Chapter 14 – Lost In Here

"Demons run when a Good Man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun when a Good Man goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies. Night will fall and the dark will rise. Demons run, but count the cost. The battle is won but the child is lost." (River Song - Doctor Who – 6.6 - When A Good Man Goes To War)

"It took a moment before I lost myself in here. It took a moment where I could not be found. Again and again and again I see your face in everything. It took a moment, a moment it could not be found." - Echelon - 30 Seconds To Mars

[19:54PM] – Unknown Date – Approximately five years before main plot– Somewhere between Route 5 and Route 7

Lance stopped, his eyes barely concealing his frustration. "Damn it!" he hissed, "We're trapped!" The rock face stared mockingly at them. The champion stepped forward, looking at the seemingly impossible cliff wall. "There must be a way," he gritted his teeth.

Ash stared at the ground, his eyes swirling with emotion. He shook his head calmly, still not looking at his friend. "There isn't a way,"

Lance whirled towards him, confused. He opened his mouth to question but a cry makes him stop.

"Rockets approaching from behind!"

Ash was still. The rest of the group moved backwards to fend of the approaching enemy. Lance looked once more at the cliff face.

"It's a trap Lance. There's no way out," Ash's voice was monotone, emotionless and cold. On his shoulder the small golden mouse pressed himself to his masters head, muttering words of comfort.

Lance stiffened, "You were meant to be leading us to Celadon. How could you get lost?" He was confused and his eyes puzzled.

Ash shook his head again, "I'm not lost. This was always our destination."

It takes a couple of moments for realisation to sink in. And even then the champion didn't understand. He glanced again at the rock wall, as if it would hold the answers for him. Then he whirled around, his fist flying out and he punched the raven haired man in the face.

Ash didn't protest as he was knocked backwards. He staggered under the impact but stayed standing. Pikachu leapt down from his shoulder, landing lightly on the ground, chirping to the two men, to tell them to stop fighting, but they didn't pay any attention. Ash's was bleeding and he rubbed his jaw but just glared at his best friend. He had nothing to say.

Lance's eyes widened. His cloak swirled around his legs as he stepped forward, "You led them here? A slaughter? You purposely led us here to be slaughtered?"

Ash stayed silent.

Now the red haired man flew into a vicious rage, stepping forwards in anger, his fists clenched. "Traitor," he hisses through his teeth. "You lying traitor! How long? How long have you been passing secrets to Team Rocket? How long have you been going behind our backs?"

Ash's eyes were dark. "Three months. But if you get it through your thick skull and…"

Lance tried to punch him again but the raven haired man dodged. "You don't understand," the man tried to defend himself. "You don't see it do you?" He gritted his teeth, hissing through them. The agony was evident in his voice but the champion over looked it, throwing his hands out either side of him.

"See what?" The dragon master's voice rose in volume, "How you idiot double crossed us?" The two men had begun to circle each other warily, eyes never leaving the other.

Ash's face flashed with pain. "They know everything Lance. This rebellion is falling before it has even begun. There are spies in every layer of our system, every department… you really think we stood a chance?"

"We did before you changed sides!"

The raven haired man flinched. "If you can just get it into your thick skull…"

"Traitor!"

"They killed her! My own mother! You said she was safe in Pallet with guards! But what do they do? They bomb the town? What was I supposed to do!" his lip curled, "Nothing you do is top secret. They know everything anyway!" His voice was bitter.

Lance shook his head, "You could have told us. We could have turned this onto them!"

"Lance!" The two circling men turned to see a ginger haired girl racing towards them. Misty's turquoise eyes were wide with panic.

She shook her head, her hair flying, "There are too many of them! We've lost half the men already! We're doomed,"

Lance's head snapped around to Ash, "Thanks to you," he snapped.

Misty was surprised. She skidded to a halt her head glancing from one man to the other and then back. "What?" she asked, slightly stupidly.

"Ask the traitor why we're here, waiting to be slaughtered!?" Lance growled, his eyes seething with fury.

Misty shook her head, trying to deny it. "Lance? Ash? What are you talking about? A traitor?"

"Yes - him!" Lance glared at the raven haired man, "I thought you were my friend!"

Again Misty shook her head, "No, Ash. It's not true; tell me it's not true,"

The raven haired man bowed his head, unable to reply.

Lance was still ranting, "You could have told us. We could have helped you. You can't deal with everything on your own! I'm meant to be your best friend!"

Now Ash's head snapped up, anger written in his eyes, "Yeah, my best friend who is so wonderful he's cheating with my girlfriend," he snarled, sarcasm lacing his bitter words.

Lance and Misty's face mirrored each other's emotions. Shock. Regret. Panic. Denial.

The aura guardian curled his lip, "Yeah, I thought so. You thought I didn't know what was going on? That I was just an idiot? You don't know anything…" His voice cracked.

(They live. He dies.)

"No, Ash, it's not how you think. Seriously. We aren't together…" Misty tried to protest. One look in his eyes made her stop. He knew it was a lie. She fell silent.

A shot rang out and the last man fighting fell. Pounding feet told of the arrival of multiple rockets. Lance and Misty didn't try to fight as they were surrounded. Only Ash stood at ease.

A man with short brown hair strolled to the centre. He smirked at the three of them and his gaze drifted to Ash, "Good job Ash. That dealt with them all right." He smiled.

Lance snapped at the Team Rocket leader, "We were talking here!" He turned to Ash, "We stopped Ash. We broke it up - It was only a short time. It wasn't meant to happen!"

Ash's eyes were cold, "That's what they always say," A pained smiles flickered on his face, "I really don't care anymore."

(Maybe it's better like this.)

Misty stepped forwards, "Ash please…"

"So you turn traitor because of this?" Lance gestured around him, confused, interrupting Misty.

"No," The girl was still trying to deny it, "Why?"

Giovanni watched with amusement but now he seemed to grow bored, "Can you lot just stop bickering," he complained, holding his ears, "I've got a way to settle arguments like this," His ice blue eyes turned to his grunts. "Kill the champion and the woman."

"No!" Ash stepped forwards, glaring at the leader, Pikachu at his heels, cheeks sparking. "That wasn't our deal," he hissed, "You promised that they'd go free. You wouldn't hurt them!"

"What?" Lance exclaimed but was ignored. His gaze switched between the two. Since when had this been over his life?

(Since when had they been playing this game?)

Giovanni smirked. "I did say that, didn't I?" He blinked, "Well I've changed my mind,"

His hand twitched.

(The price of losing was far to high.)

A shot rang out.

Misty screamed.

[22:15PM] – Unknown Date – Approximately five years before main plot – Cerulean Base

"Oh good," Gary said, distracted typing something into his computer, "You're back – how was the missio – what the hell happened?" he exclaimed, turning to find Misty and Lance limping in, accompanied by three trainers, battered and bruised. Blue eyes evaluated the scenes and he cursed, "What happened?" he repeated.

Lance sank into a conveniently placed sofa, waving the men off to the medical room. Misty flopped down beside him, but stayed the other side, as far away as possible. "It was a trap," he breathed, closing his eyes, "Ash led us into a trap."

The Viridian gym leader frowned, "What do you mean he led you into a trap? They knew you were coming? Blocked the route or something?" There was a choked sob from the red head and the researcher glanced at her, and then back to the champion. "Lance," he said, voice dropping.

There was a long silence.

"Ash has been feeding information to Team Rocket for the past few months."

Another pause, to let the information sink in.

"What? No way – he wouldn't do that. This is Ash we're talking about..."

"Yeah? Well I know what I saw Gary."

"But... Ash?"

"They killed his mother."

"The Pallet bombings? That… oh crap… seriously? But we managed to get most people out… the Pokémon… my grandfather…"

"His mother died," Misty whispered, "They killed everyone just to prove they could. He… the deal…" she fell silent again.

The red head opened his eyes, looking tiredly at Gary, "There was some sort of deal. Me and Misty were to be kept safe. We weren't to be harmed. Giovanni didn't listen and… and…"

"They shot him."

Gary leaned back, clenching his fists, "And Pikachu? He didn't have any other Pokémon with him… did he?"

There was a weak shake of his head. "The rat stayed with him. He…" Lance fell silent, before with great effort, spoke up, "Me and Misty… we had an affair… about four months back… it was only for about two weeks and we stopped but… Ash found out…"

He broke off at the fist which cracked into his nose. Letting out a gasp of pain, he reached up, trying to stop the sudden flow of blood. Gary was glaring at him, "You deserved that," the Viridian leader spat, "Champion or no – that was a down right idiotic selfish and cruel thing to do to him."

"We stopped!" Misty protested, "There was nothing there – it was always Ash! I just… I couldn't cope and he wasn't there…"

Gary shook his head, sighing, "Don't try to justify it. What's done is done… I just wish… Mew he's dead isn't he?"

Pause.

"We don't know." Lance admitted. "He told us to get out of there and we did. He's an aura guardian – isn't he? He should… be all right… shouldn't he?"

"I need to apologise," Misty whispered, "Because it was real… with him… and he probably thinks it was all a lie. It's not – it never was…" She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself.

Gary stared at the pair of them before standing and walking away, "I'll get a team on it," he called over his shoulder, "We must be able to find something…"

[13:22PM] – Unknown Date – Approximately five years before main plot – Cerulean Base

"So… do you remember anything?" Misty asked the raven haired man. He looked lost somehow, without his memories, and with only the pathetic scrap of brown fur and yellow mouse at his side.

Ash shrugged, "Bits. It's all jumbled together but… it sort of makes sense when I think about some things. Such as… you like water…Pokémon… right? You… you have sisters? This weird guy tried to flirt with them… there was a giant vacuum cleaner…" he frowned, "No, that can't be right."

Misty let out a laugh, smiling. "You used to get stalked by these three idiots who wanted to steal your Pikachu. They used to come up with all kind of crazy ideas."

"They had this annoying… rhyme… they used every time I met them." Ash frowned.

"Yup – they called it a motto but it was their chance to show off really. What else?" the red head prompted.

"I don't know." The trainer blinked, shaking his head, "Things come and go. It feels like I'm looking at someone else's life… not mine. But… you and that red headed guy – are you close?"

Pain welled up in the Cerulean gym leaders eyes. She had hoped he wouldn't remember this so quickly. That she would have time to explain, to reassure him, to tell him that she loved him. That she had been an idiot and she would understand if he hated her, but he was still the only one, he also had been and always would be...

She was suddenly aware that Ash had stopped walking.

[15:43PM] – 25nd May – Route 10 – Power Plant – Second Floor – Ash & Pokémon (Raichu, Eevee, Zorua, Lucario)

"Rai-Ai," for the third time since they had entered the ruins of the power station, Raichu let out a cry of pain from the static in the walls and floor – in the very fibre of the building's being – so long had it been under the constant presence of the electric types. It was sucking the very power out of the electric mouse.

"All right that's it," Ash snapped, picking the hapless mouse up by the scruff of his neck and setting Rai on his shoulder. "You stay there and don't get down for anything – got it."

"Chu!" the mouse complained, (No way!) "RaiAiChuKa." (I can do this – I'm not weak!)

"I never said you were," Ash replied calmly, "That's why I never evolved you – remember? Because you were an amazing Pikachu and you wanted to show you were strong without evolving. Which you did – again and again!"

The mouse's ears drooped. "AiaKaa," he whined. (I never wanted to evolve)

Ash sighed, "I know. But it's done now. Zekrom did the right thing."

The mouse's tail lashed as Ash continued walking, the black jackal at his heels, red eyes peeled.

"Don't be like that!" Zorua complained, "You're worse than when I first met you in Sinnoh!"

The grumpy mouse ignored her again.

"Come on Rai!" Ash coaxed, "Once we've gotten through this I'll find some ketchup for you – sound good?"

The orange rat 'chu'ed softly, before hopping to Ash's other shoulder. The dark type shot him a look, frowning. "You know Ash – I think it's the power plant – it's probably increasing his electrical discharge like that thunderstone did."

The raven frowned, "But the thunderstone was reacting with his light ball. The combined electrical input was making him sick and so Zekrom helped him to evolve. He should be able to manage the higher voltages now he's not a Pikachu anymore."

The dark furred jackal stopped, growling, "LucaRio Rio Luca Luca IoRio?" (Wasn't the Kanto Power Plant meant to be a home to Zapdos?)

Zorua let out a startled squeak, her form shimmering as she unconsciously changed into a small Shinx, "But that means it's not the power plant holding all this electricity – it's the legendary! And it's annoying Rai because…"

"Because the high electricity is what usually gives Raichu a bad mood." Ash finished, even as the small tattered eared Eevee skidded down the wreckage of some stairs in front of them.

"Va?" Ash asked, even as the small brown normal type shimmered into a Jolteon, before morphing into a Leafeon. Va's brown eyes were wide, and she opened her mouth to reply, even as the stairs behind her were hit with an attack, crumbling them into rubble.

Lucario leapt backwards, away from the debris with a growl. Ash put a hand in front of his face, a blue shield blossoming, as Raichu clung to his shoulder, yellow cheeks sparking.

Va skidded to a halt, Flareon flames now dancing around her neck, "It's Zapdos! He's gone mad! The gears up there and he's not letting anyone get to it!" The flames died and morphed back into electric spikes, "The Team came up here to capture him, and they injured him. There's this device…"

She was interrupted by a large crash. In his alarm, Ash stumbled backward, Raichu dislodged from his shoulder, hitting the floor with a loud thump. Instantly, he let out a cry of pain, yellow sparks dancing from the metal floor to his orange fur. Lucario growled in alarm, blue protect shield flashing up, saving him and Va, who had crouched nearby, from the dust and rubble. The Flareon let out a whine of anxiety, looking for her mate, even as she shimmered into an Umbreon and back to a Leafeon. With all the stray electricity sparks she didn't dare attempt a water type.

Zapdos was a flying type, she realised, fur become frigid and ice cold as it crusted pale blue. "Gla!" she called, dark blue eyes searching for the orange mouse, "Gla! Ceo! Eo!" (Rai! Rai! Ash! Zo!)

There was a loud cough as Zorua appeared out of the gloom, "Hurry! We need to get the gear! Distract the bird!" she coughed, even as her form shimmered into purple and there was a rather large a menacing Garchomp which replaced her form. The ground type ignored the static sparks, as with a growl, she threw herself into the rubble in search of Rai.

The Glaceon leapt forwards, Lucario just a pace ahead of her as he took a leap for the stairs. The Glaceon shimmered into an Espeon, red jewel flashing red as her eyes glowed purple, the crumbling stairs stopping their descent to allow her to leap up, from rock to rock. As she reached the top, she morphed again, back into the ice fox.

With a growl, Va sent ice shard flying forwards, towards where her friend stood, in front of the legendary electric bird. "Ceo!" she cried. (Ash!) The raven haired man glanced behind him; teleporting out of the way as the ice shards flew past, burying themselves into the fearsome bird's wings.

With a growl, Lucario dissolved his bone rush, forming instead a dark pulse. It pulses black against his dark fur, even as Va darted past in a quick attack, trying to get closer.

In front of her the legendary Zapdos loomed, wings outspread, feathers like needles, crackling with electricity. The fox let out a cry as a bolt cracked into the floor in front of her, eyes widening at the rocks tumbling towards her. No way! How come Zapdos was allowed to learn ancient power?

Her trainer materialised in front of her, blue shield deflecting the attack as he offered her up a weak grin. "Try to get behind it. I'll keep him distracted."

"Umbreon?" she asked, even as the air around her seemed to shimmer.

"Yup – use a faint attack. How's Rai?"

For a moment her shifting failed, before her fur turned black and her blue eyes turned red. "Not good. He's a bit overcharged. Garchomp Zo went to search for him."

Her trainer nodded, even as she slipped away, melting into the shadows with a snarl as she bounded behind the large bird, heading straight for the yellow gear, sparkling with static. Making a leap for it, her paws outstretched, she yelped in surprise as a bolt of lightning flickered towards her. In her shock, her form shimmered back into a Glaceon, and it hit her, deflecting off without doing much damage to the now ice-type.

There was a flash as something streaked past her, orange fur and a long tail. "Rai!" she cried, in mixed joy and confusion as the mouse threw himself at the gear, hooking his lightning bolt tail through the central hole as he bounded away, just missing an ancient power which was shooting towards him.

With an angry screech, Zapdos landed, beak stabbing down towards her. With a snarl, Va dodged out the way, shooting an ice beam at the bird. It caught the pin feathers, freezing them in ice. The legendry let out a shriek of anger, beak widening in what looked horribly like a hyper beam.

"Thieves! Vandals! Accursed vermin!" Zapdos's mental shriek made the Glaceon's mind hurt, as she cowered away from the incoming attack. Suddenly, the gaping maw snapped shut as a ground type of sorts leapt onto the birds head, slipping slightly with a squeak as her form faded and the dark type fox rolled off to the ground, landing in front of Va.

"Great plan," she snarled at the dark fox.

Zo looked affronted, "Yeah? Well next time I won't help you out!"

"Luca! Catch!" The orange mouse called, from where Zapdos had turned his attention to the gear. With a flick of his tail he sent the gear spiralling through the air, where with a graceful slide, the black jackal caught it neatly in his jaws.

"It tastes disgusting," the jackal complained, eyes glowing blue as he used psychic to toss some debris at the raving avian. With a squawk of alarm, it flung itself into the air, wings knocking Va backwards in a great flurry of lightning and feathers.

Ash was standing near Rai, and a blue shield could be seen, protecting the mouse from the worse of the excess electricity. The raven haired man looked like he'd been thrown into a wall, but already the wounds were healing. The Glaceon's ears pressed back against her head as she darted across to the pair.

Luca spat the gear from his mouth, wincing slightly at the static sparks still buzzing across the surface. For a moment, before he passed it to Ash, the electric type gazed at it, eyes wide and yellow cheeks sparking. There was a mix of wonder and sadness in his eyes, before their trainer grabbed it with a grateful "Great job," and slipped it into a pocket, where it fell against the other seven gears with a clatter.

Wow – they were getting quite a collection.

"Hyper beam incoming!" Zorua cried, skidding towards them, purple Illusion basking her form as her fur danced with colour, but she remained a little purple and red fox.

Above them, spread eagled with wings outspread, the lightning deity let out a loud cry, eyes mad with grief and pain. The Titans had fallen and its brothers were incapable of doing anything. Criminals had left their mark, and it could barely find the semblance of thought to realise he was fighting his father's chosen. Great beak opening, the yellow hyper beam began to form, turning orange as it grew in size.

The black furred jackal tried to create a protect, but it fizzled and died. Around them, the air was thrumming with power, growing ever greater.

"Come on! What are you waiting for?" Va turned to her master "Create a shield! You can? Can't you?"

Ash opened his mouth, glancing at his best friend, whip like tail flickering. "I can't." he choked, before finishing the sentence mentally, "If I make a shield to protect us from the attack, I have to kill the one stopping the electricity getting to Rai. I can't do both."

"And if the electricity gets to him?" Luca growled, trying and failing once again to use protect, blood red eyes widened in alarm.

"He'd be overpowered," Zo whispered.

"It would be too much," Ash finished, eyes wide as he looked upwards at the hyper beam, now glowing red. "I have a plan," he told them, "But I don't know where we're going to end up."

None of his four Pokémon said anything. There was the horrible second where the hyper beam hovered over them, red and yellow, streaming down on them, and then the world exploded into shattered fragments.

"Hold on tight."

AN – Don't hate Misty or Lance for that extract I did up there! Please! I mean… it's pretty obvious Ash forgave them and all isn't it! It's all in the past anyway! Don't kill them! Or Ash for the traitor thing! They both made mistakes! I love them in this story! It's Pokeshipping anyway, and maybe a little bit of whatever you call MayxLance shipping. And GreenXBlue (aka Gary and Leaf) because it's practically a given couple in my opinion. Did anyone notice the manga reference (He definitely called her 'pesky girl' in the previous chapter somewhere? (I think it's called oldrivalshipping).

I'm sorry for any grammar errors in this. If anyone sees any stupid errors feel free to point them out :) Also I had the flashbacks planned for ages. Originally they were going to be a story on their own, before I started this plot. I wrote this war story where Ash ended up in a lab without his memory. Sound familiar? Well... when I started writing this one and I was several chapters in when I thought 'Hey! They fit together so perfectly so why not!?'.

I'm thinking of making the characters older. Although I have stated that eighteen is about the equivalent to 25, 20 is about 30 and 25 is probably equivalent to 35. Since the kids go on a journey at 10 (I mean seriously - who lets kids at 10 go out unsupervised to be stalked by criminals and to train wild animals!) so I would make the approximately 16. So in summary…
Pokémon World Age– Our World Age
10 – 16
15 – 18
18 – 25
20 – 30
25 – 35
40 – 100
I'm assuming people usually only live to be about 30, 35-ish.
Gee it would have been so much easier is the kids weren't all ten years old in the anime. At least in the games you can pretend they're 16 or so.

So going by the ages I gave in the first chapter or so that would make them (according to our world) May 22, Dawn 20, Leaf 23, Misty 26, Ash 26, Lance 28, Max 17, Brock 28 – which actually makes things more reasonable. Remember these are only approximations - I don't actually have a timeline anywhere to help me out on this.

So, ignoring the little rant about ages (which was more for my benefit than yours because I forgot how old I made Ash, Lance and Misty :S) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

~ Eclipse out (before I babble on for much longer!)