A/N: You guys asked for her and I'm here to deliver. Electric was chosen and you want her.
Shipping: MorpheusShipping

One-Shot 10: Holding on to You, Again

The night felt longer than it normally would for Angie. Sitting in her room at the Summer Camp deep in Sinnoh, she gazed at her hand. Ash's words of encouragement continuously echoed in her head. "I'll never give up," Ash's voice repeatedly yelled. "Even if it means forever!" Those words while her life was in mortal danger. In a race to get a Summit Medal, Ash and Angie, along with Pikachu and Shinx, chased a little girl to the monument where the medals were found. Picking one up and doing a victory pose, that little girl wanted the two to follow her through a cave next to the monument when Dusknoir swooped in and started attacking her. Acting on instinct, Ash and Angie had Pikachu and Shinx try to stop Dusknoir but it used Psychic to ground the Electric-Type Pokémon. Breaking free, the Pokémon nailed the Gripper Pokémon with a Volt Tackle and Thunder Fang, flooring Dusknoir. That's when an eerie vortex started sucking everything like a vacuum and Angie looked to be the first but Ash held her, Pikachu and Shinx down. Her grip slipping, Angie wanted Ash to save himself. Ash refused and instead, held on. Dusknoir woke and shielded the humans and Pokémon, the two realizing that Dusknoir came to their rescue, not the little girl's. Hitting the girl with another Psychic, she was blasted back to the vortex... and disintegrated. The truth was the little "girl" was actually a ghost and wanted someone to join her in the Ghost World. Still, it was during the struggle where Ash held her while Pikachu and Shinx provided as anchors. Even if Ash lost his footing just to keep Angie from losing her.

"Even if it means forever..." she repeated his words, her cheeks reddened and a tear bled from her eye. Those words could have easily been the last words she heard or he said before either one fell in the void. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu crashed on the bed, wiped out from today. The vacuum that nearly sucked him, Angie and the Pokémon drained his energy.

"Man, what a day," he huffed. Pikachu could relate. Brock, Dawn, Jessilinda and Piplup sighed to the trainer's behavior.

"After what happened to you and Angie," Dawn recalled. "I don't blame you." It was thanks to Professor Rowan that everyone else was safe.

"The professor told you two to take tomorrow off as a caution," Jessilinda, or Jessie in disguise, relayed. "If I had someone like you rescuing me from mortal danger like what you went through, I'd marry that guy on the spot." The advice didn't sit well with Ash.

"Why should I take a break?" he protested. "We have a camp to win and even if we're in the lead, I wanna keep the pace going!" Jessie groaned at her enemy's stubborn moxie, thinking the incident with Dusknoir and the ghost girl was nothing to him. Also, she was on the Green Team.

"And you're worried about someone from an opposing team, why?" Dawn questioned. Jessie fidgeted a little with a proper reply.

"One of my twerp-" she snorted before stopping from saying one certain word that would blow her cover. "I mean teammates asked me to make sure the two were okay to continue." Smooth comeback.

"So, not you but the others from the Green Team. I guess I can go along with it." Ash soon rose to his feet and reached the door where Angie tried to rest up.

"Angie, are you still up?" he called out as he knocked on her door. When there was no response, Ash assumed she fell asleep. "Guess not." He returned to the rest while Jessie bid the Red Team goodnight.

"I think it's time we call it a day, ourselves," Brock acknowledged.

"For sure," Dawn agreed as she walked to their room. Brock picked Pikachu up and he and Piplup followed Dawn for the beds but Ash chose to stay on the couch. The trainer peered at the hand which held Angie and kept her from the void.

"I'll never give up!" he thought back as he replayed the scene. "Even if it means... forever," he quietly muttered. "To think... all we did was reach the Summit Ruins for a medal." No one knew that a ghost would sabotage a camp activity. Then a door opened. Ash believed it was Brock who opened their room to enter. Not the case. Angie came out of another room where she found Ash on the couch.

"Can't sleep either?" she asked. Ash turned to the green-haired tomboy who wasn't looking so tough.

"Wasn't really thinking about sleep," he admitted as he sat up. "It's exhaustion, that's all." Standing up, Ash informed Angie about what Rowan brought up. "By the way, Professor Rowan wants to give us tomorrow off. I guess he still feels shook up about nearly losing both of us." Angie understood Rowan's decision to relieve the two for the activities planned for tomorrow.

"Who can blame him? I saw how green Conway looked when we all found out the truth about that girl." The haunting words from that "little girl" still echoed between those who were with her.

"What was up with that girl anyway? She acted like she wanted to play with anyone who met her, even us." The only saving grace was Dusknoir. "I wanted to apologize to Dusknoir for attacking it."

"Yeah, me too. We didn't know it came by the cave to protect us." The guilt settled on them hard. Suddenly, a knock at the door. Both turned to the door. It's late. "Who's actually up at this time of night?" It could be the professor. It could be another member of the Red Team turning in.

"Careful." Ash nodded to Angie's warning before opening the door. On the outside, a school of Ghost-Type Pokémon greet those still awake, even Dusknoir. Needless to say how surprised the two were to see this school. "Check it out!" Ghastly, Haunter, Gengar, Misdreavus, Duskull and Banette joined Dusknoir in meeting the humans.

"Ghost-Type Pokémon!" The Ghastly Trio chatted something to Dusknoir which it nodded and offered the two a familiar item: the Summit Medal. While Dusknoir floated toward the kids, Professor Rowan walked through the campgrounds and saw the Ghost-Type Pokémon as well. In a surprise, he started dashing to save the kids from harm.

"You want us to have the Summit Medal?" The Ghost-Type Pokémon nodded to the request. Before Ash could rest a hand on the medal.

"Hold it right there!" Rowan shouted. His protest alerted the kids and Pokémon, everyone turning to the Pokémon Professor of Sinnoh. "It's 'Light's Out' for the campers. They need to rest." The Ghost-Type Pokémon didn't budge from telling their reason for the visit.

("We need them to return the medal,") Gengar moaned.

("We didn't know that removing a medal opened the gate to the other side,") Duskull murmured. The Ghost-Type Pokémon thought removing the medals would open the vortex to what awaited beyond it. The kids tried to listen, as so the professor.

"I think the Ghost-Type Pokémon are saying that the Summit Medals were a seal to keep that portal closed," Angie attempted to translate. To Rowan, it didn't make sense.

"I've done this Summer Camp for as long as I've been a professor in Sinnoh and it's the first time I heard that these Summit Medals were a joint seal," he doubted. "The activity goes off without a hitch in the past." It now made even less sense and the Pokémon realized where the doubts were stemming from.

("I guess that evil phantom waited for the right moment to strike,") Haunter hypothesized. ("Talk about a new term for Bide.")

("That's scary, even for us Ghost-Type Pokémon,") Misdreavus shuttered. The professor still didn't buy the idea that the Summit Medals kept the portal from opening.

"It's preposterous to believe this shenanigans," he groaned. Then again, Ash had a gut instinct saying that the medals serving themselves as a seal wasn't as farfetched as it sound.

"Maybe there's some truth to their claim," he pondered. "That girl somehow found a way to that world before she died on the other side. So there's a possibility that these medals by the ruins may, in fact, be that link to the other side." Ever the doubter, Rowan brushed off the hypothesis.

"Rubbish! Besides, the boulders have blocked the doorway and tomorrow morning, it'll be razed." Meaning no more vortex to the other land. Regardless, the Pokémon refused to let the issue slide.

"You know, Professor Oak told me that Pokémon are in-tune with nature more than people are. I think they know more about what happens up here that we don't realize." The named colleague had Rowan rethinking the process.

"Perhaps Sam's words holds some truth. Very well, I'll go along as supervisor." With the Ghost-Type Pokémon tagging along, the two kids and the professor marched to the ruins where the rest of the medals stood on the pedestal. Dusknoir offered the lone taken medal to Ash and Angie once more. The trainers' two Electric-Type Pokémon also followed after hearing the commotion.

("We're back here?") Pikachu shivered. Staring at the pedestal, Ash felt the uneasy and yet unexplained tension about putting the medal back in the open slot. Angie wrapped her hand over his.

"We picked the medal together," she reminded. "Let's put it back the same way." Ash nodded and both approached the pedestal together. Even though the doorway where the vortex appeared from was blocked by rocks, the Ghost-Type Pokémon still felt nervous. Now the humans stood in front of the pedestal, Summit Medal in hand and the vacant spot in front. A hand from each trainer held the medal as they lowered the medal to the slot. Once replaced, both stepped away from the stand. All the medals flashed a shine like clean glass windows. That's when a brighter flash blinded the humans and the Pokémon. Angie dove on Ash and hugged him out of fear. Ash now regretted not having his cap.

("Too bright!") Shinx whined. The flash dimmed and soon, vision restored with the crowd. Those rocks and that doorway as part of the wall? Gone. Instead, an engraving appeared. The group came over to the engraving and Rowan studied the writing on the wall.

"Professor, what does it read?" Ash urged. Done translating, Rowan offered his results.

"It says, 'Removing the seal on the Full Moon will open the path beyond the realm of the living and be met by the phantom of the afterlife,'" he relayed. The kids looked befuddled.

"Wait, what does it mean?" she wanted to know.

"It means the Summit Medals were a seal to keep the ghosts from bringing its victims to their world forever." Angie quickly got scared so bad, she didn't just hug Ash. She squeezed him like an Ekans to its prey. Ash understood her panic. Misdreavus and Duskull howled angrily at Rowan, thinking he offended the Ghost-Type Pokémon. "I meant the ghost girl who was with Conway for a little while and who guided these two here. You Ghost-Type Pokémon are innocent in this caper. I'd rather have you interact with the humans as much as you want." Haunter helped explain to Duskull and Misdreavus what Rowan clarified.

"So it's a warning about removing a Summit Medal under a Full Moon," Ash summarized as he looked up while holding Angie tight. The Full Moon shining above the trees. "What a time to do the activity." For Rowan, this was a first.

"This has never happened during the years I've directed where I organized an event and nearly loss trainers. However, it will be the last time." He wanted the wall torn down. "If there's nothing else here, we should return to our cabins." The Ghost-Type Pokémon listened and allowed the humans, Pikachu and Shinx to their beds. The experience left Ash physically exhausted while Angie was mentally worn. Back at camp, Rowan wish goodnight to Ash and Angie as they entered the cabin. Ash reached for the door to his room with Brock and Dawn when Angie clutched his arm tight.

"Hang on a second," she stopped him. "I know it's... asking a bit much, but could you stay with me, tonight?" The night still haunted the blue-haired tomboy and it sounded like Shinx wasn't enough.

"Still that shook up?" he whispered. Angie frivolously bobbed nods. Ash knew she needed as much comfort as their Pokémon. "Okay." They noticed a bedroom not being used so they entered and snuggled themselves under some sheets and blankets. Ash instantly fell asleep but Angie took a solid minute to crash herself. During that time, embracing a night with Ash felt uneasy but if he could help her sleep, she felt like there was no other option. She wrapped her arm and leg around his young body and just as she said goodnight to herself, Angie kissed him on the lips.

"Thank you..." she quietly praised as she fell asleep. The next morning, a construction crew stopped by and demolished the wall but kept the pedestal standing.

"Because of your hard work last night, I'm awarding all three teams 30 points," Rowan announced to the trainers who were up. According to the scores on the board, the Blue Team had 260 points, leading the Red Team by 40 while Green struggled in the back with 190. "Since the Red Team is down two members, I could ask that two members of the Blue and Green Teams take this activity off." While the other two teams contemplate on who would take a break, Brock and Dawn wondered about Ash's and Angie's conditions.

"You think Ash and Angie will be okay after some rest?" Dawn questioned.

"I'm sure they needed this rest to restore themselves physically and mentally," Rowan reassured. "When they're ready to join us, they'll come out." That might be awhile as Ash and Angie looked so comfortable, not even Piplup, Pikachu or Shinx wanted to disturb the two. While they may be worn in body and mind, Professor Rowan didn't take emotion into account.

END of ELECTRIC

(10 down, 2 to go. The last time I'm resetting the polls so the last time you can vote for who you want to see before 2014 closes. I appreciate everyone helping me with who to vote for and what to write.)