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Ash POV

"Huh? Where are we?" I rubbed my eyes. A sense of oddly calming vertigo seized me, and apparently Pikachu too, because he was sprawled out across the ground making soft groaning noises.

Is this what Sammy went through when he came to the future? And was that just the other day that we found him in the woods? We. Misty and Brock.

I had to get to them!

I shook off the dizziness and began my sprint out of the woods.

"Pika!" Pikachu demanded, telling me to wait up. I didn't have time for that. I had to see if Misty and Brock were still around. And besides, he'd catch up. I could hear the sound of his paws hitting the forest floor as he chased after me.

By the time I reached a road, my chest was heaving.

But I didn't remember there being a road here. Maybe I was headed in the wrong direction! I could just follow the road back to town, though. Eventually it would lead me there.

"Pi-pi-pi-pi..." Pikachu panted beside me.

"Here," I offered, picking him up and draping him gently over my shoulder.

He smiled at me in thanks. I grinned back.

"Let's go find our friends!"

Welcome to Gravity Falls!

That's what the sign read.

I checked my map of the Johto region. Just like the first four times, no Gravity Falls.

It was possible that this was a town from the past or future. Would Brock and Misty still be alive?

I collapsed next to it.

My legs ached, more than usual. And that's saying a lot since I all I do is walk most of the time.

"Do you think they're even out there? Wherever, whenever we are?"

Pikachu stared up at me, and for once I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I sighed.

"Well I guess we better keep moving."
"Aw, what an adorable little kitten you have there!" an older lady with big, grey hair and an eye closed in an eternal wink complimented, stroking Pikachu's head. Me and my 'kitten' had both gotten hungry, so I found a diner. It didn't look like the best quality, considering one of the signs outside said: We Have Food! But a trainer's got to eat, right.

I just waited until she was done. I'd been getting a lot of strange comments from the people of this town about Pikachu. It was almost as if they had no idea what a Pokemon was.

"Ya know, I have three kittens myself, and they're just my precious little babies!" she told me. I'd met quite a few wackos on my journey, but this woman was seriously creeping me out. I was starting to think she was an undercover Team Rocket agent sent to get Pikachu, like Jesse and James. And, of course, Meowth. "Lemme see. There's Donald (Oh yes, Donald! He's a sweet boy!), Sandy (She's just the sweetest little thing!), and Mr. Catface. Now Mr. Catface is definitely trouble! Once I had to wear a full body cast for two months because of him, but I still love him like he's my own cat!" she concluded.

"Ugh, I think he is your own cat," I mentioned.

"Yes, he is, actually. How did you know? I think I knew how you knew! You're a psychotic!"

"It's, uh, psychic," I corrected.

"Mm-hm. That's what I just said."

"Have you, perhaps, seen a girl with red hair, about yay tall, and suspenders?" I asked the lady, holding my hand up to where the top of Misty's head would be.

"You mean like over there?" She pointed to a girl with lomg, ginger hair sitting by a guy in a blue hat and vest and another girl in a mint green turtleneck sweater.

"No. She has a ponytail. And shorts."

"Oh. No. Good luck!" The one-eyea woman resumed her duty of taking orders, leaving me on my own. I had already ordered a cheeseburger.

The trio that she had pointed out earlier was currently laughing good naturedly at a joke apparently told by the Misty lookalike, because she just sat there, smiling.

They'd be a good place to start. If Cat Woman wasn't going to help me, they looked like people that would.