Chapter 2! Finally!

Enter Ash and co. :D

All rights go to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Ash was more than happy to take a break from traveling, especially if it meant lunch. He took a deep breath of the delicious scent wafting toward him on the breeze and hovered near the fire. "It smells great, Brock."

"Ash, if you keep doing that, you're going to inhale that stew before we even have a chance to eat it," said Misty, looking up from where she sat watching Togepi play.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry."

"All right," said Brock, breaking in between the two before a real fight could start. "Food's ready, guys!"

"Awesome!" As expected, Ash was the first one to start eating.

"That was great," said Misty, taking a last bite.

"Almost better than yesterday's lunch," Ash agreed.

"Cha!" squealed Pikachu.

"Thanks guys!" Brock smiled and glanced at where Togepi was trilling and waving it arms happily. The three Trainers sat on the grass and watched their Pokémon play.

Something behind the trees caught Ash's attention. "Hey, what's that?" he pointed at the trees a little ways off. Misty and Brock turned curiously in the direction of his outstretched hand. A shadow was moving through the trees, winding between the thick trunks. The shadow moved so that it was visible in the sunlight.

"It's a Mightyena!" said Brock, standing up. Misty and Ash followed. As the group moved closer, the Pokémon let out a sharp bark and backed up a step.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked, confused by the Mightyena's strange behavior.

"Do you think it's wild?" Misty asked, watching anxiously.

"I'm not sure," replied Brock, "but it's hurt."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, look at the way it's moving." He indicated the Pokémon's limp and jumped when his friend started to move toward it.

"It's all right," Brock was saying, hand reaching out gently to the Mightyena. "We want to help you." The wolf Pokémon let out a low growl, but didn't move. "That's it." He knelt next to the Mightyena and held his hand out to it. It sniffed his hand wearily and then dropped down, unable to stand any longer. Brock smiled kindly and glanced over its injuries. He turned back to his friends. "It's hurt pretty bad. I don't think it has much energy left."

"We've got to get it to the Pokémon Center!" said Ash.

"Pika!" agreed Pikachu, echoing his Trainer's concern.

"C'mon," Brock urged the Mightyena, reaching forward slowly. He reeled back when the Pokémon snapped, growling. "Whoa, take it easy!"

"I don't think it wants to go," said Misty, frowning. She blinked as, in a sudden surge of energy, the Mightyena leapt up and headed back into the trees. It paused, looked back at the group, took two more steps, and stopped again. It circled once and looked at them. "I—think it wants us to follow it."

"Maybe if we go where it wants us to, we can persuade it to go to the Pokémon Center," mused Brock. "It's not fool-proof, but it seems like the best way…"

"Let's go!" said Ash, starting forward. Misty and Brock followed close behind. He was surprised by how fast the Mightyena was moving, despite its injuries. "Hey, wait up!" He sped up, determined to keep the Mightyena in sight.

Ash skidded to a halt when he entered a small break in the trees. The Mightyena was at the far end, standing by one of the trees. "Hey…"

Lying underneath a tree was a girl, about his own age. She appeared to be unconscious, her black hair slightly matted and lying messily on her shoulders. The Mightyena nudged the girl with its snout, but there was no response. It turned to him, its eyes pleading. "Is that your Trainer?" he asked softly. He noticed for the first time a black and white pendent around its neck, bobbing as the Mightyena nodded. He knelt down to get level with the Pokémon. "She's hurt bad, huh?" It barked. Ash heard Misty, Brock, and Pikachu run in behind him, but he kept his eyes on the distraught Pokémon. "We want to help both of you," he said gently, "but we can only do that if you trust us." He stood and stepped forward. "Guys, come on," he whispered. "I'm going to need help."

The Mightyena stepped in front of its Trainer with a low growl. Misty drew up short. "You've got to trust us," she said softly.

"My friends want to help too. Let us."

After several tense seconds, the Pokémon backed up, keeping a close eye on the humans who neared it.

"She's still breathing," said Misty, relieved.

"Yeah," said Ash. "But she's hurt and unconscious. Who knows how long she's been here?"

"I think I've got something that can revive her," said Brock. "But it's back in my bag."

"We'll have to carry her back to camp," muttered Ash. He turned to the wolf Pokémon. "Is that okay with you?" It titled its head, studied him for a moment, and then let out a yip. He took that as a "yes."

Together, the three Trainers carried the girl back to their campsite, the loyal Mightyena following the whole way.

Raelin walked through the charred grass of a huge field. Weak sunlight drifted down on her and a brittle wind blew the burned remains of the familiar place, making her shiver. Why am I back here? I promised myself I would never come here again!

"Raelin? Raelin, is that you?"

"Ryder?" Her eyes widened when she saw the boy making his way through the grass. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me. But Raelin, why are you here? You should know better than to come back to this place."

"I…I didn't come here," she stammered. "But I'm glad to see you." She hugged him tightly and he hugged back, but pushed her away gently after a few seconds.

"You shouldn't be here, Raelin."

"Huh?" She pulled away, staring at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"After the destruction that you caused, no one wants you back here."

"But I…I didn't mean for that to happen! I just made a mistake! Besides, you're alive!"

"You need to leave." He backed away from her, eyes glinting dark like his hair.

"Ryder, wait, please!" She reached out a hand, but he backed out of her reach.

"It was all your fault, Raelin." Smoke obscured her vision of him.

"Ember?" she screamed, but her beloved friend wasn't there. Screams echoed far away. She sucked in a breath in recognition and began to cough.

All your fault. All your fault. Ryder's words echoed around her as the flames rose up in a circle, just like the last night she had seen him. She ran, tears falling, not looking back.

All your fault.

"Ryder!" Her eyes flew open as she called out his name. But instead of seeing his familiar face, she was staring up into the faces of three strangers.

"Easy!" said the oldest, a tall young man with spiky brown hair. He pushed her down by the shoulder gently. She struggled but didn't have the energy to fight for long and instead dropped back on the sleeping bag. "You've gotta rest. You were hurt pretty bad."

"Wha—?" She tried to move again and felt pain shoot up through her side. Gasping, she realized that she had received physical wounds from her fall. "Where—where am I? Who are you?"

"Relax," said the boy on her left. "We're friends." He had messy black hair and brown eyes. Somehow, he reminded her of Ryder. "My name's Ash and that's Brock." He pointed to the young man.

"My name's Misty," said the red-haired girl sitting beside Ash. She smiled at Raelin kindly.

Raelin stayed quiet, even though she knew what they were expecting. She started up again when she realized there was someone missing. "Where's Emberstep?"

"Who?" Misty asked.

"Ember! My Mightyena. Where is she?" A yip turned her attention to the trees. "Ember!" She stood and tried to run to her Pokémon, but her legs folded underneath her. Brock and Ash held her up. She looked up from behind the curtain of black hair as Ember approached. 'Are these people safe?'

As far as I can tell. Go ahead and tell them your name—nothing else, though.

'Duh.' "It looks like you healed Ember up pretty well." She reached out a hand to rumple her Mightyena's thick fur.

"Her wounds weren't very bad," said Brock as he and Ash led the girl back to the sleeping bag. "Wish I could say the same for you though. What exactly happened?"

"I…don't know," she answered half-truthfully. "I just remember getting really hurt and then blacking out…" That brought to mind her dream. She shivered and dropped down wearily on the sleeping bag. "Sorry. My name's Raelin." She looked around the small campsite. The rest of the sleeping bags were set up underneath a small grotto that was surrounded by clumps of trees. A Pikachu and a Togepi were playing together on the grass. 'Kinda like how Ryder's Vulpix and my Ember played together…'

"So where do you live?" Ash was asking her.

"Uh…in Sinnoh," she lied. "Yeah, I've been traveling for a while and thought I'd come here to Johto…" A low growl from Ember warned her to stop talking. "Anyway, um…I don't think I can travel alone like this." She gestured at herself, cringing internally. She couldn't believe what she was about to ask. "Do you think I could travel with you guys for a few days, until we reach the next town?"

"Well, couldn't you get into trouble with your parents?"

"No, they—"

"Did someone say trouble?" asked a female voice.

"They did, so make it double," her partner answered.

"Oh, great, this again," muttered Ash, standing up.

"To protect the world from devastation." A young man and woman came into sight in a Meowth-shaped balloon.

"To unite all peoples within our nation." The two turned in sync to the group.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love," said the woman, smirking.

"To extend our reach to the stars above." They both struck a pose.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!" Jessie held out a hand and James used her as a balance to complete their final pose.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Waa-bu—"

"Get your own line! Meowth, that's right!" Meowth jumped up, shoving the blue Pokémon over and taking his spot in the motto.

"Want do you losers want this time?"

"What we always want!" replied Jessie. "We want your Pikachu!"

"And we're going to get it, too," said James in perfect succession.

"Keep dreaming! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-chuu!" The yellow rodent leapt from Ash's shoulder and sent a bolt of electricity at Team Rocket. The electricity buzzed and deflected off the balloon.

"Ha, ha!" Jessie called as James reached out and caught Pikachu. "Nice try, twerp, but we counted on your little electric attacks."

"Betcha didn't count on this!" came a voice from behind the three.

"Gary?" exclaimed Ash.

The brunette boy acknowledged him with a nod before turning back to the thieves. "Nidoqueen, go!" He threw a Pokéball out and his Nidoqueen was released. "Nidoqueen, use Mega Punch and send Team Rocket flying!"

"Nido! Nido-queen!" White light surrounded the Nidoqueen's armored hand as she pulled back for a punch.

Ash darted forward and caught Pikachu as it fell. "Pikachu! You okay, buddy?"

"Pika!"

"Well, at least this time it wasn't the usual twerps who sent us off," said James as he and his team members flew through the air.

"No, it was the cool twerp this time," said Meowth.

"Waa-buffet!" said the blue Pokémon, popping out from its ball.

"Oh, all of you shut up!" cried Jessie.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

"Thank goodness for that," said Misty, watching the trio disappear.

"Hey, Gary!" Ash called. Gary waved.

Even though Ember was mentally laughing at her Trainer, Raelin was panicking. If Gary saw her, she would never hear the end of it from him. Maybe she could sneak behind a tree and he wouldn't see her…

"Raelin?"

She glanced up and immediately ducked her head again. 'No. Oh, no! He saw me!'

Would you relax? You're acting like a love-struck Lapras!

'Huh?'

Just stop acting silly!

"Raelin? Is that you?" Gary was standing a few feet from the group now.

She looked up from behind her curtain of hair, green eyes peering out. "Yeah. Hey, Gary."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ash said, glancing between the two.

Gary nodded while Raelin remained silent. "Mm-hm. We met not too long ago." He chuckled. "Told ya you'd run into trouble, Rae. You should've listened to me."

"And I told you: don't call me that!" She stood up and automatically slid into a fighting stance. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Another smug-sounding chuckle. "Ease up. I'm on my way to Blackthorn City."

"So are we," said Ash from behind Raelin.

"Huh. How convenient." She didn't bother to hide her annoyance.

"Yeah, it really is." He hadn't missed her sarcasm. "Hey, since we're going in the same direction, why don't we travel together?" He held back a smile when Raelin glared.

"I'm fine with it," Ash said.

"Okay with me," said Brock. The three boys looked at Misty.

"Oh, all right," Misty agreed. "Raelin?"

"Hmph." She turned away. "Don't expect me to talk to you."

Gary smirked. "I feel welcome already."

All through dinner, Raelin tried her best to ignore Gary. She couldn't help but glance over a few times—and almost regretted it. There was something she saw in his gaze that made her feel dizzy and she had a hard time looking away. 'Cut it out! He's trying ito make you nervous.'

"You've been a little quiet, Rae."

Her head flicked up at the sound of his voice. He was sitting beside her on the grass now, while the rest of the group was still sitting near the fire, out of earshot. "Maybe I'm thinking. Something I'm capable of, unlike you."

"Ouch!" he laughed. "You must be feeling better. That almost hurt."

"Ha, ha," she mono-toned. "What do you want?"

"Why were you acting weird the last time I saw you?"

Well, that was unexpected. "I…well, I told you. I don't like being civilized." She flashed him a narrow-eyed smirk that, she knew from experience, made her look dangerous.

"Uh-uh. That isn't it." He shook his head, dark eyes unusually serious and kind. "Maybe it's just they way you are, but I get the feeling that you hide a lot from everyone."

"You don't know me." She looked away, staring at the fading purple streaks in the sky.

"Yeah, maybe I don't." His voice was softer now. "But I really would like to know you, Raelin." She could feel warmth at her side and realized he'd put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head just a little in his direction. His last words were soft, but held the familiar mocking tone. "See you in the morning." Then the warmth was gone and the summer air suddenly seemed a little cooler than before.

Even after everyone else was asleep, Raelin's thoughts kept her up. She stared up at the moon, hoping the bright light would block out her last dream.

'I shouldn't have gotten so upset. Ryder would never say something like that to me. He'd hug me and tell me how happy he was that I'd come home.' She turned over on her side and tucked her hands under her head. 'As long as I don't tell anyone about what happened, I'll be fine…' She inhaled and exhaled slowly, beginning to drift off. 'Even if they do ask me questions, there isn't much I can tell them. Imagine what Gary would think…' She didn't bother to wonder why she cared so much.

Yes, Raelin's past as well as a few other things will be revealed later on.

The pendant Ember had was the white half of a yin yang pendant, just so you know. :)

R & R please!

~ DarkBloodbender937