"It was a strange noise," Bill said, as the lighthouse beam flashed across the sea behind him. "On a foggy night like this. I don't know exactly what caused it, and I can only assume it's a Pokémon that we don't really know about."

The beam swept across the sea again, and Ash shaded his eyes. "A Pokémon, huh… like, what? A Dragonite?"

"I know about that one," Bill replied, a bit tartly. "I mean a Pokémon that nobody's really seen in person before. I'm enough of a Pokémon expert that I think I'd recognize a Dragonite, thanks."

"Then… maybe it's like that Pokémon I saw when I set off," Ash wondered.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"What Pokémon?" Misty said.

Ash looked downcast. "Neither of you guys saw it either?"

Pikachu shook his head, then did a pose of a Pokémon, and Ash relaxed slightly. "Yeah, Pikachu saw it… it was after I, uh, borrowed your bike?"

"There's no way I'd forget something like that, Ash Ketchum!" Misty insisted. "And no, I didn't see any weird Pokémon after that happened!"

"What was it like?" Bill said.

"It had, uh… I think it was golden?" Ash replied, frowning. "And, red and green feathers, too? It was a bird, I think."

"Interesting," Bill frowned. "I suppose there's some possibilities-"

An unearthly call interrupted them, and Bill gasped. "Did you hear that? That was it!"

He pressed a button on a remote control, and the lighthouse foghorn wailed in response.

"Agh!" Brock complained, hands over his ears. "Watch out, what was that for?"

"Sssh!" Bill demanded.

Then the call came again.

Ash felt a bit uneasy. "Uh…"

A shape appeared in the mist, barely visible, and Ash stepped forwards to the edge of the lighthouse railing.

"This is amazing!" Bill said, in a strangled voice.

Then a pair of dark, reddish eyes flashed in the gloom.

Who are you?

"You… you mean me?" Ash asked, pointing at himself.

"Ash, what are you talking about?" Misty demanded.

Brock sounded worried. "Did someone say something to you?"

I mean you, the voice confirmed, and the shadowy shape in the mist became clearer. It was avian, but nothing like the Pokémon Ash had seen outside Pallet Town.

This Pokémon had long, smooth wings, with only a few giant divisions, and a tail that was more like a Dragonair's tail than the bundle of feathers the other Pokémon had had. And it was hovering in front of the lighthouse as if it didn't need to consider anything as pedestrian as gravity.

"I… don't know why you're asking me," Ash said, then decided to actually answer the question. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!"

Ash? The voice asked, sounding amused and enlightened all at once. I see… then perhaps this was no coincidence.

It came closer still, beginning to appear out of the mist, and Ash raised his hand.

Then a bazooka round came sailing in from the side, and exploded against the Pokémon's breast.

"What the-!" Bill said. "Who did that?"

"Team Rocket!" Brock warned, pointing.

The strange Pokémon keened, wings sweeping out to either side, and fired a blast of light back at Team Rocket before whirling and plunging back into the sea. The tail slammed into the light arrangement at the top of the lighthouse, shaking the whole building, and everyone grabbed for support until the rumbling sound ceased.

"Ash, are you okay?" Misty said. "You were acting strange."

"Yeah, I…" Ash began. "I… don't know? It's weird, it felt like that Pokémon halfway recognized me?"

He shook his head. "I guess… I don't really know what to do, though…"

AN:

And the last of the backlog, a short based on the rumour that the Giant Dragonite in the Bill and Lighthouse Episode was meant to be a first appearance of Lugia – mirroring Ho-Oh's first appearance in episode 1.