Chapter 16: Black

Staravia flew through the open air, scanning the forest for his missing friends. Mentally he sighed as he had been at this for over an hour but he wouldn't give up. No. If anything, he was their best shot at finding them with his flight and incredible eyesight.

"Can't give up. They're out there...and they're fine." He thought with conviction.

Still, he had a bad feeling. It definitely wasn't like them to just disappear like this for so long. Something must have happened.

He angled his body in a different direction to scan a part of the forest that he had yet to search. The others were looking elsewhere, the rivers, the roads, asking anyone they could come across. It was up to him to search the hardest-to-reach spots.

As he continued to look below, he was suddenly gripped by instinctive panic.

He quickly looked up. He had the unexpected feeling that something else was in the air with him.

Something big.

It took only a moment for his brain to register what he saw: a very large, very enraged, injured aerodactyl.

And it was coming straight for him!

"(Holy sh-!)" Was all he could shout before immediately maneuvering his body to the side and out of the furious, primitive creature's pathway.

Staravia momentarily paused his flight to get a better look at the new threat. The Aerodactyl quickly managed to swerve and turned to look at him.

"(Hello you morsel.)" It calmly said, grinning and baring its fangs

"(Oh no, no, no, hell no!)" Staravia yelled to himself as he quickly turned and flew as fast he could in the opposite direction.

Screeching and ready for the thrill of the hunt, Aerodactyl flapped its massive wings and gave chase.

"Where to go?! Where to go?!" Staravia replayed in his mind over and over again. He knew he couldn't take that thing, not alone anyway. Where did it even come from?! Ancient, extinct Pokémon like that don't just show up out of the blue!

His mind raced, he could hear that thing flapping its wings, the sound of them cutting through the air made it somehow sound even larger.

This isn't a coincidence. It couldn't be. They weren't too far from Oreburgh City, and all of that business that happened with the extinct Pokémon not too long ago. It had to be the same one!

The realization only made Staravia flap his wings harder. Damn, and according to the gang, that Aerodactyl was strong enough for multiple Pokémon to come together to bring it down. Heck, it nearly reduced the entire city to rubble!

No choice now. He hated to do this but he knew that the ancient Pokémon was too strong.

With that in mind, Staravia quickly angled his body in a different direction, attempting to make his flight path as chaotic as possible to throw off his pursuer.

And as he did, he set course for camp.

Buizel continued to swim down the river, carrying Happiny as if he were a mini boat and although he was getting tired, he tried his best to not to slow down. Happiny wasn't making things easier because although they were away from the noise and chaos, she was still pretty shaken up.

"(Want Brock!)" She pouted as she began to squirm on his back.

"(We're almost there, just hang tight.)" He calmly said.

"(Want Sudowoodo!)" She continued to complain a little louder this time.

"(You'll see them soon I promise.)" He replied, trying to keep his cool.

"(Want Pikachu!)" She yelled as she began to kick her tiny feet in the air.

Buizel grimaced and nearly faltered in maintaining his speed upon hearing that name. He continued to look on ahead as thoughts about his friend and teammate being in mortal danger began to invade his mind despite his efforts to block them. He had done a good job keeping focus on the task at hand but since some time had passed and they were out of the danger zone, it was nearly impossible now.

"(J-Just stay with me okay? We'll meet up with him soon.)" He said, trying not to sound nervous.

He tried his best to keep his mind clear but somewhere deep down he kept cursing at himself for how things had turned out. He knew that there wasn't much of a choice but it was still a tough pill to swallow.

As Buizel continued forward, he noticed the river diverge into multiple different paths. He momentarily paused in making progress to seriously consider his options.

"Damn, they all lead into totally different directions!" Buizel thought with a noticeable frown as his eyes darted between his options. "When we were chasing Happiny, where exactly did we come from?"

He continued to mull it over as he looked between the different river paths. Crashing into a rock in their pursuit of Happiny didn't exactly help either. If he chose the wrong path, it would probably take twice as long to get back to everyone. Buizel sighed and dropped his head before bringing it back up again.

"Ugghhh...okay...eeny...meeny...miney..."

Sitting on the grass, Ash was exhausted. They had only spent a little over an hour searching but as Ho-Oh as his witness, he had truly scoured the land!

Asking anyone he could come across, looking in every ravine, around tree, under every rock, he wouldn't stop until their beloved Pokémon were found! For the moment, some of their Pokémon were taking a rest in their Pokéballs but their willingness to find their friends was just as strong as their young trainers'.

"Uggghh! I can't take much more! Where are they?!" Ash yelled to himself; fists balled up to his head.

"Don't worry Ash, we've only just started and knowing Pikachu, he's fine and he definitely would've made sure the others are okay too!" Brock softly said.

Dawn looked to her side to see Piplup returning to them, having just checked the nearest river.

"Any signs?" She asked.

Piplup sadly shook his head.

"That's okay, there's only so much area here to check, we'll just keep at it!" Dawn confidently said with a fist pumped in the air.

"(Yeah!)" Piplup exclaimed doing the same.

Just then, the three trainers heard the sound of a large vehicle near them.

"Excuse me!" Cried out a familiar-sounding voice.

The three trainers turned towards the voice and saw none other than Officer Jenny driving towards them in a jeep.

"Officer Jenny!" Brock cried out.

The jeep screeched to a halt nearby and the female officer practically jumped out and ran towards them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys but there's an emergency in the area!" She quickly said.

For a moment Brock thought about doing his usual overly-flirtatious schtick – something to the effect of the emergency being not going out with him by the beach – but now was not the time for messing around.

"An emergency? What is it?" Dawn inquired before the officer began to explain.

Meanwhile, a familiar-looking hot air balloon in the shape of a cat-Pokémon's face glided through the air. The three dunderheads in its basket contemplated what the next course of action would be.

Obviously it would involve trying to snatch up a certain electric mouse, the only question was when and where they expect to encounter the gang again.

They supposed that the good old-fashioned net gun that they had with them alone would suffice. The net in particular was invulnerable to electricity, Ice-type attacks and to top it off, was fire-proof. Their procurement of such an item was all thanks to a recent raid on the nearby police station, though they found it a little odd that there was barely anyone present at the time when they had snuck in and stole their hunting supplies. Must be some sort of large-scale search for someone. Hopefully not for them.

"Any luck seeing the twerps?" James asked, putting the finishing touches on the net gun.

"Naw, just trees and stoiff." Meowth remarked, looking through binoculars.

"Well keep searching, once we find them, we'll try to make it quick and effective. Just grab that yellow furball and leave. No need to overstay our welcome." Jessie remarked.

"Yeah, I'd feel pretty good capturing only one Pokémon instead of nothing at all." James exasperatedly said.

Meowth looked away from the binoculars to roll his eyes but he couldn't exactly argue with their logic. How many times now did they ever actually come close to succeeding only to fail because they bit off more than they could chew? Sometimes, the simplest tactic was the most effective!

He put the binoculars back to his face. "True I suppose. Still da boss would definitely appreciate more den one-eh?!" He suddenly cried out, leaning forward. "Hold on now, I tink I see something!"

From his view, he could definitely see the familiar-looking brats talking to some lady whose back was to him. Next to them was a jeep that he supposed belonged to the guest.

"I got eyes on twoirps twelve o'clock!" He shouted, leaning forward a little more. "Hold on a minute, I'm not seeing Pikachu anywhere!"

"Huh? No Pikachu? But he's always with that twerp boy right?" Jessie asked looking at Meowth.

"Is him not being there better or worse for us? The whole point is to capture him after all..." James quipped looking over Jessie's shoulder.

"Yeah no, definitely no sign of Pikachu." Meowth confirmed.

"Well then...no Pikachu, no electric shocking for me then!" Jessie happily exclaimed, her eyes closed and hands on her hips. "Besides, him not being there makes our job easier to capture the others!"

"Yeah, and we could always come back to get Pikachu when he shows back up!" James happily chimed in.

"Den it's settled!" Meowth said with a grin. "Full speed ahead towards promotion!" He proclaimed with a finger pointing towards the group down below.

"An aerodactyl?!" Ash asked incredulously with a look of shock on his face.

"Yes, I'm afraid it's still out here somewhere. Last night my troops and I were too busy rounding up and chasing down the rest of the PLA. We're doing everything we can to find any sign of it now." Officer Jenny sternly said.

"What about Dr. Kenzo? Is he alright?" Dawn asked.

"Actually he's right over there in that jeep." Officer Jenny said turning to point towards the automobile.

As if on cue, Dr. Kenzo got out of the vehicle. The three trainers looked on in concern as he had a few bandages on his face and his arm was in a sling.

"Hey there!" He yelled while walking towards them. "Long time no see!"

"Hey yourself!" Ash said back, offering a small smile upon seeing that the doctor wasn't in too bad of shape. "Good to see you're okay!"

"Yes but unfortunately I couldn't stop those maniacs from releasing Aerodactyl." Dr. Kenzo solemnly said. "I volunteered to help search with the police, my Kabutops and Armaldo can provide help in subduing it."

"So be on the lookout for it and no matter what, be careful!" Officer Jenny declared. "In fact, you should get to the nearest Pokémon Center or police station and wait until it's been captured!"

"I wish we could but we're kind of dealing with our own emergency." Ash quickly retorted. "Some of our Pokémon are missing and I'm not leaving the area without them!"

"Oh dear, that is bad news..." Officer Jenny remarked.

Dawn couldn't help but shudder upon hearing it all being said aloud. "Oh our poor Pokémon, out there with that Aerodactyl on the loose!"

Before they could continue their conversation they heard a loud, metallic sound.

Piplup looked up in response to the noise but suddenly felt himself ensnared in something and was pulled high into the air!

Shocked, the humans all looked up towards the source and saw the familiar laughing faces of Team Rocket. Piplup was entrapped in a net that hung from below the balloon's basket.

"Gotcha!" Meowth yelled.

"That's one way to catch a twerp-e-mon!" James laughed.

"Team Rocket!" Ash cried out.

"Don't we have enough problems for one day!?" Dawn followed.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" Jessie asked as she started the introduction into an all-too familiar motto.

Piplup rolled his eyes. "(Oh boy not this again. Gotta try to get out of this thing!)" He said to himself as he struggled against the net.

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!" James continued.

"(Drat! This net is tougher than I thought!)" Piplup shouted as he tried pecking at it.

"We're in your face!" Meowth finished.

"(Well at least that part is over with anyway.)" Piplup sighed.

"What do you guys want now!?" Brock yelled up to them.

"That's a pretty stupid question." Jessie said with smirk.

"Indeed, what better thing is there to want than to rain on a twerp's sunny day?" James followed up.

"And good luck with tha' net fellas, it's designed to prevent any and all oncoming attacks!" Meowth confidently quipped. "Courtesy of the not-so-well guarded local Sinnoh police station!"

"Why you!" Ash started before seeing something appear over the forest's horizon. "Huh?"

"(Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyysssssssssssssss!)" Staravia screamed as loud as he could as finally reached the vicinity of the camp.

"Staravia?" Brock inquired, taking notice of the panicked, flying bird.

"(INCOMING!)" Staravia shrieked.

As soon as Staravia flew beyond the trees, a rather frenzied ancient beast burst out from the clouds above, its massive stature casting a shadow on everything down below. Everyone looked on in shock.

"There it is!" Dr. Kenzo yelled, pointing at it.

"Eh? What's what now?" Jessie asked peering up with a genuine look of concern.

Almost immediately, the trio's confidence from capturing Piplup evaporated and was replaced with horror as they saw that they were on a collision course with a particularly angry and familiar-looking creature from another era.

"Eeeek! Steer clear!" Meowth declared in terror.

Still flying towards them, Staravia took notice of Team Rocket's hot air balloon and immediately knew that it only meant more trouble. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone...

...

Bad analogy for him but whatever.

He quickly flew past the hot air balloon and looked behind as he saw the Aerodactyl charging up something from its mouth.

"(Out of my way!)" It shouted as it fired its Hyper Beam at the trio of criminals.

"Brace for impact!" James yelled.

Their screams were only matched by the sound of the explosion.

Piplup could feel the net letting loose and found himself in a free fall.

"Don't worry I've got you!" Dawn screamed as she extended her arms and caught the blue penguin. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking down at her starter.

"(Never better!)" Piplup confidently remarked before immediately turning his attention to the fray.

The remains of the balloon crashed onto the ground and lay in a smoldering heap. The three occupants laid slightly singed but were otherwise alright.

"Just our luck." Jessie sighed not getting up from her crashed position, a nonplussed look on her face.

"When things are going our way, horrors from the ancient past come back to ruin our good time." James monotonically said.

"Maybe we should follow our backup career of opening up a bakery..." Meowth exasperatingly remarked.

Immediately, all three snapped out of their griping and looked towards the sky. The flying creature wasn't done just yet. It turned its attention towards the group of trainers.

It took notice of Dr. Kenzo.

"(You might have convinced those two idiots to stay with you, but you can't contain an apex predator like me so easily!)" It growled.

"We can't let it escape again!" Dr. Kenzo yelled.

"Right!" Ash said grabbing his Pokéballs but before he could throw it, the ancient beast was already firing a Flamethrower.

"(Oh no you don't!)" Aerodactyl remarked as it unleashed its attack.

Ash could only yell and brace for the impact before he heard a loud explosion, but much further away from him than he expected. He didn't have time to register that he was suddenly pushed a few feet away from the attack courtesy of Sudowoodo.

Regaining his composure, Ash smiled as he looked up at his savior. "Thanks Sudowoodo!" He said to which the Rock-type Pokémon saluted him.

"Right, now let's finish this!" Ash shouted, getting back to his feet. "Turtwig I choose you!" He declared before throwing his Pokéball and releasing the grass-tortoise.

"Don't forget us!" Dawn shouted. "Piplup front and center!"

"(Right!)" Piplup shouted back as he took his position at the front lines.

"Piplup Bubble beam!" Dawn yelled.

"Turtwig, Razor Leaf!" Ash followed up.

Both Pokémon complied however their winged enemy dodged both attacks using Agility.

Gaining speed, Aerodactyl flew towards everyone, preparing to use Take Down.

"Dodge it!" Both trainers yelled in unison.

Their Pokémon complied and barely managed to avoid the brunt of the impact yet still both were nicked by it.

Almost immediately, the Aerodactyl turned around and used Wing Attack. It was simply too fast! Both Piplup and Turtwig had just regained their footing before they were struck by it.

Ash and Dawn gasped as their Pokémon went flying.

The ancient creature didn't show any mercy or hesitation, it continued the assault and charged towards its injured opponents, opening its jaw to use Flamethrower again. In an instant, it unleashed a column of fire from its mouth straight at them! The trainers could only look on in horror as they could do nothing else.

"Sudowoodo, use Mimic!" Brock yelled.

Piplup and Turtwig braced themselves as they saw the flames coming towards them.

Suddenly, the Flamethrower was halted by a Hyper Beam.

Looking towards its side, Aerodactyl was greeted by a Screech attack and went careening in the opposite direction.

Everyone looked to the source and saw Dr. Kenzo with his Armaldo and Kabutops.

"Didn't forget about us did you?" The scientist said with a smile.

Enraged, the winged creature charged towards them, powering up for Giga Impact.

"Now Sudowoodo, use Flamethrower!" Brock shouted.

Sudowoodo suddenly spouted fire from his mouth directly hitting the furious predator and briefly setting it off its course, the Giga Impact dissipating.

It composed itself as it flew further backwards before landing. With a roar of intense ferocity, it slammed its wings into the ground beneath it.

Suddenly the land began to shake and to everyone's horror, began to split apart.

"Earthquake!" Brock yelled before falling over.

The earth erupted, sending everyone sprawling backwards. It only took a few moments for the dust to settle before they regained their composure.

The entire surrounding area had been transformed into nothing more than cragged rocks jutting out in unnatural positions.

Not wasting a moment, the winged beast flew upwards into the air. Suddenly, a shining purple light enveloped the creature as it began to use Dragon Pulse.

"This isn't good!" Officer Jenny yelled as she tried to get back up.

As it was about to unleash its savagery upon the group, the Aerodactyl felt a strong, fast impact into its torso. The attack faltered and the Aerodactyl opened its eyes to see Staravia flying past it, having just performed Aerial Ace.

"(That's what you get for chasing me all over the freaking forest!)" Staravia remarked.

"Piplup, Whirlpool!" Dawn shouted.

"Turtwig, Razor Leaf!" Ash yelled.

"Armaldo, Water Pulse, Kabutops, Ice Beam!" Dr. Kenzo commanded.

All four Pokémon complied after getting back on their feet and sent their attacks towards their momentarily stunned enemy.

All of their attacks landed, causing a small explosion of water, ice and leaves. Once it settled, the Aerodactyl plummeted towards the ground.

"Now both of you hold it down!" Dr. Kenzo yelled towards his Pokémon. Armaldo and Kabutops rushed towards the grounded Aerodactyl and held down its wings.

"Right...now then...!" Dr. Kenzo said holding up an empty Pokéball.

"Wait hold on a sec!" Ash yelled, running up to him. Dr. Kenzo paused and turned towards him.

"This guy's been flying around the area all this time, maybe he's seen our missing Pokémon!" Ash shouted, a look of hope in his eyes.

"Huh? Even if it did, how would you be able to discern that?" Dr. Kenzo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmmm..." Dawn thought aloud before turning towards Team Rocket who had taken cover the entire time behind a large rock.

"Just tell me when it's over!" James said with his eyes closed and hands above his head, his body shivering.

"No way, you tell me when it's over!" Jessie replied in the same position.

"Dis is what we get for not investing in a second hot air balloon!" Meowth added while huddled between them. Suddenly he felt someone tug on his arm and yank him away from his shelter. "Huh? Whaddaya doin'?!" He cried out as Dawn pulled him away from his would-be thieving pals.

"Alright, make yourself useful for once!" Dawn sternly said and practically threw Meowth in front of the Aerodactyl. "And translate what it says!" She shouted pointing towards the captured dragon-like creature. Surprised, Meowth merely blinked and looked back at her.

"Eh? And why should I do dat?" Meowth bluntly asked, crossing his arms before he saw the other Pokémon giving him equally disconcerting death glares. Piplup in particular cracked his non-knuckles.

"Er...okay, okay fine!" Meowth quickly shouted.

Ash walked up to the Aerodactyl and looked into its eyes.

"You've been out here for a while, have you seen a pikachu, buizel and happiny together?" He asked.

The Aerodactyl raised an eyebrow and began to growl a response which Meowth translated aloud.

"(Hmm, perhaps I did, but I don't really put faces to my food.)" It replied.

"Did you or didn't you?!" Ash yelled.

"(Yes, I saw a group of them not too far from here.)" The creature replied with a smirk.

"So you saw them. You were there." Ash said much more calmly.

"(Yes...yes I was.)" The dragon remarked with a smile and widening its eyes in a particularly deranged look.

"Where are they, what happened?" Ash continued.

Closing its eyes and turning its head, the Aerodactyl replied "(Food can be so stubborn sometimes...)"

"Food?! Pikachu would never go down that easily and he wouldn't let you eat his friends!" Ash screamed, barely holding back his increasing anger.

"(Oh yes, the static rat. I suppose he was with you the last time I encountered your little group.)"

"Where. Is. Pikachu?!" Ash slowly asked as his rage was reaching a boiling point.

"(Hmmm...he was especially stubborn. Couldn't accept who was dominant. Couldn't accept that he was prey.)" The Aerodactyl contemptuously said, its head still turned away.

"WHERE?!" Ash exploded, taking a step closer, fists balled up so tightly he could crush coal into diamonds.

"(The last time I saw him...)" The Aerodactyl started before pausing. In that moment it felt as if all the sound in the world disappeared save for the rustling of the wind. It turned its head towards him, a wicked grin spread across its face. "(He was bleeding out into a lake.)"

Ash felt his blood go ice-cold; his eyes widened in shock. It was lying. It had to be.

It. Had. To. Be. Lying.

He couldn't say a word. He just stared at the grounded beast.

Everyone else's faces were dominated by expressions of shock and horror.

"That can't be!" Brock exclaimed.

"You're lying!" Dawn shouted.

Ash felt his heart beating faster and faster. Soon all he could see was crimson. His blood, feeling as if ice was running through his veins just mere moments ago, was replaced with a sensation that was so hot, it was practically boiling. His body tensed up and for once in his life, he genuinely felt like hurting the Pokémon in front of him.

"(Believe what you want, but that rat didn't know his place so he needed to be put down.)" The dragon sadistically remarked.

"What about Buizel?!" Dawn shouted.

"And Happiny?!" Brock also yelled.

"(They jumped into a river, too afraid of the battle. I don't know what became of them.)" The Aerodactyl snorted. "(They left their friend to his fate to save their own skin. Can't say that I blame them.)"

"Alright that's enough!" Dr. Kenzo shouted. "You're going back to the lab and so help me if I find out that what you're saying is true...!" He shouted as he lifted up his Pokéball and flung it at the dragon. Before it was enveloped in the red glowing light, it smirked at its audience.

"(Until next time.)" It remarked with a wink before it was sucked into the Pokéball. Then it was gone.

There was a brief silence amongst everyone before Dawn chimed in. "It's not too late, we can still get to him!" She shouted, giving a hopeful look.

"The only lake in this area is Sultan Lake not too far from here." Officer Jenny declared before pointing towards the forest. "In that direction."

"Let's not waste any time!" Brock shouted.

"Right! Staravia, fly around and look for the rest of our friends! Tell them to head towards the lake that way!" Ash shouted to his bird Pokémon, pointing in the lake's direction.

Staravia nodded and took flight towards the forest.

Immediately after, everyone – human and Pokémon – began to head off towards the lake.

Ash however remained silent as he led the charge.

"Pikachu..." He thought to himself, stifling tears as he ran as fast he could.

As the gang disappeared into the woods, Officer Jenny turned towards Team Rocket.

"Sooooo, what's this I hear about you raiding a police station?" She sternly asked, placing her hands on her hips as she stared them down.

The trio of wrongdoers could only give pathetic, petrified reactions.

Ash and the others continued running through the forest as fast as they could, his mind never slowing down for a moment.

"He's gonna be okay. He always is. He'll be okay!" He thought over and over again, suppressing tears. So then why did he have such a bad feeling?

Soon, one by one, each member of their party joined them in running towards their destination. Before anyone knew it, nearly everybody was running together.

They continued forward until they heard a splashing sound coming from their left. Everyone stopped to see what the source of the noise was and were greeted by the sight of Buizel swimming down the river with Happiny.

"Buizel!" Dawn exclaimed with the biggest smile.

Buizel looked to his right and as soon as he saw the group, he smiled and jumped out of the water with Happiny on his back.

"You're okay!" Dawn happily cried out as she ran towards him.

"And you have Happiny!" Brock shouted as he ran behind Dawn. As soon as he got towards them, he picked up Happiny and cradled her, earning a happy squeal from the baby Pokémon. Dawn immediately got down on her knees and hugged Buizel as hard as she could, earning a sigh of exasperation from the weasel.

Ash couldn't help but smile at the little reunion but suddenly grimaced as he realized that Pikachu isn't with them. If he's not with them then that means...

No! No, he can't think like that. He needs to remain hopeful!

"Buizel, have you seen Pikachu?" Ash asked, trying not to let his voice crack. Buizel turned his attention towards him and nodded. "Can you take us to him?" Ash asked, practically yelling. Buizel again nodded before suddenly jumping back into the river and swimming in the direction where he just came from with everyone closely following him.

Eventually much later, the group saw an opening leading out of the woods. The brilliant light shining through made it appear as if it was a door to another world.

Ash was the first to go through and after he let his eyes adjust to the light, he could see that he was standing in front of a river, a dirt path on the other side of it. Buizel continued swimming forward, urging Ash to continue and implying that it wasn't too far now.

Jumping over the river, everyone was soon running along the dirt path. It didn't take long before they all stopped at once. Ash's heart sank from what he saw.

The ground was upended in random directions, jagged rocks sticking out in defiance of gravity. Rather large craters, far greater than the size of his own body, dotted the area and much of the ground was scorched black.

It didn't look like the site of a Pokémon battle. It looked like an actual war was fought here.

Ash grit his teeth as he took a moment to take it in. "Okay everyone, spread out and see what you can find!" He declared to which everyone nodded and began searching the area.

They started to check anywhere they could for the yellow mouse: in the river, under the jagged rocks and around the craters.

Dawn went ahead of everyone to check how far the battle looked like it went.

Not long afterwards, Ash jumped into a crater to see if there was any sign of his best buddy. Not finding anything, he frustratedly looked upwards in contemplation. He noticed that clouds were beginning to darken the sky. They needed to hurry.

He suddenly head a feminine voice yell out. "Hey guys! Over here, it's the lake!" Dawn shouted.

Ash climbed out of the crater and ran towards her. She was pointing to their left, over the river and beyond. He stopped next to her and looked on. He could see that in the middle of a grassy field was indeed a quaint-appearing lake. In fact, it looked so peaceful that he would've never been able to tell that a huge battle took place not too far from it.

He felt another wave of anxiety go through him. The lake. That Aerodactyl mentioned a lake. That could mean...

"No, no, stop it! He's fine!" Ash thought, steeling his nerves. "Let's check there!" He yelled out as they all made their way towards the body of water.

As they reached the shore, they decided to split up again. Aipom searched the trees and Pachirisu checked any flat areas to run through. Everyone else searched along the shore.

"Are you guys sure you want to do this?" Dawn asked Piplup and Buizel.

They both gave determined looks of approval to her.

"(You bet!)" Piplup exclaimed.

"(Absolutely.)" Buizel calmly remarked.

"Okay, then check every inch of that lake!" Dawn declared, pointing towards the aforementioned body of water.

With that, they both jumped into the water and began swimming towards the very bottom. Secretly, both of them were somewhat anxious about what they may find.

Several minutes passed and before he knew it, Ash was on one side of the lake, mostly by himself.

Soon afterward, both Water-type Pokémon broke the surface of the water.

"(Anything at all?)" Piplup asked.

"(No, nothing.)" Buizel replied, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, Croagunk was taking his time checking every inch along the shore that he was walking along. As he began to round a section of the shore, he suddenly stopped to look at something directly on the ground. He continued to stare at it for a long while.

Brock was checking around a nearby log when he suddenly heard Croagunk make a somewhat high-pitched squealing sound. His head shot up. He had never heard the frog make that sound before. He looked over and saw Croagunk staring down at the shore, his back to him.

Curious, Brock began to approach his Pokémon. Suddenly the frog plopped down on his behind, still staring down at the ground. For some reason, the world felt very quiet then.

Brock paused walking up to him. Feeling a shiver go down his spine, he took a few tentative steps closer.

"Hey Croagunk, did you find something?" He asked somewhat nervously.

Croagunk didn't move or say anything, just continued to stare. He slowly moved his head upwards.

"Huh?" Brock wondered aloud as he stepped around Croagunk to get a better look at him. The frog was staring off into space but more unnervingly, his eyes were widened in a look of what appeared to be shock.

Brock felt his stomach drop. Croagunk was always enigmatic but also usually so calm and collected. Swallowing hard, Brock looked down at the shore.

Ash was in the middle of looking through some reeds when he heard a masculine voice call out.

"Everybody! Over here! We found something! We found something...we found something..." Brock called out; his last words noticeably shaky.

Ash looked out from the reeds. Just his luck, he was on the exact opposite side of the lake where Brock was! He could see Dawn and the other Pokémon making their way towards their friend.

The young trainer began to run along the shore and as he did, he smiled. "Thank goodness...there might be a sign of him!" He thought as he continued to run.

But as he got closer to the group, his smile began to fade. He saw that they were all huddled around something on the ground. His confused face was slowly overtaken with worry as he began to make out some of their reactions.

Piplup was hysterical and doing his flailing dance. Buizel had stepped away from the group and was angrily punching a boulder. Staravia and Turtwig merely hung their heads. Sudowoodo was holding on to Happiny, trying to turn her away from whatever it was they were looking at. Croagunk merely sat down and stared off into space, his eyes wider than ever before. Pachirisu was intensely sobbing and being comforted by Aipom who normally had a face that was dominated by a smile but now only showing an obvious frown. She herself was noticeably trying to hold back tears as she rocked the both of them back and forth.

Ash only continued to run as his mind began to race and he felt that same pit in his stomach again.

His run slowed to a walk as he finally reached them but before he could make his way through the group, he suddenly felt several of the Pokémon grab and hold him back.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Ash shouted as he tried to pry his way out of their grip. He stopped when felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ash..." Brock calmly said. Ash turned to him and saw that his face was quite somber. "There isn't an easy way to put this."

"Brock what is it?!" Ash tried to calmly say but couldn't keep the worriedness out of his voice.

Brock merely grimaced and looked towards the ground, unable to find the right words.

Ash only continued to look at him, his eyes widening. Impulsively, he tore himself free from their Pokémon's grip and pushed past his friend. He continued forward but before he could fully see what they were all gathered around, Dawn stepped in front of him, her arms extended outwards.

"Ash before you look, I need you to take a deep breath and stay calm." She sternly said.

"Dawn, please just lemme-"

"Ash!" Dawn interrupted. "I mean it."

He paused and began to ease up. Dawn continued to stare at him, her expression unflinching.

"Now, I want you to know that this doesn't absolutely mean anything yet." She said quite sternly.

Ash hesitated before taking a deep breath. He nodded his head.

"Okay." He calmly said, looking her straight in the eyes.

Dawn lowered her arms and stepped aside. She closed her eyes and a look of sadness grew upon her face.

Ash stepped forward and looked at the ground.

Along the shore he saw streaks of red.

Trying his absolute hardest to keep himself composed, he noticed that the streaks moved in the direction from the lake to the middle of the shore. His gaze continued to follow them and saw that where the streaks had ended, the water that normally accumulated between the small rocks was saturated with a crimson color. The little pools of water that were in front of him glistened with a reddish tint...but still Pikachu wasn't there.

Almost immediately after, Ash saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head.

And then he saw it.

On a larger rock he saw a pawprint.

A perfect, bloody pawprint.

Everything went silent. The world only felt colder. It was still daytime yet it was as if all of the light was disappearing from view. Immediately, his vision began to blur, almost failing him entirely. Ash felt his body go completely numb. He wanted to scream to the heavens but he could feel his chest lock up and his breath escape him. His mind was doing everything to rationalize it, saying things like it was someone else's. But deep down he knew. Ash had seen his buddy eat enough food with ketchup to know what his red paw print looked like.

He could feel the blood drain from his face. He could feel his stomach turning in knots. He could feel...his legs giving out.

"Ash!" Brock yelled as Dawn gasped.

Ash collapsed to his knees and fell forward on to his forearms upon the shore with enough force that it caused red-tinted droplets to momentarily fly upwards. He grit his teeth and tightly shut his eyes as he tried his best to hold it back. But it was all too much. Ash gripped his fists tighter as tears began to escape his eyes and go down his face onto the ground. He began to feel drops of water hit his back as a light rain began to pelt the scene. The once clear sky was being overtaken by black clouds, shrouding everyone in darkness.

Finally he unlocked his chest and shakily took in a long inhale only to quickly exhale all of the breath from his lungs.

"PIKACHU!" He cried out in anguish as some of his friends quickly embraced him.