Erin hadn't stopped to rest, even for five minutes, on the trek back to Artemis' clearing. She was so determined that nothing else seemed to get past that determination into her brain, whether it be hunger or exhaustion. She had learned to live with both at the Agency.

So this is where Erin found herself: standing in the middle of a clearing that they had visited just that morning. Had it only been that morning? It was turning to night, now, but it seemed like eons ago that she had set foot in this forest. And that sensation felt almost overpowering as she looked on, stunned.

"What… What happened?" she asked to no one in particular.

"It smells all wrong," noted Chasm. "It didn't smell like this the last time."

"That's because it looked different last time," said Nero, ever stating the obvious.

Erin stood in front of Artemis' house. Only, it wasn't Artemis' house, because Artemis' house wasn't aged and old, crumbling beneath its own weight, as this one was. It was impossible for this transformation to have occurred. No one was here; the house appeared to have been deserted for decades. But they were just there that morning, which only added to the mystery.

No, she had to be here! Who else could answer Erin's questions? Who else could point her in the right direction? Erin had an idea of which volcano it might be, but she wasn't certain. Artemis would know, but she wasn't here!

"Should we go inside?" asked Khyt.

Erin didn't answer verbally, but took another step forward and walked through the same doorway she had exited earlier that day, only under drastically different conditions: earlier, the doorway had actually had a door. There was no food in the kitchen and no furniture in any of the rooms, just lots and lots of dust. Dust that had been piling up for a long, long time. Finally, Erin entered the room that had once been Artemis' library, hoping for some answers in one of her books, but even those had disappeared, along with the paintings on the wall.

She walked in and stood in the middle of the floor, feeling all hope drain from her veins. As Erin turned to leave, she almost missed it, but the way the light and shadows met on the ground out of the corner of her eye seemed wrong. She knelt down and picked up a flat board. Under the dust, she could feel the texture of a canvas, so she brushed away the dirt and grime. It was one of Artemis' painting, one of the ones portraying the gods that used to hang on the wall. It was the only thing in this house that gave the slightest inkling that Artemis even existed at all.

Erin set the painting back down where she found it and walked out of the room, and then out of the house. She began walking south, the setting sun to her right casting long and eerie shadows. Soon, they would stop and make camp for the night, but for now she was content to walk.

"Erin," asked Nero, as innocent as ever. "Where are we going now?"

"There's a volcano, one that's pretty well known around the world, that lies to the south. A gym leader used to keep his gym there, but it's been abandoned and dormant for centuries. We're going there. We're going to Cinnabar Island."

Back in the house (Erin couldn't really bring herself to call it Artemis' house anymore), sat the painting. Once upon a time it had shone with all the brilliance that the painter had intended, but now the paint had cracked and the colors had faded. Despite this, the figure in the painting was still quite noticeable, for there was none other like it in the universe. Back in the house, lying on the floor, the only remaining artifact from a world that was mostly unknown to humans, was a painting of the Aurora pokemon, known to most as Suicune.

0000000

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS EARLIER

"What do you think it is?" The boy asked his companion.

His companion did not answer.

"I don't have the slightest clue what it is," the boy said to himself.

His companion still had no comment.

"I'm just going to press something and see what happens." The boy held a flat red devise about the size of a small book in his hand. It lay open with a number of buttons of numerous colors adorning its surface. The boy hadn't the slightest clue as to what was or what it did (his companion was no help at all), but he had seen the girl using it before, so he knew it did something, and probably something of importance.

He pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed another button. Still nothing. He pressed the large blue one toward the top and suddenly the devise sprang to life. A computer screen appeared, much like the one he had used when he still attended an Academy. Actually, it was exactly like it. Only Academies and other important, high-tech facilities had light screen technology. Light screen technology was a science that harnessed light and forced one of its properties to be dominant over the other. Until recently it was thought that light was made up of waves. While this is true, it had been discovered that light also shows characteristics of particles called photons. The light screen technology forces the light to become mostly photons, thus becoming solid and able to be used in an innumerable amount of ways. The Academies used this technology to create computer screens and the like for easy-to-carry laptops that had many more capabilities than before.

The boy looked at this devise curiously. Well, perhaps more curiously than before. He began typing on the light screen keyboard that had appeared along with the computer and found a phone book with only one number in it. He pressed the screen, clicking on the number, and a phone began to ring. A man appeared on the screen, at first excited, but then perplexed at what he saw. But before he got a chance to say anything, the boy spoke.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Who am I?" replied the man. "I should be asking you that question. How did you get this pokedex? Where's Erin?"

"You know Erin?" asked the boy. "Do you know where she is? Wait, pokedex?"

"Why would I know where she is? You're the one who's got her stuff."

"I don't know. She disappeared from her room in the Pokecenter last night and I haven't been able to find her. Who are you again?"

"My name is Professor Chronal. Now who are you?"

"I'm Ryan. Erin and I met a while back and we had a pokemon battle. Then we met again in Lilnith City and hung out, but then she disappeared." Ryan was worried about her, as any good friend would be. "I would search for her, but I don't know where to start looking."

Chronal had a perplexed look on his face. "It's not like Erin to just disappear. Something must have happened." Then he looked up into the screen. "She might go to Cinnabar Island. Normally, I wouldn't think she would, but she wouldn't run off out of the blue either, so I suppose anything's possible. Yes, I would start your search there, if you do actually intend to look for her."

"Why there? Why Cinnabar Island?" asked Ryan. Soru, his absol companion, didn't seem the slightest bit interested in the conversation at all.

"It's where she was born."

000000

A/N: Light does actually have characteristics of both waves and photons; I didn't just make that up. I read a book on it once, for a science fair project.

Anyway, this is the last chapter. I hope you liked the story, 'cause it's over. No more. Ever. Unless you want more, then I have plans for a sequel. I won't write it, though, unless you guys want me to, because there's no point in writing something unless someone's going to read it and review it to help make me a better writer.

Do any of you remember that picture I promised all of you forever ago? My computer's been fixed for a while, only I forgot about the picture. So I give it to you now. Go here: boomspeed(dot)com(slash)charpal(slash)erinscrew0001(dot)JPG to get the picture. It's pretty old by now and I can probably do better now. Actually, I know I can do better. Obviously this was before I knew what shading was. I'll have to draw a better one to show you guys for the sequel. If you want to see more of my work, you can find me at charpal(dot)deviantart(dot)com.