Note: Sorry this is so late. =_=; Had a stressful week and have been planning my daughter's upcoming birthday, so I haven't had time. Again, I apologize. Without much more ado, enjoy Chapter 9.

Follow Me
A Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Story

Chapter Nine
Roar Of Time

"So, what happened, you get tired out during your game and decide to take a nap?" the yellow-and-black-capped boy asked as he stood over her and offered her a hand.

Soul gladly took it; she doubted she could lift herself via her own volition. "Wha...? Game? Where are we?"

Gold tilted his head to the side and gave her a puzzled look. "Hmm? You're in the Safari Zone; did you forget?"

Soul looked around them. He was right; she was in the Safari Zone, in what seemed to be the Desert area; nothing but sand and rocky pillars around them for a good mile or two. In the far distance, she could vaguely make out the outline of the perimeter gate. That Pokémon...it had sent them this far?

Gold observed her worryingly and then, with an "Ah!" of realization, he dug in his bag and retrieved a bottle of Fresh Water. "Here, you look like you could use this."

Soul turned and gladly took it. Not until the bottle's mouth touched her lips did she realize how incredibly thirsty she was. She drained half the bottle within in matter of seconds.

"So..." Gold said, rubbing the back of his neck as she continued to drink, "it's been a while since I've seen you. How've you been?"

She slowly stopped drinking and thought for a moment. The realization was visible on her face. "...That's right...We haven't really seen each other since that time three months ago...right?"
Gold eyed the ground and nodded. "Yeah. Pretty wild, huh?"

It was always dark in Ilex Forest. Dark and quiet. To be honest, that was what she wanted at this point. She needed to think. Her Typhlosion, Pyro, her faithful companion and starter Pokémon, walked behind her as she traipsed through the forest. He was a source of great comfort to her, during this time when she was so confused.

"Soul, will you help me?"

Even remembering the words made her chest grow tight. After defeating Silver at Mt. Moon, Soul couldn't seem to get him out of her mind. In a way, she'd always felt sorry for Silver; it seemed like no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make any headway in becoming a better trainer. She had recalled him mentioning training at the Dragon's Den in Blackthorn City, so it was there that she had went to look for him.

"You must be joking! That embarrassment in a costume teamed up with me?"

They'd been surprised, by Lance and Clair of all people. Silver seemed to have a personal vendetta against Lance, so he challenged him without even thinking. She smiled a bit. Just like him, to be so bull-headed. It was a trait that used to annoy her, but now...now...

She stopped walking as the realization sunk in. She finished her thought; now it was something that endeared him to her. "I..." she whispered, her eyes wide.

"Oooooooooiiiiiiii! Soouuuulllll!" a bright voice broke through the silence.

It startled her so heavily that she nearly fell over, and she reached out and grabbed a nearby object to catch her balance. Turning, she found the origin of the voice: Gold, who was traipsing up to her with a big, toothy grin. His Marill struggled to keep up behind him.

"Ah, Soul, you really shouldn't touch that," Gold said, staring at the edifice she was leaning against.

Soul straightened herself and looked at it as well: it was the shrine she'd passed many times in her journeys through Ilex Forest. She had always felt a strange twinge in her stomach when she crossed paths with it.

"Do you know the stories about this shrine, Soul?" Gold asked in her ear, having sneaked up behind her in her daze.

Soul, startled once again, lightly swung her arm at him. "Stop doing that!" she scolded as he laughed with a wide smile.

"They say that people disappear when you tamper with this shrine," he continued, taking a few steps toward it. Holding his chin in one hand and his elbow in the other in a contemplative gesture, he turned back to her and nodded. "Since you just touched it, it's only natural to assume that something horrible is going to happen to you." He nodded a few more times as if this were a fair assumption.

Soul sighed, her eyebrows tensed. "Oh, really? Well-"

A sudden flash cut her off, and the two of them looked around in amazement as the trees of the forest burst aglow in an eerie, supernatural light. They took a few steps closer together as the trees resonated in a rainbow of hues.

Gold glanced over his shoulder and gasped. "Soul, look!"

Soul did as he indicated and was equally surprised: a glowing figure was emerging from the shrine, but more so in the manner of a ghost, gliding through the roof of the small structure.
Swallowing in a failed attempt to dampen his dry throat, Gold blinked and said, "...What the hell is tha-"

But he never finished. The creature turned to them at the sound of his voice, let out a cry, and then in a flash, all three-creature and trainers-were gone, leaving their prized partner Pokémon alone in the forest to ponder the great mystery they'd just witnessed.

Selected quote from the next chapter:
"Hey hey, Soul, it's that emo red-headed guy who stalks you all the time!"