DEDICATION: Joy-Girl, this is for you. Thanks for all the help you've been giving lately!

By the time Brock got back, everything was packed up. Misty and Ash had already agreed to punish Brock by making him carry EVERYTHING. After a short while, all of the equipment was on his back. Misty's face was twisted in a sick victorious smile, but Ash seemed to be distracted. He was frequently looking ta the map and at the direction of the next city with a nervous frown.

With a heavy sigh from Brock, they headed out.Misty was to busy hassling Brock to notice Ashs nervous expression. He was staring off into the woods, with a strange look on his face. Pikachu noticed it, but ignored the look assuming that Ash was just looking for some new Pokemon.

He remianed silent for the walk, Brock and Misty to busy arguing to notice. He occasionally looked torwards Misty, barely able to hide the dread he was feeling. Each step felt like another step torward something evil. Some dark cruel destiny. Something evil.

"Why do I have to carry everything again?" Brock complained in a whiney voice again.

Ash looked torward his friend, distracted from his dark thoughts. A small smile formed uncontrolably on his lips at the site. Misty was standing over a overburdened Brock, waving her MALLET OF DEATH. Brock looked so pathetic that for a brief moment Ash felt pity. Then he was just laughing.

"Quiet Pack Mule!" Misty snapped at Brock. "Need I remind you of this morning at the tent?"

Brock grimaced. "Well, at least stop refering to me as a pack mule!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed adjusting the package it was carrying.

Misty just laughed at the two. Ash smiled and shook his head in exaspiration. He was having a little fun in this, but Misty was just taking a sadistic pleasure out of all of this. Ash glanced at Misty and couldn't help but notice her beauty. He felt his face redden and looked away quickly, but not quick enough.

Misty had caught the blush and her face dropped a little bit. She then realized just how quiet Ash had been all day and became concerned. She walked over and placed a hand on Ashs forehead. He flinched for a second, but then sighed. Mistys hand felt cool against his forehead, and Ash monaed a little bit. he then stepped back, but not before Misty was now concerned.

"You sure your okay Ash?" Misty asked, her voice dripping with concern.. "You're burning up and you look terrible."

"I'm fine," Ash mumbled. "Still a little drowzy I guess. I guess you'll have to handle Brock today."

Misty bit her lip, but didn't say anything for a minute. she knew Ash was lying. It was written all over his face that he wasn't doing well. Still, ash wanted to say he was fine and Misty knew that he would just stubbornly say he was. there was nothing she could say that would get him to admit it. With a sigh Misty glanced over at Brock and forced up an evil smile for Ash.

"I think I can handle controlling Brock."

Brock sighed in a mixture of frustration and fear. "Maybe we should rest for a little bit..."

"What Pack Mule? You want to carry Togepi? Well if you insist."

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!!!"

Misty set Togepi on top of Brock's backpack and snickered as he grumbled a few choice curse words. The group continued walking, but things were different now. Misty was keeping a fearful Eye on Ash. his face was getting redder and he was slowing down. For awhile, Misty was afraid he would collapse, but Ash would always trudge on. Forty five minutes, Brock threw the stuff down in frustration.

"Break time!" he declared.

Misty looked at Brock and narrowed her eyes. In reality, she was glad he was saying that. Ash looked terrible and deffinitely needed a break. However Misty knew that Ash wanted to get to that next city bad, and that he wanted to have the pride of not admitting he wasn't feeling well. And if Ash wanted to keep his pride, Misty wasn't about to stop him.

"But we're only three miles away from the city!" Misty forcibly argued glancing at Ash. "Come on Brock! Show us those muscles!"

"Misty, I think we do need a break," Ash said wearily. "Just for a little bit."

Misty glanced over at Ash and saw he was barely staying awake. The same mix of pity and worry she had been having imidiately washed over her again. With a small smile she rose her hands in mock defeat, glad they were stopping for Ash's sake.

"Well.... Okay. Ash," Misty said gently. "You get some rest."

Ash smiled in relief and layed down on the ground, getting comfortable. In a few minutes he was almost completely asleep. Misty smiled sweetly at him and patted Ash on the head. He graoned, but rolled his head to look up at Misty.

"Thanks again Mist..." Ash said drifting off to sleep.

"No problem," she replied gently, her face covered in a maternal mode. Then, making sure Ash was asleep she added quietly, "You just rest and get better. I love you."

"Awwwwww!" Brock gushed not hearing that last part. "Aren't you two so cute?"

Misty growled and in a flash the soft glowing maternal look was gone. Replacing it was the traditional look of anger and vengence, saved specificly for Brock. He backed away slowly, knowing what was coming

"As for you Pack Mule......" Misty hissed with a menacing grin.

***********

Ash looked around confused. Things had changed again. He was no longer in the small meadow they had walked in on. Now, him and Misty were on a city road. He glanced around seeing only a few people on the road. Misty was telling some joke, but Ash wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was busy being worried and confused

The city he was walking through was mostly a normal city. The sky scrapers reached hundreds of feet into the air, but the tops seemed to be covered in mirrors. The buildings themselves were brightly painted, catching his eyes and some even hurting them. Fear flowed over him as a cold dread swept through his spine.

"And stomped on the spiders saying, 'We're not having any of that crap in my garden!'" Misty said laughing..

Ash didn't know what the joke had been or the punch line, so he just smiled along like he had half a clue. Misty rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. she then looked at Ash with a slightly dangerous scowl.

"Oh come on Ash! That was one of my best jokes!"

"I've heard better," Ash lied. "And that one is a little old."

Misty sighed and kicked a can in her path.. "I suppose so. Still you could have at least chuckled a little."

"Sorry."

Misty shrugged then stretched before kciking the can again. It clattered noiseily into an ally about fifteen feet away. Misty started to slow down, a look of deep thought on her face. She then slowed down, forcin Ash to and looked into the ally for a second. Ash frowned and took a step back.

"By my calculations," she said confidently. "We can cut through this ally and get their faster."

Ash glanced down the ally. It looked.... familiar. In fact, it looked almost exactly like the ally from his dream. Yet, there was one difference. That ally had been alot darker. This ally was lit by a large fluoresent light above one of the buildings fire exits. The difference was there, but it still made Ash nervous.

"I don't think so Misty," Ash said. "Maybe we should just go the long way."

Misty scoffed and slowly started to pull out THE MALLET. "I don't think so. If we go the long way, we'll be late!"

Ash frowned and glanced into the ally again.. "You sure?"

Misty nodded. Ash looked back into the ally, a feeling of dread knotting his stomach. It did look almost exactly like the ally from the dream, except... except that it was lit up. He squinted his eyes, and saw nobody sulking around in it. Ash bit his lip hesitantly and sighed.

"Okay," Ash said with another sigh. "We'll take the shortcut."

"I knew you'd see things my way in the end," Misty laughed putting away THE MALLET. "And I didn't even need to use my little friend this time!"

Ash rolled his eyes and followed Misty into the allyway. They managed to get twenty feet in before a sharp pain erupted in the back of Ash's head. He fell to the ground, hearing Misty scream. Ash tried to get back up, but something struck him in the stomach, followed by a loud bang. Ash layed there in pain and felt something go onto his wrists and legs. A few seconds later, Ash realized he was bound and gagged.

Ash looked up and saw a man waving a gun at Misty and him. No... this couldn;t be right.... what about the light? Ash squinted his eyes and saw it had been shot out. Now everything was dark and Ash easily recognized where he was. Ash started squirming and yelling into his gag, fear spiking his blood with adreniliane.

The man that had blind sided Ash was about 6 foot and solidly built. His hair was deep red and was at shoulder length.His green eyes were in slits as he examined his prey. He wore tattered grubby sweat pants and shirt. Across the left side of his head was a thin scar and what seemed to be a tattoo of a Pinsir.

"What do you want from us?" Misty demanded, terror ringing in her voice. "I gave you all our money! Go away!"

The man smiled. "Oh no girly. Your going to give me something else."

"Huh? No....NO!!"

The man snickered and ripped off Misty's shirt. She cried out as her body was exposed. Instinctively, Misty tried to cover her exposed chest, but the man pulled her arms down to her sides. He then easily threw Misty to the ground and put the gun on Ash's temple. Ash shivered feeling the cold metal on his flesh.

"You better do what I say girly, or he gets it."

By now Misty was crying. She looked at Ash then at the man. Ash shook his head desperately at Misty. The man growled and ground his gun into Ash carressing the trigger. With a sob of embaressment and humiliation Misty lowered her hands and head. Ash looked at Misty's nude top for a second in a mix of sorrow and horror. He then respectively kept his eys focused off her body.

"O-O-Okay.... I'll d-d-do what you w-want...." Misty sobbed.

"Thats a good girl. Come here."

Ash closed his eyes. He may be dumb, but Ash knew what was going to happen. The man was about to rape Misty. Ash could block out seeing it, but Ash couldn't block out the man's degrading comments and the slapping strikes that he delivered or Misty's cries, moans, and what sounded like her choking on something.

The brutal rape continued for what seemed to be hours. Ash had long since broken down and openly wept for what was happening to his friend. In the end, Ash opened his eyes for a few minutes, and saw her being forced into sickening acts, but Ash also caught Mistys expression. It was the expression of a broken woman and it scared Ash, causing him to close his eyes again.

After another thirty or forty more minutes of the brutality, there was a loud gunshot. Then silence. Ash opened his eyes and saw the man running off. A few feet away was Misty's beaten, bloody, raped body.

Her hair was disheavled and parts of it were matted to Misty's face from sweat and other materials. Misty's face was bloody and broken. Around her eyes were two large dark bruises. Misty's nose was clearly broken severly and blood slowly dribbled out of her nose and mouth. Her clothes layed on the floor in tatters. All over her exposed body were large bruises, welts, and several deep gashes. Misty rolled over and Ash saw a large mangled bleeding gap that was her stomach.

"NO!" Ash yelled sitting up.

He looked around, face plastered in sweat, and saw Brock, Misty and Pikachu staring at him confused and a little worried. Ash fell back with a sigh. It was the dream again. Misty hadn't been raped and murdered... yet. The dream wasn't going away and now Ash was worried. The others looked down at him concerned.

"Ash? You okay?" Misty asked worried, putting her hand on his arm.

"I- I'm fine," Ash mumbled getting up. "Come on. Let's go."

"You sure?" Brock asked his voice concerned. "I mean, we could rest a little longer."

"We're going," Ash said firmly, with an unusual glint in his eyes. "I just want to get out of here okay?"

Brock sighed then noticed something.

"Where's Togepi?"

Toge Toge PRIIIIIII!!" Togepi called from in some bushes.

Misty sighed. "Brock, Pikachu. Help me get him out of there."

They nodded and walked over to the bushes. While their backs were turned, Ash walked over to Brock's backpack and opened it quietly. There was one item he was looking for, and he quickly found it He smiled at the item and quickly hid it in his jacket. Brock and Misty wouldn't understand why he had taken it, so he wouldn't say anything. By the time the others had gotten Togepi, Ash was ready to move out.

It took them three hours to reach the outskirts of the good city of Grafton. Nobody had said anything, but things were a little better. Ash seemed to be in a slightly better mood, and that greatly relieved Misty. Ash still seemed distracted and worried however.. The three, five including Togepi and Pikachu, looked at the city in awe.

"It's so... shiny," Ash commented. "Why is that?"

"According to the guide, it was designed that way awhile ago so if Indians attacked during the day time, they'd be blinded," Brock read from his Book Of Useless Facts. "But after the Savages were smitten, most of the mirrors were removed. Some where left though to impress tourists."

"Guess it worked, cause I'm impressed," Misty joked.

"Pika."

Ash had to nod his head in acknowledgement to what Misty said. He was highly impressed by these massive buildings of mirrors himself. Still... Ash sensed something dark within this bright and happy looking city. Somrthing that... Ash's train of thoughts were cut off as his stomach growled loudly and demadingly. Everyone sweatdropped and fell to the ground.

"I can see where Ash wants to go," Misty said exasperated.

"The Bulba Garden isn't to far from here," Brock said looking at the map.

Ash stuckout his tounge with a sickened frown at that suggestion. Okay, yeah he was hungry, but not for what food eats, and Ash was going to voice his opinion on it.

"But I don't want vegetables!" Ash complained. "That's what food eats! If it's not bleeding, it's not worth eating!"

"Heh heh heh," Brock chuckled. "Theres one exception to that rule Ash."

"Huh?"

Brock just started roaring with laughter. Ash just continued to stare at him dumbfounded as Misty scowled and rolled her eyes in a sickened exasperation.

"No class at all...." Misty mumbled torwards Brocks sick joke.

"Togeprrrri!"

"It is Ash's turn to choose," Brock reminded.

"Yeah. So let's goto Baskin Robbins!"

Misty laughed. "I suppose I could live with that."

"And it's next to the Pokemon Center. Two birds with one stone."

The trio walked on. After a quick stop at the Pokemon Center to drop off the Pokemon, including Togepi and Pikachu, for a check up. They then arrived at Baskin Robbins.Before long Ash sat down with a small bowl of vanilla ice cream.. Misty and Brock also had Ice Cream, but had various mixtures. Both of them looked at Ash's worried.

"You sure your okay Ash?" Misty asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Normally you gorge yourself on as much ice cream as you can eat," Brock explained. "And you never order just one flavor. You normally cram as much ice cream into your hole as you can"

"Yeah!" Misty chirped up. "Thats what you're known for at all Baskin Robbins! Being a greedy glutton!"

Ash sighed and swirled his ice cream slowly with a spoon. He looked at it thoughtfully then slowly ate a spoonfull, before looking back to the others.

"I guess I'm not hungry today."

The group ate in silence for a few minutes. Misty and Brock watched Ash worriedly as he slowly ate his normal old vanilla ice cream. I mean seriously, who would want vanilla when they can have triple fudge double choclate pecan fudgely ic cream? Anyway...

After about twenty minutes, Ash then got up and headed to the bathroom. Misty and Brock watched him walk off and sighed.

"Brock, it's not just me right? I mean you've noticed Ash is acting weird."

Brock nodded thoughtfully. . "He hasn't shot ice cream out his nose, thrown paper wads at other people, or emited disturbing noises.Those are usually Ash's hobbies when we eat in a place like this."

"So what are we going to do?"

Brock closed his eyes and rubbed his temples thinking.

"Ash doesn't like talking about personal problems. And when he does tell, he'll usually goto you first. Take him to a movie or something and see if you can get him to talk."

"Yeah, but what movies are playing?"

"Ask somebody."

Misty rolled her eyes and got up with a sigh. She then looked around for a newspaper. After not seeing one, she walked over to the Cashieer.

"Excuse me, but do you know what movies are playing near here?" Misty asked.

"Sorry Miss. I don't know," he admitted. "But The Kid may know."

"The who?"

"The Kid. It's his knickname, the Cashieer explained. "He's a regular in here. Quite a joker. He's gotten us all with some sort of prank."

"So why havn't you banned him?" Brock asked.

The casheir laughed. "He keeps the job interesting. His jokes are fun and usually messy. And he's a friend of the boss."

"That would help. So where is he?"

The casheer pointed off to the side. The Kid seemed to be in his late teens and had a mischivious smile on his face. He was about 5'11 and weighed around 165 lbs. He was white skinned with disheavled black hair. His bluesh green eyes seemed to have a light of their own.

"He's up to something...." the casheir mumbled nervously glancing around.

"Brock, keep Ash out of my hair for a few minutes," Misty ordered.

Brock nodded and walked to the bathroom, guarding it. Misty hesitated for a few seconds before she walked over to The Kid.

"Excuse me..."

The Kid raised a hand. "Just a second, okay?"

Misty blinked, but didn't say anything. She turned and looked at the casheer. He was reaching up to a cabnit to put something away. As soon as the cabnet door opened, a small Pidgey shot out. The casheer fell back with a yell and fell on his butt. The Pidgey proceeded to steal his badge and flew around. It then dropped the badge in a vat of choclate syrup before escaping out a window. The casheer glanced over and The Kid gave a slight wave.

"Okay. Now what can I do for you....?"

"I'm Misty, and I was told you may know what movies are playing?"

"The closest theater is the Nidoking Theater," The Kid said. "It's plaving Psychic Brain Murder Mutant Aliens 4: Now With Wetter Splattering, Key to the Heart, Super Mankey and the adventures of Bob Dole, and Resident Evil."

"Hmmmm... Ash has been wanting to see Psychic Brain Murder Mutant Aliens 4: Now With Wetter Splattering," Misty said thoughtfully. "Thanks."

"I highly advise going to a different theater though," The Kid said warningly.

"Why?"

"Just a feeling, but its your choice."

"Oh... well... Thanks for your help Mr. Kid."

The Kid laughed. "Actually its Ruic. Michael Ruic. And it's no problem."

Misty got up, then hesitated. She looked at Ruic.

"You look familiar... have we met before?" Misty asked.

Michael smiled and ran a hand through his messy black hair. He then stared into Misty's eyes with a small, comfortable smile before stretching back and craching his neck.

"You look familiar to. Who knows, maybe we have met somewhere else before, but I don't recall when."

"Well I got to go. Thanks again."

Ruic waved as Misty walked off. He watched her for a second longer worried, then chuckled as the casheer fished his badge out of the hot fudge syrup. A few second later Ash and Brock walked out of the bathroom. Misty quickly jogged over with a smile.

"Come on Ash! Psychic Brain Murder Mutant Aliens 4: Now With Wetter Splatteingr is playing at the theater," Misty said.

Ash's face whitened slightly. "Okay. Come on Brock!"

"Sorry Ash. I'm going to see Nurse Joy." Brock said and took off.

"Guess its just you and me Ash. You coming?"

Ash nodded nervously and the two left for the theater.

Well here goes another chapter. That movies name is a real mouthful. I was actually gonna call it: Psychic Brain Murder Mutant Aliens 4: The Return Of the Flesh Eaters And Disembolers, Now With Wetter Splatteing. Lets face it men, we wanna see that movie! Well, Adios!