"Run Pikachu! Run!" Ash yelled as he ran through the foggy woods of Ecruteak City. The moon's silver light shun upon the dust that lifted as Ash and Pikachu ran by as fast as they could. Pikachu was ahead by a few mere inches and Ash tried to keep up. Something inside him told him to turn around but part of him was afraid to turn around and see that monster. He was sure he could still hear its growling.
Nevertheless he turned his head slightly to see if he could see it. Behind him was only a trail of dust from his and Pikachu's running. Ash stopped dead in his tracks and alerted Pikachu to do the same, "Hey, Pikachu wait a minute."
"Pikachu?" The small Pokémon replied curiously.
Ash looked around but only saw an empty trail, all he saw were the trees and the dirt road leading away from Ecruteak City.
"Where'd it go?" Ash asked in an almost whisper afraid he might call unwanted attention to himself. Everything was quiet, not a single sound was heard from the woods. The only sounds were Ash's and Pikachu's hard breathing from all the running.
A sudden blow from the wind moved several tree branches which made Ash jump but as soon as he saw it was just the wind he let his defenses down. He assured himself that they had outrun the creature and that it was safe once again to continue on with their hike out of the woods.
"Pika pi!" At the sound of Pikachu's urgent cry Ash turned around only to meet face to face with razor sharp fangs. A Houndoom tackled him and brought him down to the ground. He hit his head on the ground but he was far too worried about the Pokémon that was attacking him.
This Houndoom was unlike any he had ever seen before. Naturally Dark types tended to be more profound and ill-tempered but this Houndoom was completely different. As soon as it laid eyes on him it ran after him. Not only that but physically it was different too. It was much bigger than your average Houndoom, it was muscular and there was something in its eyes that let the looker know it was not normal.
The wild Pokémon snarled at Ash as it bared its fangs out in the open. Its claws were sinking themselves into his flesh. As it snarled Ash could see bits of flesh between its teeth, the flesh of course was rotted and it emitted a terrible odor that could make anyone's eyes water but Ash had other things to worry about.
Pikachu was not about to let any harm come to his friend so it tried to shake the Houndoom of off Ash. It tensed up and as sparks flew from its cheeks it prepared to launch a powerful Thunderbolt attack.
"Pika pika—" Just as it was about to attack the Houndoom the small mouse received a devastating blow on its back from another one of those Houndoom. The small mouse Pokémon was sent flying across the woods and landed right on a tree. Pikachu let out a painful screech as it hit the thick tree trunk. Ash heard it but he was not able to do anything, he was still pinned down by that Houndoom. The Houndoom seemed to be paying more attention to Ash instead of Pikachu. Perhaps they did not take human presence kindly or perhaps they were just wild that way.
The Houndoom backed its head and snarled even louder as it readied itself to attack. Ash of course was not about to let that happen. He frantically looked around and right next to him he saw a small but thick tree branch on the floor. He stretched his arm out to grab it and as soon as he did he noticed it was heavier than it looked. Forgetting the branch's weight Ash swung it as fast as he could and hit the Houndoom on the head as hard as he could.
Luckily for him Ash hit the Houndoom hard enough to knock it off of him. Ash had never before hit a Pokémon even in his own defense but this was a totally different situation. He really felt his life and the life of Pikachu were both in grave danger. Once the Houndoom was off of him he quickly stood up and tried to make a run for it but another Houndoom managed to bite his forearm and pulled hard enough to bring him down.
The Houndoom bit down as hard as it could and as it did Ash yelled out in pain loudly. Pikachu came to and heard Ash screaming in pain. The small Pokémon got back up and ran towards Ash. It found a group of four of those strange Houndoom attacking Ash, the sight of it troubled Pikachu and it was worried for its friend.
"Pikachuuuuu!"
A bright light lit up the area as Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack was unleashed on the Houndoom attacking Ash. The attack was powerful but it did not bring them down. It did manage to annoy the Houndoom enough to get Ash out of their minds and focus on Pikachu.
Pikachu grew worried as it saw the Houndoom slowly closing in on it. All it had planned was to just get the Houndoom away from Ash but its plan did not extend any further. As the Houndoom closed in on it Pikachu turned around and ran as fast it could.
With the Houndoom close behind Pikachu tried to think of a way to lose them or just simply out run them. The Houndoom's barking and snarling were frightening and something Pikachu had never heard before but it had to get away from them. Pikachu kept running but it was soon cornered as it ran into a dead end.
A tall cliff had been the end of the trail for the small mouse and it heard as the Houndoom were closing in on it. Pikachu had no choice but to fight back. It tensed up and as soon as it built up enough energy it unleashed an extremely powerful Thunder attack on three of the Houndooms that were running towards it. The three assailants fell to the ground hard as electricity surged through out their bodies.
Unfortunately Pikachu did not seem to notice how it missed one of the Houndoom that appeared to have been the leader of the pack for it proved stronger than the rest. The wild Houndoom leapt high up in an attempt to tackle Pikachu. Pikachu gasped as it was overwhelmed by the sight of the massive and fierce Houndoom that was getting closer and closer. It was all over, Pikachu knew this would have been its last moments but it was not about to go out without a fight, once again it tensed up and began to build up energy to counter attack.
Seconds and just mere inches from hitting its target from out of the bushes Ash ran towards Pikachu and shoved it away from the Houndoom but he was not as lucky. The Houndoom landed on Ash and bit down on his shoulder and both of them fell down the tall, steep cliff.
As soon as Pikachu gathered itself it shook its head and looked down the cliff's edge to see if it could spot Ash and the Houndoom. As soon as it saw them it yelled out in fear for his friend, "Pika piii!"
Ash and the Houndoom both tumbled wildly down the cliff which unfortunately for them was littered with dozens of rocks, tree trunks and other debris. The Houndoom tumbled down and hit its side on a thick tree trunk letting out a ghastly yelp. As its side hit the trunk it yelped in pain and remained down. Ash kept tumbling down and after what seemed for him like an hour he finally stopped at the bottom of the cliff. He groaned loudly and finally lay on the floor unconscious.
Pikachu did not wait any longer. It looked down and saw a steep but passable way for it to climb down and get to Ash. As Pikachu passed by the Houndoom it kept a close eye on it and slowly climbed down. As soon as it was far from the Houndoom Pikachu then ran to where Ash lay unconscious, Pikachu tugged on his sleeves and shook him but Ash did not respond. Finally it gave up and merely sat down right next to him as it waited for Ash to wake up.
"Pi?" Pikachu woke up to a strange sound; it lifted its head and raised its ears in order to hear its surrounding but as much as it tried it did not see anything. As its eyes searched the area Ash suddenly sat up quickly making the small Pikachu jump with fright. Ash gasped loudly as he looked around frantically. In his mind the Houndoom was still around and attacking them. Ash clumsily climbed to his feet and kept a close eye on the area around him and Pikachu.
Pikachu on the other hand was sure there was nothing in the area, it looked to where the strange Houndoom fell but it was long gone so the yellow Pokemon walked up to Ash and tugged on his pants legs as it said, "Pika pi. Pika Pikachu. Pikachu!"
Ash turned to his friend and looked at the small Pikachu who smiled confidently as it sat on the cold ground. Ash understood but he still felt as if there were eyes watching him. Nevertheless he smiled at Pikachu and decided to continue on back to Ecruteak City.
Ash noticed his backpack was missing, he assumed it fell when he tumbled down the cliff. He looked at the cliff and saw it snatched on a tree branch. Ash sighed and walked over to it; he grabbed one of the straps and pulled hard breaking the tree branch off. He swung the backpack over him and placed the strap on his left shoulder and as soon as the full weight of the backpack fell on his shoulder he screamed in pain.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu ran to Ash as soon as it heard him screaming. It saw Ash on his knees, with one hand covering his shoulder and supporting his weight with the other. Pikachu ran over and as it passed by his backpack it stopped and looked at the bloody strap. It grew worried so it quickened its pace to run to Ash's aid.
"Pika pi…pika?" Pikachu stood still as it saw Ash's shoulder covered in his own blood. Ash winced whenever he tried to tighten the wound to avoid anymore bloodshed. After a few minutes of gathering enough strength to get up and head off to the nearest town he stood up. Without saying a word Ash got up and grabbed his backpack and walked on.
"Jenny, I lost track of them! Get back to base!" A young woman around her early twenties ran across the woods of Ecruteak City as she yelled into a walkie talkie. Her short black hair covered her fear stricken blue eyes partially. The girl ran as fast as her legs could take her, she felt her lungs burning with ache as she ran for her life. Her main concern at the moment was escaping them, running from them in order to safe her life and her chances for hunting them again.
As she ran she tried to find where she left her Jeep. "Willow where are you?" She thought as she ran to the old Willow. That was where she usually left her Jeep when she and Jenny went out on a hunt for the Werehounds; it was the only place in the woods that differed from the rest of the woods and one of her favorite spots. The safety and significance of the Willow tree could be traced back to when she was only 13 years old. She used to hang out there every Saturday night to get away from the rest of the world, it was the only place she could truly relax and enjoy.
As she ran across the woods her eyes lit with joy as she found the back of her old Jeep but her hopes were then diminished when she saw the Jeep. Right on the hood a huge Houndoom awaited her. The Houndoom had torn the hood apart and mauled the engine apart making the Jeep completely useless. The girl gasped loudly as the vile creature snarled fiercely at her, it jumped down from the hood and slowly walked up to her.
The girl looked at the backseat of the green Jeep and saw a small sawed off shotgun. She measured the distance between the Houndoom and her and the distance between her and the shotgun. It seemed as her chances of reaching the shotgun and pulling the trigger before the Houndoom could get her were very slim and she was not about to risk it.
She slowly backed up but kept her eyes right on the Houndoom, she was alert but very nervous and unfortunately the Houndoom could smell the fear that was oozing from her. This of course only exhilarated the dark Pokemon's adrenaline. As it's upper lips curved away to show a set of sharp fangs and saliva slowly dripping from them the girl kept backing up, putting one foot behind the other.
The Houndoom barked loudly and viciously as it began to give chase. The girl quickly spun around and ran away. Unarmed and with no backup she could only do the one thing she knew was a sure fire way to at least escape with her life, running. The girl was exhausted and deep inside she knew she could not run that much further or faster as before but the thought of getting caught by the wild Houndoom was devastating, she knew what the creature was capable of and the kind of agony she would go through if caught. That alone gave her enough strength to speed up.
Her lungs felt as if they were on fire from the heavy breathing they were doing, sweat was slithering down her brow and the pain on her knees was irritable but the thought of getting caught and not putting so much as a small struggle was not the idea she had in mind if she were to ever be caught by these wild Pokemon, with her bare fists she would defend herself if it came to that.
As she ran across the woods she was not able to see some debris on the floor when she suddenly tumbled down and fell on the ground. As a reflex she had developed after so many years of hunting these creatures she turned around and was face to face with the Houndoom. It had pinned her down with one of its massive paws and was snarling at its prey with hunger and fury.
The girl was stunned by the sudden turn of events, she could not believe she was about to be killed by one of these creatures and with such ease. She braced herself as the Houndoom backed its head up and widened its mouth to take a bite out of its prey.
Right as it was about to bite the girl two massive and powerful streams of bright energy hit the Houndoom with enough force to send it flying off the girl. The girl got off the floor and saw as the Houndoom picked itself off the floor. It looked like it was hurt badly but it seemed too stubborn to know when to call it quits. It barked ferociously as it ran towards the girl but as sudden as it got up it froze in its tracks.
"Huh?" The young girl questioned. After so long she had never seen one of these Houndoom just stop in the middle of an attack.
The Houndoom lowered its head in a strange matter and began to slowly back away as its snarling toned down to an almost purring sound. The Houndoom stared in the girl's direction and took off in the other direction.
The girl could not explain what she had just seen nor did she move. She stood there wondering what might have happened that the Houndoom just took off.
"Are you all right?" A voice from behind her almost made her jump as she did not expect to find anyone in the woods at that time of night, especially in those woods. The girl turned around and saw a young boy standing a few feet behind her. In front of him was a Pikachu and an Umbreon, which explained the two beams of energy that were launched at the attacking Houndoom. Suddenly remembering what the boy had asked she replied in a confused tone, "Yes, I am. All thanks to you I suppose. Thank you."
The girl focused on him once more and noticed his clothes were all smothered and his hair was messy. She gave it no more thought and walked over to him to introduce herself.
"Name's Tina."
"Ash," Ash said in a low tone, ever since the Houndoom bit him he had felt sick but he did not mention anything. "And this is Pikachu and Umbreon."
"Pika pika!" Pikachu said eagerly as it raised its right paw in a greeting gesture. "Umbreon!" Umbreon also greeted the girl eagerly and with a huge smile on its face.
"So tell me Ash, what are you guys doing out here at this time?"
"We were on our way out of Ecruteak City and stumbled into these woods but we got lost trying to find our way out." As Ash said that he tightly gripped his injured shoulder. Even after so long it still hurt and it continued to bleed but he figured his shoulder would be better in the morning so he did not mention it.
The girl smiled and said, "It's your lucky day! There's a town just five minutes from here. I'm heading there right now, you guys can tag along as well, and you look like you could use the rest."