A Second Chance

by Starmist

A new disease is decimating the population and an organization emerges that's even more deadly than Team Rocket. It's all up to our heros to save the world...

4. Chapter 3: Unveiled Anxiety

A/N: Here it is, my long awaited 3^rd chapter. When I wrote this, I had literally no idea where I was going and I came up with this. Enjoy everyone and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Second Chance

Chapter 3: Unveiled Anxiety

*~*~*~*~*~*

All seems quiet under the beautiful moon that rose above Pewter City. Everyone lay asleep in their little beds, dreaming of the usual dreams. The recent adventures of the night twirled around in the brains of some, while others envisioned everything from counting sheep to flying like a bird in the night sky.

Only one mind lay restless in this sweet serene atmosphere. The mind seemed so abnormally jumpy and violent that the peacefully visions of the others seemed to beckon in fear at the tortured soul of this poor person.

It wasn't their fault… no; it was the result of years of inhumane experiments that lead this person into a wild frenzy. Their brain refused to rest tonight; all it wanted to do was fight and… kill? What was wrong with this person?

The individual refused to let these compulsions take control of them. They fought an inward battle that only ceased only when both sides collapsed in utter exhaustion. Sleep finally managed to dominate over this being. As their eyes closed, the person knew that if another battle like that arose, they couldn't control those devious impulses for long…

*~*~*~*~*~*

Brock sighed.

The group was falling apart… literally.

He looked over at Gary and Giselle and could see the hate bubbling in their eyes. Their arguments were going to tear this group apart and their lack of team cooperation was revolting.

Ash and Misty were walking ahead of him. Brock turned to them and shook his head. The years haven't changed these two. He observed the cold fury simmering in Misty's eyes whenever they lay on Ash. He examined Ash's overburdened face; his mind was hundreds of miles away thinking of the hardships and problems that only a leader would think of. He could also see that this awkward silence couldn't last forever; sooner or later, they were going to be fighting like there was no tomorrow.

That only left him; he was the only one that could keep this mission together. If he didn't, the evils that plague this world would have already won, without a fight.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ash kicked a small pebble that lay in his path and watched it skip a few yards away. However, his mind wasn't on the pebble; it was on Lass.

Lass… why did she have to turn up after all these years? He knew that she could easily destroy him and his friends without a second thought but… something was stopping her. Ash smiled. He knew all too well what was stopping her… she loved to play with people's emotions… she played with his more than even he'd like to admit to himself.

Ash turned his head and caught a quick glimpse of Misty. Her eyes seemed to boil in thought, but once she noticed him staring at her, she immediately turned away. What was wrong with her? Even though she hadn't spoken to him since yesterday, Ash could feel the hate scattering from her soul towards him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The dirt trail seemed to continue on forever in Gary's mind. Why did the road to Cerulean have to be such a long one? And they hadn't even reached Mt. Moon yet! This was really starting to get annoying.

Speaking of annoying, Gary remembered who was following him: Giselle. That girl was such a nuisance! With her horrendous fashion, arrogant attitude and brainless personality, it was no wonder that she got on his nerves! Yet, his pesky conscience reminded him that he was the one who started most of the fights. Why did he do that? Confusion blocked his brain for a moment, so Gary decided to keep his eyes on the road and his mind away from Giselle.

When he did so, he could feel the tension arising between the other three, especially between Ash and Misty. Deciding to break the silence and anxiety that seemed to build up in the air, Gary spoke. "How much longer will it be until we reach Mt. Moon?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe another mile or so."

Giselle stopped in her tracks as her eyes widened in utter shock. "We're going to Mt. Moon?"

Deciding that this was the perfect time to tease his companion, Gary answered in a conceited voice. "Yes. Didn't you know that the road from Pewter to Cerulean passes through Mt. Moon?"

Taking this rhetorical question seriously, Giselle whispered. "I knew that! It's just… just that I forgot."

Misty kept her head down but smiled wickedly as an ironic thought crossed her mind. "Funny, I thought that Ash only said such stupid things."

Ash flashed her a warning glance. His anger built up momentarily but he quickly cooled it. "I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that."

Misty grinned as was about to tease him further when she was interrupted by none other than Giselle. In order to explain her fear to the group, Giselle sighed. "I didn't know that we were going to be traveling through a volcano."

"What?" Brock asked, confused to say the least. Remembering Giselle's intellect, he rudely continued. "Come on, Giselle. People have passed through Mt. Moon for years without trouble. It couldn't be a volcano… you are clearly mistaken."

Misty and Gary nodded to themselves, although they decided to keep their mouths shut. Ash, seeing that Giselle needed some help, stopped in his tracks and nonchalantly stated. "Actually, Mt. Moon has started becoming active only within the last few years."

"You mean that she was right?" Misty, Brock and Gary all shouted in surprise at the fact that Giselle was smarter than she looked.

Giselle glared angrily at the three. "And why would you think otherwise?"

Pikachu, who had been fast asleep on Ash's shoulder, scurried to his feet. "(But it isn't going to erupt for a while.)"

Ash nodded at his pokemon in agreement. "Pikachu has a good point. You guys don't have to worry about it; Mt. Moon isn't going to erupt for at least another few years." The others sighed in immense relief at this statement. Ash then rapidly continued. "But, we do have to watch out for the rockslides, earthquakes and some wild and possibly infected pokemon in there."

"Rockslides?" Gary questioned with fear bouncing off his tongue.

"Earthquakes?" Giselle trembled.

"Infected pokemon?" Brock gasped.

Ash simply shook his head up and down "That's right. But, we shouldn't be in there for long. Taking the fastest route, it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes."

Gary, Giselle and Brock once again breathed in a sigh of immense relief. Misty, however, was strangely quiet and merely stared at the dusty path in front of her. Noticing this, Gary gently murmured. "Misty, are you all right?"

Misty's head darted as fast as a lightning bolt to an upright position. "Never been better, no thanks to Ash worrying us to death, though," Managing a fake smile, Misty acted almost like she was happy… almost. Her performance, though, could have used some work. The group saw through her like a beautiful piece of polished glass.

"What did I do?" Ash questioned as he glared at her. What was with all the insults today?

"Um… Ash, earthquakes and rockslides are manageable, but how are we going to fight against infected pokemon?" Brock asked, trying to divert some unnecessary attention away from Misty.

Ash pondered this for a moment before replying. "All we can do is avoid them." This simple statement didn't help quench the group's worries, though.

"Well, how do we know which pokemon are infected and which aren't?" Giselle asked as worry started creeping up her spine.

Gary smiled, as if the answer to that question was as obvious as the color of the sky. "If the pokemon are crazy and are basically trying to kill you, then, I think that they are infected."

Giselle glared at Gary before rewording her question. "No, I mean, how do we know that they are infected before they start going crazy? If I get a bite from a small little pokemon that seems pretty harmless, how do I know that it doesn't have Stellar?"

"Good question." Ash stated. "The symptoms for Stellar, before going absolutely crazy, are quite numerous. Sometimes, the eyes turn red, you feel abnormal weak, the victim can get rather clumsy… um… what else?"

At this inopportune moment, Giselle tripped and slammed flat on her face. By the time she jumped to her feet, Giselle noticed the amused looks from her friends because her little trip. "That was a coincidence. I swear!"

Gary giggled in the background and murmured under his own breath. "Sure it was."

"I think that Ash's stupidity is rubbing off on Giselle." Misty growled threateningly. It seems that she really wanted to pick a fight with Ash today.

"Shut up Misty." Giselle groaned as she brushed the dirt off of her clothes.

Ash, apparently hadn't taken notice of the awkward scene or the insult, for he continued to ramble, more to himself than anyone else. "Let's see… was it ear aches? No… swelling of the head? No, that's not right… What was it? Gosh… it's the most common symptom of Stellar too! It's on the tip of my tongue!"

"(Headaches! You're forgetting about headaches! Victims of Stellar normally have massive headaches before they start turning aggressive!)" Pikachu screamed at the top of his little lungs, but it didn't help. Ash was so concentrated on his own thoughts that he didn't grasp what Pikachu was saying. "(Ash? Hello? I said headaches? As in the head starts to ache? Are you even listening to me?)"

Gary sweatdropped at the ridiculous scene. Pikachu was literally yelling right in Ash's ear and he still didn't notice it. Deciding to interrupt his incredible concentration, Gary muttered. "Um… Ash? I think that Pikachu is trying to tell you something."

Only now did Ash snap back into the real world. "Huh? What? Pikachu, what were you saying?"

Pikachu, who collapsed onto its side from sheer exhaustion, gasped. "(Never mind.)"

Ash simply dismissed the comical scene from his brain and started continuing his rapid pace. "Let's get going. The faster we get to Mt. Moon, the better."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, here we are." Brock reported as he inspected the area. In front of him stood the infamous Mt. Moon and a small path that led inside the wicked volcano. Barren stonewalls lined the cone-shaped object preventing the growth of small bushes and other plant life. The rocky surface of the mountain was covered with boulders that were so precarious, not even the most experienced mountain-climbers would dare attempt to climb it.

"Indeed." Giselle sighed as she tilted her head back in order to see the to the top of the intimating mountain. The summit was circled by fluffy white clouds that nicely hid the peak of Mt. Moon.

After a moment, Gary sighed. "Shall we proceed?"

Ash merely nodded and led the group inside the dark cavern. Once inside, an army of black shadows surrounded them on all sides. Turning to Pikachu, Ash smiled. "Pikachu, will you please light the way with your flash?"

Pikachu grinned and followed his master's orders. A blinding light echoed from his furry body, allowing the group to see in all directions. They appeared to be in a naturally formed tunnel that slithered ahead of them. The dark cavern walls squeezed them in while the bleak atmosphere only served to panic them.

The Rebels walked silently, only guided by the bright light that flared from Pikachu's body. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Ash commented. "I almost forgot about the complicated maze of caverns inside of Mt. Moon. This area could be hazardous to people who don't know what they're doing."

"Like yourself?" Misty snickered under her breath.

Hearing this childish insult, Ash spun around so fast that Pikachu toppled from his shoulder and fell flat onto the hard dirt path. The bright source of electricity vanished for a moment, leaving the Rebels in complete darkness. Terror soared within the group until Pikachu flashed a brilliant yellow once again.

Not even noticing this, Ash frowned at Misty. "Ok, what is wrong with you? Ever since we left Pewter, you have been glaring at me and insulting me. Are you angry at me?"

Resisting the urge to say "Gee, and where did you ever get such an idea from?" she simply kept her mouth shut. Like a movie, the events from last night replayed over and over in her mind. Ash had purposely lied to the group by withholding information. Not only that, but also he's mingling with the enemy and gathering information from them. Just what was going on with him?

Ash waited patiently for a snappy comeback from the fiery redhead but was astonished at the silence that he received instead. This wasn't like Misty. "Oh, come on Misty! Aren't you even going to talk to me? Are you going to stay silent throughout the whole trip?" Turning to the others, Ash hoped for a little help or at least encouragement. He obtained neither. The others were watching the conversation with blank looks painted on their expressionless faces. Deciding that his friendly attitude wasn't going to count for a nickel now, Ash tried another approach. "Misty, seriously, I don't know what I did wrong, and whatever I did to make you upset, I'm sorry. But, remember, we are all on the same team and if we don't all try and have some team spirit, then I'm afraid that this whole group is sunk."

Misty snarled at his manipulative speech. "Team spirit? You're one to talk."

Silently confused not to mention irritated by her words, Ash narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Team spirit includes honesty; a department that you aren't very proficient in." Misty stated coldly.

Puzzlement blazed from his face as Ash inquired. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Honesty is the lace that holds the group together. You haven't told us the whole truth about this mission, have you Ashy? Is a little lass like myself right about that, Ashy?" Misty taunted and smiled at the clever way she incorporated what happened last night into her statement.

Ash shook his head and moaned. "What's with the nickname? Why do people have to use such stupid nicknames like Ashy! The only other person who called me Ashy was…" Ash's voice trailed off as he glanced curiously at her. She knew. He could see it in her eyes. "You were spying on me?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Misty barked in reply. "Spying? It just so happens that I was taking a walk last night and I saw you and followed you. It was a good thing I did too; you would have never told us about Lass."

"Who's Lass?" Gary questioned shyly.

Ash, glad to have a distraction from Misty and her abusive behavior, sighed. "She's just a girl that I used to know. She wanted to talk to me last night."

"Did you also mention that she's also a Serpent?" Misty shouted crossly as her eyes flashed a brilliant red.

The others gasped in surprise while Ash just cringed. Pikachu opened its tiny mouth in shock as sparks of radiant electricity dived off its cheeks. "(You met with Lass last night! Ash! Don't you know that she's trouble? She's been ruining your life for 6 years straight! What were you thinking?)"

Ash held his hands over his ears as if someone was placing their fingernails against a blackboard and creating that excruciating screeching sound. He didn't want to hear this. It was complete and utter torture for him to hear these undoubtedly accurate words of wisdom. After calming down somewhat, Ash turned to Pikachu. "Yes, I know. I know. She did ruin my life but that doesn't include those shootings, which you always insist that she caused. I tell you she wasn't involved in those shootings! At least… it wasn't proven…"

"(Ash! Come on! She purposely set that whole thing up 6 years ago! Lass knew that you would make a great asset in this underworld of crime, so she tried to kill the most important people in your life to weaken your spirit. And, for a long time, her plan worked. Are you going to let her control you again?)" Pikachu demanded while trying to voice some reason to his confused master.

Not knowing what Pikachu said, Giselle inquired. "This Lass person ruined your life?"

Ash's breaths became shorter and shorter. What were they doing? Trying to kill him? Those were some painful memories that he just wanted to bury and never think of again. But no! They had to bring it up! And Pikachu once again started reciting his opinions that Ash must have heard hundreds of times before. How did Misty's sour attitude turn into a conversation about Lass? "Here, can we get off this subject? Lass was just a girl that I once considered as a friend."

"Just an ex-friend, huh? It certainly didn't look like that from where I was sitting." Misty yelled sarcastically with just a pinch of spitefulness in her tone.

Ash blinked in utter shock. "You have it all wrong! Lass was just trying to gather information from me about us. After all, the Rebels are a threat to her."

"Gathering information? Are you kidding? She was flat out flirting with you, or were you too dumb to see it?" Misty mocked.

"Flirting?" Ash questioned as if the word was just recently added to the English language. "What are you talking about? She was just trying to use me in her own twisted game! Lass only thinks of us as her little toys that she can play with!"

"Excuses, excuses. Only a person as idiotic as yourself wouldn't see that she was flirting with you." Misty growled in response.

Ash clenched his fist in fury and roared. "What!" His anger almost got the best of him until he looked at the situation from a different perceptive. "And, besides, why would you even care?"

Misty gritted her teeth partly in anger and partly in embarrassment. How was she going to get out of this? "For your information, Ash, I don't care; I don't care if tomorrow is your last day on earth! Why don't you just jump off a cliff or something?" Misty blinked in surprise at her own words; she didn't mean to sound so harsh.

A sparkle of sorrow twinkled on Ash's face before he replaced it with an infuriated feeling of rage. "Well, I hope that you are the one with Stellar so that you can feel the agonizing pain of going crazy and killing yourself!"

"Stop this right now!" Brock yelled and interrupted the intense argument. Diving between the bickering pair, Brock persisted. "This fight is getting out of control! Look, if you want to quarrel like wild animals, then do it on your own time! Right now, we have to get to Cerulean."

After a brief moment, in which Ash and Misty just glared at one another, Ash groaned. "Come on, then. Let's get going." Placing Pikachu back on his shoulder, Ash walked ahead. He had barely taken three steps before the ground trembled beneath his feet. Rocks and other forms of debris started raining down on them while Ash yelled. "It's an earthquake!" His voice quivered as the earth soon stopped its violent shaking. The small rocks stopped falling as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The earthquake was over.

Getting over their initial shock, the Rebels quickly examined the area as if a monster was present in the tunnel. "Well, I'm glad that's over." Giselle murmured gratefully.

Ash, however, shook his head. "I wouldn't say that."

"Why not?" Giselle inquired, as a mixture of confusion and alarm slipped across her face.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "It has been my experience that when an earthquake occurs, in this mountain, it is always followed by a…."

"Rockslide?" Gary asked.

Ash nodded his head bewilderedly. "Yea, how did you know that?"

Gary pointed above. "Because the rocks on the ceiling are about to collapse."

No sooner was this said when the rock formations above started flying to the ground. At first, they fell one by one but later they came in the dozens. The group hurriedly ran ahead, avoiding the falling rocks in their way. Numerous paths flew out in front of them as they continued to run, not knowing where they were going. The rockslide probably only lasted a few moments, but it was enough… it was enough for the group to do the worst thing possible… to get lost in a volcano.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"(Get up Ash! Come on, get up!)" Pikachu squeaked as it gently shook Ash with its tiny paws. Ash flicked his eyes open and glanced around him, examining his surroundings. The place was no different than the tunnel that he was previously in; the same dirt walls, rocky ceiling and billowing blackness was still there. The only real difference was that the area was noticeably darker, even with Pikachu's powerful flash.

To the delight of his little pal, Ash started moving and noticed all the rocks surrounding him. He realized that the whole path was literally covered with large rocks; some were smaller than ants while others were so massive that were as wide as an average human was tall.

Ash grunted in pain as he lifted some heavy boulders off of his legs. He quickly examined his body, hoping against hope that he didn't injury himself severely in the rockslide. Fortunately, he couldn't spot any major gashes. Ash then sat up and faced his little pokemon. "Hey, Pikachu, are you ok?" After seeing a nod from the yellow rodent, Ash glanced around. "Where are the others?"

Pikachu then pointed over to a still figure only a few yards. Brushing off the dirt that had accumulated on his shirt, Ash managed to walk over to the lifeless person. Once Pikachu joined him, Ash could see that it was Misty, motionless, but still breathing. "Misty! Come on, wake up!" Ash nudged her shoulder hoping for a response. To his disappointment, she never even flinched a muscle. Taking her hand, he checked for a pulse and sighed. "I can barely feel a heartbeat. Gosh, I hope that she'll be all right."

Pikachu stared at Ash in surprise. Didn't he just say before that he didn't care if Misty died, or something like that? Instead of commenting about this fact to Ash, Pikachu simply kept his mouth shut. Humans had to be the strangest creatures on the planet. One minute, their fighting their heads off and the next they're worried to death about each other. Humans… he'll never understand them.

Misty moaned as she opened her eyes and gazed at Ash. "What's going on?"

Ash smiled at Misty. "Oh… just your average rockslide. I'll glad to see that you're ok."

Misty gazed at him in disbelief. "Didn't you say that you hoped that I would kill myself?"

Ash smiled in embarrassment as his face reddened. "Of all the things that I tell you, you choose that one to remember! Besides, what about your whole 'I wouldn't care if Ash falls off a cliff' speech."

Misty giggled. "Oh yea… that. Still say that you deserve it, though."

"I can't win with you, can I?" Ash groaned in mock frustration.

Deciding to change subjects, Misty inquired. "Where is the rest of our group?" She then forced herself to sit upright with extreme difficulty, not to mention pain.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Got me. I just awoke a few moments ago. Pikachu, you can see better than us. Can you see Brock, Gary or Giselle nearby?" Pikachu flared even brighter and made a 360º turn before shaking his little head from side to side. Ash lowered his head in disappointment. "I guess we'll have to find them not to mention a way out of here. Great… just great."

"Wait a second! Hold still." Misty ordered as she got on her knees and scuttled right next to Ash's side. Her main focus seemed to be on his head, particularly the right side of it, near the temple.

Ash followed her directions to the letter grew increasingly confused and nervous at Misty's strange behavior. What was she doing? Feeling the blood rush to his face, Ash muttered bewilderedly. "Um… Misty, what exactly are you doing? Ouch! That hurt!"

Misty stopped her activities and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that Ash, but it seems that you have a rather nasty cut here." Positioning her hand away from his head and into his vision, Ash could see that it had blood on it. Misty soon continued. "You shouldn't leave this wound exposed. I'm going to wrap a handkerchief around your head. This should help stop the bleeding for the moment. However, when we get back to Cerulean, you better see a doctor."

"Whatever you say Dr. Misty." Ash grinned and even saluted.

Misty playfully pushed him. "Ok, wise guy, enough with the jokes." Taking a handkerchief from her pocket Misty sighed. "Now, this is going to sting a bit." Placing the white cloth around his head, she tightly pulled the tips together, trying to tie a knot.

Meanwhile, Ash yelped in pain. "Ouch! Sting? You call that a sting?"

Much to Ash's displeasure, Misty managed to tie a small knot that was tight enough to hold the cloth in place. "What's the matter Ash? Can't take a little pain?"

Pikachu, who wasn't paying any attention to the scene until now, worriedly approached Ash. "(Ash? Are you ok? Do you have a headache?)"

Ash petted the little rat and shook his head. "I'm fine buddy, but what did you say about a headache?"

Pikachu grinned shyly, remembering that Ash still had trouble understanding him at that rapid pace of speech. "(I asked if you had a headache. A massive headache is one of the most common signs of Stellar, remember?)"

Ash stopped for a moment, searching his brain for that lost bit of information that he couldn't find before. "Headaches… you're right Pikachu! That's what it was!"

"What did Pikachu just say?" Misty asked, wishing that she could understand her pokemon as well as Ash could understand Pikachu.

"Well, Pikachu just reminded me that getting a massive headache is a major symptom of Stellar; something that I previously forgot." Ash quickly replied, summing it up in as few words as possible.

"Oh, ok." Misty replied drearily. After a brief moment of silence passed, Misty suggested. "Shall we start searching around?" Ash nodded and the pair rose to their feet and walked off with Pikachu lighting the way.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Why do I have a feeling that we are going around in circles?" Misty grumbled as she forced her stiff legs to stride further along this unknown trail.

Ash stopped and turned around to face Misty. "I know what you mean. We must have been traveling for a little over an hour."

"And I thought that this trip would only take 15 minutes!" Misty sighed in irritation, wishing that she were somewhere else now.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "That's only when you take the fastest route."

"So, we're lost?" Misty inquired hoping for a negative answer to her question.

"Without a doubt." Ash stated despondently as Pikachu nodded in agreement.

Misty shook in her head in frustration. "Great! Just great! How are we…"

"(You guys, shut up! I hear something ahead!)" Pikachu interrupted as he stiffened his body, ready for battle.

Ash and Misty immediately closed their mouths and kept as quite as possible, even though they had no idea what Pikachu was talking about. As the duo, or trio if you include Pikachu, staggered forward they began to hear some scuffling sounds, as if some creatures were scurrying out of harm's way. Screeching, squealing and shrieking noises fluttered around them to a point where they could almost pinpoint their numerous locations.

Misty, alarmed to say the least, quickened her pace until she was walking side by side with Ash. In a voice that was barely audible, Misty whispered into Ash's ear. "What's going on?"

Ash glanced around him as his memory started operating. In a soft voice, Ash sighed. "Misty, don't get alarmed but I think that we've wandered into a cave full of Zubats."

Misty's eyes widened in panic. "Wh…"

"Be quiet!" Ash quickly covered her mouth in order to silence her sudden outburst. "These pokemon have very good hearing and if we don't keep quiet, they will attack. Understand?"

Misty nodded as Pikachu increased its flash slightly so that the pair could see around them. The walls were literally blanketed with small purple bats that were apparently sleeping. They ranged in size from small babies that clung to their mothers to enormous creatures that could probably do some serious damage. Even though they stayed as quiet as a mouse scampering across the kitchen floor, some of the purplish bats still sensed their presence and screeched in fury. Fortunately, their cries couldn't summon the entire flock of bats to destroy the intruders.

"Pikachu, are we almost out of this Zubat colony?" Ash muttered to the furry rodent and was extremely relieved at the nod that he received from the pokemon. Continuing their silent walk, the group was beginning to notice that the racket seemed to be dying down. The walls' true natural brown color became more apparent and the layer of purple bats seemed to fade away into the shadows. Soon, the color purple was virtually nonexistent against the brown dirt walls of the cavern. In addition, the annoying squeaks from the bats vanished entirely from the air around them.

Misty sighed in relief. "Thank god that we are out of there! I hope that I never see those Zubats again!"

"For some reason, I have a feeling that your wish won't come true." Ash shook his head, talking more to himself than to Misty.

Their conversation soon terminated as they strolled down the dreary tunnel. Ash squinted his eyes and could make out something a little ways ahead. Pikachu, with his sharp eyesight also noticed it. Since Misty was obviously clueless about the interesting matter at hand, Ash whispered. "Misty, do you see something sparkling ahead?"

Misty concentrated on the little spot that Ash was pointing to, but then shook her head in regret. "Sorry Ash. I can't spot a thing."

Ash grinned slowly. "Just keep looking ahead."

Focusing her vision ahead, Misty prayed that it was daylight that they were heading to. Alas, she was soon to be disappointed. No brilliant rays of soft light shimmered ahead; instead, only more darkness clouded her vision. However, Misty did spot something sparkling like a radiant star on a cloudless night. Soon after, Misty could finally make out what was at the end of the tunnel. A dazzling underground lake glistened under Pikachu's flash and seemed to bubble with ferocity at being discovered by humans.

"Wow… it's beautiful." Misty remarked in awe as they reached a widened part of the cavern that held the glossy water. It rippled slightly as flecks of light bounced off its surface. The area itself was enormous. Giant boulders the size of trucks dotted the shoreline while its younger cousins, only the size of small houseplants, grew in gigantic clusters along the dirt walls. Misty kneeled down near to the water's edge and gazed in wonder at the beauty of the element that she admired so much in pokemon. Dangling her fingers in midair, Misty slowly dropped her hand towards the water in order to feel the cool shifting liquid flutter amid her fingertips. However, she was considerably startled as a rough hand grasped her wrist in a tight, firm grip and pulled her away from the breath-taking lagoon.

"Don't touch the water." Ash ordered in a deadly serious voice. To prove his point, Ash searched around and discovered a small, splintery piece of wood that was rotting nearby and was covered with green moss and other types of mold. He picked it up and placed it into the water. The lake seemed to frown in disgust at this new addition to its surface and bubbled with rage. An acidic fizz of boiling liquid steamed the log until the part that was previously underwater vanished into a sweltering hot steam that rose above the group and into the dark air. Ash soon lifted what was left of the log out of the water in order to survey the damage. Nearly half of the wood had sizzled away. "Now do you see why I stopped you?" Throwing the log away, he watched it twirl in midair for a moment before it came crashing down to the water's surface and dissolved into vapor. "And that could have been your hand."

Misty glanced down at her thin slivery fingers and shivered at the imaginary pain that she would have felt if her fingers had come any closer to that acidic deathtrap. "Indeed, that was awfully close."

Ash then smiled to himself as if he knew something amusing that neither Misty nor Pikachu knew. "Yea, Misty, your fingers almost dissolved into mist."

Misty snickered at the silly pun and decided to use a silly pun of her own. "Well, I sure hope that this volcano doesn't erupt and spew ash all over us." With compassion in her eyes, Misty stopped the childish "pun war" by adding. "And thanks for the warning, but how did you know that the lake was acidic?"

"Well, I remembered that when volcanoes are active, lakes and other bodies of water around the area tend to be acidic." Ash stated and smiled back at Misty.

"And when was the last time you were near an active volcano?" Misty inquired curiously with a hint of sarcasm dipped in her voice.

"When you are a scientist, you tend to learn weird things." Ash simply commented, remembering the days when he used to be a Rocket scientist and had to listen to all those boring lectures on a variety of subjects, including volcanoes. He never realized that the stuff that he learned so long ago would actually come in handy one day. Gazing across the immense lake, Ash could make out numerous passages on the other side; passages that they had to progress to in order to get back on the right trail. "So, how are we going to get to the other side?"

Misty also noticed the numerous darkened passageways ahead and glanced around the edges of the lake. The shoreline was incredibly narrow at some points and it would be next-to-impossible to go around it. As Misty remembered her trusty pokemon, she smiled and jumped to her feet. "Leave that to me, Ash." Misty then reached to her belt and threw a red and white pokeball to the floor nearby. White light illuminated the cavern until it changed forms into a Dewgong. The seal-like pokemon was slightly confused at being on land rather than in the water, but it still waited patiently for Misty's next command. "Ok, Dewgong, use your ice beam attack to freeze this lake."

Dewgong nodded as it opened its jaws. A bright bluish-white ball materialized within its mouth, gathering energy for the attack. Then, it tilted its head forward and spewed the energy onto the lake. At the touch of Dewgong's attack, the water immediately hardened into ice. After spreading the cold beam across the lake, Dewgong panted, indicating the amount of energy it used to do such an attack. Misty smiled at the beautiful pokemon and recalled it back into its pokeball.

Ash clapped his hands together, seemingly both mocking and congratulating Misty at the same time. "Nice idea. Now, all we have to do is walk across." Ash placed his feet on the frozen lake and managed to take a few hesitant steps forward before stumbling and losing his balance. He hit the icy surface with a thud, and in embarrassment, rose to his feet, making sure that he didn't trip this time.

Misty giggled at the ridiculous scene. "More like slipping and sliding, hey?"

Ash growled at Misty. "Well, excuse me! This ice is a lot more slippery than you might think!"

Misty waved her hand in a taunting manner. "Oh please! Walking on ice is like walking along a dirt trail; it's easy. Anyone can do it… well, except you."

Whether Misty intentionally or unintentionally wanted Ash to get furious was unknown, but it was certainly clear that Ash was ready to blow up like Mt. Moon. "Oh yea! Well, if you think that it's so easy, then why don't you prove it?"

"(Come on guys, this is stupid. Let's stop this right now.)" Pikachu sighed trying to stop the bickering pair from fighting.

Misty ignored Pikachu and snarled back at Ash. "Prove it? I don't have to prove anything to you. My word is as good as anyone else."

"(Guys, arguing is stupid. Just chill out, all right?)" Pikachu's fruitless efforts weren't helping at all, though.

"Your word? Good? In your dreams, Misty!" Ash hollered back.

"It is too!" Misty yelled in total frustration.

Pikachu, who was slightly ticked off at the two for ignoring him, tried once again to stop the argument. "(Now, this activity is childish. Stop it!)"

"Is not!" Ash shouted, saying the only good comeback that he could think of.

"Is too!" Misty screamed in retaliation.

"Is not!" Ash bellowed angrily.

"(Is too… I mean shut up! Stop this fight right now!)" Pikachu cried to no avail.

"Is too!" Misty screeched, not knowing what in the world Pikachu just said.

"Is not!" Ash hollered, with fury pumping through his veins.

Pikachu sighed in irritation. "(I didn't want to do this but… thunderbolt!)" Pikachu released a wave of electricity in both of their directions, frying them to a crisp with raw energy.

Ash, who had recovered first from the attack, glared at Pikachu. "Pikachu! Why did you do that?"

Before Pikachu could state the obvious answer his question, Misty turned back to the entrance of the cave that they just came from. "Did you guys just hear something?"

Ash and Pikachu stopped in their tracks and focused their hearing. Small flapping and fluttering sounds could be heard along with several ear-pitching screams of rage. Ash shivered in fear as he recognized the noises. "It's that flock of Zubats. Run!"

Before Ash could even finish, dozens upon dozens of angry bats entered the cave. The group stood still in total fear for a moment, before they bounded onto the ice and tried to run away from the intimidating herd. However, running in panic and the slippery ice proved to be a deadly combination as Ash, Misty and Pikachu tripped and slid across the smooth frozen lake. Their momentum was so great that they easily shot ahead of the rapid bats. Unfortunately, they couldn't control their movements and started twirling around, chaotically, in dizzy circles. By the time they reached the end of the ice patch, the three were so woozy that they couldn't even see straight as they tried to recover from their dizziness. However, trying to regain their senses took time; enough time for the Zubats to catch up with them.

Ash quickly hopped to his feet and helped Misty up. Carrying Pikachu in his arm, who was still dazed, Ash glanced at all the tunnel entrances. "Which one?"

Misty saw three choices for escape and sighed in annoyance. "Like we have the time to decide… just pick one!"

Ash nodded and saw that the Zubats were almost upon them. Grabbing Misty by the hand, Ash ran down the middle passageway. Regrettably, the Zubats were still on their tail and Ash groaned. "Any bright ideas?"

Misty, who was slightly out of breath, shook her head. "If I had any, I would have used them already."

Only now did Pikachu recover from its wooziness and quickly surveyed the scene. The horde of Zubats were so close that they started clawing at Ash and Misty, drawing blood from their injured bodies. Pikachu barked in pure rage; no one hurts his friends and gets away with it. Squirming to escape from Ash's tight grasp, Pikachu jumped on his shoulders. Balancing and concentrating at the same time, Pikachu unleashed a powerful dome of electricity that materialized around Ash and Misty while running. Any Zubat foolish enough to try to break the wall of energy was given a tremendous shock that seemed to sizzle down its spine and paralyze the creature.

Finally realizing Pikachu's actions, Ash slowed down to a stop and smiled at his pokemon. "That's lightning shield! Good idea." Pausing for just a moment, Ash continued. "But you can't keep this up forever. You are going to have to use your ultimate attack."

Pikachu gasped in astonishment at Ash. "(But Ash! Then both of you will be it mortal danger! You two could be seriously hurt by my attack!)"

Ash calmed the rodent by simply patting it on its head. "Look, Pikachu, I know that this attack hasn't been perfected by you, but you have to try. There is no other way that we can face this whole clan of Zubats through other methods. First, stop this shield." Following Ash's directions, Pikachu stopped the shield as the enormous clan of Zubats advanced forward. "Now, focus. Summon all of your electrical power but don't release it yet."

Pikachu quivered as the power only wielded by pokemon sparked uncontrollably off its cheeks. Misty soon tugged on Ash's hands in worry. "Ash! They are ready to attack again!"

Ash moaned at the disturbance and simply shot a warning glance in Misty's direction. "Ok, Pikachu, don't free your energy just yet. Now, imagine all that power shooting straight ahead and encircling every one of those Zubats." Seeing that Pikachu was more than ready, Ash pointed towards the flock of wicked bats. "Pikachu, lightning beam attack, now!"

Pikachu sizzled in concentration and liberated thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity towards the incoming clan of bats. A ray of yellow light, literally composed of electricity, flew towards the bats, the whole entire flock of them. The light was so intense, it paralyzed the Zubats at the very end of the group and dissolved the Zubats in close range to a point where their bodies exploded and rained down on the cave floor. Thousands, perhaps millions, of purple bats flew to the ground either dead beyond recognition or barely alive through sheer will and virtue.

Ash and Misty opened their eyes in amazement at the scene. It looked like a brutal war had just been fought for they observed the blood soaked earth and the numerous bodies that dotted the landscape. Ash shook his head, half in happiness that Pikachu got the attack right and half in sadness at the death of so many creatures in one blast. "Pikachu… you did it." These simple words seemed to express all the emotion that he presently felt bubbling inside of him. Pikachu smiled at his trainer before dropping to the ground for the power of the attack was incredibly exhausting. Ash started to run to Pikachu's side, but was surprised to find that something was holding him back. Ash turned and realized that he was still holding Misty's hand. Letting go of his grip, Ash's face turned hot with embarrassment as he raced over to his beloved pokemon. Cuddling Pikachu in his arms, Ash sighed. "Poor thing… he fainted. This attack took a lot out of him."

Misty simply nodded and stared at the gory scene, which was now cast in darkness because of the absence from Pikachu's flash. "Indeed." Taking a pokeball out, Misty threw it to the ground and yelled. "Go Clefairy!" A pink ball with two arms, two legs, a humanoid face and a big puffy curly tail emerged.

"A Clefairy? I thought that you liked water pokemon, Misty?" Ash questioned, looking at the cute pink creature that almost seemed to resemble a fairy with its sweet face and gentle eyes.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there are always a few exceptions to every rule." Turning to Clefairy, Misty commanded. "Clefairy, since Pikachu has fainted, use your flash to light the way for us." The angelic pokemon did so as a burst of light emitted from its tiny body, lighting the whole area in the process. As, they were about to depart, Misty, noticed something shimmering nearby one of the dead bats. Approaching it, Misty saw that it was some sort of metal tag. "Hey Ash, check this out."

Ash advanced towards her and examined the object. He gasped in recognition at the tag and gazed back at Misty. "Misty, this is a Serpent tag."

"What?" Misty questioned, wondering what exactly Ash meant by that.

"This is a tag used by the Serpents to identify their pokemon." Ash sighed and shook his head. "That means that this pokemon was owned by the Serpents."

"Ash, look." Misty pointed towards other dead bats in the area. "They all have metal tags on them." Suddenly frightened by the new information, Misty quivered. "That means that all of these Zubats belonged to the Serpents."

Ash nodded solemnly. "You're right… but why would they purposely placed these Zubats in this mountain? Unless it was… to attack us…"

"You mean that this was a trap from the start?" Misty shuddered in disbelief at the evil ways of this organization that she only recently learned about.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "This whole attack was a setup, yes, but I seriously doubt that they meant to split us up and get us lost; it would be way too risky to create a rockslide."

Misty groaned in frustration. "Then they were probably just using these poor creatures for cruel experiments! Just using them! Those bats probably all had Stellar! They are innocent creatures; how can people do such horrible things?"

Ash blinked in surprise. Misty was getting incredibly upset; he had never her seen her so upset before… well, unless she was arguing with him. "Misty, calm down!"

Misty's eyes blazed red with rage. "Calm down! Calm down! This is injustice! How dare they put us through all this torture! Unbelievable!"

Moving out of the blood-soaked earth, Ash gently placed Pikachu on the ground before walking up to Misty. "Misty, come on. The only way to stop these people is by making sure that they can't do this to others."

"And how is that going to help those poor Zubats over there, huh? They're dead thanks to the fact that the Serpents placed them here! Pokemon weren't meant to be treated like people's slaves!" Misty cried, hot with fury that pumped throughout her entire body. A combination of panic, fear, frustration and anger all proved to turn Misty into a truly terrifying sight.

"Misty! Calm down!" Grabbing her wrist, Ash shouted, trying his best to pacify this mad woman. "We will avenge their deaths, okay? You can't get so worked up like this! Experiences like this can do this to a lot of people. You have to control your temper!"

Misty desperately tried to flee from Ash's grip but she might as well be trying to reach Pluto with only one stick of dynamite. "Let me go! I am fine, all right! I… just let me go!"

Ash, however grabbed her other wrist and only tightened his grip. "Misty, you are having a nervous breakdown. I know that this is a traumatic experience for you; it is for me too, but the only way that we are going to get out of this is by staying calm."

"Let me go!" Misty ordered and continued to struggle under his grasp.

Taking a deep breath, Ash shook his head. "Only if we stay calm can we figure out a plan to get out of here. Please Misty, stop this right now. I won't let you go until you settle down."

"Ok, ok." Misty moaned in defeat and stopped her fruitless struggling. "I'm calm now, all right? It's just that…"

"Just what?" Ash interrupted with a mixture of worry and confusion blended in his voice.

As Ash released his grip on her, Misty placed one of her hands to her head. Keeping her eyes shut, half in pain and half in avoiding Ash's gaze, Misty whispered. "I have a major headache."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"This place is so dark. I wish that we had a torch of some kind." Giselle quivered in fear of the unknown and unseen creatures that were in the area.

Gary nodded. "Yea, same here. It really would make the this walk a little faster." Turning around, Gary could barely make out the outline of Giselle under the cover of a blanket of shadows. They had only awoken a few minutes ago and their hopefully search for the others proved to be futile. Gary sighed as he saw yet another piece of wood, but like the others, it was one of the worst things that they could use as a torch. The wood was damp and encased in a thick layer of mold and fungus.

"Hey, Gary, check it out." Giselle called and smiled in the darkness, even though this action went completely unnoticed by Gary.

Gary turned his head and gasped in amazement… ahead of them was a light, a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. "All right! We made it!"

"Come on, Gary! Freedom is just a few steps ahead!" Giselle shouted in glee as the two started sprinting towards the small twinkle of daylight. Every single step they took seemed to widen the dot of light until they could see trees, grass and a dirt path ahead. It wasn't before long before the pair raced straight onto to the dirt path and was blinded by the light of the sun. "I never thought that the sun would feel so good."

Gary grinned. "Yea, this area almost seems magical." Once his eyes adjusted to the dazzling light echoing from the sun, Gary's practical mind set to work. "Ok, it appears that we are the first ones to reach the other side of the mountain. Now, we ought to wait here for the others…"

"Um, Gary" Giselle interrupted and pointed a little ways away. "I think that there is something that you should see over there."

Gary simply waved off her attempts and continued to discuss his thoughts, more to himself than to Giselle. "Ash, Misty and Brock should be arriving soon and, if we are lucky, we can reach Cerulean before it turns dark."

Once again, Giselle tried to motion Gary away from his one-sided conversation and over to the object that had caught her attention. "This is really important, Ga…"

"No time for that. Let's see… where was I? Oh yea… reach Cerulean before dark. Then we all have to visit the local hospital in order to see which of us is infected. I'm betting that a simple cat-scan will do it, although I will have to talk to Ash about that…"

"Gary!" Giselle shouted impatiently and dragged him towards the object that caught her attention in the first place. "Just look." She had brought him over to a sign that he hadn't noticed before. "It says 'Pewter City: 10 miles'. You know what that means? It means that we have been traveling in the wrong direction for God-knows-how-long!"

Gary stared at her in utter confusion. "You mean that we aren't on the other side of Mt. Moon?" Shaking his head in defeat, Gary sighed. "This isn't good."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Brock groaned as he opened his eyes to the darkness… nothing but darkness; it was as if someone had turned off the lights. As Brock raised his head, he realized that his whole body was covered with gashes that were still oozing with blood. He also noticed that a large boulder was resting near his head. Gathering from the throbbing in his head, he had probably received a concussion thanks to the rock.

Brock then slowly rose and started searching around the area, but this proved to be pointless because of the lack of light. "Ash! Misty! Gary! Giselle! Is anyone out there?" Hearing no answer, Brock started to get worried. Where was everyone? Was he all by himself?

Shivers ran up and down his spine as he grasped the obvious truth: he was alone. He might be the only one who survived that rockslide… no. Pushing that thought aside, Brock tried to make his frantic mind focus. He had to find the others. They will be alive and the five of them will get out of this volcano… hopefully.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Please tell me that you're joking." Ash pleaded, praying that she wasn't saying what he thought that she was saying.

Misty, however, only slowly shook her head. "I really wish that I was."

Ash moved over to the dirt wall and started staring at it hoping against hope that this was just a dream. "A headache means nothing. Even I have a headache now just listening to you rant and rave about everything."

"Are you trying to imply something?" Misty growled in aggravation.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I really need to get out of here. Being near you is dangerous to my sanity."

"Me? Oh! Ash, when we get out of here, remind me to pull out every little hair from your head." Misty threatened and glared at her teammate.

Ash placed his hand on head, thinking about their current situation. How were they going to get out of here? "Ok, we have no time for this. Let's just keep moving."

"Hello… Ash? Isn't that pointless? You said yourself that we're completely lost. Let's just make things easy on both of us and just get it over with." Misty winced at her own words.

Ash diverted his attention from the wall over to the fiery redhead. She wasn't planning on doing anything stupid, was she? "Just what are you saying?"

"Death. I'd rather die right here then wandering through a desolate tunnel for a few hours knowing that we can never escape." Misty slid her body against the wall until she was sitting down on the dirt floor.

"I can't believe you. You are so weak!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs in utter frustration.

"What!" Misty cried in anger for the insult and in bewilderment at Ash's weird timing for an insult.

Ash slammed his fist against the wall and shot a cold, furious glare in her direction. "You are going to take the easy way out. Do you know how many times I wanted to drink pure acid or slam a knife through my throat? How dare you! Over my dead body you are going to do that!" His anger quickly cooled to frustration as he sat down in order to be eye-level with her. "You know the reason why I haven't done it? And believe me, I have tried… After many meaningless years I realized something. It wasn't my time yet. For some reason or another, I am needed on this planet now. And so are you… this isn't our fate."

"How do you know this?" Misty sighed and met Ash's eyes with an intense stare. "I really don't want to go on anymore."

"Please Misty, don't say that. I don't know how I know this. In fact, I'm just as lost as you are. That's why we have to brave it together. People outside this mountain are going to suffer, perhaps are already suffering due to this horrendous disease. They are counting on us." Ash spoke as his throat throbbed with emotion. How could she think of suicide at a time like this? The last person that he would ever except, or ever want to except, would be Misty. "Let's make a deal. I promise that I will never give up on life or this mission only, in turn, if you don't." He then tentatively reached out his right hand. "Deal?"

Misty gazed at his hand for a while until she slowly lifted her own hand. "Deal." With that they shook on it.

Ash then smiled a moment later. "You know what? I think I like this deal stuff! Can we make a deal where we stop fighting with each other?"

Misty grinned and then shook her head. "Don't think so Ashy. Besides, where would be the fun in that?"

"Ashy? Hey! Stop using that name! You know how much I hate it!" Ash whined in annoyance.

Misty tried to suppress a smile that was forming on her lips by jumping to her feet and playfully messing up Ash's hair. "Oh, lighten up Ashy! Now come on and let's find a way out of here."

Ash quickly smoothed back his hair, careful not to move the handkerchief that was still attached to his head. "Don't touch the hair! For that, it's payback time!" Ash swiftly hopped to his feet and grabbed Pikachu before he raced over to Misty, trying to mess up her hair.

"Get away from me!" Misty exclaimed as she sprinted further down the tunnel followed by Ash.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Do you even know where we are going?" Giselle inquired as she quickened her pace in order to match Gary's.

Gary shook his head and shoved the torch into the darkness. Their unfortunate luck in coming out on the wrong side of the mountain did yield a fluke of good luck: this torch. After he found a cigarette lighter that someone had carelessly thrown on the trail, Giselle happened to find a nice dry piece of wood. With these two items, they managed to create a torch and now they could actually seen within the darkened tunnel. Gary then sighed apprehensively as they approached an intersection in the pathway. In all, there were three large paths and two other small paths nearby in which only small pokemon could fit through. "Ok, any idea of which way to go?"

Giselle shrugged her shoulders. "I can now see how the group got split up in the first place." Trying her best to recall the frightful scene from before, Giselle struggled to remember which path they both ran through. However, she was out of luck; her memory was temporarily out of order. "Do you remember which path we took before?"

Gary sighed and pointed left. "I think I remember running towards the left side."

"Then, should we go that way again?" Giselle inquired.

Gary shook his head. "No, don't you remember seeing the end of the tunnel before we started walking the wrong way? It's a dead end!"

Giselle searched her memory and smiled in humiliation. "Oh yea… forgot about that." Turning towards the middle path and the right path, Giselle groaned. "That leaves us with a 50% chance of taking the right path."

Gary stared hard at the two tunnels. "One path will lead us… who knows where, while the other path will lead us out of this mountain. Which one is the right path?"

"I know! Let's take the right path!" Giselle shouted in glee.

Gary glanced at her confusedly. "And how do we know which path is the right path?"

"The right one, of course! The path on the right side is the right or correct path, get it?" Giselle smiled at her silly joke.

Gary moaned. "Ok, then, we will take the path on the right side, if that's what you want." Ignoring the left and middle paths, the pair took the right path, which they hoped would lead them to the right trail right out of the volcano.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Find… destroy… kill…

It is often said that the mind is a horrible thing to waste. Well, the person who stated that clearly couldn't understand the situation at hand. In this case, we see a person who is struggling against some unknown force at hand, an unseen force that lurks deep within their very own brain. The more this person seems to try and defeat the force, the more they realize the fear and angry that is welled up inside of them, just waiting to be released.

Their hands quiver, knowing all to well what was really going on inside of them. They knew that this wasn't a strange behavior that suddenly popped up for no reason; they knew that it was the infamous disease. This person clearly was no fool. However, they never knew the pain or the suffering caused by this horrible disease until now…

*~*~*~*~*~*

Giselle sighed as she watched the embers of the torch lick the wooden shaft. She was so desperately confused not to mention bored. How long would it take for them to get out of this stinking volcano?

Gary switched the torch from his left to his right hand, trying to peer into the blackness that surrounded them. However, the view was the same as before: a dirt tunnel that seemed to stretch forever into the darkness. With the help of the flame, Gary could see a sharp turn coming up. As silence echoed across the cavern, Gary could swear that he heard some footsteps. But, being the rational person that he was, Gary dismissed it as his own imagination. What were the chances that he would meet anyone here?

Giselle continued to walk right behind Gary as they approached the sharp turn. Her ears perked when she heard something. Was it an animal? A pokemon? No, it seemed to be something larger, but it couldn't be a… human, could it? "Gary, did you just hear that?"

Gary slowed his pace and strained his ears. However, he didn't have to, because the source of the noise emerged from the corner and collapsed onto the ground just in front of the pair. Gary's sharp eyes quickly surveyed the body and noticed the bad shape that this human was in. However, that was the last thing on his mind. One continuously repeating word… no, name… played over and over in his head. In a soft breath, Gary released this name from his lips as utter shock and surprise burned in his aching voice. "Brock?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Misty, do you happen to have some revive with you?" Ash asked as he quickly glanced down at Pikachu.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. Her hair that had once been neatly combed was flying out all over her head. It was clear that Ash did, in fact, 'pay her back'. "Um… let me check." Misty then rummaged through her numerous pockets and smiled. "You're in luck. I just happen to have a small bottle with me." She then produced a tiny bottle that held a greenish liquid.

Ash stopped walking and turned around. Misty then placed the lid of the bottle in Pikachu's open mouth and poured the formula down his throat. After a few brief moments, Pikachu opened its tiny eyes and he glanced around confusedly. "(What's going on? Where are those Zubats?)"

Ash smiled and stroked his little pokemon as if he were a pet dog. "Don't worry, the Zubats are gone, wiped out by your attack." Glimpsing back at Misty, Ash added. "And thanks Misty for the revive."

Misty shrugged off the compliment and replied. "Anything I can do to help."

Pikachu grinned as his eyes drifted off into space. "(You mean that I really did it? I completed that attack successfully?)"

Ash sighed at his silly little pokemon. "Yes, Pikachu. That whole Zubat clan was destroyed, more or less. You should be proud of yourself."

Pikachu jumped out of his arms and onto the ground. Pride from the fact that he performed the attack correctly, clogged his arteries as he posed for battle. Kicking his little feet and paws at an imaginary enemy, a smile the size of Texas graced his lips. However, his egotist behavior took a lot out him and he was soon out of breath once again.

Ash giggled at his pokemon's actions. "Pikachu, remember, revive only helps fainted pokemon recover, but not to their full health. Take it easy, ok?" Receiving a nod from the yellow rodent, Ash continued. "I guess we should keep moving."

"(Guys, which way?)" Clefairy inquired as it looked ahead.

Ash, Misty and Pikachu all glanced questionably at the pink creature. However, their attention was soon diverted to the fact that the tunnel splits into two paths.

"Oh no! Not another fork in the road! Now which way do we go?" Misty groaned as she pointed helplessly at the two passageways.

"You got me… maybe we could take the left path…" Ash's voice soon trailed off and a grave look graced his face. "Hey Clefairy, dim your flash please?" He mumbled as he focused his attention on the left trail.

Clefairy, although a little confused, followed Ash's orders since it could see that he was friends with its trainer. Misty raised a curious eyebrow. "Ash, what's wrong?"

Ash was keeping his eyes shut as if deep in thought. He then reopened them and stared out at the left route. "It's just that I got this weird feeling…"

Unfortunately, Ash was cut off by a hoarse voice coming from the left path. "Are you sure that they're going to be coming this way?"

Answering the voice, a feminine tone floated through the air. "Our boss said that he and the rest of his friends are in Mt. Moon right now. Since most of the tunnels lead to this place, we just have to wait until they arrive, okay Win?"

Placing a finger to his lips, Ash stealthily darted into the cave with Pikachu trailing close behind him. Realizing the potential danger, Misty recalled Clefairy back into its pokeball and followed the two into the tunnel.

Win growled in response at his female companion. "Julie, they should have arrived by now!"

Julie shrugged her shoulders. "They could have gotten lost…"

By now, Ash, Misty and Pikachu were within eyesight of the pair. The guy was sitting impatiently on a rock grumbling something to himself. His short black hair bounced from his head while his intimating height was apparent even in his sitting position. Sharp brown eyes were glazed over in boredom, as if he desperately wanted to destroy something… or someone.

The girl was constantly glancing at the many tunnels entrances in the region, as if she was being hunted by the shadows that lurked around the area. Unfortunately, her relatively poor eyesight happened to miss Ash, Misty and Pikachu. With her chocolate-colored hair cast in a simple ponytail and her plain face, one could have regarded her as a shy innocent young adult. However, a flash of crimson hatred flared within her lovely blue-green eyes. If any compassion ever existed in those devilish pupils, it had vanished many years ago.

Risking exposure, Ash bounded out of the safety of the darkened tunnel, with Pikachu by his side, and behind a vulnerable rock within the immense cavern. Although Win and Julie were barely a few yards from him, they never even noticed him. Misty soon followed but she wasn't as fortunate as Ash. Julie's sharp ears managed to sense Misty's movements. "Win, did you just hear something?" Julie questioned as she jumped to her feet.

Win shook his head from side to side and dived to his feet as well. "Nope, but you always were more observant than me."

Julie carefully examined the cavern and her eyes rested on the rock where the duo was hiding behind. Taking a pistol from her pocket, Julie fired her deadly weapon at the rock. Seeing this, Ash and Pikachu dived behind another rock nearby while Misty tried getting back to the darkened tunnel. Regrettably, luck just wasn't smiling down on her. Misty tripped and landed face-first on the dirt floor as the rock split apart.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Win hissed like a hungry animal waiting for the right moment to pounce on its victim.

"It looks like this pest was spying on us." Julie growled.

A perky smile adorned Win's lips as he coldly stated. "And you know what Serpents do to meddling pests."

Julie nodded and leveled her deadly pistol towards Misty. Eyeing the gun, Misty gazed pleadingly at the pair and froze on the spot. Licking her lips, Julie snarled. "Destroy them."

Misty cringed at these words and waited for the lethal blast from the malicious weapon. She then shut her eyes but was rather surprised at the delay that proceeded. When she reopened her eyes, she glanced back at the Serpent agents. Misty was quite startled to find Julie rooted to the same spot while her gun lay a few yards away from her with a rock covering it.

Julie narrowed her eyes and turned in the direction that the rock was thrown. "Whoever did that will pay severely for their actions!"

Ash rose from his hiding spot while Pikachu was perched on his shoulders. With his arms crossed over his chest, Ash sincerely was a horrifying sight. His face hardened and his eyes seemed to flash red in rage. "Step away from her."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Brock, are you ok?" Giselle called with concern draped in her tone.

At this gentle voice, Brock blinked and glanced up at Giselle with a perplexed expression dawning his face. "Giselle, is that you?" Seeing Gary sitting right next to her, Brock added. "And Gary?"

Gary sighed in relief. "Good, you're awake."

Brock gazed at his bruised body and the pain hit him like sledgehammer slamming repeatedly against his head and the rest of his body. Lying back down, Brock groaned. "Oh… what in the world happened?"

Giselle smiled weakly at the irony. "That's funny, that was what we were going to ask you. Gary and I found you knocked out and you were in pretty bad shape."

Although the pain continued to gush to his mind, Brock forced his memory to operate. "I remember waking up alone and slightly scared. After searching blindly around the area, I felt incredibly lightheaded. I think that I tried to continue onwards… but the next thing that I know, I'm sitting here in a daze."

Gary and Giselle exchanged concerned looks to one another. He must have been hit pretty badly by that rockslide.

"You must have lost a lot of blood and passed out." Giselle concluded. "Take it easy, Brock. We don't want you to pass out again."

Changing the subject, Gary asked. "Brock, can you walk?" Knowing that he needed the help, Gary offered his hand for support.

Brock took it and shakily stood on his legs. After a moment of trying to balance on his feet, Brock managed not only to stand but also to take a few small steps forward. "I think that I'll manage."

The trio progressed onward, at a slightly slower pace thanks to Brock. As Brock tried his best to continue onwards, Gary and Giselle kept silent in worry for their friend. Thanks to the group's lack of concentration, they didn't see the immense cavern that they were heading to. They never saw the dozen of raging candles; they never saw the people gathered ahead; they never sensed the huge fight that was about to occur. Only did the sound of a shot from a gun snap the trio back into reality as they sprinted ahead into the large cavern.

"What was that?" Brock asked with fear trembling in his voice.

His question was soon answered when they reached the end of the tunnel. Inside was an unusual scene. A girl, Julie, was angrily glaring at Ash in the corner while a guy, Win, was doing likewise. Misty lay frozen with fright on the ground and slowly managed to rise to her feet. The disruption caused by the trio's entry instigated the other four in the room to stare at them for a moment.

Slowly approaching them, Misty inquired. "Brock? Gary? Giselle? What are you all doing here?"

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "I was about to ask you the same question, Misty."

Win frowned at the scene and hollered. "Ok, now that the reunion is all over, it's time for you all die." Taking out a gun, Win aimed it directly at Ash's head. "Sweet dreams."

Before the shot was fired, Julie angrily grabbed the gun away from her partner. "Are you crazy? The Boss specifically ordered us not to kill Ash!"

Ash glanced in complete confusion at the pair. How did they know his real name? Most people only knew him as AK, especially the Serpents. How did this valuable information leak out?

"You mean that's Ash?" Win pointed in Ash's direction, surprised to say the least.

Julie furiously punched him in the stomach. "Who else would it be? Who else carries a Pikachu on his shoulder rather than in a pokeball like the Boss said? Think about it, idiot!"

Stepping over the rock, Ash screeched. "So, if you aren't here to kill me, then what are you here for?"

Win narrowed his eyes at Ash. He didn't like this guy one bit. "Simply to capture you and your friends and let the Boss decide what to do with you." Glaring at Misty, he added. "And to terminate meddling pests."

"Sorry to ruin your plans, but I'm afraid that we aren't going to give up that easily." Ash unsympathetically testified.

"Then let's solve this like real trainers would in a pokemon battle. I doubt that you and that puny little Pikachu can dare match my power." Julie challenged as she threateningly raised a pokeball in her hand.

Ash grinned at the ridiculous threat. Julie really doesn't know what she was in for. Enlarging a pokeball from his belt, Ash yelled. "Fine, if that's the way you want it. I choose…"

"(Pikachu.)" Pikachu simply stated its name and jumped off of Ash, ready for combat.

Ash stared at Pikachu, incredibly baffled by his behavior. He thought that Pikachu was too weak to fight this battle. "Pikachu? Are you sure that you want to fight?"

Pikachu nodded. "(Without a doubt. No one calls me puny and gets away with it.)"

Ash giggled slightly at Pikachu's persistence. Pikachu could be just as stubborn as him at times. "Ok, Pikachu, give it all you've got."

Julie grinned devilishly. She was hoping that Ash would choose Pikachu, for she had a surprise for that little rodent. "All right, let's make this a sudden-death match. One-on-one. Go Sandslash!" A pokemon that resembled a cross between a mole and a porcupine, tumbled out of the ball and crossly gazed at it enemies. Yellow fur covered its body while two eyes and an enlarged nose thundered across its face. Two scrawny little arms and legs spouted out of its body as two fierce claws manifested themselves on each limb. However, the most noticeable feature about this pokemon was the wicked bed of spikes that emerged from its back. It was clear that this was going to be a tough match.

Ash groaned. This was something that he wasn't expecting. Sandslashes are a ground-type pokemon meaning that any electric attack was practically ineffective against it. This was bad news…really bad news. However, Ash did have a chance. He had raised Pikachu to such a high level that he could use that to his advantage. "Ok, Pikachu, use your agility."

Pikachu rapidly increased its speed and ran extraordinarily fast around its opponent. A blur of yellow circled around Sandslash as it glanced bewilderedly at its trainer. After a moment of pondering, Julie shouted. "Sandslash, use your slash attack on that rat."

Although the ground pokemon had trouble with this attack due to Pikachu's speed, it managed to aim one slash attack accurately at Pikachu. Pikachu flew off its feet and hit the ground with a thud. Ash cringed as his strategy failed. He realized that Pikachu couldn't use its agility now, even if it wanted to. However, knowing how weak Pikachu was at the moment, Ash decided that using another defensive attack would be the best way to go. "Hang in there Pikachu! Double-team attack!"

Pikachu smiled and formed two other exact copies of itself. Sandslash, baffled once again, glanced back at Julie. "Sandslash, poison-sting attack all those three Pikachus!"

Sandslash nodded and delivered three spikes from its body. The first two blazed right past the hologram-image of the yellow rodent, while the third one hit its mark. Pikachu squealed in pain as it collapsed to the floor.

Ash was froth with worry. It was clear that Pikachu was poisoned, a fact that was detrimental to his chances of winning this battle. As he tried to think of another plan, Julie called her next attack. "Sandslash, fury swipes!"

The pokemon raised its paws and furiously clawed at Pikachu's body. Small red gashes materialized on Pikachu's swollen body. Things didn't look good for the golden rodent.

Win, who was watching the fight in silence, suddenly grinned. "Hey, Julie, order Sandslash to use earthquake."

Julie eyes brightened merrily. "You're right. That Pikachu won't stand a chance."

"Are you crazy? An earthquake could easily kill Pikachu in its weakened condition!" Misty shouted from the sidelines as anxiety lined her cheeks.

Julie smiled wickedly. "Well, we did say that this was a sudden-death match. Sandslash, use your earthquake attack!"

Sandslash nodded and prepared for its ultimate attack. Jumping high into the air, Sandslash spun around fell towards the ground. As gravity pulled it downwards, Sandslash used the momentum to increase the strength of its attack. When the pokemon hit the ground, it laid its fist upon the hard earth. The ground sizzled with energy as a giant crack in the ground opened up and slithered to Pikachu's side.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Ash screamed helplessly as anger and worry echoed from his face. He then closed his eyes, but when he reopened them, they weren't the same shade of coffee brown that they were before; they were slivery blue. Dust swirled in the air as Pikachu was engulfed in a small bubble of a similar color. The earthquake attack harmlessly bounced off the bubble and had absolutely no effect on Pikachu whatsoever. The bubble soon popped as Ash blinked in utter confusion along with everyone else in the room. His eyes soon returned to their normal brown tint as Ash gazed at Pikachu. It seemed that Pikachu not only wasn't harmed by the attack, it actually seemed to be healthier. The poison that had momentarily drugged it vanished and his energy seemed to increase.

"What in the world just happened?" Win cried as he accusingly pointed a finger in Ash's direction. "What did you do to that Pikachu?"

"Nothing, you idiot! How could he do anything to Pikachu if he never even touched his pokemon?" Gary raced to Ash's side.

Misty did likewise followed by Giselle and Brock. "Yea, so why don't you just admit that you lost!"

"What?" Julie inquired and looked at her own pokemon. She was horrified to see that Sandslash had fainted; she was so busy focusing on Pikachu's amazing dodge and recovery that she never even noticed her own pokemon. "Sandslash? Are you ok?" Sandslash lay completely devoid of movement on the floor; it was almost as if Sandslash was assaulted by some unseen force for it could barely move its lungs in order to breath. "Return Sandslash." The pokemon evaporated from the cave and returned to its confinement. It was clear that whatever aided Pikachu only caused pain to Sandslash.

Ash continued to stare dumbly at the battle scene. His mind raced with thoughts. What in the world just happened? What was that incredibly bizarre feeling he felt when Pikachu was saved and Sandslash was getting creamed? Something had just happened that soared above his understanding, something incredibly amazing and terrifying at the same thing. But what was it?

Pikachu snapped out of its confusion and gazed back at Ash. "(Hey Ash! Look, I won!)" Pikachu bounded into Ash's arms and crawled straight to his shoulder.

Realizing their chance, Giselle cried. "Guys, they are distracted. Let's make a run for it."

"I don't think so girly." Win coldly stated and pointed a gun in her direction.

Backing up her partner, Julie produced another gun and released the safety. "We can very easily forget our boss' orders, you know."

The Rebels glanced nervously at one another, except for Ash. Forcing his eyes shut, a silvery blue light hailed from the ground and engulfed the group just as Win and Julie began to fire. The strange bubble that soon formed blocked the shots and slowly compressed the group into a smaller and smaller space until it was nothing more than a dot in the air, barely an atom to be seen through a powerful microscope. By the time, Win and Julie realized what just happened, the Rebels had vanished from thin air.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The group glanced in shock as a giant bubble encased them and twinkled with energy. Barely a second had passed before the walls of the bubble disintegrated into bright sunlight. As the group shielded their eyes from the intense glow, they smelt the fresh smell of grass and the scent of pine trees. When their eyes adjusted to the light, the Rebels found themselves situated on a dirt path with a mixture of forest and grassy plains surrounding their sides.

"Where are we?" Brock asked anxiously with fear simmering in his voice.

"On the other side of Mt. Moon." Misty breathlessly stated as she pointed behind them, towards the menacing volcano in the distance.

"How did we get here?" Giselle questioned as she bobbed her head from side to side, wondering if the "Pewter Sign" was nearby. Fortunately, it wasn't around.

Gary shook his head. "This is impossible. Truly impossible." Seeing Pikachu, Gary added. "Pikachu, do you know teleport?" The movement of the pokemon's head, from side to side, was enough to convince Gary.

"It could have been the work of a pokemon… although I don't know a pokemon that could perform those attacks to that degree…" Brock stated perplexedly.

Pikachu then gazed at Ash and noticed his silence and bewilderment. "(Ash, do you know what just happened?)"

"No! No, I swear, I don't!" Ash shrieked in pandemonium. His eyes glazed back in alarm and his body quivered hysterically.

Ignoring the strange looks coming from the others, Pikachu sighed. "(Ash, this is too much of a coincidence. Isn't this the same…)"

Covering Pikachu's mouth, Ash angrily glared at the pokemon. "Shut up Pikachu."

"Ash, are you all right?" Giselle compassionately questioned.

Ash managed to remove all signs of shock, panic, anger and fear from his face when he answered. "Yea, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Absolutely fine. 100% fine." Seeing the doubting faces surrounding him, Ash added. "Well, maybe 75% fine. I guess I'm a little tired… that's it… tired… yeah… just very tired… need some rest."

Misty raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Ash couldn't lie if his life depended on it. "Ash cut the lies out. Why are you so jumpy? And what in the world just happened?"

Ash fiddled with his fingers. "Ok, I honestly didn't think that would ever happen. Ever…" His mind wandered off for a moment before he continued. "It was just like that… that… um… like… that dream."

"What dream?" Brock blinked in surprise.

Ash bit his lip and mumbled. "Well, a few days ago, I had this dream."

"And…" Misty uttered trying to encourage Ash to go on.

Ash continued nervously fidgeting with his fingers. A long pause lasted before Ash spoke. "It started out in a cave in which Pikachu and I were there, battling for some reason or another. The cave looked incredibly similar to the one that we were just in. The next thing that I know, Pikachu and me are in this forest with a dirt road leading through it, like we all are now. I can't really remember the rest of the dream, though."

A moment passed while the group tired to interpret the strange events from the dream. Finally, Gary whispered. "Are you saying that you dreamt that battle in Mt. Moon and of this area before?"

Pikachu slowly searched his mind for a moment before declaring."(But, Ash, you never told me about a dream like that before…)"

Ash quickly shut Pikachu up with a quick glare. Turning to the rest of the group, Ash stated. "The scary part is that I vividly remember the dirt trail and the forest from my dream." After inspecting the region, Ash shook his head. "There is no mistaking it… this path and forest was in my dream… without a doubt."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Cerulean City… it really has changed." Misty sighed in amazement as she gazed at her hometown. Tall buildings shot up, out of the ground, in the dozens and destroyed the simple natural-look that existed before. Clouds of smoke bubbled from hundreds of cars on the noisy roads. This certainly didn't resemble the city that she spent a little over a decade in.

"So, what's our first stop?" Gary asked.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we should all pay and long overdue visit to the hospital."

"Th… the hospital? B… but why?" Brock trembled. He really hated hospitals; the needles, the knives, the pain… it was one of those spots where he had hoped that he would never visit.

Ash smiled as an idea formed across his head. "Don't worry, Brock. There are going to be plenty of pretty nurses over there."

"Pretty… nurses?" Brock drooled and was soon off in "daydream land".

Ash laughed. "Brock… he never does change, does he?"

"What do you mean by that?" Brock growled and aggressively pushed Ash down.

Surprised by his actions, Ash barely managed to keep his balance. "Ok, maybe I was wrong." Although he tried to sound nonchalant, he failed miserably. Brock's sudden outburst nearly scared him to death; Brock usually wasn't so violent.

Brock seemed satisfied by the answer and went back into his daydreaming mood. Giselle groaned at the boring scene. "Ok, then, let's get going."

Even with Misty's directions, it took the group nearly a ¼ of an hour to actually find the hospital due to the fact that the city was incredibly massive. The group entered the building and was greeted by a doctor. "Hello, can I help you?"

Ash walked straight up to the doctor. "Um… sir, do you have a cat-scan that we can borrow?"

Quite confused, the doctor nodded his head and led the group to another room. Everything in the room was pure white, including a small table in the corner. However, the group barely noticed this; they were way too focused on the enormous machine in the middle of the room. It seemed to have a bed of some sort attached to a conveyer belt. The conveyer belt ended only a few feet away with a large plastic dome covering the end of it.

"What exactly do you need this machine for?" The doctor questioned, quite baffled to say the least.

Ash sighed. "Um, sir, we all have been exposed to a rare microbe that dwells in the brain and can only be detected by a cat-scan. If you are afraid about us transferring this disease to other humans, you must realize that it can only be spread through a bite. The side effects are quite drastic, and we'd all really appreciate if we could borrow this machine and see if any of us are infected."

Trying to process the exceedingly large amount of information that Ash just stated, the doctor nodded. "Um… I guess that's ok. Go right ahead then."

Gary hopped on first and laid down on the machine. After the doctor typed in a few commands on a computer nearby, the machine buzzed with life and the conveyer belt started moving until it reached the platform at the end. Gary rested under the plastic dome as bright lights flashed inside the enclosed space. After a few seconds, Gary was moved out of the area. He blinked for a few moments before responding. "Um… I think I have a headache now."

Ash glanced at the computer screen and whispered something to the doctor. He nodded and exited out of the room. "Where did he go?" Brock asked, disappointed about the fact that he hadn't seen a pretty nurse yet.

"I asked him to print out all these images so that I can examine them closely." Ash commented.

Misty smiled. "Smart idea, but can you really tell the difference between a diseased brain and a normal one?"

Ash shook his head. Misty never had any faith in anything that he did. "Of course, Mist. I must have seen hundreds of X-rays of the brain! And why do you ask anyway?"

Misty smiled at the pleasant nickname. Mist… she kind of liked it. "Just wanted to be sure, that's all."

*~*~*~*~*~*

A burst of terror and rage crackled across their face, but the person quickly hid their emotions under a blanket of sorrow. It wasn't like they hadn't experienced these feelings before. In fact, the feelings were so overwhelming that they shocked the person into a massive and irrepressible headache.

However, a different emotion soon dominated over the others. It was a feeling that seemed to make other people around them quiver in fear. It was a feeling of complete and utter dread. Their secret was only minutes away from being discovered.

What were they going to do? Burning with fury, the tormented soul desperately wanted to stop the whole process, to stop the X-rays, to stop the precious knowledge to flow into another person's hands.

But, something stopped them. What could be called a blessing from God somehow managed to stop the death-spree that was going to occur. It was clear that something unusual was going on behind the scenes, something that was truly unnatural and exceedingly terrifying. It was like someone else was controlling this person.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Misty sighed. She completely, without a doubt, 100%, annoyingly, ready to pull her hair out: bored. So far, Gary, Misty, Giselle and Brock had all been tested on the cat-scan and were waiting in the waiting room. Even Pikachu was with them; the loud noise and the bright lights from the machine were frightening him a good deal.

The long wait seemed to continue forever, forcing Misty to listen to her own alarming thoughts. Who was infected? She glanced around the room and carefully rested her eyes on all her teammates. Finally, she glanced down at herself and bit her lip. What if it was herself? What if she had to stay locked up in a room and… no; she's not going to think about it. Similar notions soon floated through Misty's subconscious as she groaned. These thoughts were starting to drive her crazy. She just had to let them out… "Hey guys! Why do you think that Ash has been in there for so long?

Giselle shook her head. "You got me. I wonder why a cat-scan is taking so much time."

"Remember, he also has to study the X-rays in order to see which of us is infected." Gary stated monotonously.

The room was soon drenched in silence. Brock nervously gulped down a glass of water. "Do you guys really think that one of us in this room has Stellar?"

The four gazed anxiously around at each other. All of them were too frightened to voice an opinion. The silence that followed was so thick; it couldn't be cut with a knife. Misty, however, moaned and shattered the silence with a few simple words. "Oh, I just hope that Ash hurries up."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, I'm glad that's over with." Ash sighed as he jumped off of the makeshift bed situated on the machine. Walking over to where the doctor was busily typing some instructions on the computer, Ash questioned. "So, what's the report?"

The doctor stared at the computer screen for a moment longer before answering. "Ok. I'm printing an X-ray image of this right now in the other room. Hold on one second while I get it." The doctor soon exited the room while Ash yawned in boredom. The adventure at Mt. Moon really took a lot out of him.

After a few minutes, the doctor returned and handed Ash a brown-colored envelope. "Ok, here are all the X-rays of your friends." Glancing down at his watch, the doctor continued. "I've got to go into surgery now, but if you need anything else, just ask the staff around here for anything. They're really helpful."

Ash smiled. "Thanks a lot, Dr…"

The doctor grinned and playfully tapped his head. "Oh, silly me! Dr. Robinson!" With that, Dr. Robinson raced out the door.

Ash turned his attention to the envelope and opened it. Bunches of X-rays came flying out as Ash grabbed them one by one. Disregarding the envelope, Ash strolled up to what looked like a blackboard. Only the white paint, a few clips on the top and a bright light that illuminated the board in an eerie white light differentiated it from the normal classroom sight. Attaching all the black and white pictures onto the clips, Ash could now study them in close detail. The bright light from behind the board caused the pictures to flash in crisp and intricate detail. Ash studied the first one closely. The brain, or the area near the amygdala to be more precise, seemed to be perfectly normal. He then looked at the name that he insisted Dr. Robinson to write at the bottom of every picture.

The name written down was "Gary". This meant that Gary was perfectly normal… well as normal as he'll ever get. Ash smiled to himself. For some reason, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gary was fine even back in Mt. Moon. Ash simply shrugged his shoulders and passed off the coincidence as nothing more than what it was, a coincidence.

Ash raised his eyes to the next X-ray. It was the same as before; the X-ray was Stellar-free. The next one revealed the same results, as did the one right after. Ash grinned. If this pattern keeps up, the group might be able to continue onward without any complications. However, this wasn't the case. The fifth X-ray was different, extremely different.

Ash blinked his eyes in shock. He carefully checked and double-checked his findings. But, there was no doubt about it. One of the Rebels did have Stellar. Ash forced his eyes to glance at the single word near the bottom of the page. As his slow brain comprehended the name written on the picture, Ash continued to stare dumbly at the X-ray. It had to be wrong. It just had to be wrong.

But it wasn't. Ash dropped to his knees in distress as a small tear trickled down his cheek for his unfortunate comrade. Lass was right; one of his closest and most treasured friends did, in fact, have Stellar.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Sorry about the cliffhanger everyone, but it's the best way I could leave this chapter. The identity of the person w/ Stellar will definitely be stated in the next chapter. Out of curiosity, tell me who you think it is in the reviews. I want to know how many people guess the right person. Bye!