Chapter 6

"Nice to meet you," May said to Iris. "I'm May, and this is Chloe."

"May? By chance, Do you know Ash? Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes, I do," May said, surprised. "We traveled together through the Hoenn Region."

I've heard about you from Ash before." Iris turned to Chloe. "I haven't heard of a Chloe before though."

"I-I haven't known Ash for very long." Chloe explained, startled at being addressed. "How do you know him?"

"Long story, but Ash thought I was a pokemon, so he tried to 'catch' me, and that's how we ended up traveling together through Unova."

"Well, Iris, I have some bad news." May said solemnly.

"What is it?"

"Currently, Ash is missing. A Mightyena approached us last night, and it was by itself."

"Don't Mightyena usually travel in packs?" Iris asked.

"Yes, which just adds to the strangeness."

"What happened after that?"

"Well," May continued, "Soon after the Mightyena appeared, Ash started shaking uncontrollably, and then there was a red flash."

"And?"

"When we all woke up-"

"Woke up?" Iris interrupted.

"Yes, apparently we all got knocked out or something."

"Oh, sorry." Iris apologized for interrupting.

"That's all right." May said. "Anyways, when we woke up, Ash and Phione had seemingly disappeared into thin air."

"Phione? Is that A Pokemon? I've never heard of it before," Iris remarked.

"Here, I'll show you on my Pokedex," May told her.

"Phione can be seen floating offshore during seasons when the seas are warm.

Its azure body blends in with the ocean waters–logic suggests this is a defense mechanism against natural predators." Beeped the pokedex in a robotic voice.

"It looks really cute," Iris said. Then, "So, You're looking for Ash and Phione right now?"

"Yes, but we haven't found any clues so far…"

Iris thought about when Cilan pretended to be a detective. She smiled.

"Well, I'll try my best to help. I've got a very flavorful experience!"

"No sign of Ash…" said Goh, feeling worried for his friend.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu sighed. Goh had figured out by now that 'Pikapi' meant Ash.

"No sign of Phione either," said Max. "I wonder what could have happened?"

"Pika? Pikachu!" said Pikachu, pointing ahead of them.

In front of them, there were footprints that led a long way away.

"Huh, Maybe It's a clue," Goh speculated.

"I don't think we're that lucky, Goh."

"Well, we might as well give it our best shot," said Goh.

"I guess you're right," said Max, "Let's go, Pikachu!"

It was starting to rain, so May, Chloe, and Iris were staying in a cave for the night.

Chloe found some firewood left in the cave, so May had her Blaziken light a fire.

"It's been a long day," May said, "we should probably go to sleep now."

"Good Idea," Iris yawned.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps startled them.

"Who's there?" May quickly stood up.

"May?" A familiar voice said.

"Max!" May greeted him.

"Oh, so those footprints were yours," Goh said, looking a bit disappointed.

"I told you, didn't I?" Max said to Goh.

"You followed our footprints?" Chloe asked him.

"Yeah, we thought it might be a clue to help us find Ash," Goh replied. "Did you have any luck?"

"No, sadly."

"Oh, by the way, this is Iris." May introduced their new friend. "Iris, this is Max and Goh."

"Nice to meet you," Iris said.

"Iris is a friend of Ash's," May said. "She wanted to help us look for him too."

"Ash sure has a lot of friends," Goh said to himself, thinking about how he had had no friends (Unless you counted Chloe) before Ash came along.

"Anyways, we should probably get some rest now," Chloe said.

The five friends fell asleep without resting, wondering where Ash and Phione were.

"Where am I?" Ash asked himself.

The last thing he remembered was looking into the eyes of a strange Mightyena, and then all of a sudden, his worst memories had come flooding back into him, overwhelming him.

The time Pikachu had been petrified…

Hunter J taking Riolu…

All those legendary Pokemon in trouble…

Lucario dying at the tree of beginning…

"I must have passed out," Ash thought.

He looked around himself.

Wherever he was, it was pitch black and he couldn't see a thing

All of a sudden he was startled by a voice behind him.

"Long time no see. Chosen One."

Thank you for reading Chapter 6, Clues and Caves

Thanks again to ColsonOtis for beta-reading this.

I appreciate all the feedback and compliments you gave me!

You're welcome to leave some more!

–MylaKate