Chapter Twenty-Two: The Fog
When Ash opened his eyes the next morning, he found himself anxious and excited to retrieve his pokémon. They'd suffered quite a bit from their fight yesterday - particularly Hydrus and Kratos - and Nurse Joy had required them to remain in her care overnight. An hour later they were back on his belt and, after a short thank-you to the nurse and her Chansey, Ash had returned to his room to greet them for the day.
His pokémon (save for Snorlax, who was too big to fit in his room) greeted him with their regular enthusiasm, bright smiles etched on their faces. Ash sat on the edge of his bed while his team crowded around him. "You guys did really well yesterday," he told them, pride moulding itself within him as he looked at each one of them. "We defeated Sabrina!"
He held up the golden badge between his fingers, and snorted when Eevee squealed and leapt at him to sniff it. He idly kept the marsh badge out of her reach as she twisted around his arms to grab it. "Each one of you were invaluable in this fight. We couldn't have won this without you."
Next to him, Saur grunted in annoyance. Ash laughed, and Eevee let out an indignant yelp as he picked her off his arm and placed her in his lap. "Don't worry, bud. You'll get your chance when we fight Giovanni."
That prospect made worry and anxiety well up inside him. It would be a good couple of months before they would even be ready to give the Earthshaker a challenge. His best option was to challenge Blaine and then train as much as they could before issuing a challenge against Giovanni. There was a reason he put Blaine and Sabrina to shame.
Ash shuddered. He would have to spend most of his following days preparing himself and his team for Giovanni. There was very little released on him, apart from his league registered team - Rhydon, Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Marowak, Sandslash, and Golem. On rare occasions, when he would be in a particularly lively mood, he was known to release his monster of a Rhyperior that would drill through half a challenger's team, before either being knocked out or being recalled through sheer pity.
And then, for the times Giovanni was uncharacteristically antsy, he would send out his starter - a Nidoking that was rumoured to have evolved from the moonstone buried deep within Mt Moon. It was easily ACE level, and Ash hoped he wouldn't incur the gods' wrath to ever face the beast in his lifetime.
He would have to work on his team aggressively for the next month or so. Their attacking strength was good enough at the moment, but they couldn't be "good enough"for Giovanni. Besides, they would have to focus on speed, evasion and toughness, as well as hone their skills and techniques until they could use them on a mere whim.
Saur and Hydrus would be his primary fighters in this fight. They would have a vast advantage against Giovanni's powerhouses, but Ash wasn't going to put all his eggs in that basket - there was no doubt in his mind that Giovanni had committed everything to find a way around any weaknesses. Saur and Hydrus needed to hone their abilities to manipulate the arena - if Giovanni had absolute control over then battlefield, then the battle would be over before it would begin. Rain Dance would be great to make it harder for the ground-types to shape the earth in their favour, and Grassy Terrain would be great in Saur's arsenal.
Apart from them, however, he had no idea of who else he could use in said fight. Snorlax would be invaluable as well, but thinking of him made Ash wince. He was beginning to realise that his frosty relationship with Snorlax was partly his fault - he'd never really treated him as anything more than a fighter, despite his reluctance to admit it. If he hoped to have a better bond with the normal-type, he'd have to try harder even if he wouldn't receive much in return. He was part of the team, but now he would have to be part of the family.
Returning to his thoughts, he considered the rest of his team. Zeus would not be able to do much in the fight, but that wasn't to say he would focus on him any less. He still needed guidance in mastering Dragon Pulse, and a certain technique that Ash knew would be devastating in the League - as well as strengthen their bond in order to attain mega evolution. He wasn't forgetting about that anytime soon.
Atlas would be a good counter against Giovanni's slew of ground-types, and Ash couldn't wait for his friend to evolve. According to his pokédex, it would be another two weeks until he would emerge from his pupal state and return to the team as a Vibrava. He'd missed Atlas for so long. Hopefully he'd be just as adorable as he had been as a Trapinch.
You worry too much, murmured Delphi, and he looked up with a bashful grin.
He shifted in his spot, making sure his hand was still petting Eevee. "We'll be taking a day off from training now that we have the marsh badge, but we're picking up tomorrow with much more passion. I've got some ideas in mind for you guys." He smiled as his friends' eyes gleamed with excited curiosity.
"Saur, I want you working on Grassy Terrain and your speed," Ash told the great Venusaur. "You've got an amazing ability in Chlorophyll, and you're going to be the fastest Venusaur in all of Kanto. Besides, I think it'll be fun for the conference to see you run with the speed of a Dodrio," he added, snorting at the mental image those words offered.
Saur guffawed, but growled affirmative. Increasing his speed and evasion skills was going to be a focus when it came to most of his team, but it would be a priority for the Venusaur. And now that he'd spent quite some time learning under Venus - Erika's Venusaur - he had a good enough grasp on the concept behind Grassy Terrain to hone it by himself.
Ash looked to Delphi. "We're going to work on your speed as well, and your ability to attack at high speeds. You're even going to work on making your Double Team clones stronger, which you are going to do as well," he added, now looking at Kratos. He remembered how effectively Paul's Sneasel had used its illusions without breaking apart even in a hailstorm. He wanted his friends to surpass even that, and have their clones move independently as well.
Delphi did nothing to acknowledge his words other than blink, while Kratos grunted. He looked surly at having his shortcomings out in the open, but the determined resolve in his eyes told Ash that he was going to use that to push himself harder than ever.
Ash was hesitant when he thought of how he was going to take Kratos going forward. He had discussed with the Scyther the prospect of evolution, and Kratos had appeared eager and excited at the thought of a metal coat, but Ash would have a difficult time procuring one. He grimaced at the memory of his splurge in Celadon. For the past week he'd been close to being broke, and it had only been Misty's pity that had helped him with trainer supplies. Ash hoped he'd be able to amass enough to buy a metal coat before the conference. Or maybe he could ask Red for help - he'd given him a dusk stone anyway, surely he could secure a metal coat for him…
He glossed over Zeus, who already knew he would be working solely on Dragon Pulse, and moved to the ghost looking longingly at the shadows around her. "Screecher," he said, sighing when he had to repeat himself to gain her attention. "You need to start working on Mystical Fire." He had no idea how to teach her that, but he suggested using the fire from Will-O-Wisp to kick-start it.
She listened with feigned interest and melted into his shadow as soon as he was done. Ash didn't even bother sighing this time.
"I just want you to focus on improving your battle skills," he told Monferno, who listened with much more interest than Screecher did. "I know you're more than ready to evolve, and we're going to challenge Blaine real soon. We'll win this time, alright?"
Monferno growled excitedly in response, calloused fingers closing gently around his everstone. He cracked his knuckles, his tail-flame blazing wildly for a brief second before it calmed. He would be looking forward to beat the daylights out of Blaine's Infernape.
"Eevee - same as Monferno," he told her, scratching her behind the ear. "I want you to get more experience so that you're ready to battle with the team."
She yipped softly, too entranced with her trainer's pets to care. Ash snorted.
"And Hydrus," he said finally, turning to his Golduck. "I've got a technique in mind for you, but we're going to work on Rain Dance. You did really well yesterday using it for the first time, but you need to focus on your timing. We can't hope our opponents will wait for us to create rain clouds."
Hydrus nodded slowly. Ash noticed the dejected look in his eyes, and the surly way he glared at his feet. He couldn't blame him - Sabrina had humiliated him yesterday by taking him out so quickly with her damned Sigilyph, and while he knew Hydrus would defeat it in a straight fight, he also knew that Sabrina's plan had been simply brilliant.
He'd returned to his room last night and instantly pored on the two moves Sabrina had mentioned during their fight - Skill Swap and Psycho Shift. The former explained why Sigilyph had suddenly been faster than Hydrus in the rain. Skill Swap would essentially switch the user's ability with the targets - which meant that Sigilyph had stolen Hydrus' advantage in the rain and without him even realising it.
Psycho Shift was a technique that, by using an odd psychic energy, would transfer the user's status problems to the target. Paralysing itself had been a mere paltry trick, but it had turned the tides by inflicting that paralysis on Hydrus while leaving itself unharmed.
Those two moves had been enough to completely change the outcome of the battle - Ash was sure that, if Sigilyph had not resorted to such cheap, yet grudgingly intelligent tactics, Hydrus would've frozen it unconscious fairly quickly.
He tapped Hydrus' shoulder. "Hey, chin up," he told him, smiling sympathetically. "You did your best yesterday, and I couldn't be more proud. If I'd known what Sabrina was up to, you would've won that easily."
Hydrus quacked softly, but he looked up with happier eyes.
"Okay!" Ash cried, beaming. "Let's get ready for some hard work, guys. I've got to meet Sabrina in a while, so if any of you want to come with me let me know. The rest of you can stay here or in the training fields in the back, alright?"
Out of them all, only Delphi, Eevee and Screecher decided to accompany him to his meeting with the gym leader. He made sure to inform Misty of his departure and, after keeping Saur in charge of the rest and warning Kratos and Hydrus to not cause any trouble, he left for the Saffron Gym several hours later.
The gym's lobby had the same air to it as yesterday, although the time the receptionist guided him to the hallways rather than to the battlefield. He'd half-forgotten his previous visit all those months ago - why could he remember so little? - but his foggy memories stitched together with every step he took down the unending corridor.
He didn't have to walk long before he reached the single room at the far end of the hallway - Sabrina's quarters. The door opened before his fingers could close around the doorknob, much to his surprise, but he and his pokémon walked in without hesitating.
Sabrina looked in a far less serious mood, and she wore casual clothing instead of her unique battle-garb. "Welcome," she greeted jovially. She was idly stirring a cup of tea with a spoon that twirled on its own.
"Leader," he said back. His gaze was momentarily drawn to a well-groomed Espeon lying in a fluffy basket, but he looked away to meet Sabrina's eyes again.
"Please, call me Sabrina," she told him. "How are you feeling?"
"Good." He shifted in his spot, curiosity too powerful for him to engage in small talk. "I apologise if I'm being rude, but you wished to talk to me about something."
She nodded, setting down her cup on the coffee table besides her. "Take a seat, Ash."
Ash did. His armchair was a bit too comfortable, and he only felt calm when Delphi hopped to stand next to him. Eevee curled up by his feet, although her attention was taken prisoner by the Espeon in the room. It paid her no heed - neither did it acknowledge Ash, apart from giving his pitch-black shadow a cautious glare.
"Let's get to the heart of the matter," Sabrina began. "I need your help."
Ash blinked. That was certainly not what he was expecting.
"My help?"
"That is if you wish to offer it," she added.
"O- Of course," Ash stammered. He was stunned by her request, but he wasn't stupid enough to forgo an opportunity to work with one of the strongest leaders in Kanto! "Er…What is it that you need help with?"
She squirmed in her seat - it was quite unlike her usual reticent self. "I've been having quite the ghost problem on my hands, Ash," she said, her voice tired. "It began approximately eight weeks ago, when a traveling trainer was attacked near the outskirts of Saffron. There was no outward signs of harm on the victim…except that they was found in a catatonic state and later confirmed brain-dead.
"Since then, there have been several such incidents - four, to be precise, and all in Saffron's streets or neighbouring routes. Every human victim is either comatose or brain-dead. The pokémon, however…" She licked her teeth in distaste. "They fared much worse. Torn limbs, disfigured faces…They suffered a gruesome death."
Ash shuddered. "That's horrible," he whispered. "I had no idea…Why haven't I heard anyone talking about this? Why isn't the news reporting this?"
"Because I don't want them to," Sabrina said, smirking. "Saffron is my city, Ash. I don't want its people in a panic. I need to clean this mess before it all gets worse."
"But…But why don't you ask the League for help? You're part of it," Ash stammered, confused. He felt like he was playing a game of twenty questions.
"I'm a servant of the League," she corrected, and the bitterness of her tone shocked Ash. "Besides, the League has made it clear that this situation is mine to handle until there are eight or more dead." He didn't press her - she appeared in no mood to satiate his curiosity.
"So…" Ash idly scratched his knee. "What's causing this? I mean, it can't be just any ghost…"
"I have been studying these attacks intensively," Sabrina said. "If my suspicions are true…Then the Black Fog is rampant again."
"The Black Fog?" Even as he said it, Ash felt a chill run down his spine. Sabrina looked at him gravely.
"The Black Fog," she breathed. "An ancient beast from the time before the League was formed, when pokémon were once treated as gods. The Black Fog was a Haunter of ginormous proportions that once ruled the town of Lavender. It protected the townspeople, and was thus worshipped by Lavender Town. While it was known throughout Saffron and Fuchsia as a demon, its subjects considered it their god and, as tribute, the Pokémon Tower was built."
"But the Tower was a burial ground for dead pokémon," Ash muttered.
Sabrina smiled wryly. "It was a burial ground, but not for pokémon. That practice only begun a few hundred years ago. You see, besides protecting its subjects, the Black Fog also protected its territory. It killed any outsiders that dared to encroach upon its land, and the dead were chained within the tower for the Black Fog to feast upon every night."
"Okay…" Ash frowned. "But that happened centuries ago. Shouldn't it be dead?"
Sabrina sighed. "Ghosts are practically immortal until they're killed by another ghost," she muttered slowly, speaking as if she was talking to a two-year-old.
"Oh. Right." Ash felt the back of his neck heat up.
"The Black Fog was left unchecked until the forming of the League, almost 800 years ago, when the first Champion Satoshi united the territories of Kanto under the banner of the Indigo League. For the proper completion of the unification, Satoshi sent his Rapidash, Tobihi, to roam over all the land."
Ash nodded. He knew this tale - he remembered the many nights his mother had regaled him with the story of the formation of the Indigo League. According to the ceremony, anyone who was not ready to accept Champion Satoshi would have to stop his Rapidash and fight with the army of Indigo - but he'd never heard of anything like the Black Fog.
"Many of Kanto's territories surrendered to Satoshi immediately," Sabrina continued. "A few tried to fight - Vermillion, Viridian and Fuchsia. Their lords and armies did not last long against the might of Indigo."
She took a sip of her tea. "Lavender as well was not ready to accept the banner of the Indigo League, and neither was their demonic deity. The Indigo League suffered huge losses. But, despite how powerful the Black Fog was, it fell under the combined strength of Indigo's forces. The beast was sealed within an ancient stone, and Lavender, now without their 'god' protecting them, quickly laid down their weapons and bowed to Champion Satoshi."
"If it's sealed, then why do you think it's out right now, killing people left and right?" Ash challenged. "Maybe it's just another wild pokémon. I've heard about these ghost-types from Unova, they're called Lampoon or Lampet or something, and they absorb the life energy－"
"I know this because the Pokémon Tower was attacked a few months ago by Team Rocket - and you were there," Sabrina cut in. "That, however, is not the point. The point is that sometime during that attack, the Tower's topmost floor was heavily damaged. Amidst the wreckage, we found the shattered remains of a stone artifact - the same object that rumoured to hold the Black Fog of Lavender."
Ash rubbed his temples. He felt a brewing headache. His encounter with the Rockets in Lavender was clear in his mind - Mr Fuji, reanimated corpses, and the ghost of a Marowak that very nearly killed them. Had they really set loose a homicidal ghost back then?
"So you want me to fight a thousand-year old Haunter－"
"Not fight it," Sabrina said quickly, "that would be suicide. I need your aid in capturing it, Ash. You have a ghost. I need a way to keep the Fog corporeal in order to capture it."
"Why do you need my help?" Ash said sharply, throwing her suspicious glare. "I'm a－ a rookie. You're a Gym Leader. Plus you have gym trainers…Don't you?"
Sabrina smirked. "Don't be so surprised," she said, lounging in her seat. "You might be a rookie, but…I have taken a liking to you, Ash. I see something within you that will bloom into something incredible, and I wish to shape that potential. Besides," she added, ignoring Ash's blush, "my gym trainers will be less than useless when we encounter the Black Fog. Psychics are sensitive to ghosts, and all that.
"I could always ask my neighbouring Leaders for their aid, but they're either incompetent or they don't care." Sabrina exhaled in distaste. "The Sensational Sisters are worthless. Erika is useful, but she still has her own mess to clean after the raid that very nearly burnt Celadon to the ground. Koga and I - we prefer not to interfere in each other's territories. Surge…" She smiled through gritted teeth. "Well, let's just say that he'd rather place bets on when the Black Fog would attack next."
Sabrina sighed. "So…Will you help me, Ash? I very well can't do this alone. Saffron will be indebted to you, but you will have a gift from me as well."
Ash squirmed in his seat. He didn't say anything for a few moments. He wasn't scared of this 'Black Fog', but he was cautious. It had already killed so many, and if Sabrina wasn't exaggerating, it had been powerful enough to resist even the First Champion and his army.
But…He'd be with Sabrina. Not only was she a gym leader, she was Sabrina. Psychic Mistress. The strongest psychic in the world.
After a brief period of silence, Ash spoke. "I'm in," he said, determined. "This thing needs to be stopped. When do we start?"
Sabrina's face broke into a warm smile. "Tomorrow," she told him. "It's getting late. You should return to the pokécenter. Tomorrow is when we embark on our quest to end the Black Fog once and for all."
Sensing that their meeting had come to an end, Ash nodded. He got up and called Eevee, who looked like she was about to fall asleep at a moment's notice, and they were on their way back to the pokécenter within minutes. Ash knew that tomorrow would be a big day, and he sunk in his warm pillows the instant he hit the bed.
XxXxX
Ash rose surprisingly early the next morning. His team was disgruntled at being woken up at the crack of dawn, if Saur's stink-eye was anything to go by, but he couldn't care less - he was brimming with nervous excitement, eyes glancing at his pokégear every other second. Ash tried to wake Eevee, but regretted it instantly - she clawed his hand and left him cursing as she fled to a corner of the room and resumed her sleep.
After having Nurse Joy wrap bandages around his cuts, Ash made his way to the cafeteria, where Misty had held a table to them. It was fairly crowded, and although he didn't really mind so many people, it did make him claustrophobic. Any discomfort vanished the instant he saw a heavy plate of breakfast next to Misty's.
"You got me a plate?" he cried, incredulous. "I'm touched."
"Don't go crying any tears over me, now," Misty said, smirking. Ash rolled his eyes and speared a roast potato on his fork. "The hell happened to your hand?"
"Someone," he grumbled, throwing Eevee a glare, "was cranky when she woke up."
"Ha!" Misty snorted. "Good girl," she praised, scratching Eevee behind her ears. Eevee puffed her chest out, and Ash rolled his eyes.
"So, are you planning on telling me why Sabrina's got you coming round to her gym today?"
"I told you, it's a top-secret mission," he teased, a smirk tugging at his lips as he moved onto some yoghurt. "Too important for civilians like you, y'know."
Misty scoffed. "Yeah, right. She's probably got you scrubbing her floors, or something."
Ash shrugged. "Whatever gives you peace," he said, smiling innocently. Misty scowled.
She leaned in her chair and stretched her legs across the table. "I can't believe I'm on my own today," she complained, sighing. "I guess I'm just used to having you following me like a lost puppy."
"Hey!"
Misty smirked. Ash was about to snap back when he realised she relished working him up, and he simply went back to inhaling his food. "You're no fun," she said, pouting.
Ash spent the rest of the day training with Misty. He was happy to find out that he was quickly catching up to the budding water-type master (much to her dismay), although his happiness was muted by the anxious excitement that sparked wildly as he awaited Sabrina's message. Why hadn't she asked for him yet? It would soon be dark in a few hours, and Ash could help but feel annoyed as his impatience grew. He was slowly beginning to wonder if Sabrina had forgotten yesterday's meeting when he felt his pokégear vibrate.
Saffron City Gym, began the message. Be there in 30 minutes. Signed, Sabrina Duncan.
"Gotta go," he said after a few minutes, wiping a few beads of sweat off his forehead. "Guys, let's go!" He waved at his team, calling for them to cease their training, and recalled them as he turned to leave. Eevee, however, opted to stay out, as always.
"See you later!" Misty called, waving him away. Ash waited for Eevee to quit fawning around Misty, and then he had left the safe comfort of the pokécenter's training fields, now out in the open metropolis of Saffron. This time, however, he felt a nervous tingle spider up his back - Sabrina's revelation of the Black Fog had made him overly cautious, and now he was scurrying away from every dark shadow sticking to the hordes of businesspeople. There was safety in numbers, he reminded himself.
He only felt relief when the Saffron City Gym caught his eyes. The pink-tinted glass doors slid open and Ash snuck in like a slippery Ekans. The receptionist gave him an odd look. Ash laughed nervously, cheeks flushing, and he didn't meet her eyes as he made his way to Sabrina's quarters.
The doorknob twisted and clicked open before Ash could grasp it. Psychics, he reminded himself, uttering a half-suppressed laugh. Eevee pushed the door with her paws and tumbled into the room with a squeal.
Ash looked around. Sabrina wasn't there. The room was empty, apart from the Espeon from yesterday. It purred and hissed as Eevee skipped over, and teleported to a different corner, much to Eevee's dismay. Ash rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, the air behind him snapped. "You're here," came a voice, and Ash spun around in surprise. Sabrina had warped into the room, the blue flare in her eyes flickering out as her feet touched the floor. "I wondered if you would come. Good."
She walked past him, smiling softly as the Espeon scurried over to her with a chitter. "I apologise for calling you so late," she murmured, petting her Espeon, "but searching for the Black Fog when the sun is out would be futile. Haunter are nocturnal, and the Fog is no different, because it is in the dark where ghosts are at their strongest. That puts us at a disadvantage, but I'm sure we're more than capable enough to capture the beast."
Sabrina turned around and gave him a hard, pointed look. "Are you ready?"
Ash nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. Any reservations he'd had against the hunt the night before had disappeared. He was determined, and he wanted to stop this thing before it would attack again.
Sabrina nodded. "I won't be placing you in any direct danger, but you'll be helping. And I know that you and your team are strong," she added, holding up her hand as Ash began to protest, "but I would much prefer having you in one piece by the time we're done putting an end to our little problem.
"However," she continued, eyes serious once more, "I will be blunt - this is going to be dangerous. You may think you know what the Black Fog is capable of, but you must never - not even for a second - underestimate it. I want you prepared, and I want you on your toes at all times. Understood?"
Ash nodded. "Yes, Leader."
Sabrina smiled. "Good. Let's get going, shall we?"
XxXxX
Ash had never been afraid of the dark before. He prided himself on being above those silly, childish fears while Gary would scream and cry for help. This night, however, things were different. The night was quiet, and that made him nervous. Normally he could hear the shrieks of Hoothoot, or even the caws of Murkrow - now it was unnaturally silent, so much that Ash could almost hear blood pulse in his ears.
Ash furtively glanced around. He half expected a Haunter to leap out of the shadows and rip out his throat.
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his shoes. It turned out to be only Sabrina. "There's no need to be afraid," she said, smiling softly. "Coco has scanned the route with her Extrasensory. We'll meet the occasional pack of Vulpix and Houndour, but apart from them, there will be nothing to disturb our search."
As if on cue, Sabrina's gargantuan Exeggutor shuffled into view from behind him. Ash was unnerved with how easily he'd lost Exeggutor - Coco, he corrected - in the darkness.
Hello there, said the three heads simultaneously in his mind. Her 'sound' - a chorus of three female voices - made Ash's temples hurt.
He hesitantly waved back, nodding. Still, he couldn't help but feel the oppressive darkness weigh on his shoulders…
"Here." Sabrina nudged him with a silver device - a pair of binoculars, he realised, his fingers curling as he took it from her grasp. "Keep this with you."
"Is this a Silph Scope?" Ash guessed, holding the binoculars at an angle that made the lenses reflect the little moonlight trickling through the canopy of dark leaves. He'd heard of this almost daily on his radio for the past few months, ever since the Silph company had announced its release.
Sabrina nodded, allowing a smile as Coco whispered a bark. "It's not quite the same model that will launch in the market. Silph has been quite generous - and discreet - with helping me take care of our dear ghost. These pair of scopes will allow us to see ghost-type pokémon even when they're invisible to our eyes. The technology is still experimental, but…" She frowned. "But it will have to do."
Ash grasped the scope tighter. He didn't want to imagine the cost of breaking one of these if they ever slipped from his hands. His palms were already sweating from the thought of dropping them.
"Let's go," Sabrina said suddenly, and Coco hopped on her feet. "We have a lot of ground to cover."
Ash hugged the Silph Scope to his chest and followed the Psychic Mistress. Coco's eyes flashed a bright blue once again, but even with her Extrasensory scourging for threats before they could even react, Ash couldn't help but feel nervous. He had the nagging feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. He gripped his belt of pokéballs tight, fingers ready to flit across the release buttons in an instant.
Route Seven was uneventful as they crossed through the tall grass, although Ash still expected Rattata to hiss at him and scurry over for painful nips. However, not a single Rattata bothered them - perhaps it was Coco's psychic powers at work, or maybe they were just afraid of Sabrina floating over scores of rough grass.
"How much longer?" Ash asked, raking his nails furiously around an itch on the back of his neck. His legs were already tired.
Sabrina, however, didn't respond. Ash suppressed a scowl and followed her into the night.
Then she came to an abrupt halt. Ash nearly dropped the Silph Scope as he stumbled to a stop. He gave her a cautious glance - her face was taut with worry, eyebrows knitted as the crimson glow of her eyes illuminated them. Even Coco the Exeggutor had lost her usual cheer, her three faces sharing a wary expression.
Sabrina and Coco shared a look. "There's something up ahead - not too far from here. I can't…We can't read it. Coco tells me it's a hole in her field of vision." She gave Ash a hard look. "Keep a pokémon by your side," she ordered, strapping her Silph Scope around her face. "It might be the Black Fog."
Ash nodded, sweaty fingers shaking as he slipped the scope over his own face, and then his vision turned a bright, emerald green. He could see so much clearer now - the filtering moonlight was practically useless. He could make out the pinpoint of grass, the rustle of tree leaves, and so much more. It was disorienting, but he figured it would take a few minutes to get used to.
His fingers went to Screecher's pokéball instantly. Sabrina told him she'd be able to help the most against the Black Fog, although he knew she'd have to be as careful as the rest of his team would've had to be. Ghosts could only be killed by ghost, and he really didn't want to see that happening to her.
Screecher burst out in a flare of light, and Ash had to stifle a scream as he saw her through the scope. She was so glaringly yellow that he actually had to look away for a moment. The Mismagius laughed at his reaction and hovered closer, reaching for the Silph Scope with a pair of curious ghostly appendages.
"Hey, don't touch," he told her, batting her leathery hands away. She gave him an offended glare, and Ash rolled his eyes. "If you break anything, I have to pay for it. You don't want to be eating MREs, do you?"
She feigned gagging, and Ash laughed. Sabrina put a stop to it, though. "Quiet," she snapped, and Ash instantly fell silent. Screecher looked ready to protest, but she instead gave up with a roll of her eyes.
"Whatever you do, do not panic." Sabrina's voice held no room for argument. "We have to strike first, and we cannot give up that advantage. Understood?"
Ash nodded. Screecher rolled her eyes, yawning as she somersaulted mid-air. Ash could imagine Sabrina's eye twitching.
Coco rumbled softly. Her eyes flashed with psychic energy - there was a soft whoosh, like a racquet slicing the air, and suddenly Ash's body twisted. Now he was standing on a hill, a winding path marked by a wooden post leading up to a forest. He held himself against a tree, slightly dazed from the teleported, and found Screecher looking down at him in worry.
"I'm fine," he whispered, brushing her away.
"This is as far as Coco can take us without the Black Fog knowing of our presence," Sabrina informed them. "It isn't too far ahead. Get-"
"Get ready. Yeah, I know," Ash mumbled, adjusting his Silph Scope.
Sabrina pursed her lips. He half-expected her to reprimand him, but she began to trek up the hill, her Exeggutor waddling slowly behind. Ash looked at Screecher. "Let's go."
It was about a few minutes later when Ash found the corpse. He had stopped to catch his breath, when he saw weirdly twisting roots of barren trees. He turned the lens of his scope. His breath hitched.
Those weren't roots. It was a body. Another victim.
Ash broke into a run before he even knew it. He could hear Sabrina's cries, but he didn't stop. He had to help, if he could. Maybe they were still alive.
And then Ash flinched to a halt when he realised it wasn't human. Fear began to creep into his overwhelming need to save, but the curiosity numbed that alarm and he continued to approach the figure, albeit slower, and with caution. What was it?
Ivory horns glinted under the soft moonlight. It was a Houndoom - and it was dead. Its black fur was sticky with dark blood, bone armour shattered as its guts soaked the grass. Its face was half-eaten, showing more bone than Ash wanted to see. Ash looked away - his nose tingled as he held in the urge to empty the contents of his stomach.
But he quickly realised it wasn't just a wild pokémon - near its head were half spheres of red and white metal, covered in dried blood. A pokéball, Ash thought in alarm. A broken one, I guess.
Sabrina knelt next to him. Her fingers held a the red half of the broken pokéball, her face grim. "It's fresh," she observed. "The Fog is close."
Ash gave a last, hard look at the twisted Houndoom by his feet. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling too confident about facing this Haunter. What if his team suffered a similar fate at the Black Fog's hands? It wasn't difficult to imagine Saur, or Zeus, or Snorlax, or any other in the Houndoom's place.
Screecher rounded on the corpse, examining it curiously. She hummed sadly, then slowly glided back to Ash's right, her face cross with anger and disgust. Ash matched her expression with a glare of his own.
Despite his anger, Ash couldn't help but be slightly afraid. But either Sabrina didn't notice his wringing hands, or she didn't care. "We have to find its trainer," he stammered out, hoping his voice didn't convey his fright.
Sabrina frowned. "Yes," she said slowly, as if hesitant to agree. "But it could be a trap. We can't just charge headlong and-"
"I thought that was our plan!"
Sabrina sighed. "Can you see that?" She pointed at the ground ahead of them. Ash shook his head. "That's a trail of blood. Our ghost probably assumes we're stupid enough to follow it, and you don't want to prove it right. Besides, that's not-"
For some odd reason, she stopped. Next to her, Coco rumbled nervously. Ash blinked - she'd frozen as if she'd been hit with an Ice Beam. "What's wrong?" he asked, worry gnawing at his voice.
"A trap," was all she said.
Then her breath hitched.
"It's here," she whispered, eyes staring at the empty air.
Suddenly, the wind changed. It shifted from a gentle, eerie breeze to a screaming gale that flattened Ash's hair to his face and sent his hat flying off. It wasn't the whistling of wind, but rather the menacing roar of a distant cyclone. Then the temperature plunged to that of a walk-in freezer. Ash was quaking in the cold, goosebumps pricking along his arms, as a pungent smell of sulfur and rotting meat rose in the air.
Screecher wailed angrily, floating in front of Ash protectively. As she did, the air thickened with poisonous fumes that swirled in a horrendous whirlwind and coalesced into a massive cloud of foreboding shadows and smog
The wraith that formed was blacker than the blackest night, growing denser and darker with every passing second. Spikes of solid shadows jutted from around its front; they rustled and stiffened as the creature reared to its full height. It towered over the tallest Mamoswine and almost broke through the canopy of the barren forest. Two blobs of miasma tore away from its body and grew to form massive, disembodied talons that could shred through a Tauros' hide in a single swipe. A mouth split into existence with an agonising ripping sound, taking the shape of a jagged, uneven maw.
Its eyes were what terrified Ash the most. They were massive hollows in the ghost's body, almost empty and void-like but filled with a sense of callous cruelty that told Ash it would kill him without a second thought. The pinpoints of its eyes shone like quasars, the only brightness in its obsidian mass. Its ancient and primal stare frightened Ash to his very core as he stood. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He couldn't make a sound. Ash had felt such desperate terror as he did now.
The macabre spectre announced its arrival with a thunderous, vicious snarl that sounded like someone beating a sheet of metal with a hammer. Its hooked claws curled and unfurled with every raggedy breath that made Ash's bones rattle. He stared at the gigantic Haunter - it was so black that he felt like staring at it would make him blind.
"Don't look into its eyes for too long." Sabrina's whisper was almost lost in the raging wind. "It will lock you in an unbreakable sleep with Hypnosis and use its Dream Eater to absorb your mind before you can even blink."
Ash gulped.
Screecher, however, was either too stupid or too brave, and shrieked a challenging cry that shifted the Black Fog's terrifying attention away from Ash and Sabrina. Its expression was as calculating as ever, but Screecher was unflinching as she glared back at it defiantly. The Haunter's fanged mouth transformed into a thin smile - and it attacked.
Dark shrapnel sprayed out with a twist of its claws. It flew out faster than Ash could register - and in that same instant a wall of blinding emerald materialised in front of him, weathering the rings of pure darkness that would've turned him into dust. Ash looked to Coco, who'd warped in front of him and saved him from the fatal blast. The dead trees around the Haunter were instantly shredded, exploding into splinters and wood dust.
The Haunter scowled, angry at being defied, and swooped at Sabrina's Exeggutor with lethal intent. Coco tittered nervously and teleported away, taking Ash with her and reappearing hundreds of feet away. Ash sighed with relief. Then he heard a head-splitting screech as a storm of smog rolled towards him like a tidal wave.
Flashes of light illuminated the darkness. Ash looked at the army of psychic tensing in front of him - an Alakazam, a Mr Mime, a Girafarig and a Hypno grouped as Sabrina appeared by their side, her eyes shining with the strength of a star. The wave of ghostly miasma and smoke roared as it twisted closer. "Contain it!" Sabrina cried, her voice a roar even above the howl of the winds.
The psychic pokémon nodded, and then an explosion of energy surged from their focus, converging halfway and slamming into the Haunter with percussive force. The resulting shockwave would've thrown Ash off his feet, but by some miracle he was only sent stumbling back. The cyclone around him slowed, but picked up again almost immediately with the Black Fog's snarl. It reformed in a split-second and brought its claws together to form the biggest Shadow Ball Ash had ever seen.
Unfortunately for the wraith, the Shadow Ball (could he even call it a 'ball'?) ruptured halfway in a crackle of grey lightning as a burst of black rings tore it apart. The Haunter looked around, first in surprise, confusion, and then raw fury. There was a ripple in the darkness as a smaller ghost made her appearance, and Ash was glad to find Screecher's familiar amber eyes glow in the night.
The Black Fog turned on her. It bloated and moved to slice her into ribbons, but the Mismagius collapsed in on herself as an alien portal frothed above her. The tree behind her burst into shards of wood spearing the air just as Screecher reemerged behind the larger ghost, shrieking as a dozen illusory clones flickered all over in the dark. The Haunter growled. Its demonic fangs frothed with poisonous smog, but a barrage of psychic blasts impacted it in an explosion of light.
Sabrina's team of psychics surged at their target in the brightness. Coco the Exeggutor stomped her feet as chunks of silvery rock tore themselves from the earth; the Mr Mime leapt up a staircase of barriers and surrounded the Haunter in a sphere of psionic screens; the Hypno floated in the air, pendulum swinging madly as a psychic pressure build in its focus; and the Girafarig galloped bravely directly at the Black Fog, surrounded in a bubble of pale energy that crackled from Hypno's pendulum.
Alakazam, however, was unmoving. Ash stared at it in half-anger as the psychic closed its eyes, then glanced back at Sabrina, who had rolled up her sleeves. Ash frowned. What was that thing on her wrist－?
Bolts of pure, white lightning erupted from the band around Sabrina's wrist, flying and wrapping around her Alakazam's neck instantly. The lightning grew stronger, slicing the air with wild sprays of energy, coiling and now shackling every inch of the psi pokémon. A ghost of a smile crossed its face as the burning light then flared and engulfed it whole.
Ash ignored the brawl between the Black Fog and Sabrina's team; right now, his eyes were glued to the changing form of Alakazam. The incandescence of the energy was nearly blinding him as it pulsed with arcs of white electricity bolting across. It was as if Alakazam had been trapped in a maelstrom of energy, until it solidified into a miniature sun and then exploded away in a percussive shockwave, revealing Alakazam's new form.
Alakazam's body now carried much more armour - there were now brown sections along its forearms as well now, and they had grown thicker and stockier, although its stomach was thin and wiry, almost like a spindle. A massive, bushy beard, along with a flowing moustache, had grown in the form of snowy-white locks. Its head was much more like a crown - while before its spiky ears were like horns, now its skull had tapered to form a trio of spikes that capped its head. The Alakazam folded its legs, interlocking its now talons-for-feet, as a ruby gemstone in the center of its forehead pulsed - Ash could practically feel it throb with power.
With a wave of its hands, Alakazam split its two silver spoons into five, each turning as they glittered with an amethyst hue. The demonic storm rustled its thick beard, locks of white flailing everywhere, but the psychic contained it to a simple breeze in a single flick of its five spoons.
Ash recognized this…new Alakazam. If his memory of Oak's gifted book served him correct, then this was Mega Evolution…and Ash was struggling to hold it together in the face of it.
Sabrina glanced at Ash. "Alakazam, get ready," she said sternly, staring back at her pokémon. "You know what to do."
The psychic rumbled, its newfound power ionising the air with energy as it teleported away in a crackle of light and reappeared through the center of Mr Mime's prison of barriers. Ash felt his heart stop for a second as the Black Fog, grinning maniacally, swallowed Alakazam in a tidal wave of pitch-black shadows, but then a harsh snap, like the boom of thunder, split apart the wraith in a concussive burst of light.
The Haunter roared. It reformed in a split-second, but Ash could tell that Alakazam's challenge had made it wary. The poisonous fumes around it roiled and rumbled, and it snapped its claws in a dangerous slash - but it passed harmlessly through Sabrina's Girafarig, who shrieked as psychedelic bolts of energy roared from its horns. The Haunter guffawed and, to Ash's shock, absorbed the Psybeam within its blood-red abyss of a mouth.
Streams of black rings erupted from its cold, ethereal palms and laid waste to everything in its sight - splits and crevasses ravaged the ground and the trees around it were uprooted and sent flying. Coco tried to use the destroyed earth to her advantage, lifting loose masses of dirt and rock with Ancient Power and and hurling them at the Haunter, but it simply turned incorporeal and let the boulders fly through empty air.
Sabrina's Girafarig circled its foe. Another Psybeam danced from its horns, then jagged bolts of blue lightning that split the sky. The Safeguard around it rippled and distorted as it galloped through the Haunter's ghostly body, unaffected by the alien energy or the noxious fumes that would've killed a weaker pokémon within seconds. Beams of light sifted from within the phantom as a brilliant discharge of electricity blossomed out into the sky. The rest of Sabrina's psychics watched, patient but ready, as the Haunter withdrew with a painful moan, black shadows oozing from its punctures like a deflating balloon.
An ugly sneer crossed the Black Fog, its rips and tears knitting over. Its pain was quickly overshadowed as the very darkness in the air grew heavy and fused with the ghost. Ash's heart sank and he knew something was about to go wrong when it roared. Clouds of thick smog coiled around its claws and, in a second, it reached forth, dissolving the protective bubble around Girafarig, and pierced through its neck like a shadowy lance.
Even though the Girafarig's yell was silent, it was terrifying. Ash could only imagine it as the most bloodcurdling shriek he'd heard in a long time. The Haunter's talons lifted its prey like a Magikarp hooked to a fishing rod, its smile never reaching its eyes as it tossed Girafarig away in a single flick, and it slumped against a tree in a mangled heap.
Sabrina screamed out a haunting wail. Her Girafarig was quickly teleported to her side, neck hanging limp as it struggled to breathe even ragged breaths. To Ash's relief, it disappeared into its pokéball - alive, but gravely injured.
Sabrina's team flew into a blind rage. Mr Mime's hands were blurs as it smashed barrier after barrier into the Black Fog, even though they dissolved seconds after impact. Coco's footfalls left a cyclone of razor leaves in her wake. Shadow Balls exploded from Hypno's pendulum and distorted their way through the massive ghost. Alakazam barely twitched - rainbow cones of energy melted through the darkness and crushed through the ghost-type with unprecedented power.
The Black Fog braved the attacks with sheer will that even Ash could admire. It roared as Psybeams burned through its ethereal skin and Shadow Balls left it shuddering. Light Screens struck its face repeatedly. Although they did nothing but distract it, that was enough.
It screamed. Its claws rang out in powerful swipes, but the psychics were careful took keep a good distance from the wraith. Its star-like eyes twinkled - then it melted into the night in an instant, vanishing.
The psychics looked about carefully. Then, the ground rippled. It had turned blacker than the night, and even Screecher's Spectral Zone couldn't match the darkness.
Suddenly, Ash felt nails dig into his skin, and he bit back a gasp as he was whipped around by two shaking hands. "I didn't ask for you to be dead weight," Sabrina hissed, her eyes glowing dangerously. "Get your act in order and help! You could start by getting your ghost to keep the damn Fog tangible!"
Ash nodded shakily. "Screecher!" he howled, his piercing voice carrying through the angry gale whipping through the skies. At first his heart stopped when she didn't reply, but then he saw her yellow eyes reach for him, sifting through the shadows. "Don't let it turn invisible!" he added lamely.
The Haunter's maniacal laughter cut through the thick tension in the air, and a pool of writhing smoke and shadows frothed to swim over the cold ground like ocean waves. The psychic pokémon tittered nervously, and floated higher, as rockets of black smoke burst from below like bullets.
The psychics shot into action. They were all careful to stay away and attack from a distance. Alakazam's silver spoons hummed dangerously, and cut through the air to release blades of iridescent light that drowned the Haunter's oppressive darkness. Hypno teleported away as a smoky black missile chased it, relentless. The copper pendulum swung too far for anyone's eyes as a bubble of pale smoke engulfed it, neutralising any toxic fumes that got too close.
There was a brilliant thunderclap of light as Mr Mime yelled. The Black Fog shrieked, recoiling as it was blinded. Even Ash, from so far away, could feel spots scar his eyes. As the overwhelming darkness took over once more, he could see a hundred barriers rise up into existence, trapping the Haunter in an intricate maze of psychic walls.
They proved to be useless. The Black Fog swept its claws in giant arcs and pulverised its cage in seconds. Glassy shards of pale yellow flew across the forest and dissolved into nothing as Mr Mime scrambled for safety. A cloak of poisonous gases cloaked the Haunter once more, and its demonic smile returned as it vanished into the night like it was part of it.
Before it could truly disappear, Screecher wrapped her leathery ribbons around the ghost's claws like leeches, her eyes glazing over. A demonic eyeball glowed on the ground - Mean Look. The Fog gasped like it had been burned, turning visible once more, and then it turned to glare at the Mismagius with inhuman fury. Letting out a high-pitched moan, it snapped through Screecher's bonds with a flex of its disembodied hands, and then Ash felt his heart stop as the beast caught her before she could react.
Silence hung in the air for the longest second. Ash's blood froze, his mouth opening to scream as the Haunter pulled Screecher to its rows of fangs. Before it could rip through her leathery body in a single, massive bite, missiles of rainbow-hued lightning impacted its back with such force that Ash could've mistaken it for a million thunderclaps.
The Fog screamed and arched as smoke pooled from the holes in its back, rising in the air in columns before the ghost's ectoplasm stitched itself once more. It snarled and, to Ash's relief, threw a disoriented Screecher away like a rag-doll as it turned its focus on the psychic pokémon.
Serrated leaves flew out in a twisting cyclone as Coco swung her leafy head, slicing bark and bouncing off Mr Mime's barriers. Thick gas gushed from the phantom's gaping maw and corroded the Leaf Storm to shrivelled, smoky nothingness before they could slice through. The Exeggutor warbled, her eyes glowing as she blasted the ever-expanding Poison Gas with a psychic burst, and joined her teammates in drowning the Black Fog in another shower of Psybeams.
The Haunter wreathed its claws in inky miasma and sliced through the Psybeams like they were nothing. Rings of dark energy writhed in its palms, but then it jumped more in surprise than pain as ethereal fireballs peppered its back. Snarling, it gave up on the Dark Pulse bubbling in its hands and twisted around as Screecher glared back at it defiantly, floating from behind a tree she had been using as cover. Blue fireballs flared around her and illuminated her furious expression and then, in a defiant yell, the Will-O-Wisps circling her flew out in brilliant streaks of cold flame.
The Fog guffawed. Its claws flew out and closed around the fireballs, returning the forest to its blinding murkiness once more. Tiny wisps of smoke billowed from the gaps in its clenched fists and, even though it was grimacing, Ash could tell it had hardly been bothered. Screecher blinked. More fireballs flashed around the Mismagius and soared at the Haunter with the same intensity, and once more they were extinguished, this time by swirls of purple and black that burst violently against the trees.
Ash's heart pounded. What the hell was Screecher up to? She was supposed to prevent the Black Fog from vanishing, not jump into the fray! Adrenaline kicked in an Ash broke into a run, screaming for her to disengage. "What're you doing?!" he screamed. "Stay back!"
Screecher paid him no heed. She phased through her cover of trees, her leathery ectoplasm turning visible again. Her eyes were closed - then they snapped open, and fire flashed all around her. But they weren't the blue, alien flames that Ash had been accustomed to. Bright, cherry-red flames bloomed all around her, twisting into a roaring inferno, and then curling into fiery circles as the Mismagius' gown fluttered. Her gemstones glittered and the fiery rings surged forward, dancing in the night - Mystical Fire, Ash realised, pride pricking his heart even though it thudded against his chest with rampant fear. The Fog balked, throwing a stream of blackened energy-rings that cut through the inferno quickly and blowing them all around the Haunter in a cone.
The Fog cackled, as if mocking Screecher for her failure, but her giggle made it hesitate and falter. The crackle of sparks made it look around - cinders danced across the barren bark of trees all around it, as if waiting to set everything on fire. The Fog snarled, rounding up on Screecher threateningly, but the same Mystical Fire blazed in rings around her once more and billowed out, surging for anything flammable within reach.
The forest burst into flames. A firestorm brewed to life in a split-second and now the Haunter was roaring, its ghostly silhouette distorting from within the inferno. For a moment Ash worried if the wildfire would reach them, but he realised that several barriers were keeping it trapped in place. The illuminated forms of Mr Mime, Hypno, Coco and Alakazam worked in tandem, surrounding the fire in a psychic bubble, and caging the Black Fog within.
Its screams of pain were the stuff of nightmares, but Ash only felt twisted joy as the Mystical Fire seared every inch of the ghost. It writhed and trashed and hammered the cluster of shields, but for every barrier it broke, several more took its place. Ash could only imagine the agony the Black Fog was experiencing right now. Having most of its body being comprised of gases, it couldn't be doing too well in such extreme heat - he'd seen Gastly explode after being exposed to really strong fire-type attacks. The Black Fog might be an ancient beast, but it wasn't immune to good old physics.
"Hold," Sabrina ordered, a mad gleam in her eyes. For all her lack of emotions, there was an uncharacteristic anger contorting her face, but Ash chalked that up to her Girafarig's condition, and he couldn't blame her. He couldn't imagine how angry he would be if one of his friends were hurt so bad.
The psychic cage tightened. The fire was still raging and the Haunter's roars had turned into a hacking cough - Ash could feel the heat radiate through and warm his skin. The Fog clawed at its cell, but the psychics were unrelenting, unforgiving, merciless.
A violent, brightness began to form within the Haunter. Ash grew concerned - the bulb of light turned hotter and brighter and larger. It pulsed and hummed, and he felt confused fear stab him. Was it dying?
It happened too far for him to realise. The ground shook. The loudest explosion Ash had ever heard rocked his ears. Light and heat surged from within the firestorm, shattering the psychic bubble in an instant. Alakazam, Mr Mime and Hypno was swallowed by the concussive brightness and a maniacal shriek pierced the boom, but it was drowned by the shockwave that threw Ash to the ground in a tangled heap, his head bouncing off the earth.
Tremors wracked Ash's head. His vision blackened. For a moment, he couldn't breathe - then relief spread across as he oxygen burned his lungs. Ash coughed, turning on his side, but everything hurt so bad!
Hands shaking, Ash struggled to get on his knees, and he looked around. Sabrina was stirring, but the right side of her head was sticky with some shiny liquid - was that iron that he could smell? Maybe he was imagining things - but he crawled over to her and helped her sit up.
"Sabrina," he stammered, shaking her gently.
The gym leader groaned. "Ugh. Fuck…" Ash never imagined the day he would ever hear Sabrina of all people curse.
"What happened?" he asked softly, vision blurring intermittently. "Did we kill it?" he pushed, hoping that Screecher's Mystical Fire had done the trick.
Sabrina shook her head. "No, we didn't. It Self-Destructed," she theorized, wincing as she rubbed her shoulder. "The blasted thing killed itself. Good riddance…"
Ash looked over to where the explosion had taken place - it was utter desolation. The ground was blackened and charred in a fifty-foot wide circle, and small cinders were still taking their time to die out. Not too far away from them, Sabrina's Hypno and Mr Mime were unconscious while her Mega Alakazam was slowly rousing, having been the closest to the explosion. Coco had fared far better and was her usual cheery self in seconds.
Ash frowned. Where was Screecher? He scanned the area - there was no sign of a giggling Mismagius spinning through the air.
He chewed his lip in worry. Had the Black Fog's explosion－? No. He wasn't going to entertain such thoughts.
Stumbling to his full height, Ash began to walk over to the destroyed forest. "Screecher!" he said, and with every yell of her name his worry multiplied. No, she couldn't be…
The sight of a deep purple robe made his breath hitch. Screecher! If Sabrina wouldn't be there to witness it, Ash would've cried. That had been too close…
"Wait!" he heard Sabrina yelled, and he stopped.
Ash turned around. "What?" he asked, frowning more in confusion that annoyance.
Sabrina hesitated. "S-Something's wrong. I can feel it－"
Something moved. The still air shifted, turning into a chillingly-cold breeze, picking up a rotten, nauseating scent. Ash coughed, his hairs standing on end, and a sliver of ice ran down his spine. Wisps of black smoke filtered through empty-air and began to coalesce into a smoky mass that blacked the night once more.
"Get back!" Sabrina warned, but Ash was frozen in place. The smoke began to take shape, solidifying into the menacing body of a giant Haunter. As every molecule of its form gathered, the empty hollows for eye-sockets blacked and two, tiny dots of light burned to life once more.
The Black Fog screamed a terrible roar. A blast of ghostly wind sent ash and dust flying everywhere. Its tiny eyes flickered every now and then and smoke pooled from its body, and Ash realised that its play had left it terribly wounded. If it truly had Self-Destructed, Ash had to admire it for surviving such a gambit.
Now, however, was no time for admiration. The Black Fog was back, and it could easily kill them even in such a state. Sabrina's team was all but defeated - Alakazam was conscious, but Ash doubted its ability to keep up with the beast. They were tired, hurt, and hopelessly outmatched.
The Fog sniffed around, blinking, as if searching for prey. Its fingers curved into talons, writhing as if exercising each claw. Ash could smell the noxious fumes, so potent that it hurt to breathe.
Then it snarled. This time its voice was not the eldritch rumble as it had been before, but a growl of unchecked fury, of nothing but pure rage. The Fog shrieked, its terrifying voice tearing at Ash's ears, as poisonous gases spilled from its disrupting body and curled around it like theatrical fog.
The hum of psychic energy soothed Ash's ears, and he glanced back, rejoiced at the sight of Alakazam, its majestic beard illuminated with blue power. The spoons hovering by its claws vibrated with energy before they erupted simultaneously with psychic blades that surged through the ghost. The Black Fog screamed, cut all over by the Psycho Cut, but it reformed angrier than ever.
Alakazam rumbled. It shot forward like a bullet, crossing its spoons as blue energy solidified over its head like a helmet. The Zen Headbutt was a sure hit, but the Haunter bellowed and rammed a ghostly fist into the psychic's skull, and ricocheted the psychic instantly.
Alakazam hit the ground hard enough to leave a furrow. Coco cried in anger, stomping her feet. Chunks of rocks burst from the earth, held together by silvery light, but the Fog simply turned incorporeal as they passed through. Seed Bombs shook the sky with their explosions, but the Haunter was likewise unaffected, apart from the noise and shockwave disrupting its body.
A green aura pulsed around Coco as she lunged, ignoring Sabrina's shocked cry. For a moment it looked as if she had struck the ghost, but its claws moved too fast for Ash's eyes and plucked the Exeggutor out of the air. Thick, black mist spilled from the Haunter's maw, and then it spewed the Poison Gas over Coco, drowning her in a waterfall of toxins, and then she was tossed back like a rag-doll.
The leaves on her head were shrivelled and sizzling. Poisonous burns stretched across her bark, and bubbles of poison collected here and there. The Exeggutor writhed as if having a seizure and spasms wracked her body. Sabrina moaned.
Ash looked back at the Black Fog. Pure terror attacked him from all sides as the ghost sized him up. The tiny dots for eyes flared - now they were back to being miniature suns, illuminating the ghost with beams of light.
Something flashed in its eyes, and they turned a malevolent black. Ash made the mistake of looking into them. Suddenly his entire body seized up, and the blackness struck him faster than a lightning bolt…
XxXxX
Ash's vision returned. As soon as it did, he felt nothing but fear. It was terrifyingly intense, overwhelming his every sense, and he wouldn't be shocked if it would kill him. It was as if his every nerve had transformed into pure terror. Every muscle was on fire. His brain was going to explode!
He tried to scream, but no voice came. He couldn't move, either. An invisible force had frozen him in place and now his fear was multiplying a hundred-fold, even though he didn't think it possible－
And then he was falling. He didn't know where or how, just that the feeling of weightlessness was so overpowering that his stomach tried to stay back and all the air was sucked out of his lungs－
Then the falling stopped. Everything went white, and he glanced around. A full moon shone down his bed, and the fragments of a memory stitched back together. A hideous, wrinkled hand stuck out of his bedroom wall, covered with spotty, gray skin, like the arm of a decomposing corpse. The hand thudded across the floor, like a booming drumbeat, its yellowed, cracked nails clattering noisily. As recognition dawned across him, Ash realised where he was - he'd had this recurring nightmare when he was six or seven.
He hadn't been able to sleep days, weeks, for fear of this hand reaching out for him. Terror seized his every being and he realised he couldn't move anything but his arms. Ash whimpered.
This time, however, he grabbed it on pure instinct- it was cold and clammy and felt like a slug, but when he did it pulled him through the wall and Ash screamed. As he passed through the wall, an oppressive darkness swallowed him whole, and then he was blind. He couldn't see white, nor black. He could see nothing.
Something within Ash snapped. He cried out again, this time a roar. Fear wrapped its claws around him even tighter, but Ash fought the pain, screaming and screaming until something flooded his every cell, burning through his very soul and branding his heart. The pain of it all overpowered the agonising fear, and as every nerve in his mind exploded with power he felt not even a sliver of terror, and now a demonic moan began to echo in his mind－
XxXxX
Ash woke up. He barely realised he was standing, only that an icy lightning was spearing his chest with every breath he took. His limbs burned and his head felt like exploding. Ash looked to his arms - his vision thundered like a Machamp had grabbed him by the shoulders and was shaking him - and saw wisps of energy curling around his skin and flickering like fire.
He looked up. The Black Fog was still there, but shock had taken over its face, and it hovered there, frozen in anger. Before it could slice him into ribbons, however, a bolt of psychedelic lightning lanced through its mouth, blasting the beast away. It groaned, reforming, but it was sucked into a comparatively tiny sphere and disappeared before it could react.
The pokéball didn't even shake as it hit the ground - it simply clicked, chiming to notifying the owner of a successful capture. Ash blinked. Any rage and fear he had vanished instantly. "Huhwha?"
The pokéball hovered, locked in shell of psychic energy, and floated back to the owner - Sabrina. She had a big smile on her face, even though her eyes flickered with hesitance. "Looks like we caught two Pidgey with one pokéball, after all," she muttered.
Ash opened his mouth to say something, but he struggled to move his mouth. With the disappearance of his anger, the surge of strength had vanished as well, leaving him well and truly exhausted. Not having the energy to do anything, he did the only thing he could do.
Ash collapsed.
XxXxX
Ash woke up again, this time in a better environment. It was a homely bedroom, with sky-blue walls and a library of books, although now it was a makeshift hospital ward. A thick duvet covered him up to his chest, and a haphazard table of monitors recorded his heartbeat and whatnot. In the corner of the room was the same Espeon he'd seen in Sabrina's room. It perked up as he looked at it, and the tiny jewel on its forehead blinked scarlet. What was Sabrina's Espeon doing here? And where was he?
A headache thrummed at his head, but right then the door to his room creaked open and he swallowed any discomfort. Ash sat up straighter in his seat, and blinked in surprise when he saw Sabrina's smiling face.
"Good, you're awake," she said, taking a seat by his bed and drinking from her cup of tea.
Ash stifled a yawn. "Where am I?"
"Saffron Gym," she said crisply. "I couldn't take you to the Saffron General Hospital because they'd ask too many questions." She laughed.
Ash frowned. If his memory served him right, there was no reason for Sabrina's nonchalance. "How long was I out?" he said instead.
"About three days. Given your size, I thought you'd be out for longer, but you continue to surprise me, Ash Ketchum."
Ash balked inwardly. He'd been asleep for three days? What about his pokémon? His team? Was Screecher okay? Did Misty know about this?
Sabrina held a hand up. "Your pokémon are fine," she answered, as if reading his mind. "Screecher is well, although the explosion from the Black Fog's Self-Destruct left her a bit sore for a few days. Your friend Misty is informed of your condition, although she does not know the true nature of our expedition."
Ash swallowed. He felt better knowing that his team was okay, especially Screecher. She'd done wonders in the fight, but she'd suffered as well. He was just glad everyone's alright.
"Do you remember was happened out there with the Fog?" Sabrina asked gently.
Ash nodded, his brows furrowing. "Yeah. The Black Fog…It nearly killed us. But you caught it," he said, looking at Sabrina in wonderment. "How? I know it was half-dead, but it was so strong. Why didn't it just break free?"
Sabrina smiled. She held out an open palm. There was a flash of light, and then there was a pokéball sitting in her hand. The top shell was a bright purple and on either side of it were two pink rubber circles, like grips.
"A gift from the Silph company," Sabrina said cryptically. "It's still a prototype, but they heard of my plight and asked me to test it out. So far, it works."
"What is it?" he said, eyeing the device in curiosity. Etched on the purple half was a big, white 'M'.
"Something that, hopefully, will never make it past R&D," Sabrina said with a sigh, and the pokéball warped away with another psychic pop!
Ash drummed the side of his bed with his fingers. "The Fog…" Ash shuddered as he thought about it. "I thought I'd died when I looked into its eyes, you know. I'd never felt so scared before. It was…inhuman."
"And yet, you survived it," Sabrina pointed out.
"How?" Ash pleaded. "You told me that looking it straight in the eyes would kill me. It killed the rest of its victims, but I lived. Why?"
Sabrina held his hand. A pained smile crossed her face. "Because you're special, Ash."
"Special," Ash scoffed. "That's why you wanted my help, didn't you? It's not like we helped much, anyway. Your pokémon did most of the heavy-lifting－"
Sabrina snorted. "I didn't ask for you to accompany me for your help, Ash. Not really, anyway. We could've done this on our own, but…I saw an opportunity. I took it."
Ash frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Like I said, Ash, you're special. You have a gift." She leaned forward, her eyes twinkling. "You're Adapted."
"Huh?" He matched her frown, and even the Espeon began to look intently. "Adapted?"
"My fault." She held a hand up. "Let me explain."
The Espeon rose from its fluffy bed and, in one graceful leap, curled up in Sabrina's lap. It growled cutely under the gym leader's touch, and Ash's impatience bubbled.
"It is not exactly unknown knowledge, but humans and pokémon are extremely similar. Most humans do not share the abilities of pokémon; however, some evolved from the relationship with their pokémon. They became more adjusted to them, and could pass on those traits to their children…This came to be known as the Adaption."
She wrinkled her nose with distaste. "I won't be surprised if you do not know of the remaining three Adaptions - the League is very careful with making this public knowledge - and while I do not think you are at liberty to know of this, it seems that things aren't so simple."
Sabrina sighed. "The Adaption resembles only a select few traits shared between humans and pokémon. You are already familiar to one of them: psychics," she said, smiling wryly as the teaspoon in her cup twirled through the air with a flick of her finger. "There are three more variants: the Spectral, the Dark, and the Aura Adaption."
"The vast majority of people, around eighty percent of the population, are what you can consider…normal-types," she said, and her lips quirked. "They have not changed despite millennia of coexisting with pokémon, and thus do not have any abilities whatsoever. The majority of Adapted humans consist of psychics, with the other half filled by spectres. Darks are nearly nonexistent - very few manage to make it to adulthood before they die or are killed due to the violent nature of the Dark Adaption."
Ash shuddered. Images of people in mangled heaps ravaged his imagination.
"As of now, only three darks have been known to control their Adaption - all high-ranking trainers in the International Council of Leagues," she told him. "As for the Aura…no one has seen one in hundreds of years - they are nothing more than myths, now."
Ash pinched the bridge of his nose. Suddenly, he felt his shoulders growing very heavy. It was a lot to take in - to learn that he was one of the few people with special abilities in the whole world felt like too much for his adolescent brain to handle.
"So what－ sorry, this is all new to me," he said, laughing awkwardly. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because you've begun to Adapt, Ash. You did so three nights ago, when the Black Fog attempted to kill you with its nightmares. For a second I feared you dead…But, by some miracle, your Adaption manifested in that instance and saved you." She smiled. "My suspicions turned out to be correct."
Ash's eyes narrowed. "Wait…So- So there was no real reason for me to be there with you? I was fighting the Black Fog to prove your theory?"
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "I think you're watering it all down," she said quickly. "You did help, more than I thought you would. Without your Mismagius we would have no defense against its intangibility, and without her brilliant flames the Fog would've never tried to blow up, so we do have a lot to thank you for."
"But at the end of the day this was all to test out your hunch?" Ash snarled, uncharacteristically vehement. The Espeon meowed angrily, but he hissed back. "I was just your test subject! Are you insane?!"
Sabrina sighed. "I will admit that I was a bit too callous－"
"Callous? I nearly died!"
The gym leader shook her head. "But you didn't die, Ash. It all worked out, even when it looked like it wouldn't-"
"You lied to me!" he screamed, kicking at the foot of his bed.
"I never lied about the Black Fog, Ash," Sabrina snapped. "The damned thing was terrorising my city and I had to stop it. You came along, and I figured I could use your help - and prove speculations as well! You need to calm down."
Ash fumed. He wanted to scream some more, but Sabrina looked like she was going to be pissed. Instead he sucked it up and ground his teeth, resisting the urge to lash out.
Sabrina exhaled, like she was preparing herself. "Yes, Ash - my primary motive was to test out my hypothesis. While you showed no talent for the Gift, there were signs that I just couldn't ignore - having your Xatu speak at such an early time in your relationship, and then hearing your Mismagius during our battle…
"The Adaption manifests in different ways, but they all share one thing in common - it requires heightened, intense emotions to trigger the potential in us. For me, it was the passing of my sister," Sabrina mentioned, a sad smile on her face. "My grief was uncontrollable and, before I knew it, I was bending spoons with a flick of every finger. I assumed the fear caused by the Black Fog would be enough to trigger your Adaption, and it did."
Ash shuddered. Even remembering the nightmares made him shiver. He hated every second of the event, - it made his skin crawl and his blood rush - but, for some odd reason, he wasn't scared of the moulding, rotting hand crawling towards him anymore. Now it just seemed morbidly amusing.
He was still mad at Sabrina for deceiving him to face such danger. Maybe they'd gotten lucky, but Ash could bear to imagine what could've been. The Black Fog had felt like a primordial force during their battle, and as he snuck a glimpse at the purple pokéball he grew nervous. He wouldn't be sad if it was crushed to tiny shards and tossed into a fire.
"So what's my Adaption?" he asked, making sure to lace his voice with anger. He wanted her to know how angry he still was.
She shook his head. "I cannot say. You're much clearer, but still…there's so much mist. I cannot see tell which path you with take, but from what I garnered from your first visit, you do not have the Gift. I can say that much with confidence."
Ash pouted. Being reminded of that put a downer on his mood. It would've been cool if he somehow was a psychic, despite Sabrina's previous answer, but he realised that wasn't going to happen. The others sounded equally cool, though. He wondered what it would be like to be Aura Adapted, but Sabrina had told him that there hadn't been one for centuries.
"How long is it going to take? For me to Adapt, that is?"
"Not for quite some time. The Adaption manifests differently for each one, so I cannot say. You've already begun to Adapt, but it could be between a couple of years to well until you've reached adulthood until you harness it. Its intensity also varies from person to person - very few, such as myself, are able to use their abilities to the fullest extent, but most only develop the most basic of qualities. So you may very well experience a subtle Adaption."
Ash's brows furrowed. Already his hopes were beginning to sputter. What was the point in Adapting if you couldn't take advantage of your abilities? He made a silent prayer to the Legends hoping that he would Adapt to the fullest of his capabilities.
"Okay," he muttered, twiddling his thumbs. "I'm going to get superpowers. That's actually awesome."
Sabrina laughed. "In a crude sense, yes. And when you do, Ash, I would love for you to have me teach you how to control it."
Ash glared at her. "Like hell I will. You'll probably trick me into being a variable in your psychic experiments again."
She rolled her eyes, sighing. "I'll let you rest now, Ash. Goodbye."
She stood up to leave, but just before she closed the door behind her, she gave him a last look. "I'm truly sorry for breaking your trust, Ash. But I needed to find this one out."
Ash scowled before she left his room. Her Espeon, however, was still in the room, pawing at the armchair by his bed. "What're you looking at?" he muttered.
The Espeon purred, its jewel flashing. Ash made the mistake of looking at it for far too long, and he was soon put to sleep.
XxXxX
Trainer:Ash Ketchum
Pokémon in possession:
Saur – Venusaur
Delphi – Xatu
Zeus – Ampharos
Hydrus – Golduck
Monferno
Snorlax
Screecher – Mismagius
Kratos– Scyther
Atlas – Trapinch
Eevee
Hi, all. Sorry for the wait. I've been having a terrible time with college, and I'm still dealing with the aftermath of a breakup. My mental health has gone for a toss as well. It's been tough for me to get motivated, so I really do apologise if this chapter isn't up to the mark. However, I'm glad to be back in the swing of things - sorta - and I hope you enjoy this one nevertheless.
For this chapter, I decided to finally kick-start they heavy stuff in this story. The next few chapters are equally packed with action and hurdles, with Ash joining a pretty innocent tour of the Silph company (wink, wink). Until next time, and I hope you all have a good one. Stay safe!