Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Lovelies, never did, never will.
Chapter One: Horror Movie Feelings
Dear Reader, she knew how a horror movie started; not how it looked, but what it felt like. She had felt it all too many times before, almost any moment she was traveling with Ash, that sheer, unexplainable moment where your heart beats out of its cage, your palms sweat too fiercely and your mouth is too dry. That feeling you try to explain away, a weird hormonal impulse, paranoia, or, if feeling a tad superstitious that day, someone was treading on your future grave. You explain it away because the truth, really, is terrifying. Why believe that the horror movie is starting when something so much friendlier could be replaced?
That is what Misty did, despite the knowledge that her instinct had never been wrong before, and every shiver led to trouble. Over the years, she had learned there were certain things no one cared to hear, especially not under the hot summer sun. She would not speak of the tremble while they walked, while the thermometer in Brock's back pocket dragged itself up to the hundred degree mark, while the hot dirt path, yellow and cracked under the forest canopy, made the air and trees around her ripple, and would surely make the lake they were going to evaporate.
However, she would open her mouth to complain. "Dammit, it's hot," She moaned, more dragging her feet then lifting them. The once vibrant red sneakers were coated with dust, their color dull and laces limp. Her red hair drooped over pale, dusty skin and tired blue-green eyes, struggling loose from the side ponytail she had spent all of three seconds working on today. Her yellow shirt clung to her, tight in some places because of the red suspenders she wore to hold up her too short fading blue jean shorts. "Ash, why did you have to go and bring us out here on a day like this. It better be good. Better be loads better than some regular lake."
"Will be," He smiled charmingly, brown eyes dancing in delight. He took off his league cap and fanned himself, shaking his sweaty black hair, then shoved it back on his head. He wore faded jeans a black t-shirt, something that obviously did not help the heat. "Best campsite you've ever seen, right outside Pallet. It's got a ghost story to go along with it. I don't know it too well, just five kids, just like us, go into the woods. The parents hear the screams every night and look for them, but no one can be found, and, eventually, they do find their children, buried by each other in tiny graves marked with pebbles."
"And how did the last teen get buried?" Misty challenged. "If all the others were dead and buried, how did the last one get in the ground? Did he dig a hole and have his pokémon bury him underneath then suffocate to death? Seems highly unlikely, Ash. And if everyone was screaming, why didn't the parents just follow the sounds of the screams to get their kids? Why did the kids stay in the woods if their friends kept dying every night. I would leave, wouldn't you?"
"They couldn't leave because it was dark magic, same with the parents not finding them, duh," The boy rolled his eyes. "The monster buried the kids in the ground. You're not supposed to question a horror story, Misty. You're just supposed to get scared by it, not figure out if it's true or not. If you try and figure out if it's true it takes all the fun out of it for everyone else! So don't be a spoil sport and pretend to be scared."
She rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to do, scream?"
"Be my guest."
She was all set to scream, mouth open wide and taking in a deep breath when Brock clapped a hand over her mouth. The black teen narrowed his eyes at her and she blushed under his reprimanding gaze. He was taller than the rest of them, clad in dark khakis, a t-shirt, and a vest that left his muscled arms exposed. "Let's grow up a little. Can you stop acting like you're ten and start acting like you're sixteen. It's just a ghost story, Misty, and it's not that hot out. You don't need to use every excuse to argue with Ash."
"Yeah, don't argue with me," He giggled, crossing his eyes at her.
"Oh, shut up Ash. You'd be cranky too if you were in shorts. I'm getting bitten all over. You have no idea how much it sucks to be a bug magnet. I'm going to have mosquito bites the size of quarters tonight, you hear me? Look at this one, right here, it's about to start bleeding. Bug bites make me bleed, you insensitive bastard. You better have a lot of bug spray in your bag, because you didn't tell me where we were going and I had no idea I was going into the woods where there's bugs everywhere."
"Don't worry, Mist. I've got bug spray to spare. Don't have a conniption, okay?"
"I'm not the only one with a bug bite problem. Ask May, she'll agree with me, won't you May? You're getting all bitten up too." She turned for sympathy to her companion, but she was in her boyfriend's arms, happily swapping spit with him despite the attention turned on them. "Hey! It's hot enough as it is! Why don't you turn down the heat and focus on something other than each other? Like, oh, I don't know, getting me some fucking bug spray!"
"You're getting bitten?" May giggled. The brunette was set on the ground, her sparkling blue eyes set off her bright red outfit. Though her shorts were just as short as Misty's, and the t-shirt was just as tight, she seemed perfectly content. "That sucks. I never get bitten. Bugs have some kind of an aversion to me. Same thing with the rest of my family. None of us ever get bitten. It's pretty nice, especially in a place like this where the bugs are the size of your hand and they take huge bites. You're going to spend your whole night rubbing bug spray and aloe vera over you. I don't carry anything. How about you, Drew?"
He shrugged. With green eyes and green hair, he was certainly an anomaly. He wore purple and green, pants, shirt and a vest much like Brock. "I don't mind bug bites too much. I probably don't get it as bad as you. Sorry Misty. So, Ash, what's so special about this lake you're taking us too? Is it some kind of nude beach?"
"In Pallet?" Ash snorted. "No, nothing like that. I'm not sure how to describe it. Uh, let me think. I guess you'd describe it as…when the sun goes down, as it's setting, the lake looks like it turns this awesome deep blood red color. Usually it's so clear you can see the bottom, but at sunset it looks darker than it does at night. You can shine a flashlight straight at it, all you see is blood red water. You can't see down at all. It's so cool."
"Ooh, I'm getting shivers," May giggled. "Blood red water, sounds like something from a Hollywood movie. I bet that means I would die first, since I'm the prettiest of all the people here." She struck a model pose, putting one hand dramatically to her forehead. "Oh no, the beast has come for me! There's nothing I can do but scream and wait for it to drink every last drop of my blood. It's going to eat all my organs. Oh no!"
"Ugh," Misty groaned. "Could we not talk about this stuff? I hate blood and guts."
"That makes you the first to go," Ash snickered, waving his fingers tauntingly at her.
"Ash, you're such a dick," She growled.
He stopped. "Oh, you really are scared, aren't you?" He shook his head and smiled. "Misty, they're pretty sure that what was out here was a homicidal maniac because he moved his business into town a few days after the kids died. They threw him in jail and they guy died over fifty years ago. If it was a pokémon, it's already dead. The only thing you've got to worry about is ghosts, and all ghosts can do is scare you. They can't kill you."
"How do you know?" She accused, crossing her arms and glaring.
"Because I'm Ash," He retorted. "So, everyone can stop freaking out, there's not actually anything scary out here but a couple of ghosts and a legend or two. There's plenty of bugs and bug types to freak Misty out, but that's just the way the woods are. You're used to them by now, aren't you Misty? Or are you still paranoid that one of them is going to jump out and kill you every two seconds?"
"Hey, Ash?" Misty purred.
"Uh-huh," He said, cocking his head at her.
"You better start running, because I'm going to kill you!" She shouted.
He laughed and turned on his heel, barreling down the path with Misty right behind. She caught up to him and tackled him into the dirt. The two ended up scuffling for a while and the others walked back, May and Drew back to making out, and Brock muttering to himself something about how he hated teenagers. The wrestling tournament ended when Brock kicked them both in the side, making them separate and start walking peacefully once again.
Misty sighed and pulled the rubber band out to remake her side ponytail. "Okay, so, here we are. The woods outside of Pallet Town, and what lovely woods they are. I'm being eaten by bugs. I'm getting grossed out by May and Drew. I'm getting annoyed by Brock muttering under his breath about how much he hated us all, and, yeah, Brock, I can hear you. Ash, you're just being a total jerk, and we're in haunted woods. We're in woods where the lake turns blood red. That's troubling, Ash. How can you be so calm when we're in the woods with blood red water. That should be a warning sign in your mind to not go in the damn woods. This is dangerous, Ashton. Very freak a leaky stuff. We ought to get out of here now before something comes out and kills us, because I don't want to die. There's so much I have to do…you haven't even gotten laid yet," She snickered.
"Shut up. There's not anything in here you need to worry about, just snakes and rocks and trees. There's nothing dangerous in my hometown. Unless you're planning on getting freaked out by a spider or two, a spider that's harmless to humans, you don't need to have an attack. It's fine, and none of us real men are going to let anything hurt you." Ash puffed out his chest proudly. "We are strong! We are brave! We are men!"
"You're high strung on caffeine and testosterone. We'll see how manly you are when those run out."
"A real man never runs out of testosterone," Ash declared, thumping his still puffed out chest.
"Then you'll be running out pretty quickly, won't you Ashley?" She smirked, pushing him playfully. She had a little too much muscle behind her, however, and the nudge toppled him and the too heavy backpack, filled with useless niceties he could not have when he traveled across countries, and drove him hard into the ground, sending him sprawling into the dirt with a low moan.
He stuck his tongue out and threw his bag to the earth behind him. Ash looked at it for a moment, then nodded. "This can be our campsite. It's a few minute walk to the lake, the trail is about twenty feet away. I'd know how to get there anyway. I practically grew up in these woods. What I'm thinking is we can relax tonight, ghost stories around a campfire, roasting marshmallows, pulling Drew and May apart. Ew, seriously, could you two stop making out? I'm sixteen, I'm going to throw up. Stop it."
His plea fell on silent ears as the two continued to make out and Misty pulled a face of her own. "Alright, let's just set up tents or something. If set up a tent we won't have to watch…that. And, believe you me, the last thing I want to watch is that. I'm getting out of here before nightfall. I hate this disgusting place. We should have just stayed at your house instead of coming out to this hell hole to see blood red water! Haunted words, and you know how I feel about ghosts! You've done a wonderful job of terrifying me this time! I hope you're fucking happy!"
"There's nothing to be scared of, Mist," Ash said patiently. "I wouldn't have brought you if there was. Trust me, there's nothing more painful than the thought of a precious wallflower being injured. In fact, just knowing how horrible you feel from those bug bites is torture. If only there was something I could do to make the princess feel better! Tell me, I'm your damn slave. What do you want to make this whole thing fixed?" His voice rose to a scream.
"Number one, Ash Ketchum my name is Misty, not Mist. Number two, I want to be out of this fucking forest. Number three, I want you dead!" She stomped her foot and began to advance on him, face in a snarl, but Brock caught her shoulder and held her back.
"I'll go back with you tonight, Misty. I wanted to work on some stuff in Mrs. Ketchum's kitchen. She has some of the best herbs around. I'll even make you some of my home remedy bug bite cream. How does that sound? We'll stay for marshmallows and stories and go back before it's too late. That solves everyone's problem. No more arguing form either of you, is that okay?" Brock looked back and forth between the two still fuming teens, who nodded with gritted teeth. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Painful," Misty murmured, twisting away from Brock. "Thank you, Brock. You didn't have to do that."
"No, I didn't," He chuckled. "You should be kissing my feet with gratitude, you poor bug bitten freak."
"This is why I hate bugs," She agreed.
"Alright, everyone's calmed down," Ash said. "I've got an idea for a new game for me to play with Misty, one you're absolutely going to love. But, before we start anything, we've got to set up camp. Boys do tents, girls do firewood. Brock, you want to cook dinner for us, if it's not too much trouble?" The boy blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I, er, forgot to eat tonight. I don't think anyone else did either so, you don't have to but…"
"It's no problem, Ash. I've been cooking for you for the past six years, an extra night won't kill me." Brock clapped loudly and rubbed his hands together, starting Drew and May from their romantic actions. "You two, Drew help Ash, May help Misty. You can finish doing whatever you were doing tonight. Just make sure I don't have to hear it. Go team!"
(PAGE BREAK)
"Mmm, No-Chew stew," Ash grinned, "my favorite. Thanks for making it Brock! It's just like old times. You're cooking the best meals, I'm excited for the journey ahead and Misty is complaining about everything. The only difference is May and Drew. I know that they just got together, but don't you think they could stop for a couple minutes to eat? I think they're going to starve for love. It's like Romeo and Juliet, except it's disgusting because I have to watch."
"So what's this new game of yours, Ash?" Misty asked, spooning some hot liquid down her throat. "Wow! You really outdid yourself this time, Brock. It tastes fantastic! Did you try a new recipe or something, or are Mrs. Ketchum's herbs really that good?"
"Same recipe, just Mrs. Ketchum's garden that did the work this time," Brock grinned.
"So, are you nervous about my new game, Misty?" He asked, flashing his own smile her way. "Admit it, it's terrifying you. You're afraid of my revenge. You should be, I've got an awful lot to get revenge for. You've been mean to me my entire life and I think now is a good time to turn the tables. After all, everything changes around this age. I'm taller than you, so why not introduce a few other changes? Like, oh, I don't know, me being the sarcastic one?"
"I hope that's your first sarcastic comment, because I'm keeping that role, Ash. I only asked what the new game was so I would know how annoyed I'm going to be for the next few days. I don't want to talk to anyone I like while some annoying little twerp is bothering me twenty for seven."
"I'm not a twerp."
"Oh, please. You're such a twerp."
"No, I'm not! Take it back!" Ash began to fume.
"I thought we said no more fighting!" Brock moaned. "Guys, I made you a great soup and all you can do is fight. Why can't you two be more like Drew and May? Even if they are gross, at least they're quiet! Besides, we all know the only reason you two fight is because you're so desperately in love. You want each other. You need each other. You have dreams about one another, all hot and heavy and-"
"You're sick," Misty scoffed.
"Actually, Misty, that's part of my new game." The boy smirked. "It's the best part of my new game. Since everyone's always saying how much we're in love, and that's the reason we fight, I'm going to prove it. Since you're always the one that starts the fight, I never do, I'm going to prove you're in love with me. Before you leave for Cerulean, you're going to confess you're in love with me. Just you wait. Just you wait, Misty." He cackled.
"You're a spaz," She laughed. "I can't believe you honestly think that I'm in love with you. I love you just about as much as I love these man eating bugs you set on me. Listen, Ash, you're crazy. Not the ordinary kind of crazy, but the institution kind. I hate you more than anyone else I've ever met. Rest assured in that." She shook her head. "Completely nuts. You better not touch me. You know what happens if you do that." She glared at him.
"I know. You'll hit me where the sun don't shine," Ash grinned. "You don't have to worry, Misty. I'm just going to flirt with you and drive you wild with my masculine charms. I'm going to walk around without a shirt on. You'll go wild with lust for me. I'm sorry, I'll have to tell you now that I don't feel the same way. If you want to spare yourself some heartache, just confess it now and I won't have to rip your heart to shreds."
"…Alrighty," Misty said, cocking her head to the side. She shook it and turned back to her stew, scraping the bowl for some delicious morsels before continuing, "I'll try my very best there, Ashley. Brock, I'll try my very best not to maul Ash from pent up desire when he decides to take his shirt off. I wouldn't want to scar you like that. It'll be a challenge, but I think I'll be able to manage. I'll wait until We're all alone to molest him. Sound good, Ash?"
"No. I don't want to be molested, especially not from some tomboy with ugly red hair!" Ash complained. "But you will go mad with desire for me, Misty, just like all the other girls I've met. Lots of girls think I've amazingly hot, don't they Brock? I have fangirls like Gary's cheerleaders!"
"Really?" Brock teased, beginning to cover up the leftovers and tuck them away in his bag. "I haven't seen any. You've got to stop hiding those girls from me and stop sharing! That is, unless you don't have any and you were just pretending to have some. If I don't get some fangirls soon, we're going to have to say you're either a heartless jerk who won't share girls with his friend, or you're a nerd with no fangirls."
Ash sighed and hung his head. "Alright, I don't have any fangirls, but that doesn't mean I'm a nerd. It doesn't mean that Misty isn't in love with me either! I mean, you always blush when people accuse us of being together! That proves that you're in love with me!"
"No, it doesn't," Misty giggled. "It means that I'm embarrassed to be seen with you. Brock, shouldn't we start roasting the marshmallows soon? We're all done. Well, all of us that are eating instead of making out tonight." She rolled her eyes at the 'happy couple'.
"Oh, I don't know. It feels like we should wait for them, doesn't it?" Brock sighed. "It's rude to start when not everyone is finished. Then again, I'm not exactly sure they would care. Maybe it would be better to start. The sooner we roast marshmallows the sooner we can get back and sleep in a warm bed. Plus, I think we're do for a good ghost story." He nodded to himself. "I'll get the marshmallows and sticks.
May perked up at that, turning away from her boyfriend with a smile. "Marshmallows?"
"Of course," Misty giggled. "That's the one you heard."
"Your laugh is intoxicating," Ash whispered in his most romantic voice, cuddling close to his best friend, but not touching. "What do you say we ditch these kids and go have a romantic night of our own? I can think of a few good things for marshmallows other than eating. Doesn't that sound cool?"
"Sure…if you were Gary," Misty smirked.
"Aw! Why'd you have to bring him in?" Ash moaned at his rival's name. "I think this game is going to be harder than I thought. Why are you so stubborn? Don't you want to confess your feelings for me and pray that I return them with all the passion I can muster?"
"No," She snorted. Misty leaned forward to take a marshmallow and a stick from Brock's hands and dipped it into the flame. "I think it's time for ghost stories. One story, and then Brock and I are out of here. You guys better not plan on one of those stupid one-boy-tells-the-story-while-the-other-jumps-out-and-scares-the-crap-out-of-everyone things. I'll kill everyone who participates. I hate it when things jump out at me."
"That just makes me want to do it more! But no one else will do it with me. How about you, Pikachu?" The boy turned to his mousey companion and stroked its head comfortingly. It leaned into his touch with a small happy sound. "Come on, you want to scare Misty with me? You'll shock anyone who tries to hurt me, even if I started it? Besides, she uses all water types so if she calls out her pokémon we'll definitely be safe."
It glared up at him, ears twitching, then scuttled into Misty's arms and opened its eager mouth for a marshmallow to be stuck inside. Which, unsurprisingly, it was. Pikachu chewed with obvious delight and nestled into Misty instead of its true owner.
"…Pikachu ditched me," Ash whimpered. "Why? I raised you! I loved you! You can't betray me like this!"
"I think it just did," Drew smirked. "By the way, about you two going back. May and I left our pokémon at Mrs. Ketchum's house, would you mind letting them out for a while? Mine are fine on their own and they usually don't run off anywhere. If they do, don't worry, they'll be back around dinner time or at least come in for the night. I just don't think it's fair to leave them in for a few days."
"I agree with you one hundred percent," Brock nodded. "I'll let them all out for you tomorrow morning."
"Mmm, marshmallows," May murmured, licking her fingers clean of the gooey substance. "Let's hear a ghost story! Ooh, how about the one about the lake? I want to hear about it! It sounds creepy. I bet I won't be able to sleep at all tonight if I hear that one."
"What's so good about being so scared out of you mind that you can't sleep?" Misty sighed, feeding Pikachu another marshmallow. "Sounds horrible to me. I can barely stay up past eleven. It would suck to stay up all night."
"Aren't you the party animal?" Ash snorted.
"Shut up, Ash," Misty glared. "You're being worse than usual today. In fact, you've been annoying all week, hasn't he Brock?"
"He's just as excited as a puppy that his girlfriend is finally here," Brock laughed, despite Ash's ticked off expression. The boy snatched a marshmallow off the stick, takin a bit of the bark with him because of the fierce bite. "He wouldn't shut up about it. Sure, he tried to hide how excited he was, but he just couldn't help himself. He loves you more than you'll ever know. He fantasizes about you in his sleep. I hear him all the time."
"I do too!" May piped up. "Er, not fantasize about you, Misty. I hear Ash moaning about you all the time."
"You do not because I don't!" Ash growled. He turned to Misty and grinned. "Do you? Should I strip down to my underwear now so you can gaze upon my glory? You should see my six pack. It's amazing." He patted his stomach proudly and puffed out his chest.
"Huh, really? That's fascinating. Because I've seen you without a shirt loads of times and there's no six pack to be found."
"Oh yeah? Well, once upon a time, five teenagers, just like us, wandered into the forests outside Pallet," Ash's face took on an evil smile, his voice becoming as haunting and spooky as he could make it. "They were young, just like us, and just looking for some fun. This was a long, long time ago, and back then this place wasn't called Crimson Lake. The lake didn't turn that red color, not back then. How were they supposed to know that they were in for hell? Happy and carefree, they set up camp for the night, and it was peaceful. Nothing scary happened, nothing bad at least, they didn't think anything bad did. But, sure enough, the next morning they woke up to find nothing but the skeleton of their friend. The bones had been picked clean of all flesh, all the guts had been eaten and the bones practically shone in the sun. They were scared, but when they tried to leave the forest, something wouldn't let them. They tried and tried to walk away, but they were trapped by the tent and campfire. They didn't know what ghostly oddity was keeping them there. So that night, terrified, they went to sleep."
"Why would they go to sleep?" Misty asked. "Wouldn't they try and stay up so, they wouldn't get eaten? These teens sound awfully stupid if you ask me. Why didn't their friend scream as he was being attacked?"
"I don't know! He was a mute or something and teens in horror stories are always stupid! If they ran away from danger instead of towards it there wouldn't be a freaking story." Ash waved his arms erratically. "Will you let me tell the damn story without all your realistic crap?"
She crossed her arms, stuck her tongue out and pouted, getting a giggled from the rest of the group.
"Why are you laughing?" Ash whined. "It's supposed to be a scary story! You ruin everything Misty, you know that?"
"It's my job," She giggled. "And don't you go around blaming me because you're not terrifying, you got that? You're just too nice to ever tell a scary story. Maybe if Brock told it we'd be a little more terrified, but it's hard to be scared of someone with a voice like yours. It's all high and squeaky, not intimidating at all. My voice is probably scarier than yours. Maybe I should tell a scary story of my own, see who's scarier."
"I'm plenty scary!" Ash shouted, balling up his fists.
"Not really," Drew sighed. "You're about as scary as a dry towel that's just been fluffed up by a dryer. I'm sorry."
"No you're not!" Ash fumed. "I'm not going to tell you how the story ends now. You're just going to have to wonder forever what happened! Try and sleep at night figuring out what killed all the children and if it's still out there devouring the souls of young trainers!"
"You already told us earlier that they all died and the guy was caught in town. Remember, when you were trying to persuade me to stay and not be scared? Your plan pretty much failed there." Misty put another marshmallow into her mouth and gave a happy moan. "I love the super fluffy marshmallows you get, Brock! Where do you find these? You've got to send me some when I get back to Cerulean! My sisters would love them!"
"You're just ignoring me on purpose, aren't you?" Ash huffed. "Well, fine! I don't care about you anyhow! You should just get out of here, right now! Brock, take Misty back to my house! I don't want to have to deal with her anymore. Go now! Out of my sight!"
"Yeah, yeah, your highness," Misty rolled her eyes. "Brock, what do you say we do head out? These bug bites are really starting to get to me. If I don't get some of your special medicine soon I think I'm going to scratch holes in my arms. Don't you hate it when that happens?"
"No," Brock shrugged, standing. "Unlike you, I'm not a bug magnet. We'll see you in a couple days, right Ash?"
"Mmm-hmm, probably the day after tomorrow," Ash nodded. "And then I'll keep playing my game with Misty."
The girl wrinkled her nose and set Pikachu down next to her, carefully getting to her feet. "Great, wouldn't want to miss that game for the world. Brock, can we please get out of here before I go insane?"
The older boy grinned. "Alright, alright. Goodnight everyone. See you in the morning."
And, Dear Reader, she knew how a horror movie started; not how it looked, but what it felt like. She had felt it all too many times before, almost any moment she was traveling with Ash, that sheer, unexplainable moment where your heart beats out of its cage, your palms sweat too fiercely and your mouth is too dry. That feeling you try to explain away, a weird hormonal impulse, paranoia, or, if feeling a tad superstitious that day, someone was treading on your future grave. You explain it away because the truth, really, is terrifying. Why believe that the horror movie is starting when something so much friendlier could be replaced?