Note: Only a couple more chapters for the Johto arc. Sinnoh arc is halfway done right now. As I said, chapters will be uploaded once the respective arc is finished, but I will complete this fic.

Anyhow, enjoy.

Chapter 8: It's a Shard Knock Life!

Heart Village did not host a traditional pokémon center. Luckily the exit to the cave was a fair distance away from Silver Town. Blue, Gold and Gary opted to take the Duraludon eggs to the pokémon center in Silver Town while Ash and Yellow went back to report their findings to the Heart Village Elders. They found themselves back at the Stones house, kneeling down in front of the two Elders and relaying their brief adventure. Ash swore that they didn't move an inch since the last time they were here. Maybe they were actually made out of stone.

"Ah so it was an angry Tyranitar that was scaring the mountain pokémon?" said the right Stone.

"And a Duraludon as well? A visitor from the Galar region, hmm?"

"Yes elders. Though Gary said that there could have always been an undiscovered population of them living in Johto all this time," Yellow said.

"Your friend is insightful."

"A bit more thoughtful than our Blue, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe, just a bit," Yellow replied.

"So, you have solved our issue, and have saved this village from many cleanups."

"And without simply chasing the pokémon out of their layer. Though your methods were still quite brash…" said the left Stone, scratching his bearded chin.

"I wish we didn't attack the Duraludon," Yellow said, a twinge of regret still lingering in her voice.

"Always the kindest. The Duraludon was both a caring parent and a prideful pokémon. We knew that you would have some trouble dealing with her."

"Wait…" Ash usually wasn't the first person to catch on to such subtlety's, but he couldn't help but catch that last word "You knew what the problem was all along?"

The two Stones looked at each other in amusement, before turning their attention back to Ash and Yellow.

"Quite observant. Yes, some of our villagers had already seen both pokémon."

"And we would have made plans to deal with it in time. You think we couldn't take care of ourselves? That we had to rely on the kindness of young pokémon trainers from the big city?"

"Well, I guess not," Ash said, scratching the back of his head, sharing a laugh with Yellow and the Stones.

"Make no mistake young man, we are grateful for you and your friends' help. And we are happy that you were able to reunite with an old friend" said the right Stone.

"And we do have something for you." said the left Stone. The Stones looked at each other and shared a nod. The right Stone reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of black cloth that seemed to be holding… something. Ash and Yellow couldn't tell what it was, but they felt that the temperature in the room went down a few degrees.

"Take this, Ash," he held out his hand with the cloth laying in his palm.

"What… is it?" Ash asked. He felt nervous. He didn't know why.

"To be frank, young man… we don't know ourselves. Just that one of the villagers found it on the top of mount Silver, where Red used to train."

"But we can all feel the value it holds. And if Red sent you to us… well…"

"You think whatever that is and Ash's vision are connected?" Yellow said.

"Yes. We sent you into mount Silver because we wanted to ensure that your bond with your pokémon was strong. We feel that this thing we're giving you could lead you down a path of hardship."

"And from your story we believe you are quite fit. To recognize and rekindle a relationship with Tyranitar after so many years… only someone who truly understands their pokémon could have done such a thing. We feel safe handing this to you," said the left Stone, keeping a watchful eye over the cloth.

Ash reached out his hand, carefully taking the cloth into his palm. He felt the item inside. It wasn't too heavy. He unraveled the cloth. Inside was… well he wasn't exactly sure what it was. It was like a curved piece of rock. It looked as though it was made from obsidian glass, smooth to the touch with a reflective black hue. It seemed harmless, but he felt uncomfortable holding it. He wrapped the cloth over it and placed it in his backpack.

"Thank you elders Stone… er…. Stones," he said.

"We wish you luck young Ash. and to you too Yellow, as well as all your friends."

"Thank you Elders," Yellow said, as she and Ash stood up, and left the Stone household.

He remembered this place.

Cold, despondent, and lifeless. Ash found it difficult to describe just exactly how this void of a world felt, but he could never forget the feeling of this place.

So you found it

Red!

Hello Ash. Welcome back

Ash did not feel welcome in this place. Still, it was good to know that Red was still alive… in a sense of the word. Red floated in front of Ash, looking unchanged since their last encounter.

Red, where are you? Yellows looking for you.

Yellow… Even in this place, Ash could feel that Red was holding back his tears. How is she doing? Is she safe?

She misses you. All your friends miss you. We're trying to find you. Where are you? Where is this place?

This place it's… it's not somewhere you can simply go to…

Then how am I here now?

Because I reached out to you. You are simply having a glimpse into this world, as you can tell when you wake up in your world.

Reach out? How?

It's difficult to explain. I don't quite understand it myself. But it's a power of sorts… a power that I've borrowed, you can say…

From who…

Red lowered his head, hiding his face from Ash.

Let me show you… On Reds final words he placed two fingers onto Ash's forehead. Red disappeared from his view, fading into the void.

Red?

Replacing Red was the shape of a large sphere. The sphere contorted and morphed, a mix of red and orange vortexes swirling all over its surface. Then they stopped, and the sphere began to turn blue, the orange sections becoming a dull brown, then a vibrant green. The sphere… It was Earth, the glorious blue sphere that contained the lives of all people and all pokémon.

Suddenly, from behind the globe, a gigantic appendage emerged. It was a long, black, insect-like arm with a large red claw on its tip. It plunged into the earth, a dark void sprouting from the point of impact. Suddenly, five more arms appeared, impaling different sections of the globe, until it was completely engulfed in darkness. That's when its head appeared from behind the claws, a golden pointed head resembling an ancient helmet from a forgotten time, glaring down on the world it had destroyed. Ash knew this Pokémon.

Giratina, the Renegade pokémon..

Go to Mount Coronet, in the deepest chamber in the mountain. There you will find the answers you seek. The shard… the shards the key.

But what about you…?

Don't worry about me… goodbye, for now.

Red?!

And tell Yellow… that I love her.

RED?!

"RED!" Ash shot up from his less than restful sleep.

"Looks who's up and all excitable" a familiar if irritating voice said next to him.

Ash's eyes quickly adjusted to his surroundings. He was back at Mary's place, on the floor of her living room specifically. Bright sunlight poured through the window, illuminating the entire room. The sleeping bags of his companions were scattered throughout the room, though most of them were empty, save the black sleeping bag that sat next to his. They had met up back at the village and had stayed another night with the intent to leave in the morning.

"Hey Red-look-alike, take it easy alright? We're at Mary's place. Ain't nothing that can hurt us here."

"Hey Gold," Ash said, catching his breath. He hadn't realized that he was still breathing heavily. "Where is everyone?!"

"They went out to get breakfast. They decided to let you sleep in."

"And what about you?"

"They decided to let me sleep in as well."

"Right…" Ash sighed in relief.

"My turn for questions. Why were you screaming Reds name just now? You had a bad dream or something?"

"Not a dream… but… I saw Red again and…" Just like before, Ash's memory of the dream was foggy at best. But he remembered the feeling of terror, of an entropic force descending upon him. He remembered a legendary pokémon, a powerful one with malevolent intent. He also remembered…

"Mount Coronet. I need to go to Mount Coronet."

"Another mountain huh? Not exactly sure what Red's got in mind for ya. Anyway…" Gold paused to take a stretch. "We should probably get ready and meet up with the others. They went to a local restaurant nearby. You can tell them about your bad dreams in person," Gold said after a loud yawn.

The local restaurant didn't even have a proper name. Most of the community just referred to it as the "hub". It was nicely built though, the interior feeling like a warm and welcoming shared community cottage. People could dine outside again now that the Geodudes weren't rampaging through town. The trainers decided to take advantage of the outdoor space, seated at a sizable table right under the extended roof of the building. The spring air was nice and cool in the morning, the shade of the rooftop keeping the sun out of their eyes. The icing on the cake was that their breakfast, a large helping of pancakes and various fruits, was on the house. A thank you from the locals for saving their village from constant sandstorms. Blue, Yellow and Gary had already served themselves, having arrived at the place almost an hour earlier. They even served a small bowl for Pikachu, sitting right next to the table.

"Mount Coronet, huh? And you said you saw a pokémon?" Gary asked.

"Ya… I'm not sure what that's all about," Ash replied.

Ash had relayed what little he remembered about his vision to the others at the table. It was only bits and pieces however, though he remembered the avid feeling of dread. He remembered seeing the legendary pokémon, Red telling him to go to mount Coronet, and… something else…

"Well I guess we're going to Mount Coronet next," Yellow said, reasonably down.

"Hey it's alright straw hat gal, I'm sure that Red's just leading you to him" Gold said.

"Maybe…" she replied. But why all the cryptic messages? And only to Ash…

"The elders also gave me this," Ash said as he pulled out the shard from his backpack, unraveling it from its cloth. The trainers all felt the air around them become uncomfortably colder, an ominous gloom hanging over the table.

"Looks like a rock to me…" Gold said.

"More like a shard, a broken piece of something… but of what?" Blue said, grabbing the piece and holding it up to the sunlight. In the rays they could see that the hue began to alter slightly, a combination of iridescent blacks, blues and purples.

"The Elders don't know, but it's tied to Red somehow," Ash said, taking back the shard. He placed it back in its cloth and returned it to his bag. He felt that it became a bit easier to breathe once it was out of sight.

"Well not much we can do about it right now. Might as well enjoy the free breakfast," Gary said, taking a bite out of an apple.

As the other trainers continued eating, Ash stacked his plate with pancakes. A rather obscene amount of them. Gold took the moment to survey the table, waiting for his turn. Everyone seemed a bit gloomy after the discussion about Red and the shard and the mountain and all that weird stuff that's been going on. Sure this was serious stuff, but he knew better than anyone that you shouldn't take life too seriously. Maybe someone should say something…

"Ya know Red-look-alike, you eat a lot!" Gold said, stacking a more reasonable number of pancakes on his plate.

"That's Ash for ya. Only thing he loves more than pokémon battles is eating," Gary said.

"Oh come on, I'm sure his friends are somewhere up there. And if he's anything like Red, perhaps a special someone…" Gold paused for a moment, taking a bite out of his pancake. "Hey, is there a Yellow in your world that you gotta thing for?"

"Well not that I know of…" Ash said through a mouth full of pancakes, his face becoming slightly red.

"Ash has traveled with a lot of people over the years. I'm sure at least one of them has broken through that thick skull of his," Gary said. He was slightly surprised, he had never seen Ash respond like this to such questions in the past. That must mean…

"Well… I mean…" Ash felt that this conversation was about to go south, very quickly.

"How about the one I met in Sinnoh? Dawn right?"

"No, but…"

"We had a gym leader in our world who had a thing for Red when they were younger. I know you guys got one in this world too," Gold chimed in.

"Guys…" Ash could hardly rebuke, wanting to hide behind his stack of pancakes. Gary and Gold were enjoying the chance to watch him squirm. Ash looked to Yellow, who gave him a sympathetic smile. Not sympathetic enough to make them stop, however.

"Ya know I did some research in the Kalos region for a while. I actually ran into a friend of yours, a gym leader right? He told me about your time there, and this other girl who was with you…"

Ash felt himself become very, very small. He didn't really know why. What was even the big deal? It was just talk among friends right? But there was something about the insinuations that just irked him. Maybe it was just Gary's tone of voice, grating and playful in such a way that cut through any attempt at stoicism.

Or maybe he was just a little shy about these sorts of things.

"Oh, so Red-look-alike here likes his Kalos girls huh?" Gold chuckled.

"Least from what I heard. What was her name? Started with an S..?" Gary's indignant smile cut through Ash's soul.

"Her name's Serena," Ash said, a bit more defensively than he intended. It was all the confirmation Gary needed.

"Oh of course, how could I forget." Liar.

"Hey, show me a picture. Let's see what we're working with here," Gold said.

Ash didn't dare reply. He didn't want to dig this hole any deeper than it already was. Unfortunately, Gary pulled out his phone.

"Oh she's a big star over there. See for yourself," Gary said, showing Gold the screen, showing him a performance promo image of the young women.

"Oh, gotta thing for blonds huh Red-look-alike?" Gold said, though his smile somewhat dissipated when he took a closer look at the image. "Wait… why does she look like one of the juniors…?"

"Alright, alright that's enough guys," Yellow said, finally lending Ash a hand.

"Oh come on Yellow, we're just having some fun with him," Gary said.

"Ya. Besides, it's good to talk about your feelings and stuff. Isn't that right Red-look-alike?" Gold said. They burst into a fit of laughter. Even Blue chuckled slightly, having opted to watch the scene unfold.

"Hey it's alright Ash. Gold is your senior, and Gary is one of your oldest friends. They're allowed to tease you over your crushes," Yellow said. Now even her smile had become sinister.

"Thanks…" Ash said quietly. Was anyone on this table on his side? Clearly not, as Pikachu chuckled at him as well.

"Now eat your pancakes, before they get cold," Yellow said. Ash didn't need to be told twice. Maybe it would drown out the other trainers, at least for the moment.

It didn't.