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Want to see the entire first part? Check out my Patreon. For just a dollar you can see numerous stories that won't be seen anywhere else. Check it out! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=6660213 Chapter 1: Better Left Lost We join our heroes high up in the hills near Mount Chimney where they currently seemed to have lost their way. The gang had been hiking for hours since they had left the fertile agrarian town of Fallabor earlier in the morning. "You guys, I'm pretty sure sure that we should've gotten there by now." Ash stated as he stretched out his arms over his head, keeping a steady pace. "I think we're lost." May added. "Max, what does the PokeNav say?" Brock asked the youngest member of the party. "Umm, looks like we are out of the PokéNav's service area." The group sighs in unison. "How about we just keep going down this trail? It's got to lead somewhere." Brock offered.. "Fine, but I want to find some new pokemon to battle." "I'm sure we'll find some soon, Ash. I just hope we find a place to sleep tonight." May continued hiking up the hill behind Ash, who lead the way, she was flanked by Brock and her brother. As always Ash was filled with energy and determination. He'd been lost many times before and never let it get to him. After all, being lost had sometimes proved to be very beneficial to his training. "Woah, look at that!" Ash pointed to a very old, medieval looking structure that sat on an outcropping of stone. The ancient castle, perched precariously on a cliff, was calling out to him. Begging to be explored. "I've never seen anything like it." May shielded her eyes from the sun with her right hand, hoping to get a better look at the castle and block out the sun's rays. "Neither have I." Brock stared at the imposing stone fortress with his crew. "As far as I can tell, it's not on the map." Max said, looking at his trusty map. "Well then, let's go check it out!" Ash ran off towards the old ruins before anyone could say anything else to dissuade him. The young man had always been head strong and looking for an adventure. His friends did their best to keep up with him as the whole group was being watched by a familiar trio. "Looks like the twerps have found a castle." James lowered his binoculars. "Yes. And wherever there's a castle, there's usually treasure!" Jessie started daydreaming about vast wealth, piles of gold and other riches while seated upon a throne, surrounded by an army of speedo clad boy toys. "Let's get there before they do!" Meowth jumped up from cleaning his gold trinket and the trio was off in hot pursuit of our heroes. -------At the front of the Castle------ "It's even bigger than I thought." Ash stood before the Gatehouse which was the center piece of the massive fortification which protected the structure from invaders. Walls stretched in both directions, away from the only visible entrance and wrapped around the castle. The battlements appeared to be in decent enough shape save for a few cracks, gaps and missing stones every few meters. Brock, May and Max stood behind Ash, marvelling at the colossal engineering feat. It could have been quite the destination for tourists had it not been on top of a secluded hill, surrounded by a forest. After a few moments, an awestruck May spoke up. "I don't know if we should go in there. We're already lost as it is." "Don't you want to explore it?" Ash asked. "We could just take a look around before it gets dark." Max quickly cut into the conversation. "Well, the sun is going to set soon. So, maybe we can find some rooms inside and call it a night?" "That's a good idea, Brock." Ash grinned,winning the opportunity to at least enter the castle. "Alright, it's better than sleeping in the woods I guess." May had to admit that she'd slept in worse places since starting her quest. "Then it's settled. We'll find a place inside to lay out our sleeping bags and then we can explore the castle properly." Brock declared. Meanwhile, Team Rocket was struggling to close the gap. The castle stood atop the hill, with a zigzagging path leading up to it. Staying off the trail was key to remaining unseen, but the slope and trees made traversing the forest difficult. Luckily for the bumbling band of criminals, they came across a tattered and decrepit looking building which was built into the hillside. "I bet that's the escape tunnel for the castle." Meowth pointed to the building. "Huh, how convenient. James, lead the way." "But Jessie, it's so dark in there!" James whined loudly. "Do I have to drag you in?!" Jessie starred at her partner with a throbbing vein on her forehead. "No, I'll go. I'll go." James relented and entered the dusty, cobblestone lined tunnel. Jessie and Meowth followed him into the dark, cramp corridor. Instantly, the trio wished that they had a fire type Pokemon to illuminate their path. Deeper they journeyed into the catacombs under the castle, fighting their way through the spider webs and various other hindrances. Jessie sighed. "This tunnel goes on forever!" "Well, it wasn't my idea to go into this damp, dark hole in the ground." "Me neither." Both thieves instantly turned around and starred at Meowth with red eyes, anger evident as they both pummeled him with cartoon mallets. "I'm taking a break." Jessie stated, putting away her mallet and sitting on an obtuse, stone bench. "I don't want to sit in the dark." James pouted. Both Meowth and the lavender haired crook were surprised when no angry response was fired back at them. Each one rapidly looked around for the redheaded fireball, but she was no where to be seen. "This ain't funny, Jessie." Meowth stated, nervously. "Yeah, where did you go?" James added. Unbeknownst to her friends, Jessie taking a seat on the stone bench had activated a swiveling wall segment which dumped her into a hidden passage way. No matter how hard the young woman pounded on the walls or how loudly she yelled, no one could hear her from behind the wall. "This is just great. Now what am I going to do?" The redhead could only hope that she would be able to find her way of out of this labyrinth and reunite with her friends. Jessie decided to do the only thing that she could: Follow the secret passageway. After a few hundred steps, the corridor emptied into a massive library filled with books and cobwebs. "What's an old library doing in a place like this?" Jessie wondered aloud while walking through the aisles of literature. Coming to the center of the ancient book depository she noticed a strange, glowing light emanating from one of the books on a nearby table. Her curiosity peaked, Jessie walked up to the table, drawn to the pulsating tome, and picked up the aura enveloped book. "This crazy book has a lock on it." Thinking on her toes, Jessie smacks the binding against the table, breaking the lock and freeing the energy imprisoned within. "What the-?!" The redhead shreiks, but is instantly enveloped by dark magic. Her entire body being invaded by a sensation that is beyond her comprehension. Instantly, everything went black for Jessie. "Finally, I'm free!" A deep voice came from the slender female thief. Stretching her arms and looking down slightly, admiring her new body, she smiled. "Quite a good body too on this airhead." ----Meanwhile, in the throne room of the Castle---- "Hey, Ash!" Max called out. "Look at this!" "Huh, what did you find?" Ash wandered over to where Max stood and immediately realized what the boy wanted him to see. Hanging in the center of the large wall was a striking painting of himself and May. Actually, they couldn't have been of the two Pokemon trainers, since the painting was centuries old. However, there was no denying that the two inhabitants of the painting looked just like Ash and May. The only difference was that the boy in the painting wore a regal looking blue twin tailed coat, white vest and white slacks while May was dressed in an elegant, flowing pink dress. Both had crowns atop their heads. "What do you make of this, Ash?" "I dunno, but it's definitely strange." "Looks like you married my sister to me." Max chuckled. Before Ash could retort, Brock and May entered the royal chamber. "We've been looking for you two for a while now. Didn't I say that we were all going to explore together?" Brock admonished. "Yeah, don't go wandering off like that." May added. "But May! Look at this weird picture we found!" Max called out. May took a few steps closer to the image, not entirely sure what she was looking at. "IIs that me?!" "Sure looks like you and Ash, but from the middle ages." Brock clarified. Suddenly a green fog spread across the floor of the royal hall and a neon green portal opened. All eyes were on this startling development. Was it a rare pokemon? A ghost or psychic type causing mischief? As if providing an answer to these questions, Jessie appeared from within the portal and with a snap of her fingers, it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Team Rocket!" Ash hollered. "What are you doing here?!" May added. "Something doesn't seem right, her eyes are glowing." "The tall one is very astute. Shame he'll just be another servant tending to an overgrown brat!" Jessie declared as she pointed at May. "What are you talking about?!" Ash demanded. "You'll find out soon enough, my Prince." Jessie snapped her fingers on her right hand while holding open a book with her left. Instantaneously, a series of ripples ripped the fabric of space and time, pulling the young group of travelers into the book. The last thing that any of our heroes heard was a loud, cackling laughter which sounded like it was all around them. And then, everything went black.