Lost Presence (yaoi)

[Cianwood]

Lost Presence

Hello! I’m a fanfic writer new to Serebii Forums. I have been writing fanfics for a while and now decided to share them here! “Lost Presence” is rated PG for, umm, a lack of any upsetting content. Oh, wait, there is some male kissing in the first part, but nothing else objectionable. Hope you like it!

Edit:
It seems that my use of yaoi themes is not a popular as I had hoped it would be. (Maybe Serebii Forums is not the best place for this type of fanfic?) Because of this, I have proceeded to edit the prologue and first chapter of “Lost Presence.” For those of you who liked the unedited version, click here. A warning: the unedited version is rated PG-13 for sexual content.
A reminder: From post #3 to post #12 the comments are about the unedited version.
I hope this version is better.

Chapters:
Prologue (below)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6 *new*
Chapter 7 (coming soon)

-----
Prologue of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
Blue smacked the alarm clock as it cheeped "pidgey! pidgey!" Seeing the pokemon merchandise read "6:30", she got out of bed and began another boring day of school.

Reaching the breakfast table still half asleep and not even acknowledging her mother, she sat down to eat her soggy eggs and toast.

"Good morning to you too!" exclaimed Blue's mom.

"Thanks for the 'food'" replied Blue. She was in no mood to have a conversation with her boring mother.
---
Blue walked the three blocks to trainers' school. One of the few nice parts about living in Fallarbor was everything was within walking distance. Of course, this had problems as well.

"Hey, Blue!" yelled Brendan, "wait up."

Blue rolled her eyes. She was defiantly not in the mood for conversation. Blue had long brown hair and always wore a hat. She felt uncomfortable without something covering her head.

"I was reading our TM text book, ya know, for school, and I found something really cool! TM 24 can teach thunderbolt! Did you know that?"

"Brendan, we finished that dumpy TM book last quarter. Get a life"

"Sorry, I just thought it was interesting"

"Yah, it was 'interesting,' but it would help if you did your homework on time."

To Blue, Brendan was her annoying classmate and closest thing she had to a "friend." Brendan was nice and all, she thought to herself, but he was kind of kinky. He wore a very tight jacket everywhere and a sweatband regardless of the weather. The thing that made him stand out, though, was his white hair. It had obviously been dyed white, but Brendan always changed the subject when it was brought up.

Soon the two reached "Fallarbor Primary Trainers' School," their school of residence for the last six months. The school was small: only thirty students occupied it at any given time. Surprisingly, there were five teachers for such few students. Mr. Willard the slightly eccentric Travel teacher and Mrs. Shellby the brainy Economics teacher were Blue's favorites.

"Hey guys! How are you doin'?"

Gary was a sharp student and a good friend of both Blue and Brendan. He had brown hair that stuck out every way. Today he was wearing a grape-coloured shirt. Blue had always assumed that grape was Gary's favorite colour, but she wasn't quite sure why.

"In case you haven't noticed Gary, I'm a girl, not a 'guy'" replied Blue.

"Hi Gary," interjected Brendan, "how was your weekend?"

"Not so bad. By the way, do you want to head over to the waterfall after school? I have nothing better to do"

"Sure," answered Brendan happily, "if Mrs. Shellby doesn't give us too much work"

"Sorry to break up your date planning guys, but I have a class to get to"

Blue thought to herself, "sometimes I wonder about those two, but hey, why should I care." Blue quickly slipped into her Stats class just before the bell rang.
---
The last class of the day was Travel class. Blue, Brendan, and Gary all enjoyed it, partially because Mr. Willard was an interesting teacher and partly because all three friends had the class together.

"Now class, I know it's Monday, but please let's stay focused!" said a happy Mr. Willard.
He had no need to say this, as everyone always stayed interested in the amazing places Mr. Willard teaches about. Today was no different.

"Who can tell me what the most important HM in Orange Island travel is?" asked Mr. Willard.

Gary's hand immediately went up. "What a surprise" thought Blue.

"Blue, I haven't heard from you in a while." stated Mr. Willard.

This was a surprise! Mr. Willard didn't usually call on people who obviously didn't want to answer.

"Well," stammered Blue, "I think you would need to have the Surf HM..."

"That's right Blue, now..." but just then the bell rang.

"Alright everyone. Your homework for tonight is to evaluate the other uses of HMs in the Orange Islands. All of you need to be prepared to answer!"

Blue knew Mr. Willard was talking about her, but she didn't care.
---
Blue walked home by herself after saying goodbye to Brendan and Gary as they went off to "hang-out." Blue had always been a loner and she would have it no other way.

"Hello Blue! How was your day?" asked Blue's mom as she walked in the door.

"OK" replied Blue grudgingly. She trudged upstairs to her room and set down her book bag on her bed. She thought to herself "why don't I have someone I can rely on like Brendan and Gary have?" Before she could enjoy any more self-reflection, the task of the night's homework became obvious as Blue took the books out of her bag. "Rely on?" she thought again. "I don't know anything about HMs and stuff!" She flopped down on her bed and began to get worked up about her lack of knowledge, just when she had an idea. She would go down to the waterfall and ask Gary or Brendan to help with the work. They had nothing better to do: they said so themselves. Blue repacked her books and ran out of the house, happy with her good idea.
---
The waterfall was a giant rushing current that fed the Fallarbor River. It was just west of the town but was fairly secluded. Not many people ventured through the canyon to see it and, as Blue had said once, "If you've seen it, you've seen it."

As she approached the canyon, she began to think about what she was going to ask Gary first. Should she ask how the Cut HM works or how Whirlpools can be avoided?...

Entering the deep-red canyon, she could hear the roar of the waterfall. It was a pleasant sound, always flowing. But above the rushing water, she could hear voices.

"Ahh, Brendan..." Blue could hear Gary's voice carrying over the bushes that gave a border to the river. Blue became curious. She crept closer to the bushes and peeked through.

"Ahhhh!" screamed Blue in her head. She was shocked at first, but it became clear to her what was going on.

"Eww! They’re kissing!" thought Blue inside her head. The two had obviously gone to the falls in secret. As gross as it was, Blue thought it was kind of cute in a voyeuristic kind of way, and she couldn't pass up an opportunity to embarrass her friends.

After watching for a short while, Blue remembered her homework and decided that asking Gary to help in the middle of his action was not going to work. Stowing what she had seen, Blue started off towards home again. "How long had those two been at it?" she thought. After realizing what she was doing, Blue criticized herself for being so perverted and instead tried to concentrate on HMs...
-----

Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 1

Here is chapter one. The plot sort of begins here, but be patient, it will progress.

Reminder: this chapter has been edited. See first post for details.

-----
Chapter 1 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
"Pidgey! pidgey!"

"Not again" thought Blue. Another day of school had started. Somehow she had been able to finish her homework last night, but at the cost of sleep. "Brendan and Gary will be sorry they didn't help me!" threatened Blue in her head.
---
Blue's morning classes were fairly uneventful until Mrs. Shellby's Economics.

"Good morning class!" said Mrs. Shellby warmly. Today she was wearing a fuchsia dress-suit and looking as formal as ever. "We have a new student in our class today! Ash Ketchum has just transferred from a school in Kanto. Be nice to him!"

This was something new! Blue couldn't remember the last time there was a new student. Ash was a short boy with jet-black hair. His hair reminded Blue of Gary's because it stuck out at odd angles. Ash was sitting very still on the other side of the room, looking embarrassed at all the attention. "Funny looking" thought Blue.
---
For Blue, after Economics was lunch. Lunch was her favorite part of the day, not because of the food but because she had free time without the worry of homework.

"Hey Blue! How are you?" asked Brendan as Blue approached their usual picnic table.

"Just fine... Hi there Gary." replied Blue as Gary sat down at their table.

Remembering the previous evening's happenings, Blue decided to steer the topic to homework in an attempt to embarrass her friends.

"So guys, you were pretty busy last night, weren't you?" asked Blue suggestively.

Beginning to get uneasy, Gary replied,"Yep, lots of homework from Mr. Willard. How about you?"

"Yeah, lots of homework. I almost wanted to go to the waterfall to ask you guys for help."

Both Brendan and Gary breathed a sigh of relief.

"I didn't want to go, but I went anyway. You look good as a couple."

The look on both Brendan and Gary's faces was hilarious. Gary looked like he had swallow the sandwich he was eating without chewing, while Brendan looked as if he was choking on his soda.

"What... What did you see?!!" Stammered Brendan and Gary simultaneously.

"Just some kissing" replied Blue. She was having her way!

"You're not going to tell anyone about it, are you?" asked Gary.

"Who says I haven't already" said Blue hotly. After seeing Gary's reaction, she quickly added, "But I haven't told anyone but you guys."

"I am thinking about seeking counseling, though" added Blue sarcastically.

Brendan and Gary became relaxed again.

"So, why were you two at it?" asked Blue shyly.

The resulting conversation reinforced what Blue had thought. Brendan and Gary had been going to the waterfall for a few months now, afraid that their love would be found out.

"You two are just weird," stated Blue, "did you really think that people wouldn’t start to notice?"

"Umm..." said Brendan.

"Well, it's OK. Were still friends, right?" asked Blue.

"Yeah" replied Brendan and Gary.
---
Blue had gotten more homework from Mr. Willard. She was not in a good mood.

"Blue, how was your day?" asked Blue's mom happily.

"Just fine" replied Blue as she ran upstairs. As she sat down to begin her work, she began to feel very distracted. "Why do I have to do my homework?" she thought to herself. It was at moments like these that Blue came up with good ideas but this time she couldn't concentrate on anything.

"That's it" said Blue to herself. She would not be able to get anything done in this state. She would take a walk along with her school stuff and sit down somewhere and work.
---
After walking around town for the longest time, Blue unconsciously headed towards the waterfall. She entered the canyon without thinking and began to wander along the bush-covered riverbank. She noticed for the first time that there were not just low shrubs but fairly large Madrona trees.

Soon she came to a strange spot. It was a clearing, with four low stones evenly spaced around a larger flat rock. If Blue didn't know better, she would have thought it was a table and chairs. Remembering her homework, she sat down on one of the lower stones and set her books out.

At that point, Blue began to hear approaching voices. As they got closer, she realized that they were the voices of Brendan and Gary.

"I sure hope it's still there" said Gary from a distance.

"Blue!" stated a surprised Brendan. "How did you find this place?"

"I just wandered here. By the way, am I interrupting something?"

"Blue! We're not always like that," exclaimed Gary.

"Sure Gary. But why are you guys here?" asked Blue.

"We come here to do homework sometimes. It's a nice place, isn't it?" questioned Brendan.

It certainly was, thought Blue. It was filled with the colors of the canyon and the scent of the Madrona trees floated down. The quiet sound of the nearby river could be heard humming low. It was a place almost too perfectly made to be real.

"Well, Mr. Willard gave us a lot of work, so we better get started" reminded Gary, snapping Blue out of her daydream.

What a day she thought. But that Ash kid was sure funny.
-----
Cianwood

 

[Shatoshi]

I like it^^

 

[?question?]

I like your fic, I really do. But there are a few things that are forcing me away from it.

First off is the grammatical errors, I'm not saying that there are an enormous amount of them, but they do irk me a little. Do you run it through Word by any chance?

"Funny looking" thought Blue.

Don't put the thoughts of your character into quotation marks. Wrap them in italics or just leave it as it is, for example.

Funny looking, thought Blue.

That would suffice very well, and to readers, it looks much more professional.

Also, a little more descritption to actions/surroundings. Don't be afraid to insert the random 'nose itch' or 'tapping your foot to the ground' every once in a while. It adds more depth to the character.

I suppose that that's basically all I needed to say. Once more, I liked what you had so far, and I'd just like to insist that when a writer goes the extra mile for their work, it shows.

 

[Cianwood]

Thanks for the comments guys. I made some grammar changes to the prologue and first chapter. Again, thanks for the advice.
I should have the next chapter up in a week or less.
Cianwood

 

[Shatoshi]

I'll read it^^ (go gay peoples XD *shot*)

 

[?question?]

Um... Shatoshi... are you really a guy? That post did not sound masculine at all... very feminine. No offence of course if you are a guy.

go gay peoples XD

You'll get yourself mobbed if you say stuff like that... in that fashion. I'm not against homosexuality and it's not a bad thing, but you don't want to say it like that.

 

[Shatoshi]

-_-'......I was kidding...and yes i am a guy....

 

[HB5squared]

Um... Shatoshi it doesn't matter whether you were joking or not. I've noticed you have spammed... a lot. That was just another example of your spamtastic nonsense.

~DImItRi~

Wow how funny that the person who is angry about other's spam is SPAMing himself...

This fic is very umm original it defintly is weird...pokebeer? they were helping each other? and ya it's just odd this site isn't for pornos...

Well I find it interesting except for the gay love affair and gay sex it makes me want to stop reading.

 

[Cianwood]

Please!

Please, everyone! Don’t spam or tell others that they are spamming! I had hoped that I wouldn’t need to say this: I thought we were all grown up.
Contrary to what has been posted recently, this is not a homosexual advocacy thread: for that go here.
Please stay on topic, i.e. my fanfic.
I hope to have the next chapter out by Friday.
Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 2

Here is chapter two. Sorry I took a little longer than I thought.

-----
Chapter 2 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
School sure was boring, thought Blue as she sat in Economics class.

"Now class, I finished grading last week's test," began Mrs. Shellby, "and I found that very few of you did well. I was unpleasantly surprised."

Unpleasantly surprised was not a good thing, especially for Blue. That usually meant that she had failed the test while everyone else got a "C."

"We did have one perfect score, though" continued Mrs. Shellby in her usual stern voice.

As if we care, thought Blue to herself. Blue was never interested in grades, and that might have been part of her school problem.

"Congratulations to Ash, who knew that two Ultra Balls cost more than three Great Balls"

Ash, who had not been enrolled at the school until a day before, had received a prefect score in the toughest class. Blue was surprised.
---
"Gary said to say sorry that he couldn't come study today" explained Brendan, who looked a little tired and unhappy.

"That's fine" replied Blue. The two of them would have to finish their homework at the falls without Gary's help.

"Hey! Who's that?" asked Brendan loudly.

"Shh!" cautioned Blue, "Let's not surprise them."

The two friends could see through the underbrush to the stone table where they usually completed their homework. Today someone was sitting there by themselves.

"Hey, it's that new kid!" whispered Brendan in a hushed tone.

It was indeed Ash, sitting by himself apparently working on his homework. For a moment Blue felt sorry for him.

"Let's just do homework by ourselves today, Brendan" suggested Blue after a moment.
---
Ash was a lonely child, and he had been that way for most of his life. He was raised alone by his mother and had few friends at school. Sadly, three months before, his mother died suddenly, leaving him alone in the world. He was talented in school work, and had been spotted by a famous computer programmer who helped him go to a good school. With some help, Ash had been able to move to Fallarbor in order to attend the world-renowned trainers' school.

"How was school today?" asked a woman when Ash walked into his home. She had long brown hair tied in a bun and wore a lime green sweat suit. She looked not too different from Blue's mother.

"Just great" replied Ash, who forced a smile as he spoke. The home was very cluttered, and numerous computers sat on tables and chairs wherever one looked.

"What's your homework like tonight?" asked the woman again.

"It's not too bad, and I finished most of it in class."

"Well that's good to hear. I don't want you staying up too late."

"Ms. Lanette...?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for being here, and letting me stay here."

"You don't need to thank me. I'm happy to help such a smart person as you. One day you might understand why this is so important to me. By the way, we have spinach lasagna for dinner. I hope you don't mind" finished Lanette, smiling.

"Sounds great!" responded Ash, and this time he didn't have to force himself to smile.
---
"I have some great news today!" exclaimed a visibly excited Mr. Willard. "A Battle Tent is coming to town on Friday!"

"A tent? Were supposed to be excited about a tent?" asked Brendan disappointedly.

"Brendan! I can't believe you don't know about the Battle Tents!" retorted Gary.

"Please enlighten us Gary" added Blue in her usual dull tone.

"I can't believe you don't know either! Anyway, the Battle Tents are battle arenas where trainers can compete in special types of battles. It's modeled after the Battle Frontier. Usually lots of famous trainers come to the opening of a new Battle Tent and compete. It's really cool!"

"Sounds like it could be good to watch. We might learn something really cool" responded
Brendan. Blue said nothing, but she was secretly excited to see the coming attraction.
---
If Mr. Willard was happy in class, he didn't show it in the amount of homework he gave. Blue decided that Mr. Willard liked his students to suffer.

Blue was so busy imagining a sadistic Mr. Willard that she plowed into another student as she was leaving school.

"Hey, watch out!" cried a surprised Blue.

"Sorry, I'm very sorry!"

It was the new kid, Ash. Blue quickly changed her demeanor.

"No, I should have looked where I was going" replied Blue. This was one of the first times she had apologized to someone on her own. "So, you’re the new kid. I heard you're good at Economics."

"Sort of..." answered Ash shyly. "Have you, by chance, heard about the Battle Tent that is coming to town?"

"Yeah, my Travel teacher told my class about it."

"Hmm... I was, sort of, wondering where..."

"It's going to be next to the Pokecenter I think." Just then Blue had an idea: "Hey, how about you come with me and my friends to the grand opening on Friday? I'll come by your house after school and pick you up. Where do you live?"

"I'm in the Meteor district" responded Ash, a little surprised, "and the house is under the name Lanette." As Blue turned to go, Ash called out, "Wait, I don't even know your name."

"Oh, I'm Blue. And you're Ash, I know that already"

"OK Blue. And... thanks"

"No problem." And with that, Blue headed home. Now if only she could stop herself from regretting her kindness...
-----
Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Edit

Please take a look at the first post. This thread has been edited for content by me after numerous suggestions. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Cianwood

 

[HB5squared]

I really like the edited version but you shouldn't double post!

Hmm chapter 2 was intriguing I like fics about schools, but what gets me is that you are mixing the anime, GBA and Manga all together. This could either result in extreme boredom or attention, I personally think that it'll attract people. Creating a new character is rather difficult, yes but so is trying to maintain the traits of the characters in the anime/MAnga. Which you didn't. I think that's good, you used old characters but gave them different personalities, good on ya mate!

I look forward to the next installment

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 3

Here is chapter three. This is the real beginning of the story.

-----
Chapter 3 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
The day started off as a normal Friday. A big Travel test from Mr. Willard, lots of homework from Mrs. Shellby... But this Friday was no ordinary Friday: The Battle Tent was finally in town!
---
"You invited who?" asked Gary, a little shocked.

"The new kid, Ash. It's not that big of a deal" responded Blue defensively. Blue was wearing a navy blue leather jacket, which was arguably the most expensive thing she owned. Gary and Brendan had noticed this and caught on quickly.

"Oh... So where did you say Ash lived?" asked Brendan quickly.

The three friends walked to the outer edge of Fallarbor town. Not many people lived so far away from the Pokecenter. When they reached the mailbox that read "Ms. Lanette," they stopped.

"This is his house?!" cried Gary surprisingly.

"Yeah, so what" responded Blue. She just knew that Gary and Brendan were trying to embarrass her.

"Wow! Brendan, do you know who's house this is?" asked Gary again.

"It's 'Ms. Lanette's.' I know that!" replied Brendan assuredly. Brendan was acting his usual stupid self, thought Blue. Brendan wore all black today, a rarity for even him.

"Well, since none of you guys know, Ms. Lanette is the most famous computer programmer in all of Hoenn. She manages the Hoenn Pokémon Storage System too!"

Both Brendan and Blue were surprised. Who knew that such a famous person was living on the outskirts of such a small town?

Just then the front door of the house opened.

"Hi Ash!" called Blue warmly.

"Hi... I saw you out here, so I came out" replied Ash, a little shyly.

"Sorry we didn't knock. We were just discussing who Ms. Lanette was. By the way, this is Brendan, and this is Gary"

The four proceeded to begin the walk to the new Battle Tent. On more than one occasion Blue had to kick Gary in the shin to stop him from asking Ash about Ms. Lanette. Blue noticed that Ash was wearing a baseball cap with a big "L" on the front. She decided it must have been a League cap, and she was a little jealous.
---
The four bought tickets at the ticket gate. Blue told Ash, "Since I invited you, I'm paying" much to the humor of Brendan and Gary.

Together they entered the stadium, searching for their seats.

"202... 208... 212! This is us!" cried Blue.

"Hey! It's Mr. Willard!" shouted Gary.

Sure enough, it was their Travel teacher. Mr. Willard had come to see the opening event, just as he had said he would.

"Hello Gary. Brendan, Ash, Blue... Hello as well. It's nice to see you here with friends." Blue couldn't help thinking that the last comment was directed towards her. Gary sat next to Mr. Willard so that they could talk, Brendan sat between Gary and Blue, while Ash sat in the isle seat.

A short man in a red suit stood up and began to speak into a microphone. "Now, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the grand opening of this fabulous new center of entertainment. The first battle of the Fallarbor Battle Tent is about to commence!"

A lot of BS, thought Blue. She hated flowery language.

From what Mr. Willard had told their class, Blue understood how the Battle Tent battles worked. Each trainer used three Pokémon, one at a time. The Pokémon could attack three times each, then the battle was stopped and a score was calculated. Blue wasn't exactly sure how it worked, and she was hoping that the Pokémon would just knock each other out.

The man in the red suit continued, this time out of sight. "The first two trainers are Vito of Mauville and Harrison of Littleroot! Let the battle commence!"

The first Pokémon out were Kecleon and Swellow. The two battled pretty fiercely, but soon the three turns were up.

"The judges have declared Kecleon to be the winner!"

Blue was upset by the sudden pause in the action, and she was beginning to dislike the Battle Tent battle style. Blue looked over to see Ash's reactions, and saw that he looked captivated by the event. He sure is a funny kid, thought Blue.

After Vito lost the first round, he sent out an Alakazam. Things were looking interesting again!

"Wow!" yelled the announcer as Alakazam launched an attack, "we won't need judging for this round! That was one powerful Hyperbeam!"

Both trainers were down one Pokémon. Harrison sent out a Hypno.

"Wow! Two powerful Psychic Pokémon! Will Alakazam be able to recharge in time?!" continued the announcer in an excited tone.

Hypno began focusing its energy while Alakazam was still panting.

"Go get 'em Alakazam!" yelled Vito.

Alakazam began to power up too! This was getting to be very exciting!

"Wow! Two Hyperbeams! Who will withstand this kind of attack!?" yelled the announcer into the microphone.

The two Hyperbeams were released.

Time seemed to stand still as the Hyperbeams got closer to each other. Then, the two collided.

It was like a dream, a flash of another world. Time stopped for Blue, and she felt as if she had been sucked into the two Hyperbeams. She could see through them, as if they were a spy-glass. There were people, like normal, but they were somehow different. Then, just as the feeling was about to end, she heard voices. They were answering questions... "It's a big one... Yeah, I'm sure this is it..."

And just as quickly as it started, it was over.

"What an attack! Both Pokémon have been knocked out by the blast!" continued the announcer, as if nothing had happened.

The idea of what Blue saw was quickly slipping away, like a dream after one has woken up suddenly.

She looked to her friends to see if they had noticed.

Gary was staring directly at Blue, and Brendan was looking dazed. Ash gave a confused look to Blue. Mr. Willard, however, was unaware of what had occurred.
---
The four met at the rock table.

"Guys... what did you see?" asked Blue.

"It was weird... like something stopped, and I could see something..." told Brendan quietly.

"I saw some people... They were looking at something and talking..." Gary was obviously shaken up.

"It was really weird..." continued Blue.

Ash was still looking confused, but he spoke now. "Guys, I have to get home. I'll try to figure out what happened..."

"OK. Let's meet here after school on Monday" replied Gary.

"OK"
---
As Ash walked in the door, he could hear that Lanette was talking to someone.

"Yes, I am Lanette. Who are you? No, you! I'm sorry, but I don't talk to 'somebodys.'" Lanette turned off one of the computer monitors.

"Hello Ash. How was the Battle Tent... What's wrong?"

Ash was sad from what he had seen. He felt somehow left out from the world he saw. Ash was no stranger to loneliness, but this shocking event left him very sad.

"Ms. Lanette, what happens when two really powerful attacks collide?" asked Ash.

"Hmm... That's an interesting question. I'm not quite sure. I suppose they would explode. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason... By the way, who was that you were talking to?"

"I'm not really sure. It was a man's voice, as far as I can tell. It was obviously a long-distance video call, because the video image was too scrambled to see. He asked if I was Lanette, and if I lived alone. Naturally, I asked who was calling, but he didn't really answer."

"Oh..."

"Dinner is in ten minutes. It's broccoli souffle!" stated Lanette cheerfully.

"All right!" responded Ash happily. He was no longer in a bad mood.
-----
Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 4

Here is chapter four. Enjoy!

-----
Chapter 4 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
"How many of you went to the Battle Tent last Friday?" asked Mr. Willard at the end of another stressful Monday.

Only a few others besides Blue, Brendan and Gary raised their hands.

"I suspect that this means that we are the only ones who saw..." reacted Gary, a little disappointed.

"Yeah," said Blue, as she thought about what she and her friends had witnessed.
---
When Blue got to the falls, Ash, Brendan and Gary were waiting.

"So, anything new?" asked Gary to start off the meeting. Gary had become the de facto leader of their meetings. Blue was OK with this, but she would rather be smart enough to be leader.

"Yes..." responded Ash after a moment. Blue was a little surprised. Ash was beginning to speak up more.

"When I got home on Friday, Lanette was talking with someone. She didn't know who the person was. But the guy asked if she lived alone. It was really odd. Lanette isn't someone who gets concerned, but I sort of am."

"Hmm..." began Gary, "That is odd. Why would a stranger ask if Lanette lived alone?"

"He must be single!" replied Brendan.

"No one outside of town knows that I'm here in Fallarbor except my sponsor..." Ash was concerned. Blue could tell that.

"Can you show us what phone was used?" asked Blue. She was curious about what the phone call meant, but not as curious as to what Ash's house looked like inside.

"Sure," replied Ash.
---
The house that Ash was living in was very nice on the outside, but very messy inside. Lanette was a computer programmer, and she had numerous computers scattered about the house. Lanette was not home when the four friends arrived.

"This is it!" Ash pointed to a particularly dilapidated computer.

After a moment looking at it, everyone knew.

"It's nothing special," said Gary, breaking the silence.

"Well, at least we tried," responded Brendan.

"Oh! I have something for you guys," started Ash.

Ash handed Blue, Brendan and Gary each a phone.

"Lanette gets lots of free stuff. This is a Pokenav. We can call each other with these if anything comes up."

"Wow! Thanks!" Everyone was surprised to get such a gift.

"Are you sure this is OK Ash?" Blue felt slightly guilty to take something from Ash.

"Yeah, it's good! I want to be able to contact all of you if something comes up."

"Well, we better get going. Brendan and I are going out to dinner tonight, so we better get ready." Gary and Brendan then left.

"Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow!" said Blue as she walked out the door.

"Yeah!" called out Ash.
---
"Hello. Is this Lanette's residence?" sounded a crackled voice over the videophone.

It was just after six o'clock, and Lanette was not back yet. Ash had answered the phone and was greeted with the same voice that spoke to Lanette before.

"What do you want?!" yelled Ash, a little shakily.

"This is a warning to Ms. Lanette: The Fossils must be protected." With that, the caller hung up.
---
"Ash? What is it?" Blue spoke to Ash on the phone. He related all that he had heard from the mysterious caller.

"Wow... What do you think we should do?" asked Blue. She had a bad feeling about what was going on.

"Well, I already talked to Gary and Brendan, and Gary said that we should talk to some Fossil Maniac guy tomorrow. That's the best we can do."

"OK, but I'm a little worried. Stay safe, OK?"

"Sure will! See you tomorrow."

Mysterious long-distance callers and fossils that needed protecting... Blue was very upset by the strange happenings.

And she especially didn't like the fact that Mr. Willard had given her lots of homework.
-----
Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 5

Here is chapter five. I finished it a little early today. I hope it’s good.

-----
Chapter 5 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
Economics class was by far Blue's least favorite class.

"How was last night's homework, class?" asked Mrs. Shellby. Blue knew what she wanted to say, but kept her mouth shut.

"Mrs. Shellby, I know it's not my place to say this, but that was a lot of homework last night." It was Ash! This was the last person to complain about homework.

"Well... Umm... Yes, it was sort of a bit..." Mrs. Shellby was apparently just as surprised.

"But it wasn't too bad," corrected Ash.
---
"Everyone, turn to page 217 in your Travel books!" began Mr. Willard. He was not prone to teaching out of the book, and the class hated it when Mr. Willard did.

"Mr. Willard! I have a question," stated Gary. Well! thought Blue, all the quiet people are speaking up today!

"Go ahead, Gary!" Gary was Mr. Willard's favorite student, and most of the class knew this, including Blue.

"Who is the Fossil Maniac?" asked Gary.

"Hmm... You mean Greg Shellby? Well, he's the son of the brother of Mrs. Shellby's husband... but I suppose you want something more specific. Greg is the local expert in Pokemon Fossils. He supposedly has a vast collection, and he digs for them behind his house. He was even consulted by the Devon corporation for a special project. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Sort of... But where does he live?"

"I'm not in the business of giving out personal addresses, Gary. Anyway, page 217, class!"

And with that, the class was pulled into another boring book lecture.

After what seemed like forever, the bell rang.

"Dang! It's too bad Gary didn't get the Maniac's address..." started Brendan as Blue and he walked to their lockers.

"What do you mean!?" shouted Gary from behind as he ran to catch up. In his hand was a note with an address scribbled on it.

"How did you get that?" asked Brendan.

"Mr. Willard gave it to me after class. Blue, find Ash and lets go meet the Fossil Maniac!"
---
The Fossil Maniac lived on the edge of town, much like Ash, but not near the river. The Maniac's house was built right next to the cliff face, not too far from the entrance to the waterfall.

Gary proceeded to knock on the door of the old house.

"Yes... I'm coming..." sounded an annoyed voice from far within the house. Then the door opened. "What do you want?"

The Fossil Maniac, or Greg, was as short guy with long dark hair and thick glasses. He obviously stayed indoors most of the time, because his skin was a very pasty shade of white.

"Hello! Are you Greg Shellby by any chance?" asked Gary as politely as possible.

"Well, this is my house! What do you want?" retorted Greg.

"We were wondering if you knew of any fossils that were around here, possibly unguarded ones..." continued Gary.

"Unguarded? Like free? I don't know of any fossils that are around here that are free."

"Do you have any that you could show us?" asked Blue, getting a little annoyed.

"No, I'm still looking for some," replied Greg.

"Are you saying that you're the Fossil Maniac and you don't have any fossils!?" asked Brendan incredulously.

"Well, sort of... But I know there are some hidden behind my house... Other than that, the only other place where there are fossils is in the Desert."

"But I've looked there, and I didn't find any," continued Greg quickly.

Gary felt that the conversation was drying up. "Well, thank you for your advice. We'll be sure to tell you if we find any fossils." And with that the door to the Fossil Maniac's house slammed shut.
---
The falls were exceptionally beautiful, and Blue loved visiting the place. The four friends had been doing their homework here from time to time. The fresh spring air floated around the stone table as the meeting began.

"So, there don't seem to be any fossils in Fallarbor, at least none that the Maniac wants us to find," began Gary in his usual official voice.

"If there aren't any fossils here, then where should we go to protect them?" asked Brendan, and this time it was a good question.

It took a moment before Ash, Blue and Gary answered: "The Desert."

All of Mr. Willard's class knew about the Desert because Mr. Willard had promised to take his students there someday.

"This is going to be simpler than I thought it would be!" continued Gary.

Brendan summed up the plan: "We'll just ask Mr. Willard to take us on a field trip!"
---
The next day, the four friends were anxious to ask Mr. Willard. Gary was going to be the one to ask after class, and he would tell them the results if Brendan, Blue and Gary waited outside of the classroom.

The last bell of the day rang.

"Well, that's the end of today's lecture! See you tomorrow!" stated a happy Mr. Willard.

"Mr. Willard... I have a request for you," began Gary.

"What is it?"

"You remember that you said you would take the class on a field trip to the Desert?" asked Gary. "Could we go soon?"

"Why Gary, that's a great idea! I had forgotten! I'll make plans for next Friday. Does that sound good?"

"That's great," replied a stunned Gary. Won't everyone be surprised...
-----
Cianwood

 

[Cianwood]

Chapter 6

Here is chapter six. I’m beginning to think that I am only writing for myself… *goes and cries*
Anyway, hope you like it.

-----
Chapter 6 of "Lost Presence" - by Cianwood
---
Blue, Brendan, Gary and Ash were all excited. It was Friday; the day that Mr. Willard promised he would take the class on a field trip to the desert.

"Does everyone have lots of water?" asked Mr. Willard cheerfully, out in front of the school.

Everyone was indeed ready, especially the four friends. All had their phones and had backpacks incase any fossils were found. Brendan and Gary also carried baseball bats in their backpacks, just lest the fossils needed to be "protected."

"Well, here we go!" said Gary as the Travel class began their journey to the desert.
---
Traveling beyond Fallarbor was always a big deal, as Fallarbor was far from any other town. The closest town was Lavaridge, but to get there one had to travel across three routes and a desert. The trek was no easy one.

"Look at all the ash!" yelled Brendan as the group passed through route 113.

"Yeah! You know, it all comes from Mt. Chimney," explained Gary.

It sure was pretty, thought Blue. What could one do with the ash though?
---
Route 111 was mostly a sparse forest at its edges. But when one got further along, you could see that there was a vast desert in its center.

The class was making good time. It had taken them only three hours of hiking to reach the beginning of the desert.

"Here we are class! There is a lot to see, so lets get moving. First, lets all explore the desert separately, and then meet in about ten minutes. Sound good?!" Mr. Willard was very excited, even though he was a little out of breath.

"We need to look in the sands for the fossils," reminded Ash.

"OK. I'll go with Brendan and you can go with Blue," replied Gary.

"Well meet back with the class in ten minutes," advised Blue.
---
"This looks like one!" shouted Brendan. Gary ran over to take a look.

"No... that's just an old shoe. I wish people didn't litter..." answered Gary quietly.

Just then a massive rumble and crash could be heard, and it was just 30 meters away. When the cloud of sand settled, everyone could see what happened.

"Ash and Blue were caught in a cave-in!" yelled a student standing near the gaping hole in the sand.

Mr. Willard looked terrified. "No one go near the hole! Blue! Ash! Can you hear me!" yelled Mr. Willard into the pit.

There was no response.

Gary immediately pulled his Pokenav out of his backpack. After a moment of dialing, he put the phone to his ear.

"Ash! Are you OK?!" yelled Gary into the receiver. The class saw what Gary was doing, and they all crowded around.

Ash was on the line!

"Yeah... I'm OK! And so is Blue," told Ash.

"Except we just fell five meters onto our butts!" yelled Blue at Ash's phone.

"We'll try and get you out!" shouted Mr. Willard into Gary's phone.

"No, don't try! The cave-in is too big. Everyone could fall in," explained Ash.

"I think there is a cave down here," said Ash after a moment. "It looks like it leads somewhere."

Ash and Blue walked for a moment, until they stumbled upon something.

"We've found fossils!" exclaimed Blue.

"Take them with you," suggested Brendan.

"It looks like it's safe to walk through the cave" told Ash.

"We'll follow above you and see if you get to an opening," advised Mr. Willard. He was beginning to look less concerned.
---
So then, the hunt for an exit began. No one at the time expected that it would take another three hours to find the exit.

By then, the class had traveled back to route 113, all the while following the signal of Ash and Blue below.

"It looks like there is a very long cave connecting the desert to somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if the exit is somewhere in Meteor Falls," offered Mr. Willard.
---
By the time the class reached Fallarbor, they had all become very suspicious.

"How could there be a cave under Fallarbor that no one knows about?" asked Brendan.

Gary didn't answer.

Blue and Ash began to move closer to the surface, so everyone became hopeful.

Gary continued to read the map of the Pokenav. "It looks like we've reached the cliff face... Hold on!"

The class had reached the Fossil Maniac's house!

Mr. Willard opened the door of the house without knocking.

"What are you doing here?!" yelled a very surprised and disturbed Greg Shellby.

"I believe you have two of my students in your home," replied Mr. Willard.

Just as he said that, Ash and Blue appeared from a back door.

"Long time, no see!" shouted Blue to Gary and the others.

"What was a cave doing in the back of your house?!" asked Brendan of Greg.
---
Another meeting was held at the stone table.

"There was a police investigation into the cave in Greg's house. Greg denies knowing where it led. The police think that there might have been a smuggling operation going on in the cave, but there is no hard proof," Gary was obviously suspicious.

"I don't know what to think..." said Blue, puzzled.

"Well, at least we got the fossils!" said Brendan.
---
"You blew our cover!" yelled a man dressed in red. He was speaking to Greg Shellby.

"It was your fault for letting the cave fall in. And besides, you never found the fossils when they were right in front of you," retorted Greg.

"Don't you criticize me! I'm of Team Magma and we do as we please. The fossils are lost, so we will go after the meteorite instead. Set up a plan to create a diversion. That is your only use now!" yelled the man in the Magma uniform.

"What ever you say, boss..."
-----
Cianwood