Disclaimer: Good news! I now own the rights to Pokémon! In another universe...

Amelia couldn't believe what she was seeing! In the centre of the grotto stood her uncle, Gilbert, holding a strange rock that was radiating light, illuminating the entire grotto. Gilbert was laughing maniacally while staring at it, pure ecstasy showing in his eyes. In a far corner lay Absol, bleeding profusely. A massive dent in the rocky wall above him indicated that he had smashed into it with extreme force. Upon hearing the sound of her footsteps, Absol slightly turned his head to see her, wincing while doing so. Screaming his name, Amelia ran towards Absol, tears streaming down her face.

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that? How did I know you would end up following your precious pet all the way over here? Hahahahaha! This is just too good!"

"But why? Why would you do this to him? What did he do to you for him to be attacked like this? What about all the other Pokémon outside? Were you responsible for them too? Aren't we supposed to be family?"

"My my, you're sure talking a lot all of a sudden. As your beloved Uncle, I'll do my absolute best to answer all those questions, since you won't live to see tomorrow anyways..."

"First off, about your precious little pet. Did you know that Absol are special Pokémon with the power to sense great natural disasters with the help of its horn? What I'm about to inflict on this world is no different from a natural disaster so I'm not so surprised that it was able to sense what I was planning on doing, hence its... friendly gesture."

"I had already figured that your pet here would come try to stop me sooner or later, and all those pesky Pokémon outside sure weren't any less irritating, so I simply took care of them. After all, I can't be having anyone coming in and getting in the way of me getting this Arc Stone after all, even if it does happen to be my dear little niece. The only reason I even came here was for this very stone after all. Once I unlock its power, none of you will ever be able to oppose me! Hahahahaha! Now then, what to do with you..."

Gilbert started to head towards Amelia, but then stopped just as suddenly. The voices of many people could be heard outside, and they were slowly getting closer. Gilbert took a second to think, and then turned his head towards Amelia.

"Guess I'll just have to let you live a little while longer it seems. No matter, you won't be able to see the light of dawn tomorrow, one way or another. Enjoy what little time you have left, with that pet of yours. Hahahaha!"

With that, Gilbert rushed out of the grotto, leaving a devastated little girl next to her heavily injured Pokémon. Amelia hugged Absol, quietly apologizing repeatedly for not understanding what Absol had been trying to tell her, all the while a pool of blood and tears starting to mix. Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the grotto as many people emerged inside, two in particular making a mad dash towards Amelia. She was enveloped into a huge embrace by both her mother and father, both in just as many tears as their daughter. After a while of continued hugging, Madison was the first to speak.

"I'm so glad you're safe! We rushed over here as fast as we could with the guards, especially when we saw the injured Pokémon while following your trail. We were afraid we might end up seeing the worst! Why did you even come all the way here so late, and how did your Absol get so injured?"

Amelia began to tell her parents through continued sobbing of how she had shown Gilbert around, how he let her leave early to go exploring, how she found that Absol had left the house when she got back, how she followed his trail here, and finally how she found Gilbert here holding a stone and how Absol and the other Pokémon had already been injured. Upon mention of the Arc Stone, her parents glanced toward each other, their faces etched in worry. Standing up, Raleigh looked around the grotto, until his eyes rested on a pedestal, where Gilbert had been standing next too. Next to the pedestal was a small little pool of water, crystal clear and seemingly sparkling.

"Amelia dear, your mother and I are going to go look for Gilbert with the guards. I want you to go home for now, ok? We'll be back home soon too."

"But Father, what about Absol? He's bleeding very badly and won't respond to me! We have to help him!"

"If that stone is what I think it is, and that pool was created from it, then just leave Absol in that pool for the night. I have a feeling he'll be fine in the morning. But I need you to go home to where it's safe. Don't worry about him or us. Like I said, we'll be back very soon after catching Gilbert. Now go."

"But Fathe-"

"GO!"

Her father's tone implied urgency, and she knew better than to go against his wishes. She would simply have to hope that Absol would recover and that her parents would be fine. As she made her way home with two guards accompanying her, she couldn't help but wonder what the deal with that stone was. That so called uncle of hers had come all the way here for the sole purpose of getting it, and even her parents had gotten nervous upon hearing about it. While she didn't know anything about this Arc Stone or whatever it was called, she could at least tell it was bad news.

The last written entry in the diary ended with her lying in bed that night, wondering if everything would be fine by tomorrow. As Ash and Cynthia carefully pondered over what they had just read, Pikachu decided to continue exploring a little on his own. From what he could tell, that diary had been written many years ago and wasn't a recent event that he should be too concerned about. Besides, he could smell food somewhere, and the best part was that it didn't seem to be expired! As Pikachu made his way around the huge mansion, he came to a sudden realization. He was completely and utterly lost! He could somewhat make out where the smell was coming from, but all the layers of dust that had accumulated over the years was really throwing off his sense of smell. The gloomy looking halls all seemed identical to him, so sight wasn't really helping him much here either.

His sense of hearing was pretty much just as useless as it was deathly quiet, save for the constant ticking of a clock somewhere. He was surprised that a clock was even still working considering how long it must have been runni- Swish! In a hallway to his left, he suddenly heard something move quickly. Getting curious, he stared intently into that hall, trying to see if he really heard something, or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him again. Suddenly, a shadow zipped out of a room and into another hallway near the end. Pikachu quickly chased after it, intent on finding out who or what it was. When Pikachu got into that particular hallway, he saw it led to a dead end, with just a few rooms on either side. Certain that whatever it was would be in one of those rooms, he proceeded to inspect each room. After checking a few of the rooms, he went into another and looked about. This room looked to be just as empty as the others, if only darker due to not having a window. Pikachu turned around to leave and inspect another room when he instinctively felt a gaze boring into his back. Pikachu slowly turned around, only to find himself staring straight into a pair of menacing red eyes.

From what Ash could make of the diary, it must have been written at least a decade ago. The pages were well worn out and at the verge of tearing apart, only barely held together by the seams of the cover. Looking around, he wondered if there was a part two to the diary that would explain what happened next. But a thorough search of the room revealed none. As Ash reread the contents of the diary in a bid to make sense of what had happened, Cynthia lay down on the bed and seemed to be deep in thought. She had no idea what this Arc Stone was capable of, or even what it was for that matter. But if that diary gave any indication, then this stone was something that no human should be allowed to have. If only she could figure out what had happened the next day. Had that Gilbert person been caught? Or did he manage to escape? If so, what exactly did he do with the stone?

Based on what they both had read, everything in this world was originally normal, just like their own. Yet here they were, in a world that made absolutely no sense. All they could tell was that some sort of crisis must have happened for things to have turned out this way. Ash himself wondered if they were brought to this world by that girl to try and fix things. In the midst of all these thoughts, a loud growling sound echoed through the room. Cynthia quickly got out of the bed and looked around the room until she rested her eyes at the source of the sound: Ash. Ash in response turned a deep shade of crimson and rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Guess I'm really hungry after all that travelling, hehe."

Cynthia just looked at Ash with a smile on her face that showed amusement. Ash looked around to ask Pikachu if he was hungry too, but he was nowhere to be seen. Confused, Ash stepped out of the room to see if Pikachu might still be nearby. With no such luck, Cynthia agreed to help him look around to find Pikachu, After all, this was a huge place, and it would be completely understandable if Pikachu had gotten lost. They wandered through the halls, all the while yelling out his name. If Pikachu did happen to be nearby, then he didn't seem to be able to hear them. They kept at it for at least half an hour with no luck. With each passing minute, Ash grew more worried for his friend. All he could do for the time being was to hope that Pikachu would be alright by himself for now. That, and...

"Come on out and help Noctowl!"

The gold coloured owl Pokémon emerged from his Pokéball, golden sparkles showering around him.

"Noctowl, Pikachu is lost and we can't find him. I need you to look around and see if you can find out where he is."

Noctowl simply rotated his head in agreement, before flying off into the hallways with Ash and Cynthia hurriedly following right behind him. As they wove through each hallway, Noctowl would frequently stop, closing his eyes for a bit, before heading off again in a different direction. After not too long, they heard the distinctive unmistakable cry of Pikachu. Fearing something bad might be happening to his buddy, Ash accelerated around the corner, into a room where the sounds were undeniably originating from, and then stopped, and then simply opted to stare. By this time, Cynthia and Noctowl had caught up, and as she peered over Ash's shoulder, she became stupefied by what she saw.

Pikachu was sitting on a chair, holding a small coffee mug with his hands and feet, staring intently at a chessboard on a table next to him, while on the other side of that table stood an Absol, with a coffee mug next to its feet as well, and also staring at the chessboard with a look on its face that could only be described as being smug. From the position of the pieces on the board, it seemed as though Pikachu was currently in check. Pikachu cried again in frustration before sighing and raising one of his paws, a defeated look on his face. Absol used its mouth to pick up the mug next to it and took a sip, before putting it back down and turning its head to look at the new visitors.

Neither Ash nor Cynthia knew what to say about what they were seeing. It was the exact opposite of what they were expecting. As Pikachu turned his head to look at the two as well, the only sound that could be heard apart from Noctowl flapping his wings was Ash's "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." For a solid minute, everyone simply stared at each other, with the words "weird" "strange" and "freaking hilarious" running through the two human's heads. Finally, Ash's brain started to work and gets his mouth moving.

"Hey, uh, Pikachu? What exactly is, uh, going on here?"

Pikachu was amazed by how absurdly stupid his PikaPi could be. Obviously, he had just played and lost in a chess match to this Absol. It wasn't as if anything out of the ordinary happened. Yet such a simple thing seemed to be incomprehensible to his PikaPi. Sometimes, Pikachu couldn't help but wonder what would have happened to him if Pikachu didn't stick with him. Cynthia had a blank look on her face, before bursting out into laughter. Ash watched Cynthia laugh, a blush uncontrollably appearing on his face. There was a fireplace nearby, which helped illuminate the room. The resulting light almost seemed to make her face glow while she continued to laugh. Ash couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked right now, almost as if he had gotten the honour to look upon a goddess. Hid admiration quickly turned into pain, as a thousand volts of electricity coursed through his body. No matter how many times he went through this, he simply couldn't get used to it.

Ash turned to look at his attacker, a certain electric mouse currently in the midst of hysterical fits. Even Absol was silently observing with a smirk on his face. Cynthia stopped to look at Ash and his frizzed out hair, before immediately bursting out in laughter again. Ash's left eye started twitching fervently, as he grabbed his so called best friend by the tail and proceeded to glare at him. Pikachu got nervous as everyone laughter died down. All eyes were focused on Ash and on what he would do next. A smile slowly made its way onto Ash's face before he began to laugh at Pikachu.

"Hahaha, I'm just pulling your tail! Don't take me seriously!"

Pikachu simply sweat-dropped at the incredibly bad pun, whilst everyone else proceeded to laugh as well. Once the laughter died down, Ash let go of his annoyed friend, and turned his attention to the Absol. The Pokémon in question simply sat down and looked at them with calm red eyes. Looking carefully, this Absol looked like a regular Absol, which in itself was strange, since all the Pokémon they had seen so far were completely different appearing. Also unlike the others, this particular Pokémon also didn't seem hostile in the slightest. He was a little intimidating in regards to appearance, but he didn't seem as though he would cause them any harm. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ash approached the Disaster Pokémon, reaching out a hand.

"Hello Absol, thank you for taking care of Pikachu until now. My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. You already know Pikachu. That's my friend Noctowl over there. And last but definitely not least, that's Cynthia."

Everyone simply nodded their heads as they were introduced. Absol quietly observed each of them in turn. As Absol placed his paw to accept the handshake, a thought suddenly occurred to Ash. Didn't the girl who once lived here also own an Absol? But that diary was written at least a decade ago, and the fate of that Absol hadn't been made clear. So it would be highly unlikely that this was the same Absol as the one in the diary. Until he had conclusive evidence proving otherwise, he would just assume this was a different Absol. Putting that matter to rest, Ash stood up and returned his Noctowl back into its Pokéball, before turning to face Cynthia.

"Hmm, it's getting pretty late. It's pointless to leave now, especially with us potentially risking running into those other Pokémon in the dark. We might as well just bunker down here for the night and just leave in the morning."

Cynthia silently agreed as Absol made its way out of the room to go rest in a different one, Pikachu following him close behind. Ash began to head out of the room as well when something grabbed his hand. He stopped to see Cynthia holding him, her head looking down. Confused, Ash asked her what was wrong. Cynthia slowly raised her head to look at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I just thought we could stay together in this room so that we don't end up getting lost in the morning."

Blood suddenly rushed through Ash's head as his face turned bright red. Completely caught off guard, he didn't know how to respond and was only able to get out a "w-w-w-why?"

"Oh? What's wrong? Just don't like me? Or, are you just scared to share a room with a woman?"

Cynthia had a devilish grin on the entire time. Truth be told, she was just pulling his leg to see how he would react. It was just another way for her to figure out just what kind of a person "Ash Ketchum" really was. And lucky for her, Ash seemed to easily fall for the bait.

"N-No! It-It's not that! I was just surprised, that's all. Yeah! I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with us sharing a room for a night."

"Is that so? Well, I guess I'll take you up on your offer then."

"Ok then, sounds good to me. You can sleep on the bed and I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Alright."

As they headed on over to their respective places, Ash couldn't help but feel a tad bit nervous. Sure, he's travelled with a lot of women during his adventures, but they all slept in different tents than him, including his current travel partner Dawn. Yet here he was, sharing a room with a woman. A champion no less! A very pretty champion though... Ash quickly shook his head to get that thought out of his head. He wasn't sure he was ready for where that train of thought was leading him.

No one knows whether Arceus was just plain bored with the current developments, or if he just wanted to get a good laugh at Ash's expense. Maybe he just wanted to see what he could make out of the current situation. Regardless of what his reasons may have been, Ash's luck had suddenly turned for the worst. Or, maybe it was for the best? As he made his way over to the bed to grab a pillow, Ash accidentally slipped on a chess piece that had fallen from the table earlier, somehow landed and slid across the bed, before finally tackling Cynthia on the other side. When Ash came to, he was on top of Cynthia; his face mere inches away from Cynthia's. He was also holding on for dear life to some sort of soft mounds, presumably a pillow he must have grabbed while sliding across the bed. Cynthia slowly opened her eyes, and as their eyes locked, both of them seemed to fall into a trance.

Ash gazed intently into those glowing gray eyes, as if another world had opened up for him. In those eyes, he saw her struggles to become stronger, her passion for gaining knowledge on history, her bond with her Pokémon that she gained in time, the pain and suffering she underwent to get to where she now was, her regrets in life, and... something else that was starting to become precious to her, though he couldn't quite tell what it was. Likewise, Cynthia too saw a lot of the emotions that Ash had carried throughout his long journey. His bonds with his Pokémon friends, his trust in them and in his friends, his willingness to go to extreme lengths for them, the joy in travelling with all his friends, the determination to get through tough times, the desire to become ever stronger, and finally, a hidden love. Although she as well couldn't figure out what it was for.

As if they were only running on some form of primitive instinct, their faces slowly began to get ever closer, until both their lips had finally made contact. For several long minutes, they continued to kiss, eyes closed in bliss and all other thoughts completely blocked out. When the physical demand for air finally forced them to break apart, they were breathing heavily with sweat running down their faces. Slowly but surely, their thoughts returned to them, and as they realized what it was they had just done, their faces took on the hue of a Scizor. As Cynthia turned her head to look away from him, it was all he could do to try and think of an apology for his actions. Before he could however:

"Ash?"

"Y-Yes?"

"If it's not too much to ask, would you be willing to let go of my breasts?"

Realizing that the soft mounds he had mistaken for a pillow, was in fact not a pillow, Ash launched himself off of Cynthia, practically screaming sorry over and over again. It wasn't until Cynthia said it was alright that he finally calmed down. Ash grabbed a pillow from the bed and slowly made his way over to the couch, until the Sinnoh Champion stopped him.

"You know, you don't have to sleep on the couch. I don't mind sharing the bed with you, and we'll just make sure to stay on our sides of the bed."

The Blonde wasn't sure how or why those words came out of her mouth. She said it without really thinking, as though her mouth had a mind of its own. She didn't want to make things more awkward than they already were, considering what had just happened a mere seconds ago, yet she somehow just did. Ash was surprised by her words, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel strangely pleased. He opened his mouth to politely refuse her, yet what ended up coming out of his mouth was "Sure."

Both of the Trainers silently settled in on opposite ends of the bed, too nervous to even look at each other. Even though they had shut their eyes tight, sleep continued to evade them. Thoughts on the recent events stubbornly swam through their minds, as they tried with all their might to understand their own actions. As the long hours of the night slowly crept by, each of them tried to figure out just what it was that the other meant to them, before their minds finally grinded to a halt.

The bright light of sunlight came in through the sole window of the room, illuminating everything inside with a beautiful yet unnatural glow. Ash's eyes slowly fluttered open to the wonderful smell of lavenders and vanilla. He quickly realized that the fragrance was coming from strands of blonde hair that currently covered his face. The Trainer from Pallet Town turned his head towards the source of that hair, just to have his eyes open wide in wonder. The sunlight had reached the woman in front of him, giving her a glow unlike anything he had ever seen. From the fair complexion of her seemingly flawless skin, to her perfectly smooth curves accentuated from the glow of the light, the gentle rising and falling of her chest reminding him of calm waves spreading through the ocean. As he continued to ogle every part of her wonderfully amazing body, only one thought occurred to him at that very moment: he was lying down next to a sublime Goddess. Never before in his life had he seen something so beautiful, so perfect. It was as if Arceus had decided to go all out to see his full potential in creating humans, breaking the mouldings of his usual template for making them in favour of a more perfect being like himself.

Ash was so mesmerized by her that he couldn't help but cause a bulge in his pants. Immediately getting embarrassed, he quickly got to work on fixing it as a cool breeze blew through the window, slowly waking up the sleeping beauty. Seeing Ash so close to her, she got taken aback and hurriedly sat up. After taking a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart, she turned to look at Ash, who got up as well after finally having calmed down. After they exchanged good mornings, Cynthia got out of bed to freshen up in a bathroom conveniently inside the room. While the sounds of a shower being turned on could be heard inside, Ash was left in deep thought. After the events of last night, and what just happened recently to him this morning, he was forced to come to terms with his feelings. That Cynthia, Champion of the Sinnoh region, might mean more to him than just as a friend.

As Ash contemplated on what exactly it is he feels for her, he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Pikachu barging into the room, squealing loudly and quite obviously distressed. Wondering what his best friend was so worried about, Ash jumped out of bed and hurried over to his friend. Before he could even ask him what was wrong, Absol also entered the room and impatiently motioned for them to follow him. By this time, Cynthia had finished and had just emerged from the bathroom looking even more beautiful in Ash's eyes. Shaking his head and focusing on the situation at hand, he left the room to see what had gotten the two Pokémon in such a panic. But not even a second later, he dashed back into the room looking just as stressed out. Starting to get a little bit worried, Cynthia wanted to know what Ash had seen, and at the same time that sounds could be heard outside, Ash spoke.

"We have to leave this instant! It's the strange Pokémon from yesterday. Somehow they've found out where we are and are inside the mansion!"

I apologize for the failed attempt at humour in this chapter. I am also sorry if you guys didn't like the flashback that lasted like one and a half chapters, but I felt it to be important to understand the upcoming events in the arc. Also, while Ash will be cycling through his Pokémon often, especially for training, he will have 6 Pokémon that will essentially be his main team. Each of said Pokémon will have their own distinct personality to make it easier to identify them from just the sub in ones, and for the most part will be introduced in a more special way, if they didn't already have a memorable entry beforehand, such as in the anime (Pikachu will be a given, of course). Finally, I will consistently try to make my chapters longer, even if it takes that much longer to get them up. Reviews are always appreciated and I hope this story will continue to be enjoyable for you all. A special thanks to the readers who have stayed with me since Ch. 1 even through the long hiatus. It really means a lot to me that you all enjoyed it enough to stay dedicated to reading this fanfic.

P.S. I went through all my previous chapters and fixed some inconsistencies/redundancies and general mistakes and subsequently updated them to make them more fluid for future readers (Such as Fantina saying she was ready for a rematch with Ash when it was clearly his first time challenging it). If you find something that seems to be written in a way that makes it slightly off, please don't hesitate to PM me about it. I will immediately have it fixed.