The Future's Young Fingerprint

Larousse City, Hoenn. 29th June, 2033. 2:37am.

Misty and Drew walked around for a bit, collecting a couple dry sticks of wood every now and then. Misty glanced at the amount of sticks they had. "Why are there literally no dry sticks?" she groaned. Drew rolled his eyes. "Because it's rainy season in Larousse. Rainy season lasts from mid-April to early-July here," he informed her.

The redhead looked at him with annoyance. "Any more weather forecasts?" she asked him dryly. Drew looked up at the sky. "I'll give you a weather alert for an upcoming storm," he responded. "Ten minutes tops," Misty looked up to the sky to see dark clouds being blown in by the wind. She groaned as the sound of thunder made it's way to their ears.

"Come on," Drew urged her, picking up a few more sticks from the ground. "Let's go," Misty sighed and nodded, knowing they didn't have another choice. They ran towards the direction of the shelter Older Paul and Older Dawn had found for them. Suddenly, lightning struck a spot beside them, causing them both to jump back, but the suddenness of the incident caused Misty to run off in shock, leaving her sticks behind. "Misty!" Drew called. "Come back!" But it was too late; she was already too far away.

Drew picked up her sticks from the ground and decided to run after her, but the drops of rain falling from the sky stopped him. He looked back to the cave; the shelter they'd been walking towards and then back to where Misty'd run off. He sighed and shrugged as he ran towards the cave with all the sticks tucked under his shirt to keep dry. He knew Misty could handle herself. Plus, she had her pokémon with her. Drew ran into the cave and put down the dry sticks.

Older Dawn looked up from where she and Belle were resting. "Oh, Drew, you're here," she smiled. "Where's Misty?" Drew shrugged. "I don't know. She ran off." he replied. Paul walked up to them. "Why?" Drew took a seat on the floor. "Cause she got scared of the lightning," he responded nonchalantly. "But, I know she can take care of herself, so I decided not to chase after her because that would just be wasting time." Paul groaned a little but nodded nevertheless.

Drew looked around. "Hey, where's Gary? And Leaf? And Dawn, Ash and May?" he asked scanning the cave. Older Paul shrugged. "We don't know. Gary and Paul left her behind, and then she called for help, so Gary went out to find her. And I don't know anything about Dawn, Ash and May." he said. Drew nodded and sat across the wall of a cave worriedly. What if May'd been attacked by a pokémon and they needed help? What if they'd gotten lost and couldn't find their way? What if they'd gotten hit by lightning? The possibilities were endless. Drew decided to call it a night and sleep on it. They'd be here by morning; he was sure of it.

Meanwhile, Misty had run off into the woods. She looked around helplessly, searching for her partner. "Drew?" she spoke uncertainly. Her voice echoed throughout the woods. "Drew?" she ran in the rain, despite her getting soaked; she had to find someone, anyone to help her. "Drew!" Another flash of lightning landed near her, and she collapsed to the ground. "Someone…help," she whispered as she started crawling on the ground. She couldn't give up: not now.

She crawled a little more as she tried to find the courage to stand up once again. A few seconds later, she decided she was ready, and ran forward to call for help. "Help!" she yelled. Suddenly, she tripped due to the mud on the ground. She quickly got up. "Help!" she exclaimed. "Anyone, please!"

Another lightning bolt struck the ground as she took another step, though this time, she couldn't brave it out. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she once again collapsed on the muddy ground. "Someone… help me," she managed to choke out before fainting from fear. Another clap of thunder rang throughout the forest as sounds of people talking was heard from the distance. Suddenly, the bushes near Misty ruffled vigorously.

A human-like figure appeared from the shadows. "Oh my gosh, Misty!" the female voice exclaimed, as she motioned over another human being. "Ash, take Misty on your back," she commanded the raven-haired boy that stepped out from the shadows. He easily took the redhead on his back and secured her by holding her tightly. A brunette behind him nodded. "Alright, let's go,"

Back at the cave, the teens and child were asleep, while the adults were still sticking around, waiting for the others to come back. "Dawn, how the hell are they supposed to get through the storm?" Older Paul demanded tiredly. Older Dawn shook her head. "I know someof them will come back," she declared. Older Paul groaned. "Dawn, we can't just pull an all-nighter; we need strength for tomorrow." he said.

Older Dawn looked back at him. "Well, then, you can sleep. I'm not," she told him firmly before glancing out the cave. Suddenly, her blue eyes caught something in the distance. She squinted. "Isn't that..?" Older Paul looked over. "No way," he muttered. Outside, were May, Dawn, Older May, Older Drew, and Ash, with Misty on his back. "Over here!" Older Dawn exclaimed, waving them over. This sudden noise made the teens wake up. Drew glanced out the cave and froze.

Outside was an Older version of him! The group rushed in and Ash placed Misty on the ground. "What happened to her?" Drew asked, his eyes widened. Ash looked up. "I think she fainted from the lightning," he said. Drew nodded dazedly as he looked over at his older self.

"Is that…me?"