Disclaimer: Err...I'm not sure if I own Pokemon or not. Wait a sec, I'm going to check my bank account...Hmm, nope. Pokemon doesn't belong to me.
Author Notes: Sorry this chapter took such a loooooong time and I really don't have any excuses I can say, so I owe you guys (to the very few who are still reading this, though it's my fault) a humongous apology. I also apologize for the petty whining on the bottom of chapter 4, I'm very sorry.
On another note, I'm going to rewrite the first chapter (and maybe the second and third) because of the appalling grammar mistakes.
This is the chapter where the 'R' rating really comes into play. If you think it deserves a lower rating please tell me so in a review (though I think this chapter earned the right to keep it).
Devil's Hole
The abhorrence would come here.
That wretched, vile thing was going to arrive soon.
She was sure of it.
She knew her simple plan was going to work. That foul slug was still naïve just like the last time she had seen the idiot. The ignorant, pathetic insect would come right into her awaiting claws and suffer the way she did.
She had asked for help and that fucking girl laughed at her face. That damned girl had enjoyed her painful tears as she struggled to escape the confines of her prison. That evil bitch had smiled at her pleading cries of help and watched her waste away into the emotionless empty shell of a person she was now.
And finally...after so many years...
She would get her revenge.
Oh, how she was going to enjoy watching the demon's blood running through her fingers. She would pleasure the way that putrid bug was going to beg, no - plead - for mercy and ask her to end her miserable life. And she would simply laugh at her spasms of agony and excruciating tears.
Until that final blessed moment she had been waiting for so long arrives. When that girl stops breathing, and dies in such a disgraceful way. And she would be there to incinerate that disgusting body in fire, leaving only a pile of pitiful ashes behind. The only thing that would be left of the person who caused her such uncontainable anger and misery. And if she was lucky, the wind would blow the ashes away to nowhere - or better yet, a hungry Pokemon would eat it and spit it out in pure disgust.
And she would finally be free from that poisonous hatred...
Haruka grinned.
Kasumi was going to die.
()()()
Ash was so shocked he stood in the Pokemon Center's entrance for several seconds. Pikachu bumped against Ash's leg, surprised by the sudden stop, until Pikachu himself took in the scene and remained in the same stunned state that Ash was in.
Team Rocket was completely destroying the whole building. Some members were entering the Emergency Room and destroying valuable life-support equipment by throwing heavy chairs or anything they could find on the floor. There was also a large Blastoise spraying water on any machine that wasn't damaged. The machines went haywire and bright sparks of electricity shot in all directions before they exploded and left behind useless piles of burnt metal. The Blastoise, when it was sure everything was ruined, went to another room Ash couldn't see. The sound of shattering glass soon followed after Blastoise's entry, and Ash soon got a good idea of what was happening in that room.
PokeBalls were all over the floor, and confused Pokemon who had popped out from them, stared at the scene of destruction with very open eyes and soon ran to find cover. Some unfortunate Pokemon, who weren't fast enough to locate a hiding place, were brutally knocked out by a huge Golem who punched or stomped them in the head.
A small Oddish, that was trying to escape, tripped over a stray piece of rubble on the floor and landed headfirst on the cold, tiled floor.
The Golem loomed menacingly over Oddish, and smiled in grotesque expectation. The poor Oddish began to tremble in fear and two trails of tears slowly streaked down its blue face. Oddish began to whimper, and covered its face with its leaves as the Golem got closer and closer to it.
Golem kicked Oddish with one of its heavy legs and it flew across the room, shrieking all the way in pain. Oddish crashed against a wall and slumped to the floor - a small trickle of blood running down slowly from its head.
It was still alive, but it could barely open its eyes to slits. Oddish stared at Golem with glazed eyes, yet it was still able to cry for mercy in a croaky voice.
"O-Oddish..." it whispered with a noticeable quiver. The Golem laughed cruelly and firmly grabbed Oddish by its leaves. Oddish closed its eyes in defeat, revealing two dark blue bruises around its eyes.
"Kill that little weakling, Golem. Pathetic Pokemon like that Oddish don't deserve the air they breathe." A blue-haired woman, Ash had never seen before, commanded sadistically.
Ash finally snapped out of the trance he was in. Fury like he never felt before in his life flowed through his veins like molten lava. Ash clenched his fists tightly and ran faster than he thought he ever could.
"STOP IT!" Ash screamed at her with a potent tone of voice he never used before. His command was directed at her for that split-second, but all Ash wanted was someone - anyone - who could just stop the Golem, before -
But it was too late. Golem launched boulders at Oddish's already weakened body. Each boulder hit Oddish with the strength of a maddened Tauros who spotted a red flag waving at its face. Oddish squealed horribly with each impact in unimaginable pain, before it was buried under all the rocks.
"NO!" Ash shouted angrily at the Golem, with unrepressed fury, before running towards the buried Oddish. He scrambled over to the pile of rocks and began to lift one of the boulders with a lot of difficulty.
He turned around when Pikachu's voice snapped the bubble of anger and desperation that had surrounded him. Pikachu started taunting Golem from behind him, and was slapping his lightning bolt-shaped tail to annoy it. Golem, who was surprisingly close to Ash, turned around and soon followed Pikachu.
"Pikachu, don't do it!" Ash cried desperately, but Pikachu's cheeks glowed bright yellow in warning to his pleas and continued mocking Golem with different faces. Golem bellowed furiously before clumsily running after Pikachu.
Ash didn't know what to do. Pikachu was distracting Golem from him so he could save Oddish. But Pikachu was in terrible danger and had a definite weakness to Rock type Pokemon. But he couldn't just leave Oddish behind...
"Don't just stand there like a retard! MOVE IT!" A tall boy snarled at Ash and roughly pushed him out of his way. Ash landed on his back, over a broken plant pot, forcing a lone Rattata hiding behind the remains to dodge his body. Ash tried to get up, but he almost immediately lied down again because of the excruciating pain; he gritted his teeth so he wouldn't cry out.
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Ash exclaimed angrily to the tall boy who pushed him and almost dislocated his back.
"MOVE! Unless you want to end up like the others!" The boy yelled at Ash and indicated with his hand at several sprawled, singed bodies that were lying on the floor.
Ash's eyes widened considerably as he took in the horrible scene. Crumpled figures that were not showing any signs of life lay all over the filthy floor, surrounded by a glistening pool of their own blood. The equally lifeless Pokemon, who were beaten cruelly by the superior high level Pokemon of Team Rocket, also laid among their dead trainers. Their own crimson blood blending together with their masters' scarlet river, bonding them together in a sickening, bloodstained union of death.
A hard lump was rising in Ash's throat as the scene finally registered in his mind. Suppressing the urge to cringe as he stood up, he directed his gaze to the boy, but the boy was not staring at him but at the brutal fights.
"Let's go," he said simply.
"Okay," Ash said hoarsely, as he saw a murderous-looking Machamp punch one trainer after another, disfiguring their faces forever. It was attacked by two brave Phanpys who were easily defeated with a karate-chop from Machamp. The Phanpys landed near a motionless Chansey, and remained in the same state the Chansey was in.
The boy roughly pulled Ash by his arm, as they both ran to find some cover from an oncoming Fire Blast attack from a Charizard. After avoiding many attacks, they managed to get behind the overturned front desk that had been blown forty feet away from its normal place.
The boy was just about to take a PokeBall from his belt when Ash's shout startled him enough, causing him to drop it to the ground.
"PIKACHU! I can't believe I forgot about him! I have to save him from that Golem!" Ash made a move to stand up but the boy's strong grip held him in his place.
"What are you doing? My Pikachu is out there fighting with a Golem and he can get seriously hurt!" Ash said furiously, trying to free himself from the boy's iron grip.
"Look, kid. I know that you're worried about your Pikachu and all, but it's doing a good job on distracting the Golem," the boy said smoothly, ignoring Ash's exasperated face. "That Golem is the Pokemon that is causing us the most trouble...that means that it was the main Pokemon to cause the deaths," the boy added that last line when Ash still tried to get up.
Ash ignored the boy's little speech except the last sentence he said. He was paralyzed for a second, torn between two different choices he could make. Ash could run towards Pikachu and save him from that Golem or he could let Pikachu take care of himself for the good of others. He was just about to go with the first option but the sight of many injured and dead carcasses of once living trainers on the floor made him stop from rescuing Pikachu.
The boy's grip loosened, as Ash pondered over his two options. He was trying to think what to do next but the first option was definitely winning over the second choice. His Pokemon's well-being was the most important thing...but if it also came down to the safety of many trainers' lives...
"PIKA!" Pikachu's shrill yell was heard even above all the screams and the blasts of attacks. This immediately snapped Ash out of his thoughts and without any hesitation he ran over to Pikachu, leaving the boy, who was still behind the desk.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted in terror as he saw the danger Pikachu was in. Golem had pinned Pikachu around the middle and slammed him onto the ground with a thick hand, while it squeezed the life out of Pikachu.
"Pikapi..." Pikachu managed to say between precious gasps of air, until Golem gave another extra squeeze and he cried out in pain.
"TOTODILE - GO!" Ash roared, without any other thought. Totodile popped out of his PokeBall, dancing happily for just a few seconds until he saw the dangerous situation they were in.
Ash didn't waste any more time. "Totodile, use you Water Gun on that Golem!" he bellowed. Totodile nodded grimly before launching a power jet of water from his jaw.
Golem smiled in a victorious way, as the Water Gun didn't even scrape its hard shell. He tossed Pikachu's limp, silent form away as he began to curl inside his massive shell. The gigantic boulder-like form of Golem rolled towards Ash and Totodile, while Totodile continued shooting his Water Gun attack, but to no avail.
Ash scooped up Totodile's tired body and began running away from Golem, who was quickly catching up to them.
"Can't - keep - running!" Ash panted after several traumatizing minutes, but he accidentally tripped over an abandoned PokeBall and he landed backwards on his sore back; an exhausted Totodile tried to help Ash, but he had no strength left.
"Argh!" He tried getting up, but the pain on his back was just too much to bear. Ash saw Golem's huge body, a few feet way from them, and he shut his eyes - too fearful to see his own death.
But many seconds passed, yet Ash was still wavered in opening his eyes. More and more time passed, when finally Ash decided to open his eyes.
He didn't expect the sight before him. Golem was floating in the air - a light purple glow around it - and he was frantically moving its limbs, trying to liberate itself from this force.
Ash was gaping at Golem, until the tall boy's voice once again broke him out of his trance.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SLOWPOKE CAN'T DISABLE GOLEM FOR TOO LONG!"
At this order, Ash started to run towards Pikachu's immobile form, scooped him up protectively in his arms, and scampered away from Golem's floating body. He grimaced in pain when he bent over to pick up Totodile's tired body and ran with both Pokemon to a safer distance.
He saw the Slowpoke that saved his life, a mystical purple glow on its eyes, while it desperately tried to maintain the Golem suspended in the air.
The tall boy soon ran alongside Ash and returned Slowpoke back to its PokeBall. Quietly murmuring words of gratitude to Slowpoke through the PokeBall, the tall boy turned to warn Ash. "Golem will be dazed for several minutes - just enough for us to find a good refuge - but once it's back to normal, it will try to find us," he finished grimly.
"Great, just great!" Ash muttered to him, both of them barely avoiding oncoming attacks from all sides. The tall boy had to restrain Ash from saving Pokemon and trainer alike and, in one instance, the boy actually had to wrestle him when a ferocious Kanghaskan slashed all the Clefairys from a blonde, little girl. When it finished killing all those Clefairys, the Kanghaskan started swiping at the young girl with the same bloody, wet claws that ripped away her Clefairys' lives.
The boy guiltily led Ash away from that bloody scene, even as the little girl's anguished screams tore through their hearts.
()()()
Darkness.
Eternal, unmoving darkness that didn't let her go.
Misty had to fight it to survive; to stay alive... But what exactly was alive? She couldn't remember, but she also couldn't think - yet how did she know that she had to battle to keep herself from leaving...
Leaving? To where? Did she even know the meaning of leaving?
The blackness, the darkness, the world - she didn't know what it was - wasn't exactly suffocating, or cold. It just gripped her and pulled her away from it all...
Pulling her from what? Misty didn't know the answer.
It was now slowly consuming her, and Misty weakly tried to struggle but she had nothing to fight it with. She gave up and the never ending nothing blocked everything that consisted of her. The shadow of blackness covered Misty and she was soon forgetting everything and everyone.
No, not everyone.
Her heart was still left untouched, and with her last ounce of willpower and strength she conjured her loved ones' faces for the last time. Pikachu, Togepi, her sisters, Brock and Ash all smiled and laughed joyfully, their radiant faces telling her not to give up.
No. Misty didn't want to be taken away from them.
She battled with all her might. She didn't have anything physical left to fight the darkness, but she still had love...
And that was all that mattered.
With one final, mighty scream, the walls of impenetrable nothingness shattered across all time.
()()()
Ash and the tall boy soon lost Golem among all the chaos and were panting heavily against the smooth marble wall. They were in the only place in the Pokemon Center that Team Rocket hadn't destroyed - it was in the very back of a long corridor where trainers with little or no money slept.
He could finally see the tall boy's face under a flickering light bulb in the hallway. He had small, yet piercing gray eyes lined with blue at the edges. His hair was an untidy mop of light brown curls that had many split ends. He wore a simple, faded with age, yellow shirt and heavily dusted black pants that was ripped in several places. He was two heads taller than Ash and unfortunately his frame was almost on the lanky side because of this.
Ash was the first one to break the silence. "What's your name? I never asked."
The tall boy stared at Ash for a while before he responded. "Raul Endion."
"Thanks for helping me back there," Ash said with a smile, extending his hand so Raul could shake it. Raul took Ash's hand and firmly shook it.
"Don't let your guard down, though. We're still not safe; not even this far away from the battles." Raul warned.
Raul checked Totodile and Pikachu for any bruises. "Your Totodile is going to be fine. You're lucky it only needs a long rest, if it hadn't been only exhausted, you'd be in big trouble now. Pikachu on the other hand needs a Hyper Potion. Good thing I keep one in my pocket for emergencies." Raul took out a Hyper Potion and sprayed it on Pikachu's beaten form. "Hmm...there wasn't enough to cure all of Pikachu's injuries, but it'll be okay with a long nap."
Ash nodded, completely relieved, and wrapped Pikachu in a thick blanket and placed him gently inside his backpack. He also returned Totodile back to his PokeBall. His heart calmed down a bit, but then he immediately felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach.
"Oh no! Misty and Brock!" he panicked, and would've immediately started running back had it not been for Raul's hand holding the back of his jacket.
"Boy, you sure don't think before you act, don't you?" he growled, and Ash immediately wanted to retort - but Raul only held up a hand.
"Save it for later. Now we have to find your friends - " he stopped when once again Ash tried to dart away. " - But we can't just run back into the fighting, shouting your friends' names in hopes that they call back!"
"Then what do we do?" Ash said snappishly, obviously wanting to do what Raul said.
"Why don't we check on all the rooms? If they're not hiding inside, I'll let you do whatever stupid thing you want." Raul said reasonably.
"Ok, ok, ok... But let me go!" Ash yelled, irritated. Raul immediately did so, causing Ash to fall to the floor.
"Hey, you could've been more careful, couldn't you?" Ash said, rubbing his aching back.
"Sorry, uh... what's your name?" Raul asked sheepishly.
"My name's Ash Ketchum... and I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon Master in the world," he said, with almost none of his old childish enthusiasm.
Raul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, uh-huh, sure... Pokemon Master -" Ash wanted to say something to his sarcasm, but he was once again interrupted. "- Shouldn't we start looking for you friends now?"
Ash immediately stood up. "Ok, let's do it!"
He went to the nearest door and opened it forcefully. "MISTY? BROCK? Are you guys here?" he screamed inside the darkened room.
"Ash -" Raul began, but Ash soon cut him off.
"MISTY! BROCK! You're not helping Raul!" Ash exclaimed loudly.
"But Ash -"
"WHAT?" Ash replied exasperatedly.
"I don't think Misty or Brock are in here," he said calmly.
"What makes you so sure?" Ash said testily.
"Because this is a broom closet," Raul said amusedly. He turned on the light switch where several mops and brooms could be seen.
"Wa - well I knew that! They could've been hiding here, you know!" Ash said with dignity, while he tried to hide how embarrassed he was.
"Yeah, you're right. They could've been in there-" Ash straightened himself proudly. "-if they were making out, that is!" Raul laughed in an uncharacteristic fashion, and Ash almost fell over at that remark.
"Very funny..." Ash growled and went to a nearby room with the number '34' on its door.
"Someone seems to be a bit jealous, eh?" Raul smirked in a teasing way in total contrast with his real personality, and it almost made Ash topple over again.
"I'm not jealous!" Ash answered hotly, even more flustered at that particular remark than his broom closet mistake.
"If you say so." Raul grinned, trying to open the door. "Hmm...seems that it's locked. I guess we'll have to try the room next door."
"You said we would check in every room!" Ash said stubbornly, trying to open the door, too.
"Well, destroy the damn door if you want to. The way things are going, it won't make much of a difference if you wreck it," Raul grumbled, thankfully back again to his serious self.
"On the count of three we break down the door, ok?" Ash said, giving Raul a determined look. With a resigned sigh, he went alongside Ash.
"One," Ash started.
"Two," Raul continued.
"Three!" They both said at the same time, and ran towards the door.
They banged themselves against the thick wooden door until their shoulders began to throb painfully. After several attempts the door cracked from their effort and swung open.
The room was almost identical to any other Pokemon Center room that they've been to. It had simple, white walls with no pictures or anything that could stand apart from the other four walls. There was the usual bathroom, and identical bunk beds that stood several feet apart from each other.
But there was someone on the bottom of one of the bunk beds and that person looked just like -
"BROCK!" Ash happily cried, relieved to have found him. But the lightened feeling soon felt like lead when Brock didn't respond to his insistent shakes.
"Come on, Brock! This isn't the time to sleep!" Ash said, almost shouting at him when his eyes still didn't open. He then tried pinching, slapping, kicking and even punching Brock, but he still didn't wake.
"Wake up, Brock!" Ash said desperately, pounding Brock with a pillow.
"He's not waking," Raul remarked, eyeing Brock with a vacant expression.
"I know that!" Ash replied aggravated, resisting the urge to hit Raul with the pillow.
"Have you checked his pulse?" Raul asked tranquilly, which infuriated Ash even more.
"You're not saying -" Ash began furiously, but stopped himself when the possibility struck him like bag full of bricks. What if Brock-
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Raul stated emotionlessly, checking Brock's pulse.
"Brock's not dead!" Ash vociferated loudly, trying to hide his fear.
Raul continued checking Brock's pulse without any other word. When he finally faced Ash, he stared at him with an expressionless face - a mask doctors usually wore when they told grim news to the patient's family. Ash crossed his fingers in spite of himself.
"He's alive," Raul said, with a hint of a smile on his face.
Ash almost slumped on the floor - completely relieved - but worry once again crossed his face as he stared at Brock's still form.
"I don't know what's wrong with your friend, but... I think he's drugged," Raul said quietly.
Ash stared at him in shock for a full minute before responding. "How can Brock be -" but once again he cut himself off as he saw Brock's pale, unmoving face, "-do you really think he is?"
Raul stared at Brock for a long while before responding. "It looks that way. Maybe a simple sleeping pill, or it could be something worse..." he trailed off.
Ash gazed at Brock sadly. He felt so helpless, he didn't know how to help his friend in any way, and he had no one else that could help him... But Ash suddenly shook himself out of the emotional bubble that had surrounded him and truly noted Raul's presence. He hadn't really acknowledged Raul since he saw Brock's immobile form - even though Ash was talking to him just a minute ago. Tearing his gaze away from Brock, he directly stared into Raul's dark gray eyes.
"You can help him...right?" Ash asked, not even blinking or quivering under Raul's intense gaze.
"I can try, but I don't know if it will work," Raul said, finally breaking eye contact. He instinctively fingered his black belt where his Slowpoke's PokeBall was attached. But his hand strayed to an empty space next to that PokeBall, only finding air instead.
"Wh-where's Slowpoke's PokeBall?" Raul said urgently, finally checking every inch of his belt. He stuffed his hands into his pockets only to find small pieces of lint. His hands immediately flew to his messy brown hair and seemed intent on pulling large chunks of it, as he checked the floor for any signs of his missing PokeBall.
"Uh, Slowpoke's PokeBall is on your belt..." Ash pointed out, a sweatdrop trailing slowly down his head.
"I already know that - I'm talking about my other Slowpoke!" Raul growled, in a half-angry, half exasperated voice.
"Why would you need two Slowpokes? Isn't one just enough?" Ash mumbled, while also checking the floor for any signs of the lost PokeBall.
"I have two Slowpokes because each one of them has a different ability from the other." He momentarily stopped his frantic examination of the floor to show Ash his only remaining PokeBall.
"This is the Slowpoke that you saw earlier. Her name is Eliza and her ability, as you have seen, is to be able to control or paralyze any object that has a significant amount of matter with telepathic brain waves that can manipulate the very core of the item in mind. In other words, Eliza can move basically anything with her mind." Raul added when he saw Ash's baffled face. "Eliza has a very strong ability but, unfortunately, she has a limited supply of psychic energy to maintain such an arduous task for a long period of time."
Raul crawled across the floor for any signs of his missing PokeBall, but he continued speaking. "And that's where Tao comes in..." he said in a very worried voice. "His ability is so unique that no other Slowpoke in the world has it. He can project to us events that are happening in any place in the world; he can show these images to just one individual by a psychic connection and that person can only see it in his mind, or Tao can cast these pictures to more than one person by showing it like a holographic projection. But that's not the only thing Tao can do. He can also project emotions, ideas and dreams that people have. It might not seem like much to you, but that's what's going to help your friend." He finished, taking a very furtive glance at Brock.
Ash, got confused by most of his Slowpokes' abilities explanation but he immediately perked up when Raul said that Tao could help Brock.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go find Tao!" Ash exclaimed in a determined voice, ignoring Raul's aggravated face. He began to ran back to all the chaos, but like many times before, Raul stopped him in his tracks.
"No, you will stay here," Raul stated with such firmness that it left Ash gaping. "Tao is my Pokemon and my friend, and I'm supposed to keep him safe. I won't let anybody else carry this responsibility."
And with that Raul was gone out the door, heading back to the very core of the massacre itself.
()()()
After what it felt to her like a very long sleep, Misty could feel the world around her, but she still had to struggle against the restraining unconsciousness who beckoned her with dark hands. Her head felt as if it would split in half if she tried to make even the smallest movement and her temples throbbed with unmerciful pain due to a severe headache.
Misty's eyes felt like lead, but she managed to gather all her energy to slowly open one aquamarine eye. She squinted against the dust, but the only thing she saw was darkness. Heart pounding, she managed to open her eye a bit wider, but she only saw the blackness of the world.
Terror suddenly filled her heart at the complete lack of sight. She opened both eyes and to her complete relief, a thin stream of silver moonlight filtered through the leaves and cast a faint light upon her face. She tried to get up, but dizziness overcame her and she once again slumped to the floor.
Whimpering as she once again forced herself to stand, she used her remaining strength to maintain her body weight - but it was no easy job. Her legs felt like jelly and she felt nauseous just by standing up, which had once been a simple task.
Panting heavily, she leaned against the nearest tree, and tried to regain her breath, but it was a vain attempt. Without any thought, Misty brought a hand over her stomach as the revolting feeling increased.
She felt a warm, sticky liquid coating her fingers when she placed her hand on her stomach in an attempt to calm the nauseous feeling. Her vision was still a bit blurry and she had nothing but the moon's rays as the only light, yet she knew that that fluid was her own blood.
A new wave of nausea passed over her, even worse than the last, but she couldn't keep her eyes off her blood that coursed down her hand like tiny scarlet snakes that moved down a haunting path.
Her dread was numbing every trace of reason in Misty but she was still able to wonder why she still wasn't dead. She didn't remember that very strange dream she had while she was unconscious, but she woke up with an unnatural fear of the dark.
Her wound was still bleeding profusely, but with all the amount of blood that she lost... by all means she shouldn't be alive now. She pondered over this for a few moments, but she shook her head to repel any unimportant thoughts that didn't matter at the moment. She was severely injured, she couldn't get help on her own, and she didn't know where she was.
"Need...help..." she croaked out to the night sky, and didn't wait for any answer.
Misty stumbled almost blindly in the dark, and went in some random direction that was probably the wrong one. Every couple of seconds, she would lose her equilibrium or her breath and she would grip a low-hanging tree branch to maintain her balance.
But something caught her attention, even through her blurry vision. Just up ahead of her were several small shrubs that were on fire and they went on and on along the path she was going. To Misty they appeared just like several pinpoints of orange light, but the flickering motion revealed what they truly were.
Misty knew that Haruka was close. Every flame she saw, every moving shadow, everything that was fire reminded her of Haruka...it also reminded Misty of her new found loathing for that girl.
She followed the bright orange lights, not exactly knowing what awaited her down the wretched path.
()()()
"I'm back."
Ash quickly turned around when he heard Raul's voice. He had been watching over Brock's immobile body the whole time Raul was gone and he still didn't show any signs of waking up.
Ash had to smother a scream as he took in Raul's beaten form. He had numerous deep scratches that were bleeding slowly around his neck and arms. His bloodstained clothes were ripped almost to shreds and barely clung to his body. His cheek had swollen considerably and he had a nasty cut just above his left eyebrow that needed several stitches. His usually tussled hair was now a wild, entangled mess and had crusted blood near the back.
"What happened to you?!" Ash yelled, and ignoring Raul's wince at his high-pitched voice, he helped him lie down on the bunk bed that was on the other side of the room.
"Golem," Raul strained out to say, and he immediately seemed to regret it as he squeezed his jaw shut and said nothing more.
"Did you get Tao back?" Ash worriedly questioned. Raul managed to nod his head, despite his pain, and his mouth barely curved upwards in a small smile.
"He's here..." he whispered to Ash and shakily lifted a red PokeBall where Tao was in. Raul dropped the PokeBall to the floor, much to Ash's surprise, but Raul's grin still remained intact on his face.
Tao came out in a vibrant flash of light and his form took his original shape. Tao was an almost exact replica of Eliza, except for a unique, dark purple marking on his pink forehead. Tao let out a sleepy yawn and smiled serenely at Ash. But his droopy eyes opened considerably as he took in the crumpled form of his master. Tao started to shake uncontrollably, and sweat slid down his forehead, and he even forcibly shrugged Ash off when he tried to gab him to see what was the matter...
That's when Tao's eyes turned bright blue.
Raul's closed eyes suddenly opened with a snap and turned the same vivid shade of blue. Much to Ash's growing horror, Golem suddenly materialized out of thin air next to them. Ash couldn't even manage to scream in panic as Golem's massive form rolled over to him.
But Golem never moved an inch closer to Ash and instead, an exact copy of Raul that came out of thin air, began to run with determination and fear right at the dangerous Pokemon. Ash watched in awe as he saw how Raul rolled just in the last second out of Golem's path and tried to make a grab for the forgotten PokeBall that was just behind the monstrous Pokemon. Golem unrolled itself and bellowed furiously for letting his prey escape and slashed Raul with his sharp claws.
The Raul copy cried out in unimaginable pain, Golem smiling triumphantly as he licked his blood-soaked claws in delight, and Raul crashed to the hard floor, bleeding but clutching Tao's PokeBall.
Another PokeBall from his belt started to vibrate and out came Eliza to aid her helpless master.
Ash watched in a terrible, frozen trance until Raul's copy landed brusquely on the floor. Ash ran up to Raul's copy to help him up but his hand passed through Raul's shoulder. Raul's copy didn't even acknowledge his presence and continued twitching in agony, despite Ash's various attempt to try to grasp Raul's ghostly body.
Much closer to the action now, Ash saw how Eliza, unprepared for Golem's sudden Slam attack, crashed against the concrete wall and slumped slowly to the floor.
Tao's howl of sorrow echoed around the small room, and Ash didn't know if it was coincidence or not, but at that precise time Eliza opened her eyes in a blinding purple light and Golem's approaching body stopped in its tracks and was surrounded by a purple glowing aura.
With a scream of fury, Eliza slammed Golem onto the wall in the same painful manner that it was done to her.
Even Golem's hard outer body couldn't protect it from the tremendous impact and when he fell unconscious to the floor, Ash could see some large cracks on its once seemingly unbreakable shell.
Ash watched in silence the heartwarming display of loyalty Eliza had for his master, as she helped him back up with every last ounce of power she had left. Raul's copy floated a few inches from the floor and kept moaning in pain every time Eliza accidentally stumbled because of her lack of energy.
It was at one point, however, that Eliza couldn't take even one more step and with a soft sigh, she dropped Raul and lied still on the floor.
The second Raul, saw this whole display with barely opened eyes, and when he saw his poor Pokemon drop to the floor from exhaustion, he tried to lift himself up to help his fatigued Slowpoke.
He did it, after much coughing and trembling, and gently caressed Eliza's face in gratitude before returning her to her PokeBall.
As suddenly as it appeared, the holographic Golem, Raul and Eliza vanished, leaving only the memory to those who have witnessed it. Raul, who was still lying in the bed, smiled wearily at Ash.
"Incredible, huh?" Raul softly whispered, and Ash was glad to see that his eyes were back to their normal gray color.
"Y-yeah...incredible..." Ash hoarsely replied, who was still in awe from the whole experience.
"You've just seen a part of Tao's full power, but I know that it's not the full capacity of his powers. Even I have never seen his full potential...as incredulous as it sounds..." Raul muttered dryly when he saw Ash's unbelieving face.
It wasn't that Ash didn't believe Raul that Tao had amazing abilities, but... his mind couldn't really take the fact that the slow, dull-witted Slowpoke could be even more powerful than what he had already seen.
Ash's scrambled thoughts about the holographic project began to settle down, and once again the unsettled worry for his friends' safety began to creep up once again.
"Can you please help Brock now?" Ash asked Raul, with more than just a hint of anxiety in his tone.
Raul tried to move his head in a gesture of affirmativeness, but the pain was just too much to bear, so he lifted his hand in a thumbs-up sign.
Tao jumped lightly on top of Raul's chest so he wouldn't injure his master even more than he already was. Raul whispered on his Slowpoke's ear something that Ash could barely hear, but Slowpoke smiled broadly at his master's command.
Tao headed directly for Brock's prone form, and stared directly at his closed eyes. Tao also closed his eyes and soon after, a blue sparkle radiated from Brock and Tao's bodies.
A thick, black mist surrounded the inhabitants of the room, and soon almost everything in the room was obscured from sight. Ash tried moving around in the darkness, but tripped over something and fell headfirst on the floor. Luckily, he covered most of his head with his hands out of reflex, and thanks to that, he didn't injure his head, though his hands were sore from the impact.
"It must've been a powerful drug..." Raul's low comment reached Ash's ears. Ash cautiously walked to where he thought Raul's voice was coming from.
"What do you mean by that?" Ash asked worriedly, while almost tripping on a rug.
"His mind... is slowly fading away because of this fog, which is a dream produced by the drug... I guess... The good thing is that Tao can help your friend by bringing out a pleasant dream from his subconscious mind. Well, at least I think that will help him..." Raul trailed off, much to Ash's aggravation.
"What do you mean by 'I think'?" Ash exclaimed furiously, before slipping backwards on the same troublesome rug he was trying to avoid just a moment earlier.
"I'm not too sure if this is going to work. Tao never did this before, you know!" Raul said waspishly, which was surprising since he hadn't looked like he had the energy to speak in such forceful tones.
"Ok, ok! Calm down, just wanted to know..." Ash muttered darkly as he tried to lift himself off the floor. Raul's comment ticked him off a bit, but decided to let it slide.
A soft, blue glow was slowly shining brighter among the thick fog. Some indescribable figures were appearing, and at the same time, they were starting to dissipate the dark fog.
The shapeless forms were soon taking form, and Ash's jaw hung in disbelief at the scene before him. The fog had cleared away completely, and in its place was something that made Ash embarrassed for Brock's sake.
"Come over here, Brockie-Poo! You know you want us..." Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and a brown-haired girl said seductively to Brock, and to the horror of the inhabitants of the room, they were completely covered in whipped cream.
"Don't worry ladies, your Brock is in the house!" Brock announced happily, as he sat up straight, but accidentally shoving Tao off the bed in the process.
He suddenly took notice of the audience he had around him, who were all gaping stupidly at him, and blushed a dark magenta. The three girls suddenly disappeared when Tao hit the floor, but Brock's attention was elsewhere.
"Err...well...I-I can explain..." Brock stuttered, while nervously wringing the sheets.
"Uh...just...forget it Brock," Ash said, but he was still gawking at him.
A very uncomfortable silence filled the room, as all eyes were still on a very flustered Brock. But a high-pitched chirp soon pierced the silence and the source was an amused Togepi who was laughing at Brock.
"Well, it's nice to know that your friend has such an...er...interesting imagination..." Raul commented, with a very disturbed expression on his face.
But Ash, who stopped gawking, didn't answer him and instead watched Togepi in a very odd manner and soon a question popped in his mind.
"Brock, it's good to have you back, but... where's Misty?" Ash asked him, and went to the other side of the room to sit alongside his friend.
"Huh? Good to have me back? Ash, weren't you supposed to be back with your grandparents?" Brock said bewildered, and forgot his previous embarrassment.
"Yeah, but when I saw the newspaper...about the fire...I just had to come!" Ash exclaimed loudly, but then lowered his voice to ask: "Where's Misty, Brock?"
"She's fine, Ash. She just went out somewhere and will be back soon. Though I don't blame her," Brock chuckled, unaware of Ash's perplexed face. "What normal person likes to be locked up anyway? But-" Brock continued, and ignored Ash's horrified expression. "-it was for her own good. Well, at least Haruka said so... Wait - Haruka! Did my beautiful princess come back? Is she ok? Is she hungry? Is she hurt? Don't worry my darling, your prince is coming!" Brock tried to head towards the door, but Ash's patience had finally run out.
"BROCK!" Ash shouted, and that brought Brock out of his trance. "What time was it when Misty left?"
Brock, who didn't expect this question at all, thought for a moment before responding. "Well, last time I checked inside her room it was around seven. What time is it Ash? Quarter after seven? Eight?" Brock asked with a relaxed tone that set Ash off.
"It's almost midnight, Brock!" Ash yelled vociferously, and Brock's surprised face maddened him even more. "And why was Misty locked up here? What did she do? And who is Haruka?" Ash hollered each question, much to Brock's surprise.
"Midnight? Gee, that sure was a long nap," Brock said while he rubbed his eyes. "Misty should've been here by now! Guess we should look for her now," he said a bit worriedly, and once again, tried to get up but Ash stopped him once again.
"Do you even know how the Pokemon Center is?" Ash said with more than just a little desperation in his voice. He went over to the door, oblivious to Raul's alarmed face.
"ASH! Don't be stupid!" Raul warned hoarsely, but Ash ignored him and opened the door.
"JUST LOOK, BROCK!" Ash shouted and without thinking, he flung the broken door, that was propped against the door frame, wide open.
The sounds of people screaming could easily be heard, even over the malevolent laughter that echoed everywhere. The only corridor that hadn't been destroyed just some time ago now was just a smoldering ruin. The wall that was just opposite of them now had a huge hole, and the rest of it that had been untouched was slowly crumbling.
A lone Charizard, who was smelling their scent, was coming closer and closer to the room. When he was near enough to see their terrified expressions, he smiled with pure malice.
And opened his mouth to fry them all.
They couldn't even scream when their world was consumed in fire.
()()()()()()()
I think this was a nice place to stop, don't you think? ;) If you have the time, please review! Ok, I'll answer every kind person who reviewed the last chapter! :)
lil washu2: I'm glad that you found it so interesting! ;) Oh, and about the identity of the hidden person... you'll have to keep reading to find out! evil laughter
Kaitlin Smith: I'm happy that you loved it! :) I'll try to finish this story as fast as I can, ok? ;)
Froggy: I'm so sorry for the extremely long delay! :( And as I said before, I have no excuses. I'll try to write faster - sorry once again!