1: Ghastly Night
It was a full moon on a clear summer's night in Ash's home of Pallet Town. The quiet sound of bug type Pokémon filled the complete silence of the night. There was also a slight breeze of cool air that made the leaves on the trees shake and sway. The soothing mixture of sounds kept everything calm.
Everyone was sound asleep to a peaceful night, except for Ash. He wanted to get up early and do what he did best, training. Ash was outside setting up targets for his Pokémon to shoot at. He recently returned from his many journeys to the Sinnoh Region where he lost the Sinnoh League and is destined to train harder to become stronger and win the next one.
Ash had many Pokémon by his side, but the one Pokémon that is with him the most is an electric mouse Pokémon known as Pikachu. Ash and Pikachu are considered partners as well as best friends who have been through everything together since they first started out on their journey. The mouse is now asleep on Ash's bed while Ash is still outside training with his other Pokémon. The journey back from Sinnoh was long and tiring which is why Ash is letting Pikachu sleep in for the night.
Pikachu liked to curl up like a ball when he slept and always slept next to Ash. He liked it when he slept close to Ash. Ash was more than a friend to Pikachu, he was a big brother. Pikachu always knew that Ash would protect him from anything, no matter how dangerous it was.
As Pikachu was in his deep sleep, there was a sudden thump that shook the bed he was sleeping on. Pikachu barely woke from this only for a moment and then went right back to sleep. However, his ears twitched when he heard the sound of scraping on the floor.
Pikachu's eyes opened up slightly to figure out what was making that noise. Pikachu assumed it was Ash who was probably trying to mess with him. However when he focused his eyes, there was no one in the room. Pikachu felt concerned and scanned the room with his eyes but still saw nothing.
Still feeling tired, Pikachu gave up and went back to his sleeping spot and curled himself back to sleep. A few silent minutes passed and all of a sudden Pikachu jumped in shock to the sound of the scraping noise again that was much louder than before. Pikachu was now very concerned and was too frightened to move.
He then hid under the blankets hoping that the sound would go away. Then suddenly the noise stopped and the room was now silent. Pikachu felt relieved and thought he was now safe to sleep. However things were only getting worse that night. The entire bed began to shake with Pikachu now wide awake.
Pikachu was now frightened since Ash was nowhere to be seen and began to whimper. Pikachu had to do something about this and fast. All he could think about was wanting to stop this scary event so he charged up his cheeks with electricity and let it all out with a Thunderbolt attack.
The bed was blasted by electricity that Pikachu created which shook the bed even more. Suddenly the shaking ceased leaving another moment of silence. Pikachu was still frightened but since the shaking stopped, he thought he got rid of whatever was doing it.
Pikachu thought wrong; moments later, the scraping sound returned to Pikachu's ears now louder than ever. If that was not enough to scare Pikachu, the bed began to shake more violently which made Pikachu lose his balance.
His heart began to beat faster and faster and was nearly panicked when all of a sudden, he heard the most horrible demonic wail that sounded directly below him. Pikachu nearly passed out hearing this and immediately scrambled off the bed and ran to the door to escape which was unfortunately shut closed. Pikachu tried to jump up and turn the door knob but to no avail did he succeed.
Pikachu did not know what to do, he was trapped with no one to help him and stuck in a room with a monster under his bed. The bed shook more violently than ever and what was under the bed was complete darkness. Pikachu then saw something supernatural appear in a dark corner of the room. He saw what looked to be a human dressed in a black robe with a cross hanging on it. It's skin pigment was abnormally grey and had black veins all over its face.
Pikachu was so frightened that his body began to shake and was unable to move. He was even scared of attacking it as it will only anger it more.
The human figure didn't appear to walk but rather levitate to move. It drew closer to Pikachu and stared at him with a dead expression. The human figure suddenly let out a huge roar that shook the entire room and levitated straight for Pikachu. Pikachu with tears in his eyes felt hopeless now and screamed with all of his might "PIKA PI!".
Ash, who was downstairs in the kitchen taking a break from his training, heard Pikachu's abnormal scream and rushed upstairs to see what was the matter. "Pikachu! I'm coming buddy!" Ash yelled as he ran up the steps hoping that nothing bad happened to his buddy. Ash nearly slammed the door wide open to see Pikachu bolting himself in Ash's arms bursting out crying and trying his best to hide himself in Ash's jacket.
Ash was immediately concerned for Pikachu and scanned the room to see what could have frightened his friend but saw nothing. The room was perfectly normal as it was when he left it.
Ash went downstairs and sat on the couch with Pikachu still hidden in his jacket. He could feel Pikachu trembling in fear and his continuous sobbing. Ash tried to gently pull Pikachu out of his hiding place but the mouse stuck himself even more to the jacket. Ash couldn't believe how scared Pikachu was and how he was reacting.
Ash then petted Pikachu under the jacket trying to calm him down. "Shhhhhh, Shhhhhhhhh, buddy, it's me. You're safe with me now, there's nothing to be afraid of, please come out" Ash said in a soothing voice. Pikachu heard his trainer speak and cautiously came out of his hiding place.
Ash was in shock when Pikachu revealed his teared red face. Ash put his arms around his shaking Pikachu and cradled him like a baby. "Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhh, buddy please stop crying, everything is alright" Ash whispered.
Pikachu put his paw out to try and touch Ash's face. Ash saw this and let his buddy touch his cheek while he lightly stroked Pikachu's head. "Chaaaaaa" Pikachu cooed and continued to touch Ash's face so he knows that he is there.
Pikachu calmed down a little to Ash but was still upset about what had happened. "What happened up there? Was it a nightmare? But how could you be so upset to just a nightmare?" Ash questioned as he wiped a tear from Pikachu's eye. Pikachu tried to explain what had happened to Ash but he couldn't understand him. "Hmmmm, well I think you are safe with me now and there is nothing to worry about, what do you say buddy?" Ash said as he softly put down Pikachu on the floor.
Pikachu didn't like where this was going, he wanted Ash to believe him that there was an evil spirit in his room. "Alright buddy, I think you should head up back to bed, and I should head back to training" Ash suggests as he stands up and walks outside. Pikachu whimpers and jumps on Ash's leg, not letting go.
"C'mon buddy, you need to get some sleep, and I need to get more training done with Gliscor" Ash says feeling slightly annoyed.
"(Please Ash, don't make me go back up there, I'm scared)" Pikachu shivers.
"Alright then, let's go up together and I will show you that there is nothing to fear"
Before Pikachu had time to react to this, Ash picks him up and puts him on his shoulder where he normally sits and walks up the steps to his room. Pikachu is now terrified and hides himself behind Ash's head. When they get to the door, Pikachu starts trembling in fear again and tries to hide in Ash's jacket which he sees and grabs Pikachu and holds him.
Ash tries to comfort him by massaging his back that slightly stops Pikachu from shaking. "Alright buddy, in we go!" Ash says as he pushes the door open. Pikachu then flinches at this but then sees no sign of the spirit. "See buddy, it's just my room, nothing to worry about" Ash says cheerfully.
He then lays Pikachu down on his bed and tucks him in. "You just relax now and have a good rest, there is nothing here that can get you, it's only…" Ash pauses as he hears something coming from under the bed. He looks down and sees nothing but darkness.
Suddenly the bed began to shake again. All of the previous noises that Pikachu heard were now coming back. Pikachu once again crying for his life jumped on Ash to hide. Ash held on to Pikachu tightly as the sounds got louder and louder. Ash realized why Pikachu was so frightened.
Suddenly the demonic figure appeared in the same dark corner of the room and looked at Ash. Ash was startled by this figure and felt very scared, but he knew something, that he always promised to Pikachu in that he would protect him from danger no matter how big the threat was.
Ash nervously stood his ground while allowing Pikachu to hide in his jacket. The demon stared at Ash and gave out a loud wail as it saw him protect Pikachu. Ash only stared back and yelled out loud "Go away! I am Ash Ketchum and I am not afraid of you ghost, I will protect all of my Pokémon no matter what gets in my way, now leave worthless ghost!".
The spirit then looked frightened at what he said and started to back away. Ash walked up closer to it and finally told Pikachu, "Use Thunderbolt!". Pikachu, still frightened, did what he was told and let out a powerful bolt of electricity right at the spirit causing a white explosion. As it cleared the spirit began to shrink and break off into pieces. Ash looked closer at this and realized those pieces were ghost Pokémon known as Gastly!
Ash was furious at this as this was the work of Pokémon this whole time. "Look at what you have done Gastly! You frightened my best friend when he was innocently asleep! Why would you do something like that!" Ash scolded at the Gastly.
The four Gastly all put their floating heads down in shame as they realized how much it hurt Pikachu. Ash gently tapped Pikachu in his jacket and pulled him out of it. "Gastly, I want you to apologize to Pikachu right now!" yelled Ash. The Ghastly immediately did as they were told and spoke their Gastly language at Pikachu who was still shaken up from the incident.
Pikachu heard their apologies, "Were sorry Pikachu, we just wanted to do a silly prank, I'm sorry if we scared you, but you gotta admit, it worked!" one Gastly shouted. Pikachu gave an angry face at him and sparks of electricity started to come out of his cheeks. The Gastly just looked down and told the others to leave. As soon as they were gone, Ash and Pikachu gave a sigh of relief.
Ash then cradled Pikachu and placed him back in his bed. Pikachu was grateful that Ash saved him once again and gave him a big hug. "I love you buddy, I will never let anyone or anything hurt you ever again, you can always hide by me and I will protect you from danger" Ash clarified to Pikachu as he tucked him under the warm blankets. "Chaaaaa, Pikachu Pikapi" cooed Pikachu and nuzzled his arm. Ash then laid down with Pikachu and softly petted his best friend back to sleep.
Ash then whispered "I will always love you buddy" and snuggled up with his best buddy who will always be there for him. Pikachu and Ash slept the night away with no more nightmares. All they could dream about was their love for each other and their tight bond. That is something in their world that is truly real.