Introduction: In this story of my Pokemon AU, I'm going to get back to my horror roots. I've been working on this story in my head for quite awhile now. And now I'm finally getting it off the ground. This story takes a couple of months after my last Pokemon story, Half Moon Bay. You don't really need to read that story to understand everything that going on here though. And hopefully I've done a good job of reintroducing my OCs. Anyway, on with the show.
WARNING: This story contains such a high level of shocking horror that you may die of fright while reading it. Please proceed with caution and do not read if you have a heart condition. (I'm just kidding around. But really, I am going to ty and take the horror level in this story to the max).
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 1: A Trip to the Woods
The light of the morning sun shining through the window gently awakened the twenty-three year old Pokemon Trainer, Ash Ketchum. He sat up in bed and took a look at his surroundings and saw that he was in a small white hotel room with a single T.V., dresser, closet, and bathroom. As his brain finished booting up, Ash recalled that he was in a hotel in Eterna City in Sinnoh. Sound asleep at the foot of the bed was a small yellow rodent-like creature with long black-tipped pointed ears, red cheeks, and tail shaped like a lightning bolt. This of course was Ash's most faithful Pokemon, Pikachu.
Sitting in the corner of the room, also sound asleep, was another creature that resembled a bipedal jackal. Much of the fur on its body was blue, though its paws were black and there was a band of black fur around its eyes that made it look as if the creature was wearing a mask. The fur of the creature's torso was cream-colored, and protruding from its chest and the back of the paws on its arms were metal spikes. This was another of Ash's most loyal Pokemon, Lucario. And like Pikachu, Lucario preferred to remain out of its Pokeball.
As then looked to his left on the bed. Asleep next to him was a young woman with long orange hair. This was Ash's longtime girlfriend and traveling companion, Misty. Ash smiled warmly at the site of Misty curled up on her side, a peaceful expression on her sleeping face. He the glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand on his right and saw that it was 8:00 AM. Ash planted a light kiss on the back of Misty's neck, causing her to stir and slowly open her green eyes.
"Hey there." Ash greeted quietly.
"What time is it?" Misty asked drowsily.
"It's 8:00, we should probably get going." Ash answered.
"Okay." Misty said as she slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep in her eyes. "I get the bathroom first."
With that, Misty got out of bed and quickly went into the bathroom, her movements inadvertently awakening Pikachu and Lucario as well. A few minutes later, Ash had finished dressing in his usual outfit of a black t-shirt, a blue vest, blue jeans, and green and white tennis shoes. Ash's long black hair was also tied back in a ponytail.
"Ready to go?" Misty asked she emerged from the bathroom in a pink jacket, blue and white striped shirt, denim shorts, and red shoes.
"Just waiting on you." Ash replied. "Let's get going."
Moments later, Ash and Misty had entered the front of the hotel with Pikachu and Lucario. As they headed for the front desk to check out, they saw already there a familiar young man who looked to be in his twenties. He had spiked blond hair and wore sunglasses, a yellow vest over a black t-shirt, faded jeans, and black boots. Slung across his back was a red electric guitar. Both Ash and Misty recognized the young man as their old friend, Bolt Hanson.
"Hey Bolt." Ash called over as he and Misty headed to the front desk.
"Oh, hey you guys." Bolt said after turning to see whom it was. "What brings you here to Eterna City?"
"We were staying the nigh here on our way to Eterna Forest." Ash answered. "Are you just checking in?"
"Checking out actually." Bolt answered. "I'm on my way to a gig in the net city."
"Maybe you could tag along with us to the forest." Misty suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Bolt agreed. "I mean it is on my way. Plus I haven't hung out with you guys for a couple of months."
"Well then, what're we waiting for? Let's get going!" Ash said to the group.
A few minutes later Ash, Misty, and Bolt had left the city and were on the open route to Eterna forest.
"So why are you guys headed to Eterna Forest?" Bolt asked the couple.
"We're sorta doing a favor for Professor Oak." Ash explained. "He asked Misty and I to help him and the other Pokemon Professors write a book comparing the major forests of different regions. So he's been sending us around to take notes on the different Pokemon that live in the forests."
"Wow, I never pictured you guys as the type to do research." Bolt told them.
"Well, it's a nice change of pace from having to save the world half the time." Ash pointed out.
"Plus I'm using this opportunity to try and get over my fear of Bug Pokemon." Misty added.
"How's that goin'?" Bolt asked.
"Not very well actually." Misty admitted.
"Tell me about it." Ash sighed.
In a few moments the group saw someone heading towards them down the road. As they came closer they saw that it was a young woman who looked to be in her late teens to early twenties. She had long blue hair being held in place by yellow berets on the sides. She wore a white snowcap with a pink logo that looked like a Pokeball on the front, along with a black buttoned-up vest over a sleeveless white shirt, a short pink skirt, and pink boots. Tied around her neck was a fetching pink scarf, and on her left wrist was a pink watch with a white band. The young woman carried a large pink bag with a white strap slung over her shoulder.
Waddling at the feet of the young blunette was a short penguin-like bird with a large blue head and a light-blue body. It had a short orange beak and large white circles around its eyes, along with two small white circles on the front of its chest.
"Hey, that's a Piplup, isn't it?" Ash observed, referring to the small bird Pokemon.
"Well look at that." Bolt said with a smile as he looked at the approaching young woman from over his sunglasses. "She certainly has grown since I last saw her."
"You know that girl?" Misty asked Bolt.
"Yeah, her name's Dawn." Bolt answered. "She's from my hometown of Twinleaf Town. I started my Pokemon journey about three or fours years before she did. I saw her a few other times after that, but it has been quite awhile."
Before long the group had met up with Dawn and Piplup. They all stopped upon encountering each other.
"Oh, hi there." Dawn greeted.
"Hey Dawn." Bolt said in a suave manner as he removed his sunglasses. "It's been a long time hasn't it?"
"Oh, Bolt Hanson." Dawn said with an expression that made it clear that she wasn't happy to see Bolt. "What're you doing back in Sinnoh?"
"I got a gig in the next town. You certainly have grown a lot since I last saw ya Dawn." Bolt said as his eyes drifted down to Dawn's fully developed chest.
"Hey! Eyes up front Hanson!" Dawn shouted.
"Uh, hi. I'm Misty." Misty quickly cut in. "It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, same here." Dawn said as her expression quickly mellowed and she shook Misty's hand.
"And I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash added in. "I'm Misty's boyfriend by the way."
"Nice to meet you." Dawn greeted back to Ash. "So where are you all headed?"
"We're going to Eterna Forest." Ash explained. "You're welcome to come with if you want."
"Hmm… well, I actually am headed in the other direction." Dawn told them. "Still, it might be nice to take a break."
Before Dawn could decide anything, Piplup quickly started waddling over to Pikachu and Lucario, but tripped half way over. Lucario went over to help Piplup up, but the little penguin got back to its feet and took a proud pose as if to say it had meant to do that. Pikachu laughed a bit and Lucario chuckled.
"Well, it seems that those three have really hit it off." Dawn observed. "Okay, I guess I'll hang out with you guys for a little while."
With that, the group continued on to Eterna Forest. Ash and Bolt took point while Misty and Dawn walked a little further behind, with Pikachu, Piplup, and Lucario filing the gap in between.
"So have you known Bolt long?" Misty asked Dawn.
"You could say that." Dawn answered. "We do come from the same town. And I'll admit that I did used to have a crush on him. But I quickly grew out of it, especially when we met once after I started my journey and he came onto me."
"That does sound like Bolt." Misty sighed. "Him and another friend of mine."
"You know, looking back on it now I don't know what I ever saw in the guy." Dawn continued. "I mean he's a nice guy, but he's so full of himself. Plus he's kinda dumb. You know he overslept on the day he was supposed to start his journey, so by the time he got to Professor Rowan's lab all the normal Starter Pokemon were taken. So the only Pokemon the professor had left for him was a Shinx. Can you imagine going out with someone who'd make a dumb mistake like that?"
"Uh, yeah, that would be pretty lame." Misty said with an insincere and slightly embarrassed laugh, as she knew full well that that was exactly how Ash had wound up with Pikachu as his first Pokemon.
"So how do you and Ash know Bolt?" Dawn asked.
"We met him a little over ten years ago near Ecruteak City in Johto." Misty explained. "We ended up having a pretty big adventure back then."
Meanwhile up ahead, Ash and Bolt noticed something down the road that was heading in their direction. It was not long at all before they saw that it was a cream-colored horse with a mane and tail made out of flames and a single horn on its forehead. Ash and Bolt recognized the Pokemon as a Rapidash, and there was someone riding it. That person was a young woman with raven hair wearing a red t-shirt with a denim vest and shorts. Ash and Bolt both smiled with recognition.
"Hey Misty! Looks like Lisa's here too!" Ash called back.
"Oh really?" Misty said with a smile.
"Another friend of yours?" Dawn asked Misty.
"Yeah, Lisa Flare." Misty explained. "We met her about the same time we met Bolt."
Before long, the group met up with Lisa. The raven-haired rider was pleased to see them. Right away Ash and the others noticed that there was someone else riding on Rapidash's back holding onto Lisa's midsection. The person was another young woman with blond hair and very fair skin wearing a sort of black sleeveless jacket, black pants and shoes, and sunglasses. Her head was resting on Lisa's left shouder. Ash, Misty, and Bolt knew thins young woman as Marie Dantes, who was formally the most feared agent of Team Rocket, Noir Mask.
"I certainly didn't expect to see you guys here." Lisa greeted.
"Same here." Ash replied. "I see you and Marie are still traveling through Sinnoh."
"Marie?" Dawn asked. "Did you meet her about the same time you met Bolt too?"
"Yeah, but it's… complicated." Misty replied. "But the short version is that Marie is Lisa's girlfriend."
"I see." Dawn replied.
"So Marie, you seem to be looking better than the last time we saw you." Ash said to the blond. Marie's only response was a sort of unconscious mumbling. "Um… is Marie asleep?"
"Oh, yeah. Marie isn't really a morning person." Lisa told him. "She dozed off about as soon as we got back on the road."
"How does she not fall off Rapidash while you're riding?" Bolt asked.
"Well I usually ride pretty slow anymore. Plus she holds onto me pretty tight." Lisa explained. "Sometimes I wonder if she thinks I'm a pillow when she's asleep like this. It's actually really cute."
"Huh? Wha?" Marie said drowsily as she suddenly woke up. "Are we in Eterna City yet?"
"Not yet angel. We ran into some friends." Lisa explained.
"It's good to see you again Marie." Misty greeted.
"Oh, hello Misty, Ash, Bolt…" Marie greeted back, but she paused when she got to Dawn. "Um…"
"Oh, we've never met before. I'm Dawn." Dawn explained. "It's nice to meet you two."
"Charmed." Marie replied. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm not at my best this time of the day."
"Where are all of you headed?" Lisa asked the group.
"We're going to Eterna Forest." Ash explained. "You can come with if you want."
"Well we did just come from there. Still… what do you think Marie?" Lisa asked.
"Oh, a trip to the forest might be nice." Marie agreed.
"That settles then." Lisa agreed. "We'll go with."
And so the group continued onward, and before long they had entered a forest of tall trees with thick branches that almost completely blocked out the sky. Before long they came to one of those tall trees and decided to camp out by it for a bit. Lisa called back Rapidash once she and Marie dismounted. After that they all sat down in sort of an informal circle, with Lisa leaning against the tree and Marie leaning next to her.
"So Dawn, you never told us what kind of trainer you are." Misty said in an attempt to begin a conversation.
"Oh, I'm a Pokemon Coordinator." Dawn revealed. "It's been my dream to be as good a coordinator as my mom."
"Dawn's mom, Johanna, is a champion coordinator." Bolt explained. "She's like a legend here in Sinnoh."
"Cool, so how well have you done as a coordinator?" Ash asked Dawn.
"Well I have won a few Grand Festivals." Dawn admitted. "But I still don't think I'm as good as my mom yet."
Suddenly, a Pokemon emerged from one of the Pokeballs on Marie's belt. It was a bipedal fox-like creature that stood at about five feet tall. It was mostly grey and had a pointed snout and ears. Its upper torso was covered in thick black fur, and on the top of its head was a large mass of red fur tied back into a ponytail by a large teal orb. Piplup was so startled by the Pokemon's appearance that it ran behind Dawn to hide.
"Oh wow, a Zoroark!" Dawn observed. "I've never seen one up close before."
Pikachu and Lucario approached Zoroark. Lucario and Zoroark gave each other a silent nod. Pikachu then greeted Zoroark in its own language, which the monster fox responded by giving a short growl and a wave. Eventually Piplup peeked out from behind Dawn.
"Oh, what a darling Piplup." Marie observed with a warm smile. "Don't be shy little one."
After a moment, Piplup began to quickly waddle over to Marie. The little penguin tripped half way over, causing Marie to chuckle a bit. But Piplup quickly got back up and went over to Marie. Marie then began slowly stroking the top of Piplup's head.
"Piplup seems to like you Marie." Dawn observed with a smile. "I think I'll take a little walk while you two get to know each other."
"I could come with if you want." Misty offered.
"Thanks, but I'm just going to look around the forest." Dawn assured her. "You just stay here and I'll be back in a bit."
With that, Dawn got up and left. Several minutes passed and the group had gotten quite relaxed. Pikachu, Lucario, and Zoroark were talking amongst themselves while Bolt was strumming something on his guitar, which had been set to acoustic mode. Piplup was napping on Marie's lap, while a very relaxed Marie was leaning against Lisa.
"Wow, I'm actually surprised to see that Marie has such a way with Pokemon." Misty quietly observed to Ash. "It's hard to believe that she was ever a member of Team Rocket."
"I kinda had a feeling from seeing how loyal Zoroark and her other Pokemon were to her when she was Noir Mask." Ash told her.
The little conversation they were having was interrupted by the sudden sound of thunder, which caused everyone to look up. Through the trees they saw that the sky was starting to become grey and overcast.
"Oh crap! Looks like a storm's coming." Bolt observed. "We better get out of this forest quick!"
"I'll go get Dawn." Misty said as she quickly got up and left.
Within moments Misty had gone deeper into the forest. As she walked between the tall trees under the slowly darkening sky, Misty found herself feeling on edge. She was afraid that she would suddenly encounter a swarm of Bug Pokemon and be surrounded. Without warning, a creature popped out from behind a tree, causing Misty to let out a short scream. But she soon saw that the creature floating before her was not a Bug Pokemon.
It was a fairly small shadowy looking creature that was mainly black in color. On the front of its head was something that looked like a nose, and on top was a small almost pointed bump. Around its small black eyes were large red circles with almost tear-shaped bumps near the bottom that gave the impression that the creature was crying. At its side were almost tendril-like arms with three fingers that curved in. Hanging beneath this floating head was a hook-like tail that allowed the creature to carry a golden mask that resembled a very feminine human face.
"Oh, a Yamask." Misty observed. "I never thought I'd see one around here though. Sorry I screamed at you before. I thought you were a Bug Pokemon, I'm kind of afraid of those. Of course I'm a little afraid of Ghost Pokemon too. Not that I have anything against you though."
The Yamask suddenly flew away from Misty further into the forest. Misty quickly started going after it, seeing to forget about her original search for Dawn.
"Hey wait! I'm sorry!" Misty called after the Yamask. "I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings!"
Before long, the Yamask had led Misty into a small clearing by a stream. Sitting against a tree and seeming to look off into space was Dawn. The Yamask that Misty had encountered began floating around Dawn and speaking to her in its own language.
"There you are Dawn!" Misty said with a relieved smile as she approached. "I've been looking for you. So I guess that's your Yamask, huh?"
Dawn looked at Misty with an odd expression. Misty then noticed that there was something different about Dawn's eyes. Not only did Dawn's eyes look as if they were a lighter shade of blue than before, but they had a sort of crazed look about them. Misty found this strange look in Dawn's eyes to be unsettling. Suddenly Dawn burst into laughter, which unsettled Misty even more.
"Um, is something funny?" Misty asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Oh, sorry. Just thinking of something else." Dawn said as she stopped laughing.
"Okay…" Misty replied, still feeling a bit uneasy. "So… that is your Yamask, isn't it?"
"That's right!" Dawn said happily. "Her name is Helen."
"Helen, huh?" Misty replied. "That's kinda pretty. How'd you come up with it?"
"Well that's the name she had when she was alive, silly." Dawn said as if the answer was obvious.
"E-excuse me?" Misty said, becoming a little more unsettled.
"You do know that all Yamask are the spirits of people who were alive in ancient times, right?" Dawn explained.
"Well yeah, but I don't think that's ever been proven." Misty pointed out. "Besides… how do you know what that Yamask was called if she was ever alive?"
"She told me of course." Dawn answered. "I can understand everything that Helen says. She's told me so many stories about when she was alive. Apparently she was the most beautiful woman in her village. Men from all over the ancient kingdom of Unova fought over her. But one day the man Helen loved died while fighting for her, and she was so heart broken she killed herself, so sad."
"…Dawn, are you okay?" Misty asked as she started to wonder of Dawn was insane.
"Of course I am." Dawn answered. "Why do you ask?"
"No… no reason I guess." Misty replied. "Look, the reason I came to find you is because a storm is coming and we need to get to town before it hits."
"Oh, well it doesn't look like we'll be able to get to the next city before the storm comes." Dawn told her. "I mean look at the sky."
Misty did indeed look up at the sky as Dawn suggested. It had grown darker and thicker with clouds.
"I guess you're right." Misty said as she looked back at Dawn. "Now what'll we do?"
"I know! We could take shelter in the Old Chateau." Dawn enthusiastically suggested.
"The Old Chateau?" Misty asked.
"Uh huh, it's this wonderful big old house here in the forest." Dawn explained. "We could take shelter there."
"Well, it sounds better than nothing." Misty agreed. "Let's get back to the others and tell them."
"Uh, you go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute" Dawn told her.
"Okay, but be quick." Misty told her as she turned to leave. As Misty started walking, Helen spoke something to Dawn in the language of her species.
"Oh, Helen says you don't have to worry about running into any Bug Pokemon." Dawn called to Misty, causing her to freeze. "They've already taken shelter in the trees from the storm. Also, Helen says that she understands why you'd be afraid of her. She knows that a lot of people are scared of ghosts."
A chill ran down Misty's spine. She did say to Helen that she was afraid of Bug Pokemon, and that she was a little afraid of Ghost Pokemon as well. But Misty brushed it off and continued on. All the way through the forest Misty kept thinking about her odd little conversation with Dawn. She kept telling herself that there was some logical explanation of how Dawn knew what she had said to Helen, not that Misty could think of one. Still, the whole incident made Misty wonder if Dawn was imbalanced in some way.
Eventually, Misty rejoined Ash and the others. Ash noticed the somewhat frightened expression of Misty's face when she arrived.
"You okay Misty?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Misty assured him. "And I found Dawn. She should be here soon."
"Well we've all been talking, and it doesn't look like we'll make it out of the forest before the storm hits." Ash told her.
"Dawn said something about an old house here in the forest." Misty recalled.
"You mean the Old Chateau?" Bolt asked. At the very moment he did, Dawn showed up.
"Have you heard of it Bolt?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, and I know where it is too." Bolt answered. "But the stories say it's haunted."
"…Haunted?" Lisa repeated as the color suddenly drained from her face.
"Just the usual kind of ghost stories." Bolt replied. "But most people stay away from the place."
"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice." Ash pointed out. "Lead the way Bolt."
Everyone quickly gathered their things and followed Bolt as he led the way to the Old Chateau. Just as they started to leave, Misty took a good look at Dawn, she noticed that the odd look in Dawn's eyes had gone.
"Is something wrong?" Dawn asked.
"…No, it's nothing." Misty answered after a moment, and with that they began to catch up to the others.
Author's Note: Sorry for such a long first chapter. It ended up taking longer than I thought to set things up. One major difference in this little AU of mine is that this is the first time Ash had ever met Dawn. As for the Yamask, Helen, that was one of the first ideas I had for this story. Her "nickname" ended up being borrowed from Helen of Troy. I know, not very Egyptian, but Isis has been used to death and I could think of any other Egyptian names. Anyway, things should start to get a little scarier in the next chapter.
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.