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...

5. Chapter 4: Everything Changes

A/N: Well, I'm back again with another part of my story. Thanks for all the reviews! I love reviews… and they help me write faster. Anyway, the majority of you stated in your reviews that you think its Misty who has Stellar and many people think its Brock. I think someone even thought that it was Ash. I even have a friend who thinks its Pikachu! I tell you that it's not Pikachu and that it's one of the three people that I've just mentioned. Who? Read to find out…

A Second Chance

Chapter 4: Everything Changes

*~*~*~*~*

"I should have excepted it." Ash sighed as he opened the door to the room, with the X-rays tightly clasped in his hands. He then raced over to the front desk in the hospital lobby, careful to avoid the waiting room. There he saw a nurse patiently waiting, the kind of nurse that Brock would have gone crazy over.

"Can I help you sir?" The young lady questioned in a sweet yet slightly bored voice.

Ash nodded. "Yes, has Dr. Robinson gotten out of surgery yet?"

"I'm afraid not." The polite nurse answered. "He's going to be busy for at least another 30 minutes or so."

"30 minutes!" Ash cried in vain. "No, you don't understand. I can't wait that long. I need some help from him right away."

The nurse shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry but…"

"No, don't say that." Ash quickly interrupted. "Here, when he comes out, please tell him to come and find me immediately."

"Your name?" The nurse asked as she searched her desk for a notepad and a pencil.

Ash heisted a moment before replying. Was it safe to revel his real name? Since he really had no other choice, for that's what he told Dr. Robinson beforehand, he whispered. "Actually, I'll just write him a quick note instead. Mind if I borrow that?"

The nurse relinquished her notepad and pencil to Ash. He quickly scribbled down a couple of things before returning the items. She then smiled and spoke. "As soon as he walks out of surgery, I'll tell him without delay."

Ash managed a weak grin before sighing. "Thanks." Since he certainly couldn't face his friends at the moment, Ash took a seat in the lobby. After a few minutes, another man, dawning the uniform of a local mailman, strutted into the hospital. In his arms, he carried an enormous mass of papers of all different sizes and shapes. The man hastily glanced around at the numerous small clusters of people in the room before his eyes rested on the classic loner sitting the furthest away from the others. This lone individual was, of course, Ash who was, at the present moment too wrapped up in his own thoughts to even gaze up from his marvelous view of the floor tiles.

"Excuse me, miss, but you wouldn't happen to know where I could deliver these papers to, would you?" The mailman questioned.

The nurse nodded her head rapidly. "Oh, you must be the deliverer of those files wanted by Dr. Clark."

The mailman smiled slyly. "Yeah, I guess you could call me a deliverer."

Once again, the nurse nodded in a robotic motion. "Dr. Clark is excepting you on the 3^rd floor."

The mailman gratefully sighed. "Thank you ever so much. Have a nice day." The nurse simply grinned as he turned around. He was about to proceed on his mission, when he departed on a one-way trip to the floor. His valuable stack of papers neatly slid out of his arms and traveled a few feet short of where Ash was sitting.

Ash blinked in surprise. His attention was soon diverted to this comical scene as he knelled down and helped the man picked up his precious cargo. The man smiled gratefully at Ash as he finished collecting the various sheets. "Thanks for the help." He hurriedly mumbled as he reorganized his stack of papers. The man quickly glanced at his watch on his wrist before he raced out of the room at top speed.

Ash then turned around and was about to return to his seat when his sharp, hawk-eyes caught something. Situated right beside his right foot was a small piece of blue paper nicely folded in half. He then picked the tiny slip and was about to call out to the mysterious postman until his eyes glazed at the slip in detail. On the front was a small, three-letter word that made his eyes widen in surprise. Neatly printed on the front was the word "Ash".

With a new objective in his mind, Ash sprinted in the direction of the supposed mailman.

*~*~*~*~*

Ash panted as he sped past dozens of people. "He has to be around here somewhere!" Ash angrily thought as he started barging into various hospital rooms and racing down hallway after hallway. A grave combination of aggravation and bewilderment graced his face as he swiftly continued his search.

"Have you seen a mailman walk by here?" Ash asked a nearby doctor. She slowly shook her heads in negative response. Ash angrily cursed under his breath as he tried another room. That was the 10^th person he questioned today, all of who answered with a no. Wandering around in aimless circles for a while, Ash hurriedly exited the room and tried asking yet another person. "Excuse me, have you noticed a mailman around here recently?" Ash questioned once again. However, it was answered with a shocking response.

"Oh yes, I did. He went out that door." The young woman stated and pointed a little ways away at an open door.

Ash grinned in relief. "Thank you, miss!" He then took off towards the door and discovered an empty hospital room. After a careful examination, Ash was dumbfounded to find nothing of importance in the little space. He soon shifted his eyes in the direction of the balcony outside, separated only by a clear glass door. Sliding the door open, he quickly hopped to the balcony and gazed down. Just as he thought, there was a fire escape. Ash sighed disappointedly and shoved the note into his right jacket pocket.

*~*~*~*~*

"Where is Ash? Shouldn't he have come out by now?" Giselle moaned in worry and started to pace across the floor.

Gary shook his head. "I don't know. I have a feeling that he's trying to delay coming out here and telling us."

"What exactly are you saying?" Misty questioned. Her curiosity was roused by Gary's stealthy tone.

Gary leaned back in his chair. "Well, how can we be sure that he will tell the truth? What if he's the one who's infected? He could easily hide it since he's the one examining the X-rays."

"You really think that Ash is the one that's infected?" Brock inquired in surprise.

Misty jumped out of her seat. "Oh come on! Ash isn't that stupid! If he's infected, he'll be smart enough to get some help."

"But what if he isn't?" Gary suggested as he rolled his eyes towards Misty.

Misty let her head drop to the ground before she raised it to meet Gary's eyes. "Look, we all are driving ourselves crazy with this issue. As much as I tease Ash, you have to admit it; he has a brain. Even if he is a little crazy with this disease, he's not going to risk all of our lives by not telling us. And if he is infected, then we should all have some sympathy towards him or anyone else who has this disease. After all, this mission is enough to drive anyone crazy."

Brock slowly shook his head up and down. "Misty's right."

"I also agree with Misty." Giselle murmured and paused her pointless pacing.

Gary sighed. "Ok, I guess I'm outnumbered again."

"Outnumbered on what?" Ash huffed as he walked into the room.

"Ash! Finally! It's about time!" Giselle snobbishly commented. "What took you so long?"

Ash gave a feeble smile. "Just had to be really sure. Out of curiosity, any chance that you guys saw a mailman around here?"

"Why would we see a mailman in a hospital?" Giselle bluntly asked.

Observing the ignorant looks on his friends, Ash already knew the answer to his question. Instead of explaining his recent adventure, Ash simply shrugged his shoulders. "It's not important. Never mind."

"So, what's the verdict?" Gary demanded as he leaned on the edge of his seat.

Ash lowered his head to the ground. He knew this question would come up. After carefully thinking over his words, Ash spoke. "You wouldn't believe how much I really want to say 'Everyone here is in perfect health and we can all get out of here!' Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Joe was right, one of us is infected."

He let these profound words sink in before he continued. "I've talked with some of the staff around here, and they are all pretty compassionate due to our extremely unusual situation. I want this person to know straight out that nothing bad is going to happen to them. We will find the antibiotic and, once we do, this person will be fine. I can not stress to you all how sorry I am for this person."

Shutting his eyes tightly, Ash muttered. "Brock, can you come with me please."

The group opened their mouths with a flabbergasted expression painted on all of their faces. Slowly, every pair of eyes were situated on Brock as he walked up to Ash in a peculiar manner. A minute of sheer silence passed before Brock gradually opened his mouth to speak. "Oh Ash! That was a good one! You are one really funny guy!"

Ash blinked in puzzlement. "But Brock, I wasn't…"

"I can't believe it! You really had us going there!" Brock laughed exuberantly. "You have to be the greatest actor ever! Now, where is that oscar?"

"Um… Brock, I wasn't acting. I'm serious!" Ash shrieked still shocked by Brock's carefree manner.

Brock, however, was on a laughing fit and just couldn't stop. "Is that part of the act? You probably set this whole thing up, huh? You probably made up all that information about that Beedrill having Stellar! I love it! You are the king of pranks! Even I couldn't have planned one like this! You really ought to congratulate yourself Ash!" Spinning around like an idiot, Brock added to the rest of the group. "Can you believe this guy? Isn't he a riot!"

"Um… Brock. I don't think that he was joking." Giselle stated seeing the unusual expression on Ash's face.

"I think he was serious." Gary simply commented.

Misty bit her lip. "Yeah Brock. Besides, Ash couldn't think of a good joke if his life depended on it!" Receiving a furious glare from Ash, Misty kept quiet.

These remarks only fueled Brock's laughing convulsion. "Oh, this is great! Let me guess, Ash told you to say all those things, right?" Turning to face Ash, Brock persisted. "Come on, Ash! Admit that it was all a big joke!" Finally noticing the worried look on Ash's face, Brock stopped his laughter. "It was a joke, wasn't it?"

Ash stared hard at the nearby wall in order to avoid Brock's gaze. In a barely audible voice, Ash confessed his pain in a single word. "No."

Studying Ash's face in intimate detail, Brock realized that Ash wasn't lying. "Would you stop taking this joke so far? Tell them that this is all a joke!" To enforce his point, Brock grabbed the collar of Ash's shirt and pushed him against the wall.

A single notion of fear never crossed Ash's mind as he simply shut his eyes and whispered. "I really wish I could."

Brock started getting alarmed by Ash's stubborn behavior. He tightened his grip on Ash and pushed him further against the wall while the others simply watched in dismay. "Do I have to repeat myself? I said tell them!"

Ash made no moves to resist Brock. Instead, he grabbed a pokeball from his belt and pressed the release button. The pokemon inside it formed a few feet away into a bell-shaped creature. It's yellowish-green skin color and big eyes produced a soft and almost innocent look. However, the hard expression on its face showed that it was something not to be messed with. Two dark green leaves sprung out from the top of its body while a small brown stem protruded from the top of its head making it look like it was a fruit that was just plucked from a tree. The small creature noticed the situation and, without a single word from its master, the plant pokemon discharged a pinkish haze into the air. The haze spread over to both Ash and Brock and they both collapsed to the floor.

Misty, Gary and Giselle finally acted and raced over to the two. "That looked like sleep powder." Gary commented.

"Yeah, I think that you're right. They both are fast asleep." Giselle stated as she quickly examined the two.

A man in a white lab coat, clearly a doctor, raced into the room followed by two other men pushing a stretcher along. "Shoot! It looks like I'm a little late." The doctor exclaimed as he inspected the scene. Pointing to Brock, the doctor turned to the other two men. "Take him to the 3^rd floor, room 121."

The men nodded and lifted Brock's body onto the stretcher. They then started running towards the elevator, followed by the doctor, and disappeared from sight. Ash, who was quite use to this attack from his own pokemon, woke up a few moments later. Observing Brock's departure, Ash smiled. "I'm glad that worked. Thanks Weepinbell." Weepinbell seemed to smile at the compliment as Ash returned it to its pokeball.

Pikachu, who had remained silent during this whole incident, jumped into Ash's arms. Ash robotically petted the yellow rat as he stared at the three people surrounding him. "Well, I'm glad that's over. We'd better hurry and get that antibiotic before anything serious happens to Brock." Ash then rose to his feet and started walking out of the room.

"Wait a second! You don't mean now, do you?" Gary exclaimed in surprise at Ash's persistence.

Giselle nodded her head in agreement. "Come on, Ash! It's already late! We might as well get a good-night sleep before we continue on."

Ash stopped and made a 180º turn before speaking. "Are you guys serious? You want to quit now? It's only 9:00 for crying out loud! It'll only take us a only few hours to get it and give it to Brock!"

Misty shook her head. "Ash, just think about it. We are all, including yourself, are tired from that trip to Mt. Moon anyway."

"Sheesh, is everyone against me?" Ash inquired, already knowing the answer to his own question. "Well, if you all are too tired to help a friend in need, then so be it. I'll just go alone." With that, Ash once again spun around and tired to escape.

Misty ran up to him and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ash, please! You can't just run off by yourself like that!"

Ash once again rotated himself around and stared straight at Misty. "And why not? I've been doing this for 6 years."

"Well, now we are a team and we have stay together as a team. I don't care how long you've been alone by yourself! You can't take off like this!" Misty pleaded.

"Misty, our teammate… no, our friend is dying out there! Dying! He's been like this for a day and half or so! Do you know how long that is? Heck, even Gary and Giselle here said that he was in horrible shape when they found him. That wasn't so much from the rockslide as it was from Stellar!" Ash shouted in utter frustration at the hopeless situation.

"Yes, I know that. We all know that. But please be reasonable! You're going to wander off by yourself in the dark and you don't even know the exact location! Even Brock would agree, wait a few hours until morning comes. At least we'll have time to make a plan by then rather than simply barging in there!" Misty growled trying her best to keep this team together.

Ash held his hands up in defeat. "Ok, ok! I give up! If it's that much of a problem I'll wait a few more hours."

"Well, since we have that settled, where do you want to go?" Gary asked.

Misty grinned. "Don't worry. We can stay with my sisters."

"Then shall we get going?" Giselle questioned timidly.

Misty gazed at Ash once again. "Hold on! Ash, you need to go see a doctor about that gash on your head. And why aren't you wearing that handkerchief I gave you?"

Ash smiled and then returned a somewhat bloody and wrinkled handkerchief. "Yeah, um… I already did that. They gave me a few stitches while you all were waiting."

"No wonder it look you so long!" Giselle cried as the four walked out of the building.

*~*~*~*~*

"Daisy, Lily, Violet, I'd like for you to meet my friends Gary, Giselle, and Ash" Misty smiled as she introduced the 6 to one another. A brief exchange of greetings followed as Misty got straight to the point. "I was wondering if you guys would let me and my friends crash here for a night or two."

"Sure!" The three sisters chanted a little too enthusiastically.

"You all can like sleep in the 2 spare guest rooms." Daisy, the eldest of the sisters stated. She then glanced down and eyed the little yellow rodent known to us all as Pikachu. "Oh, like what a cutie!"

Ash politely smiled. "Yea, he's mine."

Lily grinned blissfully as she turned to Ash. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Ash that, like, used to follow Misty around, like would you?"

"What? Me follow her around?" Ash exclaimed in surprise at the thought.

Gary, on the other hand, started laughing hysterically. "Ash? You were following a girl around for all those years ago! What a pathetic retard!"

"And what's so wrong with that? Women should be the ones leading anyway since they have a better sense of direction!" Giselle cried angrily at Gary's lack of self-respect towards women. A slow smile formed on her lips as an old memory surfaced. "And, besides, didn't you join the Johto League just to follow a pretty girl?"

"How do you know about Cindy?" Gary shouted with astonishment etched on his face.

"She just happened to be my best friend." Giselle replied with a mocking smile adorning her lips.

Misty lifted her eyebrow in curiosity. "Who's Cindy?"

Giselle giggled under her breath. "Oh, just a very close of friend of mine and Gary's crush for years."

Ash sighed. His friends could be so childish sometimes. "Um… that's interesting. Anyway, that wasn't the case for me. Misty followed me around."

"Only for a bike which you still haven't paid back!" Misty growled angrily.

Ash shook his head. Some people never change. "Not that bike again."

"Bike? Are you telling me that, like, Misty of all people followed you around for like, miles and miles, and years and years just for a bike?" Violet questioned with a sarcastic undertone.

Knowing that Misty would start one of her yelling fits, Ash quickly tried to escape. "And where were those guests rooms again?"

"Like, leaving so soon Ash?" Daisy moaned.

"Yea Ash. Like, tell us what you've been doing for, like, all these years." Violet commanded.

Lily also joined in by declaring. "Ash, come on. Like, tell us. We, like, want to know."

And that was how Ash became the center of attention as Misty, Gary and Giselle looked on in shock. "Well, it looks like we've excluded from this conversation." Giselle stated as she watched the three sisters crawl closer towards a somewhat alarmed Ash.

"What just happened?" Gary asked dumbfounded at the recent turn of events.

Misty blinked her eyes rapidly for a moment before she regained her composer. "My sisters can be a little too friendly at times. Here, let's get out of here. I'll show you all to the guest rooms."

"Bye Ash." Giselle called as the three starting walking out of the area.

"Hey! Wait up for me!" Ash cried from his suffocating position in the midst of the group composed of attractive women.

"But, Ash! You, like, still haven't told us about all those wonderful adventures that you, like, must have had over the years." Daisy persisted.

Ash groaned. Looks like it's going to be harder to escape then he had initially thought.

*~*~*~*~*

"What do you mean that they just disappeared!" screeched the woman as she arose from her comfortable chair and glared at the two other occupants in the room. Her eyes blazed an electric red that could even rival the fiery embers spouting from a volcano. Her mouth parted slightly in order to show her deadly lustrous weapons called teeth. Her breaths became short and detached while her fingers clawed mercilessly into the oak desk that was situated under her.

The two others in the room, a man and a women, quivered in fear at the very sight of the malevolent and crazy woman at the desk. They both dropped to the ground and hugged the carpet hoping that it could help them flee from such a hideous beast. Still feeling the wicked eyes of the woman upon them, the other female, on the floor, whispered. "I'm sorry, Master, but he and his friends simply vanished from thin air."

The fuming woman pounded her hand on the desk sending jolts of fear into the hearts of the two still curled on the ground. "Vanished from thin air? Oh, I do not need to hear such crap! It's physically impossible! I want answers, and I want them now! Win, Julie, I'm giving you two one last chance. What in God's name happened in that mountain!"

Win and Julie continued to tremble in their exposed spots. Finally, Win managed to gain the nerve to speak and whispered. "Master, with all due respect, Julie and I are telling the truth. When we found Ash and his friends, Julie demanded a pokemon battle with him. She used her Sandslash while Ash used that Pikachu of his. Things were going well, until Sandslash tried to use its earthquake, which would have surely killed Pikachu. That's when things got weird."

Deciding to help her partner out, Julie continued. "This weird blue bubble encased the rodent and protected it from Sandslash's attack. It also caused my poor Sandslash, which was in practically perfect health, to faint. Later, when we tried to shoot at them…"

Win then elbowed her in the stomach. "Shut up!" He whispered in a low enough voice so that his Master couldn't hear. In a louder voice, he continued. "What my partner meant to say was that when we tried to shoot a glance towards the group, they soon became encased in a another bubble that decreased in size until it was practically nothing."

The woman blinked in shock for a moment before her vicious attitude once again surfaced. "Are you making this up? Do you really except me to believe all of this?"

"This really did happen, Master. No lies, we are telling the truth." Julie pleaded with her Master in vain.

At these words, a slow malicious smile materialized on her lips. "So, after all of these years it finally happened. Why, this makes things all the more interesting now." Glancing back at her pitiful companions, the woman hissed. "Thank you two for this valuable information. You now may be dismissed."

Win and Julie hurriedly leapt to their feet and dashed out the door thankful that they still were breathing.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, here's the first guestroom. I guess you and Ash can stay in there, ok Gary?" Misty turned to Gary as she pointed towards a door on the far left of the hallway. Receiving a nod, she continued. "And I think that my sisters are using my old room as a second guestroom. You and I can share that room, is that all right with you Giselle?"

Giselle haughtily bobbed her head up and down. "It's no hotel suite, but it'll do."

After a minute or two passed, Misty, Gary and Giselle all placed their things in their appropriate room. They then marched back into the halls, all with bored looks adorning each of their faces. "So, does anyone have any bright ideas for tomorrow?" Gary asked.

"Um… how about we call Joe and ask for a precise location of the Serpent's headquarters? 5 miles east of here is hardly anything to go on." Misty pointed out in a logical manner.

Giselle shrugged her shoulders apprehensively. "We could do that, but shouldn't we ask Ash about that? I mean, he probably knows the Serpent's place backwards and forwards."

"That isn't such a bad idea, actually." Gary commented thoughtfully.

Misty shook her head in aggravation. "Oh, would you two stop being so dependent on Ash? Ash this……. Ash that…… I mean come on! He's not a God or anything! He's certainly not perfect and he certainly doesn't know all the answers. We are just as capable of finding out stuff as he is! You all should have a little more faith in yourselves."

"Still… I would if I knew as much as he did." Giselle blurted out.

Misty sighed. She just couldn't win with these two. "Well, let's just make that videophone call anyway. Ash will find us sooner or later."

*~*~*~*~*

"Look, I need to run some errands now. Can you please leave me alone?" Ash pleaded to the three girls that simply refused to let Ash walk another step without them. They even went so far to situate themselves directly in front of the door leading outside their house. The only way that Ash was going to be able to leave was to battle against his captors.

"No, you're not getting away that easily! Besides, we just met." Daisy purred with a hint of desire wrapped within her swelled throat.

"Just met! I met you 10 years ago! You probably 'just met' Gary and Giselle too. Why don't you talk to them while I run this errand?" Ash whined as he glanced down at Pikachu for some help. However, the little rodent was too busy trying to grab a Ketchup bottle from the fridge.

Violet chirped wistfully. "You're so much more mature than the others. And we haven't had company in a long time."

Ash opened his mouth in puzzled manner. "Me? Mature? That's one I thought that I'd never hear when I was younger." Mournfully, Ash glanced towards the door; his only hope for escape being blocked by the three woman. "Come on guys! Please let me leave! I shouldn't be gone for that long anyway! Couldn't you go talk to Misty? She's your sister after all!"

"So?" The three virtually identical sisters chanted.

It was at this moment that a miracle occurred for Ash. The door, that was previously blocked by the girls, was pushed open by a small girl. She dawned a crimson T-shirt with a teal colored jacket. Her dark blue jeans matched perfectly with her black hair streaked with dark spikes of azure. "I challenge the gym leader here to a battle!"

Ash smiled gratefully at the young child and turned back to the three sisters. "I guess that you all have a gym battle to attend to. I won't want to get in the way, so I'll just be leaving…"

"Wait a minute!" Lily cried but it was too late; Ash had flown the coop as he took off into the darkened night. Glaring at the unexpected challenger, Lily grumbled. "Thanks a lot!"

*~*~*~*~*

"Hey, Grandpa! Long time no see!" Gary grinned as Pro. Oak's image popped up on the screen.

Pro. Oak stopped his activities and faced the screen. "Oh, hello everyone! So, how are things going so far?"

"Well, we discovered who has Stellar now." Giselle quickly commented.

"Who?" Joe asked as he entered the screen.

"Brock. He's at the hospital right now." Misty sighed solemnly.

Joe blinked in surprise. "Brock? Really? You mean that she was right!"

Pro. Oak questionably glanced at Joe. "Who was right?"

Joe cringed for a moment, realizing that he had said too much. "Oh, didn't… um… Misty say that she thought that Brock had Stellar before?"

"No, I didn't." Misty stared at Joe in confusion.

Joe quickly covered up his mistake. "Oh, oops! I'm an idiot. I thought that Misty had said that before! I guess that I was mistaken."

"You certainly were. I'm no psychic." Misty declared forcefully.

Trying to divert some attention away from himself, Joe looked around. "Hey! Where has Ash run off to?"

Gary laughed heartily. "Ash! He probably is still trying to fend off that pack of hunger wolves known as Misty's sisters!"

"Indeed. I still don't know what they see in Ash." Misty whispered venomously.

"So, have you found a cure to Stellar yet?" Giselle asked, noticing the deadly look on Misty's face.

Pro. Oak shook his head. "No, but we've run numerous tests on the bacteria and discovered some unusual things about it. I swear, I've seen something similar to it before, but I can't place a finger on it as of yet."

"We all were planning on invading the Serpent's HQ tomorrow. Can you tell us the exact location of it?" Misty questioned wanting nothing more than to check out the building of the enemies that Ash has so accurately described.

"Oh no…" Joe's voice trailed off as he stared blankly back at them. "I forget to get the map of the area! Shoot! I knew I forgot something! Here, I'll tell you what. I'll search around and find the map of the area near the Serpent's HQ and fax it to you."

Gary impatiently gazed at the monitor. "How long will it take?"

Joe quickly did the calculations in his head before he answered. "Um… not that long. Give me anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour."

"Ok, I guess we'll talk to you tomorrow." Giselle stated as the others waved good-bye in response. She pushed a button causing the screen to turn blank. "I guess we should all get some sleep for the mission tomorrow."

Gary robotically nodded his head. "Perhaps we can meet this Lass person then."

"Hey guys. I have a question for both of you." Misty quickly articulated as she tried to determine the best way to phrase her delicate question. "What do you think of Ash?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Giselle asked wondering what Misty really meant.

Misty bit her lip questioning whether she should even mention her thoughts at all. "I mean, don't you think that something is 'wrong' with Ash? Like he's trying to hide something from us?"

"Ash? Trying to hide something from us? Don't be absurd Misty! Ash wouldn't do something like that! He may be a bit mysterious, but I sincerely doubt that he would keep secrets from us!" Gary exclaimed in surprise as if this was common knowledge. "You are just worrying too much about tomorrow."

Misty sighed. "Maybe you're right, but still… well, we'll just have to see what happens later."

*~*~*~*~*

Ash halted his rapid pace as he stopped to catch his breath. Large lungful of air burst into his respiratory system as his breathing returned to its normal pace. Ash then glanced behind him only to realize that Pikachu was missing, probably still trying to get that ketchup bottle… It figures…

Ash strolled into a nearby building and quickly scrutinized the scene. The hospital hadn't changed a bit since he was last here. Even the same nurse was on duty behind the front lobby desk, however, she failed to recognize Ash from before.

He quickly exited the area and climbed into the elevator. After hastily pushing the button marked "3^rd floor", Ash waited until the door mechanically opened. A quick walk down the hall followed until he discovered his destination. He thrust the door open as a slow frown grew on his chap lips.

There Brock lay peacefully in a hospital bed as various tubes protruded from numerous locations all over his body. A slow beeping sound was heard in the background as the only indication that Brock hadn't departed from this world and into the next. Ash noiselessly approached the still figure. His eyes shifted over to the table where he picked up a small chart. Skimming the chart, which detailed his medical records, Ash sighed. "Well, it looks like your fine at the moment, Brock."

Although he knew that Brock couldn't hear him right now, Ash still continued. "They say here that you are in perfect health with the exception of being 'abnormally aggressive'. Of course, they don't know what's causing it, but they are keeping you under an atheistic for a while." Ash dropped the chart to the ground and furiously stamped his foot. "Oh, dammit Brock! Why did they have to come after you? It's me that they are after!"

Ash irately paced across the room. "They have always been after me! Why in the heck did I tell Pro. Oak about all of this? I can't stand seeing you or the others hurt like this!"

Slowly down his restless strolling, Ash stared at Brock's still unconscious form. "You don't even know anything about this mission, do you? Neither you, nor Misty, nor Gary, nor Giselle, nor Joe, nor Pro. Oak know the real reason behind this mission!"

Approaching the bed, Ash knelled down on the floor and forcefully closed his eyes. "Even, I don't know the whole truth. But, I do know one thing. We aren't simply trying to stop Stellar from causing an epidemic; we are trying to stop the Serpents from completing their real goal and that is world domination. And the only way that they can do that is if they have me… They want me, Brock! That's all they want! And if that's so, why are you sitting here dying at this precise moment?"

A small crystal tear slid down his cheek as he opened his puffy eyes. "I really don't know what to do anymore. If this is the last time that we see each again, good friend, please, please take care of yourself. Find a place that you can live the rest of your life in peace, Brock. Good bye, and please don't give up. Never give up, Brock, never." Taking a deep breath, Ash left the room and wandered into the hallway. His sharp ears picked up some sounds coming from the stairs nearby. As the sounds grew in degree, Ash started to get more and more suspicious. There shouldn't be anyone in the hospital now.

After sweeping his eyes across the area, Ash swiftly ran back into Brock's room and into the bathroom. He kept the door slightly ajar in order to see what was going on. He was not a moment too soon for a solitary figure walked up the steps draped in a coffee-brown coat. His face was cloaked in darkness, under a hood, as he stepped into view. Ash watched the mysterious figure scuttle into the room and over to Brock's side. Venom and hot-blooded anger swirled in Ash's eyes as patiently waited behind the door. The person gazed over at Brock for a moment before placing a light blue note into Brock's hand. As the being moved away from Brock and started to walk out of the room, Ash made his move.

He leapt out of his hiding place and tackled the shadowy individual. Taken by complete surprise, the person tried to wiggle out of Ash's grip with fear pumping down his spine. A few kicks helped free the man as he took off down the hall. Instead of following him, Ash grabbed a pokeball and slammed it to the floor. "I choose you, Haunter!" The devilish ghost pokemon materialized as it tolerantly lingered in the air, awaiting its next command. "Find a figure in dark cloak. Use psychic to stop him and bring him to me."

The ghost creature with an oddly disproportional head, dissolved through the walls like a wisp of vapor. Through currently unknown methods, Haunter managed to find the fleeting figure dashing a flight of stairs. Enveloping him in a strange pure white light, the man froze and screamed in utter pain. The attack was so powerful that the stranger immediately dropped to the ground like a leaf falling from a tree in the fall. The creature smiled at its accomplishment as it changed forms into a black elemental mass and magically wrapped its atoms around the figure. A soft yellowish-white light evaporated the two living entities and they shifted through space until they reached a very weary Ash. The stranger and the black mass soon formed a few feet away from Ash, displaying the awesome power of Haunter's teleport.

"Nice work Haunter." Ash remarked as he restored Haunter to its rightful place in its pokeball. The exhausted individual slowly opened his eyes and gazed breathless straight at Ash. Seeing that his prisoner was moving, Ash glared savagely at his apparent enemy. "What do you think you're doing here?"

The merciless and spiteful tone in his voice made the stranger involuntarily shiver in alarm. "You should already know."

"What is that supposed mean!!!!!!" Ash screamed clasping his fists so tightly that they turned a pale white. "What's the meaning with all these notes?" From his left hand, a blue note plummeted to the ground directly beside the person.

The person struggled to a sitting position and quickly glanced at the note. "This is the second note I gave you."

"I already know that!" Ash shrieked like a wild beast. "I want answers! What does 'You can't fake it anymore' and 'She knows' supposed to mean!"

A slow sinful smile spread across the stranger's lips as he slowly stood up and removed his hood. Dull brown pupils pounced into view along with vicious blue hair streaked with bloody crimson and inky black. His expression portrayed a dire soul wanting nothing more than to escape some cruel fate that life had condemned him to. "How can you be so blind? Don't you remember a single word that Lass has told you over the years?"

Ash cringed for a moment at the sound of that name. He blankly stared back at the sinister man. "Just how would you have the slightest clue of what Lass has said to me?"

A sly smile crept to his lips. "After all that's happened… you're still the same old Ash: clueless as brick."

"I'm not clueless! And how do you know my name?" Ash growled in response.

"Do I really need to spell it out? I should I say the motto to refresh your memory?" The unknown figure sneered under his breath.

"A motto… but it couldn't be…" Ash moaned nervously. As he stared at the man curiously for a moment, Ash questioned. "Contact lens, James?"

Tentatively placing a hand on his right eye, James nodded. "Brown colored contact lens to be exact."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Ash sighed. "But, how did you survive that avalanche? I thought that everyone had died in it."

"That's what he wanted you to think." James curtly responded.

"Who's 'he'?" Ash asked out of simple curiosity.

James slyly grinned for a moment as memories of the past bounced into his skull. "Why that's simple: Giovanni."

"Giovanni? But that avalanche happened 5 years ago!" Ash exclaimed in wonder at the lie that he so desolately believed for all these years.

James threw his head back an issued an ominous chuckle. "Silly Ash! Did you really think that people like Giovanni and Lass wouldn't lie to you?"

"Giovanni and Lass? What are you talking about?" Ash cried at discovery of the web of lies that had been built around the little world that he lived in.

James couldn't wipe the devilish grin from his lips as he walked back into Brock's room. When he reached Brock's side, James knelled down and grabbed a small instrument from underneath the table. With the piece of technology within his fingertips, James walked back to Ash. "Some truths were never meant to be told by me, Ash. You are going to have to figure them out by yourself."

"So, that means that you don't know them yourself!" Ash replied spitefully and closely examined the equipment in James' hands. It look like a small black tape recorder with a miniature microphone attached to it. As James started rewinding the tiny tape inside, Ash blinked his eyes. "You bugged this hospital room?"

Deciding that he had come to the proper place in the tape, James glanced up at Ash and slowly nodded. "Correct, Ashy, correct."

Ash narrowed his pupils at the sound of the nickname. "How do you know Lass?"

"Who said I knew her?" James tediously questioned.

Ash flapped his mouth open and shut like a fish on land gasping for air. "But, how else would you explain all that information that you know about her?"

"I'll give you a hint, Ash. I never said that I quit Team Rocket." James voiced, wondering if Ash could pick up on his clue.

Ash's eyes glazed over as he dumbly stared at the wall. "But, that would mean that you were spying on Lass? But why? And how come I was never alerted of this mission?"

Shaking his head, James slowly elevated his eyes until they were locked with Ash's. "Giovanni keeps his most important missions secret from everyone except himself and the people involved. This ensures that important information doesn't leak out to traitors."

"Like myself…" Ash continued with a new understanding of the underworld of crime. "But, why are you telling me all this now?"

"Because, I was told to." James monotonously stated.

Ash tilted his head to one side. "By Giovanni? By Lass?" James shifted his head from side to side. The slow action of James' head answered his questions. "Then who?"

"Actually, I don't know myself." James despondently retorted. "It must have been an illusion of some kind, but some sort of creature told me to, in my dreams."

"Creature? What kind of creature? A pokemon? A human?" Ash questioned, blurting out the first thoughts that crossed his brain.

James sighed. "I can't remember. All I know was that the dream was too real to be taken lightly. The creature looked really similar to what the ancients called a 'cat' except that it was standing upright and was pink and white." Slapping those thoughts away, James changed the subject. "But enough of that." Pressing the play button on his little machine, James listened for a moment to Ash's own words, which was stated only moments ago. "Well, maybe I was wrong about you Ash; perhaps you do know what those notes mean."

"I do?" Confusion blanketed his features as Ash tried to remember what he had told Brock not moments beforehand.

James bobbed his head in agreement. "You do. You have all the pieces of the puzzle but you can't make the picture." Pushing the stop button on the tape recorder, James smiled. "You wouldn't believe how many people would die for this information, especially Giovanni." Dropping the instrument to the floor, the machine shattered into numerous pieces across the ground. Lifting his foot, James stomped on the broken machine until it was nothing more than minute pieces of plastic spread across the floor.

Ash inquisitively gazed at James. "Was that also part of your orders?"

"No." James simply whispered and started to walk away. "And, if you were wondering about that avalanche, not all of us survived. Meowth didn't make it."

"Meowth died?" Ash questioned in morbid shock. "But what about Jessie?"

For a brief moment, James turned around. "That is something that you'll have to figure out by yourself." With that, James continued his stroll out the hallway leaving behind a shocked and just as confused Ash.

*~*~*~*~*

Ash opened the door and eyed the occupants inside. Seeing only Gary and Giselle inside, Ash mouthed a "thank you" to himself as quickly shut the door and leaned his back against it. A grateful expression graced his face as he sighed in relief.

"Having fun?" Gary smartly questioned as he winked slyly in Ash's direction.

Giselle brashly spoke. "Why do you let those girls bother you? Frankly, any girl that goes chasing after a guy like that is missing half her brain."

Gary shook his head as a dreamy look entered his eyes. "I wish Cindy did that for me…"

"Oh brother!" Giselle moaned in frustration.

"So, what are you guys doing?" Ash asked noticing that Gary and Giselle were seated on the floor with a bunch of playing cards in their hands.

"We're playing poker. Want to join?" Gary stated motioning for Ash to come over.

"At this time in the night?" Ash blinked in amazement before shrugging his shoulders. "Oh sure. Why not?"

Gary moved a little as Ash dived to the floor. The trio formed a rough semi circle as Giselle shuffled the cards. Noticing the solemn look on Ash's face, Giselle uttered. "What's with the grim face, Ash?"

Ash picked up his five cards before replying. "Oh nothing. Just thinking about things, that's all." Tapping his hand on the floor, Ash added. "Hit me." Receiving weird looks from Gary and Giselle, Ash's face changed to a deep red. "Oh, wrong game."

Gary smacked a silly grin on his lips. "Think that we're playing black jack, Ash?" Pausing for a moment to drop some cards and pick up some other ones, Gary continued. "I watched the last part of Daisy's battle with a challenger a few minutes ago. Where did you wander off during this time?"

Ash sighed, trying to think of reasonable excuse. "Oh, out, you know… just wandering around town for a while. Raise you $5."

"Oh, it's a $1 limit." Gary quickly stated. "I just taught Giselle how to play and she was too wimpy to bet anything higher than a buck."

"I'm not wimpy you loser!" Giselle retorted angrily. "It's just that this is a friendly game and I don't want to lose a lot of money!"

"Ok then. I raise you a dollar then." Ash rapidly declared, trying to stop the inevitable fight that was about to occur.

However, Ash's causal efforts were a little late. Gary clandestinely glazed at Giselle as he threw some chips to add to the pile. "What did I tell you about her being a wimp? I call."

"Idiot. I call." Giselle muttered and likewise dropped a bundle of poker chips to the floor before redirecting her attention to Ash. "So, what did ya do around town? Oh, and I have a pair of 5s."

Deciding that it was safe to say, Ash simply commented. "Oh, I went and visited Brock in the hospital. What do you have Gary?"

"Two pair." Gary released his cards and pointed to a pair of 4s and a pair of Jacks. "How's Brock doing?"

"He's fine." Ash drearily testified as he showed the group his cards. "I've got a pair of Aces. You win Gary."

Gary smiled greedily and claimed the mound of chips as his own. "Cool. So, did anything important happen during your little visit?"

Ash swiftly gathered the cards in order to shuffle them. "Nothing important." Ash stared at the cards guilty knowing that he had just lied through his teeth.

*~*~*~*~*

"Need some help there, Pikachu?" Misty kindly asked the tiny rodent observing its dilemma. The refrigerator door handle was a little high for Pikachu as it jumped up and down like a spring trying to obtain the delicious ketchup inside.

"(What do you think?)" Pikachu sarcastically growled but this question was lost on Misty who was basically clueless when it came to "Pikachuese".

"I'll take that as a yes then." Misty pulled the door open and extracted a practically brand-new bottle of ketchup. Handing the precious the item to the small pokemon, Misty added. "Don't eat too much of this. You'll get sick, ok?"

Pikachu nodded and replied with another sardonic comment. "(Do you really that I'm that stupid?)" Pikachu raced out of the kitchen, looking for a good location to pig out.

Reluctantly, a sluggish grin materialized on Misty's lips. "Silly Pikachu. With a bottle of ketchup, that rodent is the happiest creature on the planet. I wish everything was that simple…"

Walking out of the kitchen, Misty strolled over to nearby couch and sat down on it. Before she had a moment to relax, Misty noticed a small blue piece of folded paper on the floor. Picking it up, Misty read the word on the front, "Ash". Remembering that this room was often used to entertain guests, or, in her sisters' cases, to flirt with them, she sighed. "I guess Ash must have dropped his."

Her slim fingers unfolded the crisp paper. "You can't fake it anymore? What in the world is that supposed to mean?" Misty cried to no one in particular. As her mind raced over the infinite possibilities, a deep look of sheer rage crossed her eyes. "I knew it! He was hiding something from us!" She quickly jumped out of her relaxed position and impulsively rushed out of the room in search of Ash.

*~*~*~*~*

"Read them and weep! A flush!" Giselle giggled happily and proudly displayed her prize. "I won! Hand over the money, boys!"

"Boys?" Ash and Gary questioned in sync.

Giselle ignored them and eagerly played with her new chips of money. "Finally! I won!"

"Yea, one win after half an hour of playing. Talk about beginners luck…" Gary exclaimed mockingly.

"Oh, what would you know! Hey Ash! Don't you agree that this was a superb hand and that it took some skill to get?" Giselle pleadingly glanced up at Ash, hoping that her beautiful eyes could taunt him into agreement.

Gary playfully pushed her. "Oh come on Ash! Tell her that she's such a cowardly card player! I mean, even in this hand, all she won was a $1.25! What kind of skill was she talking about?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." Ash wisely announced. Rapidly shuffling the cards, Ash dealt 5 cards to each player.

After picking up the cards, Giselle noisily spoke. "Hey, Ash. Does Daisy, Lily and Violet know that you are here, in the room that you and Gary are going to share for the night?"

Smacking a hand over Giselle's mouth Ash hissed. "Would you shut up! Now they know where I am!" Unfortunately, while doing this, his 5 cards slipped out of his fingers displaying four wicked Aces and a King.

"You have 4 Aces! Oh, I'm out!" Gary glumly slammed down his useless cards to the floor.

"Same here." Giselle whispered. After a moment's hesitation, she added. "Why is it so bad for Misty's sisters to know where you are?"

"Gee, that's so hard to figure out." Gary moaned sardonically.

After grumbling some curses under his breath, Ash sighed. "Because they will come in here with some lame excuse. First will be Daisy. Knowing her, she's going to say something about needing help with some machine that's broken."

As Gary was shuffling the cards, there was a short rap on the door followed by the appearance of Daisy, who peaked her head inside. "Hey, Ash. I just found out that my toaster is busted. Any chance that you can fix it for me?"

"Why do you need to use the toaster at this hour?" Giselle inquired with a stealthy undertone.

Daisy glared at her, warning Giselle that she better back off before something serious should happen. Of course, this look went unobserved by Ash and Gary who couldn't understand the secret language of woman. "Because I happen to like toast at this hour! Will you help me out, Ash?"

Ash waved off her attempts by saying. "Sorry, I'm going to go to bed pretty soon and I think that we all need a good-nights rest for tomorrow."

"Oh, ok." Daisy whispered dejectedly and closed the door.

Gary gazed at Ash curiously. "How did you know that?"

Seeing that Gary and Giselle had placed their opening bets, Ash threw down 50 cents worth of chips. He then slowly gazed up at Gary. "Daisy is the type of person that's incredibly helpless and needs someone to help her out with even the most simplest things. Violet and Lily think alike, so I bet that they'll come in, one-by-one, using the excuse of food. Those two gather food in their mouth like it was a hobby."

"And yet they don't gain a pound! Now that's what I call annoying! Do you know how much I had to diet in order to keep this slender figure?" Giselle growled in aggravation.

Thinking of the slim shape of all the four sisters, Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Must run in the family."

Another quick game passed before another knock on the door followed. The doorknob twisted as two girls, Lily and Violet, of course, walked in. "Ash, want to get a late-night snack to eat with Lily and me?" Violet politely asked.

"No thanks." Ash briskly replied as the two girls despondently left the room. "See? What did I tell you? To think, I learned all of this in a 15 minute conversation."

"You're good, although you were wrong about them coming in separately." Giselle smiled and dropped three cards before picking up three other cards. "You think that the fourth sister will also come in search of you?"

After Gary picked up his cards, Ash decided to leave his hand just the way it was. He then discharged a couple of chips and thoughtfully answered. "You mean Misty? Well, I doubt it, but, knowing her, she'll be mad at me for some reason or another."

"I call. That really sounds like Misty all right. She's always mad at you." Gary bluntly commented.

"Yea, but she always gets over it. Are you in or out, Giselle?" Ash asked Giselle motioning to her that he was referring to the card game.

Giselle shook her head. "I fold. And, I warn you Ash. You really ought to be careful about those fights with Misty. Not every fight follows with forgiveness."

Ash casually shook his head. "Oh, come on! This is Misty that we're talking about! I really doubt that…"

"Ash Ketchum! How dare you try and hide something from me and the others!" Misty bellowed in fury as she smashed the door open.

"And here it starts…" Ash groaned knowing all to well what was coming next.

Misty grunted in annoyance but chose to ignore that remark. "What's the meaning of this? And why did you hide it from us?" She tossed the blue note into the air. It soon landed only a few inches away from the source of her anger.

Ash picked up the note and swiftly glanced at it before recognizing it as the note he received from the hospital. "But I put this in my jacket pocket…" Shifting his gaze over to his black leathery jacket that he still dawned, Ash noticed a worn-out hole at the bottom of his right pocket. "Oh, a hole! Serves me right for not getting a new jacket for a few years."

"Give me a proper answer! Where did you get that note and why did you hide it from us?" Misty growled at Ash's causal attitude.

"While waiting for Dr. Robinson to come out of surgery, some postal worker walked up to me and handed it to me. Happy now?" Ash moaned and then turned back to Gary. "I've got a Full House. What about you?"

"Two pair." Gary whispered not wanting to interrupt the fight that was occurring.

"Happy now? You except me to be happy now? You're doing it again! Lying to us, like you did with Lass! I don't even know if I can trust you anymore!" Misty screamed as blood-red soaked her once sea-blue eyes.

Gathering his winnings, Ash bit his lip. He didn't want for her or anyone to find about that. Couldn't they just accept that he had secrets that just couldn't be voiced? "I wasn't lying; I just didn't tell you because you didn't need to know."

"I didn't need to know! You have become such a crafty person, Ash! You aren't the person that I used to know." Misty snarled before continuing. "Tell me right now. What is the meaning of this note?"

"Oh, it's just something about my former life." Ash quickly replied as he got up and jumped on one of the two beds in the room. "Here, can I please get some sleep?"

"Trying to avoid the issue, aren't we?" Misty blamed. "This is about Lass, isn't it?"

"If you really want to know, then, yes, ok?" Ash quickly responded before he closed his eyes and pretended to drift off to sleep. "Good night."

Misty shook her head. She knew that Ash was desperately trying to stop the argument, but she had to know. He couldn't keep this information to himself. "Those excuses may work on my sisters, but they won't work on me. I want… no, we need to know. What does 'You can't fake it anymore' mean?"

"I used to fake that I couldn't do something in front of Lass. Now she knows that I can do it. Since we've gotten that matter out of the way, I'll see you all in the morning." Ash hastily explained hoping that this will stop Misty.

Unfortunately, it didn't. In fact, it infuriated Misty even more with more questions. "What was it that you were faking?"

"Nothing." Ash whispered and closed his eyes. His horrible memories impounded him once again. They were becoming harder and harder to keep confidential.

Misty coolly glared at him with bitterness engraved on her face. "I won't take that as an answer. Would you stop side-stepping the issue and tell us?"

Feeling the wrath of evil remembrances within his head, Ash frantically tried to keep his sanity. "Get off my case! I wouldn't tell you! Can't you get that through your thick skull, Misty?"

Marching straight up to Ash's side, Misty roared. "You are going to tell us this very instant! I'm sick and tried of all of these pathetic excuses. Say it!"

"No!" Ash screamed in panic and arouse from his position off the bed. The others gasped in surprise at Ash's demeanor. His expression was completely devoid of emotion with one exception, his eyes. His eyes sliced into vision with a different hue than before. Silvery blue replaced chocolate brown.

Misty, for once in her life, was speechless. She backed away in alarm and whispered timidly. "Ash, your eyes… what's going on?"

Its curiosity arisen by its master's cries, Pikachu scampered into the room still clasping the tiny ketchup bottle in its paws. "(Ash… what? It's happening again…)"

Somehow regaining control over some unknown force, Ash plummeted back into a horizontal position on the bed and covered his eyes with his two hands. Somehow sensing that Pikachu was in the room, Ash shrieked. "It worked before. Pikachu thunderbolt now!"

Liberating the ketchup bottle from its tiny paws, Pikachu charged up for an electric shock and aimed it directly at Ash. The wave of yellow-white energy reached its destination and jolted the individual for a moment before running out of power. Pikachu anxiously scurried to Ash's side, hoping that it didn't do too much damage. Ash arose from his location on the bed and removed his hands away from his eyes. Thankfully, they returned back to their normal dark-brown tint. After getting over the initial shock, Ash quickly looked down at his faithful pet. "Thanks Pikachu." Glaring at Misty, he jumped to his feet and walked straight up to her. "Don't ever do that again! Do you know how seriously hurt you could have gotten!"

"Wh… what?" Misty mumbled still suck in a state of disbelief.

Resting his hands on her shoulders, Ash speedily pushed her out into the hallway. "Ok, the show's over. There, you know my secret; you know what I was hiding. So, would you just leave already?"

"I don't have a slight clue of what just happened!" Misty replied in despair, finally emancipated from her preliminary shock. "You have some explaining to do."

"Actions speak louder than words." Ash stated with a lethal undertone in his voice. He then tried to close the door but Misty stopped his actions.

"Don't even think about shutting me out now! What in the world just happened now?" Misty demanded as she forcefully opened the door to its full amount.

Ash glared at her threatening. "Figure it out yourself."

"Ash, come on! We are all your friends! You can tell us anything." Misty pleaded.

Ash shook his head. "Not this. Go talk to Lass if you're so interested. She'll give you a wonderful, in depth explanation." He tried once again to close the door, but with no luck.

Misty vigorously reentered the room. "Ash, just tell…"

"You don't get it, do you? If I tell you, you'll never understand what it means. If I tell you, you'll never look at me the same way again. If I tell you, everything changes, and I do mean everything…" Ash mumbled softly. "Just get out while you still have the chance. The less you know about me, the better."

"It's too late now, Ash. The time is now. There is one thing that will always be the same throughout this entire mission: you, me, Gary, Giselle and Brock will always stick together." Misty sighed trying to make Ash understand something that she has always known.

Ash, however, only shook his head. "When I mean everything changes, I mean everything changes. Don't depend on simply morals like friendship to help you get through life; they never help." Sinking his head to the ground, Ash whispered. "I think that you should go now, Misty."

Misty's eyes slowly welled up with tears at the hopelessness in Ash's voice. "But Ash, I'm just trying to help…"

"And I'm just trying to do the same. Get out of here Misty. Get out." Ash icily spoke with every word piercing the hearts of the others like a knife.

Misty tried to control her emotions with difficulty. "Ash, please…"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Ash bellowed literally at the top of his voice. As Misty took a few nervous steps back in fear, Ash slammed the door shut on her traumatized face. He then dejectedly staggered back to his bed and collapsed facedown on it. Pikachu ran to his side and nuzzled him for support. Seeing that Ash wanted to be left alone, Gary and Giselle sneaked away from the room and into the hallway where Misty was still rooted in a daze.

"Misty, are you all right?" Giselle sympathetically inquired and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure that he didn't mean it. He's just going through a tough time in his life." Gary added softly.

Misty, who still had her eyes set on the door, narrowed her eyes and turned around. "Why should I care if he wants to be a baby about this? Let him stay locked in that room for as long as he wants!" Misty raised her voice in order for Ash to hear her. "How dare you Ash Ketchum! I never want to speak to you again! I hate you!"

Hearing this, Ash raised his head and shouted back. "The feeling's mutual!"

Bursting with uncontrollable rage, she then trampled back to her own room and banged the door shut.

*~*~*~*~*

Too shocked to speak or even breath for that matter, Gary and Giselle walked out of the hallway in awe at the events that just transpired. The shock didn't leave their faces when they entered the same room that Misty had been beforehand. They simply sat down on the couch waiting for the other one to comment.

"What in the world just happened?" Daisy asked as she and her other two sisters walked into the room. "We heard a lot of commotion in the guest rooms."

"Oh, just another Ash and Misty fight." Gary quietly stated, belittling the unusual fight into nothing more than a daily routine.

"Oh." The sisters chanted in unison. Seeing that Gary and Giselle didn't wish to comment on it further, the sisters left the room.

Gary covered his face with his two hands. "I guess we now know what 'Ash's secret' is."

"But what was it really? Was it that stuff that we saw back in Mt. Moon?" Giselle questioned bubbling with curiosity.

"Maybe more…" Gary's voice trailed off for a moment trying to get the facts straight in his head.

"Yea, maybe." Giselle faintly whispered. Her eyes slowly examined the room in detail and caught sight of a nearby videophone and a fax machine. Remembering their earlier conversation with Pro. Oak and Joe, Giselle strolled over to the fax machine. Sitting on top of it was a piece of paper. Pulling the paper out, Giselle realized that it was the map that Joe promised to fax to them beforehand. "Well, it looks like Joe came through on his word. Here's the map of the Serpent's HQ."

"The map!? I almost forgot about that!" Gary exclaimed and raced over to Giselle's side. Taking the map from her, he inspected it as a slow crafty smile came to his face. "Hey Giselle. I just got the greatest idea."

Giselle gazed at him with a slightly bored expression dawning her face. "And what would that be?"

"Why don't we check it out, without Ash and Misty?" Gary questioned still retaining an evil grin on his lips.

Giselle blinked at him in astonishment. "Without them? But why? We're a team and we should stick together. Besides, we even told Ash back at the hospital today that we shouldn't go there today."

"But if we go with them, then they'll just argue nonstop! We aren't going to get the cure for Brock if we sit around and wait for them to stop arguing. Come on! Let's do something exciting by ourselves! They'll never expect us!" Gary shouted just loud enough to show his excitement but not loud enough to disturb Ash, Misty or Misty's sisters.

Giselle, however, shook her head. "I don't think so Gary. Besides, those two ought to be able to work things out by tomorrow. They have done so in the past."

"Fine, believe what you want to believe. My thinking is that with an argument this big, it'll take them at least a day, under normal circumstances, to work things out." Gary sighed finally understanding that Giselle wasn't going to budge an inch about her decision.

Slightly worried at the fact that Gary gave up so easily on her, Giselle timidly inquired. "Does that mean that you're still going?"

Gary nodded his head. "You bet. I'm going to leave when the clock strikes midnight."

"But that's only in 10 minutes!" Giselle desperately called. "Are you serious about this? You're just going to abandon the group like that?"

"Somebody has to get some work done around here for a change. Arguing can only last for so long before it tears a group apart. If you still want to come, meet me by the front door at 12." Gary then marched back to his room in order to pick up some supplies.

*~*~*~*~*

"Misty, you weren't serious about hating Ash, were you?" Giselle nervously questioned Misty as she entered the room that they were planning on sharing for the night.

Misty, who had been brushing her long reddish hair, sighed. "I've never been more serious in my entire life. If Ash had some power, or whatever, for all this time then why didn't he tell us about it?"

"But, hating him? Come on, Misty! That's being a little harsh, isn't it? You're just hurt because he never told you about it like he would have done when he was younger." Giselle soothingly asserted.

Pausing for a moment, due to the emergence of a knot within her locks of hair, Misty growled back. "How dare you tell me how I feel! You don't even know me at all!"

"I know you better than you think." Giselle quickly murmured under her breath. In a louder voice, Giselle added. "Aren't you going to speak to him? You do know that we all have to work together as a team, don't you?"

"Oh, to heck with the team! If he doesn't want to talk to me, then I don't want to talk to him!" Misty cried in a shrill high-pitched tone. She then went back to trying to remove all those annoying knots within her lovely hair.

Giselle realized what a waste of time that was and walked out of the room. Maybe this was one fight that Ash and Misty couldn't solve on their own.

Gazing at Ash's door, Giselle knew that it was a lost cause to even try to talk some sense into him. If he was willing to keep this secret from them this whole time, then he certainly wasn't willing to apologize to Misty, who had forced this secret out of him.

Giselle started wandering around the house until she glanced up at a nearby clock. It was only a minute or so before midnight. She quickly sprinted back into her room to gather her stuff before dashing to the front door. There, Gary was patiently waiting with a map in his hand and a bag of all his stuff in the other. "Changed your mind?" Gary coolly questioned.

Giselle merely nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Gary grinned at her and placed a note on a table close by. "Come on then." He and Giselle soon walked out of the place as the large doors creaked to a close behind them.

*~*~*~*~*

The bright sun shone in through an open window as Pikachu stirred in its sleep. A warm blanket of heat wrapped around its body as Pikachu's eyes fluttered open. After a moment of tossing and turning from one side of its body to the next, Pikachu finally completely awoke. Its gaze soon shifted over to his sleepy master. The night had been a long one for both of them. "(Come on Ash. Rise and shine!)"

Ash gradually blinked his eyes open. A heavy yawn escaped his lips as he changed his position in the bed and moaned. "Not now Pikachu. It's too… too… too early."

Seeing a clock on the wall, Pikachu accurately read the time as 8:00. That wasn't too early! "(I can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice.)"

Even in his awake/asleep mood, Ash could still subconsciously feel the electric sparks dashing across Pikachu's cherry red cheeks. Knowing from experience that this meant that Pikachu was powering up for an attack, Ash quickly sprung out of bed in a drowsy daze. "Ok, ok… I'm up. No thunderbolts this morning, please."

Pikachu smiled in satisfaction at it accomplishment. "(All right sleepy head. Nap time's over. Time to get to work!)"

"Whatever." Ash mumbled still not quite fully awake.

"(So, are you still going to deny your power?)" Pikachu straightforwardly questioned.

Ash sighed for a moment. "I guess I can't, can I? It's just that… I never wanted it. Kind of hoped that if I deny it… I'd be normal… like everyone else. Know what I mean?"

"(Ash, you're a special person… Lass saw that and so do I. Never be ashamed of yourself, ok?)" Pikachu encouraged soothingly.

A smile graced Ash's lips. "Thanks buddy, that's all I needed to hear."

Pikachu grinned for a moment before getting the feeling that someone was missing. "(Hey, wasn't Gary supposed to share a room with you?)"

Ash nodded. "Yea, he was… wait, where did he go?" Thinking about that for a few minutes, Ash sighed. "He's probably an early riser. Nothing to worry about."

*~*~*~*~*

"Have you three seen Giselle? She didn't sleep in my room last night." Misty casually asked her sisters and was disappointed with the three simultaneously head shakes from side to side.

"Hey guys! Do you know where Gary is? I can't find…" Ash's voice trailed off as he walked into the room. His eyes immediately switched from lethargic to lethal as he noticed that Misty was there as well.

Misty's body visibly shook in disgust at the sight of the newcomer. Ignoring Ash, she briskly turned her back towards him and asked her sisters. "Daisy, Lily and Violet, have any of you seen Giselle at all day?"

"No, sorry. Can't say that I have." Lily nervously responded, clearly uncomfortable at the sudden chill in the room. "Here, I'm going to go and take a shower… like now… yeah… that makes sense." Lily slowly backed out of the room and practically sprinted to a nearby bathroom.

Violet gazed at her sister with envy shimmering in her eyes. She wanted to get of here… right now. "Um… yeah. I've got to go… oh, what do you call it? You know? Do that thing in the morning… that… you know… you know, right?"

"No, we…" Pausing for a moment, remembering who the "we" stood for, Ash murmured. "No, I don't know what you mean."

"Um… well, that… hair appointment. I know! I've got to prep my hair for a hair appointment in an hour… yeah, that's sounds right. Oh, and… um… Daisy like… yeah… you know… also has a hair appointment today. Yep… come on, Daisy. Let's go and prep our hair now." Violet anxiously stammered and grabbed the arm of her sister as they tried to make their escape.

"You need to prep your hair? Why do you need to prep your hair for a hair appointment?" Ash asked sardonically, knowing all too well what a bad lie that was.

Misty gazed at her sisters for a moment. "Doesn't Daisy get her hair done every Sunday?"

"Um… yeah… she does." Violet sighed realizing what an awful lie she had just said. Talking directly in Daisy's ear, Violet whispered uneasily. "I tried. Guess you're on own. Good luck."

"Thanks." Daisy mumbled ungratefully. Turning back to the infuriated pair, Daisy tensely smiled. "So, Gary and Giselle are missing? That's too bad. Why don't I go and look for them, ok?"

"Don't even think about it." Misty stated with a deadly glow echoing through her vocal cords. She certainly didn't want to be alone and in the same room as… him. "Stay with us a while longer."

Realizing that she was trapped, Daisy nodded. "Oh fine." After a moment's pause, she leisurely inquired. "Why don't you talk to that old scientist dude like you were doing yesterday? He might know something."

"Why that's an excellent idea, Daisy." Ash commented in his politest tone in order to rub it in Misty's face. "Wait a sec! They talked to Pro. Oak yesterday? Do you know why they did that Daisy?"

"Daisy, can you tell Ash that I, along with Gary and Giselle, called Pallet town when he was busy having 'fun' with you and our other sisters." Misty spitefully sneered.

Daisy glanced at her in surprise. "But Ash wasn't here when you made that call. He was out doing an errand."

"What! What in the world were you doing at that hour of the night, As… I mean, Daisy can you ask Ash that question." Misty stuttered, catching her error in due time.

Ash quietly smiled at Misty's mistake before answering the question. "Well, Daisy, you can tell Misty that if she's so curious about my activities last night, then she should ask me herself."

"Daisy, can you tell Ash that he's being a pig-head for not answering the question." Misty growled in irritation.

Ash huffed crossly. "Well, Daisy, tell Misty that she should stop sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

Misty glared at Ash before turning to her sister. "Daisy, tell Ash that…"

"Oh enough already!" Daisy shouted irately. "Would you two stop being so childish and actually talk to each other? I'm leaving this room right now because I can't stand seeing you two bicker like an old married couple!" Showing that she really meant it, Daisy stomped out of the room.

"We do not sound like an old married couple!" Ash and Misty cried in unison, but by then Daisy was well out of hearing distance.

An awkward tense moment passed before Misty thoughtfully spoke. "Brock once said something similar to that about us." However, she made sure that her eyes were on the floor and not on the other occupant in the room.

"It was exactly 6 years ago. I can still remember that conversation because it was the last that I ever had with... well, you know." Ash sighed wistfully. Even after all these years, the subject was still too painful to talk about.

Misty nervously twitched her fingers. The sorrow in Ash's voice betrayed his feelings on the matter. She then walked over to their videophone and dialed the number of Oak Labs. A sleepy form materialized on the screen, cast in a ridiculous set of pajamas with little Clefairys dotting the attire. With a tiny pink hat on his head, Ash and Misty got a glance at Pro. Oak's "feminine side". "Hello?" The pink Pro. Oak yawned.

"Why hello Pro. Oak! I love the outfit! Is it new?" Ash snickered mockingly at the world famous scientist on the other end of the line.

Misty giggled and decided to take advantage of this opportunity as well. "I've got a shade of lipstick that would look great with that!"

"Huh?" Pro. Oak sluggishly asked before he widened his eyes at the sight of Ash and Misty's amused faces. "What are you two doing calling so early?"

"It's only around… 8:30." Ash stated. "Besides, we have a little problem over here."

"What is it? Did something happen to Brock? Is everyone all right?" Pro. Oak worriedly mumbled as he shook the drowsiness out of his system.

Misty shook her head. "No… everyone's fine… well, at least we hope so…"

"Um, sir, Gary and Giselle are missing. I think that they took off last night but we have no idea where they could be now." Ash summoned up the situation in as few words as possible.

"Oh, that is a problem…" Pro. Oak nodded as he started contemplating a solution. "Well, is there a note?"

Ash widened in his eyes. Did they leave a note? "Well… can't be sure. We haven't exactly checked and all…"

"I'm on it." Misty declared as she raced back to the two guest rooms. Perhaps they had left a note in there.

"I was wondering if they might have called you or anything like that." Ash uttered, hoping that he had a helpful clue of some sort.

Pro. Oak nervously scratched his head. "Sorry Ash. There were no calls placed here after that check-up call by Misty, Gary and Giselle."

"Hey Pro. Oak. Who are you talking to… Ash? What's up?" Joe just walked in and marched up to the videophone. "Did you guys get my map of the Serpent's HQ?"

"Map? You sent a map?" Ash inquired in alarm. Gazing at the nearby fax machine, Ash sighed. "I don't see a map in the fax machine."

"What?! But I sent it yesterday! I know I did!" Joe cried in distress.

Misty then came back into the room, still searching for a note. She smiled to herself when she found a piece of paper on the table closest to the door. "Looks like there was a note."

"Oh, there you are Misty. Did you take the map I sent you?" Joe inquired with worry draped in his voice. He started to sweat profusely and his body anxiously quivered; he was really stressed about that missing map.

"You sent it? I didn't see it here this morning…" Misty pensively conversed as her eyes quickly dashed over the note in her hand. "But I think I know who did…"

"Who?" Pro. Oak inquired as if the answer wasn't that obvious.

Misty took a deep breath before speaking. "This is a note from Gary and Giselle. It says that they are raiding the Serpent's HQ without us. It seems that they took the map and that they promised that they would return only after they get Brock's cure."

"Yea… if they can get away with their lives. How could they be so stupid!" Ash cried in frustration. He busily paced around the room starting a one-on-one conversation with himself. "They don't get it, do they? Lass can and will kill them without thinking twice… unless, no. She wouldn't use them for blackmail, would she? Perhaps she'll set up a trap… actually that makes sense. If she wants to get to me, then she needs some bait. Great, just great. Now, she'll be expecting us."

"Um Ash? Are you all right?" Pro. Oak apprehensively called. He had never seen Ash so agitated before.

"Sure. I'm on top of the world." Ash scoffed sardonically, more to himself than to the others. Seeing the weird look on everyone's face, Ash quickly stumbled. "I'm going to talk to Pikachu. If we are going to rescue Gary and Giselle, might as well have a plan first." Ash then raced out of the room faster than a spaceship trying to leave the Earth's gravitational pull.

Misty blinked her eyes in a slight state of confusion. "I guess I should go as well. Talk to you all later." Hanging up the phone, Misty then dejectedly gazed down at the floor before moaning to herself. "Now we have three friends whose lives hang in the balance. We need a miracle to get out this situation, either that or death…"

*~*~*~*~*

Misty yawned. It wasn't the kind of yawn that occurs only when a person is in dire need of some sleep. No, instead, this yawn was caused out of plain boredom; the kind of boredom you have when you have absolutely nothing to do. Rather than being drained of energy, Misty was jammed pack with excess vigor. Deciding to break her oath of not talking to Ash, once again, Misty gazed at her companion. "Are you sure that you know the way there?"

Continuing his pace, Ash simply sighed. "Do you have to doubt everything I say? Yes, of course I know where the Serpent's HQ is! My memory isn't that bad!"

"Sheesh. I was just trying to make conversation." Misty responded and vainly attempted another conversation. "So, any chance that you'd be willing to talk about your 'secret'?"

"(Come on, Ash. You should tell her all we know about it.)" Pikachu advised wisely.

Ash nodded. Although he still didn't fully believe it, Ash decided that he might as well blurt it out anyway. "Well, frankly, I'm not quite sure myself what it is, but I can tell you that Lass plays a big role in it."

"Lass? What does she have to do with anything?" Misty growled softly. It was clear that she didn't like Lass in the least bit.

The story was a little different with Ash. All his years with her created a sense of tolerance and even a little bit of fondness towards her. He set his eyes on the ground before replying. "Like me, she also has this… I guess you could call it 'a gift'. It's some type of psychic power, I think. This power only gets stronger when you train… sort of like pokemon attacks. She is the one that told me about it in the beginning, but I never really believed her until that trip to Mt. Moon."

Misty nodded her head, indicating that she understood him, for the most part. "So that explains what happened at Mt. Moon and your unusual behavior there." Letting her brain process the information, she then questioned. "Was that dream just an excuse then?"

"Yep." Ash raised his head up and grinned for a moment. The ocean shore, which they had been following, abruptly stopped due to a giant stonewall stretching far into the distance. The duo strolled all the way until they reached the point of intersection between the natural ocean and the man-made wall. "Good. We're right on schedule."

"What? This isn't the Serpent's HQ? This is a dead end!" Misty cried bewilderedly.

Ash, however, just shook his head. "A dead end? That's what people thought before the invention of the boat came along. Only with the boat did the seas become roads rather than barriers and…"

"Ok, enough with the history lesson." Misty exclaimed with a dismayed look on her face. "What's the point?"

"This is where we'll be needing your help. You have a water pokemon that can carry people, don't you?" Ash inquired knowing the answer to his question beforehand.

Misty grinned finally realizing Ash's idea. "Oh, I get what your saying." Stroking her fingers along her belt, she seized two pokeballs from her belt. "I have the two perfect candidates. Go Dewgong and Feraligatr!"

Two aquatic pokemon lunged out of their confinement and bounced straight onto the shoreline. We are already quite familiar with the beautiful white seal pokemon known as Dewgong and obviously Misty's favorite. Feraligatr, however, was quite the contrast to graceful and playful seal. A menacing green and blue color encircled the creature's body with the exception of red shiny pointed spikes along its back and a pale white underbelly. Ominous jagged teeth pierced into its lips while pointed slick claws retracted out of its limbs. The creature patiently eyed its master looking remarkably similar to the giant beast known as a crocodile.

"Feraligatr? One of the newly discovered creatures? Why that's excellent! This one, in particular, looks like its in top-notch shape." Ash praised as he admiringly gazed at Feraligatr.

Misty's lips transformed into a smile. "Yes, I do raise my pokemon well."

"Ok, now that we have the transportation, we need a distraction. Let's see… what pokemon should I use from my invincible team?" Ash arrogantly gloated while carefully thinking about his choice.

"Invincible team? Oh please! What about your Caterpie?" Misty taunted, remembering when she first laid eyes on that bug back in Viridian.

Ash grinned and took out the pokeball that contained the little pokemon. "Oh yea, I almost forgot about it. In fact, it'll be a perfect distraction! Thanks for the idea! You know what to do Caterpie." Soaring from his fingers, the pokeball landed and opened to reveal a little caterpillar creature.

"Ahhhh! Get that away from me!" Misty screamed as she backed up behind Ash. Noticing the glare from his direction, she huffed. "Sorry! It's a force of habit. I just can't stand the sight of bugs!"

"Well, you didn't seem to mind Butterfrees." Ash commented and turned to his pokemon. "Change into a Butterfree, for Misty's sake, will you?" Amazingly enough, the pokemon agreed and skipped its next evolutionary step by transforming straight from a Caterpie to a stunning Butterfree, the butterfly pokemon.

Misty gasped in alarm. "But… how? That's… not possible…"

Ash smiled and turned to his newly "evolved" pokemon and spoke. "Ok, let's show her your true form Ditto."

"A Ditto?" Misty inquired and sure enough the "Butterfree" changed into a purple amoeba-shaped pokemon know as a Ditto. "Wait a second! You tricked me!"

Ash laughed heartily. "No, I use this trick in all my battles. Ditto has become an expert on transforming without needing to see an object directly in front of it. I trained it so that whenever I throw down Ditto's pokeball, I call out a name of a pokemon and it transforms right away. That way the enemy is totally clueless to the fact that I own a Ditto."

"Oh." Misty sighed and mumbled. "Actually, that's a good strategy. So, what is it going to transform into?"

Ash thought for a moment. "Let's see… has to distract the guards so, it has to be really big and have the ability to fly… um… well… how about… no, that won't work. Hey Ditto. What do you think you should transform into?"

"(What about those really big Dragon creatures?)" Ditto squeaked.

Ash nodded his head. "Actually, that's a good idea, Ditto."

"Huh? I thought that you could only understand Pikachu?" Misty questioned confusedly.

"That's what I thought too but lately I'm able to understand what practically all pokemon are saying. Weird huh?" Ash sighed. Directing his attention back to Ditto, Ash instructed. "Ditto, transform into a Dragonite, please."

The little amoeba blob concurred and a blinding light flashed around itself. Slowly, it elongated its body until it formed a tail, a pair of wings and an intense face of a mythological dragon. Ash smiled in satisfaction. "Good work Ditto. Now, use your speed to distract the guards and the others in the building. Circle HQ and try not to hurt anyone unless you are forced to. Good luck, my friend."

The magnificent monster flapped its delicate wings and soared into the crisp air. Testing its new vocal cords Ditto screamed into the sky. "(Thanks, but I won't need it!)" Ditto/Dragonite flew over the lofty wall and into the blinding light of the sun to complete its mission.

"Shall we get going?" Misty insisted as she climbed on the back of her beloved Dewgong.

"Oh yea. Follow my lead." Ash ordered as he tried to seat himself upon the vicious crocodile beast. Unfortunately, the brutal pokemon snapped its head back in defense, showing it dazzling white teeth to an alarmed Ash. "Misty! Call this creature off!"

Misty giggled disdainfully at Ash. "Oh, Feraligatr, it's all right! Let him ride you, ok? Don't kill him just yet." The creature snarled in obedience and patiently waited for Ash to climb onto his back. When Ash did so, Feraligatr and Dewgong both swam into the murky water, careful not to down the sensitive humans on their backs.

*~*~*~*~*

"Get some rest you two. Dewgong, Feraligatr, return!" Misty shouted as she stored her pets back into their pokeballs. Examining the area in detail, she discovered that a compact fleet of trees surrounded and engulfed them. Darkness descended here, regardless of the fact that it was daylight; the trees almost completely blocked the sun's rays. Clumps of dense bushes lined the ground making it almost impossible to walk around here. Misty gazed in surprise at the dense forest that she was in, while the violent ocean slammed below her against the rocky coast. "What are we doing here?"

Ash took out his small sword and starting cutting a path within the forest. "This is the backway into the building. No one goes this way because of the thick vegetation here. However, it's a short cut and should get us there pretty quickly."

"All right…" Misty hesitantly responded as she followed Ash's lead into the thick forest that was just shy of being a rainforest. They walked in silence for close to 20 minutes; the only noticeable sounds were Ash's sword hacking away at the plant life, their heavy footsteps and the cry of a Dragonite in the distance. "Sounds like Ditto is giving the guards the time of their lives."

"Was there ever a doubt?" Ash smirked as he cut down the last of the foliage within the small compact forest. The brilliant sunlight shimmered from above, blinding both Ash and Misty in the process until their pupils adjusted to the light.

"That's the Serpent's HQ?" Misty questioned in surprise as she pointed to an old rusty building straight ahead. "It looks more like an ancient factory to me."

Ash nodded his head in agreement. "Actually, you're right. It used to be a power plant that housed rare and powerful electric pokemon before the Serpents took it over." The pair then walked straight up to the building. The guards that were supposed to be protecting it were being soaked by water gun, electrocuted by thunder and burned by a fire blast from the powerful Dragonite. "Let's see… there's a secret door around here… somewhere…"

He started tapping the walls while Misty stared in curiosity at a certain spot on the wall. Wondering if her imagination was playing tricks on her or if she really was seeing a door, Misty pushed on the spot on the wall. The wall quivered for a second before creating an opening. "And Misty does the impossible once again!" Misty smiled conceitedly.

"Oh please." Ash murmured in dissatisfaction at Misty's childish behavior. Gazing at Pikachu, who had been on his shoulder throughout the entire trip, he grabbed a small pokeball from his belt with a little symbol of a thunderbolt on it. "Pikachu, I don't want you to get hurt. Please, get inside. Lass is a dangerous woman… I have no idea what she'll do to you or even me for that matter if we get caught. I'd rather that you'd be safe."

"(But…)" Pikachu whispered, his voice crackling with emotion. He knew that Ash would never force him into staying in a pokeball unless there was a perilous situation. Face his fear of pokeballs or listen to Ash's intelligent order… Mustering up all the courage he could get, Pikachu sighed "(Not for long, though.)"

Ash smiled at Pikachu. "Agreed." The yellow rat soon transformed into red light and dissolved back into its pokeball for the first time in 11 years. Trying to shut out the tears that were threatening to fall, Ash delicately placed his companion on his belt for the first time in his entire life. "Ok, let's go." The duo strolled into the building towards one unforgettable battle.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, let me get this straight. You thought that the two of you could merely walk straight into here, unalarmed, and simply take the cure to Stellar? Is that correct?" Lass cried in amazement at stupidity of her two prisoners.

Gary and Giselle were bond, hand and foot, on the floor and nodded in unison at the question. "How did you know that we were coming?" Gary inquired, managing to loosen the tough cloth tied around his mouth.

Lass shook her head. "I wasn't excepting you to come! I was expecting Ash."

Giselle panted now that she had also coped with the problem of getting the cloth off her lips. "Does that mean that you're Lass?"

"The one and only." Lass egotistically replied.

"Um… Master, there is trouble outside." A young Serpent agent quietly mumbled. "There is a huge Dragonite attacking. Some are trying to capture it, but its just too quick. It's wiping out rows and rows of all of our best pokemon."

"Well, now that is a problem." Lass stated with more than a pinch of scorn in her voice. "Send out the weakest pokemon you have now. Only when the Dragonite is looking tired, then send out the best pokemon that we've got."

"Yes, Master. Right away." The youthful villain hurriedly raced out of the room, thankful that Lass wasn't in one of her bad moods.

Lass gazed in thought at the door. "Well, that must be a high-level Dragonite… in fact, too high of a level…" Walking over to a nearby table, Lass found a small microphone. "All agents please clear out of the building and deal with that Dragonite. It would be advisable that you evacuate the building immediately and try to stay as far away from the HQ as possible." Pausing for a moment, Lass added. "And forget rule #31 at this time. If anyone is to follow this rule during the next few hours, I will personally see to it that your deaths be slow and painful." Lass then placed the microphone down and gazed at her prisoners.

"You're the boss of the Serpent Clan!" Gary cried in alarm, as suspicious thoughts bounced around in his head.

"It's Master by the way, but as my enemies, I'll give you the honor of calling me Lass." Lass haughtily answered.

"Gee… what an honor." Giselle whispered under her breath. In a louder voice, she screeched. "What's rule #31?

Lass' eyes glazed back and a wicked smile materialized on her lips. "Kill all intruders on the spot."

"Then, why didn't you kill us?" Gary demanded.

"I needed bait." Lass simply replied. "Ash should probably be in the building by now. I don't really know why he came, though. You two aren't worth the trouble."

Giselle snarled at the slick ways of this woman. Like Misty, she did not like Lass in the least bit. "What makes you say that Ash is here?"

Lass grinned malevolently. "You could call it a sixth sense."

*~*~*~*~*

"Out of my way!" The man, who was easily identifiable as a Serpent agent by his tattoo, roughly pushed Ash out of the way. "Consider this your lucky day; you're still alive." He then marched out of the hall with hatred seeping into his cursed soul.

Ash stared at Misty confusedly. "Ok, that's the third person that has said something like that to us. Why aren't they trying to kill us?"

"Could it have something it do with that message over the intercom?" Misty questioned, expressing the only answer that she could think of.

"Maybe you're right." Ash simply sighed. "Let's try opening some of these doors."

Misty nodded and tried her luck with the nearest door, but it was locked. Another door revealed the same result as did another one and the one after that. "Ok, this is pointless." Misty growled and tried another door. She couldn't have been more surprised when the door actually opened and right in the middle of the room was Gary and Giselle helplessly trying to struggle out of their bonds. "Well, looks like today is our lucky day."

Misty raced straight over to her friends and tried untying the ropes another their hands and legs with no luck. Ash barely took one step inside when a nasty, foreboding feeling sizzled down his spine. "Misty, get away from them. Something is wrong."

Ignoring Ash's anxious shrieks, Misty desperately tried pulling off the piece of cloth around Gary's mouth that had been tightly fastened very recently. The slow and tedious work of removing the cloth paid off when it slipped off his mouth. However, the first words that echoed out his lips were, "Run! It's a trap! Get out of here, now!"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late as Misty was enclosed in a jet-black bubble and was thrown across the room. This quickly left Misty vulnerable as glowing black cuffs of dark energy swirled around her wrists and her ankles, leaving her trapped on the floor. Her struggles against the powerful invisible force only inflicted more pain on her body.

"Misty!" Ash cried in panic finally breaking out of his state of shock. He tried to race towards her, but a barely discernible black mist blocked the path towards her and formed a translucent yet blackish barrier. Ash tried to barge through the black wall but was surprised when he discovered that it was solid. Deciding that the next course of action would be to rescue Gary and Giselle, he started sprinted towards his friends. The dark energy in the room seemed to realize that, for it quickly pushed the powerless pair to the other side of the large room. Like with Misty, a wall arose out of thin air, composed of a transparent black haze that was as hard as stone. "Show yourself, Lass!"

Teleporting into the room with vibes of shadowy black fog following her every step, Lass maliciously smiled back at Ash. "Your wish is my command."

"Enough of these games and jokes!" Ash screamed as fury rippled through his body. "I'm tired of all of this! Because of you, I've been almost killed more times than I'd like to remember."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You won't die for a while." Lass hastily passed off Ash's complaints before growling. "You are finally ready to face me in battle, Ash. You can't deny that you have the power too."

Ash bit his lip for a moment as his anger dissipated for a moment. "As much as I'd like to… you're right. I can't deny it. However, a battle is useless, Lass. Just let my friends and me go."

"You certainly don't seem to be in the right position to make demands." Lass gently reminded him. "Besides, battles are never pointless."

Ash shook his head. "In a battle, someone always gets hurt."

From her delicate fingers, Lass directed a blackish wind towards her opponent. It sliced Ash with its sinister force like a razor. The sheer strength of the attack alone would kill most individuals in one punch. However, this certainly wasn't the case with Ash. The only evidence for the attack was a small nick on his left cheek, but not even a single drop of blood poured out of it. "That's why you must try to hurt back." Lass called, knowing all too well that the attack wouldn't harm Ash.

Instead of retaliating or backing off, Ash stood his ground. "Fighting is senseless. It's uncalled for and unwise."

"Come on, Ash! Too chicken to fight me!" Lass taunted and blasted numerous black stars towards Ash. Though a number of them viciously pierced through Ash's body, he still made no move to fight. However, the attack was much more powerful than the last one for abundant cuts formed all over his sore body. The strike clearly weakened Ash, but he was far from out of the game.

"How many times do I have to tell you! I'm not going to fight you! You might as well kill me now because I'm not going to battle you, Lass!" Ash yelled in rage, hoping that she'll finally understand what he has always believed as true.

"I didn't want to do this, but it looks like I have no choice." Lass sighed. She extended her hands and created two deadly black blasts of wind, the same attack that she had just used on Ash. However, this time, it was aiming for his friends. One of the two dark energy entities swirled towards Misty, while the other one set its sights on Gary and Giselle. Just as the attacks were about to collide with the individuals, two streams of pastel blue materialized, creating a barrier that blocked the ferocious wind. Misty, Gary and Giselle all sighed in gratefulness at Ash who had that funny look in his eyes again.

"This is between you and me. Leave them out of it." Ash malevolently spoke with resentment flooding his voice.

Lass innocently gazed at Ash. "But where would the fun be in that? They were stupid enough to join you so let them deal with the consequences."

"We are not stupid!" Misty growled in self-defense.

"Misty, stay out of this." Ash softly spoke. His brain started going into overdrive as he tried to think of a plan to get out of here… he knew that he was in big trouble. It was at this inopportune moment that his mind wandered to Jessie and James and all the trouble they caused him as a kid. He also remembered that they would always use smokescreen in order to attack or escape. Perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea…

"So, Ash, ready to battle, or are you too afraid?" Lass grinned spitefully as she tauntingly dared Ash to make the first move.

Surprise was certainly evident on her face when he actually did prepare for an attack. However, her astonishment was inconceivable at the choice for his first attack. Dark clumps of sapphire smoke fizzled into the room and obstructed the vision of everyone in the room. The black hazy walls dissolved along with the shady handcuffs around Misty's limbs as Lass desperately tried dispose of the annoying clouds of smoke. She slapped the blue fog away from her as her hand started glowing a deadly black. Though his sight was blocked, Ash could still sense the heat from her hand and realized that she was about to inadvertently form a liquid black fire fueled by her own irritation at the smoke. Realizing that fire and smokescreen doesn't mix, he hurriedly tried to teleport his friends and himself out of there.

However, before he could fully complete this move, Lass' impatience with the bluish smoke lead to a flood of blackish flames that met the toxic air. The two elemental forces combined and initiated a vigorous explosion of massive proportion. The intensity of this force completely decimated HQs in a single second. The explosion blasted trillions of particles into the air and even past the Earth's gravitational pull. A sight of fiery destruction quite unlike any other formed a deep crater in the Earth's crust. By the time the dust cleared, a startling view came to sight. Everything was destroyed.

*~*~*~*~*

I'm getting good at these cliffhangers, aren't I? J Oh well… one note though. My next part isn't going to take a while to come out because my teachers are pounding me with hundreds of tests until Winter Break. It's going to be harder to write, but I'll try my best. Anyway, please tell me what you think in your reviews! Oh, and here's a quote:

If you're not using your smile, you're like a man with a million dollars in the bank and no checkbook.

~ Les Giblin ~

Well, that's about it. Don't forget to smile or my little dog will come and get you!