Am I lost…? Meowth stared up at the man in confusion for a moment, unsure how he was supposed to respond to the question. After a moment, he gave up thinking about it and just spit it out: "I suppose I am lost, in a manner of speaking…"

The travelers stared down at him for a moment, just long enough for Meowth to get a good look at them – the tall man in the suit, his green hair spiked back in a point; the young girl with the wild purple hair and the yellow bows… wait a second.

"Did you just… talk?" The travelers exchanged a glance, instant recognition flashing in their eyes as they stepped back away from him.

"It's that Meowth!" The young girl exclaimed, at the same moment Meowth shouted:

"It's you!"

Without giving them a chance to retaliate, Meowth leapt forward, tumbling into the man's arms and pressing his face into his chest. "Cilan! Iris!" Rubbing his nose against the familiar scent of the Pokémon Connoisseur, Meowth purred happily, not noticing the stunned look on the humans' faces.

"What are you doing?" Iris cried loudly, bending over so she was eye-level with the cat Pokémon. A small green Dragon-type poked its nose out of her hair, and blinked slowly at Meowth.

"Yewwwwww?"

"Axew, buddy!" Grinning like a madman, Meowth reached forward and pulled the struggling Pokémon from its place and enveloped it in a hug. "It's so good ta see you again!"

"Hey!" Angry now, Iris yanked her partner back into her own arms, and then dumped Meowth out of Cilan's. "You have no right to just… show up like that and—"

"I know, I know," Much to her surprise, Meowth stared back up at her with apologetic eyes, "I shouldn'ta run off in the first place; you musta been looking for hours. I'm sorry."

"You're… what?" Iris raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused. "I don't get it."

"Meowth," Cilan followed Iris' earlier idea, crouching low to the ground, "what are you talking about?"

Strolling back to their side casually, Meowth pursed his lips. "I'm not exactly sure, Cilan." He said honestly, running through the events of the last few hours in his head. "I tink I mighta hit my head or somethin'; I don't remember why I ran away at all… if I even did." Frowning now, he looked over at Cilan. "Did I run away?"

"Run away from what… Team Rocket?" Iris was growing exasperated. "I have no idea what you're—"

"Shhh, Iris!" A theoretical light bulb flashed in Cilan's mind, and he rose quickly to his feet, gesturing for her to come closer. "I just had a thought."

"What?" Keeping one eye on Meowth, Iris leaned in as her companion began to whisper in her ear.

"I don't think this is the Meowth we know, Iris." His voice was clear, but Iris wasn't sure she had heard him right. Squeezing Axew tight, she whispered back:

"What do you mean? Of course it's the same Meowth! How many Meowths do you know in Unova? Who can talk?"

"Let me finish." Cilan glanced once more behind him at the cat, who was sitting on the ground a few feet off, watching them curiously, but making no move. "I think it's the same Meowth, of course, but I think something's happened to him… he said he hit his head, right? What if he's confused? What if he thinks we're on the same team?"

"You mean he thinks we're on Team Rocket?"

"Or else that he's one of the good guys."

There was a pause as Iris considered the suggestion. "This could be a trap."

Cilan nodded slowly. "Could be, but I think we should go with it."

"But–"

"We don't have time for this, Iris! Let's just take it as it is; we might be able to do some good with this!"

"…okay." Iris nodded her consent slowly. "BUT! if this turns out to be a trap set up by Team Rocket – I'm blaming it all on you!"

"Deal." Backing out of the huddle, Cilan turned back to Meowth, faking a big smile. "Sorry about that, Meowth!" He said cheerily. "We were just talking about… err,"

"our next destination!" Iris cut in, her happy tone sounding perhaps a little too forced. "We were supposed to be collecting firewood and finding some berries, but we've decided we should go straight back to camp."

"Right." Cilan nodded, casting her a quick smile in way of thanks. "We need to let Ash know you've returned safe and sound."

"Oh, that's okay, guys." Smiling just as large – albeit, genuinely, Meowth stood up. "I understand. I'm just glad to- wait. Did you say… Ash?" His eyes lit up, and he jumped up in the air with excitement. "You mean Ash is back at the camp?"

"Well, yes," Cilan chuckled, "that is where we left him."

"Then what're we waitin' for?" Meowth cried, suddenly sprinting forwards. "Lead the way, Cilan – I can't wait to see my trainer again!"

Behind him, Cilan and Iris exchanged a baffled look.

Iris tucked Axew back into her hair, staring after Meowth. "Did he just say-?"

Cilan shook his head before starting after their newest travel buddy. "I'm starting to think this may be a little more serious than we think it is…"

"…Unova?" James frowned at the unfamiliar term. "Is that right?"

"That's the name of the region we're in right now." Ash nodded slowly, watching the older trainer carefully.

"Unova," James repeated, "it doesn't sound familiar at all…"

Ash, who was now sitting cross-legged by James' feet, shifted position. "You must have hit your head," he said nervously, "I'll bet you've got memory loss or something."

"You mean… I've got amnesia?" James' eyes grew wide at the idea, and Ash looked back at him sympathetically.

"It sure looks that way to me."

"This can't be happening." Sitting upright with his legs folded under him, James held his hands up to his face, trying to hide the panic he could already feel growing.

"Pikaakaa," Pikachu held out a paw and placed it on James' leg, causing the Team Rocket member to tense up, but then relax when he recognized it as a gesture of comfort.

"T-thanks, Pikachu," he said shakily, "this is going to take some – wait." Suddenly somber, he looked down at the mouse Pokémon, and then to its trainer, and back again. "This is a trick, isn't it?"

"…a trick?" Ash questioned. "What do you mean?"

"You're trying to trick me!" James jumped up from where he had been sitting, swaying a moment before gaining his balance and glaring defiantly at Ash. "You probably knocked me out and dragged me in here yourself!" He looked around the unfamiliar trees. "I'll bet we're in Viridian Forest, aren't we? AREN'T WE?"

"…uhh, no." Ash remained seated at James' feet. "No we're not. We're in the Giant Chasm, just off of Lacunosa Town."

"Right."

"I'm not lying, James."

"Right."

"I can prove it to you!"

"Rig- can you?"

"The pokéball, on your belt!" Ash pointed at the red-and-white sphere, an idea forming.

"Wheezing?" James looked down at the ball, wondering where Ash was going with this.

The young trainer sighed. "No, James; Wheezing is gone. That's your first Unova Pokémon in that ball."

"What?" Grabbing the ball from his belt, James stared down at it in confusion. "No it's not. This is Wheezing's pokéball." He spoke softly, perhaps more to himself than his company, but Ash shook his head.

"It's not," the boy said stubbornly, "it's a Yamask. A ghost-type Pokémon that you caught in Castelia City."

"…Yamask?" Continuing to stare at the pokéball, James swayed where he was standing, and Ash rose to join him.

"Look," Ash reached out gently and took the older trainer's arm, "you seem kinda… confused." He paused. "I can't say I blame you, but why don't you let me help?"

James pulled back away from him, glaring at Pikachu as well as Ash. "I can't trust you."

Moving to go after him, Ash hesitated when Pikachu suddenly spoke up. "Pikaaa, pikaaa, chuu!"

"…good point, Pikachu." Ash muttered to his partner, before turning back to face James once more. "I understand that you don't think you can trust us, James," he said evenly, meeting his longtime enemy's eyes, "but think about it this way. What other choice do you have?"

There was yet another pause as James considered this, then he sighed and allowed Ash to take his arm once more. As the younger trainer helped the older back to a sitting position, James handed him the pokéball in his hand.

"Would you throw it for me?" He asked, suddenly feeling tired. "I'm not sure that I want to…"

"Okay." Ash nodded, and after making sure James was seated, took the pokéball and tossed it high into the air. "Go, pokéball!"

The small clearing exploded in a flash of white light, which quickly faded and left all present blinking. In the dimness afterwards, a small black Pokémon hovered, staring cheerily around it while carefully balancing the yellow mask attached to its tail. "Yaaaah."

"W-what the-!" James' eyes grew wide, and Ash shook his head.

"Toldja so."

"Is this really… my Pokémon?"

"Yamask. Yaaah."

"You caught it, didn't he Pikachu?"

"Chaaa, pikaa."

James, continuing to stare at the Yamask, didn't respond, and Ash decided it was time to leave him alone for a bit. "Don't go anywhere, okay James?"

"Okay." The response was quiet, but there, and Ash slowly made his way back to the tents. He wished there was something else he could do to help James – not that he had done much of anything already. When he and his friends had found the trainer unconscious under a pile of rocks, they figured digging him out and bringing him to their camp would be enough. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, and Ash got the feeling they were in deeper than they had thought they would be…

"Ash!" A sudden shout caught his attention, and he turned around to see Iris hopping tree branches towards him. Waving her arms at him, the Dragon Master-in-training leapt gracefully to the ground, landing directly in front of her friend. "We've got trouble!"

"You're telling me!" Ash hissed, taking her shoulder and pulling her closer. "James woke up while you guys were out, and he - wait. What happened?"

"We found Meowth!" Iris cried, forgetting herself in her excitement. "He was wandering around the forest, and he recognized us."

"…and?"

"no, you don't get it;" Iris shook her head angrily; "Meowth thinks he's one of us! He thinks you're his trainer!"

"He what?" Ash pulled back away from her, eyes wide with shock. "There's no way! I'm not-"

"Well, we know that!" Iris said, glancing behind her quickly. "But I think Meowth hit his head or something, because he doesn't seem to. He thinks we're all one big team!"

"Man, this is so messed up." Ash groaned, sinking to the ground beside the still-unfinished tents. Looking down at him curiously, Iris crouched down beside him.

"Cilan's on his way with Meowth and Axew." She said, suddenly sounding cheery again. "And you said that James woke up?"

"Yeah, but he's got amnesia." Ash jerked a thumb towards James, who was watching both the youngsters dazedly.

"He's… got amnesia." Iris repeated dully. "This just keeps on getting better, doesn't it?"

"At least we know they won't be a threat for a while."

"Ash!" Iris was indignant at the comment, but Ash just shrugged.

"It's true and you know it, Iris."

"Well, yeah." The girl sighed, then lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "But we still need to be careful. We should do what we can to help, but don't forget that it could still be a trap!"

"James didn't look like he was faking it."

"Looks can be deceiving!" Iris jumped back to her feet just as Cilan entered the clearing, Meowth trailing behind him and Axew clasped in his arms.

"We're back!" He announced for good measure. "And I've brought a new flavor into the recipe that is our journey!"

"Ash!" Suddenly unable to keep himself from grinning, Meowth threw himself at the young trainer, knocking both of them off-balance and into the tent Ash had been working on. Everything collapsed in a pile of fabric and fur, and Cilan and Iris watched in silence as Ash struggled to regain his balance.

"Glad to see things got done while we were gone, anyway." Cilan said sheepishly. "We had better get to work fixing that, hunh?"

"Oh Ash," Iris sighed over the sound of Ash's attempts to get away from the ecstatic Cat Pokémon, "you're such a kid!"

This is just getting too weird. Lost as ever, Jessie was wandering through the woods, trying her very best to gain her bearings without any help from the sky, ground or foliage. So far, it wasn't going so well.

"You see anything, Woobat?" She called to the small creature hovering a few feet ahead of her.

"Wuuuuuuu!"

"Okay, well keep looking." Having decided she would rather risk its company than be all alone, Jessie had let the unfamiliar Pokémon out of its ball again. She was all right with it helping her out, and would figure out what was going on with Arbok later. For now, she just had to figure out where she was – and why she kept getting attacked by Pokémon she didn't recognize.

"Have you seen any of these Pokémon before, Woobat?"

"Bat, bat, wuu!"

"Why am I even asking you this?"

"Baaaaaaaat."

"Oh, right. Thanks, I'd forgotten!" Resorting to sarcasm as always, Jessie pushed ahead of her teammate, hoping for a miracle. Or, at least to catch a glimpse of something that wasn't trying to kill her. Preferably her actual teammates, but at this point just about anything would do. It was getting darker every minute, and if there was anything she didn't want, it was to be stuck out here overnight, Woobat or no.

"Do you think we're almost at an exit?"

"Wuuuuuuubat!"

"…gotcha."

"You can stay here for the night if you like." Cilan stood over James, offering him an extra blanket and nodding towards the tents they had finally managed to set up. "Ash and I have extra space in our tent, and I'm sure we don't mind having one extra."

"You… don't?" James looked up at the green-haired trainer, a stranger to him despite knowing they'd met before. "I mean, I would really appreciate it!"

"Of course." Cilan smiled, offering a hand and helping James to his feet. He waited as James gained his balance, and then led him past the fire where his friends were sitting and into the second tent.

Ash and Iris watched them enter the tent without a word, painfully aware of the yellow Pokémon happily sitting between them, munching away on some berries they had found for him.

"This is pretty… weird." Iris said finally, opting for a word that no-one could take much offense to.

"Sure is." Ash agreed right away, staring up through the trees into the starless sky. "It's not every day your lifelong enemies come to you in a time of need."

"And by complete accident." Iris added, rubbing her hands together over the fire. "I don't even get it."

"What's to get?" Ash said simply. "It's a big mess, that's what it is. But we can get through it. Together."

"Like a team!" Meowth piped up, smiling up at his supposed trainer.

Instantly the mood died as Ash did his best to return the feline's optimism. "Yeah," he repeated, if not somewhat awkwardly, "like a team."