A/N Sorry this took so long

Chapter Five .

The Shadow Of Suffering

Before Ash could comprehend what he was seeing, Sabrina sent a powerful psychic shockwave which threw ash towards a nearby tree. Ash hit his head hard and as he struggled to find stay conscious, he saw Sabrina teleport away. Then, everything went black. A few minutes later, Ash came too and groaned as a searing pain shot through his head. Cradling a new found lump on his head, Ash rose to his feet unsteadily and leaned against the tree. He needed to clear his head and think. He took a few deep breaths and focused his energy.

As the pain subsided he began to feel Sabrina's psychic energy and he knew then that he needed to find Sabrina and put an end to all of this. He took a final look around the now destroyed campsite and began to gather his belongings. He didn't want to teleport straight to her location as it might upset her so he decided he would teleport to a town nearby and walk from there. It would conserve some of his energy that way too. He packed his bags, taking one last look at a photograph of himself and Sabrina at the poke summer camp. He somehow knew she would go there- go back to where everything began.

Seconds later, Ash was surrounded by the smells and sounds of a rural town that he couldn't quite remember the name of. All he knew was that he went there as part of the poke camp. He strolled through the cobbled town, smiling as he walked past young pokemon and their trainers. Older and evolved pokemon were helping out at stalls.

Ash hoped he could reason with Sabrina, hoped he could help quell her powers and make her...her again. As the shops and houses grew sparse, and the trees thickened, Ash was surrounded by complete silence. His feet were becoming heavy with the thought of what was about to take place, and the thudding of his heart made his body jolt slightly. He could feel Sabrina's psychic energy more strongly now and tried his best to hide his from her. If she knew he was coming, it may make things harder.

Sabrina was surrounded by darkness. She was powerless. She felt like a puppet, like someone else was controlling her body. Every now and then, she regained control of her own body and she would crumple to the floor in tears. As she looked around, she could see beautiful pokemon and plants... but the beauty had long disappeared. All she saw was anger, hatred and death. The trees were hollow beings, the pokemon slaves to the human race. She wished she could be free.

A twinge in her head shattered her thoughts and she knew what it meant. Ash was coming. Ash. Why did he have to come? It was his fault. His fault that those young pokemon died. Not hers. She rose to her feet with a sly grin on her face, wiped the tears away and began to focus. She was going to show Ash the true meaning of pain.

As Ash approached the clearing, where the once vibrant lake took centre stage, he saw her. Sabrina was standing close to a tree, staring blankly ahead. She was no longer herself, Ash thought. HE approached slowly and carefully.

"Sabrina!" He called.

Nothing.

"Sabrina, please, its me, Ash" he called again.

He was close enough to her now that he could see it. She was smiling... but not in a nice way. Her eyes flicked in his direction and she began to laugh.

"Silly Ash, it was all your fault you know. We could have saved those pokemon, but YOU let them die. You made me believe it was me, but it was you, you are a murderer. Now you must feel how they felt as they took their last painful breaths". Sabrina spread her fingers and sent a blast towards Ash as he stood there open mouthed.

As he gingerly got to his feet, he heard a voice in his head. Sabrina's voice.

"That is not me!" She shouted "Please save me, if you don't, we will both die!" She pleaded. He looked towards the shell that was Sabrina and knew what he had to do.

Reluctantly, he took a step forward and focused his energy and sent a blast towards Sabrina. She stumbled back a bit but regained her composure quickly. She flicked her hand towards him and he barely had the time to dodge. As he rolled on the grass he sent an energy blast towards her and he heard her stagger and groan. As he rose to his feet, she was doing the same and he realised this was going to be a long fight.

A nurse Joy was enjoying her day off, and decided to spend the day cycling with her Chansey. As she approached the dirt path which lead to the poke camp field, she saw two young trainers battling. At first she smilied, thinking it was two young trainers honing their skills. As she rode closer, however, she realised this was entirely more barbaric. A young boy and girl were ruthlessly blasting each other with what Nurse Joy presumed to be psychic blasts. She knew if she didn't do something quickly, one of them would be injured badly.

Nurse Joy called the police who put her straight through to the psychic academy. As she explained the situation, the person on the other end of the phone assured her that a specialist team were on their way. They had heard about a damaged girl who had lost control over her psychic powers, and they believed this to be her. The person advised Nurse Joy to hide somewhere where she could still see the young trainers until the team arrived.

She ducked behind a bush and returned Chansey to her ball. She couldn't risk her being hurt. After a few minutes, Joy heard a loud, ear shattering boom. She peered over the bush and saw both of the trainers laying on the grass, unmoving. The power of the psychic boom had cut the phone lines and Nurse Joy began to worry. She spun around to head towards the pathway but was greeted by a team of people wearing navy blue slacks and shirts.

"Are you the person who called?" One particularly large man said.

"Y-Yes" she stammered "Those two young people... I don't know what happened... there was a loud boom... and then... nothing". Nurse Joy gulped and was taken away by the large man to get a drink.

Ash was becoming weary. He didn't understand why this was happening. He was hit once again by Sabrina and he was brought to his knees. He looked up and saw Sabrina, evil and unrelenting. This was not the Sabrina he knew. He turned his attention towards the lake and smiled weakly as he remembered all the fun he and Sabrina had together as kids. A tear snaked down his face and he dug his hands into the earth and started weeping. Ash felt the energy pulsating out of his body as he wept. It was so powerful he began to lose consciousness. The last thing he remembered was looking up at the blue sky.

2 Weeks Later...

Ash sat in the comfy leather chair and stared at the wall. It was an un-interesting shade of beige but it was the most entertaining thing in the room. He heard the door open and he slowly turned his head towards the noise. A woman in a navy blue suit sat opposite him and began writing something on her notepad. It had been three days since Ash woke up from an induced coma he was put in to help him recover from the damage of the fight. People came and went but he was numb, and didn't feel like socialising.

The woman began asking him questions but he wasn't really listening. He was answering 'yes' and 'no', almost on auto. He knew it would be a while before he would begin to feel okay.

The woman stopped asking questions and looked at Ash.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" She asked, delicately.

Ash's eyes drifted over to her direction and his mouth ran on automatic "How is Sabrina?". The words felt heavy and numb. The woman's expression changed to one of sorrow.

"I'm sorry Ash.. She's still in a coma, they don't think she will ever recover". The woman looked uncomfortable saying it. Ash didn't have the energy to be angry, or move. Instead, a single tear ran down his face.

"Would you like me to take you to her?" The woman whispered. Ash nodded. The woman slowly helped him to his feet, and head him down a brightly lit corridor which took him a while to adjust to. After a few painful minutes of waking down corridors, turning, and walking up stairs, the woman stopped. Ash stopped abruptly and stumbled. He gripped onto a metal railing and pulled himself to his feet.

The woman opened the door and inside Ash could see it was dark, aside from the light generated from various machines. He walked in nervously and was greeted by a deathly silence, only the sound of beeping monitors penetrated the silence. Ash got close to the bead and looked at the ghost-like figure below him. 'This is not Sabrina' he thought. This couldn't be her. Only a couple of months ago there were starting on their journey... now... this.

Ash turned and walked away, each step more difficult than the last. The Psychic Academy woman's voice was like a spear in his head "She wont recover". Ash crumpled to a heap on the floor and began to hit his head against the wall.

"IT CANT BE HER. IT CANT BE HER" he screamed, over and over. A passing doctor picked him up and carried him back to his room. He fell asleep sobbing. He had killed her.