Author's Note: Hello fellow fans of Pokémon! Before I begin this Halloween suspenseful one-shot, I want to warn everyone that this contains major spoilers for my Scooby-Doo/Pokemon crossover story, Scooby-Doo: Legend of the Eclipse. If you haven't read it, then you will be majorly confused. But I think either way, you will still be horrified by this one-shot.

It is Halloween after all... Eeehahahahahahahaha!

Anyway, enjoy!

Trauma and Nightmares

Walking alone in the forest isn't a very ideal thing to do, especially if it's at night and that particular forest is on an island that nobody cares about. So if anything were to happen, no one would be able to find her body. However, those thoughts were the last thing on Serena's mind as she continues trudging through the bumpy hills of this forest.

She had first woke up when she had the feeling something wasn't right, Serena always had the trouble of falling asleep when something didn't felt right. And it turns out, she was right. Serena had woke up at 11: 45 PM, unable to find the peaceful bliss of sleep. Noticing that the door to their room is slightly opened, Serena moved from her bed and climbed the ladder to the other bunk. Sure enough, he wasn't there. Just his Pikachu sleeping away, unaware of his trainer's absence.

Slipping her feet into a couple of slippers, taking his hat off the shelf, Serena was able to sneak her way out the cabin without alerting everyone, including their two cowardly counselors.

Now Serena found herself walking against the cold grass from last night's rain, the water droplets tickling against her exposed ankles while she retains her firm grip on his hat. A part of her even wonders why he would run off in the middle of the night after enduring a nightmare, but feeling the soft wind blowing against her, soothing her of all her troubles, she finally understands why. She's just glad that it's summer so it wasn't cold out.

After a while of walking, Serena still couldn't find him. Maybe the nightmare was so bad he didn't want to be found until morning? Maybe... Just when Serena was about to turn around and head back to the cabin, she caught a hint of mocha underneath a log.

She stops as she stares at the log, now seeing the mocha arm that's sticking out from underneath it. Dread then hits her with the force of a tidal wave as many thoughts of how this scenario happened. Luckily, the log was being lifted by two hills, so it wasn't crushing him as she previously thought, but that still didn't wash away the dread that's placed over her.

With the hat still in hand, Serena makes her way around the hills, being mindful of her steps. Due to this unstable landscape, she could fall and hurt her ankle, and she's got a feeling that he won't be there to help her. She was able to make it to the other side with no problems, but a part her wished she did so it could delay what she's seeing right before her.

He lay there, completely lifeless against the mud on the ground. The arm that she saw is, indeed, sticking out of the log and, thankfully, isn't crushed by it. But what really worried her is how lifeless he looks, even with the bumpy landscape, he didn't move once to get into a comfortable position. Not only that, his chest didn't move...

Feeling the hat slip from her grasps, Serena made a beeline towards him, ignoring the fact she could fall and twist her ankle on this unstable area. Luckily, that didn't happen as she fell at his side. The first thing she did was checking his pulse, her hand placed lightly on his neck, but feeling tense at the same time.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay! She kept thinking over and over again, praying for everything so that he can be okay. He couldn't be dead, not like this!

Ba-bump! Ba-bump!

Feeling the slight bumps against her finger tips made her sigh in relief. At least he's alive, but then another thought enter mind. What exactly happened to him?

As gently as she could, Serena places her hands on his shoulders and slowly turns his body over so that he's back is facing the ground and she can look at his face. His face seem completely at ease, despite everything that happened a few weeks. Not a single sign of distress was on his face, which did made her feel slightly better. Serena knew he's been having trouble sleeping ever since the incident, she couldn't imagine how many times she and the others had woke up when he screams from the memories that were plaguing his mind. It's a nice sight to see him calm at last.

Despite herself, she places her hand in his hair and gently caresses it, enjoying the feeling of his soft and messy hair against her skin. Thinking about the incident, a part of Serena still felt awful for not admitting her feelings to him when she had the chance. Even though not admitting them still helped him, she still wonder what would happen if she did. But then, she can already imagine all those scenarios, both of them good and bad.

Shaking her head, she shouldn't focus on the past. All that she needs to know that Ash needs her to go through all of this, that is something she plans to do. She then picks up his warm hand to give a soft squeeze of-

Wait...

His hand's cold...

Why his hand cold?

His hand is suppose to be warm...

Looking down, Serena could feel her breath hitching in the most ferocious way possible. Instead of the soft, warm, mocha-skinned hand that she had previously suspected to pickup, it was replaced by something she hoped she never saw again.

The hand became a dark-gray color, like something out of a color-pallet for Halloween. Sharp, dirty nails are produced from the hand, longer than any nails that she has ever seen. For a moment, she was glad that she didn't touch that part so it couldn't rip through her skin. No longer was the skin soft like she expected it to be, it's now the most driest thing she's ever felt. Almost like an old man's skin that has been deprived from all the moisture and warmth it needed. Just seeing and feeling this familiar hand again gave her a whole new sense of dread, bigger than the one she previously had.

Looking down, her dread became even bigger as she sees him infected with that same grey-skin. It covers almost all of his body, expect for his head. His head still has that same mocha-skin, but she can see the grey-skin slowly starting to corrupt him along the jaw-line. Just like last time...

Serena then puts her other hand on his shoulder, trembling slightly when she still felt that familiar frosty touch beneath her fingertips. Gathering as much courage she could muster, she shook him.

And then his eyes open...

But they weren't brown...

Not the same amber orbs she's come to love...

They're red...

Glowing red.

Then he gave her that horrible smirk that still haunts her everyday.

She's frozen. She couldn't move as her mind couldn't comprehend what she's seeing. There was no way that it's back. She saw it fall into that lava pit along with everyone else! How did it survived? How did it manage to take over him again? She didn't have time to focus on these thoughts for long because her stiffness became her downfall, and he took that as his advantage to strike.

He springs up before wrapping his hands around her throat. He then pushes her down on the ground and puts his legs on either side of her, so that he's the one top and she can't go anywhere as he strangles the life out of her once again.

Serena could feel herself gasping from the lack of oxygen reaching her lungs, the situation feeling so familiar is making her wonder if this is all a dream. She latches her hands onto his dry wrists, mustering all the strength she has to try to get him to lose his grip on her. But he remain static, his grip not budging one centimeter. The one time how she hates how he's physically stronger than her.

At this point, she's now gagging. The amount of air in her lungs is getting smaller and smaller, warning her of what would happen if she doesn't get any oxygen back into her body in time. She opens her mouth to call out to him, to try to snap him out of it like last time.

Only when she open her mouth, Serena realized the only sounds she could make are choking noises.

It remembers it's mistake, it's making sure she doesn't talk by gripping her neck tighter than it did before. Thus rendering her completely speechless, literally.

She couldn't talk. She couldn't call out to him to save both him and herself.

Just when she thought she was a goner, his face suddenly relaxes from his evil smirk and is now watching his own hands strangle her neck with his two, horrified, brown eyes.

Ash didn't remember how he came into this situation; one minute he was alone, walking through the forest to calm his nerves, then the next thing he knew is that he's pinning Serena down, his hands around her neck in a choke-hold position. It didn't help that he can hear Serena gagging at him to let her go.

His mind couldn't comprehend it, how could he do this? There was no way in the world he would choke Serena! He would never choke someone no matter how bad his day had gone. He pulls his hands away from neck in horror and was about to apologize a thousand times over...

...Only to realize he couldn't move his hands.

He tries again.

They didn't even budge an inch.

Ash looks down to see why his hand won't move to only scream.

Those horrible hands...

Not again!

He does everything he can to get these hands off of Serena, just hearing her gasping only motivating him jerk his arms harder.

They still didn't move.

How is this happening again? This shouldn't be even happening again! But the fact that these hands are still around Serena's throat are only proving him wrong in the most sickest way possible. Why aren't they moving? He was able to fight it before! Why isn't he fighting it now?!

Silence suddenly washes over them.

Ash froze, failing to notice that his hands have return to normal and he's able to move them again as they suddenly slacken, but he didn't care about that. He couldn't feel anything as he stares at Serena.

No longer did she move. Her grip suddenly lost with her hands now lying on her sides, lifeless. No longer was her skin so fair that it almost glowed in the sunlight. It had lost all of its color, now in a sickly white and pale color. Her eyes are wide open, but no life shine in them like they use too, completely bloodshot and full of tears that have now stained her face. Her mouth was open while she was gasping, but sounds no longer came from her.

What really frighten him is that while feeling her neck, with his hands still around it but he can see the new hand marks on it, is that he didn't find a pulse. Not a single sign of the familiar ba-bump to insure him that she's alright.

N-No...

Tears began to cloud Ash's vision as his breath hitches in the most ferocious way possible. Denial was the first thing that pops into his mind, he couldn't have done this. He couldn't! Out of all the people he had to hurt, it was Serena. But then reality finally sunk in, making his heart feel like it's been shred into thousand of little pieces by a pair of scissors.

He did hurt Serena.

No, this is worse than "hurt".

He killed her.

Serena is dead.

Because of him.

Ash opens his mouth to scream-

-Only to gasp as the scene around him changes

He was no longer in the forest, staring down at the deceased body of Serena. Instead, he's looking at the rickety, old, ceiling made entirely out of hardwood. If he were to bang his head against that, then it'll probably hurt. A lot. Ash then realizes he's not sitting down, but lying against the soft mattress of his bunk-bed that soothes the ache of his body. His fingers wrapping the blanket that's over him in a complete death grip. He could feel his chest heaving from all the deep breaths he did to calm himself.

He's back at the cabin...

But how did-?

Ash turns his head to the side to see the door that leads outside of their room has been untouched. He didn't go outside. He never left the cabin.

So all of that was a dream? He questioned himself.

For a moment, he almost accepted that. This wasn't his first nightmare ever since that incident, so just when he was about to go back to sleep-

SERENA!

Ash quickly jolts up from his bed, being mindful to not wake-up Pikachu who's sleeping right beside him, and looks down over the side of his bunk. The worst case of scenarios playing over and over in mind like the movie screen that's been pressed on the replay button too many times. Please let her be okay, please let her be okay, please let her be okay!

Underneath his bunk is the person that's help him so many times he figured he could never repay her. Snuggled up in a fetal position underneath the white blankets made him sigh in relief after seeing her sleeping so calm. Not to mention the moonlight that's shining through the room makes her look like an angel.

She's alright, he didn't hurt her.

He didn't kill her.

However, his reduction instantly disperse when his glaze turns to Serena's neck. Although it's already fading, Ash can still clearly see the hand-marks around the area that her throat uses to breathe. If a stranger were to look at it, they would have thought Serena got attack by a wild animal or a Pokémon in the area, but Ash knew better. Even though those marks don't match his hands, he knew it was him who strangled her almost to point she nearly died.

Ash lets out a breath before moving away from the ledge to sit down and bury his head in his knees.

They've all got scars from that incident, the others are probably going to uneasy at the mention of it, with the two certain cowards jumping into each others arms whenever they get the chance. Serena... Arceus, Serena, her scars are both physical and emotional. She has to live with those scars on her neck for the rest of her life, forcing the memories to resurface into her mind whenever she looks at the mirror. Although Serena had kept reassuring him that she doesn't blame him, Ash still wonders if Serena really does blame him deep down.

Those thoughts were just enough to reach his own scars deep within, forcing a small sob out. Although he hated bragging, Ash's own scars are the worst out of everyone's at the camp. While they were only emotional scars, they still left a big impact on him.

He can still remember everyone's horrified faces when they removed the hood from his face, how he wanted to scream at them to help but his mouth wouldn't obey him, how he knocked them all unconscious without any second thought. He'll never forget the terrified faces of his friends watching him as if he was about to end their lives, how they all begged him to fight against the evil that was pulling his strings.

The worst part of his scars is that they help remind him of all the times he did fought against that evil, how he kept fighting no matter how tired he was. The never-ending pressure being pushed down at him to keep him at bay, suffocating him so much that he almost consider giving up. Just the thought of going through that the whole time to rescue his friends finally made his tears fall.

Ash sat there, letting his tears fall while a few small sobs manage to escape from his throat. No one was able to hear him that night, and he's grateful for that. He didn't want everyone to walk up and ask him what's wrong, it only brings the memories back. The memories that always reminds him of the pain.

No could ever understand it.

Not even his best friends.

After all, they've never been possessed.

Author's Note: What? Did you guys actually think I would kill Serena like that? By the "hands" of Ash? I'll have you know, I love Amourshipping as much as the next person (which is you, Steel), so don't judge me, it's Halloween! Anyway, I hope you guys get that feeling of your stomachs dropping. Because if you did, then I know my Halloween one-shot was worth it. :)

Off to go Trick-or-Treating!

Happy Halloween!