Ash stared up at the mountain, apprehension settling over him. Clouds made the top impossible to see, as the sun streamed down from the blue sky. Misty and Brock stood next to him, also looking up at the large mountain. "What happened to your 'not be seen in the daylight' philosophy?" Brock asked, his eyes still fixed upon the hidden peak. "If we go up at night, we wont be able to see her, and she's deadly enough in the daylight," Ash explained. Misty and Brock slowly tore their eyes away from the mountain and looked at him. "Who?" Misty asked, as Ash began walking towards the mountain's base. Ash didn't answer her, and Misty and Brock exchanged worried glances before following him. Once they were high enough up the mountain that Ash was sure they wouldn't run into anyone, Pikachu emerged from his bag and settled on his shoulder. *I don't know why you continue to go high places. You haven't had the best experiences with heights,* the pokemon said, recalling the time Ash had been picked up by an Aerodactyl, the incident at Lindham Labs, and other similar times. *It's like falling off a horse, Pikachu,* Ash began the old cliché as he picked his way over a fallen tree. *Yes,* Pikachu agreed. *Except with you it's like falling off a building, or the occasional mountain.* Ash smirked before continuing his hike, Misty and Brock puffing along behind him. Although they had traveled with Ash for over four years, they were not used to it and were becoming very tired. There was no path on the mountain, so they had to walk through the forest, climbing over fallen debris. Neither of them dared to complain, because they knew Ash wouldn't care, especially since he had told them quite clearly he did not want them along. So they ambled along, following Ash, having no clue where they were going, or what they were going to see. Misty looked up, pushing the screen of red hair out of her eyes, and saw Ash disappear from view. They both quickened their pace and stopped when they came to the entrance to a cave. Ash was nowhere to be seen, but a small glow coming from inside the cave, led Brock to believe Pikachu was using flash to light his master's way. They entered, keeping the glow in sight. Unable to see where they were going, Brock released Vulpix. "Use flame-thrower. Light our way," he commanded. The small pokemon complied, sending flames into the air. The fire lit the cave enough that they could make out the gray walls and the dusty floor. They continued to follow the distant glow, wondering how deep Ash was going. The small glow began to get bigger and soon Brock realized that it hadn't been a cave but a tunnel, leading into the center of the mountain. Ash stood at the end of the tunnel, his arms crossed. Wind was blowing his hair back from his face and his trench coat fluttered in the breeze. Pikachu sat solemnly on his shoulder. Misty, Brock, and Vulpix joined them, astonished at the sight that met them. Apparently the inside of the mountain was hollow, because they hadn't emerged on the other side but on the inside. The mountain didn't meet at the top, it simply opened into the heavens, allowing the sun to illuminate the inside. Brock's eyes widened as he looked down, they were standing on the edge of a cliff that was so high, the bottom was completely out of sight. Across a large gap, almost one hundred yards wide, were two holes, one on the left and one on the right. They appeared to be entrances to tunnels, probably leading to the other side of the mountain. Man-made wooden platforms were attached to the side of the cliff in front of them. From where they stood, they could go left or right, either way leading to a dead end, where they would be stuck on the platform with nowhere to go. Another set of identical platforms were attached on the opposite side. If they wanted to cross the ravine, an ancient looking bridge was attached to the platforms. The thing that caught their attention though, was the large crystal sitting on a narrow stone ledge on the other side of the ravine. Sunlight streamed down upon it, causing it to glisten. Ash turned to them, his face set. "Stay to the side, but be ready. I want you to be able to get out of here as fast as possible." For once neither of them argued, they began to walk to the right. Ash moved forward, and stopped before stepping onto the bridge. "No matter what don't cross this bridge." The bridge swayed slightly in the wind, and Ash kept his hands ready to grab the old rope railings if need be. He moved at a slow but steady pace, working his way across the narrow bridge. Pikachu, who was afraid of heights, had scampered into Ash's bag. Misty and Brock watched in silence as a cloud descended and slowly removed Ash from view. Ash looked around as the cloud settled around him. Upon turning around, he noted he couldn't see Brock or Misty. He felt the bridge shift, as though someone had stepped on it. *If that's Misty or Brock, after I told them to stay there...* he trailed off as the bridge began to shake as if someone was running on it. Ash strained his eyes, trying to see through the fog, but didn't see the figure until it was too late. He felt someone's fist impact with his jaw. He stumbled, and had to use the ropes for balance. The cloud shifted and Ash was able to make out his attacker. "Do you really think this is the best place for a fight, Gary?" Ash asked, glancing down at the seemingly endless drop. Gary shot him a look of contempt before saying, "If I hadn't needed to cross, I would have cut the bridge." Ash shrugged. "I figured you would feel that way." He dropped into a fighting position. Gary lunged at him and managed to connect a few good punches before Ash kicked him in the chest. Gary stumbled backwards, then with the help of the bridges rope handles, regained his balance. He advanced on Ash, who was slowly backing away. Pikachu, who was reading Ash's thoughts, asked, *Are you sure that's wise?* Ash blocked a punch from Gary before thinking, *Do you have any better ideas?* *Anything is better than deliberately luring Nine out,* Pikachu said as Ash ducked from a kick that was aimed at his head. The cloud finally lifted and Misty and Brock were surprised to see Ash, about ten yards from the other side, fighting Gary. They watched as Gary backed Ash onto the opposite platform, under the ledge the crystal sat on. Then the fight stopped, and both men turned, facing the left tunnel. A low roar caused Gary to stop fighting. "What was that?" he asked aloud. "Nothing good," Ash said, glancing over his shoulder for a means of escape. *This was a really bad idea,* Pikachu thought. Another roar, louder this time, caused both Ash and Gary to look at the left tunnel. *I don't think she's going to be happy to see me, Pikachu,* Ash thought, inching backwards. Without warning a pokemon stuck her head out of the tunnel. She blinked her red eyes a few times, allowing them to adjust to the bright sunlight, then she fixed her gaze on the two men standing under the ledge by her crystal. The rest of the large wolf-like creature emerged from the tunnel, her pure white coat gleaming. She bared her sharp pointed teeth as she began to run at them. "Brock what is that?" Misty asked. Brock looked down at Vulpix, who he hadn't recalled, then back to the huge pokemon headed towards Ash and Gary. As she ran a number of long bushy tails trailed behind her. "It's a ninetails, but its about twice as large as a normal one." Ash turned and ran from Nine, Gary right on his heels. Ash glanced over his shoulder in time to see her shoot a flame-thrower at them. The flames flew at him as he made it to the other cave. He dove in, leaving Gary to Nine. Ash heard Gary scream as Nine caught up to him, cornering him on the edge of the platform. While Nine was busy preparing to rip Gary apart, Ash snuck out of the cave and began running towards the crystal. *What are you going to do with it?* Pikachu asked. *Destroy it before Gary can get it,* Ash replied, as he sprinted down the platform. *Somehow I don't think Nine is going to like that.* Brock and Misty watched anxiously as Ash ran towards the crystal. The ninetail's head suddenly perked up and she quickly looked over her shoulder at Ash. She left Gary, and with more agility than seemed possible for such a large pokemon, she leapt into the air and landed in front of Ash. He skidded to a stop, barely avoiding colliding into her. They stood for a moment staring at one another, her red eyes gleaming with anger. From where Misty and Brock were, they saw Ash begin to form an energy ball in his hand behind his back. The ninetails crouched, about to pounce, when Ash pulled the ball from behind his back. It exploded, light shooting everywhere. Nine reared back with a deafening roar, temporarily blinded. Ash used her confusion to his advantage and leapt high into the air. He grabbed the crystal and landed behind the pure white pokemon, who appeared to have regained her eyesight. Ash didn't look back, he simply began running across the bridge as fast as he possibly could, the crystal clutched in his hand. Pikachu's yellow head poked out of the bag and Ash handed him the crystal. Nine let out another roar of rage before bounding after him. Her running caused the bridge to shake and Ash was having trouble remaining balanced. Nine stopped running and shot a flame-thrower at him. "Duck!" Misty and Brock yelled in unison. Ash quickly laid flat on his stomach, his hands covering his head. The heat from the flames above him was causing him to sweat. The attack stopped and Nine began running toward him again. "Run!" Brock cried. Ash got up quickly and continued his sprint, now about thirty yards from the platform. None of them noticed that Nine's attack had set the ropes that held the bridge on fire. The extra seconds it had taken Ash to get up had cost him, Nine was now only inches away. Everything happened at once. Ash was about six feet from the edge when the fire ate through the ropes. Ash, realizing what was happening, leapt into the air, as the bridge fell from under him. At the same time Nine had caught up to him. Ash remarkably landed on the platform, on his hands and knees, panting. Misty and Brock came running towards him. Less than a second after he landed he was yanked backwards, and was pulled towards the edge of the platform. Ash began slowly, but surely sliding towards the cliff. He turned over, digging his heels in for traction but it did very little on the wood. As he approached the edge he saw what was pulling him. Nine had taken hold of his trench coat in her mouth and was now dangling off the edge. Ash struggled, but she was too heavy, she was going to pull him right off the cliff. Ash quickly slid his pack off and pushed it out of the way. He reached the edge, and fell off. "Ash!" Misty and Brock cried as he disappeared. They ran to the edge of the cliff to see Ash still there, hanging from one of the poles that had held the bridge. "A little help here?" he grunted as he strained to hold his own weight, plus Nine's, who was still hanging on for dear life. Misty and Brock grabbed his arms, trying to pull him up. Pikachu, who had climbed out of the bag, sat on his haunches, watching the effort. Brock and Misty couldn't get him up with the added weight of the huge pokemon. Ash looked up at them, then down at Nine, before kicking her in the jaw. She let go, and the three humans tumbled backwards onto the platform into a tangled heap. Ash quickly reached into his coat and pulled out a pokeball. With a crack Zapdos appeared. "Get her!" Ash cried, pointing down where Nine had fallen. The large electric bird dove down, and a minute later returned with Nine, who was laying in shock on his back. They watched as Zapdos put the dazed ninetails onto the opposite platform, then flew back to Ash. "Good job," Ash said, before recalling him. The group sat on the platform, exhausted, until a voice from behind them said, "What a shame. All that work for nothing." Ash turned to see Gary standing by his pack, holding the crystal. "Let's see now Ashton," Gary said, pulling a pokeball from his belt. "How does this work again?" Ash stood up, glaring at him, saying nothing. "Oh, that's right," Gary continued smugly. He cocked his head and smirked at him, rolling the pokeball between his fingers. "I gain the elemental abilities of the first pokemon I touch." At this he threw the pokeball and a bipedal, golden colored pokemon appeared. It was clutching a silver spoon in each hand. "Shit," Ash muttered, narrowing his eyes at the Alakazam. Gary smiled arrogantly before reaching out and lightly laying his hand atop Alakazam's head. Beams of light shot out from between the pokemon's head and Gary's hand, and his expression quickly changed to pain. He began to scream, trying to pull his hand away, but it seemed to be stuck to Alakazam's head. Ash feigned surprise. "Oops!" he said, placing his hand over his mouth. "Did I forget to mention the that comes with getting powers?" He watched Gary fall to his knees without any sympathy whatsoever. The unknown power that had been adhering Gary to Alakazam suddenly released him, and he fell to the ground, barely conscious. The Alakazam stood next to him, apparently unhurt, but somewhat confused. Brock turned to Ash, his face pale and his eyes wide. "Just a little trick you picked up?" he said, repeating Ash's earlier explanation of his powers. Ash shrugged before saying, "Get back, he'll be able to use his powers soon, and I want you two out of harms way." Brock and Misty backed away, keeping their eyes on Gary, who was now struggling to his knees. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder, ready to take care of the Alakazam if he needed to. Gary looked up at Ash, his grey eyes flashing with pure hatred. He stuggled to his feet, then ran a hand through his auburn hair saying, "I suppose you thought that was funny?" Ash gave Gary a look that clearly said, 'Who, me?' Gary narrowed his eyes then said, "Let's see how these powers work shall we?" He raised his arms above his head and a silver glow formed around him as he powered up. Ash folded his arms across his chest and calmly watched him, apparently unconcerned about the attack Gary was planning. Gary released an attack that resembled a psybeam at Ash's head. Ash ducked and watched the attack travel harmlessly above him. Although Gary now had powers, Ash was three years ahead of him when it came to experience. Ash also had powers that no one but he and Pikachu even knew existed. Gary, realizing that fighting Ash without more experience could be fatal, decided to try a different tactic. "Well, this has been fun Ketchum, but I'm afraid I have to run," Gary said, a small grin beginning to spread across his face. "I think there are some people in Pallet that I can use for target practice." Ash angrily powered up, ready to kill him on the spot, when Gary suddenly used teleport, disappearing. Ash gritted his teeth as he powered down, the golden glow that had formed around him dissipated. He turned to face Brock and Misty, only to see that Gary had reappeared behind them, although neither of them had noticed. The silver glow surrounding him told Ash Gary was about to attack. "Get down!" he cried, sprinting towards them. He leapt into the air and tackled the bewildered pair to the ground as Gary released the attack. A powerful psychic attack flew over their heads, blowing Misty's hair into Ash's face. Gary finished the attack and fell to his knees, panting. "You neglected to tell me how much using powers drains out of you, Ashton." Ash untangled himself from Brock and Misty and stood up, saying nothing. "Well, I need to go practice with my powers. I'll be sure to say hello to your mother," Gary jeered. Ash's handsome face contorted with rage at the mention of his mother. He charged at Gary, who once again used teleport. Ash skidded to a stop looking around wildly, but Gary had disappeared for good this time. A/N: I added a bit more to this chapter for those of you who have already read it, which is a precious few, considering ff.net has been down for a long time. This chapter is the one inspired by my dream and just a short note, for those of you who have seen Jurassic Park III, yes the platform thing sort of came from it. I saw that movie the day before I had the dream. Oh, and I haven't seen the second Pokemon movie, and the Zapdos thing has nothing to do with it. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me.