Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
So there is no confusion, all the characters are the same age and appear as they do in the TV Series.
Last time, Ash battled the owner of the Fireside's Warmth Hotel, Mr. Vrenden, for his first Johto Badge. However, upon winning, Mr. Vrenden suddenly announces that Ash's prize is the hotel itself, and immediately leaves the hotel.
Summary: Now that the Fireside's Warmth Hotel is Ash's, the three decide to spend some quality time in style. But there's something's strange about this hotel that neither can put their finger on...
Midnight! Pokéball Go!
by Spruceton Spook
Part 4:
The Grand Tour
When Ash woke up the next morning, he had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he was in a comfortable bed, and that the warm, vibrating lump near his feet was Pikachu. He lifted himself up slowly and looked across the room. As soon as he saw the huge room before him with its gorgeous furniture and wood covered walls, he immediately realized that he had spent the night in the Fireside's Warmth Hotel. His Fireside's Warmth Hotel. Or was it?
"Misty? Brock?" he asked groggily, searching for his friends. They were not in the room. Panicking, he swung his legs around the side of the bed. He immediately felt the cold floor through his sock-covered feet, and it sent a small shock through his body. He looked around at Pikachu, who had just been awoken.
He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes, and realized just then that Misty and Brock had slept in separate rooms as well. The caretaker's quarters, which were about the size of a large apartment, had two bedrooms. Misty had taken the smaller, while Brock agreed to spend the night on the sofa bed in the spacious living room. When Ash had last seen him, he was sprawled out on the bed, watching a late night comedy show.
Ash was not used to waking up in such places. He knew when he was in the Pokémon centers. The feel of the stiff cots was quite familiar to him. The feeling of the warm, king-sized bed in which he spent the night was a luxury he only enjoyed at home.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked sleepily, his eyes half closed.
Ash smiled and ran a hand over the Pokémon's soft head. Pikachu purred softly as his trainer continued to stroke his head.
"Sleep well?" Ash asked.
Pikachu rolled over. "Pikachu," he answered quietly.
Ash's attention was caught by someone stirring outside his door, a knocking coming upon it moments later.
"Ash?" The sound of Misty's voice came floating muffled through the door.
Ash walked up and opened the door. Misty was standing there in her blue bathrobe, and she smiled softly when Ash looked at her. She was holding her arms around her, as if she were cold.
"Hey Ash," she said, glancing down.
"G'morning," Ash replied, walking back towards his bag to grab his jacket. He was a little chilly himself, and the only bathrobe he owned was currently hanging up in his closet back in Pallet Town. He never thought he would need it on the road, and come to think of it, he never thought he'd be the proud new owner of a hotel resort, either.
"You know Ash," Misty began as she strode into the room. "I woke up this morning in the warmest bed I've felt in a long time. And I was just so comfortable, and I looked around at the beautiful room that I happened to just be in. That is, until I realized that I woke up in this freakin' hotel!"
She bolted the last part out at Ash so hard that he jumped. Ash remembered from the night before the look of shock and terror that she shot at him when Mr. Vrenden announced that the hotel was now his. She hated it from the beginning, and Ash knew that Misty was holding Ash accountable for the entire event.
"It's not my fault!" Ash shouted, trying desperately once again to defend himself. "I was expecting a badge, not the hotel!"
Misty looked down at her feet again. "I know that," she replied calmly. "I just...I don't know. This is not something I was prepared for."
"No kidding," Ash said. "And you think I am?"
Misty rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it that way..."
"I'm just a kid!" Ash belted out suddenly. Misty glared at him.
Ash continued more peacefully. "I hate to admit that, but kids don't run hotels."
"Then why didn't you tell Mr. Vrenden that when he handed the deeds over to you?"
Ash shook his head. "Excuse me if I was in shock. I wanted a badge!"
"Well, this is some impressive badge you got here, Ash!"
Ash was ready to shoot a reply back at her when suddenly Brock came into the room.
"What's the problem?" he asked, quite obvious that he had been awakened by Ash and Misty's arguing.
"You know what the problem is, Brock!" Misty yelled. "This place was nice to spend the night in, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna accept that we own this place!"
Brock breathed in deeply, glancing back and forth at Ash and Misty. "Look," he said. "This is different, I know. But, let's not worry about that right now. We're here, we're warm. Let's get a bite to eat, okay?"
Ash smiled a bit, and turned his face toward Misty. She looked at him, and his smile couldn't help but make her smile also. The word 'food' immediately struck a cord within her. "Come on," she said, making her way past Brock and into her room, where she collected Togepi.
Ash waved his arm to motion Pikachu to follow, and he did. Brock and Ash met Misty, and together they exited the caretaker's quarters. Brock turned left, and Ash and Misty followed him.
"Do you know where you're going?" Misty asked, her eyes narrowing.
Brock sweatdropped. "Uh, well...I'm using instinct," he replied.
Misty shrugged. Not a few moments later did they in fact find the large kitchen doors. They were located off the empty dining room where Ash's Pokémon battle took place the night before.
Brock marveled over the huge, luxurious kitchen. With a smile, he began to walk through the spacious room, hardly believing at all that it was a kitchen.
"Would you look at this place!" Ash exclaimed.
"I've never seen a kitchen so big in all my life!" added Misty. Letting Togepi down on one of the ten-foot long counters, she walked over to what she believed were the pantries. Sure enough they were, and she gasped in astonishment at what lay before her. Ash and Brock joined her, and together, the three hungry trainers gaped at the amount of food the pantries contained.
Packing the shelves where different assortments of food, ranging from condiments to breads, from snacks to cooking ingredients. Brock leapt up to the next door, which was a bit difficult to open, on account that it was the freezer, which he discovered as soon as the frigid blast of air hit his face.
"Whoa," he muttered, seeing every kind of meat known to man placed carefully on the shelves. There were steaks of every kind, about three whole turkeys, numerous pot roasts and pork roasts, and whole chickens.
"We won't go hungry here, that's for sure," he said to Ash and Misty, motioning them over to look at the food for themselves. "I can't wait to cook something up tonight!"
"Well, I can't wait to eat it!" Ash answered with a large grin. His stomach suddenly growled softly. He laughed, then added, "I could sure go for something now."
"Pikaaa...." Pikachu moaned in agreement.
Brock grinned happily. "Well, you guys go set a place for us! I'll have breakfast done before you know it!"
Ash and Misty beamed, and immediately went to find plates and silverware. About fifteen minutes later, they hungrily gobbled down Brock's delicious pancakes and breakfast sausages with fancy gourmet coffee he had found stashed in one of the pantries. It filled their bellies satisfyingly, and they all settled back in their chairs when it was over.
"You know," Misty said soothingly, glancing over at the huge food supply through the closed doors. "I wouldn't mind staying here for a little while."
Ash nodded. "No kidding. I want to check this place out! After all, it....it is mine."
Misty's face fell. "Oh, yeah," she said.
Brock rested his head in his hands. "You better call home first, Ash. You know, so your mom knows where we are."
Ash looked down at the floor. "I don't know Brock. I was kinda not gonna tell her yet."
Brock frowned and shrugged. "Why wouldn't you? I mean, she's gonna worry. Didn't you tell her we were going to be home soon?"
"Yeah," Ash replied. "But I don't think she's going to be thrilled with this news. I just want to keep it quiet for a while. We're early anyway, she's not expecting us till the weekend before Thanksgiving."
Brock shrugged again. "Your choice," was all he answered. "But I understand. If you tell her, she might want us to come home."
"We have this place all to ourselves," Misty said. "Not all kids get this opportunity."
"You're right, Misty!" Ash agreed. "Let's have fun for a couple days!"
That seemed to be it. Brock just smiled, and agreed also. As he cleared away the dishes, Misty went into some sort of a dream state that neither Ash nor Brock could understand. All they heard coming from her mouth was how much she was going to delight in the luxuries of the beautiful bathroom. Ash himself didn't think it was a bad idea; he hadn't taken a shower in four weeks. But that didn't come till later on. Misty had been in the bathroom for two hours.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Around noon-time, Ash, Misty, and Brock decided to explore the hotel for the first time. They had remained on the first floor all morning, and neither of them had even seen the second floor yet. Ash didn't even know how many floors his hotel had. Pikachu had been upstairs earlier to sniff around the place. Ash hadn't noticed his return, he only found him asleep on his bed.
When Brock had announced that they tour the Fireside's Warmth, Ash motioned to Pikachu to join them, which he did.
The three made their way up the large, winding main staircase first, which led to a magnificent landing on the second floor. It looked almost like a second lobby, containing more couches and tables and reading lamps; just a place to plop down at night. Ash did just that.
"Just checking out MY chairs," he said with a sly grin, adding extra emphasis on the 'my.'
Misty just groaned and shook her head. Togepi cried softly in her arms, and she set him down on the floor. The little Pokémon followed attentively at her feet.
"This place is just gorgeous," she cried, taking in the sights of the glamorously decorated hallways. "Just imagine what the rooms must look like!"
Ash was smiling the whole time. "And it's all mine!"
All the hallways and carpeting were the same throughout the hotel. They discovered soon afterward that the hotel had only three floors, but each floor was like a gigantic maze of corridors and halls, housing hundreds of guest rooms. Ash suspected that they were all the same, though he did not know yet what any looked like.
Brock was fascinated also. The hotel was remarkably clean which he had observed. Ash and Misty were walking in front of him throughout their trip through the hotel, and he lagged slowly but not completely separated from them. He loved the third floor best; it was more spacious, and the paintings that hung on the wall were beautiful. Ash and Misty were now chatting quietly in front of him, talking about the situation the night before and the upcoming holidays. Misty announced that she wanted to decorate the place for the holidays.
He smiled at this thought, but suddenly his heart took a leap. He shortened his strides, which caused him to go faster, but not as smooth. He fixed his head straight before him, and he held his breath with a rise of panic welling up within him. Someone was behind him. He felt it. Finally on a whim, he spun around to find nothing behind him. He uttered a small gasp as he did this, causing Ash and Misty to spin around as well.
There was nothing -- nothing at all behind him. Brock was breathing heavily now, his heart pounding at an incredible rate.
"What's the matter?" Ash's voice made Brock shudder slightly.
Brock turned to Ash with a disorientated face. Both Ash and Misty frowned, and shrugged waiting for an explanation. He just looked behind him again.
"Uh, nothing," he said, smiling feebly. "I-- I just thought I heard something behind me, that's all." He ran his hand through his hair nervously.
Misty laughed insultingly. "Are you crazy?" she asked. "Please don't leave us now, Brock!"
"You thought someone was behind us?" Ash asked with a laugh.
Brock started to laugh too, but the weird sensation was still affecting him. "Well, I don't know. But I felt something creepy."
"It's just your imagination," Misty assured, grabbing Brock's hand. "You're spooking yourself."
"I guess you're right," Brock agreed, feeling foolish of himself. "Still....it did seem pretty funky. I mean, look at how I'm shaking!"
Ash picked Pikachu up into his arms. "Old places like this do that to you."
They began to make their way back down the stairs. Brock felt better now, but he could not shake the feeling that he had just experienced moments before. It had felt so real, so definite. He had felt a presence behind him, and he could have sworn if it weren't for Ash and Misty that somebody had been walking behind him. It was so obvious. This made a chill run down his spine. He huddled closer to Ash and Misty as they made their descent down the main staircase.
TO BE CONTINUED. . .