Chapter 14-Another Gym and a Rare Pokemon

Chapter 14-Another Gym and a Rare Pokemon

Finally, the gang managed to get out of the tunnel. They were followed shortly by Ash, who tripped over Pikachu and landed flat on his face. Vincent came out a few moments later, the blood still flowing from the cut on his hand. Sol-leks ran over to his master and rubbed against his leg, almost tripping him up. He seemed unsteady on his feet and Damon looked at him anxiously. "You feeling alright?" he asked. Vincent hesitated for a moment, before holding out his hand.

"Oh no…" Damon muttered. "Jessie, Meowth, rip a strip off my cape please. I need to bind his hand up"

"There's an awful lot of blood for just a small cut" Brock remarked. "Why is that?"

"The knife cut deep," Vincent said slowly. "And it left a very wide cut across all the veins in my hand"

He sat quietly, not saying a word until Damon had wrapped his hand up tight enough to stop the flow of blood. Gary sat down one side of him and Damon the other. "Sit down" Damon told the rest of them. "We've made good progress. We can afford to stop for a while, and besides, Vincent really needs to rest"

"Thanks Vince" Ash said rather awkwardly as he sat next to Brock. "I'm sorry about…"

"It's alright kid" Vincent gave a weak grin. "Damon, I really need some sleep, but we have to reach the wood before it gets dark. Lets go, okay? Don't worry about me. Just help me up and I'll be fine"

Despite Damon's protests, Gary extended his hand and helped Vincent to his feet. Hesitantly, he put his arm around Vincent's shoulder. Vincent smiled gratefully and half leant against Gary for support. They moved slowly, with Damon at the lead and Vincent and Gary at the back. Damon stopped every few moments to check on his younger brother, yet despite that, they reached the woods just as it began to get dark. "24 hours" Vincent mumbled to himself. "We have to hurry"

"It's okay" Gary reassured him gently. "We're stopping soon. Some rest will do you good"

When they came to a small clearing just beside a river, Damon stopped them. "We'll rest here," he told them firmly. "Brock, you take the first watch. I'll take the second, okay?"

"Sure, you guys get some sleep" Brock said slowly. "You look like you need it"

"Thanks Brock" Damon wrapped himself up in his cape and lay down next to Jessie and Meowth. Within two minutes, he was asleep. Just slightly away from them, Vincent and Gary slept close together. The camp was silent.

Damon, like his brother, was a light sleeper, so when he felt someone shaking him, he awoke immediately. "Jessie" he said, sitting up and rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What is it?"

"Look" Meowth said quietly. "There's a light behind those trees. It keeps moving around"

"I think it's a pokemon," Damon said slowly, looking hard at the moving ball of light. "It's hard to tell. I'll have to get close to it"

As he stood up, the light moved away, then stopped. "I think it wants us to follow it" Damon said slowly. "You two wake Ash and Brock up. I'll wake Gary and my brother. We're moving out"

Ten minutes later, they were all following the light. Vincent seemed a lot better and was rather interested in the pokemon they were following. "I think…" he said slowly. "I think it's a Mew"

"Huh? What's a Mew?" Ash asked, curious as always.

"It's a very rare pokemon," Vincent told them. "It's believed by some to be only an illusion"

As he stopped speaking, the light stopped moving and the pokemon turned round. "Mew" it, said softly, flying over to Damon and circling his head. "Mew, Mew"

"Wolfang, Wolfang"

"Pika, Pika Chu"

"They're trying to tell us something" Damon began to say, but broke off as the Mew began to circle him again. "Strawberry" he said slowly. Mew looked at him and nodded slightly. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Mew"

"Strawberry" Vincent looked shocked. "Isn't that…Lana's Mew?"

"Yeah" Damon gave a weak smile. "Yes, it is. Why are you here, Strawberry? Where's Lana?"

"Look, I'm confused" Jessie said slowly. "Who's Lana?"

"Lana was…my old girlfriend" Damon said sadly. "I haven't seen her in over a year. Is she in trouble, Strawberry?"

"Mew" Mew gave a nod and darted off again. Meowth looked at them. "It wants us to follow it"

"Well then" Jessie said. "Why are we standing here?"

"Good point" Vincent gave a quick grin. "Let move, before we lose her"

After almost half an hour of falling in puddles, getting scratched by bushes and tripping over things they couldn't see, the group were all getting fed up. Just as Vincent was going to suggest that they turn back, Damon stopped, causing Ash and Brock to crash into the back of him.

"What's the matter?" Brock hissed. "Why did you stop?"

"Strawberry's stopped" Damon hissed back. "Better go very carefully from here on. Vince, want to take the lead?"

"Sure. Come on Gary"

When Damon stepped back to allow Vincent and Gary to get passed, Mew shot off again. As Vincent and the others followed her, they soon came to a clearing. As they stepped away from the trees, they saw it.

"Wow" Jessie whispered. "Spooky gym"

"Yeah" Ash agreed. "But why are all the lights off? It looks scary enough as it is"

"Pika"

"Better try the door," Vincent said quickly. "But I bet it's locked"

"Yeah, you're right" Damon pushed at the door. "Or there's something heavy blocking it. Come and give me a hand Brock"

"Sure" Brock climbed at the steps and together they pushed at the door. It gave just a tiny bit, and then held fast. "It's no use," he said. "There has to be another way in"

"There is. Over here" Gary called softly. Brock and Damon headed over to the group and found them standing by a small window. Most of the glass had been shattered, leaving just a few sharp pieces. Damon looked at it and shrugged.

"Even with the glass out" he said, "I couldn't fit through there. And you're not trying it Vince. Not with only one hand"

"Spoil my fun" Vincent muttered. "So who could?"

"I couldn't" Jessie said. "I'm too big. Meowth could, but what could he do?"

"Brock's too big as well," Damon pointed out. "But Ash and Gary might just be able to fit through. If Meowth and Pikachu go with them, I'm sure they'll be fine. Mew's already gone in, so I don't believe that there's any danger. Try and open one of the bigger windows or something"

"Got it" With Brock's help, Ash climbed up to the window ledge and slid through. Pikachu and Meowth jumped through after him and Damon helped Gary up.

When they were both on the other side, the two friends looked around in the pale light of Gary's torch. The gym was a total wreck. Most of the windows were smashed and all the pokemon pictures and certificates had been torn from the wall. Two parts of a large wooden table blocked the main door.

"This is awful" Ash muttered, glancing around slowly. "How could anyone do this?"

"How could anyone want to murder Misty?" Gary pointed out. "That Jack guy is completely insane"

"He didn't seem like it when we meet him though" Ash said absently. "Damon seemed like the evil one. I'm shocked it turned out the way it did"

"You're kidding me. I like Damon"

"Appearances can be deceiving. But we can argue later. Can you see any way in?"

"No" Gary shook his head. "The big windows are too high and I doubt that we could move the pieces of table away from the door. If one of the others were here…"

He broke off as Vincent dropped through the window and landed on his feet beside them. "I had to come," he told them. "I was worried. Damon didn't want me to come though"

"Your hand…" Gary started to say, but Vincent just glanced at it and shook his head. "It feels okay," he said with a shrug. "It's stopped bleeding and…" he broke off as he looked around at the ruined gym. "Oh shit" he said slowly. "This is bad"

"We know" Ash replied. "How are we going to get the others in?"

"We'll moved the wood from the door" Vincent informed them. "Sol-leks, come on out"

Sol-leks appeared from his poke ball and looked around. He too seemed shocked by the state of the gym. "Wolfang, Wolfang" he said, looking at Vincent. The boy gave a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said, putting on hand gently on the pokemon's head. "Sol-leks" he continued. "Do you think you could use Fire Spin and burn some of that wood away from the door?"

"Wolfang" At his master's request, Sol-leks let out a stream of flame, which slowly began to burn the door. Gary and Ash both took out their poke balls. "Arcanine, Charmander" they called and the two pokemon both joined Sol-leks in using their fire attacks. Vincent smiled at them. "Good thinking," he said. "I'd bring Charmeleon out too, but I don't want Sol-leks to get jealous"

Slowly, as the three guys watched, the wood slowly burnt away. Finally, when most of it was gone, Vincent stepped back and monitored to the other guys to do the same. "Damon, Brock" he called. "It's almost clear. Give it your best. But please be prepared for what you're going to see"

"Got you" Damon called back. Two seconds later, the door crashed open as Brock and Damon both pushed against it. As the door gave away, the two men stumbled into the gym, followed by Jessie. The three of them were totally stunned by the condition of the gym. Damon sunk to his knees, Jessie gasped and Brock just looked around, shaking his head. "What the hell happened here?" he muttered. "Someone really had it in for whoever owns this gym"

"Lana!" Damon and Vincent turned to look at each other. "Lana…Lana owns this gym," Vincent said slowly. "Do you think she's still here?"

"Lana!" Damon yelled out. He was met with silence. Suddenly, the Mew appeared again. "Mew" she said sadly, pulling on Damon's cape. When she had his attention, she darted off to a small door. The whole group followed her, but when the reached the door, Damon held back.

"Vince" he said slowly. "I can't go first. What if…?" he broke off, unable to continue. Vincent put a hand on his older brothers shoulder. "It's okay," he said. "I understand what you're saying. I'll go first"

"Thanks"

"No problem. Gary, come on"

As the rest of the group hung back, Vincent and Gary went over to the half smashed door. There was a hole in it; just large enough for Mew to fit through, but the other side was too dark to see anything. There was no sound, except an occasional squeak from Mew. Vincent pushed at the door and found that it was not locked. Taking a deep breath, he opened it fully and stepped into the small room, Gary at his side.

The sight that greeted them was horrible. Three male bodies lay in various places on the floor, but they had been so badly beaten that it was impossible to tell who they were. At the end of the room, tied up, gagged and half naked, was a woman who Vincent remembered all too well…

 "Damon" he called. "You don't want to…" He hadn't even finished his sentence when Damon pushed passed him and stood in horror, staring at the scene in front of him. As the others crowded into the room, Damon ran over to the woman. "Lana" he said softly, desperately feeling for a pulse. Suddenly, just for a second, his face lit up and he turned to his brother. "She's alive," he said. "But barely. Vincent, come and help me out here. The rest of you, give us some room"

"I'll try" Vincent knelt by her side and began to cut the ropes holding her. "But I'm not too good with humans. I can only do my best"

"I know that" Damon's voice shook slightly, but he kept a brave face. "She can't die until I've spoken to her"

"I know" Vincent's voice was low as he looked at her. "I know. Guys" he continued, turning to the rest of the group. "Look around and see if there are any pokemon left, or any clues. Leave the dirty work to us"

Slowly, they spilt up, leaving Vincent and Damon to do what they had to do…