A/N: Thanks for clicking on this story! I hope you enjoy it, despite its weirdness.

This was written for andrewmcmahons's challenge Pokemon Horror Oneshots Challenge on the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The challenge was to write a horror-themed one-shot about anything in the Pokémon universe, about at least one human character or at least one Pokémon character, consisting of at least 1,000 words.

A special thank you for my friend who helped me with his story, reading over it and giving advice. So, thank you :)

Warning: This story contains gore and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Payback

Ah, nothing better than a new region and a new adventure, Ash Ketchum thought happily, walking through the forest. As soon as he had set foot in the Kalos region, Ash had loved it here. New Pokémon, new people, new adventures… what more could he wish for?

He whistled a tune as Pikachu ran ahead of him. He had been training Pokémon for four years now, but his Starter Pokémon Pikachu had always stayed at his side. Yes, what more could he possibly wish for?

As the day progressed, dark clouds started to hide the sun, and Ash was smart enough to know it was going to rain soon.

"Looks like we're going to get wet if we don't find shelter soon, buddy," the raven-haired boy said to his Pokémon, who was now sitting on his shoulder, tired after all the running it had done.

The yellow Mouse Pokémon chu'ed in agreement, and Ash started to walk faster, in the hope of finding something like a cave or an old shack somewhere. Unfortunately, something like that wasn't anywhere close, and even after an hour of searching and clouds getting darker, Ash and Pikachu were still in danger of getting wet.

Suddenly, a building on a hilltop caught Ash's eye. It was still far away, but so far it was the only sign of civilization they had seen in a while. Deciding to take their chances, Ash turned to the left, walking up a small, tortuous path.

Trees towered over the small path, and as not much light reached the soil of this part of the forest, it was constantly dusky. The trees were huge, old and stood close to each other. This all gave Ash the feeling it was late at night, rather than just late in the afternoon.

A low rumble was heard – thunder, Ash realized. He had to hurry, and started to speed up even more. Many twists, turns and bifurcations later, so many that even Ash realized that he would never find his way back to the main path, the endless, thick forest finally seemed to end.

A big grassy hill stood in front of him, with on top the building he had seen from afar. It turned out to be an old mansion, huge and imposing. And a shelter for our poor Ash and Pikachu.

Ash didn't know it, but if he had known what was waiting for him in that house, he would've chosen the rain over it any day.

As he didn't mean any harm, Ash just quickly settled in a small room, where he unpacked his stuff and ate a quick meal with Pikachu. With not much else to do, he lay down in his sleeping bag and listened to the rain.

When he had knocked on the wooden doors earlier, he had found out that they were already open. He had yelled around the house, walked through the old-fashioned corridors, but the house appeared to be completely deserted.

It was still early, but he decided to go to sleep anyway – that way, he could leave early tomorrow, and maybe make it to the next city in one day.

"Goodnight Pikachu," the boy muttered to his yellow Pokémon, who chu'ed sleepily in response.

Little did Ash know that it wouldn't be a good night for him.

Because of an unknown reason, Ash woke up in the middle of the night. He stared at the wooden ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night. The rain had stopped falling, but the wind continued beating against the mansion. He threw a glance at Pikachu, only to notice that his Pokémon was gone.

Startled, he sat up and looked around, but couldn't find the familiar yellow fur of his buddy.

"Pikachu?" he called, the sound echoing through the empty house. "Pikachu!"

Worried, he got up, the floor creaking under his feet. Ash walked through the deserted corridors, dust rising from the red carpet as he stepped on it. Moonlight fell through the windows, dimly lighting the corridors and rooms.

"Pikachu! Pikachu! Where are you?" His voice echoed through the house, causing years old cobwebs to tremble.

As he continued searching, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. Or that something was about to happen. Without his buddy, he suddenly felt a little scared. Where could've Pikachu ran off to?

Was something moving there? Yes, something, near the staircase. It didn't look like Pikachu though… Ash swallowed, getting closer to that moving thing. As he got closer, it appeared human, sitting cross-legged, with its back towards him. And it seemed to have a huge head of hair.

Confused, Ash stared at the figure for a few seconds, before asking, "Iris?"

The girl turned around, revealing that she was indeed Iris. Her eyes stared at Ash's face, an expression on her face the boy couldn't quite place.

"Hello Ash," she said, her voice completely devoid of any emotions.

Ash however, didn't notice her strange voice and didn't pay attention to the weird look in her eyes, he was way too happy to see a familiar face.

"Iris, I'm so glad to see you! I didn't know you were coming to Kalos, and it's such a coincidence we met each other here! Now, can you help me? I can't seem to find Pikachu!"

"Really? Are you glad to see me?" She spoke again in that emotionless voice, as she took a few steps closer.

"Yeah, I'm really-" he started off happily, but stopped as he finally noticed Iris's eyes. "Are- are you okay, Iris?"

Her eyes were focused on his face, and Ash couldn't find a word to describe them. In the dark they seemed normal, just her normal brown eyes, but now the moonlight shined in them… They seem blind, Ash thought for a moment, but immediately realized that that wasn't true. Iris could see very well, but her eyes were empty.

Soulless.

Ash shuddered involuntary. But Iris was his friend, there was no need to be scared of her… right?

"No," she said slowly, emotionlessly, "No, I'm not okay…"

"O- oh," Ash forced out. Keep it cool, Ketchum, stay calm, there's nothing to be scared of, even if Iris is acting a bit weird. "What's wrong? Can- can I do anything?"

The girl ignored his first question, but took another few steps closer to him as she answered his last question. "Yes, you can do something for me…"

For a moment Ash thought the corners of her mouth turned up, and that a flicker of emotion appeared in her eyes, but it was too short to be sure.

"Oh?" he asked, involuntary taking a step back. This is just Iris, he told himself sternly, stop being such a wimp!

The dark-skinned girl nodded. "Remember when we parted ways in Unova?"

She didn't wait for his answer, just continued getting closer to him as she spoke. "I missed you terribly Ash, and you never called… And even worse…"

Despite that she said that she had missed him, her voice was still emotionless. Ash took another few steps back, unable to stop himself from getting scared, and tried to force out an 'I'm sorry' but it came out as a high squeak.

"You didn't hug me when you left…"

Ash tried to speak, but only a few high-pitched noises escaped his mouth.

Iris continued, ignoring Ash's attempts to form a coherent word. "So I'm coming to get that hug now…"

"Now?" Ash squeaked.

Finally Iris's emotionless face changed. A grin formed on her face – did her teeth seem sharper? – and an emotion appeared in her eyes, though it took Ash some time before he realized what it was. Malice. Anger. Hate.

Now he didn't even try to deny that he was scared, as the only thing he was thinking was run, run, run! Ash stumbled backwards and tripped over his own feet in his haste, falling down on the dusty carpet.

Iris continued walking closer to him, her arms wide, ready to hug him. Her teeth shimmered in the moonlight, and her eyes shined with malice. For a weird long moment Ash wondered if her clothes had been already ripped when he saw her for the first time, but then realized with a shock that those weren't her clothes.

Pieces skin of her face seemed to be falling off and long strips of skin hung around her arms, lightly flapping when she moved her arms.

She noticed his shocked face, and looked disinterested at her skin falling from the rest of her body. Her voice was cold when she spoke."This is what you did to me, Ash, I'm falling apart without you."

For a second Ash felt like fainting, and he felt sick to his stomach. Then his instincts kicked in and he jumped up, turned his back on that creature that used to be Iris and ran. He ran and ran and ran, through the corridors and up the stairs, till he finally ran in a room and, breathing heavily, he shut it, leaning with his back against it.

This is a dream, it has to be a dream, Ash told himself, trying to catch his breath again. This can't be real, this has to be a dream.

He pinched himself, slapped himself in the face, willed himself to wake up, but when he opened his eyes, he was still in a dusty old room.

"Hello Ash." A voice coming from the shadows suddenly spoke up. Startled, Ash jumped up, and turned his head to the direction the voice had come from.

Out of the shadows a tall figure appeared, the same soulless look in his green eyes as Iris had.

"Ci- Cilan," Ash stuttered almost inaudible.

"Hello Ash," the Connoisseur repeated, his voice not completely devoid of emotions – no, for in his voice, malice was very clearly heard.

Two long thin knives shined in the moonlight, being firmly and skilfully held by Cilan. Blood stained his white shirt and dripped from his left arm. Or well, what used to be his left arm. Ash felt bile burning in his throat as he realized that Cilan's left arm only consisted of bones with little bloody pieces of flesh dangling on them.

"Did you miss me Ash? Did you miss my cooking skills?" He grinned at the boy, baring his sharp teeth. "I practiced, you know. I'm now a master in defleshing."

He did that to himself. His arm, he did that himself. Ash didn't think he could stand this much longer. He had to get out. He needed to move, but his body wasn't responding – he stood completely frozen.

"Shall I show you, Ash? Shall I show you my new skills?" Hostility was written on Cilan's face, and if Ash hadn't felt scared before, he sure did now. Threateningly the young man took a few steps towards him, the knifes pointing at Ash's face.

Finally Ash seemed to regain control over his body, and with a shriek, he turned around and yanked the door open, fleeing from whatever nightmare he had gotten stuck in. He just ran, and only stopped when he was finally out of breath.

His body was trembling and exhausted he dropped on his knees, the contents of his stomach spilling on the carpet. Tears were burning in his eyes as he shakily stood up again. What the hell is happening?

Ash didn't know, and he didn't even want to know. He just wanted to get out. Slowly his common sense was coming back again.

Okay, it told him, take a deep breath Ash. Good, yeah, like that. Now, where are you?

Still shaking, but slightly calmer now, the boy looked around. He was in one of the darker corridors, the moonlight not reaching this side of the house, and he was pretty sure he was still on the second floor.

In his panic, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going, and now he couldn't be sure where exactly he was. But that doesn't matter, he told himself. Just climb out of a window, breaking a leg is always better than whatever Iris and Cilan are planning.

He took another deep breath, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. But what about Pikachu? Ash knew he couldn't just leave his dear Pokémon here, in the hands of these monsters. No, he needed to get Pikachu first. How was-

All thoughts about Pikachu disappeared when two shadowy figures came around the corner. Ash's breath hitched in his throat, and for a moment he stood frozen, staring at Iris and Cilan coming nearer.

For a split second, Ash hoped it were his friends, and not the monsters who were out to get him. But that hope was destroyed when he saw the hatred on their faces, the malice in their eyes and their mutilated bodies.

Without further thinking, Ash sprinted away, his feet hitting the ground with more force by every panicked step he took.

Ash didn't know it, but he was now running in the older section of the mansion. The carpet was worn and in most places the wood beneath it was rotten, weakened by time and incompetent care. So when the teenage boy stepped on it, it wasn't a surprise that one of the planks finally broke through.

Ash yelped when his footing suddenly disappeared, and fell face first on the floor, causing the wood to break through even more. In a few seconds, part of the floor had been completely disappeared, and the only thing that kept Ash from falling were his hands grabbing on one of the few planks that was still whole.

His nails were desperately digging in the wood, but he knew he wasn't able to hold on for long. So, this is it then, Ash thought with an unusual sense of clarity and sadness. I'm finally going to die.

Then two pairs of feet appeared in his line of sight, and when he looked up even further, he saw Iris and Cilan grinning menacingly down at him.

"We could pull him up and have some fun with him," Iris said, looking at Cilan.

He grinned and shook his head. "No, we had our fun, now it's their turn. Not to mention, she would want to see him alive."

Silently, the green-haired boy handed Iris one of his knives.

"Time to help you down, Ash," Cilan said, giving him a cold smile.

"No," the raven-haired boy tried to say, but no sound came out of his mouth. Simultaneously the two moved their knives down, aiming for Ash's hands. Reflexively he let go, and fell down, his mouth open in a silent scream.

His body felt bruised when he regained consciousness, and he wondered for a moment if everything had been a dream. His head was pounding, his shirt was gone – huh? – and when he wanted to move his hands he realized they were tied together above his head. He quickly found out his feet were tied together as well.

"Ah, you are awake." A female voice suddenly spoke up, and Ash turned his head to see who had spoken.

A blue-haired girl was sitting with her back towards him, but he didn't need to see her face to know who she was.

"Dawn! Please, get me out of here, we're in danger, you hav-" Ash abruptly stopped talking when her emotionless eyes focused on his face. "Oh no…"

She gave him a smile that was supposed to look sweet, but instead looked painful. "Hullo Ash."

He didn't know how to respond, just stared at her. His mouth ran dry when she picked up a small, sharp dagger. It wasn't the dagger that scared him – okay, partly it was, but her hands…

Her fingers were completely black, ashen, charred – and the rest of her hands weren't much better. They were red and full of blisters, and the closer the skin came to her wrists, the lighter red it became, till it looked like normal skin.

Ash still didn't know what to say, but Dawn saw him staring at her hands.

"I put my hands in the fire for you; you, who never called!" She had started calmly, but almost yelled the last part.

"So." Dawn smirked, grabbing the dagger more firmly with her burnt hands. "I'll now make sure you'll never forget my Pokégear number."

The girl sat down on his stomach, one leg on either side of his body. If the girl had been a bit older and Ash a bit less dense, this might have been an awkward and compromising position, but this effect was nullified anyway because of Dawn's maniacal grin and the dagger she was holding.

Her grin grew wider as she pointed the point of the dagger towards Ash's bare chest, ready to incise her Pokégear number in his chest. Panicking, Ash wriggled and squirmed, doing his best to free himself. In his attempts, he managed to break the rope keeping his hands tied down to the floor, and they shot up, knocking the monster Dawn off him.

Thinking fast, Ash managed to grab the dagger with his hands tied together, and quickly cut the robes keeping his hands together. After cutting the robes around his feet, he sprang up, cringing as his bruises reminded him of his fall.

When Ash took off, he heard Dawn yelling after him. "Just wait and see what she will do with you!"

This time the boy didn't even get a breather, instead he almost immediately ran into a tall, broad-shouldered young man. Ash jumped back, a sticky goo on his skin where he had touched the man's skin.

With wide eyes, he looked at the person in front of him. The person's skin was completely gone, and not like Iris's skin had, just falling off – no, here it seemed like someone had brutally ripped it off, the wounds still bleeding.

"You skinned me Ash. I gave you everything I could, and you never thanked me. You skinned me," the person spoke in a cold voice.

It was only when the person had spoken that Ash realized that it was Brock. He didn't look like Brock anymore, just like a mangled mess of a human body. The boy felt sick again; the bloody details burned themselves in his retina, causing him to see the body even when he closed his eyes.

Ash couldn't move, nor produce a sound – he was completely frozen in horror at seeing Brock.

"I'll show you how much you hurt me Ash," the once-tanned man spoke vengefully. Out of his pocket he pulled something, and Ash prepared himself to see the worst sort of weapon or torture device, but instead he was faced with-

"A cheese slicer?" The weird urge to laugh, despite everything, overtook Ash and a chuckle escaped him.

"Don't laugh!" Brock spat. "I'll skin you like you skinned me!"

"With a cheese slicer?" The whole situation still felt ridiculous to Ash. He didn't know why he felt so scared a minute ago – he could handle Brock, especially since he was just armed with a cheese slicer.

He could fight Brock, he could do that. Ash clenched his fists, and only now realized that they were sticky. Looking more closely at them, he recognized the red goo: blood. Brock's blood.

Ash shuddered and swallowed back bile, then looked at the creature called Brock again. He wouldn't fight him, that was too… disgusting. Not to mention that Brock was still taller than him, and very probably stronger too.

Right at that moment, Brock leaped towards him. With a yelp, Ash just managed to avoid him. Just run, his mind told him. Run and get out of this mad house.

He turned around and sprinted out of the corridor, vaguely hearing Brock yelling, "She'll get you anyway!"

When Ash was running this time, he felt a bit calmer. Not as panicked as before. He needed to find a way out. Without further thinking, he opened a random door, where he was met with a nasty surprise.

Inside stood a person he quickly recognized as Tracey, holding an axe. Before the artist could open up his mouth, Ash slammed the door in his face and made a run for it.

Right, no more doors.

After running around for a few more minutes, Ash stopped in front of a window, no obvious difference between this one and others. This, this window could work, he thought, placing his hands on the cold glass. He added some pressure, then thought better of it. First try if it opens up the normal way.

He placed his nails between the window and the window frame, trying to create an opening. When that failed, he squeezed his eyes shut and kicked with feet towards the window, hoping to break it. The shattering of glass told him his plan had succeeded.

With a sigh of relief, Ash realized it was now almost over. He was almost safe, he only needed to climb out. A few pieces of glass were still dangling on the window frame, but Ash didn't notice, too happy with his way out.

He stuck his head out of the window, breathing in the chill air, still smelling like rain. He closed his eyes wistfully, enjoying his victory over whatever nightmare this house was.

"Hey Ash."

Startled, the boy jumped back in the house. Outside, on the other side of the window stood an eleven years old boy with glasses, staring back at Ash.

"Max?" Ash spluttered, unbelieving. Was it really three years ago that he had left May and Max? He didn't get to think more about it, as Max continued.

"Funny thing eh, glass?" the younger boy said emotionlessly, pulling one of the remaining pieces out of the window frame.

"It breaks so easily…" Max didn't cringe as he pulverized the glass in his hand. "Like dreams… and hope… You never came back Ash…"

With one swift move, Max pulled another piece of glass out of the window frame and threw it with remarkable speed at Ash's head. It was only thanks to Ash's endless luck and his quick reflexes that it shattered against the wall, and not against his forehead.

"You broke my dreams Ash Ketchum! You broke my hope!" the boy suddenly screamed, as he jumped inside. "Now I'll break you!"

Then everything went really fast. Ash took off, and yelled in pain as another piece of glass landed in his upper leg, but continued running, while Max continued screaming and throwing pieces of glass at him.

Out of breath and lightly dizzy, he finally stopped, a burning pain in his left upper leg. The piece of glass was still sticking out, blood spreading out on his jeans. Carefully, he pulled it out, cringing and hissing in pain when he managed to remove it.

The wound wasn't too deep, but it still hurt. He could only hope that he managed to escape this house before he met another one of those monsters.

"Ash…"

Too late.

"Ash…" This voice wasn't emotionless, like the other ones. No, it sounded… hungry.

A humanlike figure made its way over to him, and he took a few steps back, but cringed in pain because of his leg.

It took him a few moments to recognize the figure – May. She didn't look like May anymore though: she was skinny, and not the pretty kind of skinny. No, she was just skin and bones. She looked delicate, easy to break, and her face seemed to be just a skull with skin stretched over it. Her blue eyes were hollow, and hungry. Very hungry.

"I can't live without you Ash," the girl spoke. "I'll starve without you."

He gulped. She looked terrible, pitiable, as she slowly made her way over to him. He didn't feel scared, just slightly disgusted by how she looked.

"I'm soooo hungry," she moaned. "Soooo hungryyy…"

Ash opened his mouth to say something, when without warning May jumped towards him. Her unexpected weight caused him to fall backwards, and her thin boney fingers wrapped around his neck, cutting off his cry of surprise.

He immediately tried to push her off him, his hands grabbing her thin wrists, trying to stop her from strangling him. May didn't seem bothered by his efforts, but instead placed her lips on his right shoulder and let her teeth sink into his flesh.

Panicked by the lack of oxygen, Ash used all his force to push her off. A sickening sound was heard as Ash finally managed to push the girl of him. He breathed heavily, and felt a burning pain in his shoulder.

May was staring at her hands, or where used to be her hands. Horrified, Ash too stared at the two bloody stumps that used to be May's hands, and despite that his mind seemed to be in a haze, he knew what it meant. With a terrified shriek, the boy pulled the two lifeless hands which were still around his neck off, stared at them for a gruesome moment, before throwing them away and running away screaming.

He just wanted to leave. Just wanted this to be over. It was all too much. Too, too much. Ash stumbled through a door, closed it, and sat down. Tears were escaping his eyes, he felt sick, his shoulder and his upper leg hurt like hell, Pikachu was gone and somewhere along the way he had lost his right shoe as well.

It was completely dark in the room, only a little bit of starlight shining through the closed curtains. Ash heard someone, or something, shuffle through the room, and for a moment he thought about just surrendering, just letting whatever it was kill him, so this all would be over.

No.

He wasn't going to give up, he couldn't and he wouldn't. Ash looked in the direction the sound was coming from, balling his fists just in case, and was surprised to see someone opening the curtains. Still ready to fight, he watched the female figure light some candles.

It was a pretty girl, his age, with short red hair and wearing a long, white dress. When she finally turned to him, he recognized her. It was Misty.

"Misty…" Ash muttered, still staring at her. He hadn't seen her in years, and had hardly spoken to her in that time. She was looking different than he remembered, very different, and he couldn't interpret the look in her eyes. Is it same look all of them had had, or is it something different?

"Hello Ash," she replied, taking a step towards him. "Did you miss me?"

"I- of course I missed you. You're my best friend!" As soon as he had spoken those words, he knew that she wouldn't believe him. They were hollow without proof.

"Your best friend?" she echoed, an angry undertone in her voice.

"Y- yes?" It sounded as a question, and he didn't know how, but he just knew that Misty wouldn't like it.

Threateningly, she stepped closer to him. He knew she was one of them, not the real Misty, but the hurt and anger in her eyes looked so real.

"Yes? Yes?! You never called, never wrote, never visited, and yet you call me your best friend?!" Her voice was getting louder and angrier with every word she spoke, and tears were spilling out of her eyes. "You see what I'm wearing, Ash Ketchum? A wedding dress! My heart was yours to take, and yet you just walked over it! You trampled it, broke it in a million pieces!"

Suddenly her eyes turned cold, and a cruel smirk appeared on her face. With a shock, Ash realized that the others had been talking about her when they said she.

"And now I'll do the same with yours." Her grin grew wider, and this scared Ash more scared than anything he had felt the rest of the night.

The moment after it his common sense kicked in, and without thinking about it twice Ash asked, "How do you want to break my heart?"

She stopped walking towards him, and just bared her teeth even more. Then she whispered, "I'll show you."

She placed her right hand on her left breast, and then, her hand disappeared in her chest. She hissed in pain, then smirked as she pulled her bloodied hand out, holding… something.

Victoriously she held the thing up, blood dripping down on her white dress. It was something red, bloody and about as big as her hand. Ash screamed when he realized it was her heart.

He needed to get out. Now.

The window.

Without thinking, he made a run for the window and jumped straight through it. Glass shattered and Misty screamed and his nose bled and he stepped in glass and he just didn't care as he ran through the grass, away from the cursed house. He just ran and ran and ran till he was back in the forest, and even then he continued running, even though he couldn't see a thing.

Completely exhausted, he fell down on the ground, and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up, and immediately sat upright. What happened?

Ash was just laying somewhere in a forest, next to a big path, with Pikachu curled up next to him. It was still early in the morning, and he felt like he should remember something he had forgotten. What was it again? A dream, a nightmare maybe?

It was weird, but he really didn't remember anything. He did have the strange urge to see his old friends again though. After all, some of them he hadn't seen in years. Ash grabbed his Pokégear, flipped it open and scrolled through the numbers, stopping when a familiar name caught his eye.

Misty Waterflower

He took a deep breath, and with trembling fingers, he pressed the call button.

"Hey Mist, it's me, Ash…"

A/N: Thanks for reading it, I hope you somewhat enjoyed it. This was my first attempt at writing horror, and I hope it wasn't too bad. So yeah… please leave me a review with your thoughts!
Thanks again!