Toon Link yelped as he tripped off the bus, rolling straight into a pile of ash. The kid hiding in the pile of ash yelled angrily at him, but it went mostly ignored as the others on the bus laughed. Ralts practically glowed from the warm feelings being thrown around.

Lucas hefted the wingull in his arms, glancing around quickly for any sign of a girl. Stephen had mentioned before they had gotten on the bus that the girl stated that she would be waiting for them when they got off the bus, but as Lucas glanced around, he didn't see any female.

Stephen bounced off after Toon Link, offering him a welcoming hand. Toon Link happily took it, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "C'mon, let's go find the owner of this wingull-"

"HEY! OVER HERE!" The tight knot of six kids turned as one to stare at the flailing hand in bushes. "You guys are the ones that have my Wingull, right?"

The wingull, normally sitting quietly on Lucas, took off at the sound of her voice, sqwacking loudly. A smudged, dirty, sooty face broke into a huge smile as dirty arms wrapped around the small Pokémon. "WINGULL!"

She hugged him tight, and the Pokémon chirruped happily. The twelve-year-old walked out from the soot-covered grass, looking at them with a huge smile, teeth surprisingly white against the darkened skin. "Thank you guys so much for returning him. I was so worried!"

Lucas nodded, heart in his mouth. Ness looked slightly thoughtful, twirling a baseball bat that he had bartered another kid on the bus for. He slung it across his shoulders, draped his arms over it, and questioned, "Is that really a good idea? I mean, he did technically run away from you, right?"

"He didn't! He was attacked by some nasty guy, and never came back! I don't know why he thought he could catch Wingull, since he belonged to me. You can't catch a Pokémon that's already caught…"

She frowned slightly, before shrugging. "Well, not my problem if he's so stupid." Wingull chirruped softly. She ruffled his feathers, leaving streak marks. "Hey, you guys are trainers too, right? You should collect some ash as well. If you bring enough to the guy in the house further up, he'll make into a flute that can cure the status effects of your Pokémon! That way you don't have to waste berries."

Stephen was instantly walking towards her as the other boys glanced at each other. "Flutes?"

"Don't look at me, I can barely use an ocarina." Toon Link hissed back softly. The other Link had been attempting to teach him. It… wasn't going very well. At least their antics made Princess Zelda smile.

The Ice Climbers were bent over the ash, chattering to each other in their native tongue. A gloved hand poked at it, and brought it up to twin pairs of eyes. The girl stared at them for a moment, before asking quietly, "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, their fine. I don't think they've seen so much ash before." Lucas glanced towards the wingull who didn't look ready to get out of his real owners arms any time soon.

Ness walked over to them, tapping them on the shoulders, "That's ash you guys. Leave it alone."

Nana and Popo glanced at each other, before Nana shrugged. "It's just a bit unusual. We've battled in lava pits, snowy mountains, race car tracks and acid, but we've never seen ash like this before."

"It's a pretty good ash." The girl broke in.

Stephen nodded in agreement. "Fallarbor's main export… other then meteor pieces- is the ash. Gardeners love to use it to fertilize their gardens, and such. And then of course there's people who use the ash to make glass- it can be really gorgeous you know."

"Oh, I agree, see, I already have a flute myself!" The girl held out a glass flute, smiling proudly. Lucas didn't really know much about glass, but he had to admit, it was very, very pretty. "Now then- are you guys going to get some ash or not?"

"I will!" Stephen volunteered.

Lucas shyly shook his head. Ness and Toon Link shook their heads as well, as the two Ice Climbers began to critically regard the semi-active volcano before them. "We're going to climb the mountain!"

Nana and Popo took off, with Toon Link yelling after them, "Get back here before tomorrow morning, okay?"

The two waved him off easily, hopping up ledges quickly. "Wow, they like climbing. I hope that their Pokémon are strong enough to fight off any that might attack…" The girl murmured, eyes wide. Nana and Popo jumped from ledge to ledge, rope between the two.

Stephen looked thoughtful for a moment, before shrugging. "I think they'll be fine. They don't have any Pokémon of their own, but they talk about mountain climbing all the time so they should be fine."

Ness nodded, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "Yeah, they will be. We're gonna go to the Pokémon Center and get us all some beds for tonight. You guys go on ahead and get yer ash if you want it."

The girl frowned at them. "Are you guys really Pokémon Trainers?"

Toon Link and Ness instantly pointed to Lucas. "He's the only trainer around here."

"You two aren't? Then why aren't you at home studying for another job or something?" She seemed genuinely curious. "I was studying to become a Nurse Joy before Wingull got stolen and I decided to become a trainer instead. It's a whole lot of fun."

Stephen nodded in time to her words. "A lot of work-"

"But a lot of fun."

The two were becoming as in-sync of each other as Nana and Popo were. Ness took a step back, and grabbed Lucas's shirt back. "We're going to go to the Center now."

The two trainers watched them walk off with bright, but narrow eyes. Ionia lagged behind, the green shell of his head throwing glances towards Wingull. The bird-Pokémon chirruped softly, some kind of call to the Ralts.

Ionia waved goodbye, and followed the humans into town. Stephen turned to the girl, "Oh, by the way, I'm Stephen."

"Pleased to meet ya. I'm Grace."

Lucas straggled into the Pokémon center, sighing fitfully as the TV blared at him. "We now cut to news from Lilycove city."

Lucas blinked as the images on the television flashed and changed to a very familiar Charizard bursting out a slowly collapsing building. "Isn't that Red's-"

"Yeah, but I don't think-"

Charizard circled above the ruined building a few times, the narrator speaking quickly, "According to reports nobody died and they were all evacuated safely due to the quick thinking of the secretary who stated that Former Kanto Champion Green asked her too. There have been rumors flying around all day speculating on the mysterious trainer on the back of the Charizard. The most common rumor is that this trainer might be the rumored Red, the youngest Champion to ever take the League, and famous for his battling ability. There are many who discount the rumors saying that-"

The narrator's words were completely ignored by the three boys crowded around the television. "So… what do we do now? It looks like Red's in trouble. But we don't know where he is."

"Stephen and the girl probably now." Lucas pointed out.

"They know where Lilycove is, but not where Red himself is."

Lucas pulled out his gear. "I can try contacting him…"

His voice trailed out at the blinking message on the gear. It was from Red.

Lucas, find Green and make sure he's okay please. I sent Venosaur to a hospital to take care of him. He should be in Lilycove City. Don't let him come after me.

Green? Who was this Green person? But in Lilycove… "We need to get to Lilycove right away. At least, I do."

Ness nodded, "We'll go with you. Do you have a map?"

"Yeah." Lucas pulled out the giant paper map. "We're up here, and Lilycove is… over here, by the sea-side. So if we want to take the shortest distance, we have to hike through the desert, up over the mountain and go straight past Fortree on to Lilycove, and that's only if we don't get lost in all of the forests."

"Nana and Popo can get us over the mountains, but the problem is the desert."

"Stephen was really good at navigating through the desert…"

"Would it be easier to go down to Mauville and sail our way out? I mean, if you take a look at the walking distance-"

"I know, but-"

The three boys scowled down at the map. It would take too long to get to Lilycove no matter what they did. "If only we had a Pokémon that could fly us all to Lilycove…" He remember wistfully back to flying down Mount Silver with Red on Charizard's back. "But it doesn't seem very likely…"

"Maybe Stephen or that other girl knows a shortcut to Lilycove. We should go out and try to find them."

"Y-Yeah. Ionia, will you help us find them?"

The ralts frowned slightly, looking down at the white nubs it had in place of hands. He glowed slightly, and Lucas blinked down at it. The Nurse Joy smiled as she called out to him, "Looks like your Ralts is evolving!"

The three boys watched as Ionia glowed, white light swathing it for a few moments, before falling away. Warm brown eyes, normally hidden by Green stared up at Lucas, as a two-fingered white hand reached out to touch Lucas's elbow gently. Red horns, no longer down the middle but set to either side, glowed slightly, as he pointed outside.

"L-Let's follow him." Lucas murmured. He and Ness could feel the power flowing off of the Pokémon gently, as if he were looking into the future.

"Ki-Kirlia!" Ionia led the way, drifting trough the ashy fields without leaving behind a footprint. Cool wind blew gently every so often, almost obscured by the fat flakes of ash that forever fell from the sky.

Stephen and the girl were crouched in the grass, watching a wild Pokémon dig at the grass roots. "Stephen! Stephen! We got a problem!"

"Huh? What's the matter Luca-"

"Lilycove! We have to get too Lilycove right away!"

"Why-" The girl began, and Toon Link was the one who spoke this time.

"Red attacked a building at Lilycove, a person named Green got hurt, Red requested Lucas to find Green and heal him, and there's probably trouble."

"Do you mean Red and Green from Kanto?" Stephen's eyes were huge. "What's going on to cause such a big problem?"

"That point doesn't matter right now." The girl said briskly, "You guys need to get to Lilycove, and I'll help. I have a Tropius which should be able to carry us all to Lilycove. It's just, we need to wait for morning. It's too dark right now-"

Ness lifted a finger, eyes closing in concentration. A ball of glowing energy swirled into life, casting light for a good ten feet. "Will this be good enough?"

Stephen and her jaw dropped, but Grace at least nodded. "Yeah. We can use that. What about those other two?"

"They'll be on the mountain range climbing. We'll pick them up on our way."

Stephen cast a speculative glance over their group. "You know… I don't think Tropius will be able to carry us all."

"She will! She's very big and strong!"

"I'm not doubting your Pokémon Grace, it's just… there'll be nine of us on one Pokémon's back- there's no way we can all fit. Even with a Pokémon as big as a Tropius."

She frowned down at the pokéball, before softly admitting, "You're right."

She glanced upwards, at Lucas. "Trade me."

"Huh?"

Grace thrust out the pokéball. "Trade me! Your Kirilia for my Tropius. He'll only listen to you if you're his trainer. So trade me!"

"B-But, don't you need equipment and-"

"Yeah, so we go back to the center and trade Pokémon. It'll be okay. Then when everything's done, we trade back. But we can't all ride, and you're the only trainer out of your group. So trade me Pokémon."

The smudged, sooty face stared at him with burning eyes. Lucas gulped, and nodded. "Ionia, I'm going to let Grace take care of you okay? I'll be back- I promise."

Brown eyes regarded Lucas for a long, long moment. The Kirilia looked down at the ground, and Lucas frowned. What- "C'mon, trade."

Lucas hesitated for a moment longer, staring down at his one Pokémon. Ionia didn't look back at him. Bright red horns glowed softly. Lucas knelt down, a spark of light going between the two. Ionia's sorrow, but quiet acceptance filled him. "It's said a Kirilia can see into the future," Grace's voice was soft. "I bet he saw something bad."

Lucas didn't say anything, eyes on Ionia. "Please take care of him?"

"I will." Grace promised. "He will always have a place on my team."

Kirilia and Wingull looked at each other, chirruping softly. Lucas stood, looking at the Tropius in Grace's hand. Toon Link looked up to the sky. "We need a tail wind if we want to move fast."

Ness gently squeezed Lucas's shoulder, offering him a bit of comfort before grinning, "Let's get to Lilycove."

The transfer only took a minute. The large grass-flying Pokémon flashed into view in the center of the small town, huge leaves rustling as he looked up to the dark sky. They were going to find Green.

Green woke up slowly, the very first sensation he was aware of was a low, throbbing pain in his side. It hurt, really, really bad. He bit back a groan, and forced blurry eyes open. He could hear a Nurse Joy speaking sharply from a distance away, and young voices protesting, but it went mostly ignored as he glanced around.

Venosaur- Red's Venosaur, sat in a corner of the room, leaves rustling in agitation. He was still waiting patiently for his owner though, who wasn't here. "Red?" Green tried hopefully, wishing that red eyes would peer into his with that smug self-confidence.

There wasn't any answer, and the door remained partially cracked open. Six pokeballs sat patiently, all of his pokemon waiting for him to release them. A blond head poked its way in, as the little guy that Red had been traveling with appeared in the doorway. "Green! Red sent me here to find you!"

"Oh, you're… Lucas, wasn't it?" So maybe Green had been a little jealous of Lucas's and Red's friendship, but now was hardly the time. "Where is Red?"

Lucas wasn't smiling, and he half-flinched at the question. "We don't know. I just got a message from Red to help take care of you. I was hoping that you could tell us where Red is after I heal you."

Lucas pushed the door open a little further, scurrying in quickly. He shot a glance behind, where Green could see the other people who were with Lucas arguing with Nurse Joy. The kid in the silly green hat glanced around Nurse Joy quickly, a surprisingly bright smirk crossing his face for a moment as he recognized that Lucas had made it to Green's room, before Lucas swiftly closed the door.

"I take it the others are running a distraction?"

"Nurse Joy is rather insistent that you don't move for awhile, but if we want to find Red, then we need you. You're Red's best friend, and you know best where he would go."

Lucas was next to him now, hands gently touching his. Green snorted bitterly, "Unless you happen to of noticed, Red's spent two years avoiding me like the plague. There isn't much friendship here to talk about."

"But you understand him the best, right? We talked about it the entire flight over here, and we don't even have an inkling of where Red could've gone."

Seriously? You only had to know Red for a few weeks to realize that he loved cold, high places. Mount Silver was practically tailor made for him! But was there anywhere that was that cool and high in Hoenn?

Green's thoughts came to a screeching train wreck of a halt when Lucas's hands glowed, the tang of psychic energy flowing through him. Green could feel the pain slowly begin to vanish, letting him slowly sit up. Lucas's eyes opened again, staring directly in Green's. "It'll take awhile for you to completely heal, but you can stand up now, right?"

Green nodded dumbly, feeling his wound slowly begin to close up. It was such a creepy feeling, feeling each muscle and tendon close up and begin to knit together. "Yeah, I can."

Venosaur took a few steps foreword, eyes on the two humans. One vine whipped out, lightly touching against Lucas's healing hands. Lucas stared at the Venosaur in confusion, unable to tell what question the grass Pokémon was trying to ask. That was the main reason why he would never be a good Pokémon trainer, but Green was beginning to realize that Pokémon wasn't the reason why Red befriended Lucas.

The window flew open, and a bright-eyed kid's head popped in. It was the kid with the odd green hat. "Lucas!" One arm was outstretched over his head. "Are we ready to bust out of here?"

"I think so."

The kid grinned, "C'mon, my grappling hook can take the weight."

Grappling hook?

Green pulled himself to his feet and limped over to the window. The green-capped kid had a chain wrapped around a long pole extending from the top of the Pokémon center. "We have a problem though- Venosaur can't fit out through the window."

"Venosaur." The Pokémon instantly got ready for a command. "Meet us at the entrance of Pokémon Center. Lucas, how did you get here anyways?"

"We traded for a Tropius."

The giant grass-flying Pokémon would easily lift Venosaur and at least one other. Combined with Green's Pidgeot… "That should work."

If Lucas could heal people, and the kid in the green cap had some sort of weird technology, the other kids could probably do something just as interesting or odd. Instead of assembling a team of Pokémon, Red had decided to assemble a team of humans. Hmph, Green had always been the better tactician.

Venosaur began to move towards the door, barely able to squeeze out of it. Green hauled himself up to the windowsill. "Why am I breaking out anyways?"

"Umm, people with cameras and microphones are everywhere, and their all shouting your name." Paparazzi. How- "And they're all asking about whether or not Red was with you. I feel bad for Nurse Joy, but since I could kinda prove that I was with Red because of a previous Nurse Joy, they at least let us in, even if they weren't going to let me in to your room. Nana and Popo ran interference."

"How did they-"

"BATTER UP! HEY BATTER BATTER BATTER!" Laughter, shrieks of outrage, and two remarkably guilty looks convinced Green that he probably didn't want to know. The kid outside extended a hand.

"Hang on tight- this guy doesn't do soft landing too often."

Maybe Green should pull out his Alakazam from the PC box…

They dropped like stones, Green barely keeping the scream in his throat. The kid looked up, as Lucas carefully began to climb down the chain. "Lucas, hurry it up!"

"I'm hurrying!"

Green glanced up at Lucas. "You're the one with the Tropius, correct?"

"Yep, why do you-"

"Venosaur should be reaching the entrance any minute now. The second he does the paparazzi will descend like flies and start converging on Venosaur to find Red. We need to snatch up Venosaur and get out of here immediately."

"But what about the rest-"

"Can we coordinate to meet up with them later?"

"N-No, not really. Unless Toony knows a way." Lucas dropped to the ground. Link looked thoughtful.

After a few long seconds, Link pointed at the entrance. "We have to go past the entrance anyways. I'll go first, and gather Ness, Nana and Popo. Lucas, let us have the Tropius. You have a way of going on ahead, right Green?"

"Yeah, Pidgeot will be able to lift us. We can probably take on one more, and let Tropius carry the bulk of Venosaur."

"Where are we going anyways? Do you have an idea?"

"Red likes cold, high places. The highest, coolest place on this entire island is just west of here. A place called Mount Pyre." Technically down in Shoal Cave there was plenty of ice and such, but it was only accessible during low tide. Besides, Red would go to Mount Pyre if only because he had a flare for the dramatic.

"Is that… The mountain we passed by? There was a huge storm over the top, and the entire mountain was shaking…"

What? That was not a good sign- "We were planning on checking it out once we took care of Red, and made sure that he was okay."

"If there's a storm and the mountain is shaking, then it's probably Red who's the cause of it."

Link vanished around the corner, no doubt to retrieve the others, Lucas's pokéball clutched in his hand. Green called out Pidgeot, got Lucas aboard, and counted to ten. When he heard yells and screams from the front, he pulled himself ontop, and said to Pidgeot, "To the skies!"

The bird Pokémon took off, a powerful gust of wind slamming against the wall like a thunderclap.

Tropius took off after them in a heartbeat. Leaf wings and feather wings filled the sky, as the two shot off towards the west. They could hear some reporters scrambling, hear screeches and screams as they realized their one ticket too instant fame began to fly away.

And as the group took off, Pokémon and humans alike, in the Pokémon Center, the television ran on. "This is reporter Gabby with my cameraman Ty, here on the top of Mount Pyre. We spotted Hoenn Champions Ruby and Sapphire climbing to the top and followed them. The battle is really heating up as the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza has also decided to join in this battle."

Those on the backs of flying Pokémon had their eyes firmly focused straight ahead. Clouds roiled with angry bursts, thunder and lightning flowing in intermediate spurts. The lighting lit up the sky, intermediate spurts of deadliness and beauty at once.

Green blinked as Lucas's fingers touched his hand. "Are you okay? You're shaking." Warm brown eyes blinked up at him.

Green nodded with a jerk.

It was a lie of course.

He didn't want to go back. Green didn't want to go back into this battle, knowing full well that he could be hurt and nearly killed as he almost was already. He didn't want too. But at the same time, anger at the man who had hurt both Red and him burned, tiny flickering flames of fed by years of looking out after himself. Two years worth of being unable to contact his truest, and greatest friend because he hadn't had the guts to stand up against Team Rocket burned as well, driving out the fear.

"I'm going to fight that guy." Green mused out loud. "I'm going to fight him, and show him why exactly Kanto is the roughest, toughest, meanest region to ever exist." And he would prove to Red that he was worth being a friend too. After all, he couldn't prove to Gramps he was a worthy grandson, so he could at least prove to Red he was a friend.

"I'm scared." Lucas whispered. "It reminds me of home. All that's missing is dad…"

Green snorted dryly. "Your dad another one who abandoned his family?"

Lucas glanced up at him. Green stared straight ahead. "I- kinda? Did your dad-"

"My dad abandoned me after Mom died, leaving my Sis Daisy to take care of me." Green forced himself to shrug casually. "Red's mom boyfriend left right after she got pregnant, so no one knows where the guy is anymore."

It was a common story in a lot of regions- most common in Kanto, Johto, and regions where the age-limit was low. But still… "I'm sorry. That seems very sad."

Green snorted, "How can you miss someone you never knew? You're too kind. If I were to ever meet my dad, I'd probably punch him, then challenge him to a battle until he collapses and forget about him for the rest of my life. The only person I'd feel sorry for would be Daisy."

It wasn't until Green had left on his own journey did Daisy get to live her own life. She became a top coordinator, an easy enough task for her, who made even the roughest Pokémon calm at just a smile.

Lucas looked forward, as Mount Pyre came closer. The rocks really were shaking, as wind, too fast and sharp for any Pokémon beyond perhaps a legendary, to fly through. Green swore softly, urging his Pidgeot to stop. "We can't fly up there, we'll be smashed against the rocks."

Tropius glided in beside them, Link leaning forward, a long, white baton clutched in his hand. "I can create a break in the wind, but there's an outside force! It won't last long!"

Lucas waved back, "We'll be ready to land! Nana, Popo, we'll count on you then!"

The two kids still in their fur parkas grinned, twirling identical hammers in their hands. Green stared at the hammers blankly, as Link stood on Tropius's back, waving the wand up, right left-

The wind shuddered to a halt for a moment, making the hair on Green's arms go straight up. What was that kid doing- The wind picked up again, this time, unnervingly and wrongly going straight at the mountain. Pidgeot and Tropius didn't stop- they glided in with the wind, landing directly on a small ledge.

Nana and Popo were the first ones off, boosting each other to the next ledge. "Lucas! Rope!"

Lucas looked briefly surprised, before reaching into his backpack to dig out a short coil of rope. Pidgeot was recalled, and Machamp sent out instead. The bird wouldn't be much use here, but Machamp's strength would, especially getting Venosaur up the huge cliff side.

"We'll scout on ahead and find a better path for you guys so that way you don't die on your way up."

The two climbed the rock face as if it were nothing more then the stroll down a gentle hill. Green spotted movement, as large eyes suddenly peered out of the rockface- a Graveller-

BAM!

Nana sent the Graveler plummeting with a single well-placed hammer strike. Green blinked, mouth closing. After a few moments, feeling sufficiently smart enough to join the conversation, he asked mildly, "They fight with hammers?"

"Yep!"

The two pulled themselves onto a ledge, glancing around, before pointing. They discussed something among themselves for a few moments, before nodding quickly, and Popo began the descent down. Nana remained on the ledge, staring down at them with a critical eye.

"We found a pathway that leads up the mountain- but we'll have to go down a little bit and to the right. Nana will tell me where ledges are."

Green touched his nearly fully healed side, and Lucas gulped loudly. "Well," Green muttered dryly to Lucas, "It could be worse. We could be talking to our dads right now."

Lucas gulped, before muttering dryly, "I think that I'd prefer that."

Green sure wouldn't.