear in his hushed tone. "I thought her sisters would help us."

"Well it looks like you were wrong. We can't leave the city, or walk openly down the street. Fuck, we probably can't even check in at the centre." Gary's voice was rising, growing in volume. "We are wanted men, Jay is dead, and who the fuck knows what happened to Gramps and the girls! Face fucking facts, you don't know what you're doing."

Ash launched at him, pinning Gary against the building behind him. Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he leapt off Ash's shoulder and rounded on Gary. A wild shove and a swing of Gary's fist bloodied Ash's nose.

Brock appeared back beside them, rounding the corner into the alley. "Shut up, the both of you. I could hear you out on the street." The pair stopped their fight, dropping into silence. They glared at each other, each waiting for a chance to continue. "I managed to get a message through to Daisy. If I remember my lessons, she's the oldest of the Cerulean sisters. She'll meet us at the pokemon centre tonight."

Gary looked away from Ash for a moment. "How do you plan on getting into the centre? It's probably controlled by the Rockets, and if not, we still have to get past at least three Rocket checkpoints."

Brock grinned at the pair. "You two used to be farmers right?"

Twenty minutes later, Ash and Gary were stuffed in the back of a hay cart.

"I hate you." Ash said dryly.

"Shut up and stay down." Brock shot back. He turned to face the front of the hay cart as Ash ducked back into the piles of hay. "Thank you cousin, Pewter will reward you for your help."

"S'no problem milord. Always happy to help family." The peasant was swaying back and forth, happily humming to himself. "Don't get too many of us Rock-men round here, too much water for our kind. Pa always said we had to look after our own." He took the reigns up and urged the golem strapped up to the cart forward.

"We only need to go to the centre." Brock said cautiously.

The farmer hummed happily and grinned at him. He didn't answer, and the two soon dropped into silence. The golem pulling the cart proved to be quicker than Brock had expected and they were quickly arriving at the first checkpoint on their route.

The cart ground to a halt, two a Rocket soldiers standing guard at the checkpoint. One of them slowly walked around the cart, glaring at Brock and the farmer.

"Name, occupation, destination." He ordered.

"M'name's Yoren. I be a farmer from up in the hills besides the mountain. We're just on our way to deliver hay to the centre." The farmer said, no hint of nerves in his voice. "Just brought one of me kin along to help."

"His name?" The Rocket asked.

"Jory" Brock said quickly.

The rocket stepped back, waving them forward. "Have a nice day gentlemen, don't forget to check in at the nearest checkpoint if you need anything."

The cart trundled forward, pulled by the grunting golem. The second they were out of earshot, Brock breathed a sigh of relief.

"Told you they wouldn't bother us." Yoren grinned. He returned to his humming, absentmindedly watching the buildings pass.

The scene repeated itself twice more with no issues. Both times, the Rockets let the cart through without any further questioning and to Brock's surprise, offered assistance with unloading the hay. The sun was starting to dip in the sky by the time they arrived at the centre. The boys piled out of the cart, offering Yoren assistance in unloading his cart. He simply smiled and refused, stating that the centre workers would be out any moment to help him. True to his word, within minutes there were several workers lifting the bales of hay off his cart. They emptied the cart in minutes, sending Yoren on his way with their thanks. Yoren bid them a farewell, then continued on his way, cart trundling over the cobblestone streets and out of sight.


"Is that sunlight?" Jay asked.

Their torch had long since burned out, forcing them to navigate by only the light of starmie's central jewel and brief burst of flame from growlithe. Now, with their eyes long since used to the gloom, the faint glow at the end of the tunnels inspired the first glimpse of hope they'd seen since their fall.

"Can't tell." Misty said, exhaustion overriding any emotion in her voice. "It's definitely brighter though."

"Misty, that's definitely natural light. I think we're safe." The giddiness in his voice took even himself by surprise. "We made it!"

The pair stepped out of the tunnel and onto a sheer cliff that sat across a river from Cerulean City. Their pokemon stepped out behind them, feeding off the excitement. Growlithe dashed in circles around them, barking madly. Nidorino abandoned its usual gruff demeanour in favour of nuzzling against Jay's leg, careful not to jab him with his barbs. Misty's starmie floated forwards, brushing one of its points against its trainer's hand.

"Well… There it is." Misty said, her voice tinged with sadness. "My home. I'm home." She rushed into a hug, knocking the wind out of Jay's lungs. "Thank you" She whispered.

Jay hugged back, preferring to say nothing and just enjoy the moment. A voice shot through his mind, sending pain down every extremity. He released Misty and dropped to his knees screaming incoherently. "Rip her apart! Tear her to pieces! Kill! Kill! Kill!" The voice mixed with his own until her couldn't tell which voice was his own. He felt something tearing at his face, ripping open skin and vaguely feeling something warm spilling over his hands.

Slowly, the voice faded and he became aware of Misty's hand on his chest. He was flat on his back, arms and legs splayed out in a spread eagled pose. Misty was looking down at him with a mixture of fear and concern marring her features.

"Okay…" He said, voice raspy and hoarse. "What the fuck just happened?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me." Misty said. "You just collapsed and started screaming. The only word I got out of it all was kill. You just kept screaming it." She laughed weakly. "Your growlithe nearly bit my head off when you fell. It thought I did something to you."

Jay didn't say a word, not even daring to open his mouth. He didn't understand what had happened. One moment he was simply enjoying the moment, the next he was clawing at his own head. He shut his eyes tightly, taking a moment and breathing. Without warning, he forced himself to his feet and stumbled a few steps. "Come on." He said with a single minded determination. "We need to get to Cerulean."

Misty just smiled at him, then followed him into the night without a word.


Violet City stood as the gateway to the Johtan heartlands. From it, travellers could reach Goldenrod, Azalea, and Ecruteak within only a few days of travel. Hundreds of people passed through the city every day,making it easy for Lyra and Ethan to get lost in the crowds. That was where Lyra found herself. Ethan was dragging her through the market, haggling for goods at every other stall and stuffing whatever he bought into his pack. He'd already been shopping for hours, and he still needed to go to the pokemon centre to have a few of his personal pokemon transferred to him for protection.

Ethan pulled her up to yet another stall, promising it was his last. Lyra barely paid him any attention, staring off into the sky. She was woken from her state by Ethan shoving an oversized black coat into her arms along with a simple dagger and sheath.

"What do I need these for?" She asked, following him as he started making his way towards the centre.

Ethan looked at her incredulously. "Protection?" He said. "The roads from here on out aren't as safe as the ones we've travelled so far."

"It's the middle of the summer… I'm not wearing that." Lyra said.

"You are unless you want a pokemon to decide you look like a little snack." Ethan shot back.

Lyra reluctantly donned the jacket, finding a layer of body armour lining the inside of it. "You couldn't have even got something more weather appropriate?" Lyra asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but it's not like it's cold out here."

Ethan shrugged. "The merchant didn't exactly have the greatest selection. It was that or nothing at all." He pulled the door of the centre open, letting Lyra in first. He handed Lyra Torch's ball. "Go get them checked out while I transfer my pokemon over." He then strode over to a terminal on the wall and started his work.

Lyra stepped up to the counter, placing the three balls she had on the surface. "Hello?" One of the nurses at work looked up. "I'd like to have my pokemon checked up on please?" The nurse behind the counter gave her a friendly smile and took the balls.

"I'll bring them back out in a few minutes honey." She motioned to the seats. "Please just take a seat while you wait." Lyra walked over to the chairs in the waiting area, taking a seat and taking her last moment of relaxation she would get for weeks.