Okay so for whatever reason the site wouldn't let me upload documents for the longest time, but now that it has, here is the 7th and hopefully long awaited chapter of Pokemon Apokelypse! I am very sorry that it took so long to get up, and the next one will be up in the next couple days afterward. I'm hoping to be very regular with this and want to finish this story. Thanks to everyone who has continued reading and to everyone who has started at any time.

Chapter 7: Into the Pits…

Ash and company went to his apartment complex, almost in a race against the fleeting sun as it set behind the skyscrapers of Cerulean. With his income the trainer was able to afford a very good standard of living and, though he would never admit to calling it by what it was, his friends always stopped for a moment to look at the building of condos from the outside. It stood like an obsidian spire jutting up from the ground and touched the sky in defiance of gravity. Ash never told them just how much the place had set him back, and he preferred not to think about it, especially with how much he had stored away. If anything he just believed in being prepared these days should he ever need to be on the run for any reason.

Brock whistled as the setting suns rays wrapped around the building, "I still feel like we should be waiting outside or something." Misty only nodded in agreement as she stared up at the buildings several floors.

"Get your asses up there and into my place." Ash only looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow before he shoved them towards the doors. "Go!" He proceeded without waiting for them and they fell into step behind him. Marble floors greeted them with a regal red carpet leading up to the buildings front desk, which was occupied by one of the officer Jennys.

"Psst… Ash." Brock whispered to his friend.

"What?"

"Which one is she?" He nodded to the officer behind the desk who was quietly staring at a computer screen.

"Cerulean Jennys second Cousin on the Viridian side. And before you say a thing to her we don't have the time." He pointed to the elevators and Brock took one more sullen glance in the womans direction before he boarded the steel cage with his friends.

"Honestly Brock, why do you even try? You'll never get a Jenny or a Joy." Misty looked at him with a mixture of pity and curiosity.

"Now who ever told you that?" The man's eyes gleamed with a great pride and he crossed his arms, glancing slightly skyward. Both Misty and Ash stared at him for a long second in confusion before he chuckled in amusement. "Let me just put it this way. A lot of Jennys like the forceful dominant type. Very submissive."

And Joy…" A glazed over look came over his face and he smirked. "Well Joys generally like to be the ones taking over after working all day in a polite mood… and the mouths they've got! Oh, it makes me blush like a schoolboy at times." Brock chuckled at the confused and shocked expressions on both Ash and Misty's faces before he patted their heads, concluding his statements with: "I've laid a few in my time guys."

The elevator dinged to the seventeenth floor and Brock smiled and pointed to the opening doors. "Ah were here. Shall we get your Pokemon Mr. Ketchum?" He strode out confidently towards his friends home.

Misty stood with her eye twitching in disbelief and shock. "That… was more than I needed to know… I'm good friends with the Joy here!" She shook her head and walked out; trying to rid herself of the images that now plagued her mind. "Dammit Brock." She muttered.

Waiting until Misty rounded the corner Ash smirked and flicked the bill of his hat with a devious smirk. "Gotta get me a Jenny sounds like." He walked out to hear Mistys reaction, who was waiting for him around the corner. She stared at him for a long moment, sizing him up with a look that promised murder. He almost apologized for saying that, and felt a small tug on his heartstrings as he looked deeper into her eyes for other emotions that were swimming behind her clear green irises. Almost. She turned on the ball of her foot with a hmph and walked away after Brock.

Ash sighed and shook his head in regret for voicing that thought. "Can never fucking win…" He muttered to himself as he followed behind his friends. Misty had been the one to break off whatever it was they had going last time so what did she care? Besides, it wasn't like he would act on the thought… most likely at least. It was just something to ponder for later.

Reaching the doorway to his humble abode Ash looked on at his friends who waited for him to unlock the door as they leaned against the doorway, both of them with arms folded across their chests and eyes turned toward the floor. They could have been statues if he didn't know any better. He threw off the thought and unlocked it, entering as the door swung open. From somewhere inside he heard a sound of scuffling feet and an excited exclamation of "Pika!" Moments later Pikachu came out of the doorway to the kitchen on the right and soared from the floor into Ash's arms, nuzzling the trainer's chest in greeting. He had to stop leaving it alone for such long periods all the time. "Hey buddy, I brought some company this time."

Immediately his Pokemon's nose went to work, sniffing the air and it found the scent it was looking for almost immediately. Crawling up out of Ash's grasp with practiced ease it found his shoulder and saw Brock and Misty behind his trainer and, with another loud exclamation of excitement, launched itself into the air again and into the woman's arms. He rubbed up against her neck purring happily, small sparks of electricity arcing from his cheeks into the air around them, sending the hairs on their arms up into the air due to the static charge he created. While Misty giggled and gladly petted him, Pikachu wasted no time in jumping onto Brock in a similar fashion. When everyone had said their greetings and the electric mouse allowed them to go forward, Ash brought his friends in and shut the front door.

Misty removed her shoes first and stepped forward into the tiled hall. Immediately to the right was the kitchen while straight ahead was a large living room. Between the two was a dining room and to the left of all of this was a hallway that led towards Ash's bedroom, a guest bedroom, though it hardly saw use, and two smaller rooms for storage and another room if it was needed. Also down the hall was a workout room and beyond that a room for the trainers Pokeballs and his computer. Across from that room was his trophy case which stood as a painful reminder of happier times. The place really hadn't changed since she had been there last. The sheer size of the condo was ridiculous and was more of a decent sized house inside the building rather than an upscale apartment.

Brock whistled as he usually did upon entering his friend's residence before he turned and bowed with his arms held rigidly at his sides. "Is there anything you require Master Ash?"

Walking by his friends Ash swiped his hand across the top of Brock's head and rolled his eyes. "Come on were only gonna be here a few minutes." It wasn't that he had to get to the fights early or risk not participating tonight, he just liked to get there early to scope out the competition as they came in. There was always a good group of usuals as well as a large number of people who came and went from other fighting circuits around the region. There was still some kind of prestige to be had after all from Pokemon battling, but the renown which accompanied it was no where near as widespread. If your name made the papers these days for it, that either meant you were about to be arrested or you were awaiting sentencing.

He turned to his left and walked for the room that held his Pokemon that he had on hand at the moment. Even though the League rules were out these days, people we still only allowed a max of six Pokemon to battle with out of habit. Ignoring his trophy case he grabbed the door knob and entered the room holding his pokeballs, his screen saver filling the room with a soft light. He didn't even bother with the light as he walked to the wall opposite his computer and grabbed the balls from their perch on his shelf. He looked at the five of them before he put them in his bag. Charizard, Bulbusaur, Squirtle, Primeape, Kingler, and of course Pikachu. They were his partners and some of his closest friends. They had always stood by him throughout the years, though the last few had been hard on their relationship.

He heard Misty and Brock near the door, probably looking at his trophy case and remembering various details from their past. Pokemon was what really brought the three of them together, they were the force that had brought them together and the glue that had kept them traveling as a team for so many years. Even now their Pokemon were what brought them together. Ash grabbed the pokeballs from the shelf and put them into his backpack; he was gonna need them tonight.