Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or anything related to it. Except maybe this disclaimer. I don't know. Do I own this disclaimer? If I don't own this disclaimer than who does? Aaaarrrgg! So confusing.

The sunlight lancing through the tree tops created soft tapestries of shadows on the leaf covered forest floor. The three travelers walking slowly through the woods paid scant attention to the play of light and shadow under their feet and over their faces. They had other things on their minds, such as when the next meal was going to be. Though they were walking in silence at the moment, the black hared boy striding out in frond had a feeling the peaceful quiet would not last much longer.

He was most definitely becoming quite hungry himself, and he was fairly sure his two companions (three companions, he reminded himself with a smile, felling the electric mouse perched on his shoulder move to his head to get a better view,) must be getting hungry as well. Not that this was really a problem by it self. What worried the young trainer was that discussions of food would very likely lead to talks of where they should stop to eat, which would bring up the question of where they were going to spend the night. That, of course, would lead his friends to thinking of the next town and warm bed they would arrive at and wondering when they would get there. They would ask him, as he was supposedly leading the way, and then he would be in trouble. He hadn't the faintest idea of where they were, or which direction they were headed in. But, as nobody else seemed to have noticed this yet, he was quite content to delay the inevitable as long as possible.

"Hey Ash," said his read-headed companion, coming up to walk next to him, "when are we going to stop for lunch? We've been walking for hours, and you can't tell me you're not hungry!"

He groaned inwardly. Here it came. "I don't know, Misty. Actually, I wasn't all that-" his stomach gave an outraged rumble, "hungry."

She looked at him with eyebrows raised.

"But," he added hastily, "If you're all really hungry, I guess we can stop right here."

Misty glanced over her shoulder. "What do you think, Brock? Should we stop for lunch?" The second boy also came to walk next to them.

"Well, that wouldn't normally be a problem, but at the moment, we're running a bit low on supplies."

This time, Ash groaned out loud.

"Pika?" asked Pikachu, worriedly.

"Cheer up, Ash!" said Brock with a grin. "This morning we were only about half a day away from Viridian City, and with this short cut of yours, we should be there any minute!"

"Oh, um, right." He stopped walking and stared at his shoes. This wasn't going well at all. He had expected to be yelled at, but he hadn't known their supplies were low. Now he was going to get yelled at and still be hungry afterwards. He could feel Misty's eyes hard on the back of his head.

"You do know where we are, don't you?"

Ash concentrated hard on trying to touch the tips of his index fingers together. "Er, sort of."

"Sort of?" Her voice rose dangerously.

"Well, we're in a forest, standing my a big oak tree, and there're some pine trees over there, and on the other side there's that funny shaped rock we just passed again. You can recognize it because form one site, it looks like a mushroom, but from the other side, if you turn your head sideways, it almost looks kind of like a really deformed Sunflora!" Well, so much for trying to keep acting as if he knew where they were going. What on Earth had made him say that?

"Just how many times have we passed this rock, Ash?" Brock asked, running his fingers through his spiky dark hair.

"I not quite sure. I guess I've lost count." Ash chanced a glance at his friends. Misty looked like she was trying hard not to get angry, and even Brock and Pikachu looked annoyed. At least Togepi didn't seem upset, but then, Togepi was asleep in Misty's back pack, so he couldn't be sure.

"You've got us lost again," Misty moaned, and sat down in the middle of the gravely path, right where she stood. "I'm too hungry to fight with you right now," she said in answer to Ash's questioning look, "but you'd better hope we find our way out of here soon, or else you're in big trouble."

Well, if she didn't feel like arguing, he certainly didn't. He sat down on the path next to her, grinning nervously. She laughed. "Oh Ash, the day you don't get us lost will probably be the same day you get me a bike."

"Hey! I go the right way sometimes." Pikachu hopped off of Ash's head into his lap. "If it's important. And how many times have I told you, I'll pay you back for your bike!"

"Well-"

"Er, guys," Brock interrupted, "we can eat what food we have left, presuming we'll find our way out of here soon, but are we just going to eat it right here in the middle of the path?"

The two teens seated on the path glanced at each other, then grinned up at Brock. "Well," Ash began, "I may not know exactly where we are, but we are on a path…"

"And if we're lost on a path," Misty finished, "we have a much better chance of finding our way than if we're lost in the middle of the woods."

"Ok, well, that's fine with me," said Brock, as he too sat down on the path and began unloading the last of their food.

The three teens and their pokemon were about midway through their meal (a rather pitiful supply of bread, some instant noodles, a few stale cookies, and one carrot) when they were interrupted by a voice from the trees in front of them.

"Did someone say trouble?"

Ash looked up, bewildered. "Huh?"

A man, a woman and a Meowth jumped out of the woods onto the path. Misty sighed, recognizing them. "Aren't you guys a little late? It's been nearly fifteen minutes sense I told Ash he would be in trouble."

The blue hared man grinned at them maliciously. "It just took us a little longer than expected to get our new secret weapon ready. Boy, are you twerps in for a surprise! Tell 'em, Jess."

"Humph," muttered Jessie, tossing her long, red hair. "Team Rocket is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to."

"Hey, neat line," said Meowth, ignoring the confused looks Ash, Misty and Brock were exchanging. "It sounds kind of familiar, though…"

"Hey, unless you guys happen to have some food on you, would you mind getting lost?"

"Chu!" Ash and Pikachu were both shooting death glares at the offending threesome.

"We already are lost, 'cause we were following you," piped up James.

"But that's not going to keep us from getting Pikachu!" Jessie finished. "Meowth, bring out the secret weapon!"

"My pleasure!" The cat like pokemon pulled out what looked like a small remote control and prepared to press the large red button in the middle, but he hesitated. "Uh oh, we forgot to sat the motto." He looked worriedly up at his two fellow Rockets.

"We could just try to snatch Pikachu without saying the motto," said Jessie, but the red head did not sound very enthusiastic. Meowth moved his finger to push the button, but again hesitated.

"It just doesn't feel right," James moaned.

"You're right," sighed Jessie. "We have to say it. Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To- Hey! Where'd the twerps go?"

"You idiots!" cried Meowth. "They're gettin' away!"

Sure enough, Ash Misty and Brock were almost out of sight, running down the path and away from Team Rocket at top speed. "No, after them!" ordered Jessie, and the three hapless members of Team Rocket took off in their wake.

***

Ash, Misty, and Brock had vacated the scene the moment Team Rocket had turned their attention away from them. For his part, Ash had little doubt that had they stayed to fight they would have sent Team Rocket blasting off yet again. However, his pokemon were tired from an earlier battle, and although he was vaguely curious what ridiculous new contraption Jessie, James, and Meowth had come up with this time, he did not want to risk Pikachu to find out. So they had bolted, gaining quite a considerable head start.

He chanced a glance behind him. Team Rocket apparently had finally noticed they were gone and were chasing after them, and, though he hated to admit it, with their longer legs and presumably full stomachs, were gaining on them. He was painfully aware of the hard ground crashing against his feet and the air rushing in an attempt to fill his lungs. They couldn't keep running like this forever.

"I don't know … if we … can keep this up," Misty panted, echoing Ash's own thoughts.

Brock nodded in agreement. "If we leave the path … head into the forest … maybe we can loose them." And ourselves. The unspoken words hung in the air. Well, nothing else for it, he though. He twisted his hat around backwards so as to have a clearer view of where he was going, or maybe just for effect, he thought with a grin, made sure Pikachu was clinging tightly to his shoulder, and turned sharply to the left, plunging into the thick underbrush of the forest. Misty and Brock followed.

Ash almost immediately regretted the decision. They would get lost. Even more lost than they had already been. At least before they had been lost on a path. Who knew how long it would take them to find another. They still didn't dare slow down any more than they had to. The lighting was such that it was weary difficult to distinguish between what was solid and what was just shadow. Several times he had managed to fling his arms up just in time to shield his eyes from an oncoming branch. His arms, of course, took the blows instead, and were now a bloody mess.

Ash looked behind him to make sure the others were keeping up. They were struggling on gamely, but he could see that her arms, which were wrapped protectively around Togepi, were in not much better shape than his own. He supposed Brock's were in the same state.

"Pika!" The warning came just in time. He had been just about to walk headlong into rather large pine tree, fallen diagonally across their path. As it was, he probably would have tripped over it anyway, had Brock not caught his elbow from behind to steady him. Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Brock."

"Do you think we've lost them?" asked Misty. Before either of the boys could answer, a string of angry curses came from somewhere to their far right.

"There's your answer," said Brock wryly. "At least there not having any easier time of this than we are. Let's keep going." Wearily, they skirted the fallen tree and continued on their way, still as fast as they could make their legs carry them, but trying to pay a bit more attention to obstacles in front of them.

Ash led them on a roundabout course, changing direction every few yards, doubling back the way they came, then dashing off in a new direction. He hadn't the faintest idea where the path lay. To make matters even worse, in order to facilitate their hasty departure, necessity had dictated that they leave the food they had been preparing to eat behind. To Ash, it seemed almost a crime to leave it back there, spread out over the path, seemingly unwanted. He was hungry. Hungry, hungry, hungry!

He stomped on ahead, angrily. Why did Team Rocket always have to get in the way of everything? He pulled a sapling branch out of his way and let it snap back. Especially meals. There ought to be some unbreakable rule against Team Rocket trying to steal your pokemon just when you were about to start eating.

"Pikapi, pi pikachu."

Ash broke off his stream of thought. "What?"

A girl's voice came from behind him. "Ash, wait up."

The dark hared boy turned around. Misty had sat down on a rock and was looking at him pleadingly.

"Why did we stop?" he asked, walking back to join his companions.

"I think we've finally lost them," said Brock, who was taking off his backpack and sitting down on the rock beside Misty. "I haven't heard anything from behind us for a long time now."

Ash listened. He was right. It was quiet, except for a distant rumbling of thunder. Standing still, he finally realized how tired he was. They had been walking all morning, then running for who knew how long, all on empty stomachs. His legs were shaking, but he didn't feel like sitting down. "Shouldn't we at least find a better place to stop for a while?" he asked with a glance upwards.

Brock and Misty followed his gaze to the now grey sky. Sometime during their mad dash, the clouds must have decided to come in and swallow up the sunny day they had awoken to.

Misty stood up. "All right. Togepi doesn't want to get all wet. Do you?" she asked the egg-pokemon, who waved her arms and pi-pi-piiii-ed happily.

"Okay," Brock agreed, also rising. "We'll look for somewhere a bit more sheltered, but I don't know what we're going to find." Now walking instead of running, the three friends again set off through the forest.

***

When they found the cave, they couldn't believe their luck. Perhaps something was finally going to go right that day. Of course they were cautious. The cave appeared to be situated inside what was really a large pile of rock. They walked all the way around the mound, to make sure that it was just that: a mound. That there was no way the little cave could go back farther than it appeared to. All looked well, and to further add to their luck, from behind the rocks Brock thought he could see what looked like fruit trees. Once they got settled in the cave, perhaps they would even be able to get something to eat. In good spirits, they returned to the cave entrance.

Of course, Misty wondered what a cave, even a small one, was doing in the middle of the Viridian forest. Bat as Ash reminded them, wasn't there a saying about never looking a gift rapidash in the mouth, whatever exactly that meant? So naturally, the three friends went inside, glad they would be sheltered from the rain, should it come. Ash sat and leaned against a wall, playing happily with Pikachu. Misty sat nearby, Togepi curled up contentedly in her backpack, and Brock contemplated looking for some food.

None of the three friends, or even their pokemon, paid any attention to the curious play of the light in the shadowed enclosure, or the way the clouds seemed to darken as they entered the little cave. None of them saw how fingers of shadow seemed to crawl around the walls of the cave. But they did, heeded or not. And if the shadows creeping about the vaulted ceiling could have laughed, they would have

Notes: Well, I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I can explain (sort of). I had this chapter almost done and ready to go just a day or so after I had the Prologue up. I was taking a little break before finishing it up and was flipping channels on TV, when I happened across Kurt Wagner of X-men: Evolution. Well, ever sense then, I've been trying to find out all I can about X-men: Evo, and the little Nightcrawler in particular. Horrible excuse, I know, but now that I have at least somewhat come to grips with my recently acquired fuzzy blue elf obsession, I can turn my attention back to this fic, where it belongs.

I would like to extend a special thanks to my four reviewers, and promise you that I fully intend to finish this. I actually know where I am going with it, and have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to get there. Please keep the reviews coming. It means a lot to me to know somebody is reading this, regardless of what they think about it. Oh, and I certainly don't mind if people review more than once. : )

I guess there was a slight change of tone between this and the prologue, but we're just getting started. Everything will be explained. Oh, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with Team Rocket. I may bring them back later if people want me to. The next chapter should be up sooner than this one was. Until then. : )