Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or "The Shining."
Last time, the tension rose as Brock began to pursue Misty mysteriously with a roque mallet, and Ash had yet another horrible encounter in one of the hotel's evil rooms.
Summary: Brock is out of his mind. After convinced by the hotel to get rid of his friends in a dreadful, quick manner, Misty and Ash find themselves trapped and in a fight for their lives.
Midnight! Pokéball Go!
by Spruceton Spook
Part 15:
The Battle--Minus the Pokémon
Ash's eyes rolled back into the top of his head. His hands gripped with the little strength they had left around the hands of his ghostly murderer, and his tongue began to drop out of his mouth. Pikachu watched in horror as his trainer and friend gasped for the precious air that was being grimly taken from him. All that was coming out of Ash were sickening moans. The Pokémon eyes then flipped over to "her," the thing responsible for bringing Ash pain. With terror but nonetheless anger building inside of him, he let off the most tremendous and electrifying shock his body could produce. Streaks of lightning bolted off into every corner of the room, but most importantly, hitting its ultimate target. As if a horrible "ghost repellent" was sprayed upon it, the ghost disappeared, along with the hands that had no doubt been killing Ash.
Ash fell to the floor immediately. He brought his hands up to his neck in a flash, and began to take huge, desperate gasps of air. Pikachu rushed to his side instantly. Looking up into his face, Pikachu could see that Ash's lips had turned to a lighter shade of blue, his eyes were clenched shut, and his forehead was a bright red.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked, tears coming to his eyes.
Ash opened one eye and looked down at his friend, and suddenly smiled slightly. "Thhhanks Pikachuuu. . ." he said coarsely between gasps for air. As soon as he said that, he closed his eyes again and began to cry, his hands still rubbing his bruised neck to get the blood circulating again. "Oh my God, we have. . . to get out of. . . here. Got. . .to get . . . Misty. . .Brock."
He tried to get up, but fell down right away. Still breathing soundly and precariously, he rested his head down on the carpet.
"Pika pi! Chu pi pikachu pika," said Pikachu.
"I'm. . .trying," Ash managed to say. "I. . .can't breathe. Help me. . ."
Pikachu looked behind his back at the closed door. For some reason, he felt that it was open now. Tugging tightly on Ash's shirt, he told Ash of what he thought. Using every ounce of energy he had left in him, Ash rose to his feet. Wobbling a bit and still holding onto his neck, he reached out and turned the doorknob. The door opened freely and easily, and Ash and Pikachu ran away from the room as full speed towards the staircase. It was only then that Ash began to wail, which came out only as muffled, terrified moans.
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Misty backed up more and more as Brock approached her. He was laughing softly now, and his eyes were opened wide. A recognizable look of vice had taken over his expression. He grasped the mallet firmly in his hands and raised it. Misty froze in terror.
"What's wrong with you!?" she screamed frightfully.
"YOU are what's wrong with me, you little wench!" Brock bellowed suddenly, making Misty shiver. She looked at him with panic filled eyes.
"What?!" she choked out. She let out a small cry of shock as her back hit the wall, a dead end. She gazed into the eyes of her friend, who now stood before her, giving her the most horrible looks of loathing and evilness she'd ever seen in her life. Her heart was pounding, and she realized that something terribly wrong was occurring. She had never felt a stronger feeling.
"Oh, don't play innocent with me, Misty," Brock uttered with a hint of warning in his voice. "I knew from the beginning that you were out to make my life miserable."
"Oh my God, what are you talking about?!" Misty yelled back, tears beginning to stream down her terrified face. "Why would you think such a thing?!"
Brock wiped his mouth with his hand. He gripped the mallet so hard now that his hands and face were becoming red. He gave her a disgusted look.
"You've done all you can to me, wench," he said. "And I'm not gonna tolerate it anymore!"
With that, Brock swung the mallet at Misty, missing her by mere inches. Misty shrieked and almost fell after feeling the swift blast of air blow by her. She quickly regained her balance and ran past Brock as fast as she could. Brock brought the mallet back up again, and turned to watch her run out of the room. He smiled evilly again, and calmly walked out after her, smashing the television on his way out.
Misty didn't know why she looked back at Brock, but the shattering of glass from the TV had startled her. She screamed as she saw Brock walked towards her.
"You're crazy!" she belted out at him. "What's gotten into you?!"
She still kept her eyes peeled on him, watching his every move as she started to jog in a panic down the hallway.
"You have, Misty," Brock said almost too calmly. "You and the twerp. You've both pissed me off way beyond repair this time."
Misty breathed in heavy, uneven breaths. Her throat felt like it was going to close any minute. Her heart had not ceased to race. In a flash, she turned around and began to run down the hall, not looking back. She wasn't going to stand there and inquiry Brock about why he was suddenly coming after her with a murderous glint in his eye.
"Ash!!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Ash! Help! Where are you?! Ash!"
At the sound of Misty's unbearable pleas and screams for help, Ash froze suddenly. A million thoughts passed through his mind at once. All he could think about was the hotel, the woman who had been attempting to kill him, and the voices. These all came together to produce one horrid vision in his mind, and that was Misty in danger. Or worse, Misty hurt. But she didn't sound hurt. Only a second or two had passed while he was thinking this, and he started to run faster toward the staircase to help his friend.
Ash got only a few feet from the staircase when all of a sudden, a massive, angry Growlithe jumped out in front of him. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Ash screamed as it came into sight, growling and bearing its teeth, it's eyes red with malice, the fur on it's back straight up. What really appalled and sent Ash into shock was the white foam forming at the Growlithe's mouth, completely coating it's teeth and chin.
Backing into the wall, Ash suddenly replaced the look of fear on his face with that of mad determination. "Pikachu! Thundershock, now!!" he ordered, and without another second passed, Pikachu let loose his electricity. But to Ash's horror, the voltage didn't even appear to leave a sting on the rabid dog. It stood there just as rigid as it had been before, growling at him with intense hatred. Below, Ash could still hear Misty's desperate cries, and they seemed to gnaw at his insides.
"I wish I could come, Misty," he muttered miserably out loud, staring dead on into the eyes of the Growlithe, who was patiently standing its ground, but hunching as if it was to pounce. "Oh God, please help her. Whatever's happening. . . Please help her!"
On the first floor, Misty found herself approaching the base of the staircase. "Ash! Ash! Help meeeeee!!!" she screeched. She looked behind her and saw Brock approaching, swinging the huge mallet casually around in large, swooping circles.
"There you are!" he exclaimed, looking at her satisfyingly. "Thought you could get away from ol' Brocko, didn't ya?"
"Get away from me, you psychopath!" she shouted hatefully at him, and she turned to run again. She wanted to cry, but somewhere in her was telling her to be strong. It was too hard, though. Brock was after her now, there was no doubt about that, and Ash was nowhere to be found.
"What if he . . . no!" Misty got that thought out of her head immediately. "Ash couldn't be in trouble. The hotel couldn't have gotten him. Not yet . . . I -- I need him."
Misty found herself in the lobby now, in front of the couch that the three of them had sat in when they first settled down in the Fireside's Warmth Hotel to defrost their frozen bodies. Now she looked down at it, and if eyes could start fires, she would have set it on fire. He hated it, she hated all of it.
"Hello, love," Brock said, entering the lobby. "Been missing me?"
Misty shuddered and gasped, but otherwise remained silent. "Get away from me," she finally said as he came dangerously closer to her. He looked like Brock, he sounded like Brock, but he was not Brock. Brock was gone. In his place now was the hotel in human form. Brock's form. "If you were really Brock, you wouldn't be doing this."
Brock shrugged, the grin never escaping his face. "It's me Misty! Only it's the new improved me! The one who's not gonna be the tag-along sucker anymore. And I'm not going to take crap from you or Ash anymore!"
Misty suddenly burst into tears. "You're not Brock! You're not Brock! Ash! Ash! Where are you!"
Brock came nearer to her. "Why did you do it, Misty, hmm? Why so many times?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Why so many times did you ruin my chance with a girl? Was it that you just hated me so much -- so much because you were jealous that Ash wasn't acting the same towards you? Well, I have news for ya, honey, he doesn't like you. Why would anyone like you? Stupid little wench that you are. All you ever do is complain. Never shut up. Always nagging me."
Misty continued to sob as Brock backed her into the couch. Suddenly, his face started to almost illuminate in hatred, and Misty's eyes widened in fear. She held out her arms.
"Please. . . Brock . . . leave me alone!"
Brock suddenly swung the mallet powerfully at Misty, striking her hard in her upper thigh. Misty collapsed to the floor instantly and emitting a deafening howl in pain, gripping her leg. She couldn't breathe as the pain shot through her body in all directions. She rolled over onto her stomach and sobbed loudly.
Brock smiled down at the injured Misty. "How do you like getting hit with a mallet, Misty?" he asked slyly, referring to the many times Misty had conked him on the head for flirting with girls.
Misty didn't reply or even look at him. All she could concentrate on was the flaming pain in her leg. She pulled her hand back expecting to see blood, but there was none. Brock was overly enjoying her agony, and craved even more to continue it, to finish the job. Slowly, he lifted the mallet high above his head and prepared to bring it down hard onto her back. Misty caught sight of the raised mallet and her heart took an immediate jump.
"Nooo. . . ," she moaned, shutting her eyes and waiting for the impact.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
Brock flipped around suddenly to all too familiar voices of their enemies, dropping the mallet back down at his side again. Misty's eyes opened slightly to make out a blurred vision of two people standing in the lobby's entrance.
"To protect the world from devas--" Jessie froze suddenly in mid-line as soon as her eyes looked on at the scene before her. James' eyes bugged out of his head and Meowth gaped along with her when they noticed Misty wailing on the floor with Brock standing over her with a mallet. Misty had her hands clasped tightly around her leg. Both kids were staring surprisingly at Team Rocket.
"Wh--what's going on?" Jessie asked fearfully, looking horridly at Brock and then Misty.
Brock grinning at the newcomers. Jessie, James, and Meowth gasped loudly at the sight of Brock's weapon, and putting two and two together did not take too much brains to realize what had just happened. This was no joke.
"Hey Team Rocket!" Brock chimed happily, striding over swiftly to the threesome. "Come to steal Pikachu?"
With that, he swung the mallet forcefully at James, making contact with his right side. Jessie screamed deafeningly and jumped out of the way to see her partner stumble around and holding his side. He was groaning unbearably loud, and the sound of it and the sight of his pain-filled face made Jessie suddenly nauseous.
"Oh my God!" Jessie shrieked, looking down at James and then at Brock.
James had fallen to the ground when the pain had become to intolerable. He rested on his knees and his head lay on the ground. Jessie could do nothing but stare horribly at the sight. She was frozen in fear. Brock looked down at his victim with the same satisfied look that he had displayed to Misty. All of a sudden, James eyed him hatefully and made an attempt to get up.
"Oh no you don't!" Brock said, and brought the mallet down hard on James' back. Jessie screeched loudly again as the mallet made a hard, cracking sound as it struck James' back. The poor boy fell down unconscious on the floor, and Brock turned to Jessie smiling. Jessie's eyes were filled with undoubted fear as Brock smashed her in the shoulder. Jessie fell to the ground beside her partner, moving just slightly.
Misty stared at the scene before her with shock. Her eyes moved over a bit to see that Meowth was standing a way off to the side, looking just as shocked as he did angry. His glare jumped to Brock.
"How dare you do that to my friends!" the cat yelled angrily. He suddenly made a leap for Brock, his claws extended.
Brock caught Meowth before he could furry-swipe the boy's face, and held him out in front of him. Meowth's expression turned to one of fear as Brock hurled him at the nearest wall. Meowth struck it with a thud, and collapsed to the floor after losing consciousness.
Misty screamed again as loud as she could. Tears poured from her eyes like Niagara Falls. Where the hell was Ash?
"ASH!!!!!!!" she shouted loudly, hurting her throat in the process. "Please, where are you?!"
"Oh, Ash, where are you? Where are you?" Brock laughed, imitating Misty's voice. "Just cut it out, will ya? Besides, as soon as I'm done with you, I'll hunt him down. Nobody's getting away from me."
Misty said nothing, but sat crying looking down at Team Rocket, who laid limp, Meowth at the other side of the room, and Jessie and James one on top of each other, motionless. Brock smiled.
"Well, I guess I did us a favor. . . for a while," he said proudly. "They won't bother us ever again."
"You're sick!" Misty wailed at him.
Brock shook his head. "No, Misty. I'm better now. But first I think I'm gonna find out where Ashy Boy is. Will ya wait for me, Misty? I'll be back."
He turned towards the staircase and made his way out of the room.
"No, Brock! Don't!" Misty pleaded loudly, dragging herself a few feet. "Please! Ash, watch out! He's coming!"
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A floor above them, Ash continued to hear Misty's cries. He had heard her scream every time, but he could not do anything about it. A few times when he had tried to escape, the Growlithe would growl hatefully and warningly at him, and Ash would back away in fear. Finally, Misty's cries for help were poison to his ears, and he realized that he needed to help her, even if it meant him getting hurt in the process.
He jumped up, and immediately the Growlithe hurled itself at him, but not close enough. Ash maneuvered himself around it, holding Pikachu firmly in his arms. Suddenly, two more rabid Growlithe appeared from an hallway, and trapped him in a triangle. Surrounded and feeling defeated, Ash fell to his knees, eyeing the three Growlithe around him. He knew he had to do something--and fast.
TO BE CONTINUED. . .