Chapter 12: A night in the museum

After finishing their smoothies and having a nice late lunch at the cafe, Ash and his friends made their way to the museum, however, before that, May and Dawn quickly went to the Pokemon Center and got changed into their regular clothes and made their way back to the museum. When they got there - they saw two female receptionists who looked very much alike. They had brown hair and were dressed in black wearing sunglasses and had a S symbol on their shirt - though Ash figured that would be for Staff.

"Hello everyone and welcome to Oreburgh City Museum - please put your Pokeballs in this container before you enter the museum" one of the staff offered. Brock looked at the receptionists - for a change, he didn't go flirting with them and couldn't work out why.

"Uh sure! Will our Pokemon be safe there?" Dawn asked as she handed them Piplup's Pokeball - she wasn't going to let go of Aerodactyl's one not her.

"Your Pokemon will be very safe here, miss! Do you have any more?" the receptionist asked.

"No - this one is my only Pokemon" Dawn lied - she hated lying but it was for a cause.

"Your Pikachu please?" The receptionist asked as Ash handed his Pokeballs.

"Sorry - Pikachu doesn't like strangers - he likes it on my shoulder" Ash replied.

"Fine - but please don't battle in the museum - at least your not rude like the other purple haired jerk that was here earlier!" the receptionist said.

"Paul was here?" Ash asked annoyed to know that his rival was in the museum - despite that Paul had saved Dawn and May, he still didn't like him.

"Yeah - I asked for his Pokemon and he told us to shove it and walked into the museum without another word" the receptionist told him.

"Yup - sounds like Paul alright" Dawn sighed. "Did he give you the Pokemon?"

"No. At least you lot did the right thing" the receptionist said. "We'll give your Pokemon back when you're ready to leave - as for your Pikachu, I don't like him being out - can you put him inside his Pokeball and you didn't give us your Treecko yet, kid"

"I can't - Pikachu hates the ball!" Ash replied, getting annoyed with the receptionist.

"Same with Treecko - I gave you my other two Pokemon though. We won't use them in battles we promise" Max said. The receptionists looked at one another and nodded.

"Fine - you can go in!" the receptionists told them.

'Finally' Ash thought. The five friends made their way past the receptionist.

"Hello everyone - please refrain from Pokemon battles in the museum, thank you" they said. "Please put your Pikachu inside it's Pokeball too!" they added noticing that Ash had one on his shoulder.

"Pikachu doesn't like being inside his Pokeball - however, I can avoid battles in the museum!" Ash told them.

"Very well - I'll let that go - if you do battle in the museum you won't be welcomed back - we don't want anything ruined!" the receptionist warned them. Ash nodded and walked further into the Orebugh City's museum. May stayed close to Ash after the events that happened earlier, she didn't want to get separated from her friends, Dawn stayed with him too. Brock and Max were fine though.

May took the brochure out from her bag and gave it to Ash. "This is a huge list of things to see in the museum which should be fun!"

Dawn took out her brochure too and showed Brock and Max. "I think the five of us should split up but stay in two different groups; Ash, you and May can go together and explore one side of the museum while the rest of us do the other and when we're done - we can meet up at the entrance or something?" she suggested, causing the two friends to blush.

Brock, Max, Treecko and Dawn left the two friends alone and went to another part of the museum to explore.

May looked at Ash as he studied the brochure. "I didn't know they have Luvdisc Fossils" Ash commented after seeing it mentioned in the brochure.

"It reminds me of the time when you and I were with Manaphy and we swam together with the Luvdisc! Luvdisc's heart-shaped body is a symbol of love and romance. It is said that any couple meeting this Pokémon is promised a loving relationship that never ends - I remember reading that in a Pokedex entrance - it's so cute" May gushed, blushing at the memory.

"That explains a lot then" Ash said smiling to her.

"What do you mean, Ash?" May asked in confusion.

"When you and I were swimming with Manaphy, Buisel and the Luvdisc - the Pokemon thought we were a couple in love, and that's why you and I have a very close bond" Ash said, blushing as he told her that.

"Pik-a-chu! (Tell her, Ash!)" Pikachu gently nudged.

"It makes sense, doesn't it, Ash?" May said, smiling as she hugged him. "That was one of my many favourite memories with you, Ash - I have so many favourites though!" May gushed, blushing as she said it.

Ash smiled, blushing as he returned her hug, the two not wanting to let go of one another.

"May?" Ash looked at her as he pulled her close to him, in a loving embrace, May reset her head on his chest, lovingly as she looked up at him.

"Ash?" May smiled, blushing as the two hugged - hoping nothing would interrupt this moment. She knew it was rare for Ash to give hugs to friends unless he meant it.

Max, Treecko and Brock found a brochure of the museum and wanted to have a look at the artefacts that was found in the mines. Dawn decided to explore on her own - figuring nothing wrong would happen while she did that, at least she hoped anyway - she had Aerodactyl for backup in case it did.

"Troublesome?" came Paul's voice who was reading a plaque about a rare Pokemon. He had spotted Dawn who seemed absorbed in the brochure.

"Paul?" Dawn was surprised to see him. "Why did you call me that?"

"Because that's what you are, Troublesome" Paul teased her. "Where are the others?" he asked referring to her friends.

"They're out and about in the museum - why?" Dawn asked.

"I have a strong feeling that something seems off about those receptionists - they told me to give them my Pokemon - I told them to shove it" Paul replied.

"That explains a lot - they told us that. Why are you rude to some people but not me?" Dawn wondered curiously, causing him to blush slightly.

"It's none of your business. Anyway - keep an eye out on those people and you might want to warn your friends about it - did they take your Pokemon?" Paul said.

"Yeah - they took most of our Pokemon. I noticed they had the letter S on their uniform - I presume that meant Staff" Dawn said - which made Paul concerned.

"You're stupid if you think it's for staff... think about it - it could be Team Shadow - which explains why they took your Pokemon!" Paul snapped which made Dawn realize that he could be right.

"Oh no, Piplup!" Dawn cried and was about to run to check on them, before Paul grabbed her hand.

"You really are troublesome. Going there without a plan is a dumb idea" Paul told her. "They could hurt you really bad!"

"You're right... But how can I warn the others about it?" Dawn asked.

"I think it's best for your friends to figure it out; if Team Shadow know we know - things will likely get worse" Paul told her and let go of her hand.

'I don't get it - why is Paul being nice to me and he's not like that with the others?' Dawn wondered quietly to herself.

"Brock - I noticed you didn't flirt with the receptionist as usual - is everything okay?" Max asked as he, Treecko and Brock looked at the fossil machine in the museum and read the plaque on it.

"I'm not sure, Max. It's weird - normally I go flirting with beautiful girls but this time, I didn't, but they seemed off to me. I can't figure out why!" Brock said in concern. "Last time this happened it worked out the person I was supposed to flirt with was a villain" he added.

"Could they be villains in disguise?" Max asked.

"Nah - doubt it. Why would they want the museum?" Brock said.

"Good point, let's continue exploring then" Max said smiling to Brock.

The receptionist who took the Pokemon from the trainers put the Pokeballs in a box near them. "I think it's almost time for the museum to close, don't you think, Rachel? Then we can give these to the boss to look after"

"I think you're right, Sophina. We Team Shadow Grunts should be able to please our boss with this offer. That reminds me - we need to give the trainers in the museum this necklace to prevent them from using their Pokemon and opening their Pokeballs - they'll be in a surprise for their life when they find out they're locked in the museum!" Rachel answered quietly.

"I'll put the door as closed then and you go give the necklaces to the trainers - careful of that purple haired trainer though - he's a jerk!" Sophina said.

"Right - you give the box to the boss afterwards. We should get a promotion after this!" Rachel said with a grin. She opened another box which had necklaces in them - they looked like beautiful pendants with the letter S on it.

"Hey, Ash? Is it okay if we hold hands while exploring the museum? I don't want us to separate after what happened earlier, I worry it might happen again" May asked, blushing as she looked at him.

"Even better, May - I'll keep my arm around you to ensure we don't separate" Ash smiled, looking at her. He did just that and put his arm around her waist, causing her to blush again, she smiled and did the same.

"It kinda makes us look like a couple, right?" May giggled smiling to him.

"It does! but if it helps protect you then it's worth it!" Ash said smiling to her, she blushed when he said that.

"Pik-a-chu, chu chu! (You ruined a chance, Ash!)" Pikachu scolded his trainer cutely. Ash simply raised his free hand and scratched Pikachu gently on the head.

The two friends made their way around the fossil display cabinets and were soon greeted with Rachel who carried a box of necklaces - Pikachu at once had sparks coming from his cheeks when he saw her.

"Pikachu, it's okay. She's a staff member from the museum" Ash assured his Pokemon.

"Pi-Pik-a-chu! (But I have a bad feeling about her!)" Pikachu told him.

"I'm sure it's nothing, buddy!" Ash said.

Rachel took out three necklaces - one for Ash, the other for May and one for Pikachu. "Congratulations - you are one selected to wear these Special necklaces!" Rachel said as she put the necklace around Ash's neck, then May's and finally Pikachu's.

"Its a Special Necklace which looks really good on the both of you. You and your girlfriend look great with them" Rachel said trying as she tried figuring out how to not give away what she's doing.

"Uh, thank you" Ash said feeling somewhat confused by this.

"You're welcome - see you around!" Rachel then left with the box and went to the next victims: Brock, Treecko and Max.

"Wonder why she gave us a Staff necklace?" May asked as she looked at the letter S on it.

"Maybe the S stands for sweet - like you are, May?" Ash suggested, that comment alone earned him a hug from May and made him blush. "No idea why she gave us these though, perhaps its something they normally do at the museum?" Ash shrugged.

"You're cute, Ash. But yes, it's a puzzle to why she gave it to us, what do you think, Pikachu?" May looked at Pikachu.

"Pik-a-chu, chu chu! (It feels heavy, Ash!)" Pikachu complained.

Ash smiled when May called him cute - though he wondered if she was just saying that or if she meant that. "Pikachu says the necklace is heavy for him" Ash said in concern as he watched Pikachu attempt to take it off.

Brock, Max and Treecko were greeted by Rachel who said the exact same thing to them as she did to Ash and May. She then gave the boys and Treecko the necklaces and ran off.

"That was weird" Max commented, raising an eye brow in concern. "Why do they give out necklaces?"

"Maybe they'd have a lot of them or it could be some special event?" Brock suggested.

"Could be both?" Max suggested and shrugged. "What do you think, Treecko?"

"Treecko, Tree, Treecko! (I don't like it!)" Treecko said with a frown, crossing his arms.

"Aw, you look great with it though, Treecko!" Max commented.

"Treecko, Tree! (Thank you!)" Treecko said, deciding to deal with the necklace for now.

After Rachel gave the necklaces to most of the trainers inside the museum, she then finally found Paul and Dawn who were looking at paintings and repeated what she said to the others.

"I don't do necklaces" Paul slapped the necklace out of Rachel's hand, making Dawn surprised with his action.

"Paul!" Dawn gasped. "Sorry! My friend didn't really mean that!" she quickly said.

"Typical" Paul muttered referring to what Dawn said.

"But everyone in the museum has to wear one - a special event is coming up and to enter it you have to wear it!" Rachel said.

Suspicious about Rachel, Paul shrugged. "Why don't you wear it then? Don't even think about forcing her to wear it too, necklaces don't look good on her" he snapped, Dawn slightly blushed when he was against her getting a necklace from Rachel.

"Your boyfriend seems rude, kid. Maybe you should break up with him and get another one" Rachel commented, glaring at Paul.

"Go take a hike, lady" Paul snapped at Rachel. "She's not my girlfriend - she's just a person I find troublesome."

Dawn looked at the necklaces and thought they looked pretty. "They look pretty, though, Paul" Dawn commented as she looked at the box of necklaces.

"S - for Stupid" Paul replied to Dawn hoping she'd catch the hint. 'Surely she's not daft enough to fall for this gimmick. S is for Team Shadow!'

"On second thoughts, maybe Paul's right, hehe they might not fit me!" Dawn said nervously.

"Oh nonsense, love. They'd fit you perfectly - here let me put it on you" Rachel daringly got a necklace out of the box and was about to put it on Dawn when Paul quickly jumped in front of her and stretched her arms. "Your boyfriend is getting annoying! It's just a necklace!"

"Get lost and leave us alone" Paul snatched the necklace from Rachel's hands and snapped it in half. Dawn caught on why he was acting like this.

'S - for Team Shadow! If Paul weren't here, I would've fallen for it... ' Dawn thought.

"I just remembered I have allergies to necklaces" Dawn said with a nervous laugh.

"Tch... Fine have it your way - you won't be able to enter our special event tonight" Rachel said, looking at them sadly. "Shame 'cause I wanted you to win it!"

"Well..." Dawn hesitated, however, felt Paul grab her hand.

"Let's go" Paul said, taking her out of the room. 'She's so typical!' he thought, referring to Dawn.

"But Paul - I was only going to try it out!" Dawn said in concern.

"Troublesome, it's from them - you have to be really stupid to accept the necklaces like they are!" Paul said noticing several trainers and their Pokemon had been petrified after wearing the necklace in the next room.

"Oh no!" Dawn gasped, clutching onto Paul's arm - surprisingly he didn't shove her away. "I didn't realize those necklaces could do that to us. No need to worry, Paul, I won't wear them! I hope the others are okay though" she said wondering how her friends are.

"Pik-a-chu, chu chu chu! (I can't stand this thing!)" Pikachu tried again to take the necklace off, it was only then Ash noticed that his Pokemon's feet started to turn grey.

"Pikachu!" Ash looked at him in concern and looked at him and May - the two friends still had their arms around one another and only noticed their feet were starting to turn grey too.

"It's the necklaces, take it off!" May cried, as she quickly pulled Ash's necklace off, he managed to take hers off, then the two did the same with Pikachu.

"That was too close!" May sighed in relief as her feet returned to normal.

"I agree, May!" Ash nodded smiling to her. "I don't want to lose you, May. You were right, Buddy, thank you!"

"Pik-a-chu! (You're welcome, Ash!)" Pikachu replied feeling better without the necklace.

"Shall we go and find the others, Ash? I don't want to lose you either, you're my best friend, my everything" May gushed, whispering the last part so Ash didn't hear her.

"Yeah, I'm worried about Dawn, Max and Brock too" Ash commented hoping they're okay.

The two friends made their way out of the fossil room and started to look for their friends, only noticing other trainers had been petrified. "Do you think that was the necklace that did this to them?" Ash asked, putting his arm around May, to protect her.

"I think so, Ash. We were so close to becoming one of them. Pikachu is a life saver. I hope they're okay too" May said in concern as she put her arm around him again to keep him safe. The two friends continued looking around for their friends and ran into Dawn and Paul.

"Paul?" Ash said then frowned. "Dawn, are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Ash asked in concern.

"The opposite, I saved her from danger again - there's a wrench going around giving people necklaces that petrify people and trainers" Paul replied. Dawn let go of Paul and quickly jumped to Ash and May's side and gave a nervous laugh.

"He's right though, he did save me. What will we do though about the situation?" Dawn asked. "And congratulations - bout time you got together!"

May blushed bright red and let go of Ash, laughing nervously. "We're not together, Dawn, we're staying close to one another so we don't get caught - we almost did get trapped though!"

"Thank you for protecting Dawn, Paul" Ash said looking at him.

"Don't expect me to do it all the time - I'm not a baby sitter" Paul replied rudely. "She really is troublesome though!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on Dawn!" May teased, getting a death glare from Paul, and a slight blush from Dawn. "Or maybe not!"

"You'd have to be stupid to think that" Paul replied to May's comment. "I don't do romance!" He then started walking away. "Later, losers!"

Dawn put her hands together close to her chest as she watched Paul go away. "Paul..." she whispered his name. "I don't get it, why is he nice to me, and rude to everyone else?"

"May could be right?" Ash suggested. "I wouldn't approve it though. I don't trust him the way he treats his Pokemon."

"I guess so. I wonder why he treats them that way - could it be his parents? His mum or dad or siblings? Does he even have them? It would have to be someone he knows to treat his Pokemon that way!" Dawn said with a sigh - it made her more curious about him.

"That's his problem not ours, we need to look for Max, Brock and Treecko" May said.

'Heh, me in love with Troublesome? Do people think I'm stupid? I don't fall for that stuff, she just happens to be annoying and getting into trouble when I'm around!' Paul thought as he looked at other trainers who have been petrified. 'These people are dumb enough to fall for the free necklace giveaway trick!' he added noticing a couple were in a middle of a kiss he then gagged at the look of them kissing. "Pathetic!"

'Love is for the weak' Paul thought, he then sensed someone coming and turned around noticing Rachel with a necklace in her hand, she was about to sneak upon him to put it on him. "You must be really dumb if you don't realize I noticed you" he said, turning around to see Rachel. "Why don't you wear it instead?"

"I..." Was all Rachel could say before she ran off with the necklace.

"Heh - pathetic!" Paul commented as he looked around the museum. He was mainly interested in fossils to see what rare and strong Pokemon they once were.

Ash, Pikachu, May and Dawn finally found Max, Treecko and Brock who appeared to be unharmed. They were examining the people that got petrified.

"Are you okay, Max?" May asked, running up to her brother to give him a hug.

"Yeah - we had that necklace given to us then figured it could be a bad one so we removed it - which was a good thing judging by the looks of things" Max answered, hugging her back. "How do we help them?"

"I'm not really sure - usually in these situations there's a boss of some kind you'd have to beat to get everything restored" Ash replied.

"May I have your attention please - the Oreburgh City museum is now closed and the doors are locked - thank you for visiting the museum!" a voice over the speakers announced.

"Oh no - we're trapped!" May panicked.

"No need to worry, May. They probably will let us out!" Dawn said smiling to her. "After realizing we're in here."

"We should go and get our other Pokemon back and try and get out" Brock suggested. The five with Pikachu and Treecko made their way to the receptionist only to find the girls missing and their Pokemon too.

"Oh no, Piplup!" Dawn gasped.

"The others too!" Ash frowned. "Maybe they're in a safe of some kind in the museum - they might have thought we left and forgot about our Pokemon?" he suggested.

"Could've done. Let's see if we can find the staff" May said.

The five and their remaining Pokemon started looking around together for staff - however, it was eerily quiet and the lights started to flicker.

"Tch! Lucky I bought a torch along with me" Brock said as he took his backpack off and unzipped it. He took a flashlight out and zipped his backpack on and zipped it up again. The lights then switched off, just as he turned on the flashlights, at once the petrified trainers looked eerie, May walked close with Ash while Dawn was with Brock and Max.

"This is really creepy!" Max commented looking at how eerie the people that got petrified look in the dark and small amount of light.

"Tree-cko! (I agree!)" Treecko agreed with him.

"We need to stay alert, do we all have extra flash lights with us?" Brock said.

"Yeah - I have a few in my bag, mum always tells me to pack extras in case!" Ash said.

"Me too!" May and Dawn said together, Max nodded.

Paul took off his bag and got out his flashlight when the lights went out and turned it on. He put his bag back on and held his flash light as he walked around, and soon ran into the others again. He already tried the door earlier and found out they were locked and it's dark outside.

"Paul! I thought you left?!" Ash said.

"I was going to but the door was locked, thought you would've been back at the Pokemon Center by now!" Paul replied, switching off his flash light after realizing Brock had his. He looked at Dawn then May noticing that May was near Ash while Dawn was with Brock and Max.

"Its locked? We went to see if the receptionists were there but they weren't and our Pokemon are missing" Ash said.

"Duh - I told you it's locked. You really are dumb - the receptionists were Team Shadow - not Staff. Didn't Troublesome tell you that?" Paul looked at Dawn then back at Ash.

Dawn rubbed the back of her head. "Heh I kinda forgot! But how will we find our Pokemon aside from looking for them?"

"You won't. They would've taken off with them by now and have them somewhere in a helicopter and would be most likely on their way to their secret base by now" Paul replied.

"Wow - they're smarter than Team Rocket!" Ash commented.

"And you" Paul retorted.

"Grrr!" Ash grit his teeth and went to walk up to him, except May put her hands on his wrist and pulled him back.

"It's not time to fight - we need to figure out how to get out of here and to find our Pokemon!" May said.

"You're right, May. But how do we get out of here?" Ash said.

"You don't - you have to wait till the morning. Everything's locked, from the windows to the doors! The trainers effects would probably wear off by then too" Brock Max, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"I can't wait that long!" Ash said, gritting his teeth. "Turtwig!" he said in annoyance.

"There is another way out" Paul said...

"Where is it?" Ash demanded.

"It's not an exact comfortable way though - you'd have to go through the man hole in the ceiling and be careful you don't touch wires. Or the air vents from the aircon" Paul replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I take it you've been in this situation before too? We've had to crawl through air-vents in the past" Max said.

"Duh!" Paul simply replied to Max.

"What happened to make you go through the air-vent?" Ash asked.

"It's none of your business - look are we going to get out of here or are we just going to stand like a bunch of Phsyducks?" Paul replied.

"Er I think getting out is a better idea" Ash said - annoyed that Paul didn't answer his question.

The six, Pikachu and Treecko began looking for an air vent to escape in.

"Hm... The ones we've seen so far seem tricky to open" May said as Brock flashed his torch here and there.

"It's probably to keep the thieves out - though it didn't do a good job" Max said.

Paul walked alone but ahead of the others as he kept an eye out on a proper way to escape.

"Wow - she's pretty!" Brock said as he looked at a petrified woman around his age with an Eevee on her shoulder which was also petrified.

"If you're into petrified women!" Paul replied, earning a giggle from Dawn.

It was Dawn who spotted a broken air-vent not far from where the fossils were. The air-vent cover had fallen off and onto the ground. "I think that's where Team Shadow got out" she said.

"Duh!" Paul replied.

"Let's go!" Ash said smiling. The air-vent was up high on the wall and had nothing to climb up with.

"But how will we get up?" May asked.

"We'll have to help everyone up - Brock, ready?" Ash said. Brock nodded, he and Ash walked over close to the air-vent and held their hands near the ground for their friends to climb up - Brock gave the flashlight to Max who shone it towards Ash and Brock.

"Who goes first?" Dawn asked.

"I'll go - Troublesome's next and the others afterwards" Paul volunteered.

"The name's Dawn!" Dawn corrected him.

"Troublesome suits you better" Paul commented as he climbed up on Ash and Brock's hands, the two boys heaved Paul up and watched him climb up into the air vent. Dawn followed with Paul helping her up, he then began climbing through it without another word.

Dawn stayed behind and pulled May, Max, Ash, Treecko, Pikachu and Brock last.

Paul was still up ahead when he came to a sudden stop - something appeared to be blocking the way.

"Why did you stop?" Dawn asked.

"I can't see what's blocking the way - whether it's something Team Shadow did to prevent us getting out or if its the design of the air-vent" Paul said - noting it was dark inside. Before he climbed up - Max had to put the torch in his pocket and turn it off. He took it out of his pocket and turned it on - the six gasped after finding what had blocked the air-vent...

What do you think might have blocked the air-vent?
Will they get their Pokemon back?
Will Ash win his first Sinnoh Gym battle?
What do you think will happen in the next chapter?
Will the people in the museum be okay?
To be continued...

Badges:
Dawn: 1
Ash: 0
Max: 1
-

Ribbons:
May: 0
Max: 0
Ash: 0
Dawn:0

Pokemon:

Ash: Pikachu, Noctowl, Turtwig and Charizard
May: Blaziken, Shinx, Beautifly and Glaceon
Dawn: Aeordactyl and Piplup
Max: Azumarill, Treecko and Ralts
Brock: Bonsly