Between Time and Space

Chapter One – Welcome To Alamos Town

-Sequel to The Master of Mirage-

Unown scattered, scurrying away as two tall, dark shadows faced once another. Their glowing eyes, and the faint pink and blue outlines that surrounded them were really the only way to see them amidst the darkness. Cries echoed through time and space for both all and none to hear, and then they charged.

Bright brown eyes snapped open, and a moment later, 14-year-old Ash Ketchum shot up in his blue sleeping bag. He gasped for a moment, before he searched around their campsite for something, though he wasn't quite sure what. There was nothing of interest in sight, the embers of the fire all but gone out as the sun peaked over the mountains on the horizon.

"Pikapi?"

He glanced down into the worried eyes of his best friend and partner, smiling slightly as he rubbed the soft fur on Pikachu's head. "I'm okay buddy. It's just a nightmare."

"You sure?" a child-like, feminine voice asked, calm, curious and tired. Ash looked to his other side and saw his smaller than average Riolu looking up at him with her worried red eyes. There was an imprint in the little nest she had made of comfortable grass where Pikachu had obviously been before. Pikachu was always one to take care of the young baby pokemon, and Riolu had been no different. The two would often curl up together in order to keep an eye out for the other.

Pikachu jumped off of Ash and joined his younger friend, both gazing at their trainer with worry as Riolu whispered into Ash's mind, "Your aura was funny."

"Yeah, Ria, it was just a nightmare, I promise," Ash assured them, both out loud and through the mental link that they had as well. "I think I'm going to try and get a little bit more sleep before Dawn wakes up and starts going crazy again. You two should too."

"Pi Pikapi."

"Okay Ash." Both of the pokemon snuggled together, and fell asleep not long after. Ash smiled warmly at the two of them, so proud of them, and all of his beloved pokemon for that matter. Little Riolu, who he called Ria more often than not, was an interesting one. Like him, she had the ability to use aura, and because he was actively trying to teach himself how to use and control it, she was learning along with him in leaps and bounds, even teaching him some things. That also might have been because a part of her soul, her spirit, her aura, or whatever it was, came from the Lucario that Ash first met when finding out that he was more than what he seemed. That Lucario had died to save Mew, to save everyone, but a part of him had been reborn in little Ria. That might have been why she started using telepathy just recently, but only to speak to him. She was still too shy to project her thoughts to anyone else.

Strengthening that bond with her taught Ash many things, and as he laid back down in his sleeping bag, he was a bit proud of himself too. It was hard to explain, but it was almost like he blended his aura with every new pokemon that he captured. It allowed him to silently feel how they were doing, to silently encourage or discourage them, or simply remind them that he was there. The ones he had over a period of time – like Pikachu – he could even communicate mentally to tell them what to do in battle. He was still working on that, but Ash was excited about that aspect of his aura, because it gave him the advantage of surprise during a battle.

A yawn escaped his lips and he realized that he should actually try to get a little bit more sleep before it was time to get up. They were so close to their destination, that he had no doubt that his friends would want to be up bright and early. He closed his eyes, and sought out the familiar auras that belonged to his friends. Brock was snoring loudly across from him, but he'd be up soon enough, preparing breakfast for them while attempting to teach Ash himself how to cook something edible. As Brock turned 19, both of them had a feeling that his journey was going to take a new direction soon, one that didn't run in the same direction and Ash's, and the older boy wanted to make sure Ash could definitely take care and cook for himself.

They'd been best friends for four years, since Ash was 10 and Brock was 15, and Brock had silently adopted Ash into his already big family as a little brother, so it was no surprise that he'd want to make sure he'd be okay.

He turned his attention to the youngest of the group, a new trainer and coordinator named Dawn Berlitz. She was peacefully curled up in her sleep bag, cuddling her Piplup to her chest. A small smile passed over Ash's face, because he had no doubt that her long, blue hair would be a jumbled mess that she'd freak out about in the morning. He honestly liked Dawn. She was smart, confident, witty, and had no problem pointing out when he was being annoying or stupid. At the same time though, when he gave advice, she was always eager to listen to it. She was so upbeat and bubbly most of the time, that it was hard to be upset when she was around.

Like the unfortunate events that led to him meeting Misty and May before, Pikachu had completely destroyed Dawn's bike. She didn't seem to care all that much, and seemed more eager to have a friend to travel with. It might have been strange for a 10-year-old girl to travel with two older boys, but she easily wormed her way into their hearts as a younger sister. Dawn's mother was just relieved that her daughter had someone to help her, someone to look up to and talk to.

Another yawn escaped Ash, and he finally let himself drift off to sleep, the memories of his strange dream completely leaving his mind in place of happy, encouraging thoughts of his friends.

...

It was just another average day of walking, one foot in front of the next on a dirt road made for traveling trainers. It was possible to travel through massive highways from city to city, but what kind of trainer wanted to do that? There were little to no pokemon that way, and it was awfully dangerous.

Though they were doing the same thing they almost always did, the sun was shining in the bright blue sky, and they were almost to their destination, and it made all of them a little more excited. Walking a little faster than normal, with Pikachu on his head and Ria sitting on his backpack, Ash strode few feet ahead of Brock and Dawn, even if Brock had the guide.

"We're almost there, right?" Dawn asked Brock suddenly, dark blue eyes looking over at him curiously.

He chuckled a little at her and nodded his head. "Yeah, we're almost there. It should be coming up really soon."

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu cried out, pointing at something that no one else had yet to spot yet. Ash walked a few more feet and then a grin appeared on his face as Alamos Town appeared in the distance, surrounded by a mountain terrain.

"There it is!" Ash cried out as he took off running. He heard Dawn let out a laugh behind him, rushing after him even though she couldn't keep up with his large strides.

"I can't wait for the contest!" Dawn cheered happily. Though the Ribbon could count towards the five that Dawn needed to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival, it was also open to trainers from all the other regions as well, since it was one ones that happened only once a year. The other one was the Wallace Cup, which traveled to a different region and a different area every year, run by the Hoenn Champion, Wallace. This one was said to be one of the most impressive contests to be at, since people from all over the world travelled to Alamos Town for it.

Ash himself was hoping to find some good battles when he got there, already excited at the prospect of it. Pikachu and Ria seemed to sense his excitement, both cooing happily as he ran.

Then he skidded to a stop as the road vanished in front of him. He stopped a few feet before the drop off, and his arm shot out to stop Dawn from falling, the younger girl colliding with it roughly and letting out a gasp of surprise. Ash carefully pushed her back, warily looking at the edge that she could have fallen over. She didn't mind though, just staring blankly at Alamos Town.

While it was very close, it was also on a high plateau that just happened to be opposite the cliffside they were on. There was a bridge connecting it to the rest of the land, but it was quite a ways away.

"Uh," Brock looked at his guide and started twisting it around before letting out a forced laugh. "Looks like we took a wrong turn a while back. We'll have to backtrack."

"Backtrack?" Ash repeated slowly. "And you guys always used to yell and me for getting us lost!" Ash snatched the map out of his hands, finding Alamos Town easily since there wasn't much else around it, and then tracing back to where they were supposed to go. He let out a groan. "So far."

"I'm exhausted already," Dawn said, flopping to the dirt in a dramatic pile. She was usually a trooper, never really complaining much unless she really meant it. Except for something that she was really passionate about, then she could complain, whine, or rage, it depending on the situation.

She was right to be exhausted though. They had been walking for hours already, and it would at least take an hour to backtrack, and then several more to actually get back to Alamos Town unless they wanted to try and get through the trees, but there were all kinds of problems with that according to the map.

Besides, they were supposed to be meeting someone in Alamos Town and said that they would be there today.

"Hey! Would you all like a lift?"

The voice came out of nowhere, startling them all until Ash felt the warm presence of another person. He looked up, blinking with surprise to see a giant yellow and green hot air balloon coming down towards them.

With the sun shining so brightly, it was hard to see who was speaking to them, but at the ridiculous sounds Brock started making, Ash realized that it was probably an attractive young woman a few years older than his friend. That was the way he worked.

Sure enough, as the balloon descended, he could finally see the waving, young woman. Her hair was a light blond that darkened at the bottom of her hair, and she wore a pink sweater with a pale blue scarf tied around her neck. What Ash really noticed though, was the Chimchar hanging off her balloon. He was much more interested in the fire-type than he was the young woman.

She giggled and motioned for them to climb on her basket when she was level with them. "Come on in. I'm heading over that way anyway, so it's not a problem."

Brock practically pranced onto the hot air balloon. "What are you guys waiting around for? Come on!"

Ash and Dawn exchanged identical amused looks before they both shook their heads. Ash let her get on before him, just in case she slipped going over the slight gap between the cliff and the basket of the balloon. Then he jumped over, both Ria and Pikachu looking over the ledge at the scenery below them almost immediately.

They barely moved before Brock jumped forward, clasping his hands together as a hopeless blush appeared on his face. "We are forever in your debt for your kindness! So my name, dear, is Brock. Would you honour me and tell me your name?"

Dawn and Ash both looked around at him with disbelieving looks, though they really shouldn't have been surprised.

Still, the woman didn't seem put off by this, smiling warmly and saying, "My name's Alice."

"So it's Alice! From Alamos Town!" He suddenly ducked down to his bag, scrambling through it and taking out of small book. He started flipping through it almost desperately. "I can't believe I don't have you written down in my little blue book of babes. Silly me!" He flopped over in what looked like sheer depression.

"That's a thing?" Dawn asked, glancing up at Ash.

"Yes, and you're not reading it until you at least have a 'teen' on the end of your age so don't even think about it," Ash shook his head. "I wish I could unread it. Remind me to take that from him later and throw it off the side of the city or something."

"There's only one thing I can do!" Brock popped back up. "Let me take you out on a da..." His voice trailed off as his Croagunk appeared, jabbing him with his Poison Jab. The first time that this happened, Ash worried a lot because it was a poison jab, but Brock assured them that it was annoying, and he didn't like it in the least, but he wasn't actually being poisoned. So he wasn't really worried as Brock fell to the floor, especially as he muttered, "After Croagunk takes me out."

Dawn let out a weak laugh before smiling up at Alice. "My name's Dawn. I'm entering the Alamos Town Pokemon Contest!"

"And I'm Ash," he smiled broadly. "This is Pikachu and Ria, my Riolu." The two pokemon in question waved at her enthusiastically. "Uh...sorry about Brock." He laughed weakly. "This always happens. Thank you for taking us across though."

Alice laughed at them. "It's alright. He's very...passionate, isn't he?" She leaned against the edge of the basket. "It's not a problem. I work part time as a hot-air ballon tour guide, so Chimchar and I can get you over there in no time! There's no better spot to see the Town from." She motioned down to Alamos Town, made up of quaint houses that sloped up a hill, reaching the massive towers in the middle. "Though, I'm also a music student too." She held out a leaf to them.

Ash stared at the leaf with confusion, and she chuckled a bit at his expression before putting it to her lips. He was more than just a little surprised as she actually managed to string together a rather nice-sounding song, all from a leaf.

"A leaf whistle!" Dawn said happily.

"That's a thing?" He unknowingly repeated her words from earlier.

"Obviously." She shot Ash an annoyed look and focused on Alice again.

Ash was more distracted by the pokemon that flew over as the music started to play. He knew that a lot of them did like different types of music (the pokedex and Professor Oak said so), but the song that she was playing on her leaf whistle seemed to really calm the flying-types around them. "Wow."

Alice laughed. "I don't know why they love that song so much, but they do. And in return, they show me which way the wind is blowing!" She looked up. "Alright, Chimcar!"

The fire-type flipped happily and then shot a blast of fire up into the balloon, explaining why it didn't have the same type of thing as other hot air balloons had. With the warm wind picking up, they sailed towards the town quickly, completely missing Carnivine Balloon blowing up and go sailing off behind them.

"Look at the towers!" Dawn cheered, almost leaning over the edge of the basket slightly. Ash grabbed her backpack to keep her from pitching over the side in her excitement. He had to admit though, her reaction was warranted, because the massive, looming towers were really impressive.

"The Space-Time Towers," Alice informed them with a smile.

"Space-Time?" Ash repeated. That seemed like a bit of an odd name for something.

"Rio ri riolu?" Riolu looked at Pikachu clearly and pointed at the towers.

"Pi pikachu!" He smiled, agreeing that they were really big but really cool, simply put.

"I read something about those in my guide book," Brock said, pulling that back out and flipping through it for a moment. "Here we are. The Space-Time Towers were designed by the brilliant architect Godey 100 years ago."

"That's right," Alice agreed and pointed down at a circular part that came off the back of the two, tall towers. "And, right there is where we have our contests. All our hotels and the Pokemon Center is almost entirely booked! I hope you guys made some plans already!"

"We did," Ash assured her with a nod. "But yeah, 100 years ago? That's pretty amazing!" He had seen things that were much, much older than that, but 100 years was nothing to put down, especially for something in such obviously good condition.

"There's more here," Brock spoke up, reading from his guide. "The tower on the right represents time, and the one on the left represents space."

"Really? That's cool!" Dawn pointed down at them. "The colours are really pretty too. Pink and blue are my favourites!"

Brock chuckled at her, and normally, Ash would have, but his body went completely tense as he felt it. There was something, he had no idea what, but something that gave off a lot of energy. He couldn't even tell where it was coming form, because it was like it was coming from all directions.

He wasn't the only one who noticed either. Ria let out an unhappy sound, clinging to his collar, while Pikachu's fur and ears stuck up on end.

The balloon shook, an invisible wave knocking them back and fourth in the air. Alice and Dawn grabbed the metal poles, while Ash and Brock stumbled back some. Wave after wave hit them, but even the sudden vertigo of being swung back and fourth ridiculously high up wasn't the main thing bother Ash. No, what was getting him was that it felt like something was in pain.

When the ripples stopped, Alice waited a moment before straightening up and asking, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Dawn assured her, and Brock nodded.

When Ash didn't answer, he Brock looked over at him with worry. Ash wasn't really focusing on Brock though, he didn't even notice how pale his own tanned skin had gotten, lost in thought because whatever caused that was in a lot of pain and he didn't like it at all. He wasn't the only one though, because Ria had the exact same thoughtful expression, while Pikachu's eyes darted around wildly. "Ash?"

"Huh?" Brown eyes looked up at Brock with confusion for a moment before he shook his head then smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Brock nodded his head, deciding not to pry too much and just relieved that everyone was still in tact. Turning his attention to Alice, Brock asked, "What was that?"

"I'm not sure. I suppose it could have been the air currents but..." the blond woman trailed off. "It sure was strange."

That definitely was not air currents, though Ash wasn't going to point that out. He looked up at Alice again as she said, "I'm sorry if you got scared, and to make up for it, I'll give you the grand tour!"

"That would be awesome!" Dawn cheered, but then looked back at the boys. "But aren't we meeting a friend of yours there?"

"Hmm...well they could come along too,"Alice replied cheerfully. "I'll set down and get everything settled while you find them. Come back and find me and I'll show you all around. Deal?"

"Sweet, beautiful Alice," Brock said dramatically. "So kind, so thoughtful, I would be honoured if you would-." Croagunk appeared and jabbed him for the second time. "Ow."

He was still on the bottom of the basket when they finally landed. Dawn kicked his leg lightly and shot Ash an exasperated look. He laughed and said, "I guess we're leaving him here."

"It's fine," Alice assured them. "Do you know where you were supposed to meet your friend?"

"Yeah, May said that she'd be at the Pokemon Center."

Alright. It's just down that road there and to the left. You can't miss it!"

"Thanks!" Ash and Dawn hurried off, both rushing through the streets without a real reason to.

"So May's a coordinator you travelled with before?" Dawn asked him curiously once they got on the busier part of the cobblestone street, unable to just recklessly run anymore.

"Yeah. She's a year older than you, and I think you guys are going to get along great," he replied happily. Honestly, Ash was excited to see his other female friend again. He got emails from her as she travelled through Johto with Solidad, Harvey and, of course, Drew. It was virtually impossible to talk to each other face to face since they were both traveling, but they could settle on the emails, occasionally with pictures or videos attached. He knew that May was doing well for herself, but it was still nice seeing friends again.

The Alamos Contest was world renown thanks to the Space-Time Towers, and coordinators flocked from all over for it. From the emails he got, it seemed like May was almost tripping over herself with excitement, even though none of her traveling companions were coming with her.

Finally, the familiar red and white sign of the Pokemon Center appeared in front of of them. Ash led the way, making a mental note that he should find one of the phones to give his mother and Misty a call. That was the rule: find a pokemon center, give mom and girlfriend, a call or their combined wrath will reign down upon him for the rest of time.

Before that though, his bright brown eyes scanned the busy Pokemon Center, landing on a familiar brunette girl. She switched up her red bandana for a blue one, and her red, short-sleeved shirt was replaced with an blue sleeveless one, but she was definitely the same May he had last seen going back to Hoenn with Max.

"May!"

She whipped around, sapphire eyes looking curiously before a smile appeared on her face. "Ash!" She practically bounced forward, giving him a tight hug that made him think she was trying to strangle him. "It's been months since I last saw you! Emails and pictures don't do enough to keep in touch with friends. How have you been? Hi Pikachu! Oh, Ria! You're getting so big!" She took both Pikachu and the Riolu into her arms, hugging them.

May looked around, eyes settling on the young blue-haired girl. "Oh! You must be Dawn!" She sidestepped around Ash, still holding the two pokemon, smiling warmly at her. "My name's May Maple, and I'm a coordinator from Hoenn! It's nice to meet you!"

"Yeah I'm Dawn. Dawn Berlitz!" She held out her hand, smiling happily. "I know you! Some people in Sinnoh call you the Princess of Hoenn!" May's cheeks turned red at that as she shook Dawn's hand. "Plus Ash talks about his friends all the time. It's nice to meet you for myself though!"

May laughed happily, but then snapped her fingers. "Oh!" The very excited girl spun around to look at Ash again. "I forgot! I brought a surprise with me! For you!"

"A...surprise?" Ash sounded almost wary about that. "You shouldn't have."

A sly smirk appeared on her face as she looked over his shoulder for a moment and giggled. "I think you're going to like this surprise though."

"Am I?"

"Yup," she popped the P and grinned at him like a Vulpix. Look behind you and tell me."

Deciding to humour her, Ash looked around, expecting to see some horrible concoction of food that she made, or maybe she did end up bringing Drew or even Max with her. What he did not expect, was to turn around and look into a very familiar pair of sea green eyes.

"Hi Ash," Misty Waterflower grinned at him. "Miss me?"

...

Note

Anyone miss me? Nope? Okay then! I just need to stay away for a little while longer!

I know it really seemed like I was leading to something original last time, but here, have this redone, AU of The Rise of Darkrai! Everything that happened in the first two apply here!

There ARE things I'm going to address involving this, but I'll see if you guys pick up on them first before I rant on! I'd really appreciate if people could drop a review! I'd love to have opinions, suggestions, speculations and everything else! As always, you can also reach me through my tumblr, skylightsparkle.

I might not update this one as quickly as the other ones, as these chapters are all generally longer and take more time to write and go through, but there shouldn't be any huge waits!

Let me know what you think!

Sky