For Self-Preservation

Grand Conference
Third Round
12:10 PM

The crowd were starting to become restless in the battle arena in Indigo Plateau. They had been waiting for ten minutes for the match, but only one of the two contestants was standing in the field. He was Morty, the leader of Ecruteak Gym, waiting for his scheduled opponent.

"C'mon, get on with it already! Where's Thanatos!" One of the spectators shouted.

"Yeah, yeah! What he said!" another one joined. "We paid good money to see this!"

As if cued by the first, thunderous roars of disappointment came from the arena stands. The judges and officials could be seen starting their discussion on the matter.

May, who was in the stand to watch his best friend's battle, started looking at the tournament's schedule one more time. "It's been more than ten minutes. Where could Ash be? If he's really Ash, that is."

"I'm sure he'll come soon enough." Brock replied. "And yes, he really is Ash! Max and Dawn told you so too yesterday."

May sighed. "Speaking of Max, I wonder how he's doing on his match."

"I'm sure he'll do fine. His match should be starting now too." Brock replied.

"Who's he battling?"

Brock looked over his schedule again and went through the list of names. "Uh-oh."

"He's battling someone good, isn't he?" May asked in curiosity.

"He's going up against Steven. Steven Stone." Brock answered.

Another couple of minutes went by without any sign of Thanatos. An official came down from the judges' stand and talked to the referee standing on the field. The referee nodded and took a microphone. After the microphone produced a little feedback, the crowd went silent.

"Due to the absence of Thanatos, after discussed by the officials, Morty is now declared the victor of this bout!" the referee announced. "By default, Morty advances to the fourth round!"

In protest, the crowd jeered. After much apologizing by the officials, the spectators exited the arena in hopes of watching a good Pokémon battle elsewhere.

Brock and May were also on their way out when they overheard a group of people talking.

"Man, that was so disappointing. I bet that Thanatos guy lost his nerve and decided to back out."

"Yeah, tell me about it. That Morty guy doesn't look so strong either."

Similar comments were thrown around on their way out of the arena.

After a long walk out, Brock spotted Cynthia also exiting the arena, with a Pikachu on her shoulder. "Hey, maybe Cynthia knows where Ash is." Brock said as he started to walk towards Cynthia.

"Why would she know?" May asked.

"It's a long story." Brock replied. The two made their way to Cynthia. "Hey, Cynthia!"

"Oh, hello Brock, and you are.. May, correct?" Cynthia said as she waved to the two.

"Yes, yes I am. Nice to meet you." May shook hands with the champion of Sinnoh.

"Cynthia, do you know where Ash is? He didn't show up for his battle." Said Brock while taking notice of Ash's Pikachu on Cynthia's shoulder. "Why is Pikachu with you?"

"No, Brock, unfortunately I don't know. I was hoping to ask you about it." The champion answered.

"Pika.." Pikachu growled.


?
?

Ash could hear the sound of rain somewhere close. Starting to regain his vision, he realized that he was lying down with his hands tied behind his back. His face felt the cold sensation of what he figured to be pavement. He tried to sit up with little success, his body was still in a lethargic state.

"You finally woke up." A voice came from the room.

Ash looked up to see another man was sitting down across from him, his hands behind his back also. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. Unshaven facial hair, ragged clothes.

"I don't suppose you can untie me." Ash said half-jokingly after he sat up, resting his back on the nearest wall.

The man chuckled. "Huh, the first human company I had in a while and he turns out to be a joker." he said while letting out a dry cough. "But we're the same, so I guess it's not that bad."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "The same?"

The man looked at Ash and shrugged. "We're after the same thing." He said while coughing again.

Ash looked at the man and noticed his state. To say that he was looking weak was a massive understatement, Ash thought. "How long have you been here?"

The man rested his head on the wall and sighed. "Four days.. at least. I think I might suffer from hyponatraemia soon. I've been drinking too much from the rain.." the man sighed. "But none of that should matter. Now that you're here, we should be executed soon enough."

"What? What do you mean?" Ash asked.

Before he could say anything more, the gate to the room was opened by a pack of Sableye. Wasting no time, the Sableye grabbed the two men and told them to follow one of the Sableye. Having no choice in the matter, Ash followed suit.

He stepped outside the room and felt the rain pouring on him. Ash took a good look around him. The scenery was foreign to him, yet he was so sure that he had seen this somewhere before. Then he remembered the sight he saw at Treeshroud forest. Time Paralysis. Everything was colorless. Gray, if he had to give a color to it. A Sableye pushed him and grunted while pointing forward. Ash resumed walking.

"Hey.. Where are we?" Ash asked the man.

"What do you mean?" the man answered without looking back. "This is the place we've been looking for since the world's paralysis."

"What? The world's paralysis? You're not making any sense." Ash replied back.

The man sighed and turned to look at Ash. "Are you daft?"

Ash shrugged. "I might be. Now just answer. Where the hell are we?"

The man looked straight ahead, his walking speed halting by the second. "This is where we die."

The two were speechless for the rest of the walk to wherever the Sableye were taking them. The strange man seemed to know, but Ash figured that whatever questions he asked next would be left unanswered. The more he thought, he was answered with more questions. "Am I going to die here? Why do I have to die? Who wants me dead? What have I done?"

He looked the strange man again. "So frail, so weak." Ash thought. From the looks of it, Ash figured that the man had accepted the fact that he was going to die.

The two arrived at a large gate, preventing them to proceed further. The gate seemed to be surrounded by rubbles. "Then again, everything here seems to be in shambles. This place looks like a ruin."

One of the Sableye stepped forward. It opened the gate, the hinges creaking loudly. The two was pushed down by the rest of the Sableye. Ash could feel his body being tied to an object. After they were finished, Ash found himself bound to a pole. They were placed in the middle of a large clearing, the Sableye surrounding them. Ash looked up and saw a Pokémon he never thought he would see again. A Dialga.

Suddenly, the man he was with started laughing. After what seemed to be an eternity, the strange man finally stopped laughing. "Welcome to Temporal Tower, buddy. Are you ready to die yet?"


Indigo Plateau
6:00 PM

"Hey, Max, don't feel so down, buddy." Said Brock as he tried to console his friend. Max had battle Steven Stone earlier in the day for the third Round, and had lost a decisive defeat on the hands of the Steven.

Max stared at Steven's profile on the public computer in the hotel. "Aargh! I could've had him, it was so close!"

"Actually you weren't even close, Max." May said as she looked over Max to see the computer screen. Max stared at Steven's page for a while longer before finally accepting his defeat.

"You want to go eat dinner, Max?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'm starving!"

Brock laughed at Max's attitude. "He sure rebounds quickly, doesn't he?" he said to May.

May gave a know-it-all shrug. "I bet he'll cry himself to sleep tonight."

"I won't! Stop treating me like a kid!" Max retorted. "And today you only won by luck, you're not that much better than me."

"Oh yeah? Says the one who lost!"

The two siblings continued to argue while on their way to dinner, with Brock following closely behind. Once there, they met up with Dawn and Misty who had already started eating. After exchanging simple greetings, the three went off to get their food from the buffet. After settling down with, the trainers continued to chat.

"So, Dawn, I heard you lost?" Max asked bluntly.

Dawn sighed in disappointment. "Yes, unfortunately."

"So, who was your opponent?" Max followed up on his question.

Brock grabbed his handy tournament guide once more and answered Max's question. "I think it was Blaine, right?"

"Yeah.. that stupid sunglasses old man! Why was he so strong!" Dawn said in annoyance. "His Magmortar was insanely strong."

"Ash lost to him too, once, before finally defeating him, I think." Misty said after taking a sip of her drink.

"Really? How did Ash defeat him?" Dawn asked.

"Well, at the time Blaine's Gym was just destroyed because of an incident with Team Rocket, so the second match was held on top of a volcano." Misty started to tell the story.

"On top of a volcano? That's crazy!" Max commented with a mouthful.

"Yes, now that I think about it, it was pretty crazy." Misty continued. "It was between Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Magmar. At the time, his Magmar hasn't evolved yet. They were equally matched, but Charizard took the win by performing a Seismic Toss, slamming down Magmar to the volcano."

"Aw, man! I would love to see that happen!" said Max while cleaning his mouth. "Speaking of Ash, where is he? Did you guys get to see him battle?"

"Oh yeah, about that. He didn't exactly come to his battle, so he got disqualified." Brock answered.

"What? That's impossible! So where is he now?" Max continued the question barrage.

Brock shook his head. "We couldn't find him."

Max crossed his arm and tried to think. "Did you ask Cynthia?"

"Yes, we did, and she doesn't know either." May answered, cutting Brock off. "What's the deal with Ash and Cynthia anyway? You're the second person to suggest asking Cynthia about where Ash would be."

Max, Brock and Dawn looked at each other.

Under the glare from Misty, Brock started to talk. "Well, you see, this might be hard to believe, but.. They told us they're dating.. if I remember correctly."

"What!" Misty and May shouted in unison.

"Ash is dating?" Misty asked while shaking Brock's collar. "How! And.. And.."

"With the champion of Sinnoh?" May finished what Misty was going to ask.

Brock tried to free himself from the devil like clutches of the Cerulean Gym Leader. "S-stooop! I know as little as you guys, do, I swear! Why don't you guys just ask him yourself when you meet him!"

After finally being put down, Brock breathed in the sweet air of freedom.

"Hmph, I bet he's having fun with Cynthia right now." May said while crossing her arms.

"Do I smell jealousy coming from you, sister?" Max asked while giving his sister the look, teasing her.

"N-No, of course not! Why would I be jealous? Right, Misty?" May answered while throwing the question to Misty.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah.."


Temporal Tower

The strange man was laughing. Quite loudly, given the situation. Whether it was out of desperation or something else, at that time, Ash was unable to tell.

The Sableye below him were cheering for the Dialga, who was not too far from them. The Dialga started to walk towards the two humans who was hung on the poles. As it came closer, Ash noticed that there was something different about the Dialga before him. It had the same shape as the Dialga he had seen before, but there was something amiss. However, before being able fully examine the strangeness, the Dialga stopped walking.

"The color.. There is a different color on it." Ash thought to himself. He squinted in hopes of getting a better view.

The Dialga was in a darker shade of blue than the one he encountered before, and was streaming with orange instead of turquoise color. The diamond on its chest was glaring red, instead of the calming blue. It gave a very threating roar, demanding silence from the pack of Sableye. It looked at Ash and the other man hung on the poles from its position.

The diamond on its chest started to shine as it readied an attack.

Ash noticed that the strange man had stopped laughing. He looked at the man, and found him staring back.

"Welcome to Temporal Tower, buddy. Are you ready to die yet?"